Fallout Equestria: The Wildest Dreams

Chapters

Chapter 1: That Was Then (part 1)
Chapter 1: That Was Then (part 2)
Chapter 2: And This Is Now
Chapter 3: Friends?
Chapter 4: Far Fetched
Chapter 5: Everything Has A Price
Chapter 6: Price Of Sanity
Chapter 7: Stable Relationship
Chapter 8: The Fire Below
Chapter 9: Far From Home
Chapter 10: A Life Not Worth Living
Part 2 Epilogue: The Pack That Preys Together
Chapter 11: Near Fatal Attraction
Chapter 12: Behind Stripes And Under The Radar
Chapter 13: Monsters In The Dark
Chapter 14: Chain Reaction
Chapter 14.5 Lucidity
Prologue

Chapter 1: That Was Then (part 1)

Fallout Equestria: Wildest Dreams

Chapter 1: That Was Then Part:1

Once upon a time in the magical land of equestria...

Hot, it’s always so damn hot in this place. I know that the caps are good and all, but why do we always have to spend five days here every year. The small town of Silver Shoe is located 30 days trot south of New Appleloosa, ten days trot north from White Saddle Shores and about 17 feet from the surface of the damn sun. There’s cloud cover all over Equestria, why the hell not here!

It’s a small town but you would never guess it by the number of ponies that live here. It’s always so strange coming to a place so small with so many ponies, all slowly melting away under the intense heat. The only time it’s not hot, it’s raining that goddess awful yellow rain, a mixture of water, radioactive fallout and salt. They chose to live like this? Why not choose to just set yourself on fire and piss yourself out. Did I mention I don't like heat? Or nasty pee rain?

I sat down in the only available shade that I could find, just beneath the awning of a rundown wares store called "Peach's Sundries and Ammo". Not the town’s only store mind you, but the only one in town that sells cold drinks. I still have no idea where Ms. Peach came across a self-powered fridge in the wasteland, but I do know that everything that comes out of it gives you your doctor’s daily recommended dosage of rads.

I rested my back against the dilapidated wood wall and looked up at the sun bleached sign with the half faded letters that read "Some of the deals, some of the time!" I scoffed, thinking of all the times Ms. Peach had never given me a deal on anything but an emergency 'cappendectomy' every time I walked through the door, it was her daily special apparently.

You would think the sad face of a 14 year old forlorn colt with no cutie mark would grant a bit of leeway in the prices. but not with Ms. peach, you could flop into her store missing all 4 legs and on fire... something I wouldn't be surprised if it were a common occurrence in this town, and she would still charge you for the water, before she put you out. Probably tack on a city service tax while she’s at it, then prorate your medical bills.

We come here every year and by we I mean Boss's traders, a group of shaggy, dirty ponies scavenging the wastes for anything of value, selling and trading our way into a delicate balance of not starving to death and staying drunk enough to not care. There’s Boss, the de facto leader of the crew, a middle aged pony with yellow mane and sage coat and deep blue eyes. He wasn't the biggest pony around but he was most definitely the last one you wanted on your tail for anything. He always carried his twin 44 magnum revolvers with him, strapped and lay flat against his back.

I knew them well. As the youngest in the group it was my job to do the mules share of the work. Setting up camp, finding food, water, cleaning and repairing our ever rotating line of artillery. Our guns come and go but Boss's twin 44's always stayed. They were in excellent shape, all apart from "lefty", the gun with broken grip that kept falling off. I've tried at least 15 times to fix them, but over and over again, one of the grip panels keeps falling off. Boss said that the damage was caused when he had to "thump Lue over the damn head" when he tried to "make off with the last bottle of whiskey".

Lue, which I’m sure is short for lunatic judging by how he acts half the time. Nice guy but when he drinks, he claims he can see the future. Too bad the future to him are things that happened 2 weeks ago. He’s a short, fat unicorn with delusions of grandeur to say the least. Despite that, he’s always at the Boss's side, watching his back for raiders, gangers and whatever else this hell hole decides to throw at him or by extension us. He’s always looking for the next big thing to make him famous, he once came into camp with a pine cone tied to a squirrel’s ass, taped to a stick, claiming to have created the future of melee weapons. Later that night, Shale ate the squirrel and Lue lost the pine cone, he cried for 2 days about it...tragic to say the least.

His coat is always covered in some form of filth, most of the time food, blood, poo and mud. Truth be told however, the few times I have seen him clean, he actually has a very nice white coat complimented by a dark blue mane. He could clean up to be a good looking guy, but what they say about the pretty ones always holds true. As Shale says "they have looks, but there's always a cost, usually at the price of several brain cells".

Shale, now there's a mare worth your time! A mare with an orange coat, just like Applejack's, in fact, she could almost pass for her, if it weren't for her reddish purple mane. Boss found her on a rock farm when she was young and ended up trading for her in exchange for half of a case of med-x. Her Father, ever the junkie, took the deal. A few years later Boss came back by the farm to deal and was chased off by her mother. Shale wasn't with him at the time or things may have gone differently. Come to find out, Shale's mother had killed her father after finding out he traded his only daughter to fund his habit. Come to think of it, I think Boss got Lue as a young colt too, I guess that makes Boss the closest thing to a father any of us have ever had.

Shale could have gone back, but I like to think that she found a better home with Boss and his crew than she ever would have had on that farm. She was about my age now when Boss picked her up, I was just a little colt, barley able to talk at the time, so I don't recall her joining. As far as I’m concerned she always been with us and to me, she always been my big sister. She and I always played together growing up and now, we both run over watch for Boss when he’s doing business.

Every group of traders that want to make it more than 5 mins in the wastes has a crew for over watch. Most of the time it’s the strongest in the group who takes the job. Boss, however, has always had other ideas on how to run security for the group. Sure we could just huddle around him and keep a constant guard, but that would be obvious to anypony above raider intelligence. Keeping a distance allows us the element of surprise and the ability to pick off any would be bandits, not to mention a wider field of view to spot threats. Then there's the biggest guy in the herd philosophy, yeah, Boss doesn't like that either, that's why he has always picked the most average of the group to keep a look out. everyone knows the biggest guy in the group next to the head trader is the one to watch out for, but when your comrades are picked off long before you even get close...you gain a reputation not to be messed with.

At a young age, Shale and I spent most of our time target practicing instead of playing. Her trying to see how fast she could shoot 6 Sunrise Sarsaparilla bottles with her revolver and me trying to see how far I could hit an old bottle of Buck with a rifle. Neither one of us are particularly big for our age, in fact Shale is short for a mare. No surprise there, what with living in a place that the air alone can be enough to kill or severely alter your genes to the point of being an immortal ghoul. But what she lacks in stature, she makes up for in fire power, and make up for it does she ever! She’s always had first pick of weapons out of the pool, and she is always the first to nab up anything with decent rapid fire ability, even now, she carrying our freshly acquired full auto 10mm pistol...the same one I remember begging for just 2 days ago!

I’m the most out of place pony in the group, by that I mean I actually make an attempt to bathe. Sure Shale bathes....I think...hey! A gentlebuck never spies on a mare bathing! But apart from that, I have always tried to keep clean. Well as clean as one can stay in a world that's always trying to kill you with things comprised mostly of squishy, gooey nasty liquids and hazardous chemicals that all smell like barf. Sure having a gray coat makes it easy to hide dirt and all but why the hell was I "blessed" with sky blue hair?! If there are goddesses, they have a sick since of humor. Shale says most mares love light hair on a colt, but the only things it has ever attracted me are filth and bullets. I stick out like a sore hoof at the best of times, even when I’m not being picked on for being a blank flank. Seriously universe? Have you no compassion? Not only do I look like an idiot that screams, please place all unwanted bullets here, I have to be talent less?

Well, maybe not talentless, devoid of a mark that changes how society perceives who you are as a pony however... I can shoot very well, Boss says I took to it like a duck to water and flew with it, whatever the hell that means. At any rate, marksmanship has always been something I enjoyed, the only thing that has really ever calmed me down. There is just something about the mechanics of accuracy that has always bowled me over, the flight of the bullet, the fact that its trajectory changes based on a myriad of variables. Wind, temperature, shot angle, distance all play a role in getting the right hold to land a bullet exactly where you want it to go. I love it! So it’s no surprise that Boss put her and me on over watch a short mare and a young colt wouldn't stand out in crowd to say the least. But give those two the firepower to stave off threats and the ability to use judicious marksmanship and blinding speed, then you have a recipe for the perfect security system.

I have been with the Boss's crew for as long as I can remember, even from a young age I can remember him shoving me into all the hard to get to place to retrieve some POS thing that would, hopefully, bring a few caps our way. There was even a time when he actually considered lowering me in to a dragon’s nest, to snatch a few gems to sweeten one of his convoluted deals he was work. All that being said, he does seem to care for our wellbeing and has never actually put me or the others in harm’s way haphazardly. He’s always got an angle that makes things safe, some back up plan to pull something out of his flank to keep us safe. He treats us like his kids most of the time, maybe not in the best ways but we have never felt alone or abandoned either. Speaking of abandonment, a while back I asked boss about my parents.

"Slavers I recon, found you in a bombed out Ironshot plant, didn't want to leave you there. Thought about trading you off a few times, but it’s nice to have somepony who can fit in those damn vents to open doors."

That was as close to an epic tale of coming to be as I have ever gotten out of him, I did appreciate the humor of trading me off...at least I hoped it was humor.

Slavers were a possibility but why wouldn't they take me with them. Were kids just not worth the hassle? Maybe my parents stowed me away in hopes that somepony would find me. There’s also the very real possibility that they just said, “Fuck it, I don't want to be a parent anymore." and kicked my ass in an old munitions plant hoping it would blow up. Judging how my luck usually turns out, it wouldn't be too far out of the scope of reality.

I was broken from my reverie by the sight of Shale poking her head out of the alley of the two buildings she was lurking between to talk to a young buck. No surprise, she always attracts guys everywhere she goes, it’s the orange coat, and bucks go nuts for it in this part of the world. By the looks of things, she was being complemented and most likely the buck was trying to seduce her into bed. Again not uncommon, but she has a job to do and should be doing it. Never mind, if she’s going to chat up boys then I’ll just pull her shift, as always.

Across the way, Boss , as always, was conducting business with a shriveled up old bit mongering unicorn named Valentine Val, as he called him, was doing his best job of convincing Boss that the dirty water Boss was trying to sell him was slightly more dirty than usual. Boss, on the other hoof, was trying to convince Val that the water was at or less than 10% cleaner than the last time he came to town. seeing as I was the one to retrieve the water from....I could vouch for it being just as dirty as it has always been. well maybe a bit more dirty this week seeing as I think Lue pee'd in one of the bottles to spite Val, he never really like him.

I relaxed and set myself to watching the ongoing exchange of asking entirely too much for dirty water. Then followed by the inevitable haggling process to come to the same price it always comes to. I swear sometimes I think Boss just like to get up Val's ass for the fun of it. can’t blame him, Val is a real prick when it comes to parting with anything more than his nasty breath and used toilet paper, which might I add, the old fart sells. Calls is "Reclaimed Flank Floss". What the actual fuck!

Lue seemed to be looking over a ball bat of sorts, no doubt thinking of strapping a badger or hornets’ nest to it, nothing out of the normal there. But something seems off about this picture, the normal hustle and bustle of the town is all the same but my eyes are trying to tell my brain something. A detail maybe? Something I’m overlooking? I glance across the crowed to where Boss is conducting his daily routine of bartering and begin a visual grid search, something I had read about in one of my 200 year old magazines from War Time Technologies.

I was just visually acclimating myself when I saw it, a dirty red pony wearing a hood. Who the hell would wear a hood in this heat!? That’s what it was, an idiot wearing a brown hooded cloak in the dead heat of the day. No wonder my brain took so long to process it, that level of stupidity would require more computing power that any brain could handle. I engaged my "squintnoculars" and focused on the hooded figure, was it just me or did he have an odd gate about him. I focused harder on him and sure enough, yep, he had an injury to his right hind leg, giving him a small but noticeable hitch to his walk.

My eyes that where telling me something was off before were telling me something yet again. Did I know him? I would like to think that I would remember a pony with a lame leg who’s also presumably a moron. Damn it! I hate coming out of a perfectly good moment of personal reflection to have to solve a riddle! This is why Boss always drills "attention to detail" in to our heads until it dribbles out our noses. he also says a lot about staying focused and keeping alert, but I forget half of that when I’m made to wait and be alone with my thoughts.

Sitting just 30 feet away, I could make out that he was eyeing Boss's bags that were sat conveniently behind him. Lue, who usually watches the Boss's saddle bags, was completely enamored with the idea of a ball bat with nails in it. I glanced back to the buck in the hood and noticed him taking a step closer, he was still outside the 5 foot area I allowed before thing start to get decidedly "loud" but still too close for comfort. I look back over to the Shale who is just to the right of the buck and do my best to get her attention without alerting the would be, possible bandit.

I need something, anything to get her attention, I would guess yelling would be out of the question. Shit, I hate this part of the job, I mean I have done it before but I never enjoy it. I readied my rifle, at this distance the 7.62 caliber hollow point round would make one hell of a mess. Through the cross hairs I could see him itching closer, favoring his hind leg as he did so. Soon he had advanced in front of the store front wall where Boss and Val were sitting, well within the kill zone. No doubt that if somepony was on the other side of that wall they would be playing a very deadly game of catch whether or not I hit him or not. Bullets, particularly those from a high powered rifle, have a nasty habit of slicing through hide, crushing bone and continuing through whatever is in there way until all the energy is expelled. I read that too. With that in mind, I slowly lowered my rifle to my side started to get up when...

A pale blue earth pony buck flew past my left side so fast that I thought that he had been launched by a cannon, followed by a door knob hitting me right in the mussel. dazed and seeing little red colts in my vision I desperately tried to gain composure, as Ms. Peach politely walked out of the shop, screaming at yet another shop patron in her, raspy, annoying voice, for not having enough money to waste her time.

I staggered to my hooves, only to have her bearing down, screaming at me.

"Don’t you have someplace to be? As in, not HERE!" she said with her usual charm.

"Yes mam, sorry mam!" I said weakly

OK, staggering back to my hooves a 2nd time now, still woozy from my great battle with the door knob, I snapped my attention back to there the red buck once stood. And he’s gone. Shit....this isn't good. I would venture a guess that I wouldn't be so lucky that he had been startled by the commotion and made a break for it would I? Maybe? I glanced back up to my frost blue mane drooping into my now slowly un-blurring vision and reminded myself that the world hates me and pushed the "lucky" thoughts from my mind. I gathered my bags and returned my rifle to its home, slung just over my back with the sling hitched under my right foreleg.

Stepping off of the front porch of Peaches, I took stock of the buck laying face first in the dusty street with is rump in the air. Two perfect horse shoe prints, one on each butt cheek, both up turned from Ms. Peach’s hind hooves.

The buck gave an anemic little "ow" as I trotted closer to his still prone form

"Tried to haggle?" I asked in a slightly squeaky voice, fighting back laughter.

"Ugh...beat it kid, my dealings are none of your business" he said to me through his teeth, no doubt fighting through pain to do so.

"Well, at any rate, at least you got a receipt in case you have to return that ass whooping, better hurry I think it’s starting to fade" I said though a broken laughter, gesturing to his hind quarters.

"Hey there even up turned! That’s good luck right?" I managed to giggle out before almost wetting myself from shear amusement.

"If you don't scram, your ass is going to be a receipt!" the blue buck said, spitting dust out of his mouth in my direction.

"OK, I know when my comedy isn't appreciated" I said as I turned.

I started my way towards Boss who was just getting back into the "art of the deal" as he calls it, making my way through the crowd. By the time I had reached him, Val had already taken his leave, heading back to the cave he crawled out of. I took stock of the situation at hand, trying to figure out the best avenue of approaching the situation. I looked to where the red buck had been standing just before taking a door knob to the face. On the ground there were the prints of many, many ponies… but there, near the wall were a set of tracks that were out of place. The tracks were normal, except for the right side. There was a distinct pattern of one hooves track covering half of the next track with a small distortion where his lame leg had fallen faster than the others, kicking up a bit of dirty over the track.

Those same tracks lead dangerously close to the Boss's bags, then turned left into the beaten, dusty street. From that point forward, the tracks dissipated into the countless other tracks from the towns ponies. I looked back to the tracks where he had been moments before and I could also see marks on the ground where his hood had been trailing behind him. I did my best to take in every little detail I could, just in case Boss were to question me had something gone missing. The realization hit me that nopony, not in the 3 years I had been working over watch, had ever taken anything from us without a major fight, but then again, no pony had ever gotten this close before either.

"Joey" Boss said in his deep voice "something wrong? Why did you abandon your post" he said, a little too authoritatively.

I looked up from the ground to see Lue, Shale and Boss all staring at me like I had just done a back flip. I tried to gather the words, to say something but confrontation had never been my strong suit. Just as I had gathered my thoughts and began working my mussel, Lue decided it was the perfect time to take a jab at me.

"What? Did you get lonely over there? Nopony want to talk to the blank flank?" Lue said in a foalish voice

"What! No, there was... cloak, there, just a second ago, got to close" I stammered.

Now everypony was looking at me with a look of pure amusement, even a few of the town’s ponies had taken notice of the excited, confused colt, everypony except Boss.

"Calm down Joey, what did you see?" Boss said with a fatherly tone that he knew would put me at ease.

"There was a red pony, in a cloak who got too close to you but I don't know if he took anything or not" I said, completely embarrassed for my incompetence.

"Just now? And what do you mean, you’re not sure if he took anything or not" Boss said, narrowing his eyes at the thought of somepony stealing from him. There are not a lot of things that make Boss angry, but stealing from him is a great way to start a war.

"Yes, just now! I had eyes on him but just as I was lowering my rifle, the door to Peaches flew open and almost knocked me cold!" I said pointing a hoof towards the place I had been sitting.

"Ha, I told you that was a bad spot to set up post, I get the whole out in the open is the best place to hide thing but beside a door? That’s just stupid" Shale barked out at me in a laughing tone.

OK, I’ll admit, not the best place to set up, but I can’t help feeling a bit hurt by that statement, especially seeing as she was the one who taught me to hide in plain sight. Boss turn to Shale to regard her while she snorted back laughter, tensing his and gritting his teeth. It must be hard dealing with a bunch of kids when your the most serious guy in the group and the oldest.

"And you? Where were you? If he was standing right behind me, wouldn't that put him in your line of sight? What were you doing that was so important to take you away from the job at hoof?" Boss said as he slowly backed Shale to the same wall the red pony had been standing.

Shale, now on the defensive, bumped in the walk of the store front with her rump, letting out a resounding "eep" as she did so. Shale, now stammering herself, said

"I was just....I mean, somepony was talking to me and I lost focus...I d-didn't mean to let-" was as far as she got before Boss had stared the once laughing mare, into a tiny pile of fear, uncertainty and regret.

"You had a job to do, what if he took something, what if he was somepony who didn't particularly care for me too much? What then? I have enough scares in my back already without you helping somepony carve me up more!" Boss said with a graveness in his voice that spoke volumes for what would happen if Shale were say anything to push him over the edge. Honestly, I think a stiff breeze would set him off at this point.

“I, I’m sorry!” Shale said with tears beginning to bead up in the corners of her eyes. “I was distracted by a colt”

“As much as I appreciate your candor, now is not the time to be chatting up boys!” Boss said with a slightly less aggressive tone.

Boss turned back to me and took a few steps closer, lowering his head to meet my eyes as he did so. “You say you saw him right? You get a good look at him?”

I focused my gaze to his, making direct eye contact, something he had taught us all from an early age to invoke the buyers trust. It was a simple gesture, but a crucial one to give absolute certainty that I was doing my best to relay the events as best as I could remember them. If all of this seems forefront, it’s because it is, but when you are a 14 year old colt facing a 30 year old buck who could drive you into the ground for doing wrong, you make a note of going through the motions of honesty.

“Yes sir, young buck, maybe about 18, medium build wearing a dark brown or black cloak. Red coat. I think he has a leg injury, he was favoring his right hind leg” I said with all the confidence I could muster.

“How close” Boss said, raising his head and looking around, presumably for the possible thief.

“Pretty close, too close for me to like. I saw him eyeing your bags and that's when I was readying to fire on him” I said

“And then Peach slammed a door in your face. Perfect. Why didn’t you shoot, sounds like you had a clean shot on him” Boss said

“ He was in front of the stores wall, the round could have passed through and hit somepony on the other side” I said with a small hitch in my voice. Damn it, I hate being on trial!

“I would have allowed that risk! These wares are all we have at the moment, you know that we spent our last few caps yesterday on bullets, why didn't you use them” Boss said accusingly

I pointed up to the sign above our heads that read “ Colts & Foals: baby wares and formula” looking at him with a desperate expression “ there could be a kid in there, or a mother, if it passed through and hit somepony who was pregnant, it would be three dead ponies”

Boss let out a breath that he had been holding and sighed. “...Ok, good point. I’m sorry. that’s good judgment on your part. more than I can say I would have had.” Boss said, still with a bit of agitation.

“There's more” I squeaked out as Boss began to turn away. “There’s his tracks, right over there!”

I said pointing to the fresh patch of sand near the store wall.

“What good does that do us? Look around, there's tracks everywhere!” Lue said with his usual attitude towards me. “So unless you're a dog and sniff him out, it’s useless! And the only trick I've seen you do is fetch!” Ok that pissed me off, I'm not a damn dog and I damn sure ain't a one trick pony! I was readying my comeback about his face being stupid and him being fat when Boss stopped me short. “Lue, nopony asked your opinion on this. In fact as far as I’m concerned you’re to blame! Had you not been ogling that stupid bat and been watching my back, like you are supposed to, you wouldn't have left joey to do your damn job for you. Hell, at least he tried to do something”

HMM...well I’m not pissed anymore, but I still feel like I did something wrong. I took the time to glance about the crowd that was now gathering around the latest show in town, everypony was looking at us. Faces of confusion, amusement and one shit paper selling unicorn with a look of “about time somepony took you down a notch” on his face. I looked back to Boss who was now educating Lue on the finer points of “attention to detail” and was waiting for my chance to jump in on the conversation when Shale did it for me.

“Um, Boss? Perhaps we should take this inside, take stock and see if the bandit took anything to be mad about before you start killing us all off?”

Boss, took a few seconds to take in the scene, mostly that he was now causing, and nodded , eyes still glancing around. I swear I think I saw a shade of red cross his muzzle at the sight of everypony looking at him.

“Yeah, might be a good idea. No use in getting too worked up if nothing is even missing. Either way you too are getting a crash course on paying the fuck attention tonight. So don’t think you’re off the hook if everything's still here!”

We gathered our belongings and headed towards the far side of town....it was about 100 feet away, so calling it the far side of town was a bit of a stretch to say the least. In fact this whole town only has 20 or so functioning businesses, one of them being the only hotel/liquor store/pay bathroom in town. Yep, people pay to poop where I sleep. Did I mention I hate this town?

Back in my room, erm, our room. An acrid stench hung in the air like a colony of tiny blood wings that ever so often would swoop down and assault our noses with the pungent aroma of stale, dry air, decaying wood, feces and whatever abomination the “chef” was cooking for dinner. I use the term chef as lightly as possible, the bucks a good guy and all but sometime I question whether or not he is using actual ingredients or just scooping out what everypony ate the night before from the outhouses out back. Heh, recycling poo into edible food, who would do such a stupid thing. By the smell of things dinner should be just this side of completely inedible, so it should be served in about an hour or two.

I trotted to the bed where I slept the night before, the sheets still neatly made from our morning routines, with what I believe was once a pillow but now was a sack of what I hoped wasn't dried semen filled cloth. Goddess only knows what happened in these rooms and honestly, I’m ok with the goddesses only knowing. I unslung my rifle and propped it against the head board of my bed, sex mat, whatever. Dropping my saddle bags to the ground and ever so carefully, kicked the shit out of my bags under the stained mattress to free up as much room as I could. Sure the room had 4 beds but those 4 beds came at premium cost of space and when you're a trader, you need all the room you can manage.

The room, albeit small, didn’t feel that way until you looked down and saw the absurd amount of lack of walking room between the beds. Two large windows, one on each of the exterior walls, allowed for the sun to continue its assault on my coat every morning. The light that shown through, casting shadows across the room was impeded only by the dust that hung in the air. A few old paintings of times since lost, adorn the other two walls, once vibrant and full of color, now replaced with the sickly colors that come from years of mistreatment and sun bleaching. The ceiling, once I presume to have been white, was now stained from centuries of water damage and pop marked with bullet holes, some of which, coming from the outside in.

I lay back on my bed, gazing at a bullet hole directly above me and allowed the unsettling thought of dying in my sleep from a falling bullet really sink in. what a way to go, sleeping one second, shot dead the next from a stray bullet. I have often thought about the fighting in the places where we travel to, Hoofington, Fillydelphia, Manehattan. All places that have battles going on at a near constant rhythm, tens of hundreds of ponies firing wildly, wasting precious bullets, sending them into the dirt, building and possible bystanders without care. Why do I think about these things! Other colts my age are out trying to get lucky with their first mare or looting wares stores for liquor, but not me! That would be too simple, I had to be picked up by a trader with a personal security complex. Better than dead I guess.

Boss was the last to enter the room, he then turned and promptly locked the door, at least what was left of the door. He walked to his bed, dropping his saddle bags on the torn sheets, the bed let out a groan of protest under the weight of the overloaded, tan sacks.

“Ok, let’s take stock, if nothing is missing then we will move on to taking inventory and paying yalls shares,” Boss said as he began opening the tired, worn bags and began rifling through their contents. Laying out items of value in neat, organized piles across the beds. Ammo, water, medical supplies, odds and ends we had pilfered or traded for the last few weeks all laid with care across the small room.

Shale produced a clipboard and began going down the list of items, cross checking them with Boss's sales sheet, pausing only to count a few round of ammo's or to double check her work. I had made the argument to acquire a pipbuck to do the sorting for us multiple times, but Boss's still prefers to do things by hoof. Claiming “Why would I use tech from ponies who brought the world to the state that it’s in now.” to say he has trust issues is not that bold of a statement.

Shale completed her rounds and began reading back the stock of our goods.

“Ok that's 480 rounds of ammo, 7 bottles of water, 4 clean, 3 dirty, 3 knives, 2 packs of med-x, one ¾ full, 9 bottles of rad-x, 2 10mm semi-auto pistols, 3 magazines for said pistol's...” Shale droned on for the next 3 or 4 mins, listing countless medical supplies and foodstuffs. Finally when she had reached the end of her grand speech, she held the clipboard in the air and with a grand, squeaky singsong voice proclaimed “and twwwwwwwwwwwo golden horn riiiiings!”

Boss's looked up from his continued search of the now empty bags, only to raise an eyebrow. Even Lue looked up to Shale with a look of “Seriously?” plastered across his face, well that and most of the Buck Cake he was eviscerating at the time. I let out a half heart-ed chuckle at the grand gesture, taking in the scene before me. It’s nice to see a bit of humor, it’s so rare and fleeting on the trail. Boss, who continued his assault on the old bags was growing increasingly agitated as he turned the bags upside down to give them a firm shake. Realizing that everything was now laying before him, he sat down hard and began looking over the pile of plunder, searching desperately for....something?

The room was alight with giggles and jokes being cracked at Shales failure of an attempt at singing and Lue’s decidedly disgusting appearance when Boss, who had been quiet for the duration, finally spoke. In a low, hushed and almost bewildered tone “It’s gone...of all the things, its gone”

the room fell silent at those very words, yet everyone still worn a small smile, thinking that whatever it was, it couldn't have been anything of value. Shale was the first to speak in her light, happy voice “What’s gone, I double checked everything on the list, it’s all here”. Boss rolled back on his haunches, looking at the ceiling. “Something, that wasn’t on the list, something I have had a long time. Something that was entrusted to me by a dying stallion a long time ago”. Shale, now at full attention, shuffled closer to the now confused looking stallion. “What’s gone? If it was so important why was it not on the list?” Shale spoke in stern yet soft tones, being careful not to anger Boss. Non of us had ever seen him like this before, sure he was a powder keg at times but he was always so sure about things. So seeing him completely out of place was new for all of us and was a situation that none of us knew how to handle.

“Something that will mean a lot to somepony someday, something I didn’t put on the list to keep anypony from knowing I had it” Boss said almost cryptically, still refusing any information to any of us. What the hell could be so important that Boss, the tradiest of traders wouldn't even sell? Hell he thought about selling me once if I recall, so what could have the old stallion in such a fit to the point of looking completely disconnected with reality. Finally having enough of my own reverie for a change, I piped up.

“Boss, what is it that's so important that you've now become a damn invalid.”

Boss said nothing, just giving me a softer than usual look that said, one thing and one thing only “I promised”. Boss can be the most stuborn pony on the planet, so it goes without saying that when he's told a secret, or in this case, entrusted with something, nothing short of all the whiskey in the wasteland would get him to give so much as a hint. “Ok” I said with a sigh “How do we get it back?” There was a long pause that hung in the air like stagnate water, almost suffocating with its tension. “One of us has to go and get it, obviously,” Lue, finally breaking the silence said. “One of us? Don't you mean all of us?” Shale said feeling a might bit far flung by Lue's assertion that he would be going at this alone. “Yeah shouldn't we go as a group, safety in numbers and all that?” I said with the hopes that Boss wouldn't actually be entertaining the thought of sending at least one of us on a one pony trek to receive the mystery item solo.

“Wait, what about New Appleloosa, that's our next stop and we have that load of radaway to deliver still. To Absolutely Everything. She even paid in advance,” Shale said.

Lue, licking the last of the crumbs from his mouth, shared a look with Shale. “Yeah and I don’t think you three could carry that load on your own, it would take y'all 2 weeks to make it without me.” Lue said, closing his eyes and putting a hoof on his puffed out chest. I won’t admit to many good traits that Lue has, but being a stout buck with a strong back is one of them. We usually just pile all the crap we find on his back to sort later, making him carry 2 ponies worth of load doing so. But hey, cost of brain cells and all that. He never complained either, so it just became a habit for him to always carry the bulk of our goods on the long trips between towns.

Sad fact of the matter is that if Lue went it would take us too long to make it to New Appleloosa to make the shipment in time. We would have to wait 3 weeks for the shop keep to finish her runs and meet with her then. Shale could go, but that would leave us almost out gunned if something were to happen on the trail. She, after all, is the most versed in automatic weapons and her speed with them is, as far as I have seen, unmatched. Boss would never leave us to take to the Trail on our own, not to mention he also carries a substantial weight of the goods himself. And I highly doubt he would send a 14 year old colt to go...

“Joey could go, I mean, he is the only one of us that got a good look at him.” Shale said.

My jaw hit the floor so hard I think I lost a tooth. Me!? I can’t even...how could she throw me under the wagon like this!

“What...me?! You want me to go after him?” I said in pure shock. Boss, finally lifting his head, let out a resounding “NO”. “Boss, think about it, if any of us go, we won’t make the shipment, if I go, who's going to keep a look out for you and Lue on the way to New Appleloosa. But if Joey goes, we will make the shipment and there's a ok chance he will pull it off”. Gee thanks Shale, throw me under the wagon and give me slim odds of making it out alive. Boss, looking up to meet the hopeful face of Shale “No, he’s just a colt and he can’t go...not for this, there has to be some other way”.

“Boss...Camden... Joey saw him, not only saw him, described him, pointed out his limp and found his tracks. If anyone has a chance at finding this guy, it’s him. He wouldn’t even have to get close, he could just pick him off with his rifle and retrieve...whatever it is he took.” Shale said

I can’t believe I’m saying this but Shale actually makes a good point. With me out of the group, they wouldn't be any more hindered than if I was there. Being the smallest, I rarely carried much, my job was more to watch for threats and watch over the exchanges at a distance. Honestly they could do the work. Still doesn't change the fact that, I don’t wanna! What the hell, they are all conspiring against me! They’re going to send a colt to his death, for a stupid...whateverthefuck because he made a promise!? And did Shale just break out Boss's real name!?

“Wait wait wait, don't I get a say in this? What the hell could be so worth sending me to my doom over?” I said. At this point everyone but me and Boss had decided to send me packing after somepony who took something that we aren't even allowed to know what it is, to a place that I’m sure I don't know, to kill him for something I have no idea if he took or not. And as much as I hate to admit it, it wasn’t a horrible idea looking at it from the outside in. but on the inside it felt like I was being led to my slaughter for a middle aged buck desire to keep a secret. Infuriating to say the very least, but still something inside me still wanted to go. Some part of me that felt, wronged by making a mistake, almost like feeling...robbed... heh, kind of cathartic actually but still total shit but at least it feels good.

“I’ll go” I managed to meek out...did I just say that, did those words really just leave my mouth? Damn you mouth, I give you food, slightly rad ridden water, and I even try to brush your teeth! Thou hath betrayed me!

“Joey, I know you have to feel bad for what happened today, but that’s no reason to put yourself in harm’s way” Boss said

“It’s not that, Shale and Lue are right, you guys will have to take the delivery in yourself, I won’t be missed on the trail. I think I can pick up

his tracks by circling the town a few times. From there I can give you guys an idea of what direction he went and that I’ll be going.” I said with way more confidence than I actually had. Chances are I wouldn't even find his tracks and even if I did, at what point would they fade out and leave me alone. Hell I would be alone the whole way anyhow, so what would it matter, I could handle myself well enough.

“Even if you don’t know what it is you are looking for? How the hell are you going to find it?” Lue said, a touch cross that nopony was jumping on the “send Lue, he's our hero” band wagon.

“It’s a small black box, inside there's something I don't want anypony finding or even knowing about. If you do this, you have to swear to me, you won’t open it Joey, you have to swear” Boss said with a sense of almost pleading in his voice. I could tell he wasn't the least bit thrilled about the plan, but what other choice did we have. Hell I wasn't even thrilled with the plan but if this...box means that much to Boss, then that’s all I need to know. Call me a softy but he took me in when nopony else could, he raised me, trained me and got me to where I am today. Call it a life debt, call it being melodramatic, but this is the exact kind of thing that gets to me. So in a way I feel like I might owe him this.

“If it means that much to you to not tell us, that's all I need to know. I’ll get it back or-”

“Or we will never see you again” Lue said, clearly still unhappy about his missed chance at glory.

“I don’t want to think about that now. So none of that talk. Joey, are you sure. I mean, do you think you could track him?” Boss said with a touch of hope coated in a thin layer of doubt.

“....Yes, I think I can. I’ll need some supplies though and I’ll need to get out and search the area for tracks,” I said.

“Ok, then we will help you look” Shale said, already tugging on her bags

“No, best I go at it alone for the moment, One pony is hard enough to track let alone doing it with three others who might ruin any fresh prints” I said as I retrieved my bag from under my bed. “There’s a better than good chance that he booked it straight out of town at a run, that means I have to go back to where it happened and try and find tracks there that lead out of town” I said as I emptied my bags out across my bed, best to travel light I guess.

“And what if you don’t find them there?” Shale asked.

“If not there, then I will have to search the outskirts of the town for tracks, working my way out until I find a fresh set. Just feel lucky that there weren't any wagons in town today, if he had hopped one of those....” I said trailing off as I sorted my meager stash of books, rad-x and ammo aside.

“What all will you need? I mean, if you find a set of, fresh prints I think you said? How did you learn about all of this?” Boss said

I stopped, held up two books for him to see. One book with green binding that read “A hunters guide to tracking game” and another with worn brown leather that read “Roamani tribal battlefield tracking and evasion”. The first book I found in a burned out library 4 years ago, the latter I traded for from a trader outside of Manehattan. The book looked to be worn but from what I could tell all the pages were in excellent shape, barely yellowed with time. The only problem was that the wording in the book was strange, I had guessed it was originally a zebra book that had been translated at one time or another. Not to mention it seemed that many lines of dialog had be omitted in the translation if that was the case.

