They’d been cornered again. Hoping to find a place to hide, Scrapjack had led Rotgut down the back streets of Canterlot and towards the mountain that held the city in place. After five minutes of sprinting past run-down hovels and abandoned businesses, though, no such opportunity had presented itself. The guards had driven them further down the city’s border, against the mountain’s sharp face, until they’d stumbled into a cave tucked behind an old hotel. As soon as they reached the end of the shallow cutout, Rotgut had placed her companion on the ground with surprising gentleness, then turned to the cave’s entrance, horn lit.


Scrapjack was mentally kicking herself all the while. She was hurt, bad, having been knocked back into one of her own explosions by a stealthy pegasus guard. The thought made her cringe. Damn pegasi. They were the worst kinds of guards, able to approach almost silently in the air without the usual barrage of hoofsteps to warn the duo of their presence. Jack didn’t have the best hearing, granted—years of working in close proximity with pyrotechnics and explosives ensured that the constant dull ringing in her head drowned out the world’s subtler sounds—but even Rotgut’s sharp ears were rarely able to hear the pegasi approaching. For her trouble, Scrapjack had sustained a nasty gash in her right shoulder, a possibly broken leg, and a blast of concentrated magic to the face that had her beak spilling red over the cave floor. She knew Rotgut was at least as upset as she was about that. The yakicorn saw every one of Jack’s injuries as a failing on her part, a strike that she hadn’t been quick enough or observant enough to block. Never mind the hundred times Scrapjack had insisted that she would inevitably get a little roughed up no matter how careful her companion was. Rotgut was a protector at heart.


That protective instinct was rearing its head now, guiding Rotgut as she bared her teeth at the quickly approaching guards and cast a magic shield across the length of the cave. The leading unicorn guard stopped at the mouth of the cave and stared her down, crossbow at the ready.


“Stand down!” he shouted, brandishing the weapon in a way that only a coward would. “There is no escape for you. Surrender peacefully and we will not harm you.”


“Bullshit,” Scrapjack snarled. Her throat twisted around the words and she broke off into a coughing fit. She could taste gunpowder and iron. When she was able to pry her watering eyes open again, she saw Rotgut scrutinizing her, thinking. The yakicorn’s horn was still lit, her almost humorously bright pink shield still covering the pair. Even through the thick locks that blocked most of her face, Jack could tell Rot was forming a plan.


They couldn’t teleport out of the cave. Even if Rotgut had mastered the spell, it would take Starswirl the Bearded himself to get a half-yak more than a few dozen feet in a magical wormhole. They would end up stuck in the side of the mountain, or halfway through the wall of a convenience store if she tried. Jack had one last explosive tucked away in her feathers, but that was out of the question, too. A blast that strong would bring the cave down around them. And they sure as hell weren’t going to give themselves up. Jack had been in a holding cell before, and she had no desire to repeat the experience, even if her faithful friend had broken her out in a matter of hours.


Scrapjack saw what their only option was at the very moment Rotgut turned back to the guards and began to set it in motion. All three of her horns were lit now, all her energy being channeled through their magical cores and into the formulation of a spell. A powerful one. Scrapjack paused, realizing that in order to cast the spell that Rotgut was charging, the yakicorn would have to—


“Fire!” the unicorn guard bellowed as Rotgut’s shield came down. In an instant, a flurry of arrows was hurling towards them. Rot ducked under the highest few, but one stuck in her thick hide, making her snarl in pain and rage. Her hooves stayed firmly planted on the ground as she grasped the arrow in her magic and tried to rip it out. It snapped in half and was quickly joined by another as the guards fired again.


“Rottie, stop!” Scrapjack screeched through the dust in her lungs. Her companion ignored her with ease. The cave was now completely illuminated with Rotgut’s magic, her horns glowing like beacons as the spell reached its crescendo. Arrows continued to fly at them, most being deflected by the sheer force of swirling magical energy. From her position on the ground, Jack couldn’t see how many of them had managed to reach flesh. Judging by the way the yak was breathing, it hadn’t just been the first two. Rotgut tilted her head just enough to put Scrapjack in earshot.


“Cover your eyes.”


She had just enough time to follow Rot’s instruction before a beam of magic tore through the cave and vaporized the guards. A few faint screams reached her ears, but most of her focus was on the blinding light that tried to stab through her eyelids, and whatever remained was busy being pissed at her friend for pulling such a stupid move. When the light faded, there was no noise from the mouth of the cave. The guards had either been destroyed in the blast or fled in the aftermath. All was quiet.


