It was the end of the day. As such, the streets were not very crowded, but the sounds of dance clubs, distant conversations, cheering crowds, and public address systems prevented the streets of Lower Paradise District from being quiet. The guard by the train station the Rainbow Riders had stopped in had demanded a ShowMe or a large passage fee. Gustav's bag of money not only covered it, but would have paid for four more fees just like it. Thankfully, they just had to pay one. Moving as a large pack, the mercenaries and their small band of companions exited the little rundown station, to enter into a foggy, also slightly rundown part of town.
It was evident to Zuri, though she'd seen few examples of pony architecture, that this district was meant for those who didn't live in luxury. The pale-red, brick living houses had moss and overgrowth all over them, erupting from the Equestria–native soil in the plant beds around them. The street was filthy, littered with empty bottles, papers, broken toys, and so on and so forth. Yet Zuri could peer over the tops of the dismal buildings to see taller, more extravagant structures, covered with bright lights and huge signs in all directions. Several huge displays seemed to show multiple angles of some pony sport. Another displayed multiple advertisements for something that Druva translated as "Brony Cola", which consisted of a lewdly-clad mare getting dowsed by some dark caffeinated liquid coming from a long glass bottle. Still more showed public announcements, music videos, medication ads, the date and time, progress of Frontier Forest's expansion, and so much information and noise that even from this distance, Zuri was a little overwhelmed.
"Big, isn't it?" Druva said to her as they walked. "It was just as big when I was here. Only, I didn't ever live in this kind of squalor. This is where the slimey and the shady live, I tried to find a decent place that would house zebras, which was almost impossible."
"Slimey and shady seems an understatement." Zuri muttered, watching as a shadowy, red cloaked figure appeared atop one building, before darting out of sight.
"Macintosh, did you have to pick a place so dingy to stop in?" Druva complained to the stallion, getting close to him. He didn't mind her lack of personal space or didn't notice.
"Easier to sneak in this way. This district ain't as well-monitored as anythin' up ahead or up above. Though we might have a lick o' trouble findin' a place that isn't infested—by bedbugs or gangs."
"Gangs? Pffft," Rainbow snorted, grinning at them. "Look at the amount of firepower we have. Gilda didn't COMPLETELY waste all the money."
They walked for some time, before the brick houses acquired signs, and became a degree cleaner. They passed under a series of bridges with fast-moving metal vehicles speeding this way and that. The sounds of the richer parts of the city were growing louder, the lights brighter, the huge neon frames and glowing screens more distinct. To one song throbbing in the background, Zuri realized Rainbow was humming along with the tune, her head bobbing slightly with the powerful bassnotes that, as they got closer to the source of the music, made the ground shake.
"Oh yeah, I know this place!" Rainbow said, grinning widely as they approached a much cleaner, much taller metal building, which was where the loud music was emanating from. "This is probably the best quarters we're going to find down here, and they've soundproofed the rooms! Or anyway, soundproofed them against bassdrops."
"What," Uzul began, "on Palosol is a bass-"
He couldn't finish his sentence, as the song had suddenly raised in pitch, while the volume lowered for only a few seconds. Then, a deep voice bellowed something incoherent, as the bass immediately started up again like a thunderclap, making Zuri leap a foot in the air in shock. She folded her ears down underneath her mane, the notes making her head begin to throb painfully.
"That," Rainbow shouted over the noise to Uzul, "was a bassdrop! Come on, let's go up to the second floor, that's where the lobby is for the inn! I promise it'll be quieter there!" She lead her troop up the rattling stairs, and into a door which shut immediately behind them. Zuri sighed in relief, unfolding her ears when the unnatural pounding of sound suddenly became muffled background noise once more, though still her hooves vibrated slightly.
A white pony sat calmly behind a desk, except it wasn't a pony. It was bald, and had no visible irises. In fact, it's eyes looked like strange spherical versions of the lenses Zuri had seen in pony security cameras. It looked up at Rainbow dash as she approached the counter, and dropped the whole of Gustav's money bag on the top.
"Welcome to the Ultrasonic Inn." The not-pony said in a polite, but strangely distant feminine voice. "How many rooms would you like for your group?"
"Eleven, please!" Rainbow said, smiling down at the blank-faced metallic pony.
"That will be three hundred bits for every night you stay, and another four hundred when you check out. Is this agreeable?"
"That's perfect. Come on, team! Let's divvy up the rooms!" Rainbow said, pushing out the first three hundred and receiving eleven keys.
Rainbow Dash assigned groups of five to each room, not taking into account that some of her band had been shot to death on the train until she started counting the heads. "Well... Hey! More privacy for our tagalongs!" She said with a joking smile, though Zuri heard the strain in her voice, attempting to keep it cheerful. She could tell Rainbow Dash wasn't as cheery as before.
Rainbow tried to assign the groups by gender: she bunked with four other mares, and assigned Thunderlane to bunk with Rock Polish and three other stallions. "Well, good that's it's a cucumberfest." Thunderlane snarked as he passed by Zuri to his room. "Better that than having to bunk with a dirty little stripey. Can you imagine trying to resist that blue one coming onto you, Rock Polish?"
Zuri struggled to hold herself back while Rainbow finished assigning rooms and who would hold the keys. Of course, she was paired with Druva and Chrys, as well as Moondancer and another mare, named Snippet. Snippet was a lightweight mare, who was apparently Thunderlane's marefriend, and would have preferred to bunk with him than anyone else, and shared his feelings about zebras. Zuri found this out quickly, as Snippet not only glowered and sneered at her, but also talked, talked, and talked some more. The Trancer had to wonder what purpose this mare served for the Rainbow Riders. She hadn't noticed if she was a good shot, or a medic, or anything, but Snippet's big mouth answered the unspoken question very quickly.
"I'm a trained corpsmare!" She complained. "I've treated bullet wounds and diseases for the whole mercenary group! And how do I get repaid? I gotta sleep in the same room with a bunch of zebras!"
"Maybe you could learn something from Druva." Moondancer replied, with an astonishing amount of patience in her tone. Zuri had to respect her: Snippet's accent was snooty and tinny, teeth-grindingly irritating. "That zebra knows an awful lot about healing potions, more than she lets on." Druva smiled at Moondancer for the compliment, and kept it up even as Snippet gave a doubtful snort.
"I'm fine with my ESSUG-approved salves and healing magic. Not some hokey-pokey brews." She said haughtily, rolling over in her bed to go to sleep, as Zuri examined the bed she'd gotten. The sheets were soft, but the fabric was smooth, and the sheets were folded in so tightly that it took a few minutes for her to wriggle into it. The sheets were cold, and she could still hear the still-muffled sounds of the music down, two floors below. It was entirely comfortable, but it was better than sleeping on the floor. Zuri felt another pang of homesickness, wishing that she were back in her soft, expansive bed, instead of this rather tight one, that she could only really find comfortable to sleep in if she curled up on her side, hiding her muzzle with her mane.
She didn't understand the digital clock on the wall, but took it from the darkening lights outside the window that it was indeed late. Despite her discomfort, she fell asleep very easily. The events at Rock Pile and the subsequent train ride had left her more drained than she had thought, and she had almost no time to think about them before she was dreaming again.
———
"Body, mind, spirit," The master of ceremonies' powerful voice rang through the Cudonetor arena. "Today, we honor the stars for giving us the power, through the cherished Blackstone, to shape our beloved world! Oun-Drii to Ohg-Re, all are welcome within the halls of Otoul's own Cudonetor!"
"Ba-jal-re! Ba-jal-re!" Chanted the enormous crowd of encircling the center of the huge colosseum, translating simply to: "bring them out!"
"Agilis, get your sister down from there! She could fall!" Xoda Oun-Drii Sara scolded, noticing that her son was helping her youngest daughter, who was very excited, stand atop the balcony balustrade.
"Sorry mother!" Agilis shouted back over the roar of the crowd, pulling Zuri off of the ledge.
"Agiliiiis!" Zuri whined, flailing her little hooves. "I want to see the Mansa come out!"
"Sorry, Zuri: mother said," Agilis apologized, before putting on another of his big smiles. "But she didn't say anything about this!" He took Zuri, who was small enough to curl up and fit in a standard cauldron, and seated her upon his head, his handsomely styled mane had the perk of allowing the little zebra to sit very comfortably atop it.