“What the hell is “rowmany” Lue asked with an over pronunciation of the word

“I don’t know, but I have used some of the things in this book before to track Yao Guai along the trails so we don’t run into them.” I said taking stock of all my provisions.

“Okay, I’m going to need food for the next 2 days, water, ammo, medical bandages and.....I need a tablet and pencil” I said still looking across my bed at my battered belongings.

Boss who had been quiet this whole time finally joined in on the questioning. “Why would you need a paper and pencil?”

“Oh you know, take notes, sketch out prints....leave a final will and testament, draw when I get bored” I said sardonically.

“We only have a few rounds for your 308, Seven to be exact and by my count you have 13. I dont know if 20 rounds will be enough to get you by,” Shale said with a grimace.

“I’ll stop by Peach's on my way out of town and see if I can trade for a few more rounds before I head out.” I said glancing out the dirty window. “Looks like the sun starting to go down. Might be best if I get started now before the tracks get marred by somepony else.”

Well... always good to see Peach can come through for me, and by that I mean not having a single damn thing I needed. Neither did any of the other stores in town, not one single round of 308 in this whole place! No luck on medical bandages either and I would really love to have more than half a roll seeing as I’m going off on my own. I couldn't even find clean water, instead resorting to dipping into our personal supplies to fill my needs. Did I mention I hate this town? Boss seemed ok with it at least, then again, sending a young pony on a quest to retrieve a mystery box with little to no gear will grant you leeway in bartering.

Five times, I have walked five laps in the evening heat looking for tracks for that lame bastard and nothing! I’m easily 600 yards away from town!! Hell maybe I would get lucky and not find anything, sure there would be the failure to deal with but at least I could go to bed. Stupid box, what the hell could be in it that’s so damn important for all of this, what in the hell would make Boss so twisted out of shape that he would be willing to do this? Too many questions, and oh look at that, somepony pooped here, like right here....where I’m standing. Awesome. I stepped out of the dried pony pile, fell back on my haunches, looked straight up with the meanest look I could make, proclaiming “grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”.

After my impromptu tantrum, I lowered my head and pulled out my little notebook. Sure it had cartoon rabbits on it and huge margins but hey, it’s all the town had. At least they had pencils, I couldn't imagine if I had to use crayons… that would really complete my terrifying appearance. I would be the scourge of the wasteland, an immature bounty hunter maybe, taking notes in my happy bunny time notebook. Raiders would run in fear, bucks and mares would flee at the very sight of me...and my happy bunny time note book. I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation, albeit a small, quiet laugh.

Sun's setting, its light casting shadows from the mountains in the distance. Is it just me or are the shadows moving. Of course they’re moving, the sun sets, thereby it moves, there by shadows move....but not horizontally. Squinting my eyes I can just barely make out, something, a pony maybe? Are they...THEIR RUNNING!

I pulled my rifle to my shoulder, adopted a prone position and sighted down the scope. Yes, that’s a pony alright, steadying myself I grabbed the gnarls on the scopes zoom knob and rolled it up to 10x magnification. I struggled to find the running pony again, where the hell was he! THERE!

Through the scope I could just make out the cloak flapping in the wind and the faint red of his coat beneath. I took the trigger in my mouth slowly working my muzzle to a comfortable position and leaned my head into the stock feeling that familiar cheek weld I had so many times before. There he is, not a full run but defiantly moving quick, the hitch in his gate forcing him to raise rump into the air with every gallop. 450 yards, I’m sure of it, I had just trotted from there. I raised the scopes radical to his back and just on his neck to allow for the windage and drop. I began tracking with my crosshairs, slowly depressing the trigger of my rifle. That’s it, just keep doing what you're doing, just keep up that steady pace!

Slowly I let out a breath while putting more and more pressure on the trigger. “Boom”. The dust swirled around the muzzle of my rifle, blocking my vision for a brief moment. Wait, what the hell, why is he just standing there. Just off to his right side I saw that tall puff a dust in the evening light, the shot went wide? No no no, I never miss! I loaded another round into the chamber, using my fetlock to work the bolt and made ready to fire again. Through my scope I could see what I think was a smile on his face as he broke back in to a gallop fading out of sight into a ravine.

What the hell just happened, I mouthed to myself as I grabbed my rifle up and took off after him. I never miss, I have shot bloodwings at that distance! Approaching where he had just been standing, in the failing light I could see the same tracks I had seen before. Following them I could clearly make out the depression in the earth where he had diverted his path to drop out of sight. DAMNIT! Where is he! I stood at the edge of the ridge looking out towards the mountains and where his tracks faded into the distance.

Behind me I could hear faint hoof falls, did he double back? I turned readying my rifle for a fight when I saw Lue and Shale running up to me with Boss in hot pursuit. They must have heard the shot and figured I had been killed, no doubt to collect my belongings and leave me near the pile of poo I had just been standing in.

“Did...did you ...” Lue said seconds before falling on his face. Lue’s strong, but endurance? Nope!

“We heard the shot, did you get him?” Shale asked, also winded.

“I missed.” I said weakly

“How did you miss? I’ve seen you shoot” Shale said with a look of bewilderment

“I think...my sight is off. Ugh… it must have been jarred loose when Peach flung the door in my face. The door might have hit the rifle, I don’t know” I said, staring at my rifle as if it had just let me down for the first time in my life...mostly because it had.

“I’ll have to re-zero it in before I head out after him” I said looking off to the distance at an old, half buried container.

“Damn, and for a moment this was going to be so easy” Lue said, slowly recovering from the ground. “You should get a move on while you still have a chance. One question, why didn’t you just, I don’t know, fucking use your wings” Lue said annoyed, gesturing to my sides.

“You know how I feel about flying, I hate heights!” I said with as much malice as I actually meant. Truth is, I love flying, just not at night, above 10 feet off the ground or with my rifle. The last thing I would want to do is drop it and oh, I don’t know, knock the sight off. Ironic now that I think about it.

“Need to fix my scope, Shale, can you give me a hoof?” I said, in a tired, slightly annoyed voice.

I propped the rifle on a rock, taking aim at a hunk of metal from a container in the distance, estimating it to be 125 yards away, aimed at a bolt and “boom”. The bullet impacted low and right of its mark. Thank Celestia, for a second there I thought I sucked, turns out I just suck slightly, I could live with that. Holding the rifle steady, I had Shale move the turrets until the cross hair just rested on the spot where the bullet impacted. I had used this trick many times in the past when I would sight in a new rifle to be traded, I even gained a small reputation among some ponies in Manehattan for being a crack gunsmith for it. That reputation was shattered when I took up reloading and over primed a charge for a bucks rifle, at his request might I add. The rifle blow up in his hooves.

“You two get back to the inn, I need to have a word with Joey” Boss said as I sat and began tracing out the hoof falls of the bastard I was about to chase after.

“Joey, I need to have a word with you” Boss said, watching the other two trot back to town. Leaning close to me and sitting beside me as I lay on my belly, working the pencil in my mouth to sketch out the prints. Boss took a few easy breaths and “I know you have never had any parents, but I would like to think of you as one of my own. I have had you for a long time Joey and I know I’m not the easiest buck to be around but I want you to know that I have always thought of you, Lue and Shale as my kids.” Boss said, again looking back to Lue and Shale.

The pencil fell from my mouth, he had never said anything like this to any of us before. Sure when he starts drinking I would get the occasional “I love ya kiddo” out of him but it was always light hearted. I looked up to the tired eyes of the buck who had not sired me, but raised me non the less. There was something there, something different about how he was looking out across the plains. Like he was trying to hold in a fart or something, his face was almost pained in the way he wore the expression.

“Lue’s grown and Shale's at the age where boys are her focus now, I figure it won’t be long until it’s just me again. The last few years of my life have been the best ones I have ever had and more than any buck could hope for I guess.” Boss said looking out towards where the lame buck had made off with our goods.

Ok, now why do my eyes sting. I looked away to hide a small sniff and to wipe the tear from my eye. Boss had never really shown any emotion towards any of us other than trying to keep us from getting killed or doing something stupid. In his own way he would show love for us by keeping us alive and teaching us how to survive. So for him to open up like this, to me of all ponies was way out of left field and...it felt good?

“When I was a little colt, no bigger than you are now, I lost both of my parents to raiders. I hid in the bushes that first year, kept my head down, stayed out of sight, made my way to Manehattan hoping for a safe place to start a life. Somewhere along the way I met a trader who took me in.” Boss said still fixing his eyes to the north west.

“Then one day, when I was about 17 he died. The doctors tried everything they could but it was no use, the taint got him. it was the saddest I had ever been that first year, I barely made it by. then one day you came along, so did Lue and Shale. Life has a way of throwing you curve balls like that “ Boss said. Is it just me or is this the most emotion I have seen out of him...ever. I think he might actually say it, he might for the first time say that he loves me, he has never done that to any of us! This is huge, like balefire bomb huge! I leaned in closer to him waiting for the moment to happen, tears beginning to bead in my vision.

And just as I thought I was on the verge of a serious “father son moment” Boss decided he was done sharing his life with me.

“I’m sorry Joey, I didn’t mean to get all emotional” he said as he drew in a deep breath and stood.

“No no, it’s ok, I get it and, I have always looked up to you as a father. You took me in, you raised me, trained me, taught me to always do the right thing” I said, reaching a hoof for his shoulder. Damn it you old bastard, dont you die on me now! Somewhere deep in my mind a little gray pony was pounding his head on a rock in frustration. “You finding me was the best thing that could have happened to me And for that I can’t repay you, but I will always be here, I won’t abandon you” I said as I reached for a hug.

“uhuh, what ever you say kid” he said with a small smile. FUCK YOU UNIVERSE! I was so close! Granted we had all wondered at one time or another if the old man would ever open up to us, tell us how much he cared. But thats just not his style. Boss always had a way with words, just like cooking steak, you had to add just the right amount of salt.

Boss reached under his chest and unbuckled the straps holding his twin holstered 44 magnums to his back. He then pulled them from his back, sat down and folded them neatly and held them to me with outstretched hooves.

“Here, my dad gave them to me, now I’m giving them to you in return. I have carried these bad boys for years, they have stopped raiders, gangers, scavengers, bears and all manner of sorts.” Boss said as he helped a very shocked and gaping me up to my hooves. I have never seen him without those guns! And now he’s just...giving them to me?!

“Camden...Boss, you can’t...these are yours!” I said in disbelief. On one hoof I couldn’t believe this was happening, almost like a dream come to life and on the other I was still pissed at the missed opportunity for him to express himself to me. It was always, “Yes Boss” or “I’m on it Boss” or “Where do you want the whiskey Boss”, the last always followed by “In mah mouth boy!” He loved that joke, told it every chance he got. I guess him emoting all over the place on a probable last goodbye was to much too ask for.

“Yes you do, I have taught you everything I know, I guess it’s all those books you read, I don’t know, but somehow you turned out ok.” Boss said as he finished adjusting the holsters to fit between my wings, pulling the buckles tighter that I might have liked. But man what a great fit! Even if the great fit was loose on the back. I couldn’t see myself, where the hell is a mirror when you need one! But I could venture that I looked badass!

I returned the stupid looking notebook back to my saddlebags and slung my rifle over my shoulder and turned back to Boss.

“I’ll get it back...whatever it is... and I’ll meet you in New Appleloosa in a few days. I'll wait fr you there.” I said with a confidence I now absolutely had, a confidence that I could feel burning in my heart.

“OK, dont die.” Boss said as he turned a walked away.

“Wow, way to kill the moment” I said under my breath.

What was with him. One minute I feel like hes about to hug me and the next he's back to being the old hard ass I have seen for years. Granted some emotion is better than non but com'on! We were so close! He almost told me he loved me it felt like and now the best goodbye I was going to get was “don't die”. Only boss could say those words to a 14 year old going out into the wastelands after something of his.

I turned to look out at the mountains where the tracks led. I hate to say this but if I flew I could make the mountains by dark, I could keep a low altitude and follow the tracks. And with that thought and a burning desire to catch my foe, I spread my wings and pushed off the ground.

In the distance behind me I could hear Boss's final parting words echoing off the canyon walls.

“DON'T FUCKING SCRATCH THOSE PISTOLS OR IT WILL BE YOUR ASS THAT GETS HUNTED DOWN” Boss bellowed.

“LOVE YOU TOO!” I squeaked back at him as I glided down the slope and headed towards the mountains.

Chapter 1: That Was Then (part 2)

Fallout Equestria: Wildest Dreams

Chapter 1 part 2 That Was Then

I made it for 4 hours off the ground. A personal best! The steep valley walls of the mountains I'm trotting between are imposing to say the least. from where I stand now, I can just make out the cliffs edge. In fact just looking up gets me all woozy to the point of wanting to pass out. Flying into the valley, I made a attempt to follow the ridge line as it rose and fell with the landscape. yeah that lasted all of two minutes before I nearly fell to my death from a panic attack. From that point forward I decided to trot my way, only resorting to flying when I had to to avoid obstacles.

I have followed the lame bucks tracks for over 20 hours now, stopping only for brief naps and to find a way around the raiders that nearly spotted me. In all honesty, apart from that this trip has been pretty....nope, not going to say it. Every book I have read has dictated that moments after even thinking those words, you are flung into some absurd plot to save the world....or you turn the corner and walk head on into a slaver camp...oh look, slaver camp...called it, well screw you too, cosmos.

I crouched behind a boulder just in time to not be seen, I was right on top of them, how did I not hear them! I looked down to see the lame bucks prints that ended here, right where I stood. I could hear the slavers talking but the echo in the valley made their words blur together into a low rumble that rose and fell with their, what I presume to be laughter. I looked up to the sky, it was already starting to get dark. the walls of the valley were shading it's floor, making it seem darker than it would out on the plains. being this close to the cloud curtain that the pegasi long ago put in place was adding to the encroaching darkness.

No problem, ill just wait a few hours, try not to get discovered and sneak past later tonight when they all pass out. Maybe I should loot their camp while I'm at it, maybe they even have a few 308 rounds lying about, that would be awesome! That breeze feel nice, kinda strange how it's blowing straight down, must be something to do with the valley walls or...how about a Pegasus slaver hovering just feet above me. Perfect. With That one mystery solved, now on to our next mystery. The mystery of how the fuck do I get out of here.

The slaver had not noticed me doing my best impersonation of a rock yet, but if I didn't do something soon, one glance down and I would be toast. I took a second to look him over, average build, dirty brown coat, black tail, looks like he is wearing barding for a battle saddle. But he's not wearing it now. In fact he's unarmed. wait, strike that, he is armed. on the slaver's right hind leg he wore a fixed blade combat knife, no doubt it was dull as a butter knife but pickers can't be choosers. Now, all I have to do is stop wetting myself and find a way to get it from him. there is no way i could just grab it from him, that would cause too much noise and attract the other slavers. I don't have the confidence to try and slip it from him either, the hilt of the blade was against his leg and he would definitely feel that. The only way I could think getting it from him would be to throw a rock and hope he would be too enamored with the sound to notice me pulling it from it's sheath.

Just as I was mustering the courage to liberate the knife from my flying enemy, he did something I never thought in a million years that he would do. He sat down on the boulder I was nestled behind, removed the blade with his fetlock and began picking at his hooves with it. Well, shit. There's less chance of him seeing me now, but how do I get the knife from him. If I use my rifle, by the time the second round's loaded, they will be on top of me in seconds. The sky's are out, he can fly and chances are he's been doing it longer than I have, so chasing down a piss covered colt should be no problem for him. Fuck! What the hell, world, why do you hate me!

I buried my face in my hooves, taking care to be quiet, and mentally screamed every cuss word I could think of. I even made up a few new ones. When I had finished my tantrum, I rested my hooves to my sides slowly and stared at the ground, only looking up to assure myself that I hadn't been noticed. Looking down I could see two things, dirt and light. where is that light coming from? Following the small trail to the corner where the boulder and the valley wall met I could see a small hole about the size of a hoof where the light from the slavers camp fire was showing through.

Three slavers, including the one on the rock above me, with a less than impressive camp apart from the large tent that they, I would guess, call home. None of them look to be armed. this is strange, I have dealt with raiders, they're easy. Throw a rock in a bush, then shoot them as they try to rape, shoot and eat said bush, but slavers? This is all new territory to me. I could just make out their conversation through the small hole in the rock, quiet and muffled but their words found my ears with ease now that I had a line of sight.

“Aww, whats a matter? You loosing your stomach for the job Ratches? Don't tell me your going native on me.” The green buck with piss yellow eyes said to the gray buck with orange mane.

“ Dammit Barbwire, you know I'm not! This whole damn job has been a clusterfuck start to finish.” Ratches said

“Oh, and how's that, things going a bit too bloody for ya? Or are you just too weak to hack it.” Said the buck whose name was Barbwire? What the hell kind of names are Ratches and Barbwire. Those have to be nicknames, there's no way in all of equestria somepony would name a kid that. Well...maybe hookers but still.

“You know what I'm talking about. First the boss sends us to Glyphmark looking for the bitch, then back to Filly and now down here to Silver Shoe and where do we find the bitch? Shacked up in a cave heading back to Zebra territory.” Ratches said, taking another pull from a bottle of whiskey.

“Yeah? What's your damn point? We came here, we got what the hell we came here for and now we're getting shit faced and all you have done is bitch the whole time. You're killing my buzz. Tomorrow we are heading back to Filly, we will pass her off to the boss and get paid.” Said Barbwire, pointing a half empty bottle of booze at the now pacing Ratches.

“My point is, why the hell is she worth it! She's just a kid or whatever zebras call it. why should the boss give two shits about a kid, a kid zebra at that! You know what a pain in the ass they are! You have to keep them fed and happy or they just roll over and die! They're a waste of time and now he has us out here, going all over fuck knows where, to bring her back for what? The whole thing's a waste of time.”

Ratches said , returning to the log he was once sitting on before.

I shuddered at the word Boss far more that I should have. Of course they had a boss, lone slavers would make too easy of a target for retribution of the families they had wronged. But something about them using the word Boss, just, it rubs me in all the wrong ways, in fact it pisses me off. What boss are they talking about anyway? The slaver boss? And how the hell did they get a zebra foal, I thought the only ones were in Glyphmark. Who would be stupid enough to go there?

“What are you driving at here? Because from where I'm sittin, it sounds like you don't have faith in the boss anymore to get the job done.” Barbwire said accusingly.

“You know that's not true, I know he will get it done, I just think that he might have let the power go to his head.” Ratches said, tapping the bottle of booze to his head. “ You know he says he hears voices right? Pushing him to make his decisions? I can believe he came from a stable and all, but having a talking goddess in your head is enough to make you wonder if he's a lunatic.” Ratches said in a sardonic tone.

OK that's fucked up in and of its self, but what's crazier is that this guy is following the freak's orders and just now starting to question it. Seems like the kinda thing that would end your job with somepony pretty quick. I know if I took a job kidnapping ponies and the boss came in on day one saying... “Hello everypony, the name's Sombitch, I'm your slaver boss. Just one second, the Goddess in my head wants me to tell you guys something”... end of meeting! Because I have heard everything I need to hear from him at that point. I fought to push the idea of somepony in higher power giving orders through a talking figment of its imagination. At least at the rate they are drinking, they will be passed out soon. The pegasus above me was even drinking, no doubt to celebrate their victory over this zebra child.

“Look, you're getting all worked up over nothing Ratches, what do you say we go have some fun with our new toy.” Barbrwire said with a evil grin.

“Actually that sounds like a good idea.” Ratches said, sharing the same grin.

Oh Celestia, they couldn't, they wouldn't! How could they do...that...to a kid! Even if it was a zebra there are lines you don't cross! Foalnapping was bad enough, but they actually have to resort to raping her to relieve their tension? That's just sick beyond words. I slowly pushed myself back to my hooves, looking up to check on my unknowing guard. I have to get that knife from him and take him out of the fight and find a way to deal with the other two....monsters. Just at the thought of what they were considering doing set my blood to boil! How dare they, HOW DARE THEY!

As luck would have it, in my absence, the pegasus had traded his knife for a bottle a whiskey, leaving the knife sitting right beside him. All I have to do is get my hooves on it and take him out, as far as I'm concerned, he's every bit as guilty as the two assholes in that tent by not doing anything to stop this. Maybe I could hover up behind him and slit his throat or maybe push the blade through his skull while holding his mouth shut. Celestia, was I actually just thinking up ways to kill somepony I didn't even know? What the hell was wrong with me, I should just back track and find a way around, leave this to the wasteland to sort out. It wasn't my problem....right?

Wrong, they made it my problem. If I walked away now, the guilt would drive me insane before I got a 100 feet away. For some reason this just pisses me off, it's like they put me in a situation where I had to kill somepony or let some...zebra...be raped or even tortured. I couldn't walk away now, could I? I closed my eyes and tried to push the thoughts out of my head but to no avail, they just kept bleeding through that mental dam I put up. Welp, I have done everything I could to stop myself, I guess I have to do something stupid. Huh, I feel...better now.

I inched closer to the blade with my right hoof, I could almost reach it if it weren't for trying to avoid his damn tail smacking me in the face. I braced my right hind hoof on the rock trying to bend and contort enough to reach the knife. closer, closer.... then the buck belched loudly, scaring what little pee I had left in me out onto the ground and causing my hoof to bump the knife, sending it tumbling over the other side. Well shit...I'm dead.

Well not quite, turns out the cosmos has a very VERY twisted sense of humor. While I may not have gotten the knife, the buck was in fact dead, albeit by his own hooves. When my hoof bumped the knife, the drunk bastard tried to catch it from falling to the dirt and in doing so he managed two things. One, to fall off the rock, flailing more than a pony covered in blotsprites and two, catch the knife...too bad it was with the underside of his chin, ramming the long blade of the combat knife through his soft pallet and into his brain. His last words? “Ew shit!” said softly in the tone of somepony who did something stupid they don't want nopony else to see.

Regardless, I'll count that as a win. I trotted around the rock to see the still form of the dead buck laying on the ground, still twitching slightly. Normally I would have mixed feelings about somepony dying, even if it was at the hooves of their own stupidity, but after hearing them talk about raping a foal...may celestia burn you for eternity.

From the tent I could hear the two bucks hooping and pounding their hooves in the gravels, followed with the occasional catcall and muffled cries of a young pony. I set my gaze to the tent, feeling my soul being pulled towards the cries, two ponies, two bullets, two guns. I have never used two pistols at the same time before, but I had learned to use them with my wings by holding them in my fetlocks and pulling the triggers with my primary feather bases. It's not easy but if I get the drop on them, I could take them both out at the same time. That's saying they don't spot or hear me between here and there.

Quietly I approached the tent, using the toe heel technique I had read about in the Roamani tactics book. I wasn't very good at walking like this, every step was a chore but a managed to work my way all the way to the tent flaps. being careful to circle around and avoid casting my silhouette across the canvas that could give me away. From inside I could hear the jingling of keys and rattling of metal on metal, they must have had her caged, the sick bastards. They deserve everything that's coming to them and more, I really hope there's a hell.

I pulled the pistols that Boss gave to me from their holsters, holding them both on the undersides of my cupped over wings, looking down on them. “Don't mess this up, don't mess this up,you can do this” I said under my breath to myself. I stared at the pistols with a more than clear thought of “what the hell am I doing!?” flooding my brain. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, my whole body tingled with anticipation and fear. The only way to pull this off would be to sit, ready myself at the tent door, grasp both guns in my hooves, stand on my hind legs, walk 3 steps inside, say something witty and pull the triggers at the same time...no pressure.

Now I would love to tell you that everything went just as planned and that I walked in on my hind legs and slayed both of the two bastards, becoming the legend I was in my own mind...but things didn't go quite like I would have liked...granted , both bucks are now dead but my pride also lay right beside them, slowly bleeding to death. I was able to pull off walking on hind legs for 5 steps just fine, again, a personal best! I'll have to remember to practice doing that later. But when I tried to say something witty the only thing that came out was...” uhm, hello”. This was met with shock and complete awe from both of them, but hey! It worked!

Also since when did guns kick so much! I was able to fire both 44 magnum pistols just fine using my wings to pull the triggers. But the laws of both gravity and momentum reminded me really quick that doing so while not properly braced. say, oh I don't know, standing wobbly on your hind legs? Will send you on a one way flight in the opposite direction of your target. I must have flew five feet straight back, breaking the grip panel free for the 16th time now. But I did all of those things with the biggest, stupidest grin on my face.

Returning to the tent I also found that while doing this maneuver is in fact effective, the accuracy is less than stellar, particularly on my left side. This meant that the buck to my right had a head now in the shape of a canoe and the buck to my left was missing something very special to him, oh look, there's some of it over there. The 44 caliber round did its usual job of leaving nothing but pain and suffering in it's wake, right through the...place you don't want to be shot and out the lower back, severing the spine. I couldn't help but feel my stomach lurch at the sight of what was left of 'little Barbwire'. He was still alive, but with blood flow doing what it does best and judging by the growing pool on the ground, not for much longer.

I turned my head looking for anything but what was in front of me and as luck would have it, across the tent was a small cage with padlock on it. The cage was covered with burlap, but inside I could see the eyes of somepony looking back at me. The strange light purple eyes seemed to follow my every move as I grew closer. Hooves, I could see a pair of black hooves that almost transformed into an off white coat just a few inches up, that faded into the shadows of the cage.

When I got to the cage the form had disappeared into the recesses of the makeshift cell, looking down I could see the cage was unlocked but the latch had not been thrown yet. kneeling down to get a better look at the mechanism and I could just make out the shaking form of a zebra filly that looked to be about my age. It was hard to tell with the light but I could almost make out some odd tribal markings on her flank, they looked to be in a swirly pattern with the occasional, small spike that jolted out every so often almost like a saw blade. the circle pattern came to an abrupt end with the last spike almost forming an arrow that pointed straight up.

“Ummm. I'm going to let you out, they wont hurt you anymore. Don't try to kill me. Please?” I said softly, hoping that she spoke Equine and wasn't taking my words as a threat.

She looked up at me, still shaking and nodded her head once in a rapid down and up motion.

“OK, just one second”.

I used my mouth to work the dirty, rusty latch and with a resounding click, the door swung open. She didn't move.

“It's OK, its safe now, you can come out.” I said in my softest voice I could manage. She didn't move.

I took a few steps back, and sat on my haunches. Great, just great. I go through all of this and she wont leave the cage, now what. I can't just leave her here, what if more slavers come back, she would be right back in the same situation I just saved her from. I can't stay, I still have a job to do and what would the other slavers do to me when they found their dead comrades?

We sat for what felt like an eternity, at one point I pulled the burlap off of the cage but put it right back when I saw her curl back into a ball and start shaking again. Goddesses, what did they do to this poor girl, I mean I get the whole hate thing towards zebras. They did bomb us after all, forcing generations of ponies into a meek game of survival of the fittest. But that was 200 years ago, that generation of zebras are dead or dying off from there own wasteland hell.

OK sitting here contemplating the ways of social norms and it's eccentricities is getting me nowhere fast. Pushing my head into my hooves I tried my best to focus and block out the now fading moans of the dying buck, just feet away. OK, if I was scared, alone, abused, caged and afraid of everything, What's something that somepony could do to convey trust to me. Look her in the eye? Nope, she avoids eye contact. Talking wasn't working all that well and apart from the small head gesture, I have no idea if she speaks Equine or not.

Think! She seems to respond to talking, but she doesn't reciprocate to talking...so she's listening? Makes since, if I was in her situation I would try to gather as much about any new pony that came my way before I did anything more than lower my guard in the slightest. Well if she's a good listener, I will just have to be a good talker!

“Look, I know that given everything that's gone on, and I'm sure all the things I didn't see before I happened into this camp, I would be scared too. Heck I would have drown myself by now in my own fluids had I been in your hooves.” I said with a small smile, trying not to make her situation light. I could see that she was now paying attention but she still wouldnt make eye contact with me. No matter, i'll just keep going.

“You must have some strength about you to be able to endure this kind of treatment.” I said, hoping for a change in her spirits. Nothing

I looked down with a sigh, well, this is going to be tough.

“ I didn't come into this valley to find slavers and kill them you know.” I said looking at my hooves in the dirt.

“I'm just a kid myself. I'm here hunting somepony, a bad pony who took something from my family and I aim to get it back. Happening across your situation was just a happy coincidence to be honest, well happy for you I hope. I didn't want to kill them, I wanted to run away scared. Tuck my tail and just run as fast as I could. The very thought of coming in this camp to take these guys on, scared me to no end. Until I heard what they were going to do to you. Now, I don't know you from anypony, I don't know where you're from or even if your safe to be around. But I would hope that if I was in your situation, somepony would come for me too.” I said trailing off to the thought of being helpless and caged.

Finally after 10 long minutes. “Are they dead.” she asked.

I don't know what startled me more, the fact that she spoke in a very fast form of Equine, or the fact that I was daydreaming at the time and she scared me.

“Huh? Those guys? Yeah...*sigh*...they're dead.” I said almost sorrowfully. Leave it to time for the weight and gravity of what I had just done to sink in and push the heroic thoughts from my mind. Why was I feeling regret for killing them? Was it because it was premeditated or because it was more intimate, closer than I'm used to. Usually when things like this happen and I have to go to work with my rifle, I'm never closer than 100 yards or so.

“The one outside, the winged one, he dead too?” She asked, again in that exotic accent.

“Yeah....him too, although, to be far, he kinda did it himself.” I said with a half smile, half grimace.

And were back to silence, well, progress is progress I guess.

“What's your name?” I asked

“Z-Zuri. I'm from...not here.” she said, seeming to search for the correct words to say.

“Uhuh, I gathered. Well Zuri, I'm Joey, nice to meet you.” I said, trying to be as friendly as the situation would allow.

“J-Joy, like happiness?” Zuri said, perking her ears up at the very though of a pony named after happiness. I wasn't, but hey, whatever makes her feel more at ease. Truth be told Boss had named me, he said that when I was just a little colt I would play-box with him when we weren't trading or walking. He said I reminded him of some funny ponies that walk on two legs and talk in a “hickish” version of the ponies in Trottingham. Said they call their babies 'joeys' and that you never wanted to get in a bar fight with them. So he named me joey. Stupid story I know but, Boss never was one for bringing up the past.

“Sure I'm happy, I guess. Most of the time anyhow. Not so much at the moment but I'm sure it will get better. Life's like that after all, you got your ups and your downs but at the end of the day things always average out.” I said, probably a bit too confidently.

There was another brief moment of silence followed by Zuri, slowly inching her way out of the cage. After a little coxing and a lot of convincing she finally stepped out and stood eye to eye level with me. Now that she was in the lantern light I was greeted with with a zebra filly, about my age, with stark black stripes that ran down her body almost like dripping black paint. She was young but very athletic looking in her form with toned and slim features compared to the other females I was used to seeing. Her mane, albeit matted a bit disheveled, still shown what would be the usual style she would wear. Short and cropped in the back fading longer just beyond her ears, with a few rogue bangs that fell just across the side of her cheek, near her right eye. She also had 3 stripes that run down from each eye, it would have looked menacing had she not been so terrified.

It took me a second to gather that a long silence had grown between us. Mostly due to the shock of what a zebra looked like up close and the fact that she wasn't trying to kill me weighing on my mind. There was also the fact that she was...pretty...I mean in a zebra sort of way. I could see that she was still shaking a bit and would every so often glance at the two dead bucks, just a few feet away.

I stood, slowly, taking a few steps back to give distance, more for her comfort than my own and placed myself between her and the two bodies in the room. I found that I was actually a nose height taller than her, I guess when you're sitting everypony seems taller than you. Realizing that I had just fired off two rounds in a valley that would carry sound for miles, it would be best if we de-flanked the area as soon as possible. Knowing this I raised a hoof, pointing at the direction I was about to head now that she had decided to leave the cage and began to speak.

“We better get going before anypony else decides to come looking for their frien-”

“You are very clean for a pony.” Zuri said, as if she were commenting on the weather.

Wow! I have heard of breaking the ice but, what in the hell was that supposed to mean?

"Say what now?” I said.

“You are very clean for a pony. You don't look like the other ones either. You have purple eyes, like a gemstone.” She said, again as if it were perfectly normal to say things like this to a pony you just met, let alone one who just killed two ponies to do so.

“Uh thank you? You have...uh...very nice stripes?” I said, doing my best to not look like a fish out of water.

She giggled at the comment.

“What, did I say something stupid?” I asked. Nevermind the fact that I was wound tighter than a 2 cap watch, now I have a zebra throwing curveballs at me.

“No. You are turning red. Its a good shade. It complements your eyes.” She said as she reached for my mane.

“The blue in your mane is very...uh...nice...too." She said while patting me on the head softly. OK if this wasn't so weird, I could totally chalk this up as my first time being flirted with. Ever. Do zebras even have a thing called 'personal space'? She pulled my head down for her to closer inspect.

“I have never seen a pony with clean hair before. Or a clean coat.” She said, now pulling my mane apart to look at my scalp underneath. Awesome, now I'm her specimen. Honestly, I don't know whether to be offended or happy about that comment. Boy, zebras waste no time getting to know somepony In full detail. She then began running her hoof over the coat on my neck let the hairs fold over and spring back up. I had to admit, it felt good! Nope! Not right now, we have to go. If she wants, she can give me a damn physical later.

“OK THEN! We should get moving. You know, in case some more ponies come?” I said, easing back from her still gesturing hoof. I didn't want to offend her but we had to get a move on, its getting dark out fast and I'm exhausted to boot. Not to mention I really didn't want to be here anymore, the two dead ponies in the room with us were really starting to bum me out.

“Which way were you heading before, they...you know” I asked as I turned to the tent flaps, thinking of my next move.

“ I wasn't going anywhere. I was hiding." She said, trailing off.

I turned to see the now sitting Zuri...Dammit! Not again. We were doing so good! Why did I have to say something stupid? Now I'll have to start the whole thing over again and probably let her give me a belly rub....Actually that sounded kinda good. No left brain, not now! We have to leave, now! Thank you right brain, you're my favorite.

“So. You're not heading back to the Zebra Lands?” I said annoyed.

“No. I just thought that if I came here, they wouldn't find me.” she said, looking at me as if I should know.

“OK. So you have no place you're going, right? Want to come with me? I could use the company.” I said now starting to lean in a 45 degree angle in the direction I wanted to go.

“I can come with you? You want me to follow you?” She asked, almost shocked, I would want her to. What is wrong with zebras, Jeez!

“ Yeah, but only if you want to. I'm not going to make you stay if you decide you want to go at some point. But it would be nice to have somepony with me for a change of pace.” I said, forcing a smile. I mean, I would love for her to come along and all. But I wouldn't be heartbroken if she told me to stuff it, and ditched me in a few miles either. I did my part, I got her out of here, that's all that matters...right?

“If you so wish. I will come. But only if you would enjoy my company.” She said with another quick nod of her head.

“Awesome! Great, Wonderful. I would love your company, lets do this!” I said walking behind her and using my head to slowly, but insistently guide her to the door. Sometimes I really wish I was a unicorn. I could just magic her ass behind me and take off up the mountainside. But life sucks like that sometimes and you have to work with the tools at hoof. I guess I could have just picked her up and flew her, but that would require me being a good, strong flyer and to have the confidence that she wouldn't freak out and get us both killed.

We made our way from the camp, up the hillside and into the woods. The valley we were in just had ended a few hundred yards past the camp and opened into a forest with absolutely massive trees. There was very little ground cover to hide behind if we were to need it and chances are, at some point we would. From the depths of the forest I could hear all manner of noises echoing off the granite walls to our right. Moans, chirps and the sound of crashing limbs all setting my teeth on edge. But those are all “probable threats” and behind are very real threats. So law of percentages would dictate that forward rather than backtracking would be the safest course of action.

