Chapter 2: Rest and restock.

Who knew tables could make such good pillows? Wait, I’m repeating myself, but seriously, at that moment the hard wood felt like satin sheets. Not that I knew what satin sheets felt like, but you get what I mean. Ember was still talking about that job and it occurred to me that I should probably be paying attention.

I finally managed to summon the willpower to raise my head. Ember was sitting opposite me, still talking.
“-Thing like that?” I stared at her blankly for a few seconds. Her quizzical look turned into one of mild irritance.
“You hear what I said?” I shook my head and placed it against the table again. I heard her sigh and get up from the table. For a second I thought she was leaving, but it turned out she was just going to the bar.

I lowered my head again.

About a minute later I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I looked up groggily.
“I got us a room.” I shook my head.
“How much did-“ she cut me off
“Shhh, It doesn’t matter.” I sighed, admitting defeat, even though I didn’t really get to put up much of a fight. Somehow I managed to stand, and shuffle after her as she led me out of the saloon and to the building next to it.

It was an old, pre-war, overnight wagon stop that the town used for rentable living accommodations. It wasn’t exactly Tenpony Tower, but it was a lot better than seeping rough. I was surprised that the room hadn’t been taken already, considering how packed the saloon was. I stopped thinking about it when I saw the bed, which reminded me how tired I was.

I slumped onto the bed, lazily burrowing under the covers. I heard ember sigh and shed her, or rather our packs. I felt her crawl under the covers beside me as I began to doze off. It was a rare thing to have a proper bed to sleep in and I’m sure we would have taken full advantage of it if we weren’t so exhausted.

The last things I remember before falling asleep were the distant sounds of the saloon and her muzzle, gently nuzzling into my neck.

I awoke, the next morning, to the sound of gunfire. My eyes flicked open as I flopped out of the bed. I grabbed my pistol in my magic and went to the window. It was cracked and dirty, but through it I had a clear view of the street outside.
Another shot rang out further down the street.

Slowly I pushed the door open slightly and squinted groggily in the direction of the noise. Further down the street I could make out a line of ponies, their backs to me, aiming guns towards the gate. One of them was ember. I relaxed slightly at spotting her.

Gingerly I pushed the door open and stepped out to get a better look. I lowered my gun when I saw what was going on.

A makeshift target range had been set up in front of the gate, comprised of a few steel barrels with tin cans balanced on them. I sighed as Ember took aim.

*Pfft* I blinked, had her gun misfired? Before I could fully register the thought there was a tinny clang as one of the cans was knocked from the barrel. Ember’s gun didn’t make a noise like that. She must have borrowed someone else’s.

I shook my head and went back inside. It felt like it was far too early for target practice. I checked the time on my pipbuck. It was 11:39… I had slept for nearly 16 hours. On the plus side the aches in my legs and back weren’t as bad as they had been the day before, though they still felt stiff.

I planted my rump next to the bed, leaning against it as I brought my saddlebags to me. As much as I wanted to finish our job, I knew that I wasn’t up to trekking back across the desert, at least not yet.
I opened a flap on my pack, checking to see if it was still there. Satisfied that it was, I lay back onto the bed, letting my saddlebags drop to the floor. I thought back to our conversation with the odd stallion that had given us the job. He was pretty old, at least by wasteland standards and he spoke with an strange, almost snobbish accent. It was obvious he wasn’t from the hills.

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“Yes, it’s as simple as that, I must inform you, however, that I will not be able to meet here to retrieve it.” He dropped eye contact sheepishly as Ember huffed grumpily.

“Why’s that?” He gave a small nervous chuckle and replied.

“Well you see… I’m not from this neck of the woods, so to speak, and I have urgent business back home that I must attend to. I must admit I was barely able to get away form it to come here.” I remained silent and ember nodded sceptically

“go on” He shuffled in his seat and glanced around the saloon.

“Well… in order for me to retrieve it you will have to meet me… uhm, somewhere closer to home… More along the lines of Manehatten…”

Ember gave him a look of disbelief
“Manehatten? That’s like… hundreds of miles away.” He nodded.

“Yes it is rather a long way to go, I grant you… but I will make sure you are well compensated for your trouble.”
It was at this moment I chose to chip in, moving his attention to me

“How much?” He smiled at me, revealing his surprisingly white teeth.

“How does fifty thousand sound?”

The saloon suddenly fell silent, all eyes and ears pointed our direction. The old stallion seemed to jitter slightly at this but kept his confidant expression. If embers jaw could have opened any wider it probably could have hit the floor.
“Did you say fifty?” The stallion nodded mirthfully

“Fifty thousand, yes, provided it is delivered to the meeting place, on time and undamaged.”

