Badlands, Just outside Turvapaikka, Four Days after the Ponyville Incident

Twilight licked her lips as she slowly woke up. Rogue had told her that they would be going into a village today. He said that they had stopped just outside for the fairly sound reason of "Villagers out here get a little trigger happy at night. That's when the friendlies look a bit too much like the many many unfriendlies trying to look nice. They have a tendency to riddle things with holes and then either burn it or hold a funeral in the morning, depending on who it turned out to be." And so, they had pitched a tent, Twilight using the time to rest for the first time since the serpents, and Rogue played a tune on his guitar.

Twilight woke to the same sound starting back up again, and she looked up to find Rogue sitting in front of the embers of a fire, strumming away. Something was different, though. She could feel something that felt almost like a pulse. As she stared, faint green lines traced their way across his skin and into his wings. She could hear a faint laugh coming from the distance behind her. She turned to see the silhouette of a mountain in the distance, outlined in a deep, pulsing red. The world seemed to blur as the mountain grew. She floated higher and higher as the landscape below her flew by until she was floating above the peak, and down below her she could see what appeared to be ponies milling about in a graveyard. Upon closer inspection, she realized that they were just red mists floating about in a shape that very closely appeared to be ponies. One of them, seemingly the only earth pony among them, looked up quickly, her eyes solidified momentarily enough to convey shock as she darted up to meet the Princess's floating form, "You shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be thinking about this place! They'll draw you in." She looked over the visitor momentarily, "They already are, aren't they... Damnit! I'll help you, but you must not talk about this place, it would break the seal" She waved a hoof, and a part of her red mist coated Twilight's form, "Now wake up."

Twilight woke with a start, a half remembered dream in her mind, the only part she remembered was a graveyard filled with mist. She shook her head and looked over to see Rogue tending to a dying fire, with his guitar sitting next to him. He looked up at the movement, "Mornin, breakfast's almost ready. Hope you don't mind i went ahead and ate mine first. Never been too good at cookin two'a these at a time, and... well, you were still asleep."

Twilight groggily sat up, "Weren't we going into town today? You could have just waited until then." She slipped out of the canvas tent and went over to what she had assumed was a fire, but found only a few glowing coals, "Also, I haven't had that much experience camping, but don't you need a fire to cook things... and... something to cook?"

Rogue chuckled, "Nah, slow cookin this kinda stuff is the best way." He took a stick sitting beside him and moved some of the ash to the side, revealing a small tin box before covering it back up, "Besides, this gives us a chance to talk about why you're really out here."

Twilight was instantly fully awake, "What? Really out here? But I already said why! It was the thing, with the research. We did all that cactus stuff yesterday, which helped, I even took notes for the book!"

"Didn't you say you were doing your dissertation?"

"I did? Well, I mean, yes, of course, but it'll be published, so I-"

Rogue held out a hoof with a crooked grin, "Easy there, don't hurt yourself. It's good that you make such a terrible liar. Besides, a Blood Mage don't really need much medical trainin, as far as I know. Ya just fix stuff."

"How would you know, have you ever seen it done? Do you know how... to... Wow, I just admitted to Blood Magic, didn't I?"

"Ya admitted a lot'a stuff in your sleep, actually. You're not the first one I've come across, though, so I know a thing or two about it. Namely that it ain't all bad, and that a doc that can fix up anythin from the inside is a Ch... a Celestia sent, as you Equestrians would say. Not that she'd actually send somepony like Lymph anywhere but the gallows, but still. Out here, we just keep it kinda hush hush so's the ponies in the shiny hats don't come callin, eh?" He elbowed Twilight a little as he used his stick to uncover the little metal box. The distinct sound of onions sizzling could be clearly heard, "Should be done, if'n ya wanna pull it out by magic, that's fine by me. Means I don't have'ta clean off mah tongs again."