Zuri, or Zu as I was now calling her, had decided to take of all things, the burlap from the cage, some rusty knives, a tent pole and a few bottles of water from the camp. I spent little more than five minutes looking over the weapons and ammo and, as luck would have it, no bullets to fit any of my guns and I would be damned if I would take one of theirs with me. The guns they had were complete junk! After seeing them, I seriously second guessed my deciding not to shoot it out with them. Chances are at some point their guns would have exploded and killed them first.

I did however find a old radio and some medical bandages, bringing my medkit up to three full rolls, that at least gave me some comfort. I also swiped their lantern, seeing as they were now dead, I didn't feel as though they would be needing it. Apart from the few items I found, there really wasn't much else of value to us in the camp. Everything that was left was as close to garbage or poison as you could get.

Zu was now wearing the burlap in a makeshift hooded cloak. Granted, not the greatest in style or function, the square corner of the fabric was now draped in her vision with the corner coming to rest on the bridge of her muzzle. It looked amusing but at least it hid her well enough in contrast to her striped hide that made her stand out like the sun.

She was also picking branches every so often, affixing them to the fabric by pulling at one of the seams to make a loop that she would then insert a branch, grass or moss she had collected into it. She would then give the fabric a small tug, pulling the loop she had just made back tight and securing the random foliage. I had to admire her ingenuity, a few miles like this and she would almost disappear into the landscape. Well, that or it would look like I had a pet bush. Either way, it worked and was hilarious at the same time so I didn't say anything.

We slowly made our way to the cliff face, doing our best to be quiet in doing so. The forest floor was littered with fallen twigs, leaves and the carcasses of long since dead trees. From what I could tell, the bombs never actually made it this far, but the tops of the trees were mangled from the damage that they had caused. Twisting and contorting around the bare surfaces to repair the damages of heat and concussive force, leaving great bulging tumors in doing so. You would never notice it from ground level, at least not until you look up.

The majority of the trip went with silence hanging around us, only to be broken by the odd bump in the night. The few words that we did share consisted of “this way” and “did you hear that?” to help guide one another. Other than that we refrained any unneeded sound apart from our own hoof falls. At one point I became so lost in my own mind that I had forgotten I now had a companion. When I turned to investigate an odd sound, I came face to face with the great purple eyed bush monster that was now Zu. I'm not proud of it, I screamed like a filly. She laughed at me for doing so.

Once we had reached the summit, the trees had thinned out to a boulder laden hill, leading up to its sheer granite walls. Rocks the size of a brahmin and greater, all lined up end to end with no rhyme or rhythm to their placement. All except for a small overhang where they had piled to either side in great mounds, forming pillars that almost reached the ceiling of the outcrop. Not deep enough to be a cave but a great place to set up camp for the night nonetheless.

With the slaver camp now a few miles behind us, I could feel a tense knot in my gut begin to unwind. The pictures of the dead stallions however, still refused to leave my brain alone for the moment. For whatever reason I still carried a lot of remorse for what I had done, even with Zu now safe, I still wish there had been some other way. But hindsight will always be 20/20 when you do something stupid and, even though I knew that what I did was the right thing, my thoughts kept betraying me into guilt.

The forest was now pitch black, where we stood now was well beneath the cloud curtain that the pegasi had closed up long ago. I have to admit, Silver Shoe has its drawbacks, but one thing that I will always miss from that pressure cooker of a town, is seeing the moon. Even in complete darkness, it's light would break through like a beam of hope, guiding you where you needed to go. It felt like a blessing from Luna herself, casting its loving blue light down across the land when the darkness grew to its fullest crescendo. Even though the princesses are long gone, it always felt like they were still there in the way of spirit with the rise and fall of the moon and the sun. Apart from that, that town can slob on a big fat one.

I stepped into the shadows of the rocky outcrop and raised the lantern as high as I could, sweeping it back and forth looking for any threats. With the coast now clear, I motioned to my walking shrub to come forward to the light. At this point Zu had BECOME the forest. mostly because the majority of it had been affixed to her burlap coat. I stifled a snicker at the purple eyes pearling at me through a wagon's load of rubbish and timber that had been following me.

“What is funny?” Zu asked, her every word sounding like the leaves blowing in the wind.

“Nothing...nothing at all. I was just thinking how funny life turns out some times. One minute you are sitting on a porch, the next you have a pet bush.” I said clearly amused by my own poor humor.

''It is camouflage. I thought that if we were attacked I could just sit still and they would do all of the killing to you.” She said a bit too smugly. Well, if that wont kill a comedy boner I don't know what will.

“OK, OK. Just take that ridiculous thing off, we need to build a fire, unless you want to sacrifice your 'camouflage' to the cause.” I said with a bit of hope that she actually would. How useful would that be. Walk all day, the whole time her building a suit of firewood, then at night, she could just take it off and set it on fire. Mmm! Warm. Its a win win.

Zu began to twist and shake in a attempt to get out of the suit of branches but it was no use, my companion was trapped, for the second time today, in a cage. After several long minutes, I finally offered my hoof at liberating her from the suit of doom.

“Ya want help with that Zu?" I asked snickering to myself.

“No. I think I found a way...darn it...just one second...stupid...RELEASE ME!” Zu replied sounding more and more desperate.

After another long moment of pushing, pulling and tugging at the mass Zu, exhausted, lost her balance, fell to one side and was now on the ground being crushed. We shared a look together, me wanting to start crying in laughter, her not wanting to ask for help. Given lighter situations this would go down as one of the best chances I have ever had to ruin someponies day with bad jokes.

“I appear to be captured. Can you cut the straps on my legs to free me?” Zu asked, clearly not wanting to use the words like trapped, help or get this thing off me.

“Sure thing” I said, wishing we had found a camera in that camp. Nopony will ever believe me when I tell them this, I need evidence! “Now...WHERE are you hind legs?"

Finally after much sawing and hacking with poor excuses for blades I had taken from the camp, I managed to free Zu from certain death! Zu, who now looked like she had lost a war with a timber wolf, stood clearing the leaves from her mane, taking care to straighten it.

“I have changed my mind, I wish to burn the suit.” she said kicking, the pile of branches.

“As you wish, m'lady.” I said attempting to drag the great mass to the edge of the cave. Great googally boogally, did she put rocks in this thing? No wonder she was trapped. I slowly managed the pile to the spot I wanted to set it ablaze, the whole time wishing I had the strength she must possess to walk all day in that thing. Once there, I dropped my bags and began looking for a lighter...Matches? Shit... I knew I forgot something back in town.

Zu, seeing my look of “DAMMIT”, began trotting around the rock piles, digging for... something. Soon she came to my side with a black crystalline rock and another normal looking rock and began smashing them both together like they owed her bits. I stepped back and watched the crazy filly pound away at the rocks, ever so often hitting one of her hooves and letting out a small, cute little “Ouchies!”.

Finally she produced a spark and soon we had a healthy fire roaring with its warmth and illuminating the outcrop around us. Having finally won the battle with the suit of shrubs, defiling it's corpse with fire and given it one last mean look. Zu, now looking triumphant, chose a spot, curled up to the amber glow of its warmth and gave me a look that just screamed “ha! zebra for the win”. That's OK, you can have this one, even though we are both clearly winners here.

After pilfering my provisions for all they were worth, I decided to try to get to know my new striped cohort. The usual banter of, where are you from, how did you get here, why are the slavers after you filled the air for over an hour as we swapped stories. finally the topic fell on her ability to defend herself and exactly how she had managed to get captured by the bucks back in the valley. If we were going to be traveling together, I would at least like to know if she could handle herself enough for me to not have to watch over her. The last thing I wanted was somepony to protect when I was doing such an excellent job of protecting myself. Then again, it was nice knowing I wasn't alone and to be honest, I hate being alone anyhow, especially in the dark, creepy woods while looking for a guy.....

“SHIT!” I nearly screamed as I stomped my hooves in the gravels.

“What is the problem?” A now standing and shaking Zu said.

“Ugh, I forgot to even look for the asshole's tracks when we left the camp. Chances are he saw the slavers and found another way around. Without going back there, I have no clue where he headed off to.” I said looking off into the woods.

“He could have headed in any direction except the one I came from. At this point I can't even rule that out! He could have slipped past me at some point.” I said as I slouched to the ground feeling defeated.

“Who is it that you are looking for? Is he a friend of yours?” Zu asked.

“More like a thief. He took something of my...uh...dad. Something he has a personal attachment to.” I said now swirling the gravels with my hoof.

“If what you say is true. He may have taken the trail to the east. It follows the tops of the mountains to the plains of the desert.” Zu said looking up the dark mountainside.

“Yeah but I would have seen his tracks if that were the case...unless he covered them.” I said as I trailed off.

I remember passing a trail a few miles back in the valley before running head on into the slaver camp. I also remember wondering why he didn't take that route himself. If he wanted to put distance between himself and the town, that would have been the way to go. The terrain would have made for slow going for anypony outside of a pegasi and if he had known that trail, he could have made good time. So why wouldn't he have gone that way to start with, it makes the most sense for evasion, well, if he was even worried about evasion at that point. Unless he had to pass it to get somewhere he needed to go, someplace he would feel safe, someplace closer to where we were now.

If that was the case then he must be living here some place in these woods or at least have set up camp somewhere near them. If he had to double back, then there's a good chance he saw me. The valley was wide but not that wide, he could have even covered his tracks had he seen me. Even still yet, he could have passed me after I passed the trail head, leaving me to walk straight into my death with the slavers. Now I'm getting pissed, if all this is true then he has been playing cat and mouse with me this whole time.

“Zu, you said you know that trail? From where we are now, where does it come out at?” I asked standing to retrieve my notebook.

“Yes. I came that way from the west. If you were to take that it from the east. It would take you to the top of this mountain. Then it splits, one trail will take you to the plains and the other deeper into the forest.” Zu said, trotting to my side.

I now had my little notebook out and began sketching a rough idea of what I thought the mountain looked like. With some help from Zu and a few attempts, I now had a pretty decent layout of the land between us and the trail. According to Zu, it was a long, winding trail that would take a full day to maneuver through without a set of wings, so chances are that he may still be on it. If that was the case we weren't out of the fight just yet!

“How long did it take you to go that way? Do you remember?” I asked

“About a half a day. But had I needed to travel up the mountain, it would have taken longer.” Zu said.

“If he had doubled back, followed the opposite wall of the valley, I might have missed him. But that just means he knows I'm on his ass, unless he thinks the slavers would have finished me off or captured me.” I said now pacing.

“Thank you.” Zu said.

“Huh?” I said, stopping in my tracks. I had been so lost in thought of where might be, that I was caught off guard by her statement.

“Thanks for what?” I asked still trying to shake off the daydreams.

“Thank you for rescuing me. For not leaving me behind at the camp. I know you wanted to but, thank you.” Zu said wearing a half smile.

“Zu...” I said as I trotted to her side. “I didn't want to leave you behind, I wanted you to come with me but I also wanted to get out of there before any other slavers came. It's like I told you back at their camp, had it been me in your hooves, I would have wanted anypony to come and at least try to help. It was the right thing to do. And you are kinda fun to be around, you make me laugh.” I said, now returning the smile.

“Thank you. I'm sorry I was...not myself back at the camp. I was...upset” Zu said.

“I would imagine that any amount of time with ponies like that would take the best out of you. Its nothing to be sorry for really.” I said, giving her a nudge to her flank with mine. The gesture produced a small “eep” from the now startled Zu and only made my grin grow wider.

“Ok, so if it takes a pony a full day to navigate this trail to the top of the mountain and say get to a secret hideout deep in these woods. And same said pony had to pass the trail and double back to said trail due to slavers...at what point does he come out at the top of the mountain?" I asked, racking my brain for all of it's mathematical knowledge.

“Probably a day. Maybe two if he decides to sleep.” Zu said pointing to the crudely drawn map. “This would be the only place a pony could sleep. It's just big enough to lay down.” Zu said pointing her hoof at a spot near the top of the map.

“OK, lets just say he decided to bed down for the night there. In the morning he would walk out of the valley a few hours later and find another way down the mountain to where he was going. Well if nothing else he would leave a nice set of prints at some point, or at least the sign of him trying to cover them. You wouldn't by any chance know about where we are now would you?” I said, now pacing around the campfire.

“Exactly? No. But I think we might be half way. About a half day's trot as you ponies say.” Zu said edging closer to the fire.

“If that's the case then we need to make it to the trail-head before daylight. If I can get set up somewhere close by, I might get a shot on him when he comes out.” I said now sitting by the fire.

“Wait, you are going to kill him? For taking something of your's?” Zu said in alarm.

I let out a long sigh. “...not if I don't have to but I really don't want to try to fight him. Hes a full grown buck and I'm just a...” I trailed off at the very real thought that I might not be able to win this fight without shooting him. In fact I had planned all along to just get within range of him, take the shot and retrieve the box of mysteries. It was all so simple in my head, but now, I don't know. Was this really worth ending his life over, was I really considering killing somepony to make things easy on me? Ugh! Things are not supposed to be this damn hard! Show up, pow pow pow, take box, come home and be showered with love and praise by my family.

“Zu...I really don't want to but I don't know how I could get it back without killing him. Even if I just maim him and take the box back, that's just as bad as killing him out here and I highly doubt he would just let me talk it out of him.” I said staring at the flames of the camp fire.

“You could threaten him.” Zu said.

The very thought of trying to threaten somepony at my age just couldn't grab any purchase in my mind. Granted, holding somepony at gun point would have its desired effect, but the less threatening the opponent, comes with a inherent risk of him trying something. It just wasn't a risk I was willing to take on my own, even less so now that I had Zu with me. Any mistake I made would undoubtedly have a negative effect on her own circumstances. At this point, it actually wouldn't be a bad idea if she set off for her own safety but, a selfish part of me wants her to stay for some reason. Its almost as if her being around made me feel more at ease. Less so that her being here staved off loneliness and more that I was actually enjoying her being here.

“Yeah but what's to stop him from coming back after us later. I don't know if his temperament is above that or not.” I said.

“Letting him die for your own safety seems wrong. But if it is your only way. I understand.” Zu said, clearly not okay with the plan but seeming to at least understand where I was coming from. Why is it that I don't like the way she said that? It was almost as if she was disappointed in my own judgement and for whatever reason it made me feel like I was doing wrong. Killing him wasn't the best solution but it was the only one where I saw us both getting out safe.

“What if you trapped him.” Zu said.

“What, like a rat? How the hell am I going to trap him!” I said with full blown skepticism in my voice.

“You could put a boulder in the path, cause a landslide. He would be trapped. You could fly down and threaten him with your rifle and take back the box. He wouldn't be able to follow you.” Zu said with a big smile on her face. Even after everything she had been through, she didn't want to hurt anypony, not even a two bit thief. I had to admire that, I hadn't even considered trying to go about this without somepony leaving dead until she came alone. And now I was sitting here feeling regret for even planning such a thing towards somepony who had only stolen from my family. It wasn't like he killed one of us, it was a simple crime, most likely out of his own need for survival.

“ Even if that would work, how do you expect me to cause a landslide...” I asked eyeing her quizzically.

“ Oh. Um. You could use this” Zu said producing a small box that clearly read “stable-tec lunchbox”.

“You want me to cause a landslide with a lunchbox?” I said unamused.

“No no silly pony. This is a cap mine.” Zu said closing her eyes and smiling.

“Zu...where the hell did you get that?” I asked, now slowly inching away from her.

“I found it at the camp. I was going to pick mushrooms and keep them for later. But when I opened it I saw it was a mine.” She said, as if that it's perfectly normal to walk around with a bomb strapped to you. Those things are unstable at the best of times, let alone with a half crazy zebra throwing it about.

“Um...okay, that could work. Could you...just put that over there...behind the rocks...Please?” I asked from behind the boulder pile I had retreated to.

“Oh, yes. Sorry” Zu said as she trotted away. Crazy zebra, but if that thing was live, her plan could work and I have to admit, not killing him was getting a lot easier to swallow. If we could get to the trail-head tonight, we could set up a camp and just wait him out. Hell we could blow the trail and just wait for him to happen along. Heavens knows that the wastelands were not short on there random explosions in the distance. It might even go unnoticed. No! Keep it simple. Wait till he's in view and blow the trail out, fly down and demand the box back, leaving him to backtrack. Granted it would leave a pony out there who would want me dead after that, but at least we have the chance to get away first.

“Zu, if we are going to do this, we have to leave tonight. That way we can beat him to the trail-head.” I said standing up to get my bags.

“Joy, it's too dark to walk these woods at night. If we get lost then I fear your mission will not be completed.” Zu said in protest.

“I know, but we have to try. I know you probably don't want any part of this but I have to go. If you would like, you can stay behind and wait for me. After its done I'll come back for you.” I said hoping that she would decide not to stay in the creepy cave alone. I really didn't want to leave her but the idea had occurred to me that I may have to at some point.

“If you wish to go tonight. I will go too.” Zu said reluctantly.

“Thank you, I know you aren't a part of this whole thing, but I would feel better with you by my side” I said with a soft smile.

“Oh? Why is that?” Zu said cocking her head to one side.

“You came up with a plan to get back what I'm after without anypony getting killed. That's impressive enough by itself but, means more to me then you will ever know. So, with you by my side, I feel like I would make the right decision if something happened or that you might have a better way if mine is too stupid.” I said.

“You want to use my idea?” Zu said with a look of bewilderment on her face.

“Yup, better than any plan I could have come up with. You're smarter than you give yourself credit for.” I said, giving her another bump of my flank.

“OK, lets go!” said Zu.

"That's the spirit Stripes! Lets get a move on!"

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That thoroughly, completely and absolutely sucked! The hike from our impromptu encampment to the trail-head took longer than I had planned. The path, if you could call it that, was comprised mostly of rocks and boulders, all weathered by time to be round, slick shapes that did their best to slow us down. Daylight loomed on the horizon, casting shades of amber and red across the landscape giving life to the forest around us.

Despite our slow going, we had managed to make it to our destination before the lame buck had cleared the ridge, at least from what I could tell. I scouted the area for prints and signs of the him covering them but came up empty hoofed, so for the time being, I could guess we were ahead of him.

Zu had wasted no time exploiting the mountain passage for its weaknesses. The many fissures and breaks in the stone valley lead to the idea that if we could shear part of it away, it would leave him trapped. The rock wall to one side was near vertical for about 100 yards below the trail-head leading out of the valley and the same could be said for the opposite side, except straight down. If this plan works, he would be trapped and forced to return from where he came.

Zu had placed the cap mine in a crack, near a section that had broken clear across creating a 20 foot section that would fall away. She then ran a wire to the rocky ledge off the top of the canyon wall, about 30 feet above the trail to set off the mine. Her thought's being that it would leave nothing to chance if the trip wire were to fail.

Despite me being one of the more accepting ponies, I had to admit that even I was put off by her ability to lay a trap like this. Even more so that she would want to spare his life, seeing as zebras are often marketed as lying, betraying creatures that can't be trusted. I have known for a long time that you can't always believe what you hear but, usually there is a modicum of truth to every embellishment. But if anything holds true, zebras are not a species to be crossed based on her talents alone. I'm just glad she's on my side.

We had settled ourselves into the small nest we had created, the rocks and large boulders to our backs and the sheer cliff to our fronts. To our right, a small trail that lead back to the trailhead that we had created and to our left the was the rocky ridgeline. Zu had settled in and dozed off to sleep, snuggling with a rock as her sleeping companion. Every once in a while, she would let out little “zebra noises”, almost like she was talking with other ponies. It was cute but at times loud enough to rouse my worry that we may be spotted before I had a chance to take out the ledge.

Hours must have passed, Zu had traded her rock pillow for my right hind leg that was now completely numb from blood loss. From time to time she would attempt to crush the bones in my leg with a death grip to sooth her discomfort. I guess after being chased by slavers and finally captured, she had her demons to deal with in her sleep and my leg was the only comfort she had at the moment. It was uncomfortable, but a part of me was actually enjoying having her latched to my leg. It made me feel like I was helping her in some way, almost as if she needed me in her own way.

I had never entertained the idea of a marefriend before, mostly due to the amount of teasing I had gotten the last few years for still being a blankflank. Growing up with such treatment meant that my social life was void of almost any form of physical contact with mares and by extension, anypony else. Albeit awkward at first, I have to say, I rather liked having her this close to me. Not just for the physical touch of another pony, but for the feeling that somepony actually wanted to be near me. It was a feeling of contentment that I had never had before, stirring new emotions inside me that I had long ago repressed out of fear of rejection. As much as I still had my reservations about these feelings, as far as I was concerned, the lame buck could take his sweet time getting here if he wanted. If only that I could live in this moment a little longer.

Daylight had just broken over the ridge but, from where I sat, the cloud cover was doing a great job of turning the once clear light of the sun into a dirty opaque light. It did little to cast away the shadows of the early morning light, leaving the valley in a sort of time warp standstill. From my vantage point, I could see that, about 100 yards down the trail, it curved to the right and out of site. This would only give me a narrow window to be able to pull this plan off, if he hadn't traveled through the night that is.

I spent most of the time gathering notes on everything I had done, seen and found along the way, including the possibility of him slipping past me at one point. I had read that at times while tracking, if you lost your sign, that you could always look back to your notes for guidance and that even the smallest detail could lead you to your quarry. I don't know if any of this information I was scribbling was useful or not but I guess it passes the time. The work felt almost tedious, made worse by the fact that my mind kept drifting off to the sleeping zebra on my side. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake the thoughts of her from my mind for some reason.

Zu had spent a good portion of our hike up the mountainside telling me about her life in the Zebra Lands and why she fled the country for Equestrian. As it turns out, she had been on the run for quite sometime before her run in with the slavers and even went so far to say that she had been on her own for two years now. two long years with nopony to rely on, to talk to or to watch her back. I couldn't even begin to imagine what that would have been like. Don't get me wrong, I like being a loner when I'm working but, the crave for social stimulation will get to anypony eventually.

Of all the things that she could be running from, her tribe would have been the last thing I would have guessed. I had always thought that zebras had a strange camaraderie about them and wouldn't turn one of their own away, especially a filly. But Zu was quick to correct me in that most tribes hold themselves to several social, moral and even ancestral standards. It seemed crazy that even a zebra's bloodline would dictate where they rest in the social hierarchy. She told me that she had hoped to find a place near the ocean to hide and maybe make a life for herself there. When I asked why, she told me about a book she had read when she was just a filly.

"It was my favorite book! It had pictures of the ocean in it and came with a little music player that had songs on it! I want to go to a place like that someday."

When I asked about her mother and father, she only replied with a small shake of her head, signifying that she was an orphan. As such, the tribe that she had become part of, appointed her a surrogate to take care of her. Zu later told me that her adopted mother was abusive towards her and other children that she had taken in at the time. Things didn't improve once she got her Cutiemark, in fact it seemed to be the reason for her fleeing the tribe. It seems so trivial that a tribe would go so far as to run off one of their own members over their own special talent but, according to her, it was almost common place. If nothing else, it explained why zebras were in Equestria in the first place, even now almost two centuries after the war.

She stayed under her care for nearly her entire childhood until situations dictated that she run away to Equestria. She had heard tales that no zebra would go there after the great war because it was poisoned, But other members of the tribe seemed to disagree with that lore. So a young Zuri, left the tribe she had been a part of for so long, only to be captured by slavers not even one month later. They had taken her to Filly where she was forced to perform remedial jobs at their mercy until she found a way to breakout. By the time she had finished telling me about her last 2 years alone in the wastelands, she had started to cry. I felt it best not to pressure her anymore with questions and instead, offered a hug and a shoulder to cry on, albeit a brief one.

I looked up from my thoughts and drawings to do my usual, once every minute search of the area, to find a shadow moving against the rock wall. Realizing that this must be him, I slowly put down my notebook and crept to the rock ledge for a closer look. There, sure enough, was the same red buck, favoring his hind leg, no longer wearing the brown cloak. He had made slow time but I had not factored in the fact that he was lame and traversing a trail like this would have taken him more time. He was already closing in on the blast zone and soon it would be too close for me to detonate the charge. So with a still asleep Zu nearby, I detonated the charge.

BOOM!

The cap mine did it's job, better than it's job in fact. I had been told that those things packed a punch but, to take out over 25 feet of trail? Of that I had no clue. The red buck was now clinging to a small chunk of rock, having fallen after the trail where he had been standing crumbled. Zu, who had been in dreamland at the time of the explosion, was now fully on top of me, clinging to me like I was her last bastion of hope for living. She was shaking so hard that I was having a hard time narrowing my vision on the now dangling buck.

He was trying to climb back up the rock wall but, any worry I had of him getting away was quickly dismissed when he nearly fell to his death in doing so. But that didn't stop him from trying, even with his every attempt coming up shorter then the last.

“Um...Zu? Could you get off me love?” I asked while being crushed.

“Yes. Sorry. The boom. It frightened me.” She said.

Once I had freed myself of my captive, I left her to recover from the world's best alarm clock and fly down to have a little chat with my new friend. Granted being up here all morning had taken the edge off the heights problem I normally have but that all faded when I stood to take flight from the edge. With a nervous and very shaking thrust of my wings, I was airborne and now hovering down the cliff face. It wasn't the most graceful flight but I managed it well enough, all the while trying to maintain some false bravado to keep up appearances.

“ What the hell kid!” The red buck said. I said nothing as I walked closer.

“Was that you that did this? Why!” Again, I said nothing. Instead walking closer and drawing one of the pistols that had been given to me, cocking the hammer on a fresh chamber and pointing it at his head.

“Please, look I don't know what I did to piss you off... Please just help me up!”

Finally I broke my silence.

“You took something from me. Back in Silver Shoe. Remember me now?” I said with as much hate in my voice as I could manage. Granted I was shaking like a foal and had I any contents in my bladder I would have emptied them right there, but I think I got the point across.

“Wait! You're the one that shot at me! You went through all this for a stupid necklace!?”

Well, that's news to me. Guess the Boss's secret isn't so secret anymore. Just the same, this ass was the one who took it, he just confirmed that, now I had to get it from him.

“Somethings in life are worth the work.” I said.

“You're fucking crazy kid! You're going to shoot me over some scrap gold?”

“If that's what it takes.”

“Heh, I bet you'll miss. You missed back in town. What makes you think you won't miss this time too.” he said.

“At this range, I like my odds.” I said now leveling the pistol a foot from his head. He took a few seconds to assess his situation and gave a few looks down.

“Fine! Here, just take it! Just don't kill me!” He said as he pulled himself to the cliff wall and braced himself against the corner of it and the small spire of rock that he now called home. He began rummaging through his bag until finally he produced a small, hoof sized box and tossed it to me.

“I don't know why that thing is so important to you kid but, I hope it was worth it.” He said in a threatening tone.

“It was, trust me.” I said as I clicked the box open just enough to see that the contents, whatever they were, were still there. “Oh, and don't bother following me, I'm going to drop you a rope down when I get back to the top. You can use that to get back to the trail you came in on. I suggest going back that way. I'll be watching. Besides, I could have just waited a few more seconds and killed you.” I said as I pushed off the ground.

Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down.

Back at the top of the ledge I made good on my promise, I even helped by swinging him to the trail side. He could have done it on his own but, I would hope the gesture would be enough to keep him from finding another way around. But just to be sure I decided to cut the rope and throw it down, even if he had a bum leg I couldn't take the chance of him following us.

Finally, after all those painful miles I had the one thing I came for, I even knew what it was now! But why in the hell would Boss care this much about a damn necklace? It had better be a damn nice one for all the hell this just put me through! Apart from the very bottom of the pendant, I didn't see anything else inside the box. For all I know it's a necklace that says worlds greatest lover and honestly, I really wouldn't put it past Boss to have something like that.

Nevermind all that, I promised I wouldn't look and I'm not going to, if nothing else I would like to think I keep my word and can be trusted. Also Boss has this nasty habit of testing us on things like this, dropping little clues and hints in conversations to see if we are lying or not. He will probably be pissed by the fact that I even opened it to see if it was even still in there but, maybe that will be canceled

out by the fact that I'm not dead? Hooves crossed!

Zu had taken her time alone to gather our things, what few we had, and was just finishing up her last rounds when I made it back to the ledge. Now with everything tucked away and the box of mysteries secured in my bags, I turned my attention to Zu. She was still shaky from the blast but otherwise seemed to be focused on getting a move on. Down below I could still hear the hoof steps of the lame buck now fading away down the trail. We both shared a glace and looked to the cliff and with a turn, we ran up the trail.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took almost 3 hours for either of us to risk breathing a word to one another. By that time we had made it to the ridge top where the trail had become more pronounced, I don't think we had said more than three words between us. The once tiny path had become one wide enough for two ponies to walk down together side by side. Not that I'm complaining about the old trail, especially with Zu leading the way. it was nice. Very... scenic! Having a good distance between us and the lame buck finally let me loosen up. Zu, on the other hoof, still had a shiver about her. She still seemed...on edge? Maybe afraid?

“Hey, are you OK? I mean, you almost crushed me back there.” I said.

“Yes, I am OK. Sorry. I wasn't expecting the explosion. I don't know how I became on top of you like that.” Zu said.

“It's OK, I guess when you are playing the part of a pony pillow, it will have its drawbacks.”

“A pony pillow?”

“Yeah, you know a pony being used as a pillow? You must have been using me as one for over 4 hours. At one point I thought you were going to crush my leg.”

“Oh. I did not know that. I'm sorry.”

“Nah, nah. Its fine. I had to be more comfortable than that rock you were snuggling with after all. You kept making zebra noises, it was cute. How could I have moved you like that, you must have been having a good dream.” I said smiling.

“It was...complicated.”

“Yeah? What was it about?”

“I was back in the cage. It was cold and I was scared. One of the guards was pushing against my chest with a hammer. It felt like he was trying to crush me.”

“That's not complicated, that's sad.”

“ I'm not finished. Then his head exploded.”

“ That's not complicated that's horrible!”

“I was rescued and I was hugging him for saving me and stuff. Then boom. I wake up on top of you.”

“Zu, that wasn't a dream, that was yesterday. Well...not the hug and boom parts, that was later.” I said with a flat face.

“Other things happened too...” She said looking away.

“What do you mean other....” I said as it dawned on me. Zu was now biting her lip and looking around.

“Oh...OOOH.” I said turning a shade of red.

“Waking up on top of you was...” Zu stopped seeming to be looking for the right words.

“Ironic?”

“Yes.”

We had stopped in the trail, both sharing very humiliated looks to one another. OK so Zu was having a scary/sexy dream about me? OK that's strange, I mean I feel honored and all but we had just met less than 24 hours ago. Granted she was very pretty and she had a way about her that made me feel both at ease and like I was in the right place with her by my side. OK so I admit I fancy her, its hard not to grow a appreciation for somepony when you have a bird's eye view of their backside for a few hours. Was this a zebra thing or something? One of their many strange eccentricities? Maybe I'm just a sexy dude who saved her day and...yeah there's no way that's the case.

Whatever the reason was, I'm OK with it. I had never really had the chance to be around other mares my age before for more than a few hours at the most. Nevermind get to know them like I had Zu. Between meeting her and where we are now we had gone from strangers to acting almost like best friends. It was hard to explain but I could feel a connection between her and I, not as strong as say mine and Shale's relationship, but different. Almost like it was just as strong but something that could be more given time. Is this that love at first sight stuff I had read about in all those old books or is this what it feels like to have made a close friend.

I had never actually thought about this kind of thing before, I have never even had any friends outside of Shale come to think of it. This is confusing but at the same time it feels right in it's own strange way and for some reason it makes me uncomfortable and embarrassed. Nevertheless I can't help but feel for Zu, she had been on her own for so long, staying out of sight, what was she going through if she was at all? I had not even thought to ask her how she was holding up after everything that had happened to her. I know if that had been me I would have wanted somepony to cling to and tell me that I was safe now and everything was going to be OK. But I hadn't done that for her, I instead tried to force her out of the cage and make her keep moving. Even if it was the right thing to do at the time. I can't help but feel guilty for not being more caring.

But even after all she had been through, she was still standing right here with me. I thought for sure that she would have ditched the first chance that she felt safe enough to do so, but here I am relying on her to not only to help me get the job done, but to get me out of here. I'm sure I could have managed on my own but she's still here, not because she feels obligated to but because she wants to be? Maybe that's what these feelings are, maybe its admiration for her, maybe it's something else but regardless I still can't help but feel like she's holding something back from me.

“Zu, are you OK?” I asked.

“Are you mad at me?” She asked wearing look of complete shame.

“WHAT?! Why would I be mad? A cute filly was dreaming about getting all freaky with me! If anything I'm honored.”

“You think...I'm cute?” She said, looking up at me with her nose to the ground.

“I will admit to admiring you a bit. OK maybe a lot.” I said rubbing one of my forelegs.

“So you think I look cute?” Zu said frowning.

“No no, not just that. I mean you are cute but, when I'm with you it just feels...right. You're smart, fun to be around and you make me laugh.” I said.

“You're really like to be with me?” she asked.

“Yes. I really do. I guess I've been so wrapped up in the chase that I haven't had time to really think about it. But now that I have, I think I really like you Zu.”

“I really like you too, I feel safe with you. Not like with the other ponies I have met. I feel like I am where I belong when I'm near you.” She said walking closer to me.

“You do? Wow that makes me feel better, and here I was thinking you were just with me for my good looks.” I said polishing a hoof on my chest. Would you just look at that majestic hoof shining like a diamond, I thought to myself looking down on it.

Zu then leaned in and kissed me on the lips. What was happening, why is her tongue doing...things with mine? The hair on my head stood straight up on end and I could feel my legs beginning to shake. I had never been kissed before so I didn't know what to expect from it, I mean I had guessed it would feel good but, this good? Nope!

My brain went into total lockdown mode with one side screaming run and the other screaming grab her and run to a bush. Finally when our lips parted I was left with a complete sense of euphoria, nothing I had ever experienced felt that good before. I stood now shaking and rigid looking into the mare who had just kissed me, my first kiss mind you, on the lips. Hey, why were her lips moving and why can't I hear her also why is the world moving... darkness.

I came to on my back and on the ground with a view of the sky peaking through the trees. I felt...warm. That's strange, usually its really cold up in the mountains. Is that a fire I smell? That's nice. What happened to me, did I just faint? I must have because I don't remember building a fire. Oh wow, that sense of euphoria is still lingering on my lips, oh how I don't want that to go away.

With my senses slowly coming back to me, I tried to replay the events that lead to me being on my back here in the dirt. For some reason I just can't get past the part where she kissed me, even reliving the moment in my head sends my heart aflutter. Zu had in one gesture taken the box of mixed up emotions I had, thrown them in the air, performed some freaky zebra magic and put them all together. I can't say for sure but I think I know now that she is right for me, I still can't explain why but somewhere in my heart I can feel it. Like she claimed a piece for herself and would always be there.

Even the universe who took great pride in picking on the blank flank colt had gone silent and instead left me to have this moment. It's almost like this was meant to happen, I was set to double back and fly over the camp and make my way up the trail. But had it not been for 2 horny slavers I would have never met her, she would have stayed there never to be found by anypony. Maybe this was all in the cards meant to be dealt to me, maybe some divine power put us together under the most extreme circumstances. Maybe there's nothing to it but the lingering feeling in my chest is saying otherwise no matter what my brain says to counter it. Oh look there's Zu looking down at me.

“Joy! Joy! Are you OK?” She said clearly panicked.

“Huh? Yeah. Never better.” I said with a small smile.

