Chapters Adventures Through De-trot
Adventures Through De-trot
It was a dreary day as Twilight met with Celestia in the library. There was a storm scheduled to start in about an hour so Twilight finished packing her bags and returned downstairs with them draped over her back. She was quite nervous to be leaving home, but it was only for five days so she was fine with it. Spike had been sent to Rarity's while she was away, and owlicious was at Fluttershy's. Finally the Princess decided it was time.
"Alright Twilight, time to go."
"Okay Princess." Twilight responded.
They went outside to where two chariots awaited them, one for Twilight and one for Celestia. Twilight was hesitant to get onto her chariot.
"Remember Twilight, you're only leaving for five days, then you'll be back home again."
"I know Princess but..."
"But what?"
"Well, I guess I'm a little scared that's all. All I've ever heard of out of De-trot is poverty and violence, so I'm just a little scared to be going there."
"Twilight I understand your concern, but the ponies there are going through a serious revival right now. Many areas in the center of the city are modernized and is actually quite safe."
"But that isn't where you're sending me, is it.?"
"I'm sending you into the outskirts of the modernized portion, it isn't great, but I need a report on the building conditions down there and since you're my star pupil I assumed you would be the one to do it.
Twilight sighed, "Alright Princess."
She stepped up onto her chariot and Celestia gave her a camera.
"Take this as well, to document your travels better."
"Okay. Where am I staying while I'm there?"
"I've arranged a contact for you to stay with, he's a native to De-trot, mild mannered, and very kind. You two should get along quite nicely."
"Great." Twilight tried her best to smile
The pegasi lifted up, and Celestia and Twilight went their separate ways. The chariots lifted up above the cloud layer and headed east. Twilight took the opportunity to watch the weather pegasi create the storm, stacking layers of clouds together, creating a massive storm front. Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight's chariot and waved goodbye to her as she left, Twilight waving back. She put on a brave face for the other ponies to see, but underneath she was terrified. Numerous stories of murders and poverty stricken ponies came out of De-trot, but not too many positive one's. She knew about the safe sectors of the city, around the theatre and such, but she was going to the outskirts, where nopony was safe.
About an hour later, she could see the city below her, and all the stories of violence came flooding back to her, but she pushed them away for now. She had to have an unbiased report for Celestia to read. The touched down about five minutes later outside of nicer looking house, surrounded by two burned-out buildings. Twilight asked one of the guards,
"Is this where I'm to stay?"
"Yes it is," came a voice behind her.
Twilight whipped around to see a white Pegasus stallion, with a rainbow mane like Rainbow dash, but grown out longer with a mustache, much like the big Lebowski. He had a long stride coming up to her, and his cutie mark was of crossed six-shooters. Twilight was startled by his deep voice behind her, but returned with her usual greeting.
"Hello, my name is-"
"Twilight Sparkle, yes the Princess informed me of your coming. My name is Quickshot."
"Nice to meet you Quickshot. As you may know, I come from Ponyville on an informational trip for Celestia."
"Ponyville you say, you may know my sister there."
"Sister?" Twilight looked at his rainbow mane again, 'No he couldn't be...' Twilight thought.
"Yes I hear my sister is pretty popular around those parts. One of the elements of Harmony? Loyalty I believe it was."
"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight blurted out.
"Yup. She was born here in De-trot."
"Sorry for not realizing, she hasn't mentioned you or her parents."
"Well it makes sense really. When she was born I was twelve and was just growing into a young stallion. She spent five years with us, and was showing great talent so we, my parents and I, felt that she shouldn't grow up like I did, fearing for my life on my way to school, having to learn to use weapons at the age of ten to defend yourself. We didn't want that for her, so we worked extra hard, and raised enough money to send her to a school in Cloudsdale, and summer flight camp following the school year, where she stayed. We eventually put her up for adoption there so she wouldn't have to come back here."
"Wow, I didn't know any of this about her."
"It makes sense really, she was just a filly, she probably doesn't remember us very well. You're a unicorn, I'm sure you could elicit her memories of us for her."
"Right."
Quickshot began to lead Twilight inside his house, and she noticed a scar going down his flank, and saw him limping slightly, favoring his right-hind leg and saw his tail was cut off at three inches. "Is that a popular fashion down here?"
"What? Oh, my tail. Let's get you situated first, then I'll tell you about myself. First, I want to hear what my little sis is up to."
"She's the best flier in Ponyville, just like she claims, and is aspiring to join the Wonderbolts."
"Well, based on how she was when she was young, she should have a good shot by now."
"Definitely. When I first met her she could clear the skies in ten seconds flat. She's even better now, all she has to do is get an audience with them."
"Hmm...I could probably help with that..." Quickshot muttered.
"What?" Twilight had heard the muttering, but couldn't make out what he had said.
"Nothing. In any case, welcome to my home," Quickshot opened the door to his house and held the door for Twilight to enter and nodded to the guards, permitting them to leave. He then followed her into the house, locking the front door once again.
The house was a one story ranch house, with the main living area right off of the entry way. To the right was a kitchen and to the left was a bedroom, bathroom and a closed door leading to a guest room.
"Down that hallway, first door on the left is your room. From what I hear you like books?"
"Yes they are my life."
"Great, the spare room is where I keep all my books, obviously I keep my favorites in my bedroom under lock and key, but all the others are left in that room. You can read whatever you find in there. Unpack your things, bathroom is across the hall, I'll be waiting in the living room." He headed to his room and grabbed his latest read from Dean Koontz, and headed to the living room to wait.
