The Unraveled World

Path Finder held on to the manticore’s mane for dear life as it led his fellow bounty hunters towards their target.

He asked the clydesdale, “Hey, Steel Jacket? Are you sure he’s got a good fix on Ekon? We only got a little bit of blood from his gunshot wound for this beast to smell.”

Steel Jacket laughed. “Yew ain’t got no faith in my boy there, I swear. Bullet could track a blood-scent all the way to Tartarus if’n he had to.”

Sure Shot said, “As long he knows to not kill Ekon. You two just need to take out that stupid pink robot. That pegasus with the metal legs is mine to kill, got it?”

When they were a half-mile from the boat, Spring Step pointed at Ekon and said, “Get below decks. If you can find something to defend yourself with, grab it. Don’t leave the boat until I say so.”

When he went down the stairs and was out of earshot, Spring Step asked Pinksworth, “It’s not just me they’re after, is it?”

“Well, maybe they really want revenge. Ekon’s got a lot of baggage he’s not willing to let go of. He’s not telling us any more than he wants, that’s for sure.”

“I have a feeling that he’s not going to tell us everything, even when we get to New Canterlot.”

“That’s his choice, Springy. Not one that I’d make. I know how hard it can be to keep secrets, especially the kind that makes him talk in his sleep. Ekon is his own worst enemy.”

Spring Step scratched her head. “What do you mean?”

“You cry at that memorial because you miss your parents and friends. But you’ve made your peace with that loss. I don’t believe that Ekon’s made peace with himself or his loss at all. He’s got a ton of guilt over something he did.”

Spring Step shrugged. “His brother’s haunting his dreams for a reason.”

“We’ll have to stick a pin on that thought for now, Bed Spring.” She slapped her boxing glove and party cannon together. “It’s clobbering time.”

“Time to pony up,” replied Spring Step as she jumped off the deck, popped open her wings and glided towards the pony on the far left.

Sure Shot saw his target flying low towards him. He skidded to a halt and pulled out his hunting rifle. Standing on his rear hooves, he wrapped his front hooves around the large trigger and handle. He took aim at her head and growled, “Smile, you creepy bitch.”

Just as he pulled the trigger, Spring Step stomped her hooves into the clay, which launched her over his shot.

“What?” Startled, he frantically cocked the next round. He looked up a moment later and saw only her rear hooves as they smacked into his face.

Screaming, Sure Shot flipped over and bounced the back of his head into the clay. His rifle slipped out of his hooves and clattered away from him. For a moment, there were two moons in the night sky.

He scrambled upright and wobbled on all fours, frantically scouting for the pegasus. “Where the fuck are you?”

She said, “Not such a big stud without your gun, huh?” as she slammed into his back.

“Is this how you killed Gretchen? By fighting like a coward?”

Spring Step landed in front of him and replied, “No, I killed her because I fight like a soldier. Was she your girlfriend? Your widdle snuggle-bunny?”

“Shut up!”

“Tell me, did she taste like light or dark meat?”

“I’ll tear your legs off!” he yelled as he charged at her, eyes wide and mouth frothing.

That’s right, thought Spring Step. Keep getting pissed at me. Anger makes the enemy stupid and so much easier to take out. That’s what my dad taught me.

Sure Shot swung a hoof at her head, but she dodged it easily. One advantage to having light aluminum legs is that they can make any pony fall with a minimum of effort. While her target finished his missed swing, she swung her right foreleg at his back.

As he landed with a lung-emptying thud, she continued to tease him. “Was she hoof-licking good? Did her beak ever hurt you when she tried to get a mouthful from your yearling-sized dick?”

Spring Step danced around him as he got back up. Wiping the blood from his split lip, he said, “For that last line alone, I’m going to beat you until you can’t breath. “

Meanwhile, Pinksworth was laughing as the manticore tried to smack her with his huge paws. The creature was gasping for breath harder and harder until it finally sat on its haunches and roared in frustration.

Path Finder finally got disgusted and yelled, “For the love of Celestia, would you do something about this loony robot, Steel Jacket?”

The clydesdale climbed onto the boat deck and leaped onto Pinksworth. Scrambling to gain a foothold on her hair, he began bashing his huge hooves into the metal, trying to find a weak spot.

Pinksworth pointed her eyes at the clydesdale and said, “Welcome to Pinkie’s carnival!”

Steel Jacket could only stare at the huge blue-tinted cameras as he asked, “Say what?”