“I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to! It just happened! It was like I couldn't help myself.” Zu said as she helped me back to my hooves.

“No. no. It's fine. Really. I just had never done...that...before.” I said still shaking the lust from my brain.

“I'm so sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I don't know what came over me.” She repeated.

“Well, I uh, didn't mind it.” I said sheepishly, rubbing my left leg with my right.

“ Was it...?” She asked.

“Does the best thing I have ever felt count?” I said now regaining my composure.

“Oh. Yes I think it does. Wait that was your first time?” She asked.

“Uh yeah...I never really had the chance to spend time with girl growing up.” I said tapping my hooves together sheepishly.

“In that case, I'm honored to be your first.” Zu said proudly.

“I'm OK with that.” I said nodding my head like a idiot.

“I built a fire, it was getting cold. It looks like we are near the fork in the trail too.” She said.

“Yeah? That's good. Maybe we can make good time to New Appleloosa and get there before dark.” I said standing. This was good! If we could get back down off this mountain in time we could get through the desert in no time. This whole thing could be over in a matter of hours and I could go back to my life of guarding the caravan. And now I had Zu! I mean sure she only had kissed me once but hey! That means there a chance for something there and I don't think Boss would mind bringing her along, she could be useful to the group. Finally a chance to be happy, life wasn't all bad out here I guess!

“I can't go.” Zu said, clearing a smile right off my face.

“Say what now?” I said in disbelief.

“I can not go with you, back there. They will find me again.” She said.

“Zu you can't be serious, you will be with me and the Traders. You would be safe with us.” I said.

“I'm sorry, but if I go back, the Slavers will just find me again. And if I'm with you they might hurt you or your caravan. I can not let something like that happen, it would kill me.” She said.

“But, where will you go? You can't hide forever, at some point you have to do something to live.” I said now feeling that soft glow turn to a pain in my chest. The zebra mare I had not long ago said that I wouldn't mind if she decided to leave was now doing just that. And I minded. I really really minded now. I had gotten so used to her being there with me over the last 24 hours that it had become like a friendship I had for years. With one kiss she had pushed the thoughts of love to the front of my mind, giving me hope and with three words completely dissolved them.

“I will find my way like I always have, but if I go back I risk being captured and taken back to the slavers. I will go west to the coast and make my way north.” She said pointing a hoof.

“Zu...” I trailed off, feeling completely lost for words.

“ It's OK, I'll be fine. I hope that someday I can find you again and that things will be happier.” She said with a small smile.

And just like that, all the hopes and dreams that had flooded my mind had vanished. Cleared away to a sunny place that I had no hopes of ever reaching from my new home under the clouds. Just like the skies I never get to see above the cloud cover, that place too will remain out of reach. I should have known this would happen, things were going too good for me and I let myself get lost in the moment. Now I get to live with the pain that comes with such happiness. Why was this hitting me so hard! Was it the fact that we had been through so much in such a short time? Was it the kiss? Was it the way I was starting to feel for her? Dammit! I had never even had a marefriend let alone been broken up with and now I have to deal with all those things in less than an hour?

“Can we spend the night together and leave in the morning. I don't want to go just yet.” I ask pitifully.

Zu, trotted closer to me and wrapped me in a hug and just like that it hit me like a boulder and I, the pony who saved her, wept like a little colt. Something deep inside me broke, like it was being ripped away from me by some cruel force beyond my control. I had spent so long without friends that it had become a common daily routine and now all those years of regression were undone in a matter of hours. Then I was flung head over hooves back into the pit that I had unknowingly crawled out of not even a hour ago.

Emotions never came easy to me, I had spent most of my life blocking other ponies out. Being a trader it was normal for ponies to come and go but being security for a trader meant I rarely even had that chance. The few ponies that I could say I loved were family to me but outside of that I didn't really have anyone that I felt for. There was nopony in my life or routine that I could confide these feelings in or even express them too, let alone give them too like I had just done with Zu. I had bottled them all up over the years of my life while trying to keep composure and unknowingly suppressed them and now they had manifested into the single worst pain I had ever felt. Heartache.

After I had finally calmed the flow of liquids from my eyes and had just resorted to holding her I became far to aware how hungry I was. Leave it to complex emotions to take the energy right out of you and leave you starving to death. The feeling of shame and embarrassment had replaced the sadness that was once before ruling my world. I can't believe I just did that, I thought as I stood to take my saddlebags off and pillage what few scraps of food I had left when Zu tapped my shoulder.

“Its OK, I'm better now. Thank you for being there for me.” I said with a smile.

“No no! Look, your flank!” Zu said excitedly.

“What, did I forget to wipe?” I said turning to look at what was on my bu...what is that...

“Looks like you got your cutiemark!” Zu said as she hopped to her hooves, ran behind me and began examining my flank.

I was in shock. Not just from the pretty mare touching my butt, but I actually got my cutiemark?! I had always thought that I was broken or something, incapable of getting my mark but there it is! In all its monotone glory! The paw print of a dog or a wolf or something was etched across my flank in odd tribal lines that together made the shape of a paw print but none of the lines touched or intersected. It was absolutely badass! But what did that mean, I know someponies have vague cutiemarks but what did a paw print mean? Zu, who was now hugging my ass, seemed thrilled for me to have gotten it just in time to ease the tension in the air.

“Wow! I actually got my cutiemark! I can't believe it!” I said jumping around like a colt who...well just got his cutiemark would. “ I wonder what it means.” I said.

“It looks like a paw print or a track. The lines all seem to give that impression. Funny I have never seen a pony with a tribal cutiemark.” Zu said now looking even closer at my flank.

“A track? My special talent is tracking? My special talent is tracking!” I said in as I continued to freak out.

“Congratulations.” Zu said as she sat down near the fire.

This day has been a crazy to say the least. I have been scared, bored, terrified, validated, kissed, the happiest I have ever been and...now I'm sad again. Awesome. The very thought of Zu leaving once again cleared most of the happiness from my mind leaving me just south of neutral feeling.

“Yay....” I said sitting down next to her.

“You're still upset?” Zu asked.

“Well, I'm happy that I got my mark but you're still leaving...I guess nothing would change that.” I said.

“No, I'm sorry. I wish things were different, I wish I could come with you but it's not safe for me there.” She said now mirroring my look.

“I understand. I don't like it, I hate it in fact but if you say that its not safe for you, then I don't want you to come. I don't want anypony to hurt you.” I said offering up a small sad smile.

“Thank you Joy. I promise one day we will meet again.” Zu said wrapping me in another embrace.

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As day turned into night we said little and continued to hold one another near the fire, both thinking about what we would do next. The few chats we had were limited to plans on leaving here and watching for raiders on the trails. We both avoided talking about separating or where we would be going, doing our best to keep the mood from being any more somber than it already was. With the exception of her explaining how zebras got their cutiemarks and how she herself got her's we mostly just sat and enjoyed each other's company. I knew that she was heading west and soon after north and she knew where I would be traveling with the traders. Honestly if she ever wanted to find me, all she would have to do is go to a town and wait for me. Somehow knowing that didn't make me feel better but it did give me hope that we would meet again.

That night we continued to hold one another, despite what could have been and what was going to be, we did little more then that. We did share a small make out session but even that was cut short by thoughts of our inevitable fates. Still it was nice to hold one another and share something I had never experienced before with somepony that I had feelings for. Once she had drifted off to sleep against me, I spent what little time we had left memorizing her face so I would always remember it. Then I pulled my notebook from my bags and began to sketch her prone form. I don't know why I did it, I guess I just wanted something to remember her by, something to remind me of her. I took great care in sketching her detailed cutiemark and her face, making sure to include notes on her eye color and how her hair fell across her cheek. Once I had completed my work I closed my notebook and placed it beside me with the pencil in the bindings of the pages and finally drifted off to sleep.

The next morning neither of us really spoke much as we gathered our belongings and headed for the trail. Zu, who had before always maintained a small gap between her and myself now trotted close enough to me that her coat brushed mine. It was as if the last few hours had built a bridge between us, almost making us stronger in our own ways. Even though in less than an hour we would be parting ways, for some reason I wasn't as sad as I had been the day before. It felt like even if we were apart we would still be together and even though the thought of her alone scared me, I still had faith that she would make her own way.

Soon we came to the fork in the trail, one way heading higher into the mountains and the other lower into the plains. This was it, this was goodbye.

“So this is it? Is this where I head to New Appleloosa?” I said trying to avoid the subject of leaving.

“Yes, that trail goes to New Appleloosa.” She said.

“I guess this is...” I was cut short of saying.

“Don't say it, it's not goodbye. Its till we meet again.” She said with a smile.

“OK, I'll see you soon Zuri. Please stay safe.” I said as I leaned in to kiss her goodbye.

“I will, I hope our time apart is short.” She said as she leaned into me.

And just like that Zuri turned and trotted up the trail and away from me. Neither of us would say it but this was most likely the last we would ever see of each other again. I really hope it isn't but as life goes, chances are it was. I stayed in place almost stoic in my posture until I could no longer see her and then, once she was gone from sight I turned down the trail that would lead me home. With tears still burning in my eyes I let out one last “see you soon” as I trotted down range.

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6 hours and every last drop of my water later I could see the gates of New Appleloosa just over the ridge I crossed. Behind me lay more than just memories and mountains, but the prospects of a friendship maybe even love in the future. Granted it was a very slim chance but it was a chance nonetheless, and I was going to hold onto that for as long as I could. This trip had been much more than just a search and recovery mission, it was a trip that actually forced me to deal with things I had never thought about before. Fear, adversity, survival, talent, life, death, friendship and even for but a fleeting moment, love. Bittersweet but still worth doing over had I been given the opportunity to do so a second time.

I trotted through the gates of New Appleloosa with my head held high but no smile crossed my face. Even though I was proud of a job well done, I was still mentally drained from the short goodbyes and the countless miles of being left alone with my thoughts. At the edge of town I think I could make out Boss and Shale sitting outside of Absolutely Everything, trading wares. How is that possible, it should have taken them another week to make it this far! I had only been gone for 2 days and they had covered all that distance in so little time? As I trotted closer, Shale was the first to notice me, followed by Boss.

“Joey! You made it!” Shale said, running up to me and tackling me.

“Ooof! Nice to see you too sis! How the hell did you all make it here this fast?” I asked, trying not to scream in pain.

"Ditzy found us on the way back from making her runs! She gave us a ride back to town, too bad she didn't us sooner..." Shale trailed off.

“Joey! You're not dead! Are you hurt? Do you need to see the doctor? Want some whiskey?” Boss said looking me over.

“No no, I'm good, just really sore, tired and hungry.” I said.

“Glad to have you back kiddo, was startin' to worry I lost my bartender.” Boss said wrapping me in a hug that was complimented by Shale. OK this was new, when did we get all mushy? I was expecting something along the lines of “good job boy, now get back in position” . Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled this wasn't the case but this was different than usual.

“I'm happy to see ya'll too! Wheres Lue?” I asked looking around.

And just like that the hug ended. Everyone wore a pained expression on there faces, a look I knew all too well.

“Joey, Lue didn't make it. We were attacked by raiders in the night on the way here. We did our best to fight them off but they had numbers on us.” Shale said.

“He held his ground and kept them from getting to us but he was shot. He didn't make it to town.” Boss said clearly in pain at the words.

Guilt set in at the fact that I was not there to help protect them, had I not gone then I could have been there doing my job and picking them off. But because I wasn't, now Lue was gone. He may have been an ass at times and even mean to me on a daily basis but he was the closest thing I had to a brother.

“I'm so sorry, I wish I had been there to do something.” I said weakly

“It's OK Joey, you were doing what I asked you to. We couldn't have known what would have happened without you there, Lue didn't suffer, he died the way he wanted to die.” Boss said.

“We buried him at the edge of town if you want to pay your respects.” Shale said wiping a tear away.

“I'm so happy to see you guys.” I said pulling them both into another hug.

“Now now, don't go getting all soft Joey, I'm sure you have quite the story to tell us.” Boss said.

We made our way to the inn across town where Boss and Shale both headed back to the room, after I stopped to see Ms. Ditzy for my usual soda. She even gave it to me for free when I told her I had gotten my cutiemark, followed by more hugging and a offer to resize my holster rig seeing as it was loose in the back. I took her up on that offer and even tried to pay but she wasn't having it, she kept saying that “Every colt deserves a Cutiemark present.” and shoo'd me out the door so she could get to work, keeping my pistols an holster.

Back at the inn, I let it all out, everything. From flying for longer than 3 seconds, to stumbling across the slaver camp to the comical death of the knife welding pegasi to meeting Zuri, being outfoxed and then outfoxing the lame buck to saying goodbye. The last part was painful to tell but I managed it with only a few tears in my eyes. Boss wasn't happy about the lame buck getting away like he did but was so happy I was safe that he must have decided to overlook it. Once I had explained the situation with Zu and how I got it back, he seemed to fall more at ease.

“So you're telling me, that you shot both pistols on your hind legs and didn't expect to go flying backwards?” Boss said as he laughed.

“Forget that, what about this Zu you keep talking about? And the fact that our little Joey is now a buck now that he's kissed a mare.” Shale said with a sardonic smirk.

“I'll miss her...” I said in a Somber tone.

“What did she look like?" Shale asked. And it was just then I remembered my bag and that I had a drawing of her. Slipping them off I was met wish two gasps from the ponies in the room with me.

“YOU GOT YOUR CUTIEMARK!?” They both yelled.

“Oh yeah...guess I did. Sorry I forgot to mention that” I said rubbing my neck.

“What is that, it looks like a paw print but its all broken up in little lines.” Shale said looking closer.

“That's not just a paw print, that's a coyote print. I have seen one of those before a long time ago. I guess that makes sense seeing how you were able to track that guy down like a coyote would track it prey.” Boss said.

“Joey the tracker...no no no...Joey the hunter...nope...ah! Coyote Joey.” Shale said throwing her hooves wide.

“I think Coyote Joe sounds better.” Boss said, narrowly avoiding a hoof to the face.

“I think I just prefer Joey.” I said meekly.

“What ever your say Coyote Joe.” Boss said giving me a leg around the neck.

“What do you say we all grab some food to celebrate eh?” Shale said.

“You guys go ahead, I think I want to go see Lue first.” I said standing for the door.

“Shale, you go grab us something good to eat, I need to go with Joey and have a talk with him.” Boss said as he stood to walk out the door with me.

The grave site for Lue was just on the outside of town, there the town had designated the site a cemetery. Lue loved coming here. He would always brag about how this town puts booze in everything, not to mention I think he had a thing for Ditzy. Leave it to Lue to fall in love with a ghoul and want to engage in acts that would more than likely rot off his favorite toy he plays with. We spend a few minutes in silence just staring at the rock with the inscription “Here Lies Lewis, he died protecting the ones he loved”.

“I'm going to miss him, he was a great pony.” I said.

“Me too, he was always by my side no matter the risk.” Boss said.

“Well, we had a great teacher after all.” I said.

This prompted a smile from the old buck, I guess me leaving and loosing Lue made him come to grips with his cold black heart. He seemed different now, a little kinder, maybe softer than he used to be. Even his words felt rounded off on the edges and not so curt to the ear.

“Joey, I have something to tell you. Something I have waited a long time and promised not to until you got older.” He said.

“Yeah? Is it that Shale and me are going to have to marry and make grand babies for you?” I said giving him a shove.

“Shut up boy, this is serious.” Boss said leveling his eyes at me.

“Sorry.” I said shrinking back.

“Joey I didn't find you. You were given to me as a foal.” He said.

“Wait...what?!” I said in complete shock.

“When I was young, after my old man died, I was on the trail trying to establish trade routes with towns further south from Silver Shoe. I had been traveling for over a week by hoof and had left Lue back in Silver Shoe with Peaches. One rainy night I heard somepony up ahead of me screaming in pain so I ran to see what was going on. When I got there, I could see a group of zebras beating on a pony, from what it looked like they aimed to kill him.” He said.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“There was nothing I could do. I was all alone and there were 5 of them, they looked like they were military if I had to guess. So I fell back and watched trying to think of something I could do to save him but, it was no use. By the time they had given up on him and walked away, I ran to him to see if there way anything left to save. But he was too far gone, they had broken all of his ribs and both of his hind legs, poor guys could barely breathe. I was kneeling near him and that's when I heard the sound of a foal crying. Then I saw her, a zebra mare with a foal in a sling around her neck.” Boss said gesturing a slinging motion under his chest.

“So you didn't find me in an abandoned munitions plant?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around what Boss was saying.

“She walked to us both, even with it raining I could tell she'd been crying. Her eyes met the buck's and she lay'd down next to him and nuzzled his cheek. The buck did his best to reach for the sling around her neck saying 'please, let me see him one more time'. When she opened the sash there you were, just old enough to have your eyes open. The buck reached for you but couldn't raises his legs up, so your mother took you and layed you across his chest.” Boss said.

“Me? That colt was me?” I asked.

“Yeah, that colt was you and the zebra mare was your mother, try and keep up.” Boss said.

“Wait what? My mother was a zebra?!” I said in disbelief.

“Now hush, I just said that. He was a defector of Equestria running from something and she must have fell in love with him. Before too long you came along and things got complicated. The zebras take in ponies who turn their back on Equestria but they ain't fans of letting them enter relationships with zebras. Something about pure bloodlines or some shit. The guards of there town they lived in had found out about you and they had planed to kill him, you and jail your mother for crimes against bloodlines.” Boss said.

“They were just going to kill them? For having a baby and trying to be happy?” I asked feeling sick to my stomach at the thought of killing a foal.

“Twisted, am I right? Your father and mother were trying to get away at the time and defect back to Equestria but then they caught up with them a day later. Your father told your mother to hide and took the beating for you and her both, your mother stayed hidden until they were gone. I guess since I was trying to help him rather than beat him she trusted me enough to come closer.” He said.

“But how did I end up with you? Wouldn't she want to still try and get away?” I asked.

“She wanted to, I even begged her to come with me but she told me that if she did that they would just keep looking and that they wanted him and you both dead. Something about contaminating the bloodlines. It was enough to send them after you and your mother both even if you all made it to Equestria. She and your father both begged for me to take you with me far away from that place and give you a chance at life.” he said.

“And that's what you did obviously. I'm here now, with you.” I said.

“I was scared, barely a buck myself and had just lost my father a few months back and now I was taking on another child. I didn't want to but I couldn't leave you there either so I did what I thought was right and took you with me. That's where this comes in.” Boss said producing the small black box I had worked so hard to retrieve.

“Your father asked me to give you this when you got your cutiemark, its a gift from him and your mother. He asked that I wait until you were old enough to have it and to protect it with my life if it came to it, no idea why but it was important to them that I did.” He said opening the box. Inside was a small round pendant with zebra writing on it around the band. In the center of the pendant was a purple translucent stone encompassed by a gold ring setting. It was held by a golden chain that looked like rope until you looked closer to see the small links that held it in place.

I took the pendant from the box and turned it over and to my surprise it had equine writing on the back. The inscription read “May this guide you in times of dark, when in doubt you always follow your heart”.

“Your mother said it was an amethyst and that zebras born in that month usually have the same eye color as their birthstone.” Boss said.

“But why would they give this to me if I was a pony.” I said turning the pendant over in my hooves.

"Your father said that over the years the tribe had been trying to integrate ponies and zebras together in hopes of it's survival. But the older members appalled the idea and when they elected a new leader, they banned zebra pony relations. The problem was that it was too late for your mother and father, she was already pregnant with you and was almost full term. So when the elders found out, they decided to make an example of you and your parents.” Boss said.

“Whats written on the front? Did they say?” I asked in disbelief.

“Your mother said that its a message from her and your birth name. She said your name is Kit, I didn't like it so I just called you Joey. That's all I got out of her before I heard the patrol coming back our way, I guess they must have heard us talking. She gave you to me and told me to run as fast as I could.” He said.

“Did she...” I asked.

“I don't know, I hope she got away. I looked back and saw them leading her back towards the way they had come so maybe she is still alive. Joey, your mother and father risked and gave their lives to protect you, even going so far as to give you to a complete stranger in hopes of saving you. I promised them both I would keep you safe and raise you as one of my own the best I could manage. All they asked is that I give you this when you got your cutiemark and let you decide what you want to be in life. Outside of that, that's all I know.” Boss said.

“Is that why you let me go after it? You wanted me to have the chance to get my birthright back?” I asked.

“It seemed fitting at the time, stupid, but fitting. but after you left I have to admit that I wanted to rush after you and say to hell with the shipment, I didn't want you fucking my up pistols. In hind sight it might have been better but what are the odds of you, son of a zebra and a pony meeting a zebra and falling in love with her. I think they call that irony.” He said giving me a shove.

“Irony sucks and is stupid and....hurts.” I said still feeling the pain in my chest.

“Joey, I want you to be the best pony you can be and I would like to think I have done my best to show you how, but I think its time for you to take over the reins. You did what no other pony your age could ever do, it must be that zebra blood in your veins, maybe it was that zebra girl I don't know. But you did good kid.” He said.

“I had a great teacher.” I said.

“Yeah, you did.” Boss said patting me on the shoulder.

We sat at Lue's grave for a few more minutes before walking back to town. I was now wearing my necklace around my neck with pride and a fair amount of unfounded guilt. The emotions weighed it down to feel like an anchor even though it was only a few ounces, always reminding me the price that was paid for me to even be here today. If not for Boss being there that night I would have been killed, but because he was there, I got a second chance at life.

So many thoughts going through my head. Is my mother still alive? Why is it that even though they shame impure blood I was allowed to be born and given a birthright gift? Was it because some zebras were for the integration and others not? Why did my father have to die? All these thoughts enraged me but the one thought that was standing out in my head was what would Zu think if she knew I was part of team stripes? I wonder if that would have swayed her decision to come with me.

That night we had a small party to both commiserate my cutiemark and my faux birthday. Ditzy and Shale had planned the latter but when they both got wind that I had got my cutiemark, they insisted on two cakes. Due to my love for cakes and cake like foods, I was not complaining in the slightest.

The night drew on with Boss retelling the story of how I came to be to Shale, Ditzy and the barkeep. His tale was met with outrage, sadness and thankfulness that I was here today for their sacrifice. Lastly Ditzy gave me the best present I could have ever hoped for. She hadn't just adjusted my holster, she had engraved my pistols. She had a unicorn engrave my pistols more accurately. The once old and well worn nickel finish, now gleamed in the light, both now sporting a howling coyote on the grips. She had even fixed the broken grip on lefty in the process. I couldn't help myself, I hugged her as hard as I dared, to the point I thought she might pop.

“Do you like them?” She asked.

“No Ditzy, I freaking love them!” I screamed.

“Your welcome 'Coyote Joey.”

Great, looks like that name's going to stick. Shale had wasted no time telling the whole town I had gotten my cutiemark for tracking down a robber in the mountains. Something told me she embellished the story a bit but honestly I didn't care. I had two shiny, brand new looking cannons with coyotes on them! Not to mention a belly full of cake, some of my favorite ponies I know and a firm story about where I came from. Even though I was still pretty torn up about Zu and knowing my parents were more than likely dead, I still felt better knowing where I came from.

Later that night as the party ended, I returned to the room and decided to turn in for the night. Laying in bed felt really good! But laying there left my thoughts to wonder over my parents and Zu and if she was ok, if she had made it to the coast yet. After the talk I had with Boss about finding myself and making my own way, I was starting to wonder if I should go back after her. Maybe if I left in the morning I could work my way around the mountains to the coast and find her there? But what would happen to Boss and Shale? I already left them once and look how that turned out, we lost Lue and that pain was fresh. No doubt that it would be a open wound for a long time, Boss would be reminded of his death in every town we went to.

Ugh! If I stay I can't be with Zu and that sucks because I really want to be with her! Especially after finding out my heritage, I couldn't wait to tell her. But if I go then it would leave Boss and Shale nearly defenseless and I won't do that. For the first time in my life I was faced with doing what's right by others and doing whats right by me. So its no surprise that I chose to do the former. I would find her one day but until I knew the traders were safe I wasn't going anywhere. That just leaves me to think about her and what would one day be.

I couldn't help myself, I retrieved my notebook from my bags and searched for the picture I had drawn of her. Finally I found it buried among the notes and sketches and leaned into the lantern light to see the details of her face once more.

The drawing seemed off for some reason, almost like it was dirty. No surprise really it spend a lot of time in a nasty saddle bag after all. I tried to brush the filth away but it held tight almost like it was bleeding through the paper. I turned the page to look for the offending crud when I was greeted by note written on the back side. A note from Zu.

“Joy, I am sorry I had to leave you. But I can't take the chance to be seen. While I'm writing this you are asleep beside me and if I could, I would stay like this forever. But I can't risk your life for my happiness. I don't want to see you get hurt because of me. I know we haven't been together long but I want you to know that I have feelings for you. And I am hurting just like you. Joy, please find me one day, I want to see you again and I want to be with you in happier times. Maybe we can go to the sea together one day, I would like that. Please don't forget about me, because I will never forget you.”

-Zuri

The last few words had been muddied by tears from Zu and now, my own. I re-read her words over and over again, memorizing them like a song and played all the events back in my head from the days before. I rolled over on my bed a stared out the window at the moonlight peaking through the clouds and with solemn resignation I spoke to myself. “Zu, if you are out there, I'm going to find you again and when I do I will move heaven and earth to be with you, no matter what the cost”.

Her words echoed in my head until the light faded to darkness in my vision and I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 2: And This Is Now

Ten years. Ten long years now it's been since that day back in New Appleloosa when I strolled into town with my head held high and my heart broken in two. They say that time heals all wounds, well, they clearly had never heard of radiation poisoning or taint. The years have both been kind and tragic since that day, some with hopes of a better tomorrow and others with the fear of death looming ever present. Much like the music from the sprite bots, it makes its presence known only in the static of the background. Never close enough to see and sometimes even forgotten but, always there nonetheless to remind me and everypony else that each day is a gift.

Two years after that day I lost Boss one night in his sleep to radiation sickness. Despite Shale's and my own best efforts the old man was too far gone and we were too far from help to save him. It was the worst day of my life to say the least. Soon after Shale decided to part ways with me to go explore Hoofington. She said there is a place there where traders all live together and harvest goods from the ruined city. I wanted to go but that was in the wrong direction I was traveling. So instead we vowed to seek one another out over the holidays by me coming to her. In some ways we are still brother and sister but in others I can feel us growing apart.

I saw her just last week, she was going on about these 'heroines' DJ pony keeps talking about on the radio. She said she met one of them, Security I think it was, and spent the last 4 hours of our visit gushing over her. I didn't mind, but I would have liked to have talked more about how she was doing at the time. I don't think she knows how lonely this job really is and how much it can take out of a pony, no matter how long they have been doing it. Sometimes spending a little time with somepony can make all the difference in your morale for months or more but, sometime all it does is hurt.

Shale, a beacon of light in my otherwise dark world. Don't get me wrong, my life's not all bad, but there are times when I just want to crawl back to her, let her patch my wounds and tell me everything's OK. I guess growing up together builds a bond between two ponies, even going so far as to bring about romantic interest in one another. Interests that were mirrored by herself but failed to blossom due to the nature of my work and her feelings of us being related. We weren't by blood but I could share the sentiment. Shale had always been like a sister to me, sure she's beautiful, smart and always has my back. But the fact remains that we have a love of brother and sister, not the love of lovers.

Love made even stronger by the fact that we had not only been through so much together but stronger in the sense that we didn't have to be together, yet here we are. A part of each other's lives, not under circumstances of birth, but through true friendship and love for one another. I have felt for a long time that the strongest form of love a pony can have is that of which is given with nothing expected in return. Shale is not my blood, she's not even half blood to me, but to me she is a part of my heart. She staked out a claim and set up shop the day I first met her, never to be taken over by anypony else. True and unconditional, I carry it with me everywhere I go knowing that I'm not ever alone so long as she is there.

In a way I feel that's what Zu has done as well, she planted a seed that's gone into hibernation, just waiting to be cultivated into a garden. It's small, not even developed but, it's there nonetheless, waiting for the right moment to sprout. In it's own way both of those things are the cure for hopelessness but in others, it's the cause. Because of mine and Shale's relationship, I'm left confused at time's on whether or not to hug her or kiss her. It makes for awkward moments between us that she tends to make up for in general giddiness and jokes. I know that she is going through the same emotions as me just by the look in her eyes but I doubt she knows how much it hurts to be with her and not be able to be with her at the same time. Not just from the emotional disconnection, but from the physical disconnection that comes with being a tracker for hire.

Then again, I have her to thank for this job, but to be honest sometimes I wonder if that too isn't a curse in and of itself. Not long after she left for Hoofington and I had completed the last of the group's delivery obligations, I went to visit her. While I was there I was introduced to quite a few different vendors, most of which were my sister's friends, as “Coyote Joe, one of the best trackers in the wasteland”. Sis had done her usual job of talking me up to her friends, whether it be for her own need for admiration or because she has always been proud of me. regardless, the title did come with some free swag and a open tab at the area bar, neither of which I complained about.

While I was there, not only was I given free food and drink, but I was also treated to an ever changing billboard of names and missions. I started referring to it as the commission's requests, seeing as most, if not all, were posted there by somepony who was willing to pay for something that they themselves were not willing to do. It seemed like there were quite a few folks looking to collect on the commissions but few ever came off the board. But when they did, it seemed that they were almost instantly replaced with some other stupid thing to be retrieved or murdered. I was more interested in the missing ponies list myself and that's where my life started falling more into place.

At the time I had not given up hope on finding Zu, in fact I had taken 3 trips along the same path she had told me about. So far not even the faintest of signs was left other than a note scribed into a rock on the far side of the mountain. Even now I still check with the locals at every town I stop by to see if they had seen a zebra with purple eyes about. Most of the time I'm met with blank stares but sometimes I get the typical “If ah see a zebra, ah shoot a zebra” talk. This has prompted more than one fight in my lifetime. But every now and then, I would get a lead, once I even got a name out of somepony that had claimed that a zebra named Zuri had rescued her from a group of raiders. But as they always do, that trail turned cold and left me most of the way to Canterlot, a place I have been to and really would like to avoid in the future.

That was almost 3 years ago and where it did give me hope, as always the hope fades away under a river of doubt, worry and questions. Chasing her is like chasing a ghost, I get glimpses of her through the eyes of others but never a single sighting that yielded results. When I followed up on my last lead on her 3 years back I became so consumed that I left all my work behind for over 4 months. Something that has since become a tradition to get away for a little while to collect my thoughts and push forward in life. So I guess I have that to thank her for, if she's even still out there that is.

Whereas Zu's trail had went cold long ago, there are still plenty of ponies out there that need rounding up or even removed from this place. I found myself taking every missing pony case that I came across, sometimes working 3 or 4 cases at a time. I quickly made a name for myself across the wasteland finding kids that had been taken by slavers, tracking down thieves and sometimes, rarely but still sometimes, removing some of our less productive members of society. The latter I reserved for ponies that if eliminated would better the world in a substantial way or would save more than one life. I would never take revenge killings, those are just too much emotional baggage to tote around. The same can be said for high bounty cases, as good as the caps pay for something like that, it's still too risky to take those jobs one solo. chances are that the majority of the time, the bounty would have been placed on somepony who was innocent of any real crime or was just too dangerous to attempt alone.

Before long I had ponies coming to me rather than me coming to them for work and at times it became quite profitable. Lost or taken foals, missing ponies who went out and were never heard from again even a few personal ads. Those last ones never work out with me, granted the longing I have for a relationship is vast but I have a bit a problem with being nervous around the fairer sex. My “friends”, what few I have, say it's my lack of self confidence and my habit to over analyze details and not just “go with the flow”. I can't help that every mare I have met has in some way hit the “you annoy the hell out of me and here's a list of reasons why” button.

Take those endearing traits and combine them with a solemn demeanor and almost everypony mistakes me for a half heart. Where in ways they would be right, where they are wrong is that most of the time I just prefer to be left alone. I like me and I spend a hell of a lot of time with me on a daily basis, so when somepony wants to poke their head in, both me and me better like them or we will shut down on them and walk away. Sounds crazy but its a life, a craptastic one, but a life nonetheless. It has also allowed me to focus on my work even if I have had my failures. In my time I have had a few cases went unsolved. Apart from Zu there are 4 pegasi out there that may never be caught for their crimes for obvious reasons. There is also a unicorn but that one is complicated, her case is the only one I have just dropped all together, even if I did find her.

The poor girl didn't stand a chance, her crude early warning systems she had set up was what gave her away. You can't just hang cans from trees without screaming 'here I am!' to anypony within a mile or so. I had been told that she was dangerous, crafty and had a deadly habit of setting traps along her tracks, so to say I was on edge would be correct. I walked right into her camp, guns out ready for a fight, and found...a sleeping, half dead, short little unicorn surrounded by little to no supplies and a worn out p.o.s. pipe rifle. She didn't even have clean water to drink by the looks of the drained puddles around her. That was not what I was expecting at all. I had been told to be ready for the fight of my life and to take the shot on her as soon as I saw her, but being an overachiever meant bringing her in alive. It also meant keeping blood off my hooves, I can't just kill somepony because I was paid to, not without at least making a judgment call first.

I was poised to bring her in but saw a small rolled up letter in her bag that had been stained with blood and torn around the edges. I retrieved it only to find it was an execution flier for something called The PiT where she would have to fight to her death to gain freedom. Her crime? Hitting a guard after he tried to rape her. See this was problematic for me, on one hoof I was contractually obligated to bring her in. But on the other I was told she was a prisoner and had stole caps from a local de facto sheriff. But the flier on the other hoof was clearly from Filly Fun Farm.

There are two things in the world that piss me off to the point of doing something stupid, lying to me and slavers. In this case I was lied to by slavers and was sending an innocent pony to her death by proxy. This prompted me to do some quick math in my head, after carrying the slavers and multiplying it by a factor of innocent death I came to the answer of being pissed the fuck off. The whole situation had cost me time, money, sanity and now my integrity. In my book that was as good as blood on my own hooves, something I had precious little of and wanted to keep that way. Even if the pay was good, it would never be THAT good. I decided that this is where her trail went cold.

Now I could have just left her there and let be what will be, but like I said, I do stupid things when wronged and decided to wake her up. Not the smartest move on my part, I even have the bullet wound on my right butt cheek to prove it. Not saying it wasn't deserved, but I would have liked a better welcoming than a flesh wound that would make it hard to poo for a long time. Once I had the crazy mare calmed down and she had realized her pipe rifle had taken it's last breath I was able to convince her of the situation at hoof. I tried to get her name from her but she kept insisting on using a “code name” and decided “Roxie” sounded cool. Considering what I'm working with here its no wonder I found her so easily, so I decided it best to give her some help if she was going to make a go at getting away.

I warned her about the can chains and about walking on trails that were muddy as to avoid detection. After some much needed evasion talk I decided to give her one of my rifles I had picked up on trade with 50 rounds of 308 ammo. It had to be better than that garbage of a pipe gun she had taken from the slavers. I also gave her nearly all of my rations and 3 bottles of clean water and a stern warning to make them last as long as she could. Lastly I gave her a copy of the wasteland survival guide, something I had quite a few of being a fan of books myself.

Once I had tended to the pony who called herself “Roxie” wounds and made sure she wasn't going to out right die on me, I decided to lead her away from Filly and find a better place to set up camp. She stayed with me for 11 days, the whole time trying to pick my brain about evading capture, where to find food, tools she would need and anything else that would cross her mind at the time. By the time we reached Hoofington's outer boundaries she had actually became quite the stealthy little pony. Even her body fat had come up quite a bit in the few short days we were together. She didn't want to part ways at first and really, neither did I. but when I told her I had to pay some of her friends a visit about a bounty they owed, she decided to make her own way from there.

