The Facade of Borders

by SketchTheWitch

Love Sucks

“Can you believe it?”

“What?”

“Oh my holy sisters weren't you listening?!”

“Yeah, but I don't see all the fuss. Your boss sassed you in front of a kid, so what?”

“She'll never respect me! And she wants to adopt the little gremlin, and her sister.” Diamond sighed and sipped on her glass. It was filled with ice and a dark caramel liquid.

“DD, I love you like a sister, but your weird crush on Lady needs to stop. She's way too old for you, even if she wanted to date. Which, need I remind you, she's not.” The mare said that in a calm and almost condescending tone. Her blue coat was much like Lady's with it's lighter spots. “Do you like me, too, DD? If I had a curly mane and some platform shoes, I'd look just like her!”

That comment earned her a smack on the arm. “First of all, I don't have a crush. Second, just because you're a mare with spots doesn't mean anything. She a unicorn anyways. You, my dear Cassy, are a mud pony.”

“Hey, bonehead, you can call me Cascade if you're going to bring out the slurs. You're lucky no one's around. With everything that's happened recently, you could end up in a few fight.” Her annoyed tone slowly melted into grim and slightly fearful.

Diamond lightly tugged the white ends of her dark blue mane with her magic. “Hey, relax. I'm a big girl, and I can care for myself. Now go fix your makeup before your man gets here.” She gave her friend a quick hug, knowing she'd have to leave soon. It wasn't long until she was left all alone at the only bar left in town. “Why do you do this?” She asked the bartender, running her hood around the rim of her glass.

“Do what? Bartend? It's more of a hobby, but I'm sure you knew what from my spotty working days,” responded the orange stallion.

“I mean why do you keep this all secret? You're a guard or something, aren't you? It's your whole job to shut places like us down.”

The stallion chuckled, causing Diamond to blush softly. “With the princesses’ feud causing riots and all, they don't really screen who the let in. I'm a guard because I actually want to protect ponies. I'm here for the same reason. Too bad Lady won't let us stallions into the fun part, ah?”

“Yeah...heh… I've talked to her about that though. She says if I'm willing to do all the screening, she'll consider!”

“Then let me be the first to be screened. I'd do a lot of good in your little operation.” Her flashed a cheesy smile that made Diamond giggle and roll her eyes. The nearby clock started to chime.

“That's my cue! Don't forget you rehearse your interview~” she teased before heading out. As the bartender set his focus on cleaning the glasses the mares’ glasses, her noticed the sound if heavy, unfamiliar hoofsteps. He turned to face their owner, finding that it happened to be a rather massive green and ginger pony.

“Before you say anything,” Lady started, speaking lowly, “I am aware that this is unlike me. However, I've come to realize that I have some...prejudices. I am many things, but I do not wish for ‘hypocrite’ to be on that list.” She waited a moment to calculate her next words. Thinking she was finished, the stallion opened his mouth to speak only to be stopped by a harsh, hissing shush. “Civil Strike you are an impatient stallion and I am a very precise mare so I need you to rein yourself in so I can properly articulate myself. Now… I want to apologize for my behavior towards you. I have had so many bad experiences with stallions, and you know this. It's why my little program exists. However, I have come to realize that treating you like all other stallions is unfair and cruel. To make up for this, I would like to add you to my crew.” She had finally stopped talking, but Strike took another extra moment just to be sure.

“I would love to, and I fully accept your apology.” He offered a crooked smile. He knew Lady had a rough past, and that her trust was soiled by too many abuses.

“Good. You'll be working alongside my daughter Brought Burst to be sure she does not get injured.” She turned and went to leave, only to be stopped by a rather nervous cry.

“W-Wait! Thank you, but I don't think I'm the most qualified babysitter—”

“Good. Because you are not one. You are a stallion of the True Peace, and you are a protector of your sisters in justice.” She stomped a good down harshly before continuing on her way back to her office.

Strike wiped his brow with his cleaning rag, leaning against the bar and sighing. “Protector, huh? I can try that.” He mumbled before taking and deep breath and returning to his dishes.

~*~

Diamond adjusted the tight white boots on her small, delicate hooves, making sure they were completely covered. She hummed to herself as she toyed with a small baggy that was filled with a couple ounces of a shimmery white powder. Her hips swayed as she made her way down the filthy street towards a neon sign clearly advertising ‘Mares!’ Before she reached the front door, she turned down the alley and went to the back.

She smiled at a large dragon blocking the thick metal door. “Evenin’, luv. My clients in there?”

He flashed a toothy grin as he nodded. “They's expectin’ a dance Ms. D. You gonna give ‘em one?”

“Maybe. If they're nice~” She winked before trotting in. There were two stallions waiting for her. “Hello, sirs! I think you two dropped something.” She giggled bubbily as she handed them the baggy. The greasy looking men took it happily and started mumbling about how to split it. Diamond rolled her eyes as she slipped past a curtain. “Give me just a moment! I've gotta change~” She sat at a vanity and flashed her reflection a rather disgusted face. ‘These bozos are disgusting. I'll just let them do their thing.’ She thought to herself as she glossed her lips in the mirror.

