He sighed. He felt terrible. Bill cipher had killed someone. Now, this may seem like a normal, if not unfortunate piece of news to any stranger that happened to hear it, however for those who did know him..... they where shocked. Bill cipher was a lot of things, a trickster, a prank puller, a person who is beyond easy to frustrate and annoy, but not a murderer because however those traits might tie into that of someone who would kill a pony for whatever reason, he did have a soft side. And for those who new him it was no surprise that he would never kill another pony. But he had. And the thought wouldn't stop passing through his mind unexpectedly. No matter what he tried to think about, the thought would always come back and the terrible feeling would start all over again. He sighed again. His front hooves where in cuffs and he was currently in the back of a cop car, on his way to prison. Or at least, he wished he would be going strait there, no he had to go to court first. He knew it was a waist of time, he deserved to be in prison. And he knew it. He refused to waist time defending himself when the evidence was clear and when he would surely kill himself over guilt if he ran away.
Suddenly the driver spoke up. "Well, i reckon you didn't do it then huh?" he said a southern accent covering his words.
He wasn't really in the mood to talk, but he needed a distraction from the guilt plaguing his thoughts.
"Does it really matter?" he said with as little rudeness as he could muster, he really did need a distraction even if that distraction was a meaningless conversation with the stallion driving him to jail.
"nah not much" he replied "y'know iv drivin lord-knows how many fellas down to the prison...... usually bout this time when i get the 'i didn't do it' " Bill thought on that briefly. "Not from me" he said solemnly. Suddenly the radio piped up.
" we've got what looks like a 10-91E near peachtree exit of 386. all cars asked to keep on the lookout for a 91v in the area." there was a brief silence of acknowledgment from the officer driving the car before he continued the conversation,
" I followed you're case a bit, you bein a piedmont stallion n' all"
"your from pideimont too then?" Bill replied willing himself to gain a little interest in the conversation.
"yup, families from texas but i was bron n' raised here in piedmont. traveled to nevada to become a cop in the 70's. always wanted to work a murder case, like the mess you've got yourself tangled up in." he finished.
Bills ear flicked as he herd a rather loud police siren from ahead of them. He turned just in time to see a police car rush by.
" Heck, whole family used to be regulars as you're folks drug store."
He cringed when the police officer said that, and for the moment he was glad he didn't have to see his parents face-to-face, or his brother for that matter.
"Be advised of medical personnel on route to hartsfeild, various 10s and 20s coming in."
Buzzed the radio.
"y'know my little sister used to go to school up at C.G.U., ya teach there long?" he asked.
Bill thought for a moment before answering. yes, he knew the amount of time he had spent teaching at celestias school for gifted unicorns, but it seemed only yesterday that he was doing so -the school was currently on break and he was happy to come back home from canterlot -Happy with his family and life, and not in this situation.
"six years" he said, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"Meet your mare friend in canterlot?"
this time he couldn't stop the sad look that came to his face as he looked down sadly, he looked out the window trying to get her out of his mind. The officer took his silence as a sigh to keep going.
"wanna know how i see it?" he said.
Bill, feeling a pang of sadness still vibrating in his chest dryly replied,
"not really"
He was so caught up in saying this as dryly as possible that he almost missed the several police cars and ambulances rushing by, lights, sirens, and all.