OK, OK, so I get attached under extreme circumstances. Zu, Shale, Roxie. All mares I had met under difficult situations, or spent time with under duress. Call me crazy but I work best under pressure and tend to come out of my shell, coating otherwise tragic circumstances with a thick layer of personality. I have been told I'm a fun guy to be around when I'm either half drunk or being shot at, making light of the situation with humor. But in actuality its a coping mechanism, something I fell like I picked up from Boss all those years back. It helps me to focus and take control of the situation, to me its easier to think when you are not pissing yourself from fear.

The guards that gave the order to hire me were none to pleased with the fact that even I couldn't find her. I was called far more things than useless when I returned to collect my fee and for a short time denied the fee. But due to the nature of my business I had taken measures for such eventualities, folk usually change their mind when I produced a list of close family that may or may not disappear over night if they didn't pay up. It was a bluff of course but few ponies will call it given the detail I go into about names, locations, habits and ways they could just no longer exist.

Now the problem with bluffing is that every now and again you need to be holding all the cards to call. This was one of those times unfortunately and by the time the smoke had settled I was sporting 5 new bullet holes and a nasty gash bellow my right eye on my muzzle. Slavers, while not as dumb as raiders, make up for it with blind rage. Where that's fine in a bar room brawl, it makes for shitty fighting. They didn't even notice the grenade that I had tossed into the room they had retreated to and instead continued shouting curse words at me and firing blindly around a corner. The one that charged me soon after avoided the explosion and managed a slice to my face before losing most of his organs to two 44 caliber rounds at point blank range.

And so began my reputation with slavers as “kill that fucker”. Not the name I would have chosen but beggars can't be choosers I guess. At least that's what's always said when I'm in close contact with them. That or “its that asshole” seems to be the most popular of choices among those who knew before or knew of me. Jeez, kill a few slavers and its like they all know it from then on, ridiculous.

That was my last job for the year, now I was standing in the old campsite where I found Zu so many years before. There was even a few scraps of canvas laying about the place from the years of storms and scavengers. No prints anywhere to be seen, must have been years ago since somepony had come this way other than me. If I wasn't alone before this trip I damn sure was now. Just me and the woods were left to our annual meeting of minds where I would try and clear my head and they would try and clear my head clean off.

I will admit to dropping my guard when I come to this place, rather than spend my time looking for tracks in a small hope that I would find Zu like I used to years back, I now spent my time just letting the memories take hold. Sometimes I think about when I was a little colt working for Boss, crawling in and out of places not meant for anypony to go and sometimes I just think about moving on with my life and seeking out the Zebra Lands. I know that ponies can get in their but I don't think you can come back once you do. To this day the closest I have come is less than one mile from there closest village but even that far out there were near constant patrols. If they did allow ponies in, they were not making a grand show of welcoming them.

I came to the same trailhead I had stood at 10 years ago today, from where I was now I could just make out the ruined part of the trail. In hindsight I should have put up a sign that says, "danger trail is gone near the end, turn back now". But then again, I'm starting to think that I'm the only one that even comes here anymore so what good would that do. Well... maybe it would remind me about the trail being out the last 5 times I went that way, thank the cosmos for wings! I'm sure there has been at least one poor bastard go up that way only to find the trail completely fucked and say “Motherfucker! I bet some stupid young kids blew this thing to hell and back just to catch a two bit thief”.

Heh, at least I hope that's what happened and they didn't just walk off the edge and fall to their death. At any rate it was Zu's idea, not mine to blow it up and were effective, it did have its drawbacks in that now a path to the top of the mountain was completely ruined. But then again I don't think I would have convinced her otherwise, she had this cute way about her that could convince me to do things. Sometimes I wonder if I should have left that day and gone back after her, circled around and caught up with her in the plains. Maybe we would still be together, maybe she would have told me to shove off a few years later. At least then I would have closure and maybe that small fire that still burns for her deep down inside me would have died out.

Ten years ago. Seems like yesterday still. I trotted down the trail I had so long ago with Zu by my side, both heading in different directions but both unwilling to do so. But through the power of the cosmos, our fates were sealed in granite and impossible to change. Up ahead's the fork in the trail, even still now after so many years I can see her topping the ridge and disappearing out of sight and out of my life forever. From where I stand now is the end of a chapter and on the other side the blank page of another. A better chapter, one filled with hope and maybe even love, but like an unfinished book it stays empty and no matter how hard I look, I never find anything.

In the middle of the trail, right where it forks, an old dead oak tree stands in it's rooted position. Like a knife, it splits the trail into two paths. I remember standing right here, saying see you soon right here and coming back year after year, right here. Like a grave marker for somepony who had yet to pass, I had turned it into a chronological log of all the times I had come here from beginning until now. Whether it be in hopes that she see it and know I'm still out there or to remind me of all the times I had kept my promise, I was resolve in my yearly mission.

I trotted to the old tree in the fork of the trail, the same tree where we kissed goodbye and sat down. I pulled my knife from its sheath and began to carve in the trunk of the dead wood.

“Joey, ten years later. Still looking.”

Like a sad personal add in the TenPony Tower papers I scribed my words under all the others I had carved over the years. Pathetic? Tell me about it. But what do you do when you have nothing to do but track ponies down and drink yourself silly. Everypony needs something to hold onto and I guess this is my something. I spun on my hunches and thumped the back of my head down on the tree and looked down the way I had just come. Out of the corner of my eye I could just see the carvings I made from years 5 and 6, reminding me that this, might actually be all I have outside of Shale as something to keep me going.

I must have sat there for over an hour before finally deciding I was pathetic beyond measure all the while thinking of what it would be like to just let go. But I have never been one to give up on anything in my life, no matter how stupid it was or how much time I wasted. Things from the past just have a way of taking hold of me and haunting my dreams until resolved, even now I'm thinking about the young mare I let go from the contract. Even when I finish something, if its not done right it will drive me nuts until I correct it, but I guess that's all part of that attention to detail Boss always talked about.

Having finished my personal one pony pity party, I stood and returned my knife to it's home on my right foreleg. The words from years 1-3 were beginning to weather and it wouldn't be long before they will have faded completely. Almost like the years of my life they were fading away leaving only a small impression that they were once there.

I could say that I made a promise to myself long ago to find her and make things right again but what are the chances that she had not moved on with her life. For all I know she wasn't even alive anymore, leaving me to chase ghosts and memories I would never find. Nevertheless, I have come here yet again and once more carved my name in the old oak yet again. After this it's back to tracking ponies down and trying really hard to not get shot in the ass. Yay. Fun.

Then again, I have been going at it pretty hard and those slavers were getting a bit upset at my ever growing presence. They are not big fans of ponies who try to liberate their captives for no better reason than me hating them. So they have been turning the heat up on me over the last few months in hopes of smoking me out of hiding to come out and play. As is their right, I have shot way more of them than they have of me at this point and I'm sure they would like to rid themselves of the worry of me being out there. Maybe if I took a few months off and traveled a bit they would lose the sour taste of defeat and ease up on me.

I looked up over the ridge top of the higher trail, from where I stood now, I could make the coast by tomorrow if walked and by tonight if I flew. Maybe a few days in New Pegas would clear my head, get drunk and try to forget this place once and for all. Heh, even now my heart keeps telling me to not give up hope, head that way and walk her trail to the far northwest. Well I do know ponies in NP, maybe I should pay them a visit. If nothing else maybe I can find a few jobs out this way that could hold me over for a few extra months.

I checked my pipbuck's inventory, 48,791 caps. Not like I don't have the funds to spend a few months dicking off in the wasteland, what am I going to do with them anyhow. Its not like I'm going to move to Tenpony anytime soon, hell half of those ponies think I'm a hired mercenary. Last time I was there I was asked to leave after very politely telling a local shopkeep to “get fucked” in the most profound of ways. I even used a fancy talking voice, but they still got bent out of shape and sent me to pound sand with the rest of the plebeians on the streets.

“What the hell... I'll give it a go. No use spending my life out here.” I said to myself. I guess I can go look one more time and see if she's still out there, if maybe I missed a clue somewhere or at the very least go get hammered with some friends in NP. Part of me wants this to all be over but another part of me really wants it to all stay a dream, I guess that's what you get when you have no faith but plenty of hope for something. Oh well, nevertheless, it sound like fun so I can't go wrong.

“OK...lets do this.” I said as I spread my wings and pushed off the ground.

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The mountains were just as I remembered them, jagged with winding paths that all lead to different areas of the plains below. In no time at all I had cleared the mountains and I began my descent to the valley floor. Even though I had conquered my fear of heights for the most part, it didn't mean that I was keen on flying very high or for very long. Granted I had made the flight to Baltimare a few times but those were for jobs and if I didn't have to fly, I usually walked. Besides, walking was more advantageous to tracking and I enjoy the exercise. But in doing so I get to come face to face with raiders, slavers, gangers, zombies, assholes, bandits, more zombies, hookers, scalpers, tics, super tics, super irradiated legendary tics and oh yeah, zombies .. did I mention I hate zombies? And ticks?

I landed near a boulder that I had stopped at years before so I could read the words Zu had wrote ten years prior. Sure enough, there they were, cut deep into the stone somehow, having endured the years of weather and abuse from the elements. I couldn't help feel a little jealous at her message leaving skills, all I had was a old shitty tree and it worked just fine. But not Zu, nooooo! She had to get all fancy with her damn rock carving skills. I swear sometimes I wonder if she hadn't been hiding a horn under that hair of hers.

“Joey, I'll come back for you one day -Zuri”

I ran my hoof over the letters she had scribed, trying to somehow feel closer to her through the years and miles between us. My hoof rested at her name, she had given the Z in Zuri a little tail with an arrow pointing down, a direct complement to her cutiemark no doubt. It was at that point I noticed something out of place, something that wasn't here before. A flash of color that was out of place in a valley of moldy rocks and dead trees. To my left, About 100 yards down the valley, another boulder leading to the plains seemed to have something on it. It appeared to be something written in the same manner as Zu's note. Wasting no time, I took flight to the large boulder near the grassy field to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

The large stone was capped with a layer of black mold that ran down the face of the rock to the grassy earth below. The writing was in stark contrast against the black mold enough for me to see it from over 100 yards out, that's why I saw something out of place. I pushed the tall grass out of the way and was greeted by the most beautiful sight I had seen in ten long years. A note from Zuri.

“Joey, I don't know if your still out there but, I came back to look for myself. I saw your tree and I had to leave you a note. I can't say were I am, but I trust you will find me. I miss you Joey, I never gave up hope. -Zuri”

The markings were fresh, maybe a week, two weeks old at the most. There was fine dust the in the corners of the letters still, chances are that this couldn't have been made more than a month ago. This was recent, this was even in the same style as the first note, this was her. Somewhere deep inside of me an ember that was slowly dying out, suddenly burst to life in a raging firestorm of the only thing I had been missing all these years. Faith. Faith that she was alive, faith that I could find her and faith that she was waiting for me, wherever she was.

My thoughts came fast and muddled by the adrenaline in my veins, Zuri was out there! She was still out there and looking for me no less! I can't believe it, all these years and she still wants to see me again! I honestly thought I should have turned back, I almost didn't even stop here and, had I not, I would have missed her message. But there it is, in white and black carvings, behind a layer of grass that you would never see unless you look from the stone where she wrote the original note for me years back. It was intentional and it was hidden and that means only one thing. She's still hiding from something.

All I need is a direction and I could pick up the trail, she had to leave some clue to where she was heading, something, anything! I looked down, I'm sure by now her prints would have faded away to nothing but low and behold, there were several prints from somepony who had been doing something here. Like carving a letter or maybe, planting a bomb for the reader. Beep, beep, beep...boom!

My world filled with fire and shrapnel, the concussive force blew me off my hooves completely and the small spires of steel ripped at my barding, a few even piercing my hide. Luckily I had noticed the muffled beeping of the mine in time to jump behind a rock and avoid the majority of the damage that would have been done to me. Nevertheless, it felt like I was shot with a shotgun filled with pissed off parasprites. I was standing right on top of the damn thing, how did I not see it! I was so enamored by her note that I had completely dropped my guard, stopped looking for threats around me and it almost cost me my legs.

My hide burned and my ears rang with a high pitched buzz that clouded my thoughts and blinded me with pain. I had been shot, stabbed, and beaten but this was my first time being blown to hell and back and wow did it suck. My happiness was now replaced with dread, did the slavers find this rock and put two and two together? Did they think that maybe I would read it and fall for their trap, being blasted to hell and ridding them of their Coyote infestation for good? Did they write the damn letter themselves? Oh if that's the case then I'm going to be beyond pissed and it will be far more than just pop shots I'll be taking at them.

It's no secret that I was looking for a purple eyed zebra but I took care never to use her name or overly describe her outside of, “she a zebra, she's got like, stripes and shit”. The slavers could have found that much out easy, but looking now, how hard would it have been for them to find my tree and then find Zuri's rock. The clues all added up but something was off with all of this, if they booby trapped the rock for me, wouldn't they have given me a location just in case it didn't work? Someplace where I would be ambushed had it all gone tits up on them? Ugh! Thinking hurts right now!

From where I was resting, I could see a set of fuzzy tracks leading to the west around the boulders. Even in my blurry state, I could tell they were fresh, less than 24 hours in fact. The edges of the tracks were still sharp and the centers still showed an outline of their hooves clearly. If that's the case, they are not far off and chances are they heard this blast and would be coming to survey the damage. I glanced around, looking for some place to hide, anywhere. There! I piled myself behind some boulders just down range of the blast sight, halving the distance between the two notes. If they wrote the new message to me, I wanted to know. Because I was about to start a new war with them if they had.

Talking, I can hear talking. It took less than 5 minutes for them to respond to the blast and judging by their demeanor, they must be confident in their work. I pulled my rifle from my back, taking care to remove the scope cover and replaced it to my bags, the same time removing a fresh mag from them. I have used this rifle to solve a lot of other ponies's problems and today it looks like it will be used to solve yet another, this time, one of my own.

Finally, after a few tense moments, the slavers turned the corner to inspect the damage the mine had caused. The blast blew all of the grass away from the rock and now exposed the writing to be seen from all angles. There were three of them, one unicorn, two earth ponies, all three walking side by side, bragging about a job well done.

“Yeah, I bet it blew his ass into a million pieces.” The blue buck said.

“No joke! The boss will be happy to hear his little “coyote problems” are long gone.” The yellow buck said.

“I'm going to take those damn pistols he's so proud of, make a nice memento for the occasion don't you think?” Said the other yellow buck.

“Good thinking using a mine under that bitch's note, after reading that pathetic list of years the fucker carved into that tree, I knew he would come this way sooner or later.” Said the blue buck.

“Yeah well, one less asshole to slow us down. Won't even have to watch our backs anymore.” Said one of the yellow bucks.

They were just rounding the corner when I had got my rifle into position, I had found a spot between some rocks that gave me a good view of the area and through my scope I could see all three of them approaching the crime scene.

“Yeah, I just wish I could have seen his face when he found out how fucked he wa....” The blue buck trailed off...

“WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?”

I couldn't help but grin at the dichotomy in his last statement.

“Maybe a tick tripped the mine, you know those damn things are the size of dog's around here.” The yellow buck said.

“See I told you it wouldn't work.” Said the other yellow buck.

“There ain't no tellin' how old this fucking note is, Ain't that what I said?!” Said the yellow buck.

“For all we know this isn't even for him.” The other yellow buck said.

“Both of you's shut up, plant another mine. If he's coming, we'll get him.” Said the blue buck.

Well that was enlightening, they had found the note and planted a bomb in hopes of killing me. Did I really piss them off that bad? How are they connecting me to Zuri in the first place? They can't be going off these carvings and actually figuring all this out... are they? No, they're way too stupid for that, they are just blindly thinking that it's for me and planting bombs at random. Sometimes I guess you can be so stupid you're smart, but this is on a whole new level.

I watched as the two yellow bucks, who I had gathered to be twins, planted and fresh mine and began covering their tracks. I never would have guessed if not for their tails. One of them was bald, seeming to have shaved his head and the other had a full mane. The bald one set the mine while his counterpart cleared the area. I could take them both out right here and now, but that would give me away to the 3rd buck, no if I was going to do this I had to get all three in one shot.

“What's taking you guys so long?” The blue buck yelled from the front of the valley. Oh they can't be that stupid, set your camp up just outside the trap you set? Did I really just fall for this shit? You have to go to school to be this stupid and they bested me? Oh now I'm pissed.

The two yellow bucks trotted off back to their camp that I had wagered was no more than a few hundred yards down the way from me. If they are over there, I could just fly over the valley wall and disappear but, that would take the justice out of my situation. Plus, what if Zu came back this way, they would be sitting right here waiting for her. Hmmm.... what to do... Irony... I thought to myself as a evil grin crossed my face.

They didn't even know what hit them. All three of them were sitting near a burning campfire when their own mine they had just planted dropped from the heavens and landing in the fire. Almost immediately it began to beep and by the time they looked up to see my smiling face, detonated. Had they been wearing barding of some sort, they may have stood a chance but, that wasn't the case.

I landed near the bodies of the two yellow bucks to see the blue buck trying to hold in his small intestines. The two yellow brothers had been mangled by the explosion, never stood a chance, but the blue buck was still managing to hang on to life. The blast has sent smoldering embers throughout the campsite, setting everything they touched that wasn't stone on fire. I turned my attention to the now wheezing, dying buck.

“What's your name.” I asked walking towards him.

“What?” He yelled.

“Whats your fucking name.” I yelled back to him.

“Why do you care?”

“I'm tired of referring to you as 'the blue buck'.” I said with a flat face.

“S-Search. My name is Search Light.”

“The fuck kind of name is that. Sound's like something somepony who's out of ideas names their kid.”

“My mother... she's from Harbor City.” He said clutching his guts.

“Your mother must have been a hoe, I bet she slid you in and out a few times before she birthed you with a name like that.” I said.

“Fuck you.”

“Yeah, I bet you would.”

“How did you-” He stopped short.

“Your first mine was too deep, the blast was deadened by the sand, your second wasn't even armed.” I said. By the look on the buck's face, he probably wished that he could re-kill his two yellow counterparts.

“So what now, you just going to kill me?” He asked.

“Nope, already did that. I need some answers from you. If you play along, maybe I pass you that healing potion over there and you get to live.” I replied, as I pushed off the ground and began to hover closer to him. By his look, he was not pleased about his current situation. I bet if I followed through with that plan he would even kill me the second I turn my back from him.

“Who wrote that note?” I asked.

“It was already there, we figured you would come this way. Set a trap, boom!” He said. His breath was starting to get shorter, guess that sucking chest wound was doing it's magic.

“Why” I asked leveling a coyote emblazoned 44 mag to his head.

“My boss want's you dead! You killed 30 of us. You think that shit goes unnoticed? He's got everyone looking for you and when he finds out you're looking for that zebra he's going to go after her too.” He said.

“Who's going to tell him.” I asked smiling. From the expression on his face, he had not thought that far ahead.

“What? He finds out everything! And when he finds out about this, he's going to string up your ugly ass, beat you and make you watch as we all take turns with your little zebra mare-”

BANG!

The round tore it's way through his skull, sending one of his eyeball's flying into the now bombed out campfire.

"Your sticks and stones may break my bones but my hollow points expand on impact. Should have kept your muzzle shut."

Well, that was informative...and graphic. Honestly you would think stupidity was contagious by what he said. But nevertheless, now I know that the rest of the slavers are after me and that Zu was still out there. It wouldn't take long for her to make her presence know if she's game for leaving me notes now and Celestia knows that slavers love them some zebras. The last thing I want to do is deal with them if they have that amount of leverage on me from the start. So it looks like finding Zu just took the top 5 list on my “shit to do” schedule.

I took stock of the situation, OK I need a plan here. She went north before, would she do it again? Maybe. But I don't think she would have reached out to one of my friends in New Appleloosa if she had. Chances are that she's still keeping her profile low seeing as most of Equestria is not a fan of zebras. I don't think she would head east, that would only lead her to more trouble and, even if she was emboldened by the situation, she wouldn't do that. Highly doubt south, that would put her going back to the place she ran from, not to mention I would have seen signs of her had she. If Zu knows me then she would know the things I would look for, directions I would have been heading, places to hide things.

That leaves west and north, so what... a quarter of Equestria? Great...just great. I wiped off the bits of slaver that were now on my muzzle and cheek. OK, back to the rock of inspiration, there has to be some clue there for me to find. Trotting back over to the rock it dawned on me that had she made it as far as my tree, why wouldn't she had left something there for me, some sign or clue? Was she still running scared? Why go that far and then decide to leave a note on a rock on the other side of the mountain. Then again a direct message connecting her to me would have sent a pretty damn big red flag if they were in the same spot. At least this way there would be some deniability between the two messages, nevertheless it was still a big risk but one she still felt needed taking.

Reviewing the rock once more showed that she gave no direction to where she was going, just the same letters that were in my memory were still on the rock, nothing new. Not a thing. Even her name Zuri. Wait. Not her name. On the other rock the Z in Zuri had a small squiggly tail that pointed down like an arrow. But here the squiggle was at the top and pointed up and left, pointing to the word hope.

“What the hell? Hope? I got hope! What I need is a direction! What the hell is hope? hope ain't on a compass you secretive stripped butthole.” I yelled at the rock.

Maybe it was a sign, maybe it was just her getting all fancy with her skilled zebra glyphs, but it was too vague to tell. At any rate getting pissed off at a chunk of granite wasn't going to do me any good. "OK. Calm down Joey... if she's trying to tell you something with all this, what could it be." I said to myself, trying to calm my brain into rational thought. Hope. What does that mean? Part of something from the past, some detail about her, a location? I've never heard of a town called hope before. Maybe it's a place, rather than a town. Ugh! Why does this have to be so difficult! I have figured out problems before, why is it though, that every time something like this involves her, I can't even think straight! Maybe it's a place I've been before, if that were the case, maybe my pipbuck would have a marker for it.

I opened my pipbuck's map feature and began scrolling along the terrain looking for anything with the word hope in it. Why can't these thing's just have a search feature! I have been all over the place in the last 10 years, sometimes not eating for days when I was on jobs because of the distance I had to travel. I have markers for as far as I can see and some markers on top of markers! It seem's like every time I went somewhere and found something, this damn thing would drop a marker. Oh look, there's Ponyville, oh and over there is Canterlot, hey there's where I took a shit 5 years, 3 month and 48 seconds ago! What a useful little pile of shit you are!

I begin mashing buttons and turning knobs furiously in aggravation, all the while muttering obscenities under my breath at the piece of crap. At some point I hit an button in a menu and was nearly blinded by a bright flash followed by lines, dots, numbers and chevrons. For a brief moment I thought I was dying, finally giving myself a stroke and all the bright green numbers were my brain shutting down for good.

“AHH! OH GODDESSES, OH GODDESSES! NOT NOW! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!!” I screamed thrashing about the canyon floor.

“WHAT IN THE SWEET FUCK IS 'E.F.S.'!? EXTREMELY FUCKING SCARY MODE?!” I screamed again as I fought with overly advanced toaster on my leg.

OK, not dying. I'm still alive but what all is this shit in my vision. Two bars, bottom left and right, complemented by little chevrons in the center of my vision. To the bottom right I had a display with a full bar of parallel vertical lines atop a box with 0/0 in it. In the bottom left I had yet another set of lines forming a bar with a host of little letters below it, I quickly deduced that it was a compass. Oh how I wish I had that soooo many times in the past.

After several minutes of trying to get all the lights to go away with no effect, I decided to just accept the fact that I had now become a walking computer. Granted a very stupid walking computer. But hey! Now I has a compass! Moving up in the world! It occurred to me at that moment that I had forgot to replace the fired round in the chamber of Righty. I drew the pistol from its rested position and well well well. So that's what that 0/0 was for! The numbers in my bottom right of my vision changed from the depressing 0/0 to 5/98 the moment I had the pistol drawn.

“So I have a round counter now huh?” I said as I withdrew a round of P.M.C. .44 magnum from my bags and replace the spent casing with afresh round of ammunition.

For a moment the screen flashed 0/97 and then when I closed the cylinder back, it flashed to 6/97, I even had a little icon showing me that I was holding a .44 magnum pistol. Neat! I took note that when I moved the pistol about, the little chevrons in my vision would move about with it, the two outer ones expanding while in motion and contracting back down when they stopped.

“If this is what I think it is....” I muttered, taking aim at a small rock about 30 yards away. Focusing on the chevrons and doing my best to keep them steady, I slowly depressed the trigger and sent a round directly into it. The rock exploded into tiny bits of gravel, peppering me with dusts and shards of granite.

I fell back on my hunches, cradling both the pipbuck and the pistol in one hoof and began to hear angels start to sing. Even with the clouds I could feel warm light bathing me and a cockiness I had never felt before! Raising the pistol to the air and standing on my hind legs I yelled.

“I HAVE THE POOOOOWER!!!!”

I took the next hour playing around with all the different functions of the E.F.S. Pulling out different guns, foods, shooting at the odd rock that gave me a shifty look. There was a bit of a period where I thought I broke everything and was going to be stuck in a sort of slow motion limbo when I activated a thing called S.A.T.S. But when I discovered I could use it to place rounds in multiple targets, at distance, in different locations with a percentage based hit probability, I nearly had an orgasm right then and there. I felt like my abilities to be accurate had just been quadrupled, making me one hell of a formidable pony to deal with.

Admittedly, my ability to take out targets at distance was always on par with some of the better shots I had met in my life. However my short game left a lot to be desired, I was never much of a close quarters shooter, seeing as I never saw it as necessary in my line of work. Usually I would just booby trap a location and force them to put on a pair of cuffs with the threat of death from above. Not to mention that the vast majority of jobs I had taken in my time were missing ponies and two bit thugs, not harden criminals. So the need for hoof to hoof combat or shooting anything closer than say 50 yards was not a habit for me. But with this, I feel like I could take on a herd of zombies right here in this valley with just my pistols!

S.A.T.S. did have a drawback to it. The first time around, I couldn't figure out how to exit it and the way I found out that I could engage multiple targets was when I haphazardly placed markers on letters on Zuri's note. When I engaged, I blasted the rock to hell and back with both 44 magnums and succeeded in not only destroying the rock but peppering myself with the close range blow back of lead and copper. There was also the need for it to recharge in between uses, granted I could just hop in and out and only deplete a bit at a time but that would leave little to discerning targets.

This was truly power in the hooves of an idiot to say the least. The fact that I could operate S.A.T.S. made me want to go and find some slavers to pick a fight with but that was soon diminished when I noticed the bar in my bottom right fading to one bar less than what it was before. A health bar? Now that was stupid, I can feel when I'm dying, I don't need something to tell me that I am. But that thought was short lived as well when I came close to the foodstuffs in the slaver's camp and decided to munch down on some snack cakes they had.

I was then told I was ingesting rads and the little needle that had been in the green for so long, flickered to life and returned to it's rested position, just ever so slightly moving the other bar in my vision closer to red. Ah a contamination monitor. Well that's handy, at least now I can see how bad the food really is for me at Peach's next time I stop in. This little contraption has everything a pony could need in the wasteland, with it I could see how all those stable ponies would be able to make a go at survival. Yup its got everything....EXCEPT A DAMN SEARCH FUNCTION!

Oh well, a win's a win I always say, I guess I couldn't have thought of half the things on this contraption had I designed it myself. So putting that past some ponies 200 years ago and holding them accountable for not thinking of it was stupid. Just the same, of all the things on here, not having a search function would be like having the best rifle in all the world with no sights or scope. Apart from that I could see everypony wanting one of these, had they knew what all they were capable of.

A bit of embarrassment crept over me when I realized I had been the particular owner of this pipbuck for over 9 years and just now discovered all of it's features. For all my tinkering with it, I had found that it never really worked quite right for me, actually now that I think of it, there were times it outright would crash! Usually not a big deal for me, I grew up reading maps. But sometimes it would put me in situations where I had no clue if I had any ammo for my pistols. Those times sucked a long hard one but, what really sucked is when it went down for about a week last month while I was out salvaging Hoofington. I had found a particularly nice 10mm pistol that had been nickel plated, compensated and had 5 mags of hollow points with it. I ended up selling it for 50 caps to a pony in Megamart and later found out it was worth almost 3 times that much. I had come to rely on the onboard value of items to the point where the numbers were nonnegotiable and let my own skills slack off. Cost me 100 caps.

“OK, I have flashy, blinky lights, caps, ammo....scratch that last one. I have some ammo, no food or water and a severe headache. Better odds than I have had in the past at least.” I said scrolling through my inventory.

If I was going to go after Zu, then I was in need of supplies first, no way I was about to head out to the north without any. Particularly near Ponyville area, that place is just stupid with raiders and while not much of a match at distance, they have a way of popping up around corners. The last thing I need is to get stabbed in the ass and not have at least some med-x or bandages. Don't get me wrong, I like to think of myself as quite the tough pony, but when it comes to serious injury, I can be a bit of a wuss.

It would probably do me some good to make that run to New Appleloosa, I could crash out for the night and do some trading in the morning. I think that I know just the pony to put me up come to think of it, maybe call in a favor with him? Well that is if he's still there or not dead. Caliber has always had a way with words and by “a way” I mean a way of getting his flank over his head and pissing off whole towns of ponies. Personally I think he's a funny guy but other ponies say I have a morbid scene of humor.

OK, so it's north to New Appleloosa, then back this way to try and pick up a trail. In the time up to New Appleloosa and back I should have thought of something to find Zu. If not I'll come back here and start fresh and work my way out in a grid pattern until I find her. If I don't find her on the first go then I'll start pushing east in the northern territories and try to find sign of her there. This should do wonders for my reputation, take several years off to roam the countryside to find a long lost girlfriend. Talk about stalker dedication! Oh well, no time like the present, best get a move on.

“OK, Ms. Stripey Butt, I'm coming....eventually!!” I said as I took flight to the air and pointed myself north to New Appleloosa.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The town of New Appleloosa never looked so good to me. After hours in the air and over two days without sleep, it sure is going to feel nice to lay on something other than dirt for a change. After leaving Hoofington and my sis behind for my yearly trek, I hadn't slept or eaten much. So to say I was tired and hungry would be a understatement. Couple that with my ever growing headache and a general sense of urgency to get a move on this zebra hunt, I was in a pretty bad mood.

Leaving the canyon, I did my best to search for any signs that Zu may have left for me but came up empty hooved. Had I ventured that had the little arrow pointing to the word Hope been a actual clue, then maybe she wouldn't have left anything for quite someways. But just to err on the side of caution, I decided to take a look for myself to verify that it had been the only clue she left. Too many times when I was younger I passed up, at times, valuable clues that would have saved me a lot of time by going off a hot lead. Not to mention it's easier to track a pony when you have no doubt that you have exhausted every resource at your disposal.

Finally I touched down just outside of the gate of New Appleloosa and began my trot into town, I would need to stop by Absolutely Everything first and see about some supplies before I could rest easy. Then I would have to track down Caliber and see about a bed to crash in for the night. Yes I could pay for a room and sleep at the Inn, but I know what goes on in those places. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind being dirty or even down right nasty, but waking up with my cheek glued to a pillow? Gross!

“Well if it isn't Joey, I don't think I've seen you in years boy!” Said Railright.

“Hey Sheriff, how's things?” I asked, trotting through the gates.

“Oh same old same old. Been dealing with all these new folks in town. It gets a might bit hard to keep order when your population doubles over night.”

“So that's where all those slaves ended up I heard about on the radio. I'd say you do got your hooves full then.”

“Son, I ain't had a drop of whiskey since, and trust me, it ain't for a lack of needing it. Speaking of needing, boy you ever gona' put some meat on them bones? Your belly's lookin' a bit concave. ”

“I heard that, I haven't eating well this last year, work's been too busy to post up anywhere longer than an day. Sis say's she likes me like this, say's it makes me look fit. Say Sheriff, is Ditzy around? I'm running low on stock and need to do some trading.”

“Yeah she's around, I think she's in the shop. Say, what brings you our way anyhow? Ditzy said she saw you up northeast ways just a week ago.”

“Yeah, I was up there. Had a bounty to collect, turned sour fast though. I ended up letting her go when I found out I got tricked into working for slavers.”

“Well then, that explains a good bit. I had heard you stirred up quite a bit of trouble with some of Red Eyes boys. Some of the folks are saying you got a bounty of your own now.”

“Really? How much? Might turn myself in if the price is right and retire rich.”

“Now, you know as well as I do there's more than one way to skin a cat. And son, your skinning it with a rock if you think you can start a war with Red Eye by your lonesome.”

“I know, I know. But you know how I feel about them and the nature of my business means I have to come face to face with them near constantly. Now I think they know about Zu, so that's complicated our relationship further.”

“Hey, speaking of zebras...” The sheriff paused tapping his muzzle. Oh great, here comes the “You still hunting down that old girlfriend of yours?” talk. Now I remember why I never come here, well that and Ditzy is almost never here these days.

“One of the new fellers was talking about seeing a Zebra out past Ponyville just the other day. Said she was working her way up north and ducked out of sight when he saw her.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let me guess, she was purple and had great big ears and was flying around farting rainbows right?” I asked jokingly. Over the years, I had gained a bit of a reputation as “The buck who's hunting a zebra ghost”. This had lead to more than one seemingly comical remark compounded by the fact that I am, in fact, a tracker.

“No, seriously Joey. The boy came back all torn up about it. Said he thought it was a ghost when he saw her.”

“Your not just messing with me are you? When was this?” I asked with a growing serious expression.

“About a week back. The feller was up there looking for scrap metal when he saw her. Came back empty hooved and crawled in the bar.”

“Where is he now? I found something back at the canyon, a note she left for me.” I said growing more and more despite.

“Oh he's dead. Poor boy went back that way with a few other bucks to bring back the load he dropped. They got ambushed by raiders on the way back. He didn't make it.”

“SHIT!! EVERY FUCKING TIME!” I screamed. Somewhere up there, there's a group of maniacal supreme beings that are just laughing their asses off at me.

“Now calm down kid, ain't no need in getting all worked up over this. If I recall that asshole Caliber took note of it and questioned him the morning before he left out.”

“Seriously? Caliber did that?” I asked arcing a brow.

“Trust me, I'm just as shocked as you are. But I swear its the only time I think I have seen that boy be sincere about anything. He even had a notepad and kept sayin 'wait till joey hears about this'.”

“If you say Caliber is dead then I swear....” I started.

“Nah, I mean well all kinda wish he was, but last I saw he was in Turnpike Tavern. Look, I need to get back to my rounds, still got a lot of folks to take note of. Best get in Ditzy's store before she shuts it up for the night. Good seein' ya Joey.” Railright said as he trotted off.

“You too Sheriff.” I said as I turned for Absolutely Everything's door.

Now that's unexpected, usually I'm met with the usual “Quick over there! Its her!” or the like when I come here. Since this was the first place I came after meeting her and getting my cutiemark, the entire town knows the story already. And over the years they have found new and inventive ways to pick on me about it. To make things worse, the near constant follow up conversations are always about Lue, Boss and Shale. The latter I don't mind talking about but the two former, I'd rather not. Its been over 8 years since I lost Boss but it's still fresh in my memory like it was yesterday. I still think about Lue from time to time but lets face it, it's hard to miss someone that spent most of their time picking on you, hence why I rarely come here.

But if Caliber actually did do the impossible and do something nice for me by interrogating the witness, then I might actually have something here. Even the thought of him doing such a thing is setting off warnings in my head that something is amiss. Sure he and I are friends, we crack jokes together and even have worked together on more than one occasion, but actually thinking of me? No way, not in a million years would he do such a thing. Come to think of it, I don't have anypony that I would trust to do something nice for me without wanting something in return. Well, Shale, but she's more family than anything. I could trust her with my life if it came down to it, but as far as Cal and I, I don't think I would take that chance. If that was the case, I couldn't really call him a friend of sorts, more of a intermittent partner if I had to pin a label to it.

