Cursorial Hunter

“And one for crib?”

Army Ant and two other passengers had agreed to play cribbage with Toffee. Amazingly, none of them knew how. She'd always heard that it was a very common game in the Navy. While the other guards watched, they never called Muggins or even seemed to understand pegging. That meant they were neither navy or marines. They weren't pegasi, so they were either army or one of the guard forces.

“Yes,” Toffee confirmed.

They were opening up to her slowly. The meal had been alright, but the psychological act of eating with them instead of rotating the guards out of the room had help build the beginning bonds that she would need to exploit for everypony's safety.

Of course, then there was the message of her friend in the kitchen giving her some of the apple sticks that gave her hope that Delta was still alive.

The next pony began to shuffle the deck after Toffee scored everypony's cards. “So, why?” Toffee asked finally.

Everypony looked at her confusedly.

She began to elaborate. “Well, clearly you ponies are well equipped and highly trained.” A little flattery never hurt anypony. “This sort of thing doesn't just spontaneously happen. Why? I'm sure everypony here would appreciate an explanation.”

The terrorists looked around at each other. Then finally the mare cleared her throat. “We're here to help Equestria throw off the shackles of enslavement to the unicorn oppressors.”

The lunacy of the statement flattened her. “I'm sorry, what?”

“We just got done fighting a bloody civil war.” She slammed one forehoof into the other, hard to express her point. “Do you know why?”

“To stop the changelings.” Toffee answered.

The mare scoffed. “Sure. Some mythological bogeyman designed to scare and divide ponies. Have you ever seen one?”

Toffee looked around self-consciously. “How would I know?”

The mare took off, believing she was winning the debate. “Exactly! All we really see is somepony with good illusion magic and then 'BOOM' the Inquisition shows up. They come in and take control of everything and everypony. They rule by terror and ultimate authority. And who are they? Unicorns!” She stopped and waited for Toffee to digest her story.

“So,” the librarian began to poke holes into her story. “I could understand this sort of logic from a Lunari, but there's a lot of Solari uniforms here.”

The mare nodded as her voice fell. “We followed the orders for the good of Equestria. But the longer the fighting went on, the more we began to notice. All the higher echelons, most of them are unicorns. All the specialists? Unicorns. They sent pegasi out to be slaughtered almost to the stallion. Earth ponies were killed by the platoon, while unicorns stayed in the back in MASH units, communications, and artillery with only token amounts of low borns sacrificed to obfuscate the truth.”

“But, Princess Celestia wouldn't allow her loyal subjects to be slaughtered so casually.” Somepony else in the car added. The conversation was growing and others were giving voice to the doubts of loyal Solari.

The mare sighed, her head hung low. “We're not sure. Some say she's in on it, others of us think she's been corrupted by unicorn magic.”

Toffee scoffed. “Unicorns don't have that kind of power.”

The mare turned on her, her muzzle up against hers. “One unicorn turned Nightmare Moon into Luna. Changing a princess is certainly in their power to do.” She pulled away. Toffee had to admit it had a certain verisimilitude. Had she not known who she knew (presumably in the kitchen) and what she knew about the others...well she understood why they could think that way.

“So the unicorns, they, they've started the civil war to gain power?” asked somepony else in the crowd.

“Well, power and money. After all, who owns all those companies that enchanted all those implements of war both sides used?” Her smile shown through her mask hole.

“Not to mention who stayed nice and safe in a factory making them rather than being on the front line having them used at them?” egged on Cutter.

There was a low murmur through the car as people began to consider the terrorist's plans.

“So then, why take Apple?” asked her friend.

The terrorists looked around at each other again, this time with a trace of guilt. This was a subject even they didn't like.

“We were told to take her, preferably alive.” Cutter finally said.

Toffee pressed the issue. “But she's an earth pony.”

“We're following orders.” They were starting to stonewall.

“Who's?”

“He, she, or they are not ready to be known publicly at this time,” was the final answer from the masked mare. Clearly this wasn't the first time she'd diplomatically danced around a subject in her life.

“What's going to happen to us?” asked a brave soul.

“There's an old abandoned switching station not too far away now. The train is going to pull in there, where we will get on our new train with our prisoner and we will leave you all here, safe and sound. Unlike the unicorns, we have no interest in harming any of you. Provided of course that you don't threaten us or our mission,” comforted the mare.