"well, too bad, its mah car. just because you have the right to remain silent don't mean i gotta be right there with ya." he said. The officer looked in his rearview mirror only to fin Bill glaring at him, he stared at the rode again. "regardless.... could be you just married the wrong woman." he said. Bills blood started to boil, and he had to grit his teeth to keep himself from saying anything to the officer. The radio buzzed on once more. "riot in progress. all officers are available for incoming 217's. rolling calls and dispatches to all locations." " any of that stuff seem important to you?" Bill said, honestly worried about the amount of things that radio had said sine he got in. "all of it, but that box never shuts up, sit in this seat and pay too much attention to it and you'll drive yourself crazy." He was drowning the officers words out though, when he heard more sirens. He turned to see not only more police cars, but a helicopter. What is going on out there? He couldn't help but wonder. The officer then started telling a story of a previous criminal who had apparently convinced himself that he hadn't done anything wrong, even though he was caught red-hoved. The radio started buzzing a message again, but the officer leaned over and turned it off before it could get half way through. "just goes to show," the officer said finishing up his story, "people will up n' go mad if they think their life is over." he finished. Just when he started up another story- That Bill was in the process of drowning out- he glanced up at the rode for a brief moment, thinking he saw something Bill whipped his head up as fast as lightning. It all happened so fast. Bill saw a pony walking across the road. "WHATCH OUT!!!" he screamed in panic. But it was too late. The police officer swerved the steering wheel, the car tumbled off o the rode and into a small wooded area. The car flipped over what Bill could easily guess as at least 10 times. Bill and the officer where thrown round like rag dolls in the car. Bill trying desperately to position himself so he wouldn't get hurt, only to his his head one to many times and get knocked unconscious.
Bill remembered waking up at least twice. Opening his eyes only to find a mix of blurred colors and sounds. Finally, he woke up to strait lines and clear pictures only to find himself in the broken police car. For a few moments, he felt a blissful numbness on his body. After a few moments however, feeling came back like a wave of pain. He was cover from head to toe in bruises and he was lucky to be alive. "ugh....ow" he moaned as he tried to get up. He cringed as he felt searing pain in both his right leg, and his left wing. He checked himself and found that his right flank has a large scratch, completely covering his cutie mark and bleeding slightly. He looked at his wing to find it sagging at an odd angle, obviously broken.... or worse. With his front hooves still cuffed he, pulled himself up slightly to look out the broken window. And what he saw shocked him. The limp unmoving body of the police officer was about 10 feet away from the car, a trail of blood leading to his body. but the strange thing was that the trail was curved slightly, making it look like he had dragged himself there only to die moments later. "Hey! officer! are you alright? i'm still back here!" he yelled. He didn't move. Bill looked around, he knew he had to get out of this car or he was getting nowhere. Then he noticed something through the window. "Why was his gun out...?" he said slowly aloud to himself. He shook his head, he needed to get out of here. He stared at his cuffs for a moment. He tried pulling them off but it was useless. "danngit" he said. He continued looking around for a moment until his eyes came to the window in front of him, witch as to be expected was also broken. Then he got an idea. Using his good leg, he kicked the window as hard as he could. The cracks in the windows got bigger, and some shards flew away upon impact. It took a good 5 kicks to break the window completely. When the last piece of the window was broken, Bill slowly lifted himself up and out of the window. Being sure not to land on his broken wing or wounded leg, he landed hard against the ground outside the car. He tried to get up, but overestimated himself and slammed his right side onto the car. He gave a small yell of pain and used the car as a rail to help him walk. He limped around the car and saw the officers shotgun. This time he couldn't stop the small rise of panic in his chest. A million questions rang through his head at once. Why did he have his gun out? what happened? was something out here with him? After taking a moment to take a deep breath and calm himself, he decided the safest thing to do was to get the gun, just in case anything happened. He tried to pick it up with his magic only to cringe at the awful pain in his head. So, he bent over, slowly do to the injuries and picked up the gun with his hooves. "empty" he said after checking the gun only to find that it had no bullets. The thought then came to him that he could fight with the empty gun if need be. Bill set the gun down and slowly stood back up. "i might be able to carry it with these cuffs off...." he said thoughtfully. He walked over to the side of the car and spotted a single bullet on the ground. He bent down slowly once again and picked it up. Having no other option he put the bullet in the small space between his bowtie and his neck. Suddenly his mind went back to the person that was driving the car. He looked over on the direction of his body. "Officer?" he asked aloud. He made his way over to his body. The officers legs where bent at strange positions and his whole body was limp. "Woah..." was all he could say. Being 99% sure the officer was in fact dead, Bill bent down and grabbed the keys to the hand cuffs, that where conveniently hanging on his back pocket. He then sat down next to the officers body and began to take the cuffs off. Once he had them off he rubbed his wrists, witch where sore from having the tight handcuffs on them for celestia knows how long. Suddenly he herd a wheezy breath coming from below him. "uh.... officer?" he said. Suddenly the officer swiped at his face with his hoof. Bill jumped back just in time to not get hit, but his mind was swimming for answers as to what just happened. He was on his back when the officer started dragging himself towards him, broken legs and all. "WHA-WHAT IN CELESTIAS NAME?!" he yelled in panic. " WHAT ARE YOU?!" he yelled as he continued to back away from the officer. "GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" he yelled, still terrified. His back felt the surface of the car as he backed up against it. The officer was less than 5 feet away now. Bills heart was beating so fast he thought it was going to burst. In a stuttering panic, he grabbed the shotgun. He quickly pulled out the bullet from his bowtie, and tried to load the gun, but his hooves where shaking so badly that he dropped the bullet. He thought he was a goner. But luckily his instincts took over for him, and he reached as far as he could, grabbed the bullet, and loaded the gun. "don't make me do this!" he shouted. But the officer didn't stop. Bill pulled the trigger.
