Several shots and an excessive amount of bragging later Cardinal was still enough to talk to me and Xolani. Well, more so him than I, for I was to compelled to sharpen my blade, I knew that without regular sharpening and oiling, any blade will tarnish, especially after tearing through a radscorpion carapace.

“…Yes so these routes here are where you want to go, not the best of business, but a lot less danger than most roads, especially since you’re not going to hire any protection”

“No need” I finally perked up, looking over the edge of my blade. “We are stronger” I looked to Xolani who nodded primly then spoke.

“He is a warrior and he is my guard, we will take any road we see fit and triumph over any danger we encounter”

“Alright look, I know you tribal folk can fight, but he’s barely a stallion and you’re just an ex Zebra Remnant” Xolani winced just slightly, as if the label brought up a bad memory.

“We will be fine, do not worry for us” He said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Cardinal stayed silent for a moment; finally he spoke with a sad voice.

“I’m not going to try to stop you, I know it won’t work, but I highly recommend staying on the route I provided, just follow the map and the road marks, don’t start any fights, find shelter before dark, stop at the other shops along the road or trade with other caravans if you need supplies” We thanked him and after gathering a few more supplies, we set off south into the canyon.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Regardless of what we had said about being tough, my Zebra friend decided to keep us to the safer routes that Cardinal had marked. There was almost no trouble, other than the occasional mutated animal or bloatsprite.

“How far to… next village?” I asked hesitantly.

“Town my friend, not a village, a village is what you and I come from, these are towns or settlements” Xonlani had been teaching me to speak better pony language and understand some of the things happening in the world around me.

“It’s a few miles up that way, but it’s getting close to dusk, we should camp” He had warned me that it was less safe at night because of the nocturnal animals and raiders.

We set up our sleeping bags and took shifts to watch during the night. Finally I decided to ask him.

“Before… in the big town… why did they call you ‘remnant’?”

Xolani stayed silent for a long moment. “I do not wish to talk about it” I frowned and pressed harder.

“We are friends, yes? You are to teach me about this land, yes?” He stayed silent even longer and finally sighed.

“Ex-Remnant, I am a descendant of the Fallen Caesar’s army, I was a craftsman, made weapons for our people, but I left. To help a pony, an outsider condemned by my tribe, the same as you. They do not take kindly to those who leave, I fear they are hunting me even now”

I knew of Caesar’s army, mainly passed down from old stories told through the tribe. They were masters of hoof-to-hoof combat; they were fierce opponents to ponies, specializing in stealth and assassinations. If they are hunting him, they would surely be hunting me as well.

“That would be an exceptional challenge” I smiled at the thought, to test my skills against a true master of hoof-to-hoof combat.

“Indeed” he said slowly. “One that I think you would not win” I sat down and stared at him, perhaps he was right, my fighting skill was formidable, but I should not underestimate an opponent I have never faced.

“I pray we never meet them, I don’t think I could stand against my own kin, even if I had the power” I understood, I could not fight my family either.

We made it through most of the simple stops with little trouble and were now heading towards a larger settlement which my companion had mentioned was under the earth.

“When we get inside, stay silent” I was used to that, even though he was teaching me how to speak normal, I did not have the merchant skills that he did.

“These ponies are odd, they may poke and prod at you, examine you, do not attack them unless you feel it is absolutely necessary, they are curious but not overall dangerous”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We went down a hole in the ground and deep into very long ‘tunnels’ he called them. I did not like this place; it was humid, quiet, and exceptionally freaky to be blunt.

I stood behind him, as I always did during these moments, he had warned me that some places may be taken over and used as bait to lure merchants and rob them.

“Xolani, good to see you made it; I had heard you were coming here. Do you have the items?” My zebra friend nodded and opened his bag slightly to show something inside.

The door opened and a tall skinny pony emerged, he wore a cape that covered his flanks down to his rear hooves. He stared at me suspiciously and stepped in close.

