Babs bit her lip, trying not to scream. The painkillers wore off and now she turned on her bedding, panting heavily. Each breath felt like a branding iron being put to her chest. The itch on her face was also unbearable; she couldn’t help but moan, scratching her forehead with her hoof.
“You okay?” Lightning Dust asked. She was sitting in the middle of the barn, watching Diamond Tiara, whose breath was uneven; from time to time she was moving frantically. Babs and Lightning had given her the medicines, but they weren’t sure about the effect – Diamond Tiara didn’t attack them anymore, but she still was either sleepy or half-conscious, unable to talk coherently.
“No,” Babs replied. Her vision was blurry and when she tried to get up, she staggered and collapsed again.
Lightning Dust approached her and put her hoof on Babs’ forehead, causing her to hiss. “You have a fever,” Lightning Dust said. “We’ll either have to change this place into a hospital or take you and Diamond to one.”
“No hospitals,” Babs whispered, feeling that her throat got dry. “I’d land in prison in no time…”
“Well, maybe it’s time to take responsibility for your actions,” Lightning Dust said, going back to her place and giving Diamond Tiara a worried look.
“Just like ya took responsibility for yours?” Babs asked, covering her head with her jacket. She shivered and changed her mind, trying to wrap herself in the jacket as tightly as possible.
“My case was different,” Lightning Dust replied. “I wouldn’t do that if it wasn’t for some little fuck who had to run away from the hospital because she couldn’t get that the guards would soon get this guy.”
“Yeah, right…” Babs sighed. “Mafia and the guards, they’re all the same.”
“They had all the evidence,” Lightning Dust said. “Including what they’ve gathered… umm… from you. I guess you know what happens to guys like him in prison… He’d be there, but you just had to…”
“I?” Babs tried to shout, but her voice was a coarse whisper. “Ya could’ve left it to me.”
“If you like being dead…” Lightning Dust shrugged. “I’ll tell you the truth, Seed: if I were to kill that guy today, I wouldn’t do that.”
“Great,” Babs muttered. “At least I wouldn’t have to put up with ya…”
“I can leave at any moment,” Lightning Dust said. “I can’t go back to that boat, but I’m sure there’s always one more town a little further down the track…”
Babs’ reply was interrupted by a fit of coughing.
“See?” Lightning Dust asked. “You won’t survive without me. Also, we can’t stay in that fridge.”
“But where can we go?” Babs asked; her breath was heavy and laborious. “Everypony is looking for us… In the swamps it’ll be even worse.”
“I know,” Lightning Dust said, looking at Diamond Tiara who opened one eye and groaned. “Are you okay, Diamond?”
“Moths,” Diamond Tiara whispered. “Everywhere. Silver… Spoon…”
“I guess she isn’t,” Babs said. “Can’t we just, like, light a fire here?”
“If you want to burn this place down or attract everypony in Dodge Junction…” Lightning Dust sighed. “You know, when you feel better we can go to the town at night and hide in some freight train…”
“If I get more painkillers, I can walk,” Babs muttered. “But dragging Diamond Tiara with us…”
Lightning Dust stood in front of her. “Do we really need to?” she asked, giving her a package with pills. “Did she even do something wrong? We can leave her here and drop an anonymous message at the sheriff’s office...”
Babs felt the pill almost getting stuck in her throat. Lightning Dust’s idea definitely was better than killing Diamond Tiara or making her go with them, yet Babs didn’t know what to do. If Diamond Tiara was found in Dodge Junction, it’d be clear that they were nearby. Not to mention that she could tell the guards everything about what happened... Babs was just opening her mouth to tell Lightning Dust about her doubts, when the pegasus raised her hoof, silencing her.
Babs stood, motionless, listening to the sounds coming from the outside. There was somepony there; she could hear the hoofsteps. She looked at Lightning Dust who took off and flew to the door as quietly as she could.
The painkillers slowly kicked in; Babs felt that she could walk again and creeped to the hole in the barn wall. Through it, she saw a light of a kerosene lamp held by somepony trotting towards the building.
With a creak, the door opened; Babs looked there and saw a cream mare with a sophisticated manestyle holding a lamp in her mouth. The mare stopped, seeing Diamond Tiara lying on the floor in the middle of the barn. She put the lamp on the ground and at the same moment Lightning Dust landed next to her, wrapped her wing around her neck, and put in on her mouth.
“No talking,” she whispered. “You can only nod or shake your head, get it?”
The mare nodded.
“Good. Are you the owner of this barn?”
Another nod. Lightning Dust smirked grimly, carefully watching Babs who limped towards their captive and looked into her eyes. The mare gave out a panicked moan.