This seemed to mollify most of the ponies in the car. Well, those that weren't related to the mare that had been shot through her seat.

“Cockatrice feathers!”

They all turned and looked at Starfall. Her eyes were blazing with a checked ire. “You talk about how wrong unicorns have treated you, yet you come to us with guns and weapons, killing ponies that have nothing to do with your quarrel. You perpetuate violence for violence’s sake That will bring nothing but more violence.” She stamped her hoof on the floor as her wings subconsciously flapped. The long wings making her look almost like a miniature version of the princess of the night.

“If you want to effect change, if you want reparations rather than retribution, then you have to open your heart to love and truth. Only then can forgiveness truly save ponydom because only then can we move past the anger that causes the violence.” She huffed, catching her breath as the terrorists looked on at her.

As one, they all started to laugh.

It was Yellow Jacket that spoke first, tears streaming down his face. “Oh, Celestia. I-I-I are you-do you have a coltfriend? I promise not to put it in your pooper!”

They laughed harder. Star's cheeks flamed in shame.

“I'll call you in the morning, I swear, you're really special!” At this point, Cutter was crying on the floor. He tried to stifle his laughter while standing and holding his ear.

“What? Please repeat.” He concentrated at nothing. “Right. No. I haven't heard from them either. No, nopony has left the car except the pegasus stewardess. No. No, she's been here most of the time after dropping off her cart with you guys. Yeah, she left after that and came back about an hour ago with tea and coffee.” He nodded, listening to ghosts. “Okay. We'll stay here.”

He looked over at Toffee. “Okay, what are you up to?”

“What?”

“You've distracted us with your jokes and your pegs. Now we've lost contact with some of our group. What are you up to?” He began to pull his blade.

“Nothing! I swear! I'm just trying to keep you from shooting somepony else, I swear!” Her panic was clear.

The soldier considered her attitude, before slowly nodding. “Alright.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

Soaked, chilled, and starving, the duo stopped in town for a pizza. Swimming had made them ravenous. The two looked at the topping listing, Yards made Rhu read off the list aloud. She managed with only slight difficulty. It made her feel important, and channeled her incessant talking into a productive exercise.

Yards ordered a white pizza with spinach and feta. Rhu wanted onions, a thin crust, red sauce and normal cheese. Oh, and sweet pickles, not the gross kind, acorns, and zucchini.

Yards only shook his head as the waitress walked away. “They're never going to know when you're pregnant.”

“Why?”

Yards only shook his head.

“Why?”

“So what did you learn in school Friday?”

“Nothin'.”

“What'd you do?”

“Colored.”

Yards nodded. Getting more than a one word answer from a question from her that didn't involve food was an ordeal.

Beside them was an earth pony. Her table was covered in papers and prints with a supreme pizza in the middle getting cold. She was young, and her purple coat had a house for a cutie mark. Her bangs were short and pink while a blonde wave flowed down her neck.

Rhu's attention was slowly drawn to her. “What's she doin'?”

“I don't know. Why don't you ask her?” Yards, answered.

“I'm not allowed to talk to strangers.”

The unicorn rolled his eyes. He was going to have to talk to a strange mare if he couldn't think of something. Swallowing hard, he took a drink of water to hide his trepidation. “Excuse me,” he said before he could think better of it. The mare looked up at him.

“Uh, my, uh,” his brain had shutdown. She was starting to give him that look. That look that told him she believed he was a gibbering idiot. Mostly because he was.

“She wants to know what you're doing,” he told his chest.

The mare put on her glasses and looked at the foal. “I'm working on building Ponyville.”

“Hauw?”

“By planning it out. Setting down zoning and laying out the grid work and support utilities.”

Rhu stood up in her chair and looked over “So you're not growin' nuthin'?” She seemed to perk up.

“Of course I am. I'm growing homes, communities, and cities themselves.”

Rhu slumped down.

Yards grinned. “Looks like earth pony magic can grow more than apples.”

The other pony looked back at him. “So, is she yours?” she asked with a slow smile.

Before he could speak he started stumbling over himself. “Yeah, well, no. Uh, I uh, I'm watching her. For my boss, friend. Friend boss- friendly boss.” He gave her a weak smile.