I guess that's the axiom of working alone and never staying somewhere long enough to make any real friends. Sure I had acquaintances and even the odd casual friend but, a friend, like a friend friend? I never really thought about it. outside of Shale I really didn't have anypony who I could hang that title on. Now Caliber is more of a partner in crime, but I guess I never really though of him as somepony I could count on without payment. He always has a angle that he was working, some way that would make him plenty of caps to keep him stocked on booze and broads. But to be honest, I had never looked past the thick vainer of ass that was Caliber to see if he was anything more than...well...an ass.

The old shop of Absolutely Everything was just as I remembered it, even the feted stench had not changed. A mixture of soured milk and rotten meat hung in the air, mixing with the dust that swirled as I walked about. Rows and rows of goods sat on the shelves, waiting to be traded for other items that too would be bartered away one day. Ditzy, despite falling apart herself, did quite a nice job of keeping the place tidy, I just wish she would do something about the smell. I guess when you're a ghoul pony, the first thing to go is in fact your smell, mercifully no doubt.

Ditzy emerged from the stock room pushing a box of assorted can goods and medical bandages with her front hooves. Upon seeing me she waved at me and, at the same time, lost her balance, toppling the box of goods across the floor. I tried to help her pick them up but was met with a never the mind wave of the hoof and a motion to approach the counter.

“Hey D, how's business?” I asked politely.

With a swing of her head, she flung the chalkboard from around her neck onto the counter top and began to scribble with her mouth. I have had several conversations with Ditzy in the past but to this day I can't get past what it must be like to have to taste chalk every day. I still have no idea how she lost her tongue, I could never find the right words to ask her such a delicate question. All the same, she had managed writing very well, all things considered.

“Good! Long time no see!” She wrote.

“I know, it's been three years. Work kept me busy. Your looking well.” I said.

“Your kind, something I can get for you?” She asked.

“Yes actually, I made a list. I hope you don't mind.” I said sliding the crumpled up paper across the counter. I had learned that dealing with Ditzy can be difficult at times but if you know how to prepare for it, it's not so bad. In fact, since she lost her ability to speak, it has really cut down on the useless chatter from shop patrons.

“Thank you. Will have everything in morning.” She wrote.

“No problem. It's good to see you D.” I said, leaning over the counter for a hug. Yes it's gross but out of all the traders I have dealt with in my life, she has always been kind to me and never done me wrong.

“Heard they saw Zuri. True?” She wrote.

“Maybe, I don't know yet. But I think Caliber got a description from the buck that saw her.” I said.

Ditzy scrunched her nose in clear disdain but soon returned to the soft glare that I'm use to seeing. It's no secret that Ditzy and Caliber are not fans of each other, him a very anti ghoul kinda guy and her...a ghoul.

“Hope you find her.” She wrote.

“Thanks D, you will be the first to know if I do.” I said with a soft smile.

“Want me to adjust holster?” She asked.

“Actually, yeah if you don't mind. Its been biting into my wings.” I said shucking off the the leather barding and placing it on the counter. “Thanks again D, I'm going to go see a pony about a zebra.” I said walking out the door. Ditzy trotted off with my holster and pistols for the second time in my life, it had been so long since I had been without them that it made me feel naked. For some reason I always felt safe when I had them, almost like I had Boss standing right beside me when I had them drawn. It was a felling of having complete control over any situation that came my way. Not to mention my coat was all fluffed up and matted where it had chafed around my wings making me look mangy and unkempt. What, a guy can't strive to look good from time to time?

Across town, the Turnpike Tavern was more full of life than I had seen it ever before. Ponies came and went freely, some on all fours and others being assisted by their friends and one particularly drunk mare in a wheelbarrow screaming that she had one more drink left in her. Well if nothing else maybe doing some "pony watching'' would do me some good if Caliber wasn't here. What am I saying, he's always at the bar.

Sure enough as soon as I trotted through the door, I saw his mop of dark blue rat nest he called a mane. Tail dangling off the side of the seat and into floor, partially obscuring his bullet cutiemark on his ashy white coat. Dirty, mangy and no doubt that he stunk to high heaven. Yup, just as I left him from our last trip together, I bet he hasn't even bathed since then either. Even his lighter features of his mane and tail were so dirty looking that they looked more black than cyan. Honestly, he's a good looking guy, if he would just bathe once in a while he could find a mare and settl...yeah like he would do that. Boy's probably got 15 kids out there somewhere, like he would settle down.

I trotted his way and was spotted instantly by him, it's like he has a sixth scene when I'm around him, he just knows I'm there. Caliber took his gaze away from his pack of smokes and regarded me for a moment. And here it comes.

“Joey! Bout time you got here, I was starting to think you were going to stand me up for our date.” Caliber said in a slightly inebriated slur.

“Sorry, but all the salons were closed down, Honestly you would think a bomb went off or something. I just couldn't do a thing with my mane.” I replied with a over exaggerated flip of my hair.

“You always were the girly type, always primping and preening. Tell me, do you still sit down to pee?”

“Only over your pillow. Are you still trying to date that farmer's sheep?”

“Too whiny, always baaa baaa baaa. Never once did she ask me how I felt. Also he shot at me last time I was there. Rude!” he replied waving his hoof at the situation. His gesture being met by the sudden appearance of a fresh drink from a over worked Apple Whiskey.

“It's good to see you Cal!” I said

“Likewise Joey!” He said, falling out of the booth to attempt a hug. Despite his obvious flaws as a pony, Caliber can be a good guy to hang out with. If something goes wrong or if you screw up, he will usually take the blame for it, regardless if he actually did it or not. He was always looking for some interaction, some outlet to get his frustrations out, usually at the expense of somepony's ego. This had granted him the reputation of being a complete dick most of the time. So much so that he was rarely in one town for more than a year, but for some reason he had stuck around New Appleloosa for over three now.

“I figured you would be coming this way. Just can't shake the stripe fever eh?” He asked.

“I found a note from her. It was fresh and I figured, why not give it one more go. Sheriff said you talked to somepony who might have seen her?” I asked, sitting down in the worn out old booth.

“Well, you'll be happy to know that the buck that saw her gave me every juicy detail he had before I killed him.”

“Cal, he was killed by raiders... and yeah I heard you had taken down some notes. I was hoping you could help me out.”

“Is that what the paper said? Jeez, how is a pony supposed to start a career as a serial killer with them mucking things up. Damn shame. And here I thought I was doing good by not leaving any witnesses.”

“Wait, you didn't actually kill him...did you?” I asked. Sometimes with Caliber, it was hard to gauge whether or not he was joking or serious. I wouldn't put it past him to milk the poor buck for everything he knew and outright murder him. But then again Cal had never done anything like that before...had he? With the arc of a brow I got my answer.

“Funny, what did you find out...seriously... you of all ponies know how much something like this means to me.” I said

“OK, OK Jeez. I was just goofin'.” He said as he reached for a dirty old notebook with “Caliber's detective agency” on the front cover. If that wasn't enough he had even came up with a catch phrase for his faux business "You loose em' we find em'... Results may vary". Cute.

''The buck said he was out gathering scrap and saw a zebra heading north from Ponyville, She was moving between buildings and had not seen them yet but from the distance he said it looked like she had stripes.” Cal said.

“Like you do when you're a zebra...” I said twirling a hoof in the air. The motion was met with a response in the form of a glass of apple whiskey being placed before me. I was a bit surprised, it was almost like the bartender was waiting to throw liquor at my face or something and the slight gesture was just what he was waiting for. But just the same, I now have whiskey, I shall now consume whiskey.

“Says here that he thinks he made out that she had purple eyes. And no before you ask, I didn't bait the question. I just asked what her eye color looked like.” He said looking over the booklet.

“I didn't say anything. But good boy.” I replied, patting him on the head.

“Thank you! He said once they spotted her she changed directions and headed west but they think they saw a set of prints that doubled back later down the road.”

“She's covering her tracks. Smart. OK so north, what's north of Ponyville...” I said looking at my pipbuck.

“Oh loads of awesome stuff! Raiders, ticks, timber wolves, super timber wolves, hellhounds, Hope Solar Array, old ass farm where they used to make drugs, super irradiated legendary timber wolves...”

“Wait, Hope Solar Array? Where's that?” I asked.

“Inbetween the hellhounds and the old ass farm. Pay attention. There's also the Everfree Forest, but that place is a killzone these days.” he continued.

“You know what I meant.” I said through my teeth.

“Luna's sweet crotch titties, lighten the fuck up. Just north of Ponyville, between it and the Everfree Forest. Why, need to recharge your dildo?”

“No, but if I'm right then that's my next stop. She left me a note back in the canyon and if I was reading it right she left a mark leading to hope.” I said. The Hope Solar Array. I had never been there or near the Everfree Forest. That explains why I couldn't find it on my map, I didn't have a location for it because I had never been there. If what I'm thinking is true then Zu is maybe hiding nearby and I should be able to pick up sign of her there.

“Cal, I was wondering, would you mind if I crash at your place for the night?”

“Woah there little missy, what do I look like, a whore? Caliber doesn't put out on the first date.” He proclaimed, putting a hoof to his chest and then belching.

“Please, only for tonight. I'm heading out to Ponyville first thing in the morning and I'll be out of your tail.”

“You know you're always welcome at my place Joe. So long as sleeping on a pee covered pillow doesn't bother you.”

“Cal, you know I didn't pee on your pillow.” I said covering my face with a hoof.

“Who said it was your pee. Now, what do ya say, we get some more drinks and paint this town striped!” Cal said, flagging down the bartender.

“I don't know, I'm pretty beat. May be best...wait, who pee'd on your pillow?” I asked in shock

“Nonsense! My best friend comes in town and he want's to sleep? No way! Lets have some fun!”

“Best friend? Pillow pee? What!?” I said as I was lead away by Cal to the bar.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK, this was a new level of pain I was in. My head feels like it's about to explode and my guts feel like someone pulled them all out and minced them in a blender. Cal had insisted that we stay and drink for another hour before we went...somewhere to do...something. Shit I can't remember, I can't think past the pounding in my head and whatever was trying to claw its way out of my stomach. Did I eat radroach last night? Jeez it feels like it's trying to make it's way from my stomach to my tail hole via machete. Why am I wearing sunglasses... where did I even get sunglasses? That better be my own urine I'm smelling or someponie's gonna die.

Cal had at some point lead me to the couch for me to sleep on, the pillow was in fact damp but I can't tell if its from sweat or my worst nightmare. I tried to move to sit up but my body insisted that I remain motionless until the world stopped trying to kill me with nausea and crushing pain. What the hell happened last night? This is even worse than the last time Cal decided to take me drinking in Flank. And he ended up fathering a child while I was there no less!

From my view off the couch, I could see his entire shack, including his bedroom door and the toilet in the middle of the room. Now why is that a thing! You don't want to be watched sleeping but don't care if the whole world sees you rocking out a deuce? Truly he's a rare breed of pony, but I would think he would at the very least put up a curtain for his guests. Who am I kidding, all of Caliber's guests are either too drunk to care or being paid to be there.

Just as I was about to make my second attempt at rejoining the world of the living, Cal's bedroom door clicked, and began to slowly creek it's way open. I decided to try my best not to move in hopes of scaring the hell out of him as payback for the night before. Maybe if I faked my own death he would think twice before trying to make me drink my weight in whiskey again. Who am I kidding, he would just try harder next time. Besides, it's my own fault for drinking with a guy who says, its not a party until somepony dies.

Just as I was about to speak up, a tuft of white puffy hair poked it's head out of the doorway followed by a set of ears, a shaved body....it was a sheep. From somewhere deep in his room I could just make out Cal saying in hushed tones “Shoo! Go! Go!”. No sooner than the sheep cleared the doorway, a second came shortly there after and began chewing on the carpet. Cal had kidnapped a farmer's sheep and brought them back here to....OK not thinking about that.

Soon Cal emerged from the room wearing a mangy old bathrobe and holding a broom with his magic, using it to shoo his bedfellows out the door. I could feel tears running down my cheek from the restrained laughter and the pain from biting my lip to keep quiet. Soon he had managed to herd the poor creatures to the front door of his shack and was about to open it when one of the sheep decided now would be a great time to have a poo.

“Damn it Speckles! Not on my floor!” Cal said trying his best to keep quiet.

That did it, I could hold back him kidnapping sheep, even trying to hide the fact he did it, but he actually named them. The dam broke and I lost it, falling into the floor and crying in laughter. The pain in my head was so intense that I began to dry heave and eventually vomit on the floor, all the while laughing and trying not to wet myself.

“You...you actually named her?” I asked through laughing, gagging sobs.

“Shut up! It's not what it looks like!” Cal said trying to push “Speckles” out the door.

“Now..Cal, no need to be a bad host cuz I'm here. Aren't you going to introduce me?” I said still trying not to wet myself.

“SHUT IT! You ever tell anypony about this, I'll shave your coat off!” Cal screamed.

“Why, so I can look more like your girlfriend?” And I just wet myself. Cal took note of the other sheep making a meal of my pile of sick on the floor.

“DAMN IT RAMONE! STOP EATIN' FUCKING PUKE! WE TALKED ABOUT THIS!” Cal yelled.

“CAL! OH CLESTIA WHY! STOP! PLEASE STOP! IM GONING TO PASS OUT! HAVE YOU NO SHAME” I screamed, now in physical pain from the amusement.

“YOU KNOW I DON'T! NOW HELP ME GET THESE FUCKERS OUT OF HERE BEFORE THE FARMER COMES BACK!” Cal yelled.

“ I can't! I can't! I think I'm dying. Cal I can't even right now!” I screamed.

“I HATE YOU! I REALLY REALLY HATE YOU!” Cal bellowed.

After I had regained my composure and Cal had ushered his ladies of the evening out the door, I took the next hour to try and overcome the complicated task of walking. Why was the world still moving, I'm just standing here and it feels like I'm floating to the ceiling. If I survive this, I'm going to never drink again and I'm going to kill Caliber until he dies from it. I stink, I feel like crap and I can't feel my left hind leg, who would want to do this to themselves. This is the worst feeling I have ever felt and I have drank plenty in my time, but I have never had a hangover this bad. Damn you apple whiskey and your seductively sweet flavor!

“Hey Joe, you OK?” Cal asked.

“I think I was over served last night. My head feels like it's in a vice."

“Well, that's what you get for wrestling Crane.''

“Wait what!? I got in a fight with Crane!? I like him, what did I do to piss him off?”

“Oh you didn't piss him off, you two were just drunk and messing around. You said you thought you could take him. You didn't.” Cal said, packing his bags for the day

“Why would you let me do that!”

“I don't know, seemed like a good idea at the time. To be fair you held your own for a while, but he sent you flying across the yard."

“Wait I what now? I don't remember any of this.” I said, trying to rub the pain from my head.

“Ah, well, he was pretty worried he killed you there for a while. You landed on top of the Inn, took you a while to come too. But when you screamed “I can smell semen from up here!” He relaxed a bit.”

“So that's why my leg is numb and why my head hurts."

“No, that probably came from where you decided to try and fly down to earth from the roof.”

“Try? So I was so drunk I couldn't fly?”

“Oh I'm sure you could, but you had your wings tied to your body. It was part of the bet in the fight.” Cal said, now putting on his saddle bags.

“Wait what! You let me jump off a building with my wings tied up!?” I screamed.

“What. You lived. Landed on your head. Nothing important broken.”

“Why do I hang out with you...” I said, burying my head in my hooves.

“Oh you know you love me, hey, don't you have a zebra to marry, virginity to loose or something? Best get a move on, sun's been up for an hour.” Cal said walking out the door.

“Yeah, I guess I need to get to Ditzy's and pick up my gear and head out.” I said following him out the door.

Cal and I parted ways as soon as his door shut, him heading off to Celestia only knows where and myself to Absolutely Everything. The town was quiet this morning, usually when I'm here and up this early, everyone is moving around and getting started for the day. But for some reason, everything's oddly quiet, it's like the whole town stayed out late and was hungover. Passing by one of the few ponies that were out and about, sealed that thought with a kiss. The poor buck was barely managing to walk straight. As soon as I passed him by, he let out a dry heave and ducked behind a barrel, followed by a choirs of bodily noises I knew all too well.

Jeez! Did Cal get the whole town drunk or something? It's like he has his own brand of radiation that he gives off, causing a critical case of alcohol poisoning. Cal has been known to throw quite a few parties in his time, many I have been a apart of, but few that I had partaken in. The last time I did was back in Flank and the aftermath resulted in a broken wing and waking up in a tree. I have been told that when I drink I get overly emotional, but I have also been told that if I keep drinking that I become somepony completely different. Add Caliber to that equation and I have been known to cause myself great bodily harm in my never ending mission to have “fun”.

Granted I always paid my price the next morning but Cal on the other hoof just prefers to skip town and leave what will be, to be just that. Luna only know's how many kids he has fathered in his short life and now, maybe even a few sheep? Can sheep and ponies even...not thinking about it! What would they even look like, would they have Cal's coat in a woolly form? What about the eyes, sheep have those creepy eyes, would those be like pony eyes or just blue like his? Would they just look like ponies but twice as dumb...no then they would just be miniature versions of Cal... hey didn't I say stop thinking about this?

Walking through the door of Absolutely Everything, I was greeted by Ditzy who rushed over to me and began looking me over. She had the oddest expression on her face, almost like a mother who had just found her lost colt and was looking them over for injuries. She looked me over fore and aft in her relentless search for broken bones and cuts finally coming to my hind leg that I pulled away at her touch. The numbness was subsiding but a new, fresh pain was starting to set in during my walk over. It felt dull and achy, almost like it had been hit by a bat the day before. Not so much that I couldn't walk but it was in fact starting to make movement more tricky.

Ditzy examined it closer and began to poke at it with her hoof, over and over again. Each time met with a “ow” or a mild squeak from me from the sharp, throbs of pain. Having sufficiently poked my leg two or three dozen times, she concluded her search for problems with a swing of her chalk board, dropping it to the floor and began to scribble.

“I think you hurt your leg.” She wrote.

“Yeah? How'd you guess?” I squeaked out. Ok the pain was really setting in now and her pokes and jabs didn't help.

“You said ow.” She wrote.

“Uhkay....yeah I think I hurt it last night. Funny it just now started hurting, it's been numb all morning.”

“Candi numb it?”

“Must have, I hope its not broken. Were you able to find the things I needed?” I asked. Ditzy nodded and rushed off to the back room to retrieve the items from my list. I started to lift my hind leg off the floor and began to hop to the counter to start conducting business when Crane came walking in.

“Joey! You're alive. Oh good.” Crane said with a look of relief on his face.

“Yeah, I think so. But I'm afraid my case of chronic stupidity might be going terminal.” I said still favoring my right leg.

“Look, I saw ya come in here and just wanted to say I'm pretty sorry about kicking your flank like that. I knew you was drunk and all but I can't pass up a good scuffle.”

“Ain't no thing. I don't even remember what happened to be honest.” I said forcing a smile.

“Yeah well, seems like that leg might recall what happened. You're. lucky Candi was there to mend it when you hit the ground.”

“Wait, Candi was there and still let me jump!?” I said in surprise.

“Hell kid, she had 20 caps and a bottle of Wild Pegasus on you to win.” He said with a chuckle.

“What is wrong with you ponies!” I said with a laugh. At this point I earned any pain I had to deal with so why be mad about it.

“Hey now, I was going to try and levitate you down but I was in stitches when you screamed 'gross it smells like semen and dick friction up here'.” He said laughing.

“I'm sure it did too!” I said mirroring his laugh.

“Hey, by the way, Candi is looking for you. Says she wants to give you a once over before you head out of town. Take care of yourself out there, we want to see you again especially after last night.” Crane said walking out the door.

Smells like semen and dick friction, where in the world did I come up with that one. I swear sometimes its like I have two ponies in my head that can't play nice together. One pony calling the shots and overthinking everything and another pony who takes all the shots, makes all the bad decisions and the best jokes. If they would just work together maybe I would be the charismatic buck all the girls fall for but no, they have to sit in their corners and wait for the other to pass out before one of them takes control.

No sooner than Crane trotted out the door Ditzy had returned with an old milk crate full of my belongings and...was my holster rig black now? She had used her time wisely and generously to rework my old barding into something much better than I had ever had before. The leather was now double layered with armor plating in the center. The once brown scuffed hide was now a deep lustrous black with white stitching, even the buckles looked new!

She must have spent all night on this rig and Celestia only knows how many caps worth of Ar500 steel. She had left the pistols untouched but at the top of the holster, just bellow my neck now sported my cutiemark embossed into the leather. She had also taken great care to relieve the areas around my wings and rolling the leather up to expose a suede liner just underneath.

She had added straps from the front shoulders that ran across my chest, crossed in the middle and went under my front legs to attach to the underside of the shoulder guards. I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in her work and how fast she had completed it no less. It was positively awesome looking, somehow she had taken the old worn holster and breathed new life into it, making it a work of art. Even where the old holster met the new leather was seamless, how did she pull all this off.

Ditzy took great care in helping me into my new rigging all the while making small adjustments to the quick detach straps. The holster before stopped just after my wings on either end of my back but now reached from the nape of my neck to my hind quarters. There were reliefs just above my cutemark with buckles for my saddlebags where once again she had rolled the leather to expose the liner below. It was a bit heavy but sooo comfy! Ditzy having completed the installation, retrieved her chalkboard and wrote.

“You like? Fit OK?”

“Ditzy, I love it but I didn't ask for any of this. You didn't have to spend all night working on this for me.”

“I won 300 caps on your fight.”

“You bet against me? Well. Can't say I blame you, but still, thank you.”

“Everything is in your bags.” She said smiling proudly.

“Ok, I know I don't want to know but how much is this going to cost me.” I asked squeezing my eyes shut.

“Holster's on the house, 341 caps for the gear.”

“Ditzy no, I have to pay you for this.” I said digging for my caps. How do I even put I price on work this good.

“It's your c-day. On the house.” She wrote. By “c-day” I guessed she meant my cutiemark day. Even though I was born in February, Boss had from the day I got my mark, celebrated that day as my birthday seeing as the actual date was a mystery.

“Please, I have to give you something for this. Its beyond amazing!” I said almost pleading with her to take my money. This was a first, I mean D has always been good to me but I have never had to argue over paying somepony before.

“Bring muffins. Even?”

“OK...you win. Muffins it is. It might be awhile but when I get back I'll make a run to Tenpony and get some.” I said in defeat.

“Deal!” She wrote, then walked back behind her counter.

Great, now I have to find muffins in the wasteland. The only place I know of is in Tenpony Tower and last I checked they don't like me very much. In fact I'm pretty sure it was the baker there that I cussed out last time I was asked to leave...great, awesome. Looks like I will be paying for this holster... barding at this point, with extremely overpriced muffins nonetheless. If I can even get in.

Finally! It's time to get this wild zebra chase under way! I've got all my gear, guns, ammo and a spiffy new barding to make this trip an adventure. The only thing I was lacking was confidence in this all going smoothly and me finding anything at all. Sure finding Zuri's note and hearing about a possible sighting had my hopes up, but that had faded to cautious optimism. My heart told me this was the time I was going to find her, but my brain was telling me, don't get your hopes up. Well, only one way to find out, I guess its time to get a move on.

Candi wanted me to stay in town for a few days to make sure my leg had been set properly and had mended well enough for walking. But when I argued that I could just fly and keep it favored she gave me the 'stupid buck' look and said “ Your leg, not mine”. Taking off and landings were problematic but I figured I could just take it easy and maximize my time in the air so it could rest. It wasn't like I was dying from it, it was just annoying me with a shot of pain whenever I stepped wrong. Also the sad crippled pony on my pipbuck was starting to piss me off. I know my legs jacked up, I don't need you reminding me and that health bar is starting to make me anxious. I liked not knowing when I was near death, this makes it feel like I have a timer on my life.

From the distance I could hear blasts from a shotgun going off and just to my right, the sound of hooves on sand running my way. Instinctively I drew one of my pistols and adopted a sitting position, readying myself for whatever came next. The sound was coming from between the buildings behind me, the galloping growing closer and louder. My E.F.S. began to show a green bar running at a fair clip between the buildings. What could it be now? Bandits? Raiders? Slavers? What!

My questions were answered when Caliber came running out from between the building and tripped, falling flat on his face. He was missing hair on his rump and... was part of his tail gone? What had happened to him? Cal, seeing me, changed course almost on a bit and ran my way.

“Joey, great to see you! Mind if I come along?” Cal said trying to act casual.

“I guess, what's going on, what happened to your tail?” I asked.

“My tail?” Cal said spinning to see the once flowing blue and cyan tail now reduced to a cropped choppy nub. “MY TAIL!” He screamed, his shocked surprise melting into a very convincing pouty face.

“Damn that looks bad-” I was cut off by the shotgun blasts growing closer followed by a red bar entering my vision. Huh, OK so hostiles are red, friendlies must be green. Maybe this thing will come in handy after all.

“No time! You can carry a pony when you fly right?”

“I mean I have done it before but those were just foal-” again cut off, this time by Caliber jumping on my back. My leg gave a protest in the form of blinding agony at the added weight. Almost instinctively I began to flap and pull my lame leg from the earth to relieve the pain. Oh that was heaven!

“Mush bird horse! Mush!” Cal screamed, smacking my flank.

“Ow, what the hell asshole!” I said looking back to him. At that moment I saw the farmer being trailed by two sheep, with a shotgun taking aim at my flank. Just as he pulled the trigger, Ramone I think, gave the farmer a bump of his head to the farmers legs. He then fell to his face and the gun went off, sending buckshot skittering across the ground were my hind legs had been. Fearing for my own tail I pushed off the ground and began to fly as fast as my wings would carry us both.

“Nice holster! Is it new?”

“We not gonna talk about your little problem with the farmer's daughter back there?”

“Oh him? Nah. He's just mad because he thinks I got Speckles pregnant.”

“What the actual fuck Cal.”

“So where are we heading?”

Chapter 3: Friends?

“Look all I'm saying is that I feel that he shouldn't have shot at us.” Cal said trotting beside me.

The town of Ponyville loomed on the horizon, casting shadows across the landscape in the afternoon setting sun. I had made it the majority of the way here with Cal on my back but, about ten miles prior to Sweet Apple Acres, my wings gave out. Cal managed to tuck and roll into a brier bush, becoming tangled in the torn covered ropes of vines. I on the other hoof, was graceful enough to land in an old apple tree, hit my hurt leg on a branch, fall 15 feet onto the same leg and roll around crying for 30 minutes. Thank Celestia for med-x, I'm pretty sure the bones held but that didn't stop it from hurting to the point of tears.

“I know right! what kind backwards hillpony shoots at his future buck-in-law. There should be a law.” I said.

“DAMMIT! FOR THE LAST TIME! I did not have sexual relations with that sheep!” Cal belted back at me.

“I know Cal.”

“Thank you! Finally.”

“You had sexual relations with both of those sheep. I know you're not a selfish lover.” I continued.

“THAT'S IT BIRD BOY, I'M KICKING YOUR ASS.” Cal said.

“You would hit me, a poor lame buck who's searching for true love in the wasteland?” I said falling back to my hunches in offense. Cal, wasting no time, had procured a week old pile of brahmin turds and threw it right in my face. Now, I know Cal and Cal knows me. He knows the fastest way to piss me off is to do something that would result in me being covered in some form of bodily waste.

“OH. It. Is. ON! Come here, you son of a whore bitch bastard!” I screamed as I took flight, grabbing Caliber and lifting him off the ground. Scanning the area around me, I spied a nasty looking quagmire, maybe if I'm lucky it will be a two century old sewage pit. Slowly I hovered over the pond of filth, doing my best to manage the kicking, flailing buck in my grasp. I think a good swim will do him some good, maybe cool him off a bit and get his brain off of sheep.

“Joey! What are you doing! Put me down!” Cal screamed. Just a little closer now.

“Damn it Joey, put me the hell down and I'll let all this go!” Cal continued. Almost there.

“Joey, so help me, if you drop me in that lake of ass water I'm going to really hurt you!” Cal said.

Close enough. I released my grip on him and grinned as he began to plummet to the earth. Goddesses only knows what's in that nasty pond, oh well, Cal could tell me all about it later. Pleased with my work almost instantly, I crossed my hooves and gave myself a firm nod of approval. It was just at that moment I noticed a heavy weight pulling down on my tail, I was also now aware of the fact that I was now failing to earth just as fast as Cal was.

Cal had latched onto my tail with his teeth and the sudden addition of his weight took me by complete surprise. Together now, we fell to the earth like two moronic stones with a date with the primordial ooze that had been cooking for 2 centuries. Through muffled noises I could make out Cal trying to say “Fwap dammit! Fwap!”. I tried my best to regain control but it was too late, the sudden jolt of weight had made my wings falter sending us into a free fall. My wings struggled to gain purchase in the air, flapping wildly and out of sync trying to recover from the momentum.

Splash

My vision filled with nasty, murky water. A bit of yellowish green algae was now lodged in my left nostril and the water began to sting at my eyes. In my vision I could see a host of warnings that all summed up to 'hey, did you know you are drowning in radioactive water?'. I couldn't help myself, still underwater I screamed.

“NO SHIT, LEG TOASTER!”

The scream was muffled down to the sound of water and air rushing past my face. Determined to not spend my life down here I decided it was time to find my way out of this pit of despair. Poking my head out of the water I saw Cal fighting with the sludge around the pond's bank. He was covered head to hoof in brown slime that clung to him like a second coat, and then the smell hit me like a rock. I could feel bile in my mouth at the stench coming from the ooze that he was slogging through, every step releasing more of the foul smell.

“Good one, Joey. Great job. I hope your balls rot off for this.” Cal said from the bank.

“You started this you know.” I said still working my way to the bank.

“Look, I didn't do anything to those sheep. I swear it. You know I can't stand being called a liar, you know me better than that. We must have stole them and they fell asleep in my room.” Cal said trying to fling the muck from his coat.

“Yeah, I know. I guess I was giving you a hard time for, oh I don't know, letting me jump off a building with my wings tied behind my back?” I said raising a eyebrow.

“Even?” Cal asked.

“Even. Now can we move past this and get back trying to find this Solar Array?” I asked.

“Hey, you're the one still in the puke pond. Com'on now little birdie, com'on. Come take a nice mud bath.” Cal said gesturing with both hooves.

“You forgetting something?” I asked

With a push I lifted my self from the water and started flapping for all I was worth, flinging green slime and brown water in every direction. Mercifully I began to rise, hover to the bank and landed next to Cal. Being a bird horse has it's benefits and if he was going to tease me about having wings, who would I be if I didn't use them to my advantage. Oh the look on Cal's face right now, it just screams 'I hate you so much'.

Despite landing in the same filth as he did, I managed to stay in the water rather than work my way through the mountain of disgust that was the ponds bank. Nevertheless, I reeked just the same as he did and by the weight, texture and body of the smell, it was going to be a long time before I could stand to smell myself again. The odor of rotten weeds, stagnate water and what I really hoped wasn't poo, covered us both. I began to crinkle my nose at the stench, felling my stomach begin to lurch at the same time as my eyes instinctively closed. The water was in my eyes, ears and nose, there was no way I was going to be able to smell this for long without loosing my lunch. I felt my nose begin to itch and soon I could feel the signs of a sneeze coming on.

With one great 'ACHOO' that I tried to cover with my hoof, I sent the offending piece of algae rocketing right into Cal's face.

“That was an accident, I swe-” I was cut off by Cal wiping it from his face with never the mind wave with his other hoof.

“But I-” I was cut off again.

“No, no. I had that one coming.” Cal said.

“For what, you said we were even.”

“For this!” Cal said lunging at me and wrapping me in a bear hug. He then began to smear his nasty body all over mine covering me in the same nasty muck he was covered in. The smell, oh goddesses the smell! After he had concluded his assault he stood, wiped more of the muck from his chest and said.

“Now were even.”

“Please... no more” I whimpered.

“Seriously Joey? You have to had smelled worse in your life. I have dated mares that smelled way worse than this.” Cal said.

“Not saying I haven't, I'm saying I didn't like it then either.” I said trying my best to scrape off as much of the crud as I could that was now drying to my coat.

“Well, no sense going on like this.” Cal said.

With a flash of his horn came a odd tingling sensation across my body followed by a warm sensation of being... washed? What the hell, a cleaning spell? I would say I'm not surprised but in all the time I knew Cal, the only tricks I had seen from him were levitation and a simple healing spell. The glow faded and I was left feeling fresh and cleaner than I had in weeks, I even smelled good. OK, if he could do that with a flash of the horn, there is no reason for him to trot around looking like trash the way he does.

“OK, what the hell. Where did you learn that?” I asked.

“Dated a spa tech in Tenpony. She showed me a few tricks in exchange for me to find some bottle of conditioner over in Fetlock.” Cal said.

“Well, thanks for that. But if you can do that, why don't you do it every day?”

“Ha... ha... ha... maybe it's because every time I do that spell I end up smelling like lavender for a week.”

“Now what's wrong with that! Better then the smell of whiskey, cigarettes and love juice.”

“I hate lavender! It gives me a headache.”

Curious if I too had taken on a notable aroma, I began to sniff my coat on my foreleg. Oranges! I like Orange! I could work with that, if nothing else at least it's not the smell of that pond. I seriously envy unicorns for their ability to do magic like this. But then again, I do love having wings, I just wish that it had not come standard with a fear of heights in my particular model. For some reason no matter how hard I tried to overcome my fear, I could only ever manage to go 300 feet off the ground before I got all woozy. At least I can make good time with them, even if the majority of my job keeps me grounded.

We started out towards the northern end of Ponyville towards the Hope Solar Array, walking side by side. I flapped my wings out and began to preen the crooked feathers back to their original resting positions. Wow, I taste like rad-away? Well if rad-away didn't taste so rank that is, and if it was a bit sour. Delicious! Heh, Joey, now available in tangy citric flavor! If Shale ever found out about this, she would insist in doing all of my preening from here on out, hell she would probably spend most our time together licking me. Now why did that bring up a bunch of weird feelings and taboo emotions, nothing wrong with a brother and sister lic...shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Cal was watching me work the feathers back to their places with mild interest when he finally spoke.

“Why do you do that, nibbling at your wings like that?”

“Huh? Preening? Just straightening the feathers back out. They get all bunched up when I fold them up wet and it drives me nuts.” I said, continuing my work to my left wing.

“Why don't you just flap them a few times and straighten them out that way?”

“Because they would tear along the veins and get even more tangled. Mwakes fwying ah bish.” I said through a mouth full of wing.

“Huh, that's nuts, and here I though you just had a nervous tick all these years.” Cal said as I continued my work.

Truth is, it is a nervous tick to a extent, it's also a necessity from time to time. But I have been known to 'chew' on my wings when I'm nervous, a habit that has cost me more than one primary feather in my time. Where as it may not seem like that big of a deal to loose one feather to ponies without wings, you can feel it in everything you do. The spot feels naked and raw, everything that touches it feels like a annoying sensation akin to rash but without the pain. Where it's not painful, its distracting as all hell and has even caused me to fly head on into a dead tree when I was younger. As stupid as it sounds, one misplaced feather to somepony like me, will agitate me to the point of not being able to complete a simple task.

We spent the next few hours of travel in silence. Less because of lack of conversation topics and more due to the raiders that were on a knives edge and acting weirder than normal. They would randomly poke their heads out the windows of the buildings and burned out houses looking for, best I could tell, nothing. It was making travel problematic, usually they have a rough schedule of rounds that they would make. But something had them checking the windows every 15 seconds, sticking their muzzles out just far enough to be seen.