“Do you live alone?” Lightning Dust asked. “And don’t lie to me. I see that you recognised my friend and know exactly what happened to the last pony with cherries on her flank she’d met. Am I clear?”
The mare nodded.
“Do you live alone?”
Nod.
“Good. As you can see, our friend isn’t in exactly good condition and she can’t stay in your barn. I guess you won’t object if we bring her to your house?”
The mare shook her head. Babs approached her. “No as ‘no I won’t object?’” she asked, glaring at her angrily.
The mare nodded, trying to move as far from Babs as possible, but Lightning Dust held her firmly. Babs sent her another smile and walked to Diamond Tiara. Despite the painkillers, she groaned, trying to lift her on her back. Diamond opened her eyes and slowly got up.
“Can you walk?” Babs asked.
Diamond Tiara nodded and took a shaky step forward. Lightning Dust smirked and turned to the mare. “As you can see, we’re in a bit of hurry. Why don’t you lead us to your house?”
Scootaloo approached the pony in front of her, glaring at him. Her wings spread, she raised her hoof. Archer ran to her and caught it.
“Don’t even try to fly away,” Archer muttered as clearly as it was possible with the crossbow in her mouth. “I may have stopped her from punching you, but I can still shoot you, you know...”
“I’m not gonna fly away,” the young stallion replied, backpedalling. “I... I can explain...”
Scootaloo freed herself from Archer’s grasp and ran to him, pushing him at the wall. “You’ll have lots of explaining to do...” she muttered through gritted teeth. “Tell me, Rumble! H-how long did you and Sweetie Belle...”
“A... a year or so...” Rumble muttered. “I wanted to tell you, but...”
“Then why didn’t you?!” Scootaloo shouted. “I’d forgive you, but now...”
“Scootaloo, stop it,” Archer said calmly and turned to Rumble. “Did Featherweight know about that?”
“Yes,” Rumble replied. “He... He blackmailed me. He had a photo of Sweetie with me... He took it after a show...”
“So you killed him?” Scootaloo asked. “Because it was better than telling me the truth?”
“Am I arrested?” Rumble’s gaze hardened.
“Yes,” Scootaloo replied.
“I won’t tell anything without my lawyer,” Rumble said, freeing himself from Scootaloo’s grasp.
“Fuck you,” Scootaloo spat.
The backdoor of the club opened. They looked at it and saw Sweetie Belle who froze upon seeing them. “R-rumble? What happened?” she asked.
“Didn’t he tell you?” Scootaloo walked to her, pointing her hoof at her. “He forgot to mention it during your...”
“What happened?” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, tears flowing down her face, smearing her make-up. “Rumble, what did you do?”
“The guards will explain that,” Scootaloo hissed. “But what I wonder is, why didn’t you tell me? We were friends... I... I’d understand. But you kept it a secret! If Fea–”
“Scootaloo!” Archer exclaimed. “You’ll finish that conversation in the station, okay?”
“Yes, sure...” Scootaloo muttered. “I must be professional...” She gave Sweetie Belle a long look before turning away. “It’s just so hard sometimes...”
“Just for the record,” Babs muttered to Lightning Dust, “I don’t wanna hear anymore bullshit about me being reckless from ya...”
Lightning Dust looked at the shivering mare, who just opened the door of her house and entered it, turning on the lights. The house was quite spacious, with a large fireplace in the middle of the living room. The red, wooden doors led to the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. Lightning followed the mare inside and sat at the table with her.
“I’m talking to ya!” Babs exclaimed. “I don’t know if ya noticed, but we just kidnapped somepony!”
“Yeah, because I wonder what you would do if she walked on you,” Lightning Dust muttered. “Stab her, probably.”
“I...” Babs sighed and looked at Diamond Tiara who sat on the floor in front of the fireplace and looked into the fire. “Diamond! Are you okay?”
“No,” Diamond Tiara replied, still staring into the fire.
Lightning Dust turned to their host. “We won’t be here for long,” she said. “What’s your name?”
“Cherry Jubilee,” the mare replied. “Will you kill me?”
“Not if you behave,” Lightning Dust said. “Do you have any weapons here?”
Cherry Jubilee sighed. “In the kitchen,” she replied.
“Babs, watch out for her,” Lightning Dust commanded. “And you, Cherry, watch out for Babs...” She walked to the kitchen and came back soon with a double-barreled shotgun. “I’ll borrow it for a while,” she said.