"So you'd rather wear Zuri like a hat than drop her off a ledge?" Giza teased, looking up at Zuri as she settled right in to Agilis' mane, enjoying her new perch.
"Hush up, twin, you're just jealous you never got to sit on my head!" Agilis laughed, stamping his forehooves in applause as a singular robed zebra entered the big sandy circle in the middle of the arena, waving his hoof in greeting to many a fan.
"There he is! It's Bodlerae!" Zuri squealed, craning her neck to get a better look. Bodlerae Gho-Re Veili was a Sand Trancer who had become a celebrity in playing in almost every Cudonetor competition he could find. It didn't hurt that he was very attractive, and many young zebra girls often clamored to meet him.
"Stars, give me strength." Gainu, Zuri's father, whispered to Xoda from their ornate Oun-Drii chairs. "If one of our daughters marries some self-obsessed oaf like that, I'll poison him myself."
"Shush!" Xoda snapped at him, although was guilty of eyeing Bodlerae herself. "Oooh, but if Lebowa did... Imagine the looks their children might have..."
"And imagine the lack of The Gift." Gainu snapped back, grinning slightly. He got his wife's tail brushing against his face to silence him, that time.
The announcer gave Bodlerae's full name and caste, and then directed the audience's attention to the opposite end of the sandy circle. Out came Kaggu, a trancer known for his relation to the Sara family, although not carrying the strongest strain of the gift himself.
"It's uncle Kaggu!" Agilis said, looking up at the blue-striped filly atop his head. "Aren't you going to cheer for family, too?"
Zuri gave another cheer, this one much less enthusiastic. Uncle Kaggu wasn't her favorite uncle, and besides; what Oun-Drii filly or mare would want to get a kiss from Uncle Kaggu and not Bodlerae?
"I don't think Bodlerae Gho-Re Veili is so bad." Lebowa, the eldest sister, commented from Gainu's right. "Veili certainly isn't a bad name."
"Oh, my dear, I hold nothing against the Veili family," Gainu said, as if scandalized by the idea. "'Tis only that their eldest son is an oaf."
"He's a mighty handsome oaf, then." Lebowa said, sighing gently as she watched him wave up at the Oun-Drii section of the audience. "Though sadly I think Uncle Kaggu may win."
"Yes, how tragic," Xoda's tone was sardonic as she smirked at her eldest. "My brother is going to bury the pretty one under six rods of hot glass."
"Mother, don't say that!" Giza and Lebowa complained at once. Zuri wasn't paying much attention at all: her eyes too rapt upon Bodlerae as he and Kaggu stepped up so that they were a good five meters apart, and bowed to each other. A loud drum beat, lasting only a few seconds, sounded the beginning of the first round.
Immediately, the action began. Bodlerae's and Kaggu's irises glowed bright enough that even Zuri could see the shining light as Bodlerae summoned up a pillar of sandstone, immediately gaining ground and moving himself away from his opponent. Kaggu responded in turn, his mane whipping around his head as harsh winds blew towards the pillar, slicing it cleanly in half, and sending the top sliding down to the sand. Bodlerae leaped high, making Zuri and several other females in the audience gasp, as he kept a platform of sandstone underneath him, using the edges of the wind to glide away slightly before landing on the ground. Kaggu thrust his hindlegs back, and the entirety of the battle circle shifted, eddying to either side of him as he pulled Bodlerae towards him. Bodlerae took advantage of this, galloping across the shifting surface of the sand to meet Kaggu head on. They met, and there was a swift, speedy exchange of blows, movement so fast that it was blurred, and Zuri couldn't tell what exactly happened, but Bodlerae was underneath Kaggu's forehooves, struggling uselessly.
The drum sounded again, and there was a mix of roaring approval and disappointment from either side's supporters. Kaggu stepped off of Bodlerae, and they bowed to each other again. Bodlerae was met mostly with cries of dismay as he walked out of the circle. Upset with Bodlerae being defeated so early in the competition, Zuri stomped her hooves in frustration. "Ow! Be calm, Zuri!" Agilis complained, and his little sister squeaked an embarrassed apology.
Kaggu waved rather awkwardly to his audience, some of whom didn't cheer at all, they just glared. The announcer directed everyone's attention to the door Bodlerae had exited through, from which another cloaked zebra had entered. This one was a yellow-eyed mare that Zuri recognized as Eovi Oun-Drii Bage, who met the ecstatic cheers and slightly brazen catcalls with a brave, brilliant smile.
"Well! Now there's a fine one!" Gainu said, his tone much more cheerful. "Agilis, my son, what do you make of her?"
"I make that someone's let a spirit-temptress onto the field!" Agilis agreed, his gaze not moving from the zebra mare. Giza socked him on one shoulder, making Zuri wobble on her perch as Agilis turned to scowl at his twin sister.
"Gainu, don't tease me like that. Just because I ogle Bodlerae doesn't–"
"Careful, my wife, you almost sound jealous." Gainu said mirthfully.
The drum sounded again after the two competitors bowed, and this time Kaggu started the action. His eyes glowed brightly, and the sand underneath him became a dome, which expanded outward, making Eovi slip downward and lose ground. She made up for it quickly, her own eyes flashing as she tranced the sand beneath her hooves, driving her upwards toward's Kaggu.
"Oh, that's a mistake." Gainu muttered, watching as Kaggu made a sign with his hooves, and the dome suddenly shrank into a tight pillar. Eovi plummeted to the bottom, scrabbling with her tranced hooves and tearing deeply into the solidifying pillar, attempting to destroy the base as Kaggu had before. Before she could do so, the pillar bent like a thin tree trunk, it's top curving and reshaping itself. Zuri shrieked, as the sand formed into a gigantic serpent, with solid rock fangs. Standing atop its head, Kaggu directed the animated sand-snake to strike at Eovi several times, before she brought up a wall of instant flame, and the snake's head was turned to glass, which quickly melted, as the flame wrapped around it. Kaggu had long since retreated, using the rest of the sand-snake's body as a giant whip, attempting to shove Eovi out from behind the sphere of roaring flame she had created.
"Odd, doesn't Kaggu know how to trance the air's water?" Gainu asked Xoda, who nodded.
"Of course he does. Maybe he's waiting for some-oh!" Kaggu's sand-whip had exploded, sending sand grains everywhere, and turning it into glass dust as it flew through the fireball. Eovi shielded her face with her hooves, and Kaggu took the opportunity to leap towards her. There was another swift, indistinct struggle in the settling dust and glass, and when it had cleared, Eovi was standing on three legs, nursing her right foreleg, but keeping her hind ones atop Kaggu's face.
"Oh, come on, brother!" Xoda shouted, and Agilis nodded in slight assent, making Zuri hold on tight to the sides of her brother's head. "Surely he could have defeated a thin little girl like that in basic combat!"
"Ah, but she's lighter, and swifter. Shouldn't you know that, my dear?" Gainu said, the grin evident in his voice. "Seeing as you yourself are rather lightweight."
"Rather lightweight?" Xoda mocked incredulity. "Gainu, love, we'll need to talk after this Cudonetor..."
"Mommy, daddy, shush!" Zuri protested, bouncing atop Agilis' head. "Mizul's coming out! Mizul's coming out!" Mizul was important, seeing as he was the eldest son of the Sara family, and Zuri's eldest brother.
"That's a new one you have, Gainu, Xoda." Came another voice, and Zuri looked away for a moment to see a tall male Zebra, perched upon his own Oun-Drii cushions. Zuri recognized him as Aone Oun-Drii Brikea, with his own pair of children, Tielre and Vaezi, sneering out from around him. Aone's eyes were on Zuri, his look was not kind.
"Yes, she is our youngest." Gainu replied, taking his attention immediately away from Mizul currently sending a wave of ice towards his opponent. "Her name is Zuri."
"Zuri... Breaking Tedium, from the old tongue, correct?" Aone asked, looking from Xoda's eyes to Zuri. "Ah, yes, I see the resemblance. Though, odd that you choose to let her come along in public, free to do whatever she likes, in front of all of Otoul."
"Why shouldn't she?" Xoda asked, her voice dangerous. "She is our daughter, and she bears the gift."
"Hey, Zuri, let's keep watching the match." Agilis said, uncomfortable, and turning his head back towards the fight as Mizul and Eovi locked in the first visible grapple of the day, causing much of the audience to cheer. Zuri, however, turned her head back to look at Aone and her parents again. What was he getting at?