Twilight opened the door to the guest room and was met by the welcoming smell of old books. Quickshot must read a ton based on the collection of books in this room. Each wall consisted of a bookcase with eight shelves, floor to ceiling, completely covered in books. Twilight looked at them and found that they were mostly fiction books, mystery by the looks of it. Still the sheer number of books told Twilight a story in itself, that Quickshot must have been living here all his life.
She put this inquiry off for later, and started unpacking her bags, and putting her various toiletries next to the second sink in the bathroom. He seemed to keep simple upon inspection, simply a toothbrush and a mini toothpaste in a clear glass cup. She went back to finish setting up a desk for her report to be put on. The bed was soft and a decent size, with a quilt on top serving as the cover. She felt it and it was rough under-hoof, but soft at the same time, a strange feeling to describe.
After unpacking, Twilight went out to the living space, hooves clicking on the oak panel flooring. She found Quickshot fiddling with some contraption hung around his neck with a book slotted into it. He was sitting on the couch moving his fore hooves, which were attached to some metal thing. He had a sour look on his face, until he moved his right hoof to the left, and the contraption flipped the page of the book. His face lit up, and he tried it with his left hoof, to no avail. He saw Twilight watching him, giggling, and he joined in the laughter and removed the contraption from his neck.
"What was that?" Twilight said, still giggling slightly, but now curious.
"Oh, nothing, just a gadget my friend Ratchet wanted me to test out. I met him a few years back when he used to work on the line with me at the chariot assembly plant downtown. He and I got close when he didn't come in one day, and I clocked in for him and did his share of the work. Turns out his son had fallen terribly ill and wanted to be with him if he passed. Luckily he didn't, and returned back to work with no penalties. He thanked me and we got to talking and became great friends."
"You said he 'used' to work at the factory?"
"Yes he quit that job a couple months ago and is trying his hoof at inventing something. He tinkers around with doo-dads and what-nots like that contraption there and brings 'em to me once a week to test. He's a genius really, but some of those contraptions are just crazy. Like the other day he brought me something he called a 'Slinky.' Told me to push it down my front steps, and watch it us kinetic energy or something to carry it all the way down. Worked fine but it didn't really serve a purpose, just a coiled wire."
"Hmm...Interesting. Now, can I ask you about you now?"
Quickshot sighed and stood up and put the reading machine over in the kitchen and poked his head around the wall, "You drink?"
"Got some hard cider?"
"You bet."
He came back around with two bottles of Apple-Family brand Hard Cider, gave one to Twilight and sat on the chair opposite the couch.
"So which do you want to know first, my Cutie mark, my scar, or my tail?"
The bluntness of the question threw Twilight a bit, but she cracked the top of the cider and responded, "Let's start at the beginning."
"Right so the cutie mark." Twilight nodded. Quickshot opened his cider and took a swig, "Well it was back at senior year of high school..."
Felix Lectio
Adventures Through De-trot
Part 3
"Any luck this week Ranger?" A red stallion asks a brown stallion from behind the bar.
"No, no luck this week either. I'm beginning to think the bastard must've left by now." The pony replied.
"I don't think so Ranger. Not too many ponies leave De-trot once they've ended up here, save for these fine looking fellows." Cloud Chaser had noticed the trio walk in.
"Back on the scene there Magnum?" He asked Quickshot.
"You know me too well to think that Chaser."
"So to who do I owe the pleasure?" He asks Twilight.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"Ah yes, the element of magic, what an honor it is. Here, can I bring you guys some drinks?"
"Hard Cider's for me and Twi." Quickshot responded.
"Ratchet, the usual?" Chaser looks to him.
"Yup."
"Be right back."
"Hey Ranger, come sit with us man!" Ratchet called.
Ranger, the brown stallion stood up from his stool and ambled over with his drink balanced o his nose. Ranger was a big pegasus, with the muscle of an earth pony. His hair was done in the usual army buzz cut still, much like Chaser's, but it was olive drab, along with his wings, looking much like a cameo style color palate. His cutie mark was a silver star with two wings on either side, both wings colored black. Around his neck hung a set of dog tags, showing his military background. Also clipped to the chain was a De-trot police badge.
"Any leads?" Quickshot asked.
"Nope, nothing."
"What're you going to do once you do find the guy? You've spent all your waking hours since you've gotten back hunting him down, what are you going to do once you actually kill him?" Ratchet chimed in.
"I'll return to life as normal."
"Right, right."
"Here are your drinks," Cloud Chaser set down a tray with two Apple brand hard ciders and an oil-n-vodka for Ratchet, then sat down.
"Who's running the bar?" Quickshot asked Chaser.
"You are, I need a break."
Quickshot smiled and shook his head, "Only you Chaser, only you."
He got up and went and started taking over the bar duties.
Cloud Chaser was an impressive specimen to say the least. Light red coat with a three inch long mane of shining silver, he was about an inch shorter than Quickshot, but was much more muscular. His cutie mark was comprised of a hoofball (football), a tennis racket, and a pair of swimming goggles, all in a pile on his flank. His eyes were a deep green, like a meadow of grass.
"Good job distracting him." Ratchet commented
"Well I figure if I know Magnum, he hasn't told her yet." Chaser said bluntly.
"Told me what?" Twilight figured they were talking about her, being the only "her" there.