Babs ignored her, still trying to make Diamond Tiara speak to her. Diamond Tiara, however, was silent and motionless, not caring not only about Babs, Lightning Dust, and Cherry Jubilee, but also the whole world. Soon, she fell asleep, curled into a ball on the floor.
“Diamond!” Silver Spoon exclaimed.
“Silver?” Diamond Tiara muttered, looking around. They were alone in the living room. Silver was sitting on the rug, her big eyes staring at Diamond. “Where is–”
“She’s gone...” Silver Spoon replied. “And she won’t be back, if you take the meds...”
Diamond Tiara rolled on her back and sighed. “That was awful...” she muttered. “I... I almost killed Babs. And–”
“Oh, come on...” Silver Spoon sighed. “She wanted to kill you, remember?”
“She did?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I don’t remember...” She sat on the floor and sighed. “Guess I’m no good... I can’t even remember anything that happened to me since we ran away from Ponyville.”
“It’s not your fault,” Silver Spoon said. “It was Curtain Call... But she’s gone now and we can be together again.”
“Silver?”
“Yes?”
“Why did you stay with me?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I mean... Ten years ago. I told you to leave...” Tears started flowing down her face. “You didn’t listen. You stayed with me even though I...”
“We’re friends,” Silver Spoon replied. “Friends never leave each other.”
Diamond Tiara nodded. “You’re probably right...”
“I’m a part of your mind,” Silver Spoon said. “If I know that, then, on some level, you know that too...”
“Maybe.” Diamond Tiara sighed and slowly got up. Her cuts and bruises started to ache, but Silver Spoon’s presence was giving her power. She stretched her limbs and turned to the kitchen door. Babs stood there, balancing a cup of coffee on her hoof.
“Ya okay?” Babs asked.
“I think so...” Diamond Tiara muttered. “What’s going on?”
“We need to get outta here,” Babs replied, wincing as she limped towards Diamond Tiara. “Lightning is losin’ it...”
“Like you never kidnapped anypony...” Silver Spoon muttered, glaring at Babs angrily. “Don’t listen to her, Diamond. She tried to kill you.”
“Babs?” Diamond Tiara sat next to the fireplace, smelling Babs’ coffee. “May I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Babs replied, taking a sip of her coffee.
“Why did you try to kill me?”
Babs nearly choked on her coffee. She coughed a few times before replying, “I was defendin’ myself. Without your meds... ya weren’t herself... Why ya think I look like that?” She rubbed her aching ribs.
“Liar,” Silver Spoon muttered through gritted teeth. “She attacked you first. I’ve seen it...”
“Are you sure?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Because I remember some glimpses...”
“I think it’s time for your medicine,” Babs said, shifting her legs. “I’ll go and find Lightning... She talks with our host, ya know... I don’t like it.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “She’ll betray us to the guards, I’m tellin’ ya...”
Silver Spoon only shook her head.
Rumble didn’t say anything more during the interrogation. Despite his lawyer’s requests, he was locked in a cell in Baltimare Royal Guard Station. Right after that, Archer found Scootaloo sitting at one of the desks, resting her head against a stack of papers in front of her.
“How are you, Scoots?” Archer asked.
“My coltfriend had an affair with my best friend and turned out to be a murderer,” Scootaloo replied, not rising her head. “Try to guess.”
“Yeah, that sucks...” Archer muttered. “Do you want some tea?”
Scootaloo murmured something incomprehensible. Archer took it as “yes” and trotted to the small kitchen at the back of the building. She took a battered cup from the cupboard, put it on the table and poured some water into the kettle. Then she found tea in another cupboard and, hoping that it didn’t belong to somepony important, threw a tea bag into the cup. In the fridge, Archer found a lemon that wasn’t mouldy, so she cut off a slice and put it in the cup after pouring hot water them. She scratched her head, thinking about Scootaloo, and took a hip flask from the pocket of her uniform. She unscrewed it and sniffed the contents, smelling of homemade booze and cherries.
“Nice,” she muttered to herself, pouring the foul cherry-flavoured liquid into Scootaloo’s cup. She then trotted back to Scootaloo and put a cup on her desk. Scootaloo raised her head and took a sip of her tea. She coughed, looked at Archer unsurely, and took another sip.
“Congratulations,” Front Kick said, entering the room. “You’ve caught Featherweight’s killer.”
“Yeah...” Scootaloo muttered and took another sip of her tea.
“Also, we’ve got a message from Dodge Junction.” Front Kick levitated a piece of paper. “Somepony robbed a pharmacy there. Guess what’s missing...”
“Diamond Tiara’s meds?” Archer asked.
“Exactly,” Front Kick replied. “Pack your stuff, girls. You’re going with us...”