Twilight pulled out the metal box, and was surprised. The little thing couldn't weigh more than a few ounces, but she was having trouble with controlling it. She had never had complete magical burnout before, but she was fairly sure her power should have returned a little more than it had. Rogue went to pack up his little tent into his backpack as she opened the lid. It was a medley of vegetables, though none of them looked like they had been too substantial to begin with. Strangely enough, it included a bit of things she didn't recognize. As she started on it, a thought occurred to her, "Rogue, where did you sleep? I didn't see another tent."

The pegasus was turned around, fiddling with his pack, so his voice was slightly muffled, "Oh, you know, under the stars and all that gobblety gook."

"In the desert? It gets freezing at night!"

"I covered up with stuff, I was fine."

"But-"

"Trust me, Princess, it ain't nothin i haven't done before. Been many a time when my tent gets caught on fire or lost when chasin some crazy mother bucker that's tryin to kill some'a mah villagers. That's where I get most of my money, after all."

Twilight nodded a few times, "Wait, 'your villagers'? Why are they-?"

Rogue chuckled, "Ah see yer Princess'a Questions as well as Princess'a Friendship, eh? Well, just keep in mind that the Badlands is full'a all kinds'a folk that don't like it when someone from the more civilized places barge in and start askin all sorts'a questions. Everyone out here has their secrets and their skeletons, and if you happen to find some, ya better keep yer mouth shut and hope they don't notice that ya noticed. Lots'a good folk in bad situations around here, and just as many bad folk in bad situations. Not a lotta good situations at all, really, and nobody wants anybody else to find out exactly what those bad situations are. My goal ain't to judge no pasts, just the present, and that should be your goal out here, too. After all, if'n we're puttin too much weight on a past, I'd be half way to Canterlot right now to collect a nice tidy sum." He dusted off his hooves as he cinched his saddlebags tight.

Twilight looked down into the now empty box, "How do you know who to trust the present of, if not the past?"

Rogue grinned and lifted his wing, on his flank was an eye, but instead of an iris, there was a weighted scale, "Ya might say I got an eye for these things. Ya might also say I put somethin in your super to make ya talk honest words in yer sleep, but that's up for interpretation."

"You... you drugged me?"

"Nah, it ain't a drug, really, ah don't think, anyhow. More a seerum. Is that how ya say it?"

"You drugged me!"

"Psh, no need tah thank me."

"I... what?!"

"Fer makin sure ya were safe to go into the little hamlet I protect. One'a the safest places in the Badlands." His face became a lot less jovial, "And there ain't nothin I won't do to keep it that way. Ya may be a goddess and a Princess where ya come from, but here, yer just a pony. Don't forget it." His smile came back, "Enough serious talk, though, let's go say 'howdy' to the nice folks in Turvapaikka"

Equestria, Appleoosa, Four Days since the Ponyville Incident

The entire train ride, Shining had brooded in silence. He still didn't trust this interloper with the fate of his beloved sister, and the fact that she had been playing a two player card game against herself hadn't helped his opinion of her very much. It was some trading card game, and Silver had said that what she was doing was called fishbowling, but the he was still dubious about how sane the mare was. Especially when she got either excited or disappointed when she either "Won" or "Lost". Now, though, she was in a much more professional state, despite her diminutive stature. They had come here, as it was Twilight's last known location, and they needed to find her quickly, if Shining's plan was going to work.

Shining tried to ignore the glares he and Silver received as they walked down the streets, but the atmosphere they were creating was as oppressive as he had ever come across. He hadn't expected the outright hostility that they were showing. Some fear, a bit of suspicion, perhaps a bit of confusion as to their presence, but the only pony he had seen outside thus far was the train station attendant, and he had darted off as soon as the pair of guards had stepped off the train. It seemed he had spread the word, and now everypony was glaring at them through the shudders of their houses. Clearly they weren't hiding, but the cold shoulder couldn't have been given more clearly if everypony had lined up and faced away from the center of the street on both sides. Shining licked his lips as he neared the sheriff's office, but he reapplied his confident grimace as he and his companion stepped through the door.