"From what I gather he hasn't, no." Ratchet replied to Chaser
"Told me WHAT?" Twilight was getting a little ticked at being ignored.
"Think we should tell her then?" Chaser again.
"Tell...Me...What?" Twilight was about to flip.
"Yes I think she needs to know." Ratchet then turned to Twilight who was turning red with anger, "Sorry did you say something Ms. Sparkle?" He smiled.
Twilight sighed, realizing they were just poking fun at her, "Just get on with it."
Chaser and Ratchet laughed a bit, even earning a smile from Ranger.
"Okay sorry. We just figure that Magnum hasn't told you everything about himself." Chaser explained.
"What has he told you so far?" Ratchet asked.
A customer came in and Quickshot began to make his trademark rainbowtini.
"He told me about his cutie mark, and why his tail is short." Twilight responded, observing her host behind the bar.
"So he just skipped over his scar. I figured as much when he cut me off." Ratchet deduced.
"I was just about to ask that. He got weird when I asked him how he met you Chaser, and how he cut you off mid-sentence at your house was weird too."
"Well that's probably because they all relate to his time on the Wonderbolts." Chaser revealed, once again very bluntly.
Twilight just sat, mouth agape.
"No, he really DIDN'T tell her," Ratchet confirmed. Chaser smiled.
"He...he was on the Wonderbolts?" Twilight asked
"Yup, keep your voice down though, he doesn't like to talk about it, or for anyone to know about it." Chaser said.
"But, but, he was on the Wonderbolts. For real?"
"Yea, that's how us four guys met." Ratchet told her.
"But he said he met you in the factory. Helped out with your shift when you didn't come into work one day." Twilight was incredibly confused, a feeling she rarely felt.
"Yes, that did happen, but that wasn't when we met. In fact, that was only a month after we started working in the factory. Right Chaser?" Ratchet asked.
"Yeah, I think it was. Too bad you two didn't have this great idea like me." Chaser boasted.
"Except if it wasn't for Magnum, you wouldn't even have this here bar," Ranger chimed in on this point, "and then your sister wouldn't have that bookstore of hers either."
"Oh yeah," Chaser's face turned red.
"Anyways, what happened to him while you were all in the Wonderbolts?" Twilight asked impatiently.
"Well we all weren't actually in the Wonderbolts. We each had our separate jobs, but Quickshot was the one who was ACTUALLY a Wonderbolt." Ranger explained.
"Yup. I was the pegasus in charge of setting all the clouds for the event and announcing, and Chaser and Ranger here were on the Royal Equestrian Air-force guarding the event." Ratchet explained.
"So what happened that he doesn't like to talk about?" Twilight pondered.
"Well he feels that ponies regard him differently when they find out, and he does not like the celebrity treatment, he likes honest respect. Although when he rolls around in that one-point-oh of his you wonder." Ranger smiled a bit saying this, but frowned again and took another swig of his drink.
"That, and it pretty much took away his chance to look for his sister. He told you about Rainbow Dash right?" Chaser asked.
"Yes he did. Was he really that intent on finding her?"
"Oh yeah, he loved his little sister like, well, a little sister. He did shows everywhere trying to find her, but only picked up us three. He met Ratchet in Fillydelphia I think, and me and Ranger over in Germaney while we were on Spec Ops. That was where 'It' happened."
"'It'?"
"Yup, Ratchet, I think you should tell it this time." Chaser said.
"Why me."
"Because I'm finished giving you drinks for nothing here."
"Hehe, about that," Ratchet looked down at his empty glass, "How about you get me one of those Ciders too, I feel so left out."
The pair exchanged a grin, "Sure, start telling her while I go grab it."
"Yup."
*~~~*
So it was the year after our graduation, Quickshot was nineteen, making Dash, and I was twenty-one. I was a wanderer in Fillydelphia out of high school, and had been doing so about three years until I had the luck to make it into the crew to set up for the Wonderbolts show. I had heard they were coming soon, but never assumed that fixing the mayor's shower would result in me getting on the crew, but that's exactly what happened.
I was flying around collecting and piecing together clouds for the cloudbase, where they begin each trick from, and anchoring it above city hall using wind cables when the four of them, Spitfire, Soarin', Fleetfoot, and Quickshot, came over. Now Quickshot had made it just the year prior, but was already at Spitfire's level of style and technique. He later told me that none of them knew he was related to Rainbow Dash, who had accomplished the sonic rain-boom the year before at summer flight camp. But they didn't really take notice, since she was just a filly.
So they came up and we started talking about the set up they needed until the four of them were just about to leave when Quickshot said, "Hey guys go on without me, I'll catch up."
I'm not sure why he did what he did next but he led me to a cloud-trailer and brought me inside. He then relaxed and tossed me a hard cider. This in itself was strange since he was under-age, and was going to be doing flight practice later. The other thing was that cider was the drink of a commonpony back then, since the Apple brand Cider wasn't as refined as it is now. This was surprising coming from one of 'The Wonderbolts', the idols of pegasi across Equestria.
"You drink?" He had asked me.
I too idolized this group having seen videos of their prior shows, "Yes sir."
"No, no 'sir'. Call me Quickshot."
"Of course si- Quickshot." I was thrilled, but something pulled at me. "Um, Quickshot?"
"Yes?"
"Why did you bring me in here?"
Quickshot had sighed and sat in a cloud-chair, "Because I can't handle anymore of their upper-class garbage talk."