She felt Rotgut collapse by her side with a pained exhale, her energy drained by the spell. Jack was on her feet in a second, ignoring the stabbing pain in her head and chest and trying desperately to assess the damage. Five arrows were lodged in Rot’s side, one broken just above the spearhead. It was faint against her cherry-red fur, but Jack could see blood beginning to collect around the wounds.


“Shit,” Scrapjack whispered. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” She floundered helplessly for a moment, panic seeping in, until she remembered why the guards had been chasing them in the first place. Potions. They’d stolen a case of healing potions from the clinic. Even in all the commotion of their earlier chase, Scrapjack had been careful to keep Rotgut’s saddle bags from slipping off—they had to be nearby. Come to think of it, she was sure Rot had set something down next to her before she’d thrown up the shield. Sure enough, the bags were lying unharmed in the back of the cave next to a small pool of Jack’s blood. At least, she thought it was her own. Whatever, it didn’t matter.


By some miracle, the potions were unharmed, and the labels were still readable despite being smudged. Jack silently thanked the late great Celestia before grabbing what she needed and limping back to her friend. Rotgut’s breathing was labored, but she didn’t appear to be overheating. The cave was mercifully cool, though Jack hadn’t made note of it until that moment. It was lucky, too. If it had been any warmer… She shook her head. No use dreaming up worst-case scenarios. She gently laid a claw on Rotgut’s side.


“Rottie? Rottie, listen, I need ta pull these out.”


Rotgut didn’t respond verbally, just grit her teeth and tried to let her body relax.


“A’right, hang on…” Jack mumbled. “This is gonna hurt like hell.”


Gathering all her remaining strength, Scrapjack dug her claws into the twisted flesh around one of the deeper arrows until she felt the head. She gripped it as tightly as she could without slicing off her own claws, and yanked. It came free with a sickening noise and blood promptly filled in the gash it had left. Rotgut hadn’t made a sound. Quickly, Scrapjack poured a generous amount of a green-tinted potion over the wound and watched as it sizzled. At that, Rot let out a slight gasp as her skin and muscle mended itself, aided by the elixir.


“Yer okay, big girl,” Scrapjack panted. Her beak was still bleeding. “Four more, okay? Yer gonna be fine.”


She repeated the process painstakingly for the next who-knows-how-many minutes, always careful to watch her friend for any sign that the pain was too intense to handle. When the final arrow had clattered to the floor and the hole it left had been sufficiently healed up, she sat back on her haunches and let herself breathe deeply. It hurt, but she needed air. Rotgut was still, her chest rising and falling slowly.


“Ya… ya still in there, mate?” Scrapjack rasped. When Rot didn’t respond, she sat forward again. “Oi. Rottie.”


Nothing.


“C’mon, Rot, stop fuckin’ around! Say somethin’!”


The yakicorn remained silent. Her breath was slowing.


“Rotgut. Rot. Rottie. Rottie.”


Scrapjack inhaled, fighting off dread and anger. Still no response.


“Suki!”


A hoof the size of a dinner plate gently covered Scrapjack’s face, effectively shutting her up.


“Ha! Knew ya wouldn’t go down that easy, ya big lug!” Jack cheered. She threw her arms out and wrapped the yakicorn in a hug, mindful of her injuries. Rotgut huffed out a laugh and let her hoof fall back to the floor.


“Just about gave me a heart attack,” Scrapjack continued, smile falling into a pout. “Don’t know what we woulda done if we ‘adn’t—” she was cut off by another wave of violent coughs. Rotgut finally began to stir, shifting her weight so she could sit up and examine the smaller mare.


“You’re hurt.”


Scrapjack gave a cheeky smile, a few drops of blood dripping from her beak. “Nah, don’t you worry ‘bout ol’ Scrappie. I’m a-oka—ghack”


More coughing. Rotgut pulled the saddlebags to her side and rifled through them for a moment before pulling out a tiny vial of purple liquid. She nudged Scrapjack with her snout, potion clutched in her teeth. The halfogriff took it without protest and downed it in one swig.


“Ah. That’s the stuff,” she sighed, feeling her lungs clear up. Her leg was still giving her hell. “Ya got anything for broken bones?” she chuckled, letting herself lean against her companion and relax for the first time since the guard had started their pursuit.


“When my strength has returned, I can heal you myself,” Rot said. Scrapjack smiled.


“Always lookin’ out for me, ain’t ya, Rottie? Next time, jus’… let me know before ya go gettin’ yeself fulla arrows, yeah?


The yakicorn huffed again, a smile crossing her broad mouth.


“I will keep it in mind.”


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These two are quickly becoming favorite OCs. I have drawn them… an amount of times that I am not ready to admit. This dialogue is almost two thousand words and I wrote it in like an hour and a half. They're just REALLY fun characters to work with <3