“I don't like this, something's wrong.” Cal said.

“Me neither, what do you think's got them so spooked?”

“I don't know. But if it's badass enough to scare the shit out of a raider, do you really want to find out?”

“I do not.” I said, ducking behind a building.

“This way, we can work our way around the town from the outside.” I said looking back to Cal who had taken post under a window sill.

He had is head turned parallel to the window sill and was edging his ear closer to the window's edge. His ear twitched a few times and he raised a hoof for me to come to him, mouthing that he could hear voices. Slowly I edged my way to him along the wall, once at his side, I slid my back up against it and leaned in, standing on my hind legs. I could hear the voices of two bucks and a mare inside talking about a pony, but from the way they were talking, it sounded more like a ghost.

“It's fucking nuts! First that retard Twitch Blade and now Tram is gone! Just fucking gone!” One of the bucks said.

“Awwww, what's a matter. You scared of ghosts now too?” The other buck said.

“Dumb shit probably off'd himself. Always was a pussy.” The mare rasped.

“I'm fuckin' telling you, that fuckin' thing got them! I saw that shit with my own eyes!” The buck said.

“Yeah, yeah, sure it did. I bet next you're gona say Twitch grew wings and became one of those alicorn things.” The mare rasped.

“Fuck the both of yous, I know what I saw!” The buck yelled.

“Com'on, what are you a foal? Go find the thing and kill it!” The other buck said.

“Fuck that, I'm not going anywhere near that fuckin' place.” The buck who says fuck a lot said.

I looked down to Cal who...was no longer there. Looking around I saw that he was edging a door open with his nose with a grenade in his magic. Doing my best impersonation of his mom, I did everything in my power to stop him, but it was no use. He looked back to me and scratched the ground with a hoof 3 times, a trick he used often to relay numbers of combatants. He then, pulled the pin of the grenade, sending the stem flying and...kept holding it. Wait, did he even know how to use those things!? Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever seen him with a grenade before! I motioned for him to throw it but he just kept smiling. One second, two seconds, three seconds. I was gnawing my wings to nubs, throw the fucking thing!

Finally, after four long seconds and with a swiftness I had never seen him use before, he lobbed the metal apple into the room and ducked. One second later an explosion tore through the room with its concussive force, shaking the ground and rattling the walls. The grenade must have landed near the wall I was standing near because the boards against my back gave way. The force sending me flying against the wall of the other house, dropping me in a pile of old rope, tangling me. I landed head first on my pipbuck, sending little spots though my vision while I did my best to cover my head from the flying bits of house.

Through the window came a spray of blood that spattered across the neighboring wall and dripped down to the spot where I had taken cover. A giant blob of what was once raider, dripped down and landed right on my left flank. I could feel the warm blood running down my leg and pooling on the ground around my hoof. I didn't have the time to mourn the death of my freshly cleaned coat before Caliber jumped to his hooves and shouted.

“RUN!”

In a spray of wood, blood and bits of what was once raider, I plowed my way through the fallen debris, flailing and sending it in every direction. taking half of the pile with me as I emerged, I began to scramble to my hooves and try to run as straight as I could. Cal had just disappeared behind the wall of a house when I had managed to free myself and tear out after him, still tangled in a length of rope. Taking the corner far too fast, I slid wide and toppled over onto my back, taking out several trashcan in the process. If the loud report from the grenade had not woke this town up, the panicking buck crashing into garbage cans had to. Finally managing a sure footing I took chase after Caliber who had gained a sizable lead over me. Looking back and noticing this, Cal slowed his pace for me to catch up. Something that was taking much longer than I had wanted due to my hind leg sending spires of pain up my hip and down my back.

“What the hell was that! Are your trying to get yourself killed?” I screamed as we rounded the last house and pointed north.

“They looked hungry, I gave them a baked apple!”

“What the sweet flank is a baked apple!? You could have blown yourself to hell you maniac!”

“Pull the pin, wait three or four seconds and throw. They go off in Five, I like to let em' cook a few before throwing them.”

“Why in the hell would you do that!”

“Cuz they can't run, no chance for them to toss it back!”

“You're crazy!”

“I know, right?”

What kind of foalish thing was that! 'cooking' a grenade? I don't care how effective that is, the very thought of holding an armed grenade and throwing it at the last second is just so stupid on every level. Then again considering who I was traveling with, I shouldn't be surprised. He always had a way of ending a problem in the most bizarre of ways, I'll just have to add cooking grenades to the ever growing list of things that he did that scared the hell out of me.

“How far to the Solar Array?” I asked.

“Uh, about 9 miles.”

“Shit! I can't run that far!”

“You have wings dumbass! Use them!”

“I'm still tangled up in rope! I can't get my wings out!”

“Then you better learn to run that far! It's all open ground from here!”

“Why the fuck did you do that!”

“Those were the assholes that killed the buck that saw Zu. I couldn't just walk away from them.”

“Yeah, next time wait till I'm healed up before starting a war. This hitch is killing me!” I said looking back for all of the raiders...that weren't chasing us?

Stopping in my tracks, I spun and looked back at the town, scanning for raiders, hell anypony at this point. But there was nothing. I was sure that we would have at least 20 of them on our tail by now, but the town was almost dead in it's appearance. I stood there watching the sun sink lower in the sky trying to wrap my head around why we weren't being shot at. This was a first for me, usually when you set off a bomb in a town full of raiders, they all come out to play. But there was nopony, not even a sound came from the old town of Ponyville despite every house seeming to be full of raiders.

“What.s going on here.” Cal asked.

“I don't know, but something tells me it's more than just a zebra picking off raiders.” I said giving a nervous glance around.

“Hellhounds maybe?”

“Maybe. One thing is for sure, we don't need to go around setting off explosions if it's as bad as they are letting on.” I said trying to free myself from the tangled mess I was in.

“What is with you, I had to take them out, it was the right thing to do Joey. I know the ponies in that town hate me, could you imagine if they knew I had a chance to take out the raiders that killed that buck and did nothing? Even still, that buck had kids, would you like to the be the one to tell them you let their father's killers go?”

“Nopony would have known Cal! You could have just let it be, but no, you had to take a chance to make up for your own bad name!” I said.

“I would have known! You would have known! That's two ponies too many!” Cal said raising his voice.

“So you're protecting your virtues was worth putting us both at risk? Did you forget we are out here for a reason!?” I said mirroring his tone.

“Dammit, now I remember why I don't like traveling with you. Always bossing me around, always telling me how to do things, always second guessing me! Did you ever stop to think that maybe it's all I have left? The only thing that makes me the least bit palatable to other ponies?” Cal said, now yelling.

“Did you ever stop to think that maybe there are consequences for acting the way you do? Did you ever think that maybe if you stopped being a self-centered ass for five minutes, then maybe you wouldn't have to protect your morals? Maybe if you would listen to what other ponies say about you, you wouldn't live up to their expectations of being a loser!”

“Oh! I'm a loser? Who's clinging to the only mare that ever had anything to do with him? Who's the one that's been depressed for 10 years now over a girl that's most likely dead!? Tell me! What did she promise you that was so fucking grand to make you throw 10 fucking years of your life away waiting for her?” Cal said.

“Don't you dare bring her into your bullshit Cal! That's crossing the line! Unlike you, I don't need a stable of whores to bury my guilt under! I may be depressed, pathetic even, but I'm not like you! I don't have to spend my life drunk to try and forget killing one of my own family members over something stupid I did!”

“Fuck... you... I only came with you in the first place because I felt sorry for you.” Cal said pointing at me.

“You did this out of pity for me?” I said narrowing my eyes.

“Yeah. I did. You go on moaning about that damn zebra so much that sometimes it's all we ever talk about. I thought if I went with you, maybe I could get you to stop this shit and move on but no, here I am busting my ass and getting yelled at. I don't need this shit from you, maybe I should just go back to town and let you get killed out here.” Cal said.

“If that's what you want. Fine with me.” I said turning away from him.

“Wait, you're seriously going to go alone.” Cal said.

“Bluff's called, I don't need this from you either. I have all the pity I need, just not any friends apparently.” I said walking away.

I kept walking in the vague direction of the Solar Array, looks like I would be back to a one pony band yet again. If he meant what he said and was doing this for pity, then I didn't want him with me. I actually thought that he cared about this, cared about me and how important this was to me but I guess I was wrong. I actually let him fool me into thinking that he might actually be my friend, even the way he acted made me to feel that he cared about me. Was I just another fucked up buck that he can drink with to forget his own problems? No wonder he doesn't have any friends, hell, with judgment like mine, no wonder I don't.

Behind me I could hear Cal murmuring under his breath but the growing distance was fading his words away with the wind. I turned back to see him still sitting in the same spot, looking down at the town, seeming to have a argument with himself. Part of me wanted to go back and try to talk things out but a bigger part of me said to keep moving. So that's what I did, I turned and started to walk away, feeling a all to familiar pain in my chest that I had be let down.

I walked for what seemed like hours towards the direction we were heading, I tried flying but I was still upset from the fight I had with Cal. My rage had faded to guilt for the things I had said to him, thanks to the newly acquired loneliness I had picked up along the way. I could have said I was sorry for yelling at him, maybe meet him in the middle somehow. But that comment about throwing my life away on Zuri really bit deep, who was he to bring her into this anyway? At that point I didn't want to reason with him, I just wanted to be mad, even if it meant us going our separate ways. I made it this far in life on my own and so had he, there was no reason for us to be together for this. Hell he was running from a farmer for kidnapping his sheep for Celestia's sake!

Thinking back that was pretty funny but still, I didn't want to be a escape route for him, I wanted him to be my friend. He and I had been through a lot in the past, worked jobs together, traveled together for a few months. It was always business when we were together, I always went to get him when I needed a heavy hitter. Somepony who wasn't afraid to get the job done or go someplace I would never go alone. Hell, there were times that he had charged head first into the fray with almost no gear to pull off a extraction for me for nothing more than a thanks.

He's a good fighter, creative when it comes to magic and usually has a way out, even when things get all 'explody' as he liked to say. Once he even crawled through a sewer drain for 3 hours just to get a door open for me. Even then I didn't think he would make it out of that nasty pipe, but low and behold the door clicked open with him standing there smiling, covered in filth. Maybe that's why I always went to him when things got hard, maybe he was my secret weapon when I had nothing else. I can't say we don't have fun together, but having him with me on a job would sometimes feel more like babysitting than working. But there was also times where it felt more like a practical joke on anypony that go in our way of getting things done.

It dawned on me in my lucid reverie that maybe I was the one that used him, rather than the other way around. Could it be that this whole time that I was the pony using him to do my dirty work and he thought I was his friend in return? Had I just seen him as a tool this whole time I had known him? Somepony who was a expendable yet fun and useful asset? No, that couldn't be, I wouldn't do that to somepony...would I? Everypony I met while I was with him had some bad story to tell about, something he did to turn a whole town on him. Yet, despite all the bad things I had been told, he was always eager to got on missions with me at a moment's notice. I had always just assumed that he wanted to get out of town and I was the logical best excuse for him to do so.

I expected a lot out of him when we went out together. He had to be fast enough to keep up, willing enough to fight somepony other than his owns fight and crazy enough to get the job done. I don't like to admit it but there were times where I needed him more than he needed me and he would always be there. And now I was expecting friendship from him with no reciprocation and no questions asked. Had I really just quantified him as a asset rather than a pony who was just looking for somepony to lean on? If that's the case then I can't help but feel like he and I are a lot alike despite us being polar opposites. Him needing somepony to see him as something other than the asshole he can be and myself needing somepony who actually wants to be with me?

Even now I was looking for a mare that I had only knew for a short time, all because I had a connection with her so long ago. I had even slacked off on looking for her for years because I lost hope until I saw she was still looking for me. Even the act of going to the mountains where I met her had become symbolic rather than a search to end my loneliness. Yet she had maintained hope this whole time where I had lost it all long ago. Almost like she knew deep down that we would be together again, she never gave up on me finding her.

Cal was always ready to hit the trial with me the moment I showed up, granted his last entrance was a bit more grand than usual. There were even times when he came and found me almost like clockwork when I was in Hoofington taking a risky job. I had always chalked it up to his freaky timing but, now that I'm thinking of it, he had done that several times. More times than I had ever done for him when he was in trouble. Had he had not given up on me and wanted to be there to see to my own safety, isn't that what a friend would do? Yet never once did I come to his rescue even when I knew that he needed help because of his stigma of him being a troublemaker. Had I been blind all these years that he actually wanted me to be his friend, somepony to lean on when everypony else had walked away?

I looked up from my guilty train of thought to see something looming on the horizon in the shape of a building and what looked like several half tents outside of it. That must be the Solar Array, it's oddly shaped panels now broken and thrown about the countryside with few left standing. The building to the left of them seem to be intact enough, maybe I could hold up in there for the night and get a fresh start in the daylight. It was already getting dark out and this is not the kind of place you want to be when you can't see anything.

As quickly as I dared I moved closer to the Array, using rocks and bushes for cover as I approached. I moved from cover to cover, giving a wide distance between movements to keep my signature down. There was still some light coming through the clouds but I thought it better not to take chances at whatever might be out there. To my left was the everfree forest and dead ahead was the Array that might hold the clues to putting this all behind me. Just beyond the broken panels I could make out the outline of buildings of what looked to be a small town. All I had to do was get there, hold up for the night and scope the place out in the morning. Who knows maybe I'll actually find Zu and I can bury all this guilt I'm feeling and move on as Cal had said.

Slowly I made my way to the first stand of panels in the field of broken glass and blue circuits that had been long since destroyed. As I walked down one row of panels, I could feel that finally I could rest easy and try to forget this day. I was tired, emotionally exhausted and excited to see if there was another clue here. Up ahead I could see marked 'Hope Solar Array – control room access' leading into the building. The door was surrounded on all sides by the concrete walls of the building in a horseshoe shape. Slowly I trotted to the door and under the amber light that was still glowing over head to check the door. I really don't want to have to shoot the lock off a door that I would really like to lock on the other side. Giving the knob a few pulls my worst fears were realized when it refused to grant me access.

“Well well well, what do we have here?” Came a voice from the darkness.

thump

I felt the cold steel of a blunt object impact the back of my skull and everything went black.

I woke from the darkness in shock. What happened? I remember hearing a voice and then everything gets fuzzy. I could feel that my hind legs were bound tight around the hooves, holding me suspended upside down. My front legs were lashed to my sides over my wings so tight that it made every breath a struggle. Even now after being unconscious for celestia only knows how long, I still felt short of breath. How long had I been like this? Minutes, hours, days even? I could hear the faint echo of hooves on a concrete flooring that would rise and fall almost like a gust of wind. How did I not see this coming! I mean I have this E.F...

I cracked a eye open and I noticed that the dim overlay of colors that had been assaulting my vision the last few days had gone dark. I could still feel my pipbuck on my leg so I know it's still there but the E.F.S. had stopped working at some point. Had it stopped working back in New Appleloosa? No I remember using its compass to get my heading correct. Maybe in the blast back in Ponyville? I think I hit my head on it when I fell, maybe then? I had gotten so use to only paying it any attention when I saw a red mark on the screen that I had not noticed that it had winked out completely.

I looked to check my surroundings and was greeted with a staircase that lead presumably to the same door I had been trying to open. To my right I could make out a row of terminals that had long ago died out, save for one that was still blinking. To my left I could see a few old crates labeled 'Ironshod Firearms' and 'M.W.T' holding up a filthy mattress. Empty and broken liquor bottles littered the floor around me accompanied by... oh celestia please don't let those be bones. Opening my eyes farther I could see the remnants of what use to be a pony's skeleton, still stained pink from blood. With my now widened eyes I could see several other piles of bones, blackened with age and rot.

Earth ponies, unicorns and even a few skeletons of foals lay about in heaps around me, all stained black from the decayed blood. The floor below me had been darkened with old blood that was beginning to peel up in great chunks. Through the dim light I could see smears of bloody hoof marks along the walls leading up to the stairs. This wasn't a command center, it was a butcher shop. A place where ponies are taken to be dismembered and cast to the winds of deaths mercy. The very thought that I could become one of those piles of bones sent chills down my spine and turned my stomach upside down... Well... You know what I mean.

Despite the grotesque appearance of my surroundings, the smell had been muted by a strong odor that wasn't foul, but was very pungent. I had smelled this aroma before but I couldn't place its whereabouts in my confused state. It was almost palatable with it's weight and volume that stung at my nose like pepper? Garlic maybe? It was garlic. Licking my lips and sticking a tongue to my check I felt a slimy liquid covering my coat and could taste the familiar flavor of herbs. Garlic, salt and pepper filled my mouth and burned at my taste buds in it's sheer amount that was drenching my coat. The realization hit me like a rock to the head and I looked back to the pile of bones closest to me. There were teeth marks on the bones, not blunt indentations but sharp deep marks like you would see from a hellhound. These ponies had not been butchered, they had been eaten and judging by the blood on the walls leading to the door, eaten alive.

Fear. Deep seated fear took hold of every fiber of my being and sent me to shiver almost uncontrollably. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs for help, for somepony to come and take me away from this place. Even worse, I don't think this was a hell hound that did this, I can still hear hoof steps, hell hounds don't have hooves. The very thought of being eaten alive by another pony sent sharp convulsions through my bound body causing the chains that were holding me up to rattle. no matter how I tried, I could not keep my own body from betraying me and soon I could hear the faint hoofstep's growing louder. No matter what I did I could not move, I couldn't even budge my fore hooves from their bindings. The hoof steps grew louder and louder until they sounded like they were right behind me and finally stopped.

For several long moments that felt like a eternity, there was nothing more than the hushed sound of somepony breathing behind me. Their presence almost felt like having my back to solid ice, as the time stretched on, the subconscious effects began to feel more and more real. The moment of calm was replaced by the shock of a cold hoof near the small of my back, sending a involuntary jerk through my body. The hoof worked it's way down my spine to just above my wings and stopped followed by the all too familiar feel of ice cold steel. I could feel the blade tracing its way up my back to my shoulders where I felt it pause and begin to lift from its side to its edge. So this was it, this was how I was going to die, after all this time of chasing Zuri, my luck had finally ran out.

The piercing cold touch of the sharp tip of a blade fell right between my shoulders sending a shock through my body. The tip pressing just hard enough to break the skin ever so slightly, forcing a trickle of blood that began to run down my neck and into my mane. The knife then began to slowly slide its way down my spine towards the back of my neck. Mercifully, the tip rolled over the punctured skin and scratched, rather than sliced my hide, stopping right at my mane line. The blade fell away and I could again hear hoof steps working there way around my hanging form. I was about to meet my captive who had decided to have me for dinner.

“My, my, my! A pegasus! I don't think I have had the pleasure of meeting one of your kind before.” Said the dark green buck. His voice was surprisingly smooth with just a hint of a lisp that hung on the end of his every word. It was subtle, but it made its presence known when he said the word pegasus with a almost demonic hiss. His jet black mane was all but hidden under the cloak he wore, shadowing his eyes and leaving only the faintest glow of yellow that almost glowed where the light hit.

“You all are always so hard to catch. Always flying about, this way and that. Never once have I been able to stop one of you to invite you to my humble abode for dinner! It's always raiders that come my way. Dreadful ponies really, filthy vermin that litter the land like rad-roaches.” He said leaning closer to my face, lowering his gaze to mine.

“Taste near the same I'm afraid. I can't remember the last time I had a good meal that didn't reek of rot and bile. That is, until today.” He said as now had discovered the cause of the lisp that he tried so hard to hide through over annunciation. He had sharpened his teeth to points, not just a few but all of his teeth in his grotesque mouth. Some of them so much so that I could make out dark spots where his roots were exposed. The sight forced my eyes wide, letting more of the slimy marinade creep into them and sting at my tear ducts.

“Oh come now, surely you have something to say. I would hate for our time together to be so awkward. I even brought out my best ingredients, just for you, my little bird.” He said as he ran his tongue from the bottom side of my jaw to the nape of my neck.

“Why. Why are you doing this!” I managed to squeak out.

“Why? With all that is wrong with the world, you would ask why I choose to devour our own? Why seek out a meager life searching trash can to trash can for scraps. Why spend your everyday avoiding raiders, gangers, rad scorpions and hellhounds, all just to one day die at their whim anyhow. Why try to be good in a world of anguish. A world where your very existence is a curse to the land that you were born unto! Why... even... try, when your were just bred to die!” He rasped.

“Because it's better than just giving up!” I shouted.

“Oh, stupid boy. You gave up the moment you walked into my home, you delivered yourself to me almost as if I had ordered you myself!” He said pacing away from me.

“I didn't deliver myself to you, you sick fuck. You knocked me unconscious!”

“Oh? Is that not how I should greet a guest? Where are my manners! I suspect you will start complaining about your formal attire that I provided you next. The truth of the matter is that you did deliver yourself to me whether you wanted to or not.” He said.

“I'm not a fucking pizza, stop talking to me like I'm some piece of meat!” I shouted. This guy was disturbed on a deep, spiritual level that not even a priest could understand. There has to be some way out of here, I refuse to be someponies meal.

“Is that not what your are? You are a weak, skinny pony who trotted head on into my web like so many others. So many other weak, pathetic ponies who thought that this world was theirs to roam freely. They are all so naive, not one of them could match wits with myself. Such creatures deserve nothing less than to be a feast for a predator like myself.” He said. Was that a touch of agitation I heard? This guy was a lunatic, he actually put himself on a higher level than others to justify eating them. That's not even a power play, that's a crutch.

“Weak? Please. You have to hide in the shadows and brain somepony over the head to get your 'meals'. You can't even go out to hunt for them like a REAL predator.” I yelled back at him.

“Fool! There are many ways to hunt. I chose to trap my prey rather than chase them down! Why use brawn when you have brain!” He said snarling.

“Unless you don't have brawn and you have to rely on blind luck to even survive like you are. A true predator would have stalked his prey, track them down, hunted them, not hide in the shadows waiting for something to walk by. You're not a predator, you're a sheep with teeth.” I spat back at him.

“ENOUGH! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF ME!” He shouted.

“I know that you're hiding some sort of inferiority complex behind a veil of filed teeth and persona of being a great predator. In my book that makes you a raider. I mean, after all. You are what you eat.” I said.

“Well. If that's the case...” He trailed off as the wheeled on me. “let's see if I can grow wings!” He screamed as he sank his teeth into my shoulder and began to gnaw a mouth side piece of meat. I couldn't help but scream at the searing pain that shot out like bolts of lightning through my right side. I could feel every fang working their way deeper into my hide, tearing at the muscle beneath with every manipulation of his jaw. Tears flooded my vision bringing with them more of the fluids I had been washed in. the burning that it usually carried with it had been almost completely deadened by the agony that was coming from my shoulder.

I felt his teeth start to work their way closer together, pinching the muscle between them sending new and fresh pain through my body. Once he had confidence in his purchase on the chuck of meat on my side, I felt him start to pull. With every rip and tear of the muscle I felt, I shrieked, with every pull I screamed and with every squeeze of his jaw, more tears streamed. Finally I felt the hoof sized chunk of flesh tear and pull free from my body. Nothing could have prepared me for the sensation of cool air against my exposed tissue. It was almost euphoric in its form of hurt that it was dealing to me. The corners of my vision were beginning to blur and darken from the sheer trauma of what just happened to me.

“No, no, no. This simply will not do! This flavor is all wrong for a pegasus!” He said chewing on a piece of my skin.

“Who would have thought that your kind would taste like oranges, I feel silly even having put myself through marinating you for 4 hours. I could have eaten you right on the spot!” He said spitting out the wad of half chewed meat.

“Oh well. I'll just have to wash you off and start over.” He said trotting out of my vision.

Oh...Oh luna...I have never felt pain like this before in my life. The feeling of losing a actual piece of your body. No. Not just losing a part of yourself, but having it chewed and pulled from your body by several knives. I could feel myself shaking from the trauma that he had inflicted on me with his defiled mouth. The pain had been so intense that I had not even noticed that I had wet myself to the point that my mane was now dripping a conglomerate of fluids onto the floor below me. I was terrified, in crippling pain, covered in fluids, violated and completely humiliated. The only thing I was able to do or even control at this point was fight back the tears.

For the love of Celestia, thank you Caliber for your spell. At least now I could think clearer now that he wasn't trying to eat me, if just barely. The blood from my fresh wound was pouring down the side of my cheek and was now pooling on the floor below me. How many other ponies had been in this position with him, waiting for death while a maniac tried to get his recipe just right. I have to get out of here somehow, there was no way I could handle this pain, it was too much. Looking around I couldn't see anything that would help me get free from my bindings, he had even taken the knife with him.

Not finding anything that would help we out of this situation, I squeezed my eyes shut and started pray, scream, beg anyone that might listen. Ok cosmos, I don't like you and you clearly don't like me but for the love of everything that's good and holy, please get me out of this! I'll do anything to end this, I'll build a damn church if that's what it takes! I don't care what I have to do, just don't let this crazy fucker gnaw off my private parts before I die if I don't get out of here! Opening my eyes and trying to clear my head of the nonsense, I restarted my search for anything that would get me out of here. Still nothing. Well fuck you too universe!

A click came from the door at the top of the stairs and a clean, white muzzle poked its way through the door jam. Soon followed by the blue tips of somepony's mane and a dark blue eyes that seemed to be scanning the area before falling to my hanging form. A distinct sent of lavender filled the air as Caliber stepped through the doorway, his eyes growing wide at the sight before him. Doing my best to keep quiet I shook my head back and forth when he started to bolt my way, freezing him in his tracks. He then lifted a hoof and tapped it one time and looked to me for confirmation. Nodding my head once he then raised the same hoof and began to sweep the room wanting to know where my captive was.

I focused my hearing the best that I could manage and tried to zero in on where the predator had rushed off to. In the distance, I could still hear him clamoring to himself about what herbs would go best with orange flavored meat. The best I could manage, I placed him in the back right corner of the building and waited for Cal's hoof to land in the vague area where I thought he was. Now knowing how many ponies he had to deal with and where they were, Cal slouched his stance and worked his way down the stairs to me. Pausing at the bottom step to look to the corner where his enemy now was, waiting a brief moment and ducked around the cement wall into the shadows.

Of all the things that could have happened to help me, this was the last I was expecting, I'm grateful don't get me wrong. I'm just surprised that he came back for me, after all that we said to one another he still came back to find me. Well, if I didn't feel guilty before, I really did now. All the thoughts that I had of him not being a friend melted away the moment I saw his ugly mug poke through the door. I swear I will never boss him around again if we get out of this alive. Shit. I'll have to build a damn church now too.

From the darkness came the faint blue glow from his horn, followed by glowing orb being unsheathed from his saddle bags. When the glowing metal apple found its way to the light it slowly started to rise and follow the ceiling towards the direction of the predator. Just as the grenade left my vision Cal emerged from his hiding place and snaked his way to my side.

“What the fuck are you doing!” I whispered.

“Saving your ass!”

“Cal, that thing will kill all three of us. Those things put out shrapnel!”

“Shut up, I got a plan.” He said putting a hoof on my back and turning me to see the green buck now digging through a box labeled 'spices'.

“Just trust me for once.” Cal said now looking at the hole in my shoulder and giving me a grimace.

“Ok, I trust you. Just, please don't kill us.” I whispered.

“Trust me, I think he's going to catch all of the shrapnel.” Cal said grinning ear to ear.

Slowly as it had ascended, the grenade began to fall to eye level and hovered for a moment while cal pulled the pin but held the stem in place.

*Sniff*

“Gross, you reek Joey.”

“Now isn't the time!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Cal replied, again screwing up his face and narrowing his eyes at the bucks flank. Soon a blue light began to envelope the bucks tail near it's end.

“Oh no, your not going to do what I think you are...”

My last word hung in the air as Cal, with all of his magical prowess, raise the bucks tail and sent the grenade flying right at his tail hole. With a sharp ''eep'' the cold metal apple found its mark and firmly inserted itself deep within the bowels of the predators... rather not say.

“WHAT IN THE FUCK!” He managed to yelp out as he turned to look at me clenching my eyes shut and Cal, I'm sure giving the smuggest of grins.

“Bad psychopath! My pegasus!” Cal said shoving himself between me and the blast, wrapping me in a hug and burying my face in his stomach.

The blast tore the through the bucks lower half, sending both of his hind legs in opposite directions. Blood showered the room followed by bits of gore and finely sharpened teeth that bounced, splattered and mashed into the exposed parts of my hide. Cal, who's nose was in a place that I would hope it would never go and laughing maniacally at his own mess he had made. I looked down just in time to see a bit of hide with part of a cutiemark on it fly between cals hind legs and...oh that's not a pretty view I have. Finally releasing me from the awkward hug, he set himself to freeing me from my bondage.

“Heh, had these circumstances been different, one could say you are fit to be tied.” Cal said smirking.

“Pervert” I said with as much sarcasm as I could find through the pain.

“Hey, how did you end up someponies dinner in the 10 hours I left you to your own devices?”

“Please, med-x. Anything for med-x.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” Cal said digging through his bags for the syringe of pain reliever.

“I was a bit emotionally inebriated at the time.” I said as he jabbed the needle into my shoulder. Oh sweet sweet relief! Where med-x really only dulled the pain, it's almost euphoric effects made me not care about what little pain was left.

“Yeah, I had my own demons to work out too. I must have sat there for 2 hours trying to go back to town but something kept telling me 'you know, I bet that dumbass is going to get eaten alive on his own'. Had no clue that was a literal thing at the time though.” Cal said as he undid a clasp and I fell to the floor, hitting my head and again seeing spots in my vision. The bindings that once held me tight, fell free with my descent, only to get tangled in my right hind leg, leaving it dangling in the straps.

“Ow...”

“Sorry...you ok?”

“I was almost somepony's dinner...”

“Yeah...sorry about that too.”

“It's OK, thanks to you, I'm not being digested right now.” I said with a small grin. This is a side of him I had never seen before. Caring? That just seemed out of place for him, it's almost like he was acting... guilty?

“Would you just look at this dis-ass-ter.” Cal said. There's the Cal I know and love.

“Heh, guess he really worked his ass off for his meal.” I smirked back, still on the ground.

“Com'on, lets de-ass the area.” Cal said.

“Hang on, check... can you check that medical cabinet for a healing potion for me... please?” I asked politely, still tangled up in the leather straps.

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, any luck finding love notes?” Cal asked, trotting his way to the corner of the building.

“By the time I got here, I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, then before I walked in, he bashed me in the head.”

“Hey now, looks like your luck might be turning around. We got three healing potions and some bandages.” Cal said, trotting back to my side.

“Hey, do you think your healing spell will work on... this?” I said pointing to my shoulder.

''Wow that's gross! He actually got a chunk out of you huh?”

“He would have had more but he said something about the orange flavor clashing with the garlic.”

We both couldn't help ourselves, with Cal riding the high of a job well done and myself riding a high of different sorts, be both fell back laughing. Even though a few moments ago I was fit to be a three course meal and my shoulder was oozing blood at a alarming rate, it felt good to laugh. There's something about dodging death that makes you feel more alive than you ever have. Mix that with copious amounts of painkiller and somepony who just shoved a grenade up somepony else's ass to save you and you have a recipe for a coping mechanism. Through the laughter Cal had managed to stop the bleeding from my side with his healing spell and was finishing it off with a vial of potion for good measure. The warm sensation from the magical liquid in the open wound felt so good after being chewed on. Cal finished me off with a layer of bandages after I insisted that he save the other 2 potions for later.

“The skin will grow back, but your gona have a wicked bald spot for a while.” Cal said.

“Well, better than a disfiguring scar, I can live with a bald spot.” I said. Looking at all the piles of bones.

“Hey look, I'm sorry about that 'not being able to get your life together remark' and all that other things I said.”

“Yeah, that one hurt a bit but I shouldn't have said those things about Zuri either. Look I know how much this means to you, but you got to understand I hate seeing you like this. I don't have a lot of friends, in fact you're probably the only pony that's willing to be around me, so that makes you the closest thing I have to a friend. So when something's bothering you, that means its bothering me too. ” Cal said.

“Cal, I am your friend. I guess I just never actually realized it until today. You're a good guy Cal, I would have been dead several times if it wasn't for you. But you got to stop putting yourself through hell over the past. I'll admit that in the past I saw us more as partners than friends but in all honesty, you're the closest thing to a friend I have. So I guess that make you my best friend.” I said tearing up.

“You're high as shit right now aren't you?”

“You have no idea...” I trailed off, my eye shifting from different piles of bones.

“Hey, you don't think she's...” I asked, the words feeling lost to me.

“Don't. Don't do that to yourself. If she made it this long without getting caught by him then I'm sure she's still out there.” Cal said.

“It doesn't make sense then. Why would she send me here if she knew this guy was chowing down on other ponies.” I said.

“Maybe she had faith in your tracking skills not to walk into a trap?” Cal said smirking.

“Too soon.” I said.

“Sorry. Hey, forget about that for now. What do you say we toss the place and find us a zebra!” Cal said helping me to now wobbly hooves.

Looking the place over didn't turn up much in the way of supplies. Only a few bottles of water, a sparkle cola, a few knives that barely could be called such and a couple of caps that were stashed in a drawer of a office table. Apart from that the Predator, as I was now calling him, had a impressive supply of spices and herbs from all over the wasteland. I decided to take as many as I was willing to carry with us for when I got to Tenpony as a peace offering to the baker there. If nothing else maybe he would go easy on me when I asked for the muffins to settle mine and Ditzy's debt. Cal had used his time wisely in the form of making several witty remarks about the now assless stallion all over the room. 'this smells like ass' and 'mind the ass on that cabinet' seemed to be his go to jokes but my personal favorite was "Booty, Booty, Booty, Explodin Errrwhere!” accompanied by a cute shake of his flank.

Apart from the odd joke and witty remark about flanks, the place seemed devoid of anything of real use to us. The last thing that we decided to look over was the still flashing terminal in the corner of the room. Less because we wanted to save the best for last and more because neither one of us had ever had much luck hacking terminals. Sure in the past I had managed to crack a few of them, but after the fifteenth terminal of somepony writing about how much he hated his boss, it lost it's charm. Very rarely did I ever uncover anything that might be useful or be granted access to the safe in the same room. Fewer times did I ever find anything that would help me with a case I had been working on at the time. Sadly this had lead to a more than lackluster skill for hacking the damn things, leaving the few times it would have been useful with a locked terminal.

“Ok, who wants to break something expensive first.” Cal said.

“You wanna take a crack at it?” I asked.

“Hmm... I think, I can hack this...” Cal said with a hoof to his muzzle.

Cal looked the terminal over from front to back several times, taking in the various wires that ran into it. Falling back to his haunches, he began to rifle through his bags looking for something that I guess would help him in the task. Finally after several long minutes, Cal produced a long chunk of metal scrap from his bag, clutched firmly in his fetlock. Slowly he began to tap at various parts of the terminal, each time checking the screen for any change.

“Cal, what are you doing.” I asked.

“I'm hacking. Shhhh! I think I found the spot.” He said placing his ear closer to the screen.

“Cal, for the love of Luna quit dicking off.” I said in frustration.

“Ah ha! Got it!” He said, giving the terminal a hard smack with the large chunk of metal. With a loud beep and a bit of smoke, the screen went from the lock code screen to the overseer's screen.

“Ha! I knew there would be a glitch somewhere.” He said sitting down.

“Bu... but... HOW!” I said sitting down hard. Cal, not looking up from the screen, tapped the side of the machine with a hoof at the company's name that read 'Neightendo'.

“All these models have a fault in them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.” He said.

“How in Luna's purple nethers did you come by this knowledge.” I asked.