This caught me by surprise, almost spitting out my cider. "What?"
"I can't stand to listen to them talk smack about places like Fillydelphia and Las Pegasus. So when we talked to you, it sounded like you were normal enough, so I brought you back here to talk to."
I couldn't contain my puzzlement, "Wait but didn't you all come from Canterlot?"
"The three of them, yes. They picked me up in my home town last year when I finished high school."
"Where did you come from then?"
"Me, I came from De-trot." He had revealed dramatically.
This time I actually DID spit out my cider, all over him. I immediately started to curse myself, when he started laughing. Of all things, he was laughing.
"Of all the reactions I've gotten from that, that one was the best. Man you should've seen your face." He imitated me, puffing up his cheeks, opening his eyes real wide. It made me smile through my embarrassment. "Priceless. Now, what's your name?"
"Ratchet."
"Well it's nice to meet you Ratchet. You grow up here in Fillydelphia?"
"Yes I did, can I ask you a personal question?"
"Was that the question?" I smiled, "Shoot."
"What were the Wonderbolts doing in De-trot? I didn't think they toured there."
He sized me up, gauging the question, "Last year was the beginning of an Urban renewal project downtown De-trot, and a flight stadium was installed, so Celestia had the Wonderbolts come in and do a free show there to 'Break it in'. I had been messing out back behind the new stadium with my guns here when one went off and shot up into the sky. I saw the trajectory was headed straight for the Wonderbolts' Cloudbase, so I jumped and flew up after it. Bullets travel fast, and I had about a mile and a half to the cloudbase. I felt the atmosphere pull at me as a flew straight up and found the silver projectile headed for a possible wounding blow. I caught up with the bulletin my mouth with my teeth, and started slowing down, fast. Unfortunately, I couldn't slow down in time, and burst through the clouds, running right into spitfire herself at a pretty fast speed, though I had slowed down substantially."
"Wow so you essentially saved her life?"
"Well yeah, but I just as near killed her."
"But you caught up with a bullet! That's amazing. What happened next?"
"Well we flailed around a bit, and I landed next to her and she looked all pissed and whatnot, asking what the hell I thought I was doing, 'til I spat out the bullet, then I turned away from her and threw up from exhaustion. Soarin' then landed next to us and started speaking non-stop about how he saw the whole thing, me catching the bullet that is. So in short they took me on. But look I want to know about you."
So we talked for the rest of the day and he eventually made the decision to hire me as a permanent worker for them. I travelled around with them and set up all the bases and fixed all their stuff, and we went and toured around for 'bout 3 years until we reached Germaney. I had since learned of his connection to Rainbow Dash and learned of his motives to find her, but we didn't expect to find her in Germaney. The Spec Ops team had been there for about five years gathering intel on the dictator there, and to show support, the Wonderbolts went to cheer them on. During the show, gunfire broke out as Quickshot here was on "stage". The dictator had sent forces that breached the barrier, and were firing at the performers. One of the opposing ponies threw tear gas onto the Cloudbase and Quickshot started going down. He was falling rapidly, and I was too far away to help him. He crashed at great speed into one of the supply yard fences.
I saw the wound from where I was hovering, and it was a bad one, the red contrasting the white of his pelt. I immediately flew down to him, but one of the spec ops ponies beat me there. Cloud Chaser, as I later found out, had beat me to him. I hovered about three feet above him, observing this new pony to make sure his intentions were good. The fence he had landed on was lodged in Quickshot's flank about two to three inches, with blood coming out in spurts. It was quite gruesome, and Quickshot's face was twisted up in a look of agony.
Chaser quickly got out a first aid kit and began treating him. He shouted for assistance into his radio and began prepping him to be transported. Quickshot looked at him, then looked up and found me, took out a pistol and tossed it up. I caught it and saw him take one out too. Chaser rotated an assault rifle from a harness on his back and turned the safety off. Soon a brown stallion, that I later learned was Ranger, came running up with a medic and a gurney. Ranger did the same as Chaser with his gun and I landed next to them and helped raise him to the stretcher, and we rolled him to a tent. Not thirty seconds after we had moved from the supply area, then rival forces started marching on the location we had just occupied.
By the time we were finished successfully removing the fence from his flank and dressing the wound, the Air-force had driven back the dictator's forces, and we were safe once again. Quickshot soon conked out, obviously tired from both the show, and being gassed, and of course taking a fence to the flank was nothing to look past either. Chaser, Ranger and I all got talking and made pretty good friends, that is, until the mailpony came, and handed ranger a letter.
Quickshot had stirred and sat up as Ranger had opened the letter jovially, expecting the best from the contents of the envelope...
*~~~*
"I...I think I can take over from here...Ratchet." Ranger stared at the table, then looked up when he said Ratchet's name.
"You sure Ranger, it's the first time since it happened that you've talked about it."
"Yeah, I...I need to tell it...at least once. I need to tell it for my own sake."
Ratchet nodded, and motioned to Ranger with his hoof. Ranger made eye contact with Chaser, who nodded. Then made eye contact with Twilight, and began to tell the story where Ratchet had left off.