The now dead officer fell, blood started pouring from his head. Bill had shot him. Right in the head. He took many deep breaths, trying to register what happened. He looked at the gun, and threw it to the side. Suddenly a foul smell reached his nose. he looked down at the officer. "His skins all rotted, and he smells terrible...." he said. "Whats going on?"
Too stunned to move, he started to look around. And finally he spotted a little filly in the distance. Bill couldn't quite see what she looked like from the distance, but he would take just about anything right now. "Hey! over here! go get help!" he yelled. she then galloped out of sight. His ear flicked at hearing a noise. He looked to his left. More of those things where emerging from the forest. He tried his best not to panic, as he got up from the ground. He would've ran had it been possible with his leg wound. Not watching where he was going, he tripped over the officers body. He quickly got up as he saw a small crowd of those monsters coming strait towards him from both sides. He dragged his leg and went as fast as he could go, but tripped again when he got to a very small slope. Finding no time to stop he quickly crawled as best he could until he saw a fence. He got up as fast as he could and jumped onto the fence. He gritted his teeth so as not to cry in pain from jumping with his wounded leg. But he made it over, and landed with a ruff 'oof'. Bill quickly scooted back and away from the fence. He scooted far enough to hit his back against the porch of a house. A gun shot rang out, and from the sound of it, it was far away. All of those monsters went to follow where ever that gunshot came from. Bill slowly got up, the pain in his leg only now numb enough to stand without cringing. "Hello? anypony?" he yelled. There was a defining silence, not even the chirp of a bird could be herd over it. He began to walk around, finding no one around and the fact that it calmed his nerves. Walking around, he found there was a treehouse in the middle of the yard. He looked up at it to find it covered in what appeared to be little fillys drawings, if any guess where to be made. He looked below the tree house and, as if to confirm him guess, a fillys tea set laid next to the trunk of the tree on a small table. It was covered top to bottom in glitter. The tea set had stickers coating most of the set. He looked toward the house. "Wonder if anypony's home..." he trailed off and headed toward the house. Bill walked up the porch stairs and knocked ruffly on the glass. "Hello?" he yelled. "anypony home? i need a little help..." Thinking no one was home he slide the glass door open and walked in. The place was a mess. It definitely looked like someone had gotten into a fight in here. A large blood splatter could even be seen in the kitchen. "These people might need more help than i do...." Bill said quietly. He walked forward and saw a two coloring books, one for a filly and one for a colt. Next to them sat two small knitting needles and some crayons. Suddenly Bills stomach rumbled loudly. He looked around and saw a bowl of fresh fruit on the table, but a touch revealed that they where only decorative. "Fake.... danngit" he said. Then he herd what sounded like a phone ringing, only it was shorter and only went off once. He looked around and saw a phone with a blinking red light, meaning there was a message on it. Bill gawked an eyebrow at the phone. After a few moments of him standing there thinking, curiosity took over and he slowly walked over to where the phone sat on a small table. He clicked the button and listened. "three new messages" said the phones robotic voice. "message one left at 5:43 pm" there was a short beep and the message started:
"Hey Wendy, this is Diana we're still in organ. Ed had a little 'incident' with some crazy guy at the hotel so we had to get him back to the ER and have it checked out. anyway, he's not feeling well enough to fly back tonight, so we're staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Dipper and Mabel, and i promise we will be back in time before your spring break!" the mare laughed at the end and the second message started after the automated voice said, " message two left at 11:19 pm"
"Oh dear celestia, finally! i don't know if you've tried to reach us, all the calls are getting dropped. They aren't letting us leave and aren't telling u anything about piedmont. Please, please, just leave the city and take Dipper and Mabel with you back to Berkeley. i'v gotta get back to the hospital. Please let me know that you're safe." The mare sounded like she was near tear in the second message, it made Bill feel sorry for her and her family, but the third massage was way worse. "Message three left at, 6:51 am"