"Well, Xoda, my dear Oun-Drii, I thought you of all zebra would notice first!" Aone chuckled, snide and sardonic. "Your own offspring is blue!" Zuri found Tielre looking at her interestedly, and as soon as she made eyecontact, he sneered, and mouthed some word that must have been bad, as Xoda leapt up, her eyes glowing dangerously.
"You control your little mutt, Aone." She growled, the powerful muscles in her legs tensing and twitching. "I won't let him so much as breathe prejudice onto one of my children."
Aone looked back at Tielre, who feigned innocence. He smirked at Zuri as soon as his father's back was turned. "Leaving false accusations aside, I'm wondering: who in their right mind is going to be teaching a little..." He mumbled something, to which Giza went red, and Xoda fumed up as her husband stood up as well. "...like that how to trance?"
"For your information," Gainu began, attempting to keep his tone level. "We've received an offer of training from The Dunnur. Personally."
Tielre choked, his sister gaped, then scowled at Zuri. Lebowa, Giza, and Xoda all smiled, satisfied with the effect this had on Aone's children. Aone himselfcleared his throat, now sitting a little more rigidly. "I think my son's about to come out..."
Zuri looked back at the match, in amazement, as she saw Mizul standing triumphant over Eovi, whom, as she got up, bent closer with her bow than the others. Mizul bent with her, and they stayed like that for several seconds, before Mizul straightened up instantly, and Zuri could see the red on his face even from this distance. She let out an ecstatic cheer, ignoring a disdainful noise from where Aone's family say, as Mizul stayed in the circle, and was soon joined by another zebra.
"Come on, Daetro!" Tielre and Vaezi cheered simultaneously. Daetro and Mizul bowed, and so began the fourth round of the Cudonetor, which was the longest yet. Zuri watched with familial pride and amazement as her elder brother ducked and blocked every sandwave, fireball, lightning bolt, and transmutation Daetro threw at him, redirecting a few back at him. One bolt was refracted, half of it struck Mizul, and the other rebounded back upon Daetro. There was a shout of alarm as he crumpled to the floor, Mizul only reduced to stumbling and jittering with the energy of the weather-trance. Mizul took the opportunity to approached Daetro's body, and hold a hoof over his head.
Zuri saw the zebra stir, and then leap up at her brother. He had been feinting! Another lightning-fast struggle, and Mizul threw Daetro onto the sand. The whole Sara family let out a joyful cry as Daetro stood up, and bowed low to Mizul, but shook his head as Mizul began to reciprocate, and instead walked away before he could finish.
Zuri, in her excitement, leapt off of her brother's head, and hopped atop the balcony edge. Xoda screamed, Agilis and Giza jumped for Zuri at the same time, but she had already slipped, and could only watch the ground below become closer, as Mizul turned, his smile vanishing, as he saw his littlest sister falling, falling, falling...
———
WHUMP.
Zuri awoke with a jump, bonking her head against the headboard. She cursed several times under her breath as she rubbed the fresh bruise under her mane, untangling herself from the covers to look around. It was official: every time she went to sleep she got into trouble or hurt when she woke up. No one else seemed to be in the inn room with her, but the constant thump-thumping of the music underneath had lowered in volume significantly. She could hear a larger assortment of noises through the open window to her right, which she moved over to and looked out. In the full daylight, Paradise City was impressive. Brick and metal buildings melded well with the humongous towers in the center, which had a commanding, intimidating aura about them.
What really caught Zuri's attention was the humongous glass ceiling, a fair thirty meters above the inn. She hadn't noticed it before in the pale moonlight and neon signs, but the district they were in was completely sectioned off from the upper city. There were roads and buildings up above her, hovercraft speeding this way and that. Another painful reminder of how Otoul separated between the varying castes, each living in different conditions. This thought, combined with the memories of that dream, made her want to return home all the more.
Zuri turned her thoughts onto the contents of the dream, how it had ended abruptly with the fall. Thankfully, however, unlike in the dream, she hadn't plummeted to her death. Mizul had tranced her back to safety, at which point, Zuri remembered embarrassedly, she had bawled for twenty minutes in her mother's embrace. The perk of this was that it was considered punishment enough to almost fall to your demise, so Xoda and Gainu had spared her from anything else. The sour point was that Tielre and his stupid sister had observed her beginning to cry just as they walked out, and she was teased for it the next time she showed her face among her peers. It had turned out the Dunnur was teaching Tielre and some of his other friends who had The Gift, and they took the time to tease her one evening before she got home, both on her color and the validity of being a Sara descendant. Which, of course, lead to a rather bitter, if not childly debate which ended with her out-smarting Tielre and getting him to call his own father an Edrecht in front of his sister, who tattled on him almost instantly.
That was what had lead to the Dunnur calling Zuri out on her verbal talent, and then to her finding Agilis drunk, and getting a brief punishment from Gainu. Zuri was then struck by how strange it was: twice now, her memories had also become dreams, though with some obvious differences. She walked back to her bed, sitting atop it and pondering this for several seconds. These weren't the only times she had dreamt actual past events. Before, it had acted as a very useful reminder that she had forgotten where she'd left her neck rings after a petty row with Giza. Was her subconscious trying to tell her something? If so, why? She really doubted anything about the Cudonetor was coming up in Paradise City. Why would a zebra sport, focussed on two or more trancers with the gift dueling one another ever be of significance in a pony city, one that she would hopefully spend as little time in as she could?
Thinking about it didn't help; the only things that came up were the stories about mischievous or kindly spirits who manipulated a sleeping zebra's dreams to send a message, or possibly the coma often caused by attempting to ingest undiluted Nuvrà: the perfectly pitch-black mineral that Sand Trancers found conducted and amplified their powers. Many zebras believed that the abundant black rock was the cause for the Gift, as evidenced that parents who handled it bore children with the Gift strong in them. The Sara ancestor Zuri was famously descended from had bolstered her growing reputation by finding one of the largest veins of Nuvrà near the city of Abraxis, southwest of Otoul.
"Oh, you're awake." Druva's voice came from the exit, and Zuri turned to see Druva smirking. "You should see to your hair before you leave, by the way."
Zuri raised up a hoof to her mane, which was very unkempt and wild. She sighed, and looked back at Druva. "Where were you, and the others?"
"Breakfast!" Druva said, grinning. "In Pony inns, they serve breakfast until the middle hour of the day. With our group, we have a room set aside to eat in, and it's not just those protein pack."
Zuri's belly rumbled with the idea of food. Since being captured by ponies, Zuri had only eaten the protein packs Gustav had been bemoaning earlier. The thin, filling, but boring slabs of food got increasingly intolerable with every chewy bite. Thankfully, Zuri found she didn't have to take very many bites before she felt like her belly was full of thick mud. "You didn't stir when we tried to wake you, and I guessed you just needed some extra sleep. I also wanted to beat Snippet out the door: these ponies make some delicious breakfast foods. You've got to try some!"
Well, it was better than yellow squares that felt like bricks inside you. Zuri adjusted her hair quickly, using trancing after Druva made sure the door was locked. She then followed Druva down a flight of stairs, into a large dining hall. One whole wall was made entirely out of glass, and displayed the huge, lit up dancefloor to the diners. Several other tenant-ponies gave the two zebra mares a wide berth, and muttered darkly something about foreign hoofservants and dirty errand-sluts. "We're in here," Druva explained, guiding Zuri to a door and leading her into a fairly long private room, with one long dining table and a counter with many different and colorful foods atop it. The mercenaries were already there, eagerly eating their fill and conducting loud, raucous conversation with each other.
Zuri examined the food choices on the counter. Lush greens, little cakes, fresh, warm pastries, and the like. With Druva's coercion, she added a few pastries and a pile of salad onto her plate. She carried the plate in her mouth, and rested it on the table on the left of Uzul, at the end of the table. She found the food, at first tentatively licking at the leaves and nibbling on the pastries, to be very good. It was, however, very filling, and found her plate not at all cleared by the time she was full.
After everyone had finished, Rainbow Dash spoke to Zuri about finding the Gau-Aer. The pegasus explained that there was another district almost entirely occupied by zebra, buffalo, and zebra-pony half-breeds, whom Rainbow referred to as zonies. The whole district was paid for chiefly by Filthy Rich, who apparently took his "pick of the litter" as Rainbow called it, from the district as underpaid factory workers and personal hoofservants, offering them marginally better food and shelter than their dingy homes, which was much cheaper than hiring ponies.