*~~~*
So the mailpony hoofed me the envelope, and I was having such a great time with the three of them, I couldn't have ever imagined what was going to be in the envelope. I opened it up, expecting the best, especially given the set of circumstances. I looked back at the front of the envelope and found that it was from the police department of De-trot, where both me and Chaser had come from. I pulled out the sheet and unfolded it. What a fool I was to think that it was going to be good news, I was two months from finishing my second, and last, two year tour of Germaney and I had just made the acquaintance of one of the legendary Wonderbolts. Things were going TOO well for this letter to have good news, but how ignorant I was.
I began to read the paper, headed by the De-trot Chariot seal, signifying that it was an official document from the police department, dated two months prior:
'Dear Captain Ranger,
We regret to inform you that in recent events, your home was broken into, as reported by the De-trot city police department. Once again, I personally, as the mayor, regret to inform you that during the investigation of the alarm on the property, the investigators found four bodies, one mare, a stallion, a filly and a colt, all having their throats slit, aside from the stallion, who was bruised severely, and had a knife sticking out of his flank, the presumed murder weapon of the other three ponies. The city of De-trot sends its condolences to you and offers you good health in your Special Operations tour.
Mayor Ray Shine'
I read the letter again, and again, and just kept re-reading it, to make sure it was real. I started tearing up, my face turning to a frown. I flipped the paper over in my hooves, looking at the back of it, which was blank. I turned it back and read the letter again, looking at the mayor's signature marking the bottom of the page. I couldn't speak, sobs wracking my body, tears streaming down my face, falling onto the paper, smearing the horrible words.
Chaser was the first to notice my tears and came over. He pulled the note out of my hooves, read the letter, then set it down on the table and hugged me, patting me on the back. It was Quickshot who did it next, read the note, then came over and patted me on the back, crying silent tears of his own. Then Ratchet did the same, but simply sat, all traces of happiness gone from his face.
We sat like that for about thirty minutes, until me and Chaser's commanding officer came in to check up on the condition of the camp. He saw the four of us, and the letter, but didn't understand why two of his most brave captains were shedding tears. Ratchet noticed him there, and hooved him the letter, as I was almost doubled over with silent sobbing, with Quickshot and Chaser patting me on the back, comforting me.
"Hmm, I apologize for your loss Ranger, it seems once again that there truly is no limit to evil in this world. Take as long as you need to, but I will be expecting you at breakfast tomorrow morning at oh eight hundred hours." The officer said his part, then left.
*~~~*
"And that is why now I spend every waking moment looking for the bastard that took my family from me. My mother, my father, my brother, my sister, all gone because of 'Him'. No hoof prints, no DNA, no evidence at all that he was even there at all, other than the murder of my family. And for what? All we had was a single gold necklace with a sapphire pendant attached, that was the extent of our wealth, and it wasn't even taken. It was still sitting in the fu-"
"We get it Ranger, we don't want to scare Twilight do we?" Chaser reigned in Ranger again.
"Sorry...sorry. It's just a load off my back to tell somepony myself for once. I hope you don't think any different of me Ms. Sparkle, knowing my intentions."
"Wow. I'm so sorry for your loss Ranger. Don't worry, I can't really blame the motives, but I don't condone the action either."
"To be expected. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some searching to do."
"Do you have any clues?"
"All I have is an eyewitness who saw the pony break in, and had a description for me, so I know what I'm looking for."
With that, Ranger took a last swig of cider and departed the bar. Chaser then stood up as well.
"I guess that's a long enough break for me, Quickshot you'd better not flirting with the costumers again."
Quickshot laughed, "Well a few were sizing me up, like that pink mare over there."
"Who...Magnum I swear, one of these days..." Chaser shared a laugh with Quickshot when he had pointed out Chaser's sister at the bar, waiting for him to come over.
Chaser's sister, Crescent Light, was a pink pony with a flowing purple mane. She was average height for a mare and had indigo colored eyes. Her mane was quite long and parted in the middle. Her cutie mark was two books open, one had a five bar staph and music notes coming from it and one had various literary symbols emanating from it.
"Hey Crescent, how long you been here?" Chaser asked.
"About two Rainbowtinis believe it or not. You took quite a long break."
"Jeez it must have been based on how slow you drink. When did you come in?"
"Right after those three actually, walked over from the store."
"How are sales this week?"
"They're okay, Quickshot hasn't been by to pick up his normal take of the books."
"Yea sorry, been preparing for Celestia's pupil over there," Quickshot nodded in Twilight's direction. "I won't be in for a few days actually, showing her around De-trot and such, so make sure to hold those books I asked you to. Looking foreword to reading them." He turned to Chaser," You told her, I'm guessing?"
"No, Ratchet and Ranger did. We decided to take the burden from your shoulders."
"mmm, thanks. So she is full informed?"
"All but why you don't use your wings anymore."
"That's easy to explain. Thank you Chaser." Tears threatened, but went away. He turned and walked back to the table, "So Twilight, take a picture here, then we head back home?"
Twilight looked at Quickshot through new eyes. Before she had seen a mild-mannered, if not boring, pony. Now she saw him as more, much more, but she kept that to herself for now.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. And Quickshot, just call me Twi."
"Sorry, forgot. And Twi?"
"Yes?"
"Call me Magnum.
Wow, I never thought I would be putting this much thought into backstories when I started writing. I would like to thank all the OC's and their creators, warhorsebrony, brandaxle, and my best friend Zack and his sister Zoe for letting me include them in my story. So that was all the first day, crazy I know. I plan to keep pretty true to Detroit itself, so look out for buildings that exist IRL. Until next time!