His eyes were a deep sapphire, his coat was oddly clean, but his scent… he smelled of blood…

He continued staring into my eyes, as if trying to test me, I stared pack, tensed, ready to strike. The last ponies that had smelled of blood were bad.

“You look tasty” The caped pony grinned, his teeth looked almost pointed. “I bet you have tasty blood to, you are a tribal, and you have pure blood don’t you? I can smell it. I would love to take a bite of you”

If he was looking for fear in my eyes, he saw none. I was calm, collected if not a slight bit annoyed.

“I would not suggest it” I stared him down hard, three ponies, the one in front of me, two in the doorway behind him, and then another guard we passed coming up. Four, four ponies, head-butt the one in front, stun, take his blade and go for the two in the doorway, left first, buck the right. Turn and throw knife into one coming up the tunnel. Four ponies dead, uncalculated amount to fight inside.

“I like you already!” He laughed and turned away, “Come on in”

I walked in behind Xolani and whispered softly in my native tongue “He is strange” He simply smiled at me.

It was slightly less dark inside the open area, many tables and things had been set up. Shelves covered in items and lots of pale, skinny ponies. The entire place reeked of a pungent stench of blood.

Nopony paid us any mind as walked through, Xolani spoke to the leader about the product, I heard something about they were running low on it and the ponies were starting to get restless and hungry. Was it some kind of food we were delivering?

I saw the pale pony (I’m guessing he was their leader) tear open a small clear bag with red liquid in it. Was it blood? Were we delivering medical supplies?

I almost threw up as I watched him drink the blood! I turned my head away and talked to one of the mares.

“He… is strange” She looked over at me and smiled warmly. “You don’t know of us do you?”

I shook my head and she smiled again. “Have you heard of vamponies? We drink the blood of others to survive, it is how we live, it is a hunger we cannot satiate” She ran her tongue up my cheek, sending shivers through me and making me jump back quickly. She smacked her lips a bit.

“Mmm, tasty, to bad I can’t take a bite of you”

“I would not suggest it to you either” I spoke calmly and gave her the same look I had given the leader. Despite my cold stare she spoke warmly and kindly.

“We’re only poking fun at you, we would never attack without reason” She placed a hoof over my shoulder and pulled me close, making me even more uncomfortable. “I’d love to put my mouth on something else though” she whispered in a sultry tone that made me question if it was some sort of hypnosis!

I pulled out of her grip swiftly and bowed slightly. “No thank you, I’m sorry” I wasn’t sure what I was apologizing for but it seemed right to.

“Awww come on sweety, you look ripe for the picking” She trotted around me slowly, flicking her tail back and forth and hitting me with whiffs of mare arousal. Now I understood a little more. “Haven’t you ever had a mare before?”

She stopped and looked down under me and then gave a little grown of disappointment. “Oh you’re a stallion! Oh… great, I hate the ones that only swing the other way” I cocked my head to the side and she tapped my head. “Don’t fret none, just know that I would give you the best time of your life should you change your mind” She left with a wink, leaving me standing there confused and a little stunned. All these ponies were strange!

After that little awkwardness I decided to resume my place beside Xolani. The leader pony counted out the caps in front of us and I did my best to keep up, math was one of the subjects that were harder for me to learn.

“Next month we’ll be back with more supplies, if there is anything else you need contact us before then, here is a map of our route should you need to send a courier to us” The leader smiled and thanked us, his teeth weren’t naturally pointed, but they were shaped to look like it, I wonder how he did that?

It was nighttime now and the rain was starting to drizzle. “There you are, die!” I saw the glint of the metal and the whirring of something. Instinct told me to hit the dirt and doing so may have saved my life as at least 30 small holes were torn into the wall where my head was.

I charged low and quick, closing the distance and kicking the gun that was starting to whir again.

The stallion froze as Xolani appeared behind him and pushed his rifle firmly against the stallions head.