I glanced around. All eyes were on us. I gave the bartender a scowl, prompting him to clear his throat and return to serving drinks. This seemed to help draw some of the attention away, though the saloon was still much quieter than it had been.

I turned my attention back to the old buck.
“Can you mark the meeting point on our map?” I said, subtlety gesturing to the listening crowd with my head. The stallion understood the message as I held out my pipbuck.

After bringing up our rather blank map of Manehatten he indicated a point on it that I proceeded to mark with a waypoint. Thankfully he knew better than describing the place out loud, adding a note with more information on the specifics.

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I lazily brought up my pipbuck and flicked to the map with my magic. With the map zoomed out enough to see it in relation to our currant location it drove home just how far away it really was. I sighed and let my leg fall to my side.

“No point in worrying about that yet anyway”. I thought to myself as I rolled off of the bed and onto my hooves. Levitating my packs, I stepped out into the street.
I figured that I should go and check on the wounded mare while Ember busied herself with the important task of turning soup cans into colanders.

As if on cue, more shots rang out from the direction of the gate as Ember and the guards continued their game.

I mentally prepared myself for the doc’s usual grumpiness as I entered the clinic, as expected he wasn’t in a good mood. He grumbled and pointed dismissively to the corner of the room as he leafed through a large dusty book.
“Your friend’s in a stable condition, don’t wake her up she needs at least two days rest before I’m willing to discharge her.” He looked up from his book
“I’ll need payment.”

I looked over to the small form of the mare. Her breathing looked to be much easier. I turned back to the doc and nodded.
“How much do we owe you?” He closed his book and slowly got to his hooves. Walking up to his bookshelf he exchanged his book for another and set it down on his desk.

“Five hundred caps will cover it, I trust you can arrange that?” He raised a bushy eyebrow.

Five hundred, that was alot more than our combined savings, savings we would need for the road if we planned on making it to manehatten.
“You couldn’t go any lower?” I knew I was pushing it, but nopony got anything without asking, right? As expected his grumpy frown turned to an angry one.

“Medical supplies aren’t exactly cheap, missy, and neither are my services as a doctor, how can I be expected to provide my patients the proper care necessary for their recovery if I’m just handing out my services for free to any damn freeloader that happens by?” He huffed and angrily opened his second book.
“Five. Hundred. That’s final.”

I grit my teeth and nodded.
“Fine. We’ll pay you before we leave” It was a lie, but I really didn't have much of a choice. He hesitated for a few seconds but finally nodded and waved me out, immersing himself into his book as I left.

I stepped out into the street to see a smiling Ember trotting towards me. I slowed down as she approached me.
“You look happy” I commented dryly as she reached me. She grinned,

“Well yeah, you would be too after hitting the motherload!” I raised an eyebrow as she levitated a small bag from her saddle pack.

“Fifty caps!” She proclaimed, puffing out her chest and grinning
“Aren’t I great? What ever would you do without my talents?” I snorted and walked past her, lightly flicking her cheek with my tail.

“You can pay for the room then.” I said, smirking to myself as she made a little noise of protest.

I headed for the saloon, I wish I had been joking about Ember paying for the room, but the fact was that we didn’t really have much in the way of caps. It was the primary reason why we had even taken on such a demanding job in the first place. Usually we would stick to relatively simple jobs within the area we were staying, out of convenience, though we were no strangers to escorting the occasional caravan, if times got tough.
Speaking of caravans…

As we entered the saloon we were greeted with the familiar sounds of quiet chatter and the musty smell of booze and dusty ponies. The saloon was pretty full today, though admittedly it was midday. The Bartender gave me a quick glance of acknowledgment before returning to his conversation with a pair of young stallions.

I looked from table to table, as I headed for the bar. Each table was slightly different, consisting of a variety of repurposed objects for the customers to set their drinks on. The bar itself was what looked like a pair of large barrels, with a few old boards laid across them, with worn looking stools and old office chairs in front of it, that currently housed the ponies he was talking to.

A bout of laughter suddenly erupted from one of the far tables. One of its occupants had just fallen off of his stool. He unsteadily got to his hooves, giggling drunkenly as he tried to retrieve his hat, only to fall flat on his face again to another round of tipsy laughter.