This particular part of Paradise City was called the striped shanty, and was the most likely place to find a zebra of any kind or trade. Though Rainbow gave her clear directions on how to get there and back, she also warned her: it was also the center of a lot of disruption: ponies who made a living doing illicit things also lived there; the rundown houses and security systems almost exclusively on the perimeter of the district allowed for a lot of freedom of movement to the resident outlaws, which were not all ponies, to Zuri's chagrin.
"On the bright side, there aren't any dragons running around." Rainbow said in a cheerful tone. "All you have on Palosol are those giant insect hordes and snakes that live in the deserts."
"They are called Formannecol, and Ophidum" Zuri corrected her.
"I can remember Oun-Drii and mans, but not that. Sorry. One language is enough for me, though Rarity and Fluttershy somehow both know french..." Rainbow trailed off for a moment, before returning to the present. "Anyway! I'm sending some of you out in groups today. Zuri, you're off to the striped shanty, to see if you can gain passage back to your home, with Druva, the changeling, Uzul, and Moondancer."
They all grouped together in one part of the room, Chrys distancing herself from the rest a little, and shooting Zuri a sour look. "Then, I'm going with Copic and Macintosh to the noble district," Rainbow continued. "We'll need to see about Filthy Rich's contracts. I'll take Rock Polish with me for extra defense. Be safe, okay?" She said the last part to Uzul as she passed him, walking to the exit. "Rest of you, I dunno, enjoy yourselves! Just don't get arrested. One jailbreak a week, please!"
"Why did she leave us with Chrys?" Druva asked to Zuri in a whisper. "She doesn't look very happy about it."
"It may have been because I said she couldn't come home with me disguised as a zebra." Zuri answered, as the changeling gave a huff, and sat broodily in one corner as the rest of her group stood about.
"You did? I told her same thing. What was your excuse?"
"She just wouldn't fit in. Zebras would discover her sooner or later, and that is not an excuse, it is a fact."
"That's the same thing I said." Druva replied, and they exchanged between them a mutually grim, worried look, that was eventually directed towards Chrys, who had her back to them.
Aloud, Zuri called to her. "Chrys, let's go. We might be able to find the Gau-Aer quickly."
Chrys made an unhappy noise, but turned around and buzzed along with the rest of them.
"Won't there be a panic, if someone sees Chrys?" Uzul asked, looking concernedly down at the changeling. "No one noticed her before because she was in the middle of a big band of mercenaries, now it's just us..."
"Just you and the bug, I get it." Chrys said, glaring up at him as her eyes flashed, and then she was almost at his eye level. She had assumed mint-green colors, with a harp on her flank, and bright yellow eyes. The cheery colors went out of place with the moody expression on her face and her hunched posture. "I saw this pony in the lobby but she hasn't come downstairs," was her only explanation
"What's her problem, again?" Moondancer asked Zuri.
"She wants a home," Zuri answered.
The group exited the inn, with the disguised Chrys trudging along with them. Zuri took the path as Rainbow had directed her, further down the street, taking several twists and turns, the quality of buildings around them changing with every street. Knowing Zuri couldn't read the pony language, Rainbow had repeated the directions to Uzul and Druva, allowing them to teach her a little about the ponies' written language and numeral system, though by the time they had reached the striped shanty, Zuri still couldn't remember the pony word for thirteen. She pulled her hood over her head, hiding as much of her body as possible.
This district didn't seem to be much better than the one on the far edge of the city that the train had entered through. In fact, it was somehow worse. Zebra families lived in little hovels, tiny shacks built on the sides of larger buildings, occupied by more zebras than Zuri could count. Despite the huge pony city looming all around them, Zuri began to notice the familiarities of a zebric civic. Some families had placed figures and runes on the dingy walls of their homes, symbols for defending against the hostile spirits, bad luck, and enemies. There were statues, painted messily, around which zebra fillies and colts danced and played, the statues hued out of stone, and a few of shaped metal, usually in the shape a tall adult zebra or the shape of an honored guardian spirit.
Then, as she went further in, there were houses more distinct, a little less packed, and there were also tall-ceilinged shacks, this time with the huge, brown-coated Buffalo living inside. Zuri had seen Buffalo before many times. They lived separate from the zebra, but there was little conflict between the two of them, mostly because buffalo often preferred seclusion, in small nomadic packs rather than huge cities. They had their own forms of magic, but used it very little, preferring to rely on their strength and size to accomplish things, rather than the mix of physical and magical strength the zebra honed to the fine art known as sand trancing.
Some of the buffalo watched Zuri and her little group move along, nodding slowly. More and more zebra also took notice, and began speaking amongst each other. A few young ones ran about, spreading the news of newcomers. The striped shanty was not large, but it was very crowded. Zuri could have sworn she saw the flash of that red cloak again, down an alleyway, but that was not where Rainbow Dash's instructions told them to go. She had advised to remain in the open as much as possible. Some buffalo and zebra were honorable, and some were not. Rainbow hadn't known where they would find Gau-Aer when in the shanty, so Uzul decided it would be best to inquire after them.
Zuri made sure that her blue stripes would be hard to see under her cloak, knowing that not all zebras here would be so welcoming to someone with her particular disfiguration as Uzul or Druva. They walked up to a zebra perched on a porch, where the rails of a bannister had broken away. She was watching them come closer as she rubbed a small metal object between her forehooves.
"Pardon me, young miss," Uzul began in the zebric tongue. She wasn't exactly young, but not elderly either. "I was wondering whether you had the Gau-Aer here."
The mare blinked at him. "I haven't them," she answered, putting down the object, which appeared to be some strange toy. "Barxie has them, sir Arbiter. Barxie Gan-Dis Projo."
"Gan-Dis..." Druva repeated. "Is Barxie a governor?"
"No, good Non-Ni." The zebra answered, acknowledging her earrings. "Barxie is no true governor, but he is our leader."
"His name is odd." Druva commented, tilting her head to one side. "Is he a half-breed?"
"I'd be careful, young Non-Ni." Said another zebra, a male, who looked about the mare's age as he sat down next to her. "Barxie does not like rumors like that to be said. You would be wise to go see him next, before dawdling any further, else someone else come up with a fantasy about why you zebras are here. I can smell the homeland on you, and so will he."
"That one, back there, he will want to meet." Said the mare, raising a hoof to point at Zuri directly. "I can see her eyes. Her eyes are bright like that of the Temperenia."
"I doubt very much I am such a one." Zuri replied, flatted though she was. Temperenia, or Stormrunners, were Sand Trancers who had mastered the highest school of trancing: spirit travel, which entailed flight via ethereal wings and, according to legend, manipulation of time and space. Such things were, to Zuri, only myths. Even the Dunnur could not travel through time, much less fly. It was possible Zuri's famed ancestor had achieved it, but she doubted it. Only the spirits could travel through time and between worlds. They were the only true Stormrunners.
"Oh no? Let me get a closer look at you. Might you be a Mansa, lady?" The male asked, and Zuri nodded slowly, not moving her body.
"I would rather keep my face veiled for the moment, I am sorry." Zuri said quietly. "You will only receive my family's crest." This was unavoidable; her family crest was etched into the locket clamp that held her cloak around her neck.
"Stars and stripes..." Mumbled the male, his eyes going wide as they traveled down to her crest. "My fair lady Sara, forgive my bluntness." He bowed low, as did the female.
Zuri did not need this kind of special treatment this soon. "I will not, for that is not bluntness, it is curiosity, which shouldn't be punished. Please, stand up straight," she pleaded.
"Spoken as a true Sara descendant!" Said the mare, as if in awe, as she held her head low and respectful.
"Sara?" Came another voice, making Zuri turn. "Why do you two old ones speak of Sara? ...Glo'dei above, she is! A sara descendant is among us!"
Oh, here we go. Zuri thought, exasperated, as the zebras on either side of the street hissed and whispered to one another with increased excitement.
"Tell Barxie!" One voice shouted. "Someone go to Barxie, tell him of the guest we have!"
"Now you see why I wanted to get away for a little bit." Zuri muttered to Uzul on the side, making sure her face was as hidden as possible. "It is even worse in Otoul."