“Why did you attack us?” Xolani asked as I examined the whirring machine in the dirt. It had six barrels instead of one, it wasn’t connected to a saddle but it had a long chain of ammo connected. How had he been carrying this massive weapon on his mouth? I could barely lift it!

The stallion spoke with severe malice in his voice, “Why the fuck do you think? You pieces of shit brainwashed my daughter! Now she’s one of you sick fucks!”

“We are not from down there” Xolani kept the rifle pushed against him. “We are just merchants, and everypony down there is there of their own free will. There is no brainwashing”

The stallion didn’t look convinced until he saw the wagon we were toting and that seemed to calm him a bit. “Then move, I’m going to kill them all”

“We cannot let you” I spoke this time. “Your daughter, brown mane, yellow eyes?” He nodded once and I nodded back. “She is there on her own free will, she wants to be there, if she didn’t she would leave. They are not keeping her”

He stared at me with tears in his eyes. “I know I just… I want her back…” he started crying softly and I pushed his face up to see mine. He had some kind of horn on him, but I paid no attention.

“Stallions do not cry, she has made her choice, do not try to change it. Go in there, talk, without weapons” He didn’t speak for several moments then began to walk towards the door, leaving his massive weapon aside.

“Good job, I’m glad we didn’t have to kill him, take that weapon and toss it into the wagon. He won’t be needing it anymore” I was perplexed but I didn’t argue as I heaved the large gun into our wagon, making it slump down slightly.

I waited for a few moments but the stallion did not return and we had to leave. Looking back, he still didn’t come out, perhaps he joined them.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Our next few stops were small settlements with no problems, they bought some food and water, some bought ammo but none bought that big gun.

He showed me that map when we made camp, we were almost back to the big town, only a couple places left to stop, one only a few miles away.

We continued our lessons, he was amazed at how quickly I adapted and learned what he taught me. There were still some things that were difficult to grasp, the concept of bottle caps being currency was one, or that how much different things were worth depending on condition or rarity. But I was slowly grasping it, slowly, but surely.

It had been a week and a half so far, very little trouble on the roads and we made our stops with ease. My Zebra companion had taught me the map and from what I could tell we were nearing our last few stops. But for now we had stopped to make camp.

“Xolani, would you tell me another story?” I quite liked hearing his stories and it passed the time. He smiled at me and began.

“In this story we have a young stallion, barely older than a colt but very clever. He saw that his ponies were in need of a new supplement of food and water, but there was none to be found. He traveled for a few weeks, searching when he finally found an old world water purifier, a talisman, very forbidden by his people for they despised things of that nature” I got comfy and watched the fire flicker as he continued.

“This stallion was far from brave, in fact he was quite cowardly, but as I said, he was clever, he could run and he could hide. Soon he came across more items, machines that could protect him and his ponies, chemicals that could grow seeds in any environment, he was delighted that he found more than he had hoped. After several more weeks he returned to his ponies, eyes full of glee. A robot by his side and fresh drinking water across his back, the ponies feared him, he had seen the outside and they suspected he was tainted by it. They attacked him, destroyed his machine and burned all the things he had brought with him. They imprisoned him for several days, he used this time to ponder, to think what he had risked his life for”

I couldn’t help but feel uneasy, it sounded like he was talking about me…

“The ponies talked to him, questioned him of what he had seen. But no matter his reasoning, they were convinced he was touched by evil. He was killed, his name was used as a lesson for those to never explore the outside world, because nothing good would ever come of it”

“But good did come of it!” I shouted, how could they do that? After all he did to help them, they didn’t give him a chance, they just killed him because he left!

“Yes it is rather silly is it not? They refused his help not because they believed he was evil, but because they were afraid of what he had seen. They knew if he told of the world outside that they would lose control” He smiled to himself, seemingly amused at his story.

“But… that’s just… stupid!” I used the word he had taught me when something was very foolish. “Why would they fear if he had come to help? Why would they keep control if it meant the death of their tribe!?” I stopped… he had a smile on his face but a cold look in his eyes.