“Time for a ride!” she cheered as she launched a hundred feet straight up.

Steel Jacket could only scream as he hung onto Pinkworth’s front hair curl.

“Ever been on a merry-go-round?”

“No! Never!”

“Gee, it sounds like you had a boring childhood. Let’s make up for lost time, okay?” Pinkworth began to spin in place like a berserk carousel, whistling circus music and giggling.

As the world turned into a whirling cone of streaking star lights and moon glow, Pinksworth said, “Want to go faster? Raise your hooves if you want to go faster!”

The clydesdale’s head rolled from side to side as his eyes rolled up and closed. Slipping off her head, he fell towards the boat. By the time his head cracked against the deck, he had passed out from the spinning.

Path Finder shook his head. “That’s it. I’ve reached my limit with this frickin’ zebra.” Leaping off of the flustered manticore, he pulled out his tazer.

Unlike his partner, he preferred weapons that could be fired from his mouth. From a distance, it looked like he was chewing on a large brick of charcoal, but the twin steel spikes in the front could fire a small bolt of lightning that could knock out anything smaller than a minotaur.

Since the robot was still slowing its spinning, he knew he only had a moment to get out of the thing’s sight. The pony scrambled onto the boat, leapt over the sleeping clydesdale and ran into the living room.

Checking under the table, he heard a faint thumping of hooves beneath him.

He smiled. Bingo.

Since the stairwell was the only exit that Path Finder could see, he knew that Ekon had run out of places to hide. He climbed down the steps carefully, making sure nothing creaked beneath his hooves. Five years of hunting you, he thought. I don’t know why your brother wants you alive, but he’s paying me too much to care.

He peeked into the open door on his left. An empty bedroom. No hiding spaces.

There was a closed door at the end of the hall. Azi’s more obsessed with getting you back to the mountain than I am. If I’m not careful, I’m going to turn into that stark-eyed loon.

When Path Finder was two feet from the door, he raised both forelegs and bashed the door open.

In one second he saw that Ekon was pointing a yellow plastic tube at him.

In two seconds he realized that Ekon had pulled the trigger of a flare gun.

In three seconds he had a sunburst of fire explode into his chest.

In the midst of Path Finder’s sudden blinding agony, he bit down on the tazer. Cobalt blue arcs of electricity curled over the fire that had reached his cheeks. The urge to scream forced the tazer out of his mouth.

He frantically swung his front hooves at the flare melting a hole into his chest armor and flesh. As the fire spread from his chest to his hooves, the zebra sprang from the room, knocking the pony into a wall.

Path Finder was too busy smothering the flare’s fire by mashing his smoldering chest into the carpeted floor to care about the escaping zebra.

Meanwhile, Sure Shot pawed at the clay as he glowered at Spring Step. He noticed that he was building a small pile of clay pebbles. While keeping eye contact with the pegasus, he placed the tip of his right front hoof under some of the dislodged clay.

When Spring Step blinked, he kicked a few clay fragments into her face. Startled, she darted to her right. This distraction gave the pony enough time to charge at her.

She spread her legs out to keep from tipping over as he slammed into her chest. Since his legs had considerably more muscle than hers, he was able to lift her forelegs up. She scrambled to gain purchase, but her rear hooves could only slide across the clay.

He tucked his head under Spring Step’s chin and leapt forward. She waved her forelegs as she swayed back from his pushing. Her legs clattered on the ground as she landed on her back.

Sure Shot loomed over her, smiling. “Got any more clever lines for me, little filly?”

She shook her head. Then she bit down on the release cord for her wings and yanked. The wings popped open, slipping under his front hooves. He stumbled back, startled.

The pegasus reared back and aimed her forehead at his bloody nose. She felt the muzzle’s cartilage collapse like a foam coffee cup against her skull. His scream made her ears ring as he scrambled to get away from her.

While he stood on his rear legs, the torrential nosebleed began to paint his front hooves. Since he was dizzy from the pain, he didn’t notice that Spring Step was flapping her wings to get herself up and back on her feet. Shaking the clay from her mane, she closed her wings.

Picking up Sure Shot’s rifle, Spring Step slung it over one shoulder. “Are you going to beat me to death now or later?”

He could only stare at her. Reeling from the pain that only seemed to get worse, he shook his head. He’d been injured before, but never so severely. “So what happens now? Are you going to kill me or what?”

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Sure Shot.”