The stallions split the powder between themselves on the table, and rolled up small pieces of paper. They used the paper tubes to snort up the substance. Though, instead of the usually rush of pleasure, they felt a burn, and a sting. Both coughed hard. Hard enough, in fact, that they couldn't put up a fight when Diamond came up beside the first stallion and slit his throat. Leaving him to bleed out, she repeated the process to the second stallion. She admired her work a moment before going back to the vanity. She opened a drawer and pulled out a folder with two papers and two pictures inside.

“Let's see, let's see… Oh my, trafficking ponies?” She sighed and shook her head. “Haven't you heard all the stories of stallions like you going missing?” She called out. “You really should watch out more. You're basically asking for it!” She giggled and trotted back out. She went and opened the door.

“They're all yours, luv.” Diamond smiled kindly at her dragon bouncer. Before he would enter, she trotted out and decided to head home. The dragon smirked and went into the room. Meat wasn't very abundant in Equestria, so he'd have to take whatever he could get.

While the dragon cleaned up her mess, Diamond started on her way home. It was a small apartment, pretty far into the more unsavory part of town. She was quick to get in and flop down on her old and torn couch. “Nothing like being home all alone to relax…” she purred to herself. Though the relaxation last only a minute before the felt the blanket of loneliness fall over her.

~*~

Darkness covered the pine forest like an ocean, seeping into every corner of every inch, all except the beacon of light that was the fire of the traveling witches. Their wagons, too, were dimly lit. Dimmest of all was the faint green glow emitted from a wagon that smelled heavily of herbs and age. A young light green serpentian witch sat watching the tiny white pony sip at an odd tea, that didn’t taste very good at all. That was evident from the look on Echo’s face as she tried to choke it all down. As soon as she finally finished, the witch took the cup with her magic and swirled the last drops around with the herbs that had settled at the bottom. She turned the cup upside down on the small table. The contents now under the cover of the cup glowed faintly before she lifted it. The once dark green muck had turned rusty orange. A small gasp came from the witch.

“What is it, Miss Tea Tree?” Echo asked, breaking the silence.

“This is the second time I have gotten this reading… If I understand correctly… Beware the rust colored stallion. You could be in serious danger.” She started to clean up, being careful with the old wooden table.

“Rust colored stallion? Like, any rust colored stallion? How am I in trouble?”

“I only know what I told you. I… I doubt it will be too concerning anyways, we’re almost to town and as long as you avoid any suspicious orange stallions you might live a long and happy life.” She flashed a gentle smile, though she seriously doubted her words. Echo, however, believed her completely.

“Sounds easy enough. This was fun! Thanks for the reading, Miss Tea Tree. And the ride, but I think I’ve thanked you all every night I’ve been here.” She giggled and turned a cheerful shade of yellow before exiting the wagon to hunker down with Charm, or Mama as she has started to call her.

Though only with them for a short time, the travelling witches had treated Echo kindly, and she started to consider them close friends. It was a sign to her than her time in Equestria would be well spent. Despite being so comfortable, she would have to leave them. She wanted to explore on her own, maybe meet more travelers, or maybe not. These plans filled her mind as she slept curled up on a warm pile of rags.

~*~

Civil Strike opened the door to his home after finally leaving the bar after his talk with Lady. Instead of getting to relax, however, he was greeted by a fanged creature hissing and pouncing at him.

“Donna!” He yelled loudly, roughly shoving the attacker. The deep purple and blue bat pony whimpered as she flopped on the floor.

“Hey, I was just trying to play around!” She slowly brought herself back up an stretched out her leathery wings before folding them back at her sides.

“Sorry, but it was a long day. We’re getting a bit old for that kinda thing, too, don’t you think?” Strike asked as he quietly made his way to the couch.

“I guess so, considering I’m Donna now. What happened to Bella? Or BB? I loved BB!” She flashed a wide, fanged smile.

“I called you BB when we were in highschool. I feel like Donna fits a mature mare like yourself better. I mean, no professional s going to call you Ms. BB. They’ll call you Ms. Belladonna, or Ms. Bloom.”

Belladonna sighed and sat on the other end of the couch, looking down into a lap. “But… Strike, this is a relationship, not a professional endeavor. What happened to you? You never want to have fun anymore.”

“Babe,” he sighed, “I grew up. And you should, too. We can’t act like teenagers forever.”

“Well why not?!” Her voice rose slightly, and quivered just barely. “We can have fun, Strike! Holy sisters, I’m so… sick! I’m sick of you acting like being an adult means no more fun. This… This isn’t working for me. I’m going to find somewhere else to be.”

Civil Strike stared at the teary-eyed bat, unsure of what to do. He wasn’t even sure how he felt. “Are you sure that’s safe? We don’t have much of a night life outside of crime here.” His voice was calm and steady, which seemed to upset the mare more. She was already heading for the door.

“Yes I am sure.” She huffed. Her long blue mane helped hide her face, but her voice made her emotions painfully obvious. “Goodbye, Strike.”

He didn’t even have a chance to respond before she slammed the door.

Author's Note:

Sorry it took so long, writing is honestly not top of the list priority for me right now