The group was urged along the dirty street, directed by several eager zebras coming out of the woodwork, pushing them towards one house that was, for the shanty, particularly large and clean. Zuri recognized the runes on the front of the home as standing for master and safeguard. Barxie must be well respected or feared, she guessed.
The door opened before them, and Uzul, Druva, Zuri, and the disguised Chrys, who seemed to be in a better mood with all these excited zebras around her, entered quickly to avoid the crowd. The zebra that was apparently Barxie was lean, almost gaunt, with the typical style of mane altered slightly, so that the ends of his hairs were drooping slightly, giving him a slightly punkish look to go along with the slight smirk on his face. He was flanked by a zebra on one side, and a very burly buffalo on the other.
"Lousy me!" Barxie exclaimed in a strange, slurring accent, at first speaking in the ponies' tongue, with a twang similar to Macintosh's or the colonist ponies. "What am I faced with? Three kin and a yew-knee-corn!" He grinned cockily at the mask Chrys wore, who smiled back at him, unafraid. "You three, uh, valce zerr linagu?"
"Vaurei," Uzul replied, confirming that they, indeed, spoke the zebric tongue. "We were hoping to find Gau-Aer."
"Yes, well, patience is a virtue!" Barxie replied passively to him, his eyes going back to Chrys with a wide smile. "I gotta introduce myself to your little troupe, first! What about this one? What's a pretty, pretty pony like you doin' here, huh?"
"I am a traveller, traveling with them for the moment." Chrys answered without batting an eyelid, wearing her mint-green pony body like it wasn't a second skin, but her only one, flicking her tail absentmindedly.
"You gon' hitch a ride, too?" Barxie asked, his tone and movements full of energy. "A pretty yew-knee-corn puttin' her trust in a bunch'a Gau-Aer, who usually don't see a sweet young thang for a month or sum'at, unless they got a one with 'em? You play a dangerous game, girlie, but yer brave! I like that, especially in a dollie."
He turned his attention to Uzul, still babbling. "And this one! It's been a long time since I seen an Arbiter out here! You don't make many rounds to Paradise, no?"
"Don't see much reason to, no." Uzul replied, a little put off by Barxie's animated behavior.
"Nah, nah, 'course not, but you don't KNOW what slives get away with in my side of town! We could use a couple of you running around, really." Barxie continued, laughing, still carelessly using the pony language like it were a least-favorite toy. He rounded upon Druva, looking her up and down from multiple angles. "Lousy stars, lousy me!" He kept saying, before he finally focused his eyes on hers, ignoring her frown. "A mighty darling dollie you are! Non-ni, and alchemist, I guess, from your goldies?" He pointed at her rings, to which she nodded silently. "Got plenty o' you here, brewin' stuff this way and brewin' stuff thataway... Got little shacks going bang and essence of nausea turnin' the streets blue!"
"Lots of youths, then?" Druva asked, as Zuri thought back to the ponies vomiting blue glop in the Rock Pile. "They like that brew."
"Oh yes. One little kid brought a bag of sweet cakes to my friend Nujog here..." He patted the zebra on the shoulder, who didn't move. "Poor slob was puking all over himself and his dollie every day for the week, right Nujog?"
"Right," Nujog replied in a monotone voice.
"Right I'm right! You alchemists can make nasty stuff, and you may make medicines, but I really remember when one Non-ni gave me a brew that made me break out in hives, where Glo'dei don't shine. And, best for last..."
Zuri took a deep breathe, prepared her temper so that she could take a couple jabs, and waited for Barxie to start on her. "Ooh. We got a mystery mare here. A stranger with no name, a cloaked figure, enemy at the gates, snarky snorty sneak thief? I heard the shouting outside... You're a Sara descendent, yes?" He asked, pressing his muzzle closer to hers than she would have liked. His hooves reached out, and took hold of the clasp on her cloak, pulling it and Zuri closer and examining it deeply. "My my my, you are a Sara, I know your symbol anywhere. The spiral star of Sara, super idolized magician extraordinaire! What does that make you, 'sides scared to show your face?" Barxie looked into her cyan eyes again, his own orange ones glimmering slightly. "Well, there's a time n' place to take off your cloak, which will happen, good lady trancer. I am quite a ladies stallion, as the pony saying goes." He gave her a lecherous smirk, one that made her fume up under her cloak. We need him to get to the Gau-Aer... Only that.
"Sorry to disappoint, girlies, but that'll all have to wait fer later!" He walked back to his position between the zebra and the Buffalo, and focussed on Uzul again. "So, what can I do you for again?"
"We wanted to find Gau-Aer." Uzul repeated, irritated.
"Ahh, well, well..." He began nodding and shaking his head apparently at random. "Well, gee, that's a funny thing. Gau-Aer ain't bein' let in, and a little birdie told me it's because someone don't want no zebra leavin'." He grinned at them again. "Some pony wants to get a gun and bung you up, mister arbiter. I can't do shit until the bigwigs up above decide to let my private nation do trade."
"Melose," Zuri cursed. "Held back by ponies—again."
"Does the mysterious Sara have old business with them pastels up above?" Barxie asked, in a slightly patronizing tone. "Well, you may be able to go up there an' tug on their tails, girlie, but I don't want that comin' back to me." He shook his head exaggeratively, like someone intoxicated. "No ma'am, you'll have to figure that out by your lonesome."
Suddenly, the buffalo next to him rumbled into speech. He had been staring at Zuri's face for some time, and now spoke loudly. "Hey, Barxie, she's not a whole zebra."
"Whazzat, Skote?" Barxie asked, looking from Zuri to the buffalo.
"She is not a whole zebra!" He repeated, and bellowed commandingly at her. "Get that hood off, girl!"
"Now, Skote!" Barxie snapped, and Skote fell silent. The zebra's tone was much more normal, now, less flamboyant, and more clean. "Is that any way to talk to a Sara descendant? I know you romp about with some of the little whores we got toddling around here, but that don't mean you own EVERY zebra girl on Palosol!" He looked back at Zuri inquisitively, grinning at her. "Have a name?"
"Zuri Oun-Drii Sara," Zuri replied, fearlessly.
"Liar," the buffalo boomed. "No sara descendant would romp with a pony. That's a half-breed, I'd know them anywhere!"
"Only because you like bending them over barrels anywhere!" Barxie barked at him, turning back to Zuri. "Oun-Drii, eh? To prove that, you'd have to show me your body, so I may see your crest upon your self, y'know. So, if you don't mind taking off that cloak..."
Zuri knew there were no ponies about. Therefor, should an assumed half-breed be met with contempt, or even violence, she could properly defend herself. Nodding defeatedly, she undid the clasp, and let the cloak fall to the floor. Skote stamped, barking that he was right. Barxie was speechless for several seconds. Zuri turned to she him her flankside, her family crest evident in black on the blue, and Skote fell silent.
"I am not a half-breed. I was born this way, from Xoda Oun-Drii Sara and her husband, Gainu." Zuri said, in the powerful noble tone she had been taught when attempting to command or address a group.
"Oh lousy, lousy me... Skote, you peabrained odilia!" Barxie swore at him, several times, and Zuri was surprised to see the hulking buffalo retreat a little, though Barxie was dwarfed by him in size.
"A thousand apologies, Sara dollie..." Barxie said, turning back to Zuri. "Skote's used to having the mares under him, instead of standing on his face."
"I can see that," Zuri muttered, watching as the buffalo lowered his head, not meeting her eyes.
"But Glo'Dei burn me... I don't see any pure zebra with colors like yours!" Barxie exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. "Well, I wish I could do more for you, Sara dollie, but I'm still tied up by the bigwigs. If I piss 'em off, the cybercops come crackin' down, and they crack down hard."
"Can you at least give us advice on how to get to them, these 'bigwigs'?" Uzul asked him.
"Well, you'd hafta go tug their tails, like I said, but that means gettin' close to them, and the only way THAT'S happening is at one of their big, fancy gatherings. When they're all in their homes, they got guards out the ass on every corner. But their parties are a bit more available to the public. The biggest wig is Filthy Rich, and he's–"
"He's probably the one who doesn't want us to leave." Druva finished, groaning. "Might not have forgiven us for what you did with his daughter, Zuri."