“I have one of these back in New Appleloosa, I use it to play games on when I'm bored.” He said.

“Games? Like cartage games?” I asked. I had never heard of these things having games on them.

“Yeah, Pink, Pon-man, Ponio Brothers, Zebra Combat Master...I have a few others but you have to blow on them to get them to work.” Cal said.

I sat wide-eyed by the fact that my partner had just assaulted a terminal into submission with a piece of scrap iron. Of all the times I had attempted to work on these things, never had it occurred to me that you could just hit it and make it work. In my time I had locked many terminals through the use of my pipbuck, even more through some botched hackery. The amount of times I wanted to resort to violence on the damn things outweighed the caps I had seen in my life. The thought this whole time I might have been able to access a few of the ones I locked by doing that very thing, made me want to hit them even more now. Deep down a small ball of rage began to boil inside me at every piece of pre-war tech in the wasteland.

“I hate these things. All they are, are overly advanced toasters.” I said pouting.

“Oh come on, their not that bad. It's just a computer.”

“One of them electrocuted me once....”

“Hey! Looks like old sharp tooth wrote about your girl!” Caliber said, backing away from the monitor.

“What!? Let me see!” I said running to his side. The terminal was near barren of any content, except for one entry labeled 'she's back'.

“Oh my my my, it would seem as though my stripped shadow has

returned yet again! Despite all of traps and my best efforts, she has

yet again slipped beyond my grasp. She's a cunning little zebra,

Somehow she has managed to break her way into my home and

pilfer my belongings yet again. I was so close to catching her just

the other day that I can still taste her scent on my tongue! She was

just inside the treeline of the Everfree behind this very building!

Had she not seen me, I would have had the most amazing opportunity

to finally taste zebra meat! No use crying over lost supper, I will catch

her and when I do, I plan to savor every moment of our time together.”

Even though I had just avoided the same fate that Zuri had, I still felt like the Predator's teeth were sunk deep in my flesh, just from reading this. Feelings of worry and anger flooded my mind at the thought of him hunting her down like a deer. Even though he was long dead, I felt an undeniable urge to kill him all over again for what he had done. Not just for hunting Zu, but for the small piles of bones that were presumably from young fillies and colts. It was as if he had infected me with his hate the moment he had bitten into my flesh, forever altering me to begrudge him. Even his death, albeit very gruesome, was too good for a murderer like him, he deserved so much more suffering for what he did.

“Joey, you ok there bud?”

“This was a very sick pony...” I said turning away from the monitor.

“Yeah, you're just now figuring this out? I mean, he did chew on you for a bit.”

“He talks about eating other ponies like I talk about guns. This guy is just vile, and Zuri KNEW he was here. If she actually did send us here, then it would have been a death sentence."

“What are you talking about.”

“He said he saw her multiple times. That means either she was watching him or was about to try and take him out. Now I'm pretty sure she's a pacifist so the latter is out. If she was watching him, then she knew what he was doing and if she did make it this far and get in here, she had to know what was going on. She's here, somewhere and she knew how dangerous this place is, but she still sent me here.”

“Ok, stop. You don't think she was trying to kill you...do you?”

“I don't know anymore. Ten years does a lot to anypony, but I don't know why she would want me dead.”

“What if she knew what was going on here, didn't kill him because she's a wuss and sent you here first to do her dirty work for her?”

“Not even then I don't think. It's not like her to even have somepony else do her dirty work when it comes to killing. Hell! She wouldn't even approve of me killing other ponies to protect myself.”

“Then why would she want you dead then. Its stupid. Chances are she thought you would see him long before he saw you and work your way around.”

“It feels right but I just don't know anymore” I said walking away from Cal towards the door.

“One thing is for sure though, she's nearby and I can't wait to ask her why.” I said, trotting up the stairs with Cal not far behind.

Outside the sun was just making it's way to it's midway point in the sky judging by the light, how long had I been down there. At this point my internal clock was all messed up from my previous state of unconsciousness. The landscape shown a much different view in contrast to the night before. Now in the daylight I could see the small town of Hope, just down the hill from where I was currently standing. I sat down, not out of exhaustion but more in the way of just needing a moment to process everything that had just happened.

The fight with Cal, me not paying attention and getting captured, being mutilated by a psychopath, Cal coming to my rescue, finding another clue about Zu...ugh... I have been up for no more than an hour and already this day has tried to kill me both physically and mentally. I turned my gaze to the ruined city of Hope, scanning it's broken buildings and burned homes to try and take my mind off of things. I wonder what this place would have looked like before the bombs fell. I bet a town named Hope would have been a beautiful place to live. The very fact that there is an Ironshod Firearms plant just on the outskirts of town almost defiles that daydream.

Caliber dropped my bags at my sides just as I noticed something out of place in the landscape. Something was moving down there, just off to the side of the old munitions plant. Squinting my eyes I could just make out the tale tale blue and yellow suit of a stable pony's barding, standing just in the open.

“Cal, is that, a stable pony?” I asked nudging him.

“Huh? Oh yeah...I guess she made it out of there alive.” He replied.

“Wait, what? Made it out alive?”

“Oh yeah, I was going to tell you but things got weird down there and I forgot. When I got here, I saw her go in that place for some reason. I thought for sure that the security system would have turned her in to mince meat. Guess I was wrong.”

“Hey, pass me your binoculars.”

Cal reached into his bags and fumbled for a few moments looking for the pre-war optics.

“I was going to run down there and tell her it was a suicide mission going in that place but then I heard you screaming. I just figured she was either another dumb stable pony or a lunatic.” Cal said passing me the binoculars.

Looking through the glass I could see that she seemed to be talking... no arguing with herself over something. That's when I noticed the sprite-bot, bobbing up and down just a few inches from her face. What in the fuck. This crazy mare was actually talking, no, screaming at a sprite-bot?

“What do you see? Is she cute?” Cal asked.

“She seems to be cussing a sprite-bot.”

“Ha! Called it. Lunatic! I mean, don't get me wrong, I hate those things. I would cuss them too if I had to hear that shitty music all the time. But the question still remains...” Cal trailed off looking at me. I returned the gaze and waited an uncomfortably long time for him to finish his statement. Oh for the love of Celestia!

“Ugh, yes... she's cute...”

“Thank you. Now if you will excuse me...”

“She's leaving.” I said, halting his would-be advancement.

“What! So soon? I was just about to fire up my cleaning spell and go say hello.”

“Cal, I seriously doubt you would have any luck with that one.”

“ No confidence in my skills huh. Please, humor me. Tell me what makes her so special.”

“ Oh I have confidence, but I'm about 90% sure she...'bats for the other team'.” I said.

“How in the hell tell that from way up here” Cal asked, gesturing a hoof in her direction.

“It's her walk. It's more pronounced. She steps heavy with her hind legs when she moves. Also her mannerisms, she doesn't flourish her hooves around when she speaks aggressively. Mares that fancy boys tend to be more theatrical than those that don't, they carry more masculinity about them in how they act. It's subtle, but it's there.”

“Maybe she's just a tomboy. You ever think about that smart guy?”

“Yes, but judging by how small she is I don't think so. Also she keeps her hooves close together when talking and from what I saw I think she even leans away. That would mark her as reserved in my book, definitely not a tomboy.”

“Yeah, or she's freaked out by the talking sprit-”

“INCOMING!” I screamed just as the sprite-bot that the mare had been screaming at, flew past our heads.

Cal looked up just in time to get knocked out by the flying orb of death, being thrown clear of the area to the solar panels. I landed flat on my face, covering my head with my hooves. No wonder she was yelling at that thing, its gone completely nuts! I rolled to my back just in time to see the metal ball turn, rise and hover above me. I covered my face with my hooves waiting for it to fall on me, blow up, something!

“For the love of Celestia don't fucking kill me maniac flying death radio!” I screamed out of pure desperation. It had taken me by complete surprise, I didn't even have a gun anywhere near me to defend myself with. What was wrong with this thing, it wasn't even playing music anymore, the thing had gone to straight evil killer death mode.

“Who are you?” I hear ring out in a metallic voice.

“Wait, what the hell!” I said looking up at the silver orb.

“WHO ARE YOU! WHY WERE YOU WATCHING US? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” The Sprite-bot crackled from its overdriven speaker.

“I'm Joey! Some bastard tied me up and tried to eat me! My friend just saved me and I saw you two talking and I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on! DONT KILL ME!” I said pleadingly.

“Wait...Joey...as in Coyote Joe, Joey?” The bot said, almost in disbelief.

“Yes, Coyote Joe. Wait, how did you know my name?” I said pulling hooves the rest of the way from my face.

“I have heard of you. You must be the one Zuri told me about.” He said bobbing above me.

“WAIT, YOU KNOW WHO ZURI IS!? WHERE IS SHE! TELL ME!!”

I said grabbing the orb in my hooves. It responded by levitating me a few inches of the ground where I released it and fell to all fours.

“Yes I know her. She's a sweet girl. One of the few zebras I have ever spoken to in fact. I'm sorry but I don't know where she is. Once that guy moved in and started eating ponies, she left.”

“Did she say why? Where? Anything!?” I said panicking.

“All she said was that she couldn't stay here any longer and that it wasn't safe.”

“Shit! Well I hope she left a fucking clue somewhere. I have been at this for 10 years now.”

“Calm down, I'm sure she would have if she knew you were coming. Hey, did you kill him?”

“What? Oh the creepy guy with the pointy teeth? Yeah, well no, Cal literally shoved a grenade up his ass so technically he killed him. He tried to eat me.” I said pointing to my shoulder. I have no clue if this thing can even see but it was more of a compulsory action.

“Wait, he caught you? I thought you were suppose to be some great tracker. How did he catch you?”

“It wasn't my finest hour, I was a little out of sorts... Great tracker?”

“This place will do that to you. Its a harsh, place that takes...”

“Yeah, yeah save it. I was born in the wasteland. Hey mind telling me why I'm talking to a flying radio?”

“Im Wat-”

BOOM!

“DID THAT THING HURT YOU JOEY!” Cal screamed from behind a solar panel. The once bright and shiny sprite-bot, now lay at my hooves in pieces from the round Cal has sent through it.

“Damn Cal, I was talking to that thing! I was about to figure it out!” I screamed back at him.

“What? Really? Shit! My bad.” He screamed back to me.

“Next time wait before you shoot. I mean I appreciate you protecting me and all but... nevermind.” I said rubbing my temples with my hooves.

“Hey, what did he say anyhow.” Cal said, now leaving the safety of the solar panel.

“He said she's not here anymore. She left after shark face down there moved in.”

“Bummer! ”

“Yeah, bummer...”

“Hey, she had to leave something behind right? I mean, she left you that note before, maybe she left you another one?”

“I'm sure she did...”

“Well, what are you waiting for! Track! Com'on! Find the zebra, boy.”

“I don't know where to start. I mean look at this place! Chances are that if she left anything for me, it would be in that damn forest and that will take weeks to cover on hoof.”

“Yeah... it would... but what about on wings?”

“Oh no! No, no, no! I'm not flying over that damn thing!”

“Com'on, it will be fun, I can ride on your back and use the bino's to scope one area and you can search another. TEAM WORK!”

“But I don't wanna! That place scares the shit out of me!”

“You'll be fine. Look we can stash our gear in the creepy cafeteria down there and fly light. Unless you want to take your chances with what might be in there. Com'on Joe, if anypony can find a zebra in the woods, its got to be you.”

“Ok Cal, we do this your way.”

“YAY! This is going to be so much fun!” Cal said as he gathered our belongings.

"But if we die because of this, I'm kicking your flank!"

Cal began throwing our bags over his back, stopping only when he reached my kit.

*sniff, sniff*

"Holy dumpster diver! You smell like ass Joey!"

"I know I do! I'm me! I have to live with me, so I know what I smell like!"

"Ain't no way I'm ridding you smelling like that."

"OH! Just close your eyes and pretend I'm one of your marefriends."

"Did you pee on yourself at some point? Gross!"

I looked up to Cal with an ashamed look across my face, the embarrassment was almost as painful as what the Predator had done to me down in that house of horrors. The full weight of what had just happened, along with everything that had happened between us came crashing down on me. What had happened down there wasn't like anything I experienced before. The feeling of hopelessness, abandonment, violation. It all felt so much more personal to me, like he had found a part of me that no other pony could have hurt. This was much more than what he had done, it brought to the surface a feeling that I had long since suppressed. The feeling of being completely alone. Cal, seeing my look of being almost on the verge of tears, dropped my bags at my hooves and sat down next to me.

"Hey, I'm sorry."

"I'm fine. It's OK."

"No, you're not. I can see it in your eyes, talk to me."

"It's just... You came back... After everything I said, you still came back."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Cal, said giving me a small smile. And just like that, the dam I had spent so many years building, shattered and I started crying. Somewhere deep inside me, I felt a tense knot release that had been building all these years on my own and of all the ponies in the wasteland, Cal had been the one to untie that knot.

"I'm so sorry for saying those things to you, I didn't mean them!" I squeaked out through broken sobs.

"I know Joey, I know." Cal said, wrapping his hooves around me and pulling me into a hug.

"Cal, no! I Stink! I'm covered in pee!"

"Oh shut up, I don't care."

Cal, the pony who I had passed off as just another tool in my arsenal, had shed his thick layer of smug remarks and done something I never thought he would. He cared. I had been wrong all this time, I had been the one using him, he had been my friend all along.

The view of the Everfree Forest would have been absolutely stunning had I not been on edge the whole time. It's such a strange place, the tree tops nearly covered the forest floor entirely, giving only small glimpses of what was beneath us. I have been in forests all over Equestria, but none of them matched the sheer density of the Everfree. We had been airborne for over 3 hours, the sun was starting it's descent from the sky, well at least from what I could tell. Cal had adopted a scanning search method while I was picking holes in the forest canopy and searching for abnormalities. Despite searching for signs of anything out of the norm, we were keeping a distance just to be safe.

I don't know what all is down there for sure but I have heard tale that a myriad of animals lived in their depths. Beasts that once were avoided in times of the past, were now irradiated creatures that commanded fear from anypony who dared venture too close. None of which I had ever seen for myself and none of which I plan of ever meeting face to face. The few times that we had decided to venture close to the tree tops were to investigate a suspicious object. Most of the time it turned out to be nothing but there was a surprise encounter with a timberwolf that nearly ended our search early on.

With Cal perched on my now-clean and orange scented back, I would have thought that I would have tired quicker than I was, in fact, I was starting to find his weight manageable. Granted I rarely flew outside of trying to cover great distances, but carrying him was actually a lot easier than I have thought it would be. As much as I didn't like the plan, Cal was right to suggest it. With him covering one side of the forest and me the other, we were clearing ground at a substantial rate.

“THERE! SOMETHING SHINY!” Cal yelled over the wind.

“Point it out!”

“Just there! Beyond the treeline! On the hillside!” Cal yelled, pointing to our right.

“Ok, hold on!” I said, looking in the direction he pointed out. I folded my wing and fell on my right side, send both of us into a curving dive. Cal was enjoying himself immensely, leaning into the turn and letting out the occasional 'Woohoo!' and 'Onward sky horse!' as he did so. Now with the spot dead ahead of me, I could see a faint glint of light just overcoming the trees. Judging by the faintness of the reflection, I gauged it to be some type of metal. More than likely another piece of junk but still worth giving it a closer look nonetheless.

“Cal, what do you see?”

“Uh...I think it's a pot?”

“Great more junk! We have been at this for hours, is it worth setting down for a few minutes?”

“Uh, Joey...I think it's a campsite”

“Anypony there?”

“I don't think so, best give it a circle first.”

Coming closer to the camp proved it to be void of any life from what we could see. I swear if I ever get that magical E.F.S. thing to start working again, I'm never turning it off! I hate to admit it, but I really, really miss it right now! It would have came in very useful back at the Solar Array and even more so now. I had toggled around with my pipbuck before we left but I wasn't able to produce the emerald glow that once adorned my view.

The encampment was small, something only one pony would set up yet it had all the markings of one that had been well established. A well used fire pit and pile of ashes led me to believe that whoever had been here, had stayed for quite a while. Yet even with all those things, the place was completely clean of any tracks or items that would suggest somepony was coming back. I sat down on a log that had been placed near the fire pit and propped my hind hooves on the rocks surrounding it. After all of that flying, it felt so good to be back on the ground and resting for a moment, if only just.

Cal was searching the place over when I noticed that my hooves were getting warm. I had shut my eyes for only a moment and for a brief second I could have sworn that the campfire was actually burning. Opening my eyes reviled what I already knew to be true, there was no fire but my hooves wear in fact getting warmer. Leaning forward I placed my cheek to the very rock I was resting on and sure enough, it was warm. Whoever had been here before, had not been gone longer than 12 hours, 24 at the very most. If this was Zuri's campsite, then we had missed her by no less than a day.

“Cal, I think that somepony was here recently.”

“Yeah, like a last night.”

“Yeah I think...wait how do you know?”

“I found a letter addressed to you.” Cal said walking away from the lean to.

“Here, Looks like it's your girl. Damn and this whole time I had 20 caps on all this being a hoax.” Cal said sitting beside me on the log and passing me the crumpled note.

Holding the battered piece of paper felt almost surreal. An actual hoofwritten note from her! I can't even believe I'm actually holding something she had touched after all this time and it was something for me! I took care to smooth the paper out as much as I could without damaging the writing. Her writing showed the same characteristics that I had seen from the letter she wrote me so long ago. Even now I can hear those same words echoing in the back of my mind in her almost squeaky voice.

Joey, if you made it this far, I hope you won't mind going a little farther. I have to leave this place. There's a pony here who is trying to find me. One of the weird flying music thingies started to talk to me. He warned me to stay away from the place with the glass flowers. I told him about you and I think he knows who you are. I can't wait to see you again. I think I know where I'm going to go. Please Joey, remember!

Zuri.

Please Joey, Remember... What did she want me to remember? I had so few memories of her that it almost felt criminal to ask something like that of me. But then again, having so few memories of her left little to ponder on. She said she knew where she was going and that she wanted me to remember. But where? Obviously this had to be some callback from our past together, but as hard as I tried, I could not recall what she might have been eluding to.

"Whats it say?" Cal asked, leaning in for a closer look.

"She wants me to remember something... but what?"

"Great... Just great. Why do zebras have to be so sneaky about things like this."

"Well, she is being chased by somepony. It stands to reason that she would only leave clues that I would know about."

"And that you can't remember either."

"OK, if I was a zebra, where would I want to go..." I said, tapping my hoof on the log.

"Filly?"

"No Cal... I doubt she went to Filly."

"Well shit. I guess that makes us just as lost as she probably is."

"Lost. Heh."

"So now what, do we head back to down and get shitfaced?" Cal asked in a almost begging tone.

"Lost... LOST! That's it!"

Frantically I tore into my saddlebags and began digging for the old notebook from my past. Of course! When you find yourself lost, you can always look back on your notes! I can't believe that I didn't think of this sooner! Sure enough, even after years of being jostled and smashed under Luna-knows how many things, I found the happy bunny time notebook that I had recorded all my notes in when her and I first met. The cover was torn, stained and bent from the years of neglect, but the pages seemed almost untouched by time. Opening it up to the first page I was greeted by the prints of the Lame Buck who I had tracked down, resulting in my cutiemark. Soon thereafter, I came across page after page of notes that I had taken, detailing the trip and me meeting Zu.

*suppressed laughing horse noises*

"What?" I asked, looking at a clearly amused Caliber.

"Nothing. I just never took you for the kind of pony who likes kids books."

"Ugh... It was all they had at the time so shut up."

"OK, Ok. What are you looking for anyhow."

"Notes I took back when I first met Zu. If I'm going to find anything out, this is my best shot."

"Wait, that notebook is the one from when you got your buttstamp, right?"

"Yeah, I used it to track down that guy who had my necklace."

"Your funky 'pony... zebra... necklace'. That's right." Cal said. looking closer at the pages.

I spent the next half hour flipping through the twenty some odd pages that I had taken down while waiting on the my target to make his presence known. Details about the path I had taken, the slavers I had killed, rescuing Zu, the map we had drawn together, but nothing about a location. Finally I came to a passage I had wrote after we had parted ways, chronicling our conversation going up the mountain to the summit. I remember now that once we parted ways and I had made it half way down the mountain to plains below, I had stopped to take a breather and decided to write down what all she had said. At the time it was because I wanted to remember every detail about her so that she would not fade away from my memory.

And now, here I am, desperately trying to remember the details from that day. Despite all of my reading through my notes, I came up with nothing. I was too tired and too emotionally drained to focus on the task at hoof, even if it meant being reunited with Zu, no amount of hope could help me focus. I sat the book down on the log, trotted to the cliff's edge on the far side of the camp and sat down hard. I just needed to clear my head, things were coming too fast for me to process them. Call it the excitement of what all had just happened in the last 24 hours, call it the lingering hangover from the Med-X, but my brain had gone into gridlock.

"Heh! Look's like me and Stripes have something in common!" Caliber said, now flipping through the book.

"Huh? What are you talking about."

"She used to read the same book I did growing up! I still remember it, 'Sapphire Shores Book of Sing Along's'." Caliber said with a wistful look.

"Wait. What!?" I said, broken from my moment of meditation.

"Yeah, Yeah! It was this book about a singer from before the war, you know, the one that sings 'The sun can't hide forever'? she's on the radio all the time. She had a kid's book that came with a little music player that would sing songs while you read the story about the Sea Ponies of Sapphire Shore."

I stood in awe, Caliber had just filled in the gaps to my puzzle I had been trying to find. Of all the ponies in the wasteland, he had been the last pony I would have thought of to have read such a book but, then again, with the lack of music these days, it was no surprise that he would have done so. I almost never even listen to the radio, It's always bad news, the same 5 songs or that slaver broadcast promoting Unity. I had completely forgotten about music even existed outside of the few bands that played at the bar in Manehattan, also playing the same 5 songs. You would think that talent died the same day everypony else had 200 years ago.

"You wrote here that she wanted to go to a place like the one she saw in the book right, if that's the case, do you think she would have gone to the ocean?"

"I don't know but at this point, it's all we have for a lead. The question now is, where at along the miles of shoreline would she be? Cal, you wouldn't happen to still have that book back in New Appleloosa, would you?" I asked, praying for a miracle.

"Nah, I lost that years ago. Besides, the music player was busted when I got it and I finished it off trying to fix it."

"Shit. That book might be the only thing that would have any answers. We got to get our hooves on a copy somewhere."

The problem with the wasteland, as if there weren't enough already, was that it was in fact in short supply of bookstores and libraries that had not become the home of raiders or been burned to the ground. Despite all that, there had been many books that I had recovered from said burned-out structures in the past, but I had never come across a children's book with a music player in that whole time. Such a thing would have at least struck a cord with me, especially if it had music on it that I had never heard before.

"You know, I think I know where we can find a book like that..." Cal said, still examining the pages of my logs.

"Yeah? Where in equestria would we find a foal's book in the wasteland..." I said with an amused expression.

"If it is the same book, and I'm ninety nine percent sure it is, then we could probably find it at Tenpony. That book had music on it, so it stands to reason that they would want to get their hooves on it."

"Cal, when did you grow a brain? I never gave you permission to be smart like this." I said, pushing him on the shoulder.

"What? I can have smart thinks too you know! There's all sorts of them rattling around up there in my brain compartments and departments."

"OK. So we head to Tenpony, find the book, get Ditzy some muffins and find Zu... Sleep at some point along the way." I said as I gathered my things to head out.

"Uh Joey? What's that?" Cal said pointing deeper into the forest. Instinctively, I spun on my hunches and drew Righty from it's holster to face down whatever it was that had Cal looking so worried. I was then met with random glints of purple flashes, coming from deeper in the forest. The light was subtle, but just strong enough to overcome the tree canopy that we were looking down on.

"What do you think it is?" Caliber asked, moving to sit by my side.

"... Alicorns. They must be coming here in mass for some reason."

"Alicorns? You mean those bitchy flying horn heads? Why the hell would they want to come here?"

"I don't know and I'm sure I don't want to find out either. I hate those things, the last time I ran into one, I almost didn't make it back out alive."

"Joey, we need to get out of here. Fast!"

"To Tenpony it is then..."

Cal hopped on my back and we took flight to the border of the Everfree Forest, keeping our altitude low as we went to avoid detection. From where we were now, it should only take half an hour to get back to the Solar Array. From there we could make our way to Fetlock to bed down for the night, then on to Tenpony in the morning, acquire muffins for Ditzy, hopefully acquire a foal's book and find Zu. No sweat!

Chapter 4: Far Fetched

Fallout Equestria: Wildest Dreams

Chapter 4: Far Fetched

...Back there!? Are you nuts!? The muffins are cooking and are about to hit critical mass! You can't be in the same room with them when that's happening!...

I have said many times that I had not listened to the radio in quite sometime due to the lack of content that it played. But after 4 hours of listening to Cal singing ninety nine bottles of booze on the wall, I would have gave my last round of ammunition for the radio on my pipbuck to start working again. Speaking of pipbucks, why is it that this thing never works properly? I must have gotten a Friday afternoon model because everything on it is starting to glitch out. The on-board inventory sorter was misreading their contents, the E.F.S. Still does not work and now the radio is busted!

There were times in the past where I would ponder how in the world the society of ponies from the past would have lost the war. Granted both sides were dealt a considerable blow but, after having the issues that I am with this pipbuck, an item that was built to stand the test of time, I no longer wonder why. If only I could find somepony who could repair these damn things, maybe I could get it working at least to the point where I had E.F.S. again.

The flight from Hope to Fetlock was, overall, pretty boring. Even with Cal taking the occasional shot at random raider groups, our vantage point in the sky meant that we were out of the area by the time they could make ready and fire. Once in Fetlock however, things began to go a bit sideways. We had bedded down for the night on top of an old apartment building and had just settled in when we discovered that the place had already been inhabited. The zombie ponies, one floor below us, took exception to our presence in their home and insisted that we find a new place to sleep for the night.

By insisted I mean, tried to eat Cal and almost push me off the roof with their massive numbers. Luckily, I can fly. Cal however... let just say that we will not be going back to Fetlock for quite some time, even if Cal wants that part of his ear back. We decided it would be best if we flew through the night to Tenpony Tower, rather than take our chances with another “abandoned building”. By the time we had reached the outskirts of town, my wings had decided that they no longer wanted to keep either of us aloft any longer. So despite being exhausted, we were left to finish our journey on hoof, I had taken having wings for granted, walking sucks!

“Cal, stop touching it! You're going to get it infected!”

“It feels weird, I can't help it! You try losing one of your ears and then you can tell me to stop touching it.”

“For the last time, you didn't lose your ear, you lost at most 20% of it.”

“My ears were perfect! They were the one thing that I liked about my looks and now there fucked!”

“Shut up! You look fine, you look more badass this way.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, you look like you took on a horde of zombies all by yourself and won.”

“That's because SOMEPONY decided to fly away without his tail gunner.”

“Hey, you were the one that wanted to stop there if I recall. I said we should have kept going but nooooo, you wanted to stop.”

“Did you really want me to try and 'take a dump' off your back?”

“Wait. What? You made us stop, get attacked by zombies, lose part of your ear, just to crap?”

“Well when you put it like that, no. I didn't know they were there, how could I have known?”

“True. But still the fact remains, if you don't stop fucking with your ear, you are going to lose the rest of it to infection. Then you will be as ugly as you think you are.”

We had been on the move now for over 8 hours total, including the flight over here. The morning sun had still yet to make it's way high enough in the sky to cast any useful light. Finally, after the longest night I had in a long time, the massive building of Tenpony Tower, was just within sight. The destroyed surroundings were all but forgotten from this side of the city with the almost stoic posture of the almost untouched building. Like a memory from the past that showed what once was, Tenpony always had it's own way of inspiring awe when you saw it.

Somehow it had managed to survive the blast from the balefire bombs with little to any damage and maintain an overall clean appearance all these years. Even with the mold from weathering the countless storms, it was still just as grand as the day it was build, at least, that's how I imagine it would have looked. Even the monorail station entrance, the building's one and now only entrance, was seemingly untouched from the blast.

Once through security, we would finally be able to sleep for a while before searching out the book we had come for. Actually, it probably wouldn't hurt to place the order for the muffins while we are at it. No doubt they would be worth their weight in gold after my last outburst here, I can only hope that the spices I procured from the Predator's den would grant me some leeway. But if the she doesn't finish me off, the price to stay for a night will. This place is so far up it's own ass that even sparkle cola cost 15 caps at times. And to think I wanted to retire here one day.

Approaching the guard post, I went through my mental checklist of things I knew they would confiscate before allowing entry. I had been here only a few times in my life, but each time it seemed that the rules would change and become harsher with each visit. No doubt from the tower's wealthy inhabitants wanting to maintain a certain status among the factions. Cal had already started complaining about the rules before he even knew what they were.

“I've got 20 caps that say they give us a full cavity search this time.”

“Why do you have to take things to the extremes that only your brain can produce.”

“I'm just sayin', last time I was here, I had to give up my barding before they would let me in.”

“Could that be because that last time you were here, you were wearing a battle saddle and threatened the guards?”

“Oh yeah... also I don't think that I'm in their good graces after what happened with Lavender.”

“Lavender? Who's that?”

“The spa pony tech I told you about.”

“Cal... What did you do?”

“I may have gotten a little 'freaky' with her and left before she woke up.”

“Damnit Cal you buck whore.”

“What!? She started talking about commitments and life together on our first date.”

“YOU SLEPT WITH HER ON THE FIRST DATE!”

“Dear Luna you are so sheltered.”

“Ugh... There is sheltered and there is being chivalrous and a one night stand with a random spa tech is neither of those things.”

We approached the guard shack in the train station that would lead us into Tenpony in silence thanks to Cal's promiscuous behavior. If nothing else maybe they wouldn't notice him or me and grant us access without too much hassle. Oh who am I kidding at this point, judging by everything that has happened in the last 24 hours, I wouldn't be surprised if Cal decided to shoot one of the guards, and have sex with the other one.

“Name?” The guard asked.

“Joey.”

“Nature of your visit?”

“Trade and sleep until 8 o'clock.”

“You do know that it's 8:30 in morning right?” The guard asked raising a brow.

“You do know that there are two 8 o'clocks right?”

“Touche'.”

Oh thank Goddesses, that was easy enough. I passed along my barding to the guard for him to check into storage and move through the magical scanners to wait for Cal. Even if they had forgotten who I was, or that my actions when I was here were less than anything major, I was still sweating bullets. All Cal had done was a one night stand with a spa tech, surely that wouldn't keep him from coming in.

“Name?”

“Caliber.”

“Full name.” The guard said fixing his eyes on Cal.

“Is that really necessary?”

“Full name, or you don't come in.”

“Ugh... Caliber Sparks”

Wait what? Caliber wasn't his full name? Why had he not told me that! He knew my full name, well then again, my full name was Joey. He even knew that my real name was Kit, so how in the hell did that slip his mind when we met? The guard sat down his clipboard and narrowed his eyes on Cal who was, starting to look very nervous.

“Well, if it isn't Sparky.” The guard said with a almost demonic grin.

“Don't call me that!”

“Hey Steelwater, Sparky's back!” The guard yelled to the control room behind him.

From deep in a room came a much smoother voice than I had anticipated to come from a guard named Steelwater.

“Yeah? I Have been waiting for a long time to see his ugly ass again.” Said the biggest damn buck I had ever seen! He had to be a full head taller than me and judging by his bulging form, he had to be twice my size!

“Hey look, I'm sorry about what happened between me and your sister, honest.”

Oh Caliber... You are so screwed.

“Oh you are sorry alright, you're the sorriest pile of shit in the wasteland.”

“Look, I'll just leave OK. I don't want any trouble. All you had to say was that I wasn't welcome.”

“Heh, let him in.”

“Wait, seriously? You are going to let me in? You're not going to beat me into the ground?” Cal asked, almost in disbelief.

“Now why would I do that when Lavender is just DYING to see you.” Steelwater replied, his grin reaching both of his ears.

“Uhm, thank you?” Cal said meekly.

“That doesn't mean I won't have my eye on you, I see everything that happens in Tenpony... Everything!” Steelwater said, leaning to within an inch of Cal's face.

“I'll be good, I swear!”

“Good, drop your gear here, say hi to sis for me.” Steelwater said, walking back to the control room. Cal did as requested, the whole time his eyes never leaving the control room door.

With our gear now in the safe hooves of Steelwater and Cal through security, the worst part of the trip that I had dreaded was now over.

“What the fuck Cal! You stood up a mare whose brother is the biggest son of a mule I have ever seen!?” I said, trying my best to keep my voice low.

“I didn't know! I swear it! I knew she had a brother but, DAMN! Did you see the hooves on that dude!”

“Cal, one of these days you are going to screw around and get yourself killed just by having sex!”

“Such are the ways of a buck who dares to love every mare he meets.”

"And of all the mares you could have slept with, you slept with one named Lavender? I thought you said the smell of Lavender gave you a headache. So why, in the wide land that is Equestria, would you sleep with a mare whose name literally is something that causes you pain!?"

"And now you know why that smell causes me so much pain." Cal said, again messing with his ear.

“That's it, you are having that thing looked at. I'm almost positive you infected it, not to mention, I think they need to do exploratory surgery to find what little brain you have left!”

“Fine... I'll go to the doctor. I need to go there anyhow since somepony has been into our Med-x stash.” Cal said accusingly.

“Seriously? I got chewed on by somepony with a lawnmower for a mouth and fell off a building and broke my leg. I think I earned to not be in pain.” I said, jobbing a hoof in his side.

“I'm not saying you don't, but you need to watch it Joey, you're going to wind up one of those junkies if you keep at that stuff.”

The insides of Tenpony were just as I remember them, clean, snooty and alive with ponies walking about. In the main lobby, ponies were waiting in lines for the permanent residency reviewers and others walked about freely. I remember waiting in those lines to try and gain my own residency here years ago. The steep price is what turns most ponies away but for me it was the rules. I don't trust a place that does not trust it's populace to properly defend themselves.

Cal had rushed off to take care of our lodging for the night, doing his best to keep his profile low from any would be ex-marefriends. I had decided to use my time wisely and seek out the baker first rather than go on a book hunt alone. Doing my best to get back into a trader mindset, I pointed myself to the area of the building where the small shops were conducting business. Soon I came to the baker's shop I had so long ago been kicked out of, resulting in my expulsion from the Tower. 'Cream's Confectioneries, Where bread's not the only thing in the oven!' was written on the sign in bold letters, the store's sweet smells filling the walkway I was standing in.

Walking through the door I was noticed almost immediately by Cream, still sitting behind the counter. The off white mare with the long, messy yellow mane was just as I remembered as well. Even her hateful look that she had given me 2 years back had yet to seem to fade away.

“You! Why are you here!”

“Look, I'm sorry about last time I was here. I was hoping you might be interested in trading.”

“For the first and only time! If it's more junk, then the answer's no!” Cream said with more malice in her voice then I felt was warranted.

“No, well, at least I hope it's not. I think I have something you might be interested in...” I said digging into my saddlebags.

“Oh great...” Cream said with a less than enthusiastic roll of the eyes.

“I found these in a crate labeled 'spices', I thought of all the ponies I knew of and just figured that you might could use them.” I said, placing a small plastic sack filled with the small bottles of herbs.

“Wait... you mean to tell me you found a bag of mixed herbs in the wasteland...”

“Yes.”

“Whe-” Cream started.

“Please don't ask me that.” I said, looking at my shoulder.

Cream fumbled with the knot I had used to secure the bag for a moment before digging both hooves into it, pulling out bottle after bottle of 'herbs'.

“Rosemary? Cummin? Garlic!? Thyme even? How much did you pay for these!?”