Felix Lectio
-Skiskinator
Adventures Through De-trot
Part 2
It was the first day of my senior year, my parents had passed on from the pony pox during the summer and I had no ambition and no place really to go after high school, except to one of the "Big three" factories down here. I was truly a lost soul at that point, no place to go, just wandering through life. It was just my luck that the school had its funding cut, and lost the bus system. I had never formally learned to fly, but the school was within walking distance so I did just that. My father had called me into his room the previous spring and handed me a bag, saying, "You know what to do with these."
I nodded, having discussed with him prior about what was in the bag. In there were his old magnums from his youth here in De-trot. I had spent some time in the back with him practicing with the duel revolvers and had gotten proficient on them. I draped the holsters over my back, exposing the revolvers, and left the house on my way to school.
I was walking through past one of the more dangerous neighborhoods and I started getting a little on edge. I met up with two freshpony (freshman) mares on their way to school as well. They looked extremely scared, and asked me to protect them. I was still in an every pony for themselves mindset at that point, unlike now where I'm very protective of everypony, but something about them made me take them on. It could have been their resemblance to Dash in that they were twin pegasi ponies with bluish coats, not quite cyan though, and although their manes were maroon and the other purple, I still felt for these ponies.
So that was how it went for about four months, I would walk to their house, and walk them to school everyday, and in return, they taught me how to fly. But after picking them up one day, we were about three blocks away from the school when I heard a muffled cry from behind me, and turned to find a gryphon from the Magic Eight Ball about to stab Adriana, the pony with the maroon mane. As the gryphon plunged the knife downward, I whipped out one of the pistols in a swift motion, and shot it between the eyes.
The moment was instantaneous, but to me it felt like forever, the feeling of killing another living being lingering on my mind. My pistol hoof was still extended when Adriana flew past me and hugged her sister tightly, beginning to cry. I began to lower it, but noticed something odd. The Magic Eight Ball gang doesn't normally go around on their own, and I immediately realized the danger we were still in. I heard noises coming from the alley the first gryphon had come out of, and quickly began to move Adriana and Allie out of the way of the alleyway. That was when the first, of the seven remaining gryphons, came out pounced. I shoved the twins as hard as I could to get them out of the way, and quickly rolled to get a shot at the gryphon, but it was too late. It landed on my back, digging its claws into my hide. I cried out in pain, but quickly recovered sufficiently to buck hard into the underbelly of the gryphon. Its claws came out as it clutched its stomach in pain. I drew my second pistol and fired a shot at its face, but it only grazed the temple, only fatal if left unattended.
Then two gryphs came out at once, and each received a bullet to the chest at the same time. They fell down, not dead, but close to it. With three bullets left in my right gun and five in the left with only one reload set for each of them, I made sure to stay conscience of my remaining ammo. I knew that there were four gryphs left, since I had seen four already- the gang rolled around in their pack of eight, hence the name "Magic EIGHT Ball"-. I regarded the alley with caution, and resolved myself to go for strictly kill-shots from now on because anything else would be too much thinking and a possible waste of ammo, and unfortunately it seemed to be the only way out. The final four came out of the alley at a sprint, and my adrenalin spiked. Time slowed around me, literally, I could move the same but everything else was in slow-motion. I flapped my wings twice to get myself up on two hooves and fired two rounds from each gun at them. Each bullet miraculously found its place in each of their heads, and time resumed its normal pace, and the gryphs fell before me. I then looked at the dead and wounded gryphons, and broke down and cried, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I was horrified at what I had just done, essentially killing eight other living beings.
Adriana and Allie had been watching the whole time, and came over when I broke down.
"What's wrong? You just saved our lives," Adriana said to me.
"I just wish I didn't have to kill them in the process."
"Look Quickshot," Allie began, "The Magic Eight Ball was a violent gang already, you just did this entire city a favor by killing them. I know that it's hard to accept, killing eight beings, but they were anything but innocent."
"Look, let's just get to the school, I need to think and I don't want any confrontations."
"Okay." They responded.
What I didn't realize was that I had my cutie mark, but at that moment I couldn't care less, and the girls sensed it and didn't say anything about it.
*~~~*
"Wow..." Twilight was listening to Quickshot tell his story, and was utterly amazed by what this pony before her was capable of. All of her friends' cutie mark stories ended in happiness and joy, but this pony's story was filled with sadness, even if he was really a hero.
The silence in the room was overwhelming.
"So what happened after school?"
"Hmm?" Quickshot had been really deep in thought, remembering the feeling of killing something, the eternal scarring of having taken not one life, but eight in one go.
"What happened after school?"
"Nothing, really. I walked the girls home...
I walked the girls back home and they wanted me to go inside and meet their parents. I declined but they insisted that I do so, so I went with them inside. They called for their parents, who then came out from the living room. I told them that I was the pony that walked them to school everyday, and they thanked me for that and introduced themselves to me. I was mid-sentence telling them that I should be on my way when Adriana blurted out,
"He saved my life today."
"What was that sweetie?" The mom asked.
"Today, a gryphon from the Magic Eight Balls came out and tried to kill me, but Quickshot saved my life."
I started to blush a deep red, I could feel it, especially when their parents started looking at me.
"Is this true Quickshot?" The father said
I cleared my throat out of nerves, "Well...Yes it is."
"Then the other seven in the gang came out and he took them out as well." Still Adriana.
"'Took them out'? What does that mean exactly?" The mom was worried, maybe that they would return for their lives.