"Oooh, this be a tale I gotta hear!" Barxie exclaimed, leaning in close. "You lead an adventurous life, pretty Oun-Drii?"
"I've had a bit more adventure than I prefer, lately." Zuri replied coldly, taking a few steps back as she quickly refastened her cloak around her form.
"Ah, well, I can try again later." Barxie shrugged. "In the meantime, maybe you three'd like a little taste of home? Datroi!" He looked around, tapping a hoof impatiently. Before too long, another zebra stumbled into view, this one wearing the silver earrings and neckbands appropriate for a Scal-Re, the slave class. Datroi bowed low, not taking her dark violet eyes off the ground at Barxie's feet. "Get my guests some food. All of them. Even give that pretty pony some decent greens."
Datroi gave an obedient nod of the head, and dash out of the room as fast as possible. "That was a Scal-Re." Uzuk muttered, looking at Barxie with wide eyes. "How do you have a professionally conditioned slavegirl, here? How would you get ahold of a Scal-Re in the middle of all the ponies?"
"Gau-Aer, of course." Barxie said, proudly. "The little slug is useful, and always follows orders, like any good Scal-Re."
"One shouldn't abuse their Scal-Re verbally." Zuri mused out loud. "'Tis bad form."
"Do my ears deceive me?" Barxie snarked, another smirk playing on his lips. "An Oun-Drii is commenting to ME on etiquette! Tis bad form, eh? Tis worse form to badmouth an Oun-Drii, which you can be executed for. Well, tis a good thing we don't work by the laws of our good cities in the desert." Barxie got much closer to Zuri than he had before, sneering at her. "This isn't Otoul, little blue-striped Oun-Drii. This is my world, baby, and don't you never talk to me about how I should run my world." His tone had become cold, commanding, and intimidating, but Zuri stood her ground, glaring into his eyes right back at him. Just as soon as his demeanor had changed, it changed again, as he straightened up and smiled at the lot of them. "So! How about that food? Datroi!" He shouted again, and this time Datroi tripped, and almost fell, attempting to balance a platter on her back, as she entered, her legs wobbling as she settled the tray down before Uzul and Zuri.
"Go ahead, eat! We're always willing to show a little kindness, here and there." Barxie grinned, after ordering for Datroi to leave the room.
Not always... Zuri mused, lowering her head to sniff the leaves. She knew this kind, they were from a type of brushwood that grew almost exclusively in Tedus. She had, of course, to check for any poisons or anything in the leaves. After Barxie's little lapse in personality, she decided she would never completely trust the zebra as long as she had to put up with him. If she could, she would also show him just what a big mistake it was to badmouth her.
Still, the leaves smelt of no foul, and Uzul was already gulping some down with a happy look on his face. "It has been a while since I've eaten the food from our side of the world." He commented, smiling. "I loved this Tedus plant, as a child."
"Lucky guess on the slug's part!" Barxie said, chuckling. "You probably had breakfast already, but I thought a little snack would do no harm."
The leaves were not filling, but their flavor was sweet, and encouraged Zuri to eat more than she should, so she stopped, hoping to the stars that Barxie hadn't an alchemist dribbling odorless sleeping potion on every platter of food. When Uzul, Zuri and Druva had stopped, with Chrys having swallowed a very large amount, Barxie shouted for Datroi to come back in, which she did, picking up the tray in her teeh and darting back out. "Well! Now we've shared words and food, the two niceties our culture requires when one visits another in his home." His eyes went to Zuri for a moment. "I think you know what you're looking for, so, you can see yourselves–" There was a sudden loud crash from the doorway Datroi had been flitting in and out of, and Barxie let out a very foul word. "That idiot girl!" He snapped, running through the doorway and dragging a screaming Datroi with him. He began to strike her across the face, but when she wriggled free from his grasp, Skote bashed her to the floor, to let his master continue with the punishment. "Can't. Even. Clean. Dishes!" Barxie shouted, hitting her with every word. "Shut up, you stupid slug! You four can go. I guess I'll see you later when you solve that problem of yours. Stop squirming, slug!"
Zuri was out the door first, for fear of losing her temper and getting on Barxie's bad side. It wouldn't do to have him as an enemy when they needed him to manage the Gau-Aer. A Gan-Dis' job was to make decisions and organize laws, so he had almost much say over her leaving with a Gau-Aer sled as Filthy Rich. The house was still surrounded by zebras, who were attempting to greet the Sara descendant all at once. "Let's get out of here." Uzul muttered, wading through the crowd with Zuri right behind him. The screams of Datroi had been drowned out as soon as the door had shut, but they still rang in Zuri's head. That kind of treatment of Scal-Re should only be necessary when the slave was insulting your family, instead of fumbling with dishes. What had stayed in Zuri's mind most was the words Barxie used: "idiot girl". He was about as bad as Ramrod, but the worst part was that this could be thought of a zebra. It served as a reminder that ponies were not the only source of cruelty Zuri had observed.
———
"Great, just great." Rainbow Dash said, flapping her wings to fly slowly from one side of the room and back. Zuri and company had returned to the inn, to find Rainbow Dash and her own group there as well, discussing the problems they'd had. Uzul proceeded to retell what Barxie had said. "So Filthy Rich now has every exit out of the city walled off. The space docks are closed, Gau-Aer off-limits, train stations condemned, even the security shield has been put up around the whole city! Where's a party cannon when you need one?"
"We're going to have to confront Filthy Rich directly," Uzul concluded.
"That's what we were just complaining about: we can't." Copic Pen replied, apparently exasperated. "The coward has the whole upper district on high alert, with security checkpoints in front of every club and store he goes into. We can't touch his daughters, they're holed up there with him. He's got a guard detail on him, we saw, and there's no way we'd be allowed close enough."
Zuri could think of several things they could do to solve this problem, but almost all of them required trancing. "Is it too much of a risk to try and sneak in on the rooftops, or is there some kind of disguise we can use?" She asked.
"Yeah, it's not a really smart idea," Rainbow Dash explained. "To go sneaking around at night, we'd need permission from the Shrouded Blade: a gang of 'honorable' thieves, who own most the streets at night. They get big money and pardon from ESSUG whenever they patrol the city for them, since anyone doing anything illegal without their permission is going to get themselves hurt. I don't really feel like dealing with any more big half-organized bands of sneaks right now, anyway. I already have my own, complete with temps and love interests!"
"That may be the only choice we have," Rock Polish said grudgingly. "I can't see another way we can really sneak in. I really doubt any unicorn with us could do a sufficient disguise spell."
"What makes you say that?" Moondancer asked, looking insulted.
It was Copic who answered her. "Well, if you were skilled enough for that, you wouldn't be in this line of work, would you?" The mare looked to be thinking on it for a moment, then nodded with conceding agreement.
"Ugh, I guess we do have to work something out with them, don't we?" Rainbow said, landing next to Uzul and snuggling up against him. "Double-ugh: last I heard they liked Zebras as much as we like Filthy Rich right now."
Uzul held a hoof around her, giving her a light affectionate squeeze. "I'm sure we can manage something. We've gotten this far, after all."
"Oh, and triple-ugh, too." Druva interjected. "I think if Zuri has to spend one more minute in Barxie's vicinity, she's going to have to kill something."
Zuri went a little red at the amused grins that cracked on nearly everyone's faces. "Was it that obvious that I didn't like him?"
"Well, I wanted to kick him in his privates until he was a dollie himself. He's annoying to anyone." Druva replied, smiling at her. "It was just obvious on your face, despite how much he may have intentionally ignored it."
"He was that bad, huh?" Rainbow asked, looking at Zuri. "He probably won't be harder to deal with than the Shrouded Blade, though. They're not really annoying, so much as creepy and untrustworthy."
"Do they beat their servants in front of guests?" Zuri's query was with a sardonic tone.
"Not to my knowledge. Barxie did that?"
"Right in front of us," Uzul affirmed, rubbing his cheek against Rainbow Dash's head absentmindedly. "He probably did it entirely to set an example, try and make us take a hint not to mess with him."
"Are you trying to do the same thing, there?" Zuri asked, managing a smile herself as Uzul and Rainbow exchanged an embarrassed look.
Rainbow shifted her position slightly, but didn't really move away from Uzul. "Um, getting back to business, now. I... guess we ought to go see the Shrouded Blade, then, if that's the only thing we can do. I can't think of anything else, so, that's what we're gonna do! We should go as an exclusively pony group, so you three can stay here."