“Listen up, Sure Shot. I only killed your friend because she was shooting arrows at Ekon. But he’s ours now. We’re taking him back to our home, so stop chasing us.”

“I loved her,” he whimpered, his tears making his bloody nose sting. “You took her away from me!”

She nodded and siged. “Yeah. I figured that. But that’s the risk you guys take when you hunt someone out here. Go home. Find some other kind of work. This job’s going to kill you if you don’t quit.”

His jaw dropped. “You’re letting me go?”

“Once in a lifetime offer for you. I’m seldom this generous. But listen up and listen good.” Spring Step pointed at her rifle. “If I catch you out here hunting anyone again, if you so much as sneeze in my general direction again, I’ll blow your head off at the neck and use your skull for a candy bowl.”

A yellow puddle splashed around his hooves.

Grinning at this sight, relishing his fear, she said “Go ahead. Call me a liar.”

Sure Shot shook his head, turned around and ran towards the boat. “Path Finder! We are leaving!”

Path Finder emptied his canteen into his burn wounds. He heard his partner screaming something, but since he was still below decks, he could only make out the frantic tones. Since the tazer had run out of juice, he left it behind. Climbing the steps, he rummaged around his pockets for other weapons.

Peeking over the top stair step, he saw the insane robot nudging Steel Jacket with its giant boxing glove. “Who designed that damned thing?” he whispered. “A circus clown?”

Pinksworth turned towards him and said, “Uh . . . no, I did! You shouldn’t whisper about fillies behind their backs, mister. It’s kinda rude.”

His eyes popped wide. “Please say you’re just a robot.”

“Okay. I’m not, though.” She floated closer, aiming her cannon at him. “I guess you’ll have to stick around here for a while.”

Recalling how long it took to cut himself free from her webs last time, he frantically pulled out a grenade.

Pinksworth held up her boxing glove. “Hey! Don’t use that! You’ll hurt the clydesdale!”

He shrugged. “Screw him.” His teeth clamped onto the grenade pin.

As he spit out the pin, the grenade clattered across the living room. Path Finder slid down the stairs and slapped his hooves over his ears.

The explosion pushed him into a wall. A dark plume of smoke and wood shrapnel swirled around him as he scrambled up the damaged steps.

Slowly crawling through the smoke, he waved thin clouds away from his eyes, hoping that he’d find the robot (cyborg?) blasted into paper weights.

Instead, he found that the clydesdale’s head and neck were gone. Between them, there was a smoking, fragmented crater.

“What are you trying to do, kill us?” cried Sure Shot as he climbed aboard the boat. “Let’s get out of here!”

“We have a job to do, dummy! I’m not leaving till it’s done!”

Sure Shot stared at him for a moment, then looked behind him. When he saw Spring Step walking towards the boat, he ran over to Path Finder. “Forget it! It’s over! I’m bleeding half to death and you’re burned up like a marshmallow. You blew up Steel Jacket and the manticore is about to bolt on us.”

Path Finder frantically looked around the boat. “But he . . .”

Sure Shot stamped a hoof and shouted, “I’m leaving on that thing’s back! You have five seconds to join me!”

As Sure Shot leapt onto the manticore, Path Finder heard the robot (cyborg?) say, “You’d better get out of here before you kill yourself next, mister.”

That voice was just beyond what remained of the smoke. He patted his pockets, trying to find something to take out that robot, something more substantial than a grenade.

“Three seconds!” barked his partner.

Path Finder shouted, “All right! Hold on!”

Leaping over the bloody remains of Steel Jacket, he climbed onto the manticore. Sure Shot patted the furry ruff of the beast and cried, “Giddy-up! GO!”

Growling, the manticore got on its feet and raced away into the night.

Pinksworth floated from the front of the boat to the deck, struggling to keep her jet running smoothly. The grenade blast shot hot shrapnel into the engine, making her leave a black trail of smoke. The once quiet exhaust coughed and rattled as she kept wavering like a balloon in a blustery wind.

Ekon peered around her. “Are they gone?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think you want to look at the mess they made on the deck. Hold onto my back and I’ll float down to the ground.”

Spring Step ran over to them. “Are you guys . . . oh, you’re not okay. I was hoping that grenade didn’t hit you.”

“I’m a little wobbly, but it’ll take more than that to reach my chewy center.” Pinksworth pointed her glove at Ekon. “It looks like our favorite zebra found a new toy, though. He really did a number on the pony that tried to blow me up.”

