Where we go

• Day 3 -

"Finally! That took forever!"

You close your eyes and whisper a silent prayer that it isn't what you dread it is, but when you open your eyes again she's sitting next to you again, "Hi, kid." you barely manage to conceal your displeasure.

"I already told you, my name is Lyra." she scrunches her face at you.

"Sure it is, kid... sure it is..." you sigh as you change gears.

"We're not in the city anymore?" she looks out the window and you can hear her disappointment.

"We're not."

"So where are we?" Lyra gives you an expectant look.

"Desert."

"I can see that..." she makes a pouting face, "Doesn't it have a name?"

"Doesn't need to. It's a desert."

"Why wouldn't it need a name?"

"Because that's the least of your concerns if you're in one..." you reply with a small chuckle, but she obviously doesn't get the joke. Not that it's a very good one anyway... "Trust me, kid. This place is nothing special."

You can actually feel her gaze searching your impassive face. From time to time a bead of sweat runs down your brow... frigging desert... frigging air conditioning not working either. Two hours till night and you're still sweating like a pig, even with only your wife beater on. Not to mention the guy in the trunk, he's probably cooked half-way through already... not much longer and he'll probably start to smell...

"What happened to your cheek?"

The question nearly throws you off balance, "This?" your fingers trail the fresh band-aid... the damn bastard had been carrying a knife and you fool hadn't noticed... "Cut myself while shaving..." she gives you a raised eyebrow, "You try and do that while driving." Then again, she probably doesn't even know what shaving is.

There's a moment of silence as she seemingly tries to weigh your response... and a bump from the trunk as you hit a small pothole. "So..." you try to change the subject before she has time to ask about it, "How was your day?"

Lyra's head sags a bit, "Not good." you cringe at the foal's answer, you never were that good with kids...

"What happened?" you mentally bitch slap yourself for asking.

"Some of the other foals made fun of me..." she replies with a downtrodden voice.

"How come?"

"They think I have an imaginary friend."

This time it's your turn to give her a raised eyebrow, "What? How come?" she gives you a look, "Ahh... I guess I understand where that comes from..."

Lyra looks out the window again with a humph, "How was I supposed to know that everything I said here I also said out loud back home?"

"Don't blame me..." you shrug, "People would think the same of me if they saw me talking to my passenger seat." you pause as a thought hits you, "Where are you now? You're not at school, are you?"

"No..." she sighs, "I'm in my room."

"And your parents won't notice?"

She's silent for a moment, "Mom works a lot... and dad..." her voice becomes tiny.

"Your mom looks after you alone, huh?" you feel like punching yourself in the stomach.

"Yeah..."

"Sorry, kid. Wasn't my place to ask." you quietly take the next exit while wondering if you can find something else to talk about.

"So..." she looks back up at you, "Why couldn't I come here earlier?"

"Huh?"

"I tried the spell about two hours ago and it didn't work..." she gives you an inquisitive look, "What were you doing?"

Two hours ago... yeah, that about fits. Lot of work, lots of adrenaline, the guy in the trunk... nothing calm there, "I took a nap..."

She doesn't seem to be buying it, "You don't look like you sleep a lot."

"Who would, in this heat?" you give a halfhearted laugh, "Hey kid, wanna learn something new about humans?"

You flip on the radio, praying to god that this will protect you from any further questions you don't want to answer to a child... and that she'll be gone by the time you reach your destination.

• Day 4 -

The shovel gives off a loud clank as you throw it back into the trunk of your car. Things had gone relatively smoothly... Lyra had disappeared a few hours before you reached the spot. The digging took the whole night though, and the cold of the night barely helped to cool you off. When the time finally came to toss the bastard into the hole you were covered in sweat and dust... not to mention it took three more hours to fill it up again... fun times.

You close the trunk and trudge around your car with tired steps, hoping that you won't find a little unicorn on your passenger seat... you even actually check before you get in yourself; nothing there. Good.

You get in your seat, close the door and are about to start the engine when there's a surprised gasp next to you... "Great." you huff without looking and put a cigarette in your mouth, "Back already, kid?" you put fire to the end and give a drag, "Ain't it time to..." you turn around and stop talking.

There's a pony sitting next to you, at least you're sure of that part... but it's not Lyra. It's bigger, female from the looks... and it looks absolutely terrified at what it's seeing. You greet it with a silent frown and exhale a small puff of smoke while the red morning sunlight catches on your face, "You're not Lyra." it's more of a question than an actual statement on your part but the effect is immediate.

The pony gives off a high-pitched scream and simply disappears into thin air.

You take another drag from the cigarette and carefully, you reach out and check the air above the seat... still nothing there... what the hell was that just now anyway? "The fuck if I know..." you whisper to yourself and shift into first gear, all the time wondering what childhood trauma could possibly be responsible for the shit you're going through right now.

"I swear..." you groan as you find your way back to the old dirt road, "If the next one wears a crown or says she's a magical princess... someone's getting shot in the face."

• Day 685 -

"Princess." you give a short nod as Celestia enters the room.

"Scott." she returns the greeting, "Is everything ready?"

"I was just about to get started." you check the tools on the table before you, this was always the routine for the end of each month; gathering. You look up for a moment to see a gray unicorn enter behind Celestia, "Who's that?"

"This is Adamant Shimmer." Celestia introduces the mare, "She will assist you in the future."

"So you finally got me some backup?" you give the mare a short glance, "Is she from the list?"

Celestia nods, "She is."

A small sigh escapes you before you turn your attention back to Adamant Shimmer, "Then you know what you're up for?"

"I do." Adamant Shimmer is obviously nervous, "Who are you? I've never seen you before."

"Scott, please remove the charm." Celestia's voice is calm as always.

You give a grunt and pull the charm from your neck, Adamant Shimmer's gasp signaling that the spell stopped working. She's now staring at you with a puzzled expression.

"This is Scott." Celestia introduces you, "He is the one who has been working as the collector for these past two years."

"Wow..." Adamant manages to stammer, "I heard that there was something special about him... but this?" she turns to Celestia, "What is he?"

"Not really important right now, is it?" you reply with a small frown and walk to a big steel table, "We've got work to do."

Adamant Shimmer's eyes follow you as you reach the table, her gaze shifting to the large white cloth covering what lies on top of it. She swallows, "Is that..."

"Sure is..." you reply with a heavy voice, this part has always bothered you the most, "You sure she's up for this, Celestia? This is pretty heavy stuff."

"I have selected Adamant Shimmer myself." Celestia's gives her a reassuring nod, "She holds my complete trust. Besides... you can not keep on doing this all on your own."

"If you say so." you shrug and turn your attention back to Adamant, "Last chance to back out. I won't blame you."

She seems to hesitate, but only for a moment, "No." she shakes her head and puts on a brave face, "I pledged to do this for the safety of everypony." God, how you still hate that word, "I won't back down now."

A short snort escapes you, if only she knew what she is about to get herself into, "Your decision..." you can't help but wonder how long it will take for her name to show up on the list if she takes up this work... The first and last one Celestia tried barely lasted a year. "Alright then."

You pull back the cloth, revealing the unmoving body of a pony beneath. As you pick up the scalpel you give Adamant a short glance, she looks terrified... Probably the first time she's seen a corpse this close... and it won't be the last. Your gaze travels to Celestia; her face is as impassive as always, but you've learned to look right through that... she hates this probably just as much as you do... but someone needs to do it.

After a quick check of the blade to make sure it's still sharp you don the coat just like you always did for these last two years... and you light yourself another cigarette, simply because it will help to cover the stench. It's all become routine these days. You step up to the table, "Let's get this over with."