" Mabel baby? Dipper? sweetie, please if you two can hear this, call the police... thats 9-1-1. We love you.... i'm so sorry..... We love you...we lov-" The beep of the end of the messages cut the poor mare off. It was obvious she was in tears by the third message. It made Bills heart ache a little just thinking about it. He picked up a framed picture next to the phone. In it it showed a happy smiling family. With a mother, a father, and two children. They looked to be twins if Bill wasn't mistaken... He put the picture down. "Daddy?" He herd a small fillys voice come from what sounded like the kitchen. He ran in to find it empty. He searched a few drawers until he found a walkie talkie. He picked it up and looked around. He limped over to the glass door and looked out. "Hello....?" He said experimentally into the walkie talkie. "You need to be quiet" This time a colts voice came from the device. "Im not one of those.... things" he said, wanting to know he wasn't alone. "Good" this time it was the filly again. "where are you're parents?" he asked. It was the colt who answered, " They took a trip and left us with Wendy." They filly cut in saying, " they're in organ i think...." she trailed off at the end. "where the canyon is..." she finished. "Are you two safe?" He asked honestly wondering how two little kids survived this long with those monsters out there. "We're outside in our treehouse" said the filly before the colt finished for her, "They can get up here." Bill looked out the window of the kitchen at the treehouse. He smiled, despite himself he was actually impressed. "Thats smart." he said. "see?" said the filly. He saw as the two lifted the small door of the tree house, the filly almost climbing over the colt, and holding the other walkie talkie. "can you see us? we can see you through the window." she said waving while the little colt held the door open. He gave a small wave and smiled at the filly and colt. Then they both yelped in fear and rushed back into they're tree house. Bill whipped around to find another one of those things. He had to fight her off, and was lucky he turned around in time. Though she was pretty strong, he was able to push her back and against the table. He tried to run, but slipped on the blood stain on the floor and hit his head clear on the edge of the counter. His head was blurry and it took all the strength he had not to black out. He saw blurred colors everywhere but managed to take a wild shot and kick her right in the jaw. Bill shook his head and got up as fast as possible. He almost made it to the door but was stopped by, who he assumed to be Wendy, who grabbed his back hoof making him fall. He scooted back as fast as he could. She lunged at him and he bucked her in the face. Behind him, the young filly and colt where running to the glass door, the filly with a hammer in her mouth. Wendy had got herself on top of Bill who was fighting her of as best he could. Bill managed to bring up his leg and kick her off of him, but she wasted no time in trying to get on him again. He kicked her again, almost not herring the filly when she said "here!" muffled be fear and the tool in her mouth. Bill quickly reached back, and grabbed the hammer with his magic and hit the monster in the face. She fell, and he lunged at her with the weapon and hit her until she was dead. Once he was sure she was dead he dropped the hammer, not even registering that his head was well enough to use magic again. "Wow...." he panted. Finally he looked over at the two kids, "Hi there" he said. He was finally able to get a good look at them. They filly had a long brown mane and tail, a light pink coat with what looked like braces and a shooting star sweater with matching headband. The colt has the exact same mane and tail color, though his mane was shorter and a bit scruffier. He wore an orange shirt, a dark blue vest and a hat with a light blue pine tree on it over his peach, almost yellow coat. The most noticeable thing though, was that they had the same big brown eyes. They stepped away from the mess that used to be they're babysitter. "Did you kill it?" said the filly, both a little scared. "I don't know....." he said honestly. "i think so." The two stepped -if it was possible- even closer together. "Sometimes they come back." said the colt. "Have either of you killed one?" He said trying not to sound curious. "no.." they both said in unison. "but they get shot a lot..." finished the filly. "You two have been all by yourself through this?" he asked kneeling down to their level. "Yeah" said the colt. The filly shuddered, "i want mommy and daddy to come home now." she said. The colt put his hoof on her back to comfort her. Bill fought not to cringe , and looked at the filly sadly. "I....think that'll be a little while, y'know?" he finally said. "Oh.." she said quietly. "look," Bill started "I don't know what happened, but ill look after you two until then, ok?" They looked at