"Well, well, well, can't say Ah didn't expect to see you here. Or somepony similar. Odd seein the day and night guard workin together, but ah guess subduin a hero calls for bringin in the best." A yellow pony in a stetson was leaning against the back wall by a door, a scowl heavy on his face.

"Calm down, we don't even know if that's why they're here." A dark brown pony chastised from behind a desk, his vest sporting a badge that clearly labeled him as Sheriff Silver Star, "Now, how can I help you two fine ponies?"

Shining pulled himself up a bit, "We're here for information regarding Twilight Spa-"

"That's PRINCESS Twilight Sparkle, ya big-"

"That's quite enough'a that. Get out'a here before ya say somethin that gets ya in trouble." The yellow pony gave a last glare as he shouldered his way past the two armored ponies and out the door. The little wooden flaps slammed as they came back together, "Now, may I ask what Princess Sparkle has done to acquire such a... interestin followin? Murder? Arson? Rape, mayhaps?" Silver flinched a little at the last suggestion, "I'm not sure if you're aware, but she stopped a whole buncha all three not too long ago. I noticed you didn't come down here askin about a pony named Dark Wind. He's a bit of what we here might call a Raider, what others might call a... what was the phrase? Unrepentant sociopath? Seems like I read that in a book somewhere, but you know us, simple country folk. I'm sure this here Twilight has done somethin much worse in a way that only you Canterlot ponies could possibly understand. But please, indulge a poor simple pony's curiosity." His expression never changed from the blank mask that he had been wearing when the pair had come in.

Silver answered, "That's classified, Sheriff."

The sheriff raised his eyebrows, but his face was otherwise unchanged, "Well, that is somethin. If'n ya wanna know where she went, she teleported outta here when she left, so we don't rightly know where she went after that."

Shining sighed, "Alright, thank you for your help. We'll just have to go out on our own."

Laughing sounded from the now cracked door to the back, seeming to have opened a bit when the other pony slammed the door to the outside, "You think you can just find something out in the Badlands?"

The sheriff walked over and banged on the wall, his mask falling to a scowl, "Y'all hush up back there!"

"You're gonna need a guide out there, and I can only think of one around here."

"I said hush up!"

Shining put a hoof on the sheriff's shoulder, "Who is that?"

The sheriff turned his scowl into a disgusted grimace, "That is the one I was tellin ya about, the foal murderin son of-"

"We already been over this, Sheriff, I didn't fire that shot, and I already took care'a the one that did. I'm just a pony tryin to get by in a place that wants me dead."

"We need him." Shining glared at the door. He was met with one outraged "WHAT?!" and one triumphant "HAH!"

Silver snorted, "If he becomes a liability, we'll dispose of him as he deserves, but until then, we need a guide to fulfill the orders we're under. Believe me, we're not overly fond of the idea, but I have the distinct feeling that between the two of us, we'll be fine."

The sheriff muttered something under his breath, "Fine, but I ain't gonna release him, and I ain't takin responsibility for what he might do once he gets out." He walked to the exit, "Keys are behind the desk, do the paperwork yourself." And with that, he was gone.

Shining erected a small shield around himself and Silver, who immediately saluted him, "Permission to speak freely, Sir."

"You haven't asked before, but fine."

"That's because I haven't felt the need to insult you before. That being said, are you out of your bucking mind?! We can't take a liability like that out with us!"

"He shot Twilight. I saw it in the report. Shot her point blank, and he's not getting any attention from the ones that should be putting him in Canterlot Dungeon. I'm going to rectify that, should he not prove useful. And if he does prove to be instrumental, he'll be repaying his debt to her."

"You can't go-"

"I'm in charge here, not you. Follow my lead like you have been, and stop questioning orders." With that, he dropped the shield and picked up the keys in his magic.