Rainbow Dash chose Rock Polish, Moondancer, and two more well-armed ponies to walk with her, while Zuri relaxed back in her room. It was then that she realized Chrys hadn't come with her, and had not said a word while the others discussed what to do next in the room previous. On a hunch, she moved to the window, and sure enough, as Rainbow's party was departing up one street, there was the minty green mane of the disguised changeling, going another direction. Zuri thought for a second that she could be looking at a pony, and the doppelganger was still inside, until the mare turned her head and looked up at the inn. She wasn't looking at Zuri, but Zuri was looking at her eyes, as they flashed from the yellow of the disguise to green.
"Where is Chrys going?” Zuri questioned Druva, who was laying on her bed and perusing a strange magazine she had picked up in the street.
“She’s not in here? Where do you see her?” The alchemist stood, and walked over to the window next to Zuri.
“She just walked around that corner over there, I wonder what she’s doing.”
“Probably best if someone follows her,” Druva muttered, looking meaningfully at Zuri, who frowned at this. “Well, better you than me! You’re the fully trained sand trancer, remember? You know how to handle yourself even without the mans.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll go.” Zuri sighed, shaking her head as she picked her cloak up from off her bed.
“You’re going after that stupid bug?” Snippet squeaked from her corner of the room, looking very insolent. “I’d just leave her and let the security bots do their job. One less freak to carry around.”
“I wonder what Rainbow would say if we let you wander off without a clue to where you were going.” Druva returned with a glare. “Maybe we should just leave you behind in a bad side of town to see, hm?” Snippet hid her face behind a book, grumbling something incoherent.
“Here, I’ll come with you!” Druva offered, taking and fastening her own cloak on her body. “It will be a good chance to see more of the city, and maybe set things right with Chrys if we catch up to her.”
So the two zebras left the inn room, and descended the outside stairs, both of them feeling a little uncomfortable as the ever-present receptionist android watched them leave. They looked around a moment, before Zuri identified the direction Chrys had gone was to the north.
Hundreds of ponies moved along the street in either direction, most all of them carrying supplies with their own bodies, but many others stood atop longer, flatter hovercraft, made apparently for moving cargo along the street in larger amounts than an equine or two could pull. Zuri could smell the clean, partially clean, and unclean bodies moving around her. Ponies didn't give her a second look, maybe because they thought looking directly at a zebra could cause some terrible fate to befall them. She and Druva got bumped and pushed into more than a few times. She also heard a few words spat in her direction, but they were hardly understandable in the constant din of the busy district, as she waded through the crowds. She caught glimpses of a mint-green mane in between heads, which was how she knew she was still on the right road.
She passed many buildings, gazing up at several in irresistible curiosity. She went directly under several of the humongous signs displaying videos and news programs, one which was blared loudly above everything else, and caused the shifting movement of the ponies in the crowd to slow as their attention was diverted.
"Attention, attention, ponies of Paradise City. The arrival of our beloved Princess Twilight Sparkle is scheduled to be the end of this week. All ESSUG-employed ponies will receive extra vacation time to celebrate. Prepare yourselves well, citizens: our princess will bring four of her honored friends with her, four of the heroes of Equestria! Pay your respects, do your duty, act for your princesses! Act to support the frontier effort, so that they see Palosol at its best!"
The announcement was over, and the ponies all around them picked up their pace again, and Zuri and Druva followed suit. They hadn’t gone much farther, when Druva froze, her eyes going wide. Zuri looked at her companion to ask what was the matter, when she suddenly felt a cold ring against the back of her neck. Her stomach felt very much like lead, just then.
"Move towards the closest alleyway, stripeys," a voice hissed in her ear. "Don't even try that crazy ninja stuff."
Zuri didn't recognize the voice, but did as it told, the end of the gun remaining against the back of her head as she moved between two buildings. No one had seen their predicament, or if they had, they hadn't cared, which Zuri thought was more likely. If there were other zebras in the crowd, they were too harassed by the ponies around them or didn't dare try to help for fear of greater punishment falling upon them. The light from the bright sun was blocked by the tall walls that Zuri was now in between, with the gun barrel bumped against the back of her head.
"Turn around, stripey." The voice ordered, and Zuri turned her head, slowly. An unfamiliar stallion stood there, his coat dark brown, one eye of crimson, one of a paler shade of red, probably half-blind. He was aiming a menacing-looking shotgun right at Zuri’s face, at the sight of which Zuri felt an urge to bolt, but there was nowhere to go.
The three stallions had Druva and her backed against a wall, and now moved closer. He raised up a hoof, quickly, towards Zuri's face. Instinctively she batted it away, but the pony to the pegasus' left grabbed it, and rolled her onto her back. The leader loomed over her, smirking as he held her down with his forehooves atop her chest, his weapon still aiming at her. Fear began to flood through Zuri's body, showing on her face, as the two companions gave a cruel chuckle, as the stallion repositioned himself, and lowered his head.
She struggled and tried to shout, but found her voice muffled, suddenly, by his lips pressed forcibly against hers. Panic was making her heart race, she knew exactly what he was planning to do with his two compatriots. He stared into her face, she could see him enjoying this much more than she was. His lips were squishy, and to an unfamiliar and unwilling partner like Zuri, they made her want to vomit, just as much as the thought of what the pegasus was going to do to her.
He pulled away, and laughed in her face. "Go on, stripey nag!" He snarled at her, his friends holding her hooves to the ground as he stood up straight. "Go on, cry, I know you want to do it! Cry, scream, make my day. None of that trancing bullshit to help you now, huh?" Zuri struggled uselessly against the two stallions holding her down, and they laughed. Her panic and fear had made its way onto her face, as Splint Mail must have seen. He began laughing at her again, and then spat in her face.
"Hey now, Splint Mail ." One of the stallions said in a voice mocking protest. "That ain't right. What would the boss say if she found you spitting in another zebra whore's face?"
Splint Mail let out a bark of laughter. "Whore? Whores get paid, Scattershot. I wouldn't pay this nag if she charged in sperm count." He struck Zuri hard across the face, and then landed the same hoof on her stomach. The zebra cried out in pain, and Splint Mail cut her off with another forced kiss before pulling away, holding Zuri's face roughly between his forehooves. "So, consider this a charity donation, stripey."
Zuri scowled defiantly back at his triumphant grin, trying her hardest to not show anything more than hatred, but Splint Mail's hoof had caught her harshly on the muzzle, which she could feel bleeding. Her belly throbbed with the harsh blow delivered to her, and Zuri scowled through the tears of pain, and fear. It was the fear he must have been after, she knew him seeing it would strengthen him, his superiority over her.
"Ah, shit, Splint, she's bleeding." Said the other stallion besides Scattershot sounding a little disappointed. "That just ruins anything with the mouth."
"Don't be a wuss, Fire Brigade." The leader replied, still smirking down at Zuri's tearful face. "Gotta send a message to that little zebra brain in there."
Zuri tried to say something, but it only came out as a feeble croak, immediately made fun of by the three stallions. "Okay, hold still, nag." The stallion growled, as he placed his forehooves on either side of her head. Zuri focussed every fiber of her being on ignoring the thing between her assailant’s hindlegs, and so let her tears fall more openly. "Don't cry, stripey: I'm gonna show you what you're good for!"
Zuri closed her wet eyes, and tried to be brave. She felt Splint Mail lower his body, press... Everything... Closer.
And then he wasn’t close, and he wasn't on top of her. There was a sudden agonized howling, and Zuri felt herself be slid across the paved ground, suddenly without anyone holding her. She opened her eyes, blinking the tears out of them so she could see clearly. Her nose was bleeding onto the ground, and on the other side of the alleyway lay her would-be violater, gurgling. At first Zuri thought he was choking, but then saw that he was holding his forehooves over his crotch, all of which was covered in blood. A limp, bloody object lay nearby, and Zuri didn't have to look at it to know what it was. Scattershot and Brigade were also close by, one unconscious, the other struggling to stand up with two broken legs.
A figure stood over the stallion, glowering down at him. She held the handle of a long, beautiful, but bloodied knife in her teeth. Zuri rubbed her eyes weakly with a hoof to get rid of the lasting blurriness. It was a pony standing there, a mare, with a pretty, light-brown coat, and smooth dark brown hair held together in a band. She wore a long red, gold-accented cloak, that billowed slightly with the wind through the alley. Her pink eyes were focussed carefully on Splint Mail's pitiful form. She wiped the blood from her shining knife on the pegasus' coat, and then stepped over him.