each other, then at Bill and finally said, "alright" in unison. "what do we do now?" said the little colt, still holding his sister close for protection. Bill thought about that for a minuet. They needed help, even with three of them together, they weren't gonna make it without supplies.... supplies that they didn't have. "We need to find help, before it gets dark." He had dealt with those things at daylight already and he didn't plan on doing it when he could see. "yeah.... its not safe at night." said the colt. He got up and walked over to them, placing his good wing over the both of them he said, "come on, and stay close to me." They both nodded and followed him out to the porch. They stopped for a moment to close the glass door, habit he guessed, and both looked up and smiled at him. "So... whats your name mister?" said the filly smiling brightly and reveling her shiny braces. "Im Bill" he said simply. " And who might you be m'lady?" The filly giggled at the way he talked and stood up strait smiling proudly. "Im Mabel! and this is my twin brother dipper!" she said, grabbing her brother in a hug. He laughed. This little filly was adorable, to say the least and her smile was contagious as he found himself smiling despite the current situation. The colt now known to be Dipper, pulled away from his sisters grasp and readjusted his hat, smiling at his sisters antics.
They walked outside to a metal fence, behind witch where to stallions looking at a car. One was green with a spikey black mane and tail, he looked to be a few years older than the other, the other was shorter -though not by much- and he had a dull red coat with longer, messy brown mane and tail. One sighed. The other said, "We aint gettin' home to mama at this rate..." in a heavy southern accent. They then went back to trying to move the car out of the way. Bill walked closer to the fence, Mabel and Dipper walking behind him. He turned to check on them to find they both had worried looks on their faces. He kneeled down to they're level. "You two ok?" he asked. "Should we stay here?" asked Dipper. "What do you mean?" asked Bill. "I don't want to sleep in the treehouse tonight.... but i don't know if we should leave" said Mabel, letting Dipper finish for her by saying, "What if our parents come home?" Bill thought for a second, and finally settled on saying, "i wont leave you two alone." The two smiled, as if they had expected him to leave them all alone. "Lets go somewhere safe.... thats close, ok?" asked mabel. "Thats a good idea." said Bill getting up. They went through the fence with a loud creak. "Hey man!" Called Bill. The two whipped around in panic. "Don't eat us!!!!" one yelled. "We're not gonna hurt you," Said Bill. One of them, the one who looked to be a bit older than the other said, "whew, for a second there i thought you and the little ones where both gonna give us the chomp." he said sighing in sighing in relief. "Do you know what in celestias name is going on?" Said Bill, referring to those monsters. " No idea, so you've seen them then?" said the older one, looking over at a dead monster under a car. "You could say that..." Bill said following his gaze. "Im Ty, Ty pond." said the older one now known as Ty. "Bill, this is Dipper, and Mabel" Bill said gesturing to each kid as he spoke. The younger one knelt down to their level and waved, "Hi, i'm Rory" he said. They both backed behind Bill shyly, Dipper standing in front of Mabel protectively. "We shouldn't be out in the open like this," said Ty. "How 'bout you help us clear the way and we'll get you n' you're kids out'a here and down to mah families farm? it should be safer there." he said. "Im not they're dad, i'm......uh" Said Bill. "Just some guy." he finally settled on saying. "Just some.....guy?" Ty said skeptically. "Yeah" Said Bill. "They're alone?" he asked surprised. Bill nodded. "well lest get going, staying in one place for too long is dangerous." said Ty. Bill turned to Dipper and Mabel, "What do you wanna do?" He asked. Whatever they did he wanted them to feel comfortable with. They looked surprised, obviously not expecting to be asked the question. They looked at Bill, then at each other. "W-we..." stuttered Dipper. Suddenly they herd moaning. "Them monsters comin', WE GOTTA GO!!!" said Rory. Ty and Rory got into position to start pushing the car. "Bill, quick lest go!" Ty whisper-shouted. Bill quickly help Ty and Rory move the car. They got stuck at one point and Dipper and Mabel wasted no time in helping them push the car. Once it was out of the way Bill quickly threw the twins into the front of the truck climbing in after them while Rory hoped in the back of the truck, holding onto the sides of it since he had no seat belts. Ty started driving, he turned to Bill and said, "Just some guy huh? seemed like you've saved a bunch of lives today."
By the time they got to the farm there was a full moon in the sky. Mabel and Dipper where still wedged in between Ty and Bill in the front seat of the truck, though to be honest they didn't mind, if anything being closer to eachother made them feel safer. At the moment however, Dipper -who was closest to Ty- was asleep on his sissters shoulder. Mabel glanced over at Bill. He must be a good guy, right? she thought. Why else would he take us with him? At first she and Dipper where just glad to have anyone there to help them, but after the relief of not being alone had warn off they had both been left with a choice. Go with a total stranger, or Wait alone for Mom and Dad. Mabel was worried, though she tried her best not to show it. Worrying is Dippers job. She thought jokingly to herself. She looked up at Bill once again, this time catching his gaze and gave a friendly smile. Bill saw this and smiled back. He glanced over at Dipper asleep on her shoulder, and marveled at the fact that she didn't seem to notice his presence on her shoulder. They where close. He had only known them for about 4 hours at most, and even he could tell. He doubted even those monsters could tear them apart, and he admired that. And he already liked Mabels optimism and contagious smile, Dipper seemed more calm than his sister though. Like he wanted them to be safe more than anything, but he also wanted her to be happy. Yes. Bill could already see that Dipper was very protective of Mabel, and why shouldn't he be? Bill continued on with these thought while looking out the window, discovering that they had arrived at the farm. They pulled up to a house and got out. Bill waited for the twins to get out before he walked off. First came Mabel, then Dipper close behind her, mane even scruffier than usual, most likely due to Mabel waking him up. Then Rory spoke up, "Hey Ty? im gonna run on home, my mamas gonna be worried somthin' fierce." "No sweat man, ill catch you tomorrow night." Ty replied. Rory then turned to Bill and the twins, "It was nice to meet yall'." Bill simply waved a goodbye. He looked over at Dipper and Mabel only to find them staying close, and Dipper was slightly more awake than before. Rory walked off and we turned around just in time to see an old man walking out of the door. "Thank celestia you're ok " said the old man walking up to Ty. "I was worried it'd be bad here too." Ty said, hugging the stallion. "Been quiet as usual these past couple days," he said. "I wouldn't made it back without Rory." said Ty. "Well im glad you took em with you then." the stallion said in his heavy southern accent. Bill gestured for the twins to follow him, and they walked up to the old stallion and Ty. "Well now, i see you've brought a couple guests." he said. "We just need a little....... help. we wont stay too long." Said Bill. "Good" said the stallion. " you're welcome to say here, but just for the night, i dont run a bed n' breakfast." he said. "so.... its just you and you're kids then?" he asked. Why does everyone keep saying that? Bill thought. We dont even look alike! Then Ty cut in, "Oh, not his kids.... hes...... well... just some guy who found em alone." Ty explained. The old stallion crouched down to there level. "Young ins, do you know this stallion?" he said gesturing to Bill. "Yes." they said in unison. The stallion got up and said, "Well ok then," Then he noticed Bills leg wound and sagging wing. "Well looks like you got yourself a broken wing, and a right good scar if im not mistaken." Bill glanced down at his leg and sighed. "Yeah... its there not doing to well...." he said. "I can help you out, Ty run in and check on you're sister. You-" he said gesturing to Bill "Take a seat up on the porch and ill go see what i have that might help those wounds of yours." he finished and went inside the house to look for bandages and medication. Bill went onto the porch and sat on the small bench. While he waited Dipper and Mabel where whatching him fron the other end of the fence serounding the porch. They where close together, like they where cold and Bill couldn't stop himself from thinking about how adorable it was. The stallion returned quickly with medicine and bandiges. He glanced at Dipper and Mabel, then