I sighed and responded before Adriana could say anything, "I killed them." My voice was flat, but I could feel tears in my eyes.
It was silent for quite a bit of time, until the father spoke up.
"Quickshot why don't you come out back with me for a minute, honey, you stay here with the kids."
"Yes dear." Responded the wife.
We headed to out back and he confronts me.
"Quickshot, you've escorted and kept my girls safe, and, as it seems, saved their life. I just want you to know that you are always welcome in our household, and if you ever need anything, just ask."
I nodded and simply replied, "Thank you sir."
There was silence, then, "I don't remember you having a mark when I first saw you. When did you get it?" He asked.
I looked at him quizzically, then looked at my flank, and sure enough there was my duel pistol revolvers, forever imprinted onto my body, forever reminding me of the first time I killed something.
*~~~*
"And that is the story of how I got my cutie mark, to cater to the cliche." Quickshot finished, "Any more questions?"
Twilight shook her head. She was thinking of her five days in De-trot, thinking how great it would be just to get to know this stallion better. But she knew that she had a responsibility to Celestia.
"Alright so what next?"
"Your choice, It's your story." Twilight was content with spending the first half of her day hearing these stories, but she knew she had to get out at some point.
"Hmm, how about what happened to my tail."
"That must've been recent based on the length."
"Yup it happened about a month ago...
*~~~*
I was working at the factory building the new chariotfire v6.2, but they're all the same really. My mane was originally two feet long, and I kept it nice, and it really didn't pose too much of a problem. I was working overtime to get some extra dough for a...side project, and the pony next to me was doing the same. It was pretty late at night when it happened, like about 10:00. It was storming outside, thanks to the pegasi weather pollution uptown, and I didn't hear the other colt start to snore.
Suddenly, I heard a thump as he fell onto the conveyer belt, headed for the heater that bakes the paint onto the chariots when we finish. My station was the last one before the oven, painting the chariots the desired color, and by the time the chariots got to me the belt changed gears and speeds up significantly. The poor pony was going headfirst into the oven, and I had almost no time to react. He was about to get kilned when I hopped forward and took him by the tail and swung him out of the way, but not before getting my own tail torched in the process. The fire was raging as I galloped out of the chamber, and was about to spread to my coat. The stallion had sufficiently woken up by now and found a pair of scissors used for the upholstery, and chopped off my tail before the fire spread.
*~~~*
"And that was it?" Twilight asked.
Quickshot raised an eyebrow, "Yeah we shared thanks for saving each other and never spoke of the incident again. Sorry, was that too short for you?"
"No no sorry, I just...never mind."
"Right. Oh look at the time! It's twelve and I haven't shown you any of De-trot."
"You know what Quickshot, I think we can just spend today getting acquainted."
"Cool, how about we go downtown for lunch?"
"Sounds like a plan, maybe you can tell me about that scar on your flank."
Quickshot was about to take a drink, but stopped midway to his mouth and stared at Twilight. He narrowed his eyes, "Yes I did say I was going to tell you that didn't I."
Twilight wondered about this sudden change of attitude but didn't make it apparent, "Yes you did. Where are we going for lunch?"
Quickshot stood up, "We'll go to my friend's place, it's called Hoof Chasers."
"And what's your friend's name?"
"Cloud Chaser."
"Where'd you guys meet?" Twilight extended the questions, prompting him further.
"Here we should me up with Ratchet too, I need to talk to him about his book reader."
"How'd you meet Cloud Chaser."
"We work in the factory together." Quickshot said evasively.
Twilight decided to let it go, but remembered it for later discussion, "Alright then let's head out."
Quickshot grabbed a leather holster out of the kitchen, and led Twilight outside to his garage, which was separate from the home itself. After re-locking the front door, he went and pulled open the garage, revealing a vintage chariotfire v1.0, not even in the Canterlot chariot museum. It was mint condition and apparently still ready to ride.
"Hop in Twilight."
"Sweet Celestia, I didn't even know these still existed!"
"Last one of its kind. They were given to employees back when I started working if they made a certain quota as a bonus. All the other ones got pitched after the v2 came out with full auto capabilities. So you hop in and I'll pull us to Ratchet's, then to Hoof Chasers, just make sure this doesn't move around too much." He motions to the book gadget that he sets on the seat next to her.
Twilight, still amazed at the chariot sitting before her, tentatively stepping into it, feeling the upholstery, beautifully kept, still soft underhoof. Although it wasn't auto like the newer ones, it was still incredible, and insanely hard to handle, due to the power exponentiation system, where a flywheel takes the ponies power and returns that power to add to the initial power. It was a wonder of science then, and still was currently, but since it was a less efficient way to create power, the technology was no longer used.
Twilight held onto the gadget as Quickshot stepped into the harness in the front of the chariot, and released the brake. He flipped a few switches on the foreleg harness and stepped foreword. Twilight heard some whirring from the wheel wells on either side of her, and they were off. The garage door closed behind them when Quickshot pushed a button on the mailbox, triggering one of Ratchet's mechanisms. Quickshot navigated them to a neighborhood 20 minutes away and parked in front of a house in a slightly more modern neighborhood closer to the nice parts of the city.
Quickshot stepped out of the harness after successfully parking the Chariotfire in the garage, which seemed to be connected to the house itself. He went forward and knocked three times on the door, then twice more after a one second pause. Immediately, a slot in the door opened in the door and a pair of deep sapphire irises, with a charcoal strand of hair splitting the two eyes.