“Ah, you found a flare gun.”

Ekon nodded, wincing at the memory of the pony’s burning flesh. And his screams. “Hit him in the chest. It’s more effective than my knife, that’s for sure.”

Pinksworth gasped and pointed at Spring Step. “You got blood on your head!”

Spring Step rubbed a hoof onto her forehead. “It’s okay. It’s not mine. Both of those bastards are going to need some serious medical care.” She patted her rifle. “At least I got a souvenir for my trouble.”

Ekon pointed at the wrecked boat. “I don’t think this is a good rest stop anymore.”

Spring Step sighed and shook her head. “No, it’s not. Crap, that boat had nice beds, too.”

“It’s another twenty miles to New Canterlot,” informed Pinksworth. “Maybe if we hoof it, we can get there before my jet conks out.”

“What if I fire this flare gun into the air?” suggested Ekon. “Aren’t there other ponies like you guys out here that would spot it and help us?”

“We’re kind of spread out, Ekon,” replied Spring Step. “Let’s walk at least another ten miles before we fire that thing, all right? We’ll have a better chance of getting spotted by a border patrol.”

The prospect of hoofing it that far made Ekon hang his head and groan. Pinksworth patted him on the head with her boxing glove. “It’s okay, Ekon. We’re almost at the finish line! Look at it this way; at exhausted as we are, the bandits we scared away are much worse off!”

* * *

Path Finder glared at his bloodied mess of a partner. “What the fuck was that all about? I thought you wanted to kill that pegasus!”

“She would have killed me, but she didn’t.” Scowling, Sure Shot shook his head. “You know what, Path Finder? I’m fucking done with this job.”

“What? Don’t you dare bail on me!”

“It’s all turned to shit for us, pal! They’re almost at New Canterlot, I lost my gun and you blew up Steel Jacket.”

Path Finder pulled on the manticore’s mane, which made the creature stop. “When did your balls drop off? You kept going on about how you’re going to rip that mare’s head off for fragging your girlfriend. But when she busts your nose and steals your rifle, you run off like a filly that got spanked!”

“That’s not fair! That pegasus had to have been a Wonderbolt. You know how tough they are, even if they can’t fly anymore.”

“I don’t care if she was the reincarnation of Princess Celestia herself! That’s twice now you’ve fucked everything up!”

Sure Shot pointed at the burns on Path Finder’s chest and neck. “I can’t help but notice you didn’t get the job done either.”

Path Finder rubbed his temples and sighed. “Do you remember what we used to do for a living before the world unraveled?”

“Yeah, we used to take rich ponies on animal hunting expeditions into the Everfree forest. When those woods slid into a chasm, we took up bounty hunting.”

“I trusted you then, Sure Shot. We’ve killed a lot of creatures large and small. I’ve gunned down I don’t know how many bandits and never thought about my kills twice. I guess trying to bring back one zebra alive is just too much to ask of you.”

Blowing his bloody nose clean, he asked, “Why are you talking down to me?”

Path Finder looked into his partner’s eyes. “I thought maybe your anger towards the killer of your lady would make you more focused during this job. But it’s obvious that you’re not useful to me. Not anymore.”

He turned to face Sure Shot. Placing one hoof on his shoulder, he reached for the manticore’s scorpion stinger. “There’s no more room in this world for useless ponies.”

Sure Shot turned his head to see the stinger being yanked towards him.

“Path Finder, no!”

He screamed as the stinger was pushed deep between his shoulders. When the stinger’s toxin filled his veins, the pony’s heart stopped and he fell lifeless into the manticore’s mane.

“You got in the way of my goal.”

Feeling as numb as a rock, Path Finder pushed his only friend off the manticore. Sure Shot hit the ground with a wet thud.

Path Finder patted the manticore’s head. “Well, Bullet. I guess it’s just you and me now. Let’s go back to your home and hire your master’s buddies. Then we’ll all go to Aki’s mountain. Maybe seeing my new partners will convince him I can still get paid for my trouble.”

As the number of miles grew between him and the body of his friend, he felt the tears rise. In the silent moonlit desert plain, he wept. Even in a ruined world, where mercy can get a pony killed, even the most brutal people can be shaken by personal loss.

But soon his tears dried. Then the numbness returned stronger than before.

When a heart turns to stone, he reasoned with absolute certainty, it cannot be hurt.

Nothing will hurt me ever again.