I shook my head and quickly scanned the other tables. Three mares in dusty long coats were playing a game of cards on what looked like an old, half rotten park bench, next to me. One gave shot me a glare as I passed. I glanced to my right to see a coffee table, flanked by two, well worn out sofas, that were currently seating a family of what looked like merchants. The large, over filled saddle packs on the floor beside them confirmed this line of thought.

I looked back to the bar as I reached it, tapping on the wood to get his attention. He gave me a small nod, keeping his attention on his conversation for a few moments before turning to me.
“How much was it for the room?” I asked as Ember seated herself on an old, rickety stool beside me. He gave us both a once over with his eyes before he spoke.

“Me and yur squeeze negotiated Twenny las’ night.” I looked over at Ember as she gave me a discreet wink.
“On top of what you owe for refillin’ yur water…” He paused, leaning back on his stool and polishing a cracked coffee mug with a rag.
“Forty caps over all, seein’ as I’m feelin’ generous” He leaned forward with a smirk
“And so long as you two lovely ladies remember to stop by again, once you make the big time.” He gave me a sly grin. I glanced over my shoulder; all three of the duster-wearing mares were now looking our way.

I nickered and shot the bartender an irritated look, levitating the small bag of caps from embers saddle pack. I counted out twenty onto the counter and securely stuffed the pouch with the remainder into a pocket on my barding.
Turning away from the bar, I headed for the merchants table.

They all glanced up at me as I approached, but quickly all but one looked away. The one who met my gaze was the eldest of the group, a grey maned, slightly shrivelled stallion who clearly had spent his life on the road. As soon as I reached the table he spoke

“Can I help you, miss?” His voice was calm, though there was no mistaking its defensive undertone.

I decided it would be best to cut to the chase.
“You’re a caravan?” He glanced towards what I guessed was his family. They kept their eyes down, obviously wanting him to do all the talking. After a few slightly tense moments he looked back to me and answered.

“We might be, but that doesn’t answer my question, now does it?” He gave me a weary smile, though I could tell he was still on guard. I looked back over my shoulder at the duster mare’s table, only to find that it was now empty. I looked over to Ember, who gave me a shrug. I turned back to the old merchant and returned his smile.

“I need to get to Manehatten, I figured traveling in a group would be safer, if thats where you're going.”

He kept eye contact for a few more seconds before looking away in thought. His family were all paying attention to us now, each one giving us a different look. A few more seconds went by before he responded.

“We aint going to manehatten…” he paused, studying my reaction. I kept stoic.
“Not all the way at least.” He paused again, looking over to a mare that seemed to be around his age. She shook her head dismissively. Seeming satisfied, he turned back to me and leaned forward.
“If you’re willing to pull your weight we can get you some of the way there, the question is… What kind of weight you can pull?” He cocked his head, waiting for my reply.

I glanced over my shoulder at Ember, she was staring at me questioningly. We had turned our hooves to almost every job there was to do out in the wastes and although we usually tried to stick with the safer ones, we had worked as guards and guides for caravans in the past. Not to mention we had pretty much been brought up on one… back when we were young…

The old stallion cleared his throat, bringing my attention back to the situation at hoof. I turned to face him again and stepped forward.
“We-“ I gestured back to Ember.
“-Have experience with guarding caravans, we’re both good shots and can handle ourselves if things get violent.”
One of the other stallions at the table finally spoke up.

“We already got protection. Me an-“ He was cut of by what I assume was his father.

“No harm in having a couple' extra guns” he said waving them off with a hoof.

The two stallions gave him a grumpy glower, but said nothing more. I realised that they were nearly identical. Both had the same dull blue coats as, what I guessed was their father, as well as rusty manes and amber eyes. The only difference was their mane styles and barding, though they too were similar.

The Father sat back and sighed.
“Give us some time to talk it over, we’ll give you an answer tomorrow morning before we set off.” He paused looking back to the mare
“Sound good?” I nodded.

“So what’s the plan Bench?” Ember asked as we left the saloon. I held my tongue until we reached our room. Ushering ember in and closing the door I relayed the conversation with the merchant.

“They’re not going all the way there, but it’ll be safer to go with them won’t it?” She nodded in agreement.
“So you down?” I asked, levitating my pack up onto the bed and emptying it.

“One question” she said tapping my rump. I turned and raised an eyebrow.
“How much are they charging us?” I turned back to the pack, laying everything out on the bed.

“Nothing, Were gonna be pulling escort duty.” I heard her snigger behind me. I sighed and frowned over my shoulder at her.

“What? You made it too easy.”