“Yes, but why would they accept the help of one that was now an outsider?” Xolani’s eyes were hard on me, but his point came across clear. My tribe wouldn’t accept me, even if I did bring help. I would be killed as a traitor…

After several moments of silence he spoke again. “But that is just a story, stories are often told different as time is passed, perhaps they did accept? Perhaps if they had been different ponies they would have? Who knows these things hmm?”

I thought about what I had learned, what the outside world had taught me, sure some of it was bad. But not all, there were good ponies, willing to help even simple tribes of stupid ponies. If I went back, would they welcome me? Cast me back out? Attack me? I am only trying to help, maybe it would be best if I did not go back…

“But…” I started but he was no longer looking at me, in fact he was looking behind me, his eyes were focused but his gaze was uncertain, then his eyes locked on mine. He blinked once, then closed his eyes for a moment, opened them, then closed them again… I froze solid. He blinked once, the closed his eyes again, three more blinks. Blink, close, blink, blink, closed. I barely twitched my head in a nod and tensed hard.

I waited and then felt just a slight breath on the back of my main, barely could feel, but it was enough.

I bucked hard as I could straight back, a loud *crack* and *thud* could be heard. I whirled and slammed both hooves down into the dirt, but didn’t connect. Where was he?

I swept my hoof and watched the dust. There!

“AGH!” something pierced my left foreleg, blood spurted and I had my target. The blood made him easy to see and he was moving!

Two impacts bit into my side and I flipped backward on my good hoof, bringing my rear hooves into the one in front and searching out the others.

“Stay your hooves and your blade” A accented Zebra voice spoke somewhere beside me, the shimmer disappeared to be replaced by a slim Zebra with a rifle very similar to the one Xolani carried. Speaking of which…

He still had the calm and stoic look. He didn’t look frightened, nor worried in the least. He spoke in Zebra to them. “The pony does not need to die, he is a simple guard” The zebra with the rifle on my head snorted.

“His skills are that of Fallen Caesar, or based upon such. You are both coming with us” Damn it, this wasn’t good. I could use it but… it would hurt me. Xolani looked into my eyes and slid his hooves into his bag. They zebras were speaking to each other and didn’t notice or didn’t care. He pulled a small gray ball. I knew that item, I had made it. I was bleeding bad, we would have to make this fast.

The smoke spread fast, had the rifle not been silenced I would no longer have been able to hear. I twisted and smashed both fore hooves into his head and then kicked his rifle aside.

Two hooves punched into my stomach and send me sprawling back. Apparently I had underestimated this slim zebra. It could hit hard!

We were both blind in this smoke, I would have to-

*smack* a hoof connected with the side of my face and sent me into a daze. How had he seen me? The smoke was still just as thick!

The next attack was hard to dodge but I did it, bucking hard with my good hoof but failing to connect.

The smoke was starting to clear, I had to act fast. Where was that zebra? I thought, trying to see through the smoke. And how had he known where I was? Wait… my blood!

I saw the shimmer, and threw up my bad hoof, the zebra ducked to dodge and got a face full of blood. I bucked hard again, this time targeting the head, one hoof connected and I fell flat. I couldn’t balance well on one good hoof! But I didn’t have to, Xolani appeared as if out of nowhere and pressed his own rifle against my zebra attacker. Had he beaten the other?

I dug through my bags and downed two healing potions, enough to get my back on my hooves and clear my head. The other zebra was laying on the ground unconscious but alive.

“Pack our things Blink, we are leaving” With that he popped the zebra in the back of the head with a grim look.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk Added: Adrenaline Rush: You gain +1 to Strength when your health drops below 50%.

Quest Perk Added: Lay of the Land: Your time traveling as a caravan guard has helped you learn more of the land, you now know several locations without a map!

Author's Note

Finally got this chapter out, its a bit longer than the others and prolly has a good bit of mistakes since i'm lacking a proofreader, but all the same i hope you like it