"Maybe you'll do better as a guard if you’re a eunuch," she growled coldly, kicking Splint Mail in the face to shut him up. “Not even a coin purse on any of you for my trouble! You guys just suck at this kind of thing. If there's one thing I hate, it's a stallion who thinks he can get away with treating a girl like that." She said, more or less to Zuri as she walked up to her. "Did he get at you? It seemed like he was just getting started when I swooped in, you okay?"
Zuri stared confusedly up at her. This mare spoke with a curious, softer accent, similar to how some zebras did when speaking the pony language. She offered a hoof, and Zuri took it, standing up on shaky legs, as the last of her tears fell from her face as she sniffled, attempting to regain full control of her emotion. Finally, she answered her rescuer, "N-no, he just–he just kissed me, and rubbed his thing..." She stopped speaking, as she looked back at the bloody lump next to the huddled form of the neutered stallion. Zuri sat back a moment, tried to take a few deep breaths, and then threw up. It was probably the after effect of all that emotion hitting her at once. Crying did make her nauseous, that plus everything else that had just happened. Getting hit in the stomach, a headache from the punch, the fact that she was almost raped… she retched again.
"Yikes!" The mare shouted, shocked and concerned. “Not okay, then. You’re coming with me. Hate crime hurts, but I’ve rarely known it to cause nausea.” She lowered herself close to the floor, and helped prop Zuri up, more or less carrying her on her back. Druva lay nearby, having been knocked around by one of the stallions before they closed in on Zuri. She was now rolling over, wincing and bearing a bruise on one cheek.
“Oh, great, another mystery rescuer.” Druva mumbled, looking up at the mare helping keep the nauseous Zuri on all four hooves. “What’s the word for the trope used in a bunch pony stories. It means a deity from technology, or something?”
“Deus ex Machina, you mean,” the mare said, grinning down at her. “Can you walk? I’ve got a place not far from here. Your friend is having some trouble keeping her lunch down, though.”
“Melose,” Druva cursed, standing up quickly as she saw Zuri’s tear-streaked, bloody-nosed, queasy face. “Zuri, they didn’t…” She herself looked nauseated at the idea.
Zuri swallowed before answering, “No, they didn’t. Please don’t talk about it.”
“Well, aren’t I such a saint?” Their rescuer said, as she guided them towards one of the shabby little buildings on one side of the street. Her tone suggested she thought saying this was very ironic. “Saving two virgin zebras from violation. I should get paid for this kinda thing, since I’m so good at it.”
“I’m not a virgin,” Druva objected, though went a little red after saying so.
“Well, this one is.” The mare said, gesturing to Zuri, whose slightly greened cheeks had also acquired a hue of red. “I can tell because she barfed when she looked at that poor sod’s… you know, items. I’ve noticed a habit of overreacting to the idea of adultery with your kind.” She pressed her hoof against a metal device on the front door of the building, and it swung open with a reassuring jingle of electric notes, apparently welcoming the mare home.
Druva eased herself into a nearby seat, gently nursing her collection of bruises. Apparently, she had gotten hit a lot of times by a very muscular stallion, but there was no blood. She smirked a little half-heartedly as the mare helped Zuri lie down on a mat, where she could calm her stomach down in peace. “It may be just her; she’s a noble among our kind. Got her first taste of rough treatment only a few days ago.”
“You don’t–” Zuri cut herself off, shaking her head slowly and waiting for the feeling of nausea to ease back down before attempting to speak again. “You don’t know what kind of treatment I’ve had, before coming out of Otoul, Druva. Not all Oun-Drii get to live lives of p–perfect luxury.”
“Oun-Drii, huh?” The mare said, having brought a short wooden bowl over to Zuri, full of steaming liquid. It was a very calm-smelling tea. “Just have a couple sips, should calm you down much like a Non-Ni brew. And where the hell is Star Drift?” She looked around the poorly maintained home, tapping her hoof impatiently. “He’s supposed to be back here by now, after dealing with those nutty mercs over by south-side.”
“Troubles of your own?” Druva asked, a little curious as she drew out a potion from her vuiol, which she had the sense to hide under the table from the red-cloaked mare’s view.
“You don’t know the half of it,” she sighed, sitting down on a slightly dusty pillow. “I’m Ruby, Ruby Nights. I run a band of honorable thieves, maybe you’ve heard of us. We’re kinda,” she gave a snort, “infamous.”
Druva dropped the bottle of dittany she had been holding in her mouth, which hit the table she sat at, and rolled around a little. “Do you mean you’re in the Shrouded Blade?”
“In it? I run the gang!” She said, looking a little offended. “Kept it going and everything for the past three years! Business is booming, but so is competition.”
“You seem very comfortable with telling us who you are.” Zuri managed, feeling a bit better now with the warm tea down her throat. “Wouldn’t the leader of a band of thieves try to keep themselves hidden, maybe never going out from their hideout?”
“Maybe the dumb, fat, lazy ones, yeah.” Ruby Nights replied, smirking back at Zuri. “But I know better than that. Nopony, and no zebra knows who the shadow master is, except those in the Shrouded Blade, and a select-few vendors and officials, for the legal end of our business, so I’ve got nothing to fear. If some whiny noble does happen to notice their wallet is missing, I’ve got my ESSUG friends to back me up! Much better than just prowling around in districts like these, sneaking money off bums and twisting the arms of Gau-Aer.”
“But you were searching those stallions for money back there, weren’t you?” Druva questioned, looking confused.
“Those guys were just haters. The whole CITY is mostly haters. Sometimes they go out in little bands, roughing up zebras, raping the pretty ones, killing the working ones, sometimes they start fires, and burn more than just zebra homes down.”
“To be honest, having met Barxie,” Zuri mumbled, “I think a couple of them need to be burned down.”
“Wait, Barxie?” Ruby looked at her with interest. “How do you know Barxie?”
“I just met him today,” Zuri answered, “we were trying to see if we could leave with the Gau-Aer, but they’re–”
“–Not allowed to enter the city?” Ruby finished, “I was there too, uh, sneaking into his house. Trouble is, I scared the crap out of his servant girl.” She chuckled nervously, “She dropped a plate she was washing, and I think he beat her for it.”
“That was you?” Druva interrogated, leaning over the table.
"Hey, I'm the one who should be saying that." Ruby countered, "I recognized you two from the group of mercs that came in from the train yesterday. Your party just called for a meeting with the shadow master, the leader of the Shrouded Blade, which is me, but they don't get to know that. I sent a decoy, in case your crew was hired to hunt me down. So, when I saw you, I thought it'd be nice to clear things up: Why are you in Paradise City?" The thief mare posed the question much more seriously than anything else she had said, so Zuri and Druva thought it best not to lie. They told her exactly why they were there, and what their current problem was, with Filthy Rich being out of reach.
"My problem too!" Ruby agreed, having sat back in a chair to listen. "That fat fuck ruins my business going to New Appleoosa with this dumb embargo, so, I guess I've got a reason to help you souls out."
"I guess that simplifies things a little," Druva muttered, sighing a bit as the Dictamnous brew she was sipping gradually removed the bruises and shallow cuts from her body. With Zuri's belly calmed down, Druva handed her the bottle, and the trancer too sighed as her nose healed itself more or less instantly, now the remaining blood from the wound dribbling onto the floor, before ceasing.
"Well, great, now Star Drift's got more of a mess to clean up than usual." Ruby muttered, smirking slightly. "And, maybe you could teach my alchemist how to do that, uh, what is your name?"
"Druva Non-Ni Altra," she answered, smiling at Ruby. "I think I might be able to do that."
"So you're a trancer, then?" Ruby turned to look at the trancer, who was standing up a little shakily, but regaining her sense of balance with every second. The mare motioned to Zuri's rings. "A Gau-Aer taught me to recognize them. You're a real sand trancer? I've never met one of them before. Aren't you supposed to be cherished and famous?"
"Funny," Zuri said, also smiling. Dictamnus brew always gave her a happier mood, despite what had happened. And right after almost getting raped, she needed that more than anything. "You meet the one trancer who has the least fame, but the greatest name to live up to."