"Quickshot?"
"You know that page flipper blows right?"
"I'll figure it out I'm sure. Who's that with you, is she safe?"
"Yeah she's Celestia's student from Ponyville."
"Oh."
The slit closed up and a series of clicks indicating locks being undone. It sounded like three before the door hissed and opened before them. Before them stood another white pegasus with charcoal hair and stunning blue eyes. His mane was shaggy and topped by engineers goggles with various tools spring-attached to a harness sitting on his back. He seemed to be smaller than the usual stallion, being about equal with Twilight in terms of height. His cutie mark was two crossed wrenches matching the color of his mane backed by a gold cog.
"Twilight, say hello to my good friend, Ratchet." Quickshot announced.
"Hello my name is Twilight Sparkle."
"Enchanted," Said Ratchet.
"Likewise."
"Mind if we go on in Ratchet? Or do you have your ever elusive "Special Somepony" over." Quickshot snickered.
"Ha ha, good one Magnum, she's coming over for dinner this weekend so you can meet her then."
"Well I'll be showing this pretty thing around De-trot this weekend, which I almost remember telling you now that I think of it."
"Really? I don't recall." Ratchet responded coyly.
The trio walked down the hall, Quickshot holding the contraption on his way in.
Twilight whispered to Quickshot, "Magnum?"
"Remember how my cutie mark is two revolvers?" Quickshot's voice was somewhat hindered by the contraption."
"Yes."
"Well they're magnums, so Ratchet calls me magnum as a nickname."
"Oh."
"What're you two lovebirds whispering about back there? You'd better watch yourself Ms. Sparkle, this one's quite the Casanova when he's on the club scene." Ratchet commented.
"Ratchet, when's the last time I've had time to go to a club let alone have a ponyfriend?"
"At least not since you were on the W-"
"Well it's been a long time since that happened." Quickshot cut off Ratchet and a look passed between them.
"Yes, yes it has. Now let's take a look at this gadget here. How's it working?" Ratchet let the subject drop and focused on his invention.
Ratchet's house was identical to Quickshot's in how it was constructed, but the interior itself was different, and there was a hallway leading from the house to the garage. Where Quickshot's living room was, held a fair amount of steel parts, several workbenches with various cutting tools and elements of assembling. The kitchen area was the same, but gadgets seemed to cover everything in it. Pieces of unfinished gadgetry were hanging from the walls and were strewn across the floor. Quickshot went to the table in the center of the room and set down the gadget.
"Well the right hoof turner works, but when I tried the left one, the whole thing stopped working. I tinkered with it a bit and got it working again, but the left flipper didn't work period."
"Hmm, thought I fixed that last time."
"No, you fixed the right one, since the left worked last time, but not the right one. I think all you need to do is reset the book holding rig, and pull out the hoof holders, and replace it with the fitted chain mail that I showed you last week."
"Actually...I think you're right Magnum." He pulled down a wrench from the harness on his back and pulled down his goggles. The wrench hung before him and he grabbed it and began to work, "You know what, Magnum?"
"What?"
"You should leave that assembly line and become my partner full time. With my ideas and your problem solving we could be unstoppable."
"I'll stick it out until the next round of layoffs, then I'll find you," Quickshot joked.
"Hey come check this out," Ratchet called him over, Twilight had went to the kitchen to examine some of the contraptions.
"What?"
"You know you have to tell her at some point," Ratchet whispered fervently to Quickshot.
"Yeah I know, I was going to tell her at Chaser's place and was gonna bring you with me."
"Oh," Ratchet spoke louder, "Well then let's go, think Ranger will be there?"
"Definitely, every Tuesday remember?"
"Oh yeah, we takin' the one point oh?"
"You know it."
"Alright let's go."
"Twilight come on we're going to Chasers."
"Excellent."
Ratchet removed his tool harness and engineer goggles and grabbed a set of keys. He flipped a few switches and followed Twilight and Quickshot to the garage. Upon resetting the three locks on the door, he opened the garage door and hopped into the chariot with Twilight as Quickshot prepared to set off once again.
"You have no idea what he did to get this chariot."
"He said he got it as a work bonus." Twilight said non-comprehensively.
"Oh did he," Ratchet looked to Quickshot.
"Not right now, gotta stay focused."
"Something isn't adding up here."
"Look Twilight-"
"Please call me Twi."
"Look Twi, navigating this chariot takes a lot of focus, so if you would be so kind."
"Sorry."
Quickshot took a left and pulled the chariot all the way downtown to where they were in the revived sector. As they entered the city, Quickshot slowed to a cruising pace to get reactions from the ponies and gryphons alike. If there was one thing he liked about this chariot, it was the reactions. He pulled around the back of Hoof Chasers sports bar, and parked the chariot in a private garage reserved for Cloud Chaser and his sister Crescent Light, Quickshot, Ratchet, and Ranger. Two spots were already occupied by Cloud Chaser and Ranger. Quickshot took his spot and parked his ride. The trio then headed into the bar through the side door
A/N: Well that's part two. Still looking for just a few more OC's, just introduced one this chapter, and two or three will be in the next one. What is Ratchet and Quickshot's REAL past together, just working the assembly line? Where DID Quickshot get the Chariotfire 1.0? These questions and more answered next chapter!
Felix Lectio
-Skiskinator