She giggled. “I'm Snickelways.”

“Yards, and uh, Rhubarb Salad,” he pointed at the filly.

“He's not very good at talking to girls.” Rhubarb shook her head in a good imitation of somepony twice her age.

Snickle laughed. “Well, I bet you're in good hooves.” She smiled at him and he took another drink as she went back to work. The crisis was averted.

The waitress came back with their pizzas. A few minutes later she refilled their glasses. Yards looked down at their meals. Her pizza was little bigger than his hoof. His would have been called a small prewar. Now it was the new large.

“I remember when you could buy a pizza as big as my head for what we paid here.”

“Yeah? Did you have to walk uphill in the snow to get it?” Rhu giggled.

“Okay, you're definitely spending too much time around Delta.” Yards sighed again. “There's just not enough food being produced yet.”

“Why not?”

“I don't know, Rhu. We're releasing the tech as fast as we safely can. But it seems that it's not increasing production over all.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. I'm not in charge of that data.”

“Who is?”

He took a bite of his pizza, using his psychokinesis to hold both the piece in the air and the cheese to stay in place with his bite. Slowly he chewed. It may have been small, but it was still tasty.

“So who's in charge?”

“Eat your supper.”

She started picking at her toppings.

“What now.” That filly was exasperating.

“I don' wanna be an earth pony. I wanna be a unicorn. I don' wanna grow things. I don' wanna be a dirt farmer. I-I wanna be different. I wanna be special.”

Yards floated his food down. It was time to be tough with her. “How will being a unicorn make you special?”

“They, I-I don't know.”

“They? They? Growing up different doesn't make you special. Special doesn't make you any more accepted. If anything, it makes it worse. I was the only unicorn in my class. My two cousins were the only other ones in the school. Want to know what it was like? Horrid. Nopony wanted to play with me. If I ever did anything cool on the playground or in class it was always 'Oh, he used magic.' or 'It wasn't fair.' or 'Cheater!'”

She was starting to cry, but this was something she needed to learn. “You know what? If you were in Canterlot right now, even as an earth pony, you'd be different, but do you know what you'd spend most of the day doing? Coloring, because you'd not be able to do the magic lessons. You'd be alone and ostracized. Know what would happen if you were in Cloudsdale? You'd fall to your death. Yes, childhood is hard, especially the social aspects. But this is when you're learning how to deal with a problem. If you spend your whole time blaming others and hiding from problems, that's going to always be your solution. I know, and I want better for you.”

That last bit surprised even him. He reached over with his hoof and pulled an onion off her food then ate it.

“Look, mixed foals, like me, there's a reason we're rare. I've worked for a long time to overcome a lot of issues. I hated growing up. If you want to be special and different, then be who you are. The sooner you find that, the more time you'll have to be happy. Embrace everything you can do. Because it's not only one thing that you do that makes you special. Too many ponies get hung up on their cuties marks and never learn about themselves past that one aspect.”

He floated up another bite of food and waited for the bawling. To her credit, she didn't start wailing. The tears were flowing almost as well as the snot, but she stayed silent. Great, the silent cry was the most formidable weapon in a mare's arsenal.

“But I don't know what to do.” Her voice was a tiny squeak.

“Well, finishing your food is a good way to start.”

She smiled and nibbled.

“Then we'll check out that clubhouse Scoots was telling us about. Maybe your talent is finding cool hangouts.”

She giggled then wiped her snot encrusted muzzle on her foreleg. “Is that why you don't date Mah? Cause earth ponies picked on you?”

He laughed before finishing his slice. “No, I don't blame you or your mom for how other earth ponies act. Unfortunately, the rest of my family isn't as forgiving.”

“They're mad at how earth ponies treated you?”

“No, mom's family was very upset for her marrying dad. They considered him a shiftless lay about because we weren't up late nights working still. Cause we got our work done early.”

“Like today?”

“Basically, yeah. Granted we didn't have that much to do today, but yeah.”

“Why would that upset some ponies?”

“We're highly automated, so we have more free time while producing more than the Applejack era of Sweet Apple Acres ever could. If we keep at it, soon we'll be able to provide food for the entire central region. Then, maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get a decent sized pizza.”