knelt down in front of Bill. "Now lets have a look.... Yeah this is swollen, a lot." Bill sighed. He expected as much. He glanced at the twins for a moment and finally decided on saying, "It could be worse." The stallions looked at him, " Thats what it sounds like. seems like things got awful bad in the cities." He went back to wrapping didn't leg. "What did you say you're name was?" "I didn't." Bill replied without thinking. "Well nows the time" Said the stallion.Bill held back a sigh. "Its Bill." he said simply. "Well Bill, just Bill i take it? Im Tim Greene." he said Tim continued wrapping Bills leg. Bill cringed. "How'd this happen?" Tim asked. Bill thought for a moment. They dont need to know where i was headed. He thought. "Jumping a fence." "Runnin' from somethin'?" Tim said. It sounded more like a statment than a question. "Just like everybody else." Bill said. "And what type a' danger have the young ins' seen?" He said glancing behind him at Dipper and Mabel. "They're safe now." Bill said. "And you're serious about takin' care of em?" He asked seriously. "What choice is there?" Bill replied. He didn't want to sound like he felt obligated to take care of them, but what else was he supposed to say? "House is full for me, got another displaced family of three sleeping in the barn. You and you're kids are welcome to rest there, when we're done here." He then turned to Dipper and Mabel. "I didn't catch you're names darlins'" he said to them. Dipper looked at Mabel for a moment, usually she was the one to introduce them. She looked shyly at Tim, then at Dipper. Finally Dipper said, "Im Dipper, and this is my sister, M-mabel." he said quietly. "Cant imagine what you two have been through," He said. "Im looking after them until we, uh... find they're parents." said Bill. Right as Tim finished up with Bills leg, and began working on Bills broken wing, Ty walked out. "Hey Dad,so im thinnkin' first thing tomorrow we gotta reinforce the fence around the farm." He said. "That doesn't seem necessary," Said Tim. Ty looked at him seriously and said, "I dont know what you saw on TV or herd on the radio, but theres some serious..." He glanced at Dipper and Mabel. "...stuff hittin' the fan. I dont think anyone knows how big it is yet." Ty finished. Bill decided to put in his two cents, "You're son is right, you're gonna wanna fortify this place." "Stuff like that doesn't happen roun' these parts Ty," said the old stallion. "Dad, im serious... Bill come on tell him what you saw out there," Ty replied looking at Bill. "I got chased by a couple of dead ponys." said Bill. He could see Mabel shiver a little thinking about it. Then Dipper hugged her close to confort her. "Well do what cha' think ya should, we got plenty of chores out here already." Tim finally said. "Bill and those folks in the barn can help out in the morning, we gotta do it, really." Said Ty> If Bill hadn't been so tired he might've said something like, 'what makes you think we're gonna help?' but he had enough on his plate right now, especially with two foals he needed to look after. "I already said ok" Said the old stalion, a small hint of annoyance in his voice. He tied the last bandage onto Bills wing and said, "Im all done here, should start feeling' better tomorrow." Bill stretched out his wounded leg experimentally. "thanks" he said. "If you're leg gets hot, or the sweelin' doesn't go down, you're probably dealin' with an infection." "What do we do then?" Bill asked curiously. "Ill probably just have to shoots you." Bill widend his eyes, obviously not expecting that response. He could see Mabel and Dipper widen they're eyes too. "we'll clean it, and re-dress it and you'll be fine." Tim said, seeing their surprised faces. "ok, that would be preferable." Bill said jokingly. Tim gave a small smile, "Theres blankets and such in the barn. we'll ne seein' you bright n' early." He said "Come tomorrow, witch way you think you're headed?" He asked. Bill thought for a second. "Toward Oregon i suppose," he said. He nodded in understanding before turning around to leave. He gave the twins a small smile, and went inside the house. Bill got up, testing his leg a bit. "Alright then..." he said aloud, more to himself then to Tim.