I nickered and returned to organising.
“Hey, why you so grumpy?” She slipped u beside me and nuzzled my shoulder like a cat.
“Seems to me like you’re all pent up…” her tail began to wrap around my hind leg. I shrugged her off.

“Ember, this isn’t the time, I'd love to, but we have to get ready.” She snorted and dramatically flopped onto the bed, disturbing my work. I huffed and pulled it onto the floor.

After a few minutes I was done, and my pack was properly organised. I turned to Ember, who was lazily swatting at a fly.
“You gonna do yours?” I asked motioning to her pack. She shook her head lazily and rolled over. I sighed again and got up, making my way over to the bed and lying down beside her.

Slipping a foreleg around her I pulled her close, whispering into her ear.

“You think this place has a bath?”

I awoke to a knock at the door. My eyes snapped open as I quickly untangled myself from the warm, orange thing next to me and clumsily trotted to the door, shaking myself quickly, I opened it to see one of the merchant’s sons.

“Pa told me to get you, he’s at the gate.” I nodded as he turned with a snort, lazily trotting off to where I assumed his father was waiting. I shut the door and hastily put on my barding, levitating both our packs onto the bed. I quickly strapped mine on, dropping embers next to her, waking her.

“Uh whaz goin’ on?” she muttered stretching and sitting up.

“get your stuff on we’re heading out” I replied, heading for the door. She groaned and plopped out of the bed as I left. Stepping out into the now much cooler air I checked the pipbuck. 07:42. I shook myself again and cantered over to the gate where the small group had assembled.

The older stallion akowlaged me with a nod and went back to loading a sturdy looking cart. The younger stallion that had fetched me was busy fastening a harness around his shoulders. I guess he was pulling it. After about a minute of awkward standing around the other stallion, who I assumed was the brother to the one in the harness, spoke up.

“So you two done caravannin’ before? You know how the game works?” I was about to reply but I was cut off by Ember, who had managed to appear behind me without me noticing.

“Yeah, we grew up on one. Done some armed escort work too, if that’s what you’re asking.” I internally flinched at that, maybe I was just being stupid but I wasn’t too keen on talking about that aspect of our past, despite it being totally relevant. I decided to play it off and go with it.

“We know what we’re doing.” I added, maybe a touch sharper than I intended. His ears drooped slightly and he gave us an apologetic grin.

“Oh, I wasn’t suggesting that you didn’t, I’m just curious about what you do and… all…” He glanced over to his brother, who simply shook his head dismissively.

“That’s enough Lock” The older stallion quipped, nudging his son over to the cart.
“Help load the damn cart instead of flappin’ yer gums.” Leading his son away with a roll of his eyes.

As Lock got to work loading the cart the older stallion turned to me offering his hoof.
“Sorry miss, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced” I shook it giving him a calm smile

“Its fine, I’m Benchmark and this is Embershine.” I gestured back towards her as she gave us a cheerful wave. He returned her gesture with a tip of his hat.
“Names Double-barrel, but everyone just calls me Barrel, for short and Bar, if they’re lazy.” He chuckled at his joke and continued.
“These are my boys, Lock an’ Stock.” He indicated to each stallion, who gave us both a nod.
He then turned to the older mare, taking her hoof.
“An’ this beautiful thing, here, is my lovely mare, Summer Juice.” He gave her hoof a theatrical kiss. She rolled her eyes and snorted in disapproval, though I noted a slight pinkness to her cheeks. He smirked and gave her a wink before turning back to us.

“So, you young ladies, uh…” He gestured to Ember and me with a hoof raising an eyebrow. Summer made a noise that was a cross between a small gasp and a tut, swatting her husband around the ear.

“That aint none o’ our business, Barrel! What ah told you about askin mares things you aint got no place askin?” Her accent, I noted, was noticeably a much thicker drawl than her husbands.

His cheeks reddened slightly and he have us an apologetic smile.
“Quite right, quite right… None of my business.” He strained his hat and looked over to his sons with a scowl, noticing the smirks on their faces.
“I hope you boys aint slackin’ off on me, that cart aint gonna load itself!” He barked, raising the brim of his hat to glare at them. Both brothers quickly got back to their respective jobs, exchanging a sheepish look.

Before long the cart had been loaded and it was time to set off. We had taken the time to do a last minute ammo check and restock at the town store, before rejoining the group as they set off. We really should have done it the day before, but… distractions had got in the way. Regardless, we were finally on the road again. The only thing to do now was walk.

Author's Note

Made some minor edits and grammar fixes, thank Isaiah and Datte for that, they're the dudes helping me keep this thing from triggering you folks with my bad grammar.