Bill and the twins settled in on top of some hay in the barn. They insisted on sleeping together even thought there was room for them both to have individual beds, and still be close. Bill admired their will to stay together. Then Dipper spoke up "It smells like..." "Doo-dee" Mabel finished for him. They both giggled at the word. Bill smiled at them. There was a few moments of silence before Mabel spoke up again, "I miss Mommy and Daddy..." she said. "I bet..." said Bill sympitheticly. Dipper patted her back comfortingly. "How far is Oregon?" He asked. "pretty far...." Bill replied. "oh..." Dipper said sadly. "ok" Mabel said. The two sat up, Bill watching to see what they'd do. They stared at each other for a second before Dipper swipped Mabels headband off. Then Mabel swipped Dippers hat off with equal speed. They both smiled, and hugged eachother before setting they're things upove their pillow. Bill gawked an eyebrow at Dipper curiously. "Our Mom used to do that when we forgot to take our hat and headband off, then she wouls switch them and ruffle our manes." Dipper explained smiling foundly at the memory. Bill smiled, happy that they could comfort eachother.
A mares laugh. A sweet voice calling, " I love you honey" These memorys ecoed in his dreams. Then, broken glass. The same happy laugh comming out as a mares terrified scream. "AHH!" he yelped as he sprang up from the hay he had been sleeping on. He panted hevily. He looked over to find that dipper and Mabel where still asleep. Good. He hadnt woken them up. He sighed once more, and slowly laid back down on the hay.
He woke up to a large white stallion with 5 oclock shadow in a fez saying, "Hey, wake up." Bill sat up. He looked over to see Dipper getting his hat on and Mabel stretching. "Im itchy." she said. "Well you slept in a barn sweetie, lucky you dont have spiders in your mane." Mabel yelped and jumped onto Dipper. Dipper, obviously not expecting it, fell over with Mabel on top of him. "Not to worry," said the stallion with a chuckle. "I bet you're Daddy scared all away huh?" Mabel got off of Dipper, offering an opiligetic smile. Dipper merly laughed and handed her her headband. "Im not they're Dad, names Bill." Said Bill. "Im stan" Suddenly a little colt, who looked to be about Dipper and Mabels age, trotted into the barn. He was wearing a grey plad flanel shirt with a white tshirt under it, and had a short black mane and a white coat. "Dad, we're gonna buil a fence! theres a trctor and everything!" The colt said excited. Stan smiled a little and turned to Bill, "We'ed better get goin' or we wont hear the end of it." he said. Bill walked along stans side on they're way to work. "Thats mah bot stan jr. we call him Duck though." "Doging or quacking?" asked Bill. "Quacking" Stan answered. "DAAAAD!" ca,e the voice of Duck from somewhere far off. "See?" Stan said. They got to where Duck was and he was talking to a mare, who Bill gussed was his mother. She had a hot pink coat, a brown curly mane, and a flower in her mane. She wore a Darker pink blouse with a white belt and purple short shorts. "Word is you were on you're way to oregon." said Stan. " My familys from there," Bill replied. "well oregons on the way and personally id appericiate the company of a guy who can knock a couple of heads together if he has to." Bill thought for a second. "Ill see what the kids want," he said. "ah, gotta consult the ones incharge huh?" he gave a joking wink to Dipper and Mabel. They laughed. "I understand." he finished. He then turned to his wife and child, "Duck, Honey this is Bill and uh... what are the kids names?" he asked. "Dipper and Mabel." He answered gestering to each foal as he spoke. "Right, Dipper and Mabel." Said Stan. "Mabel" Said the mare. "That is a very pretty name." Mabel smiled proudly. "Thanks!" She exclaimed happily. Then Ty walked up. "well we should get to work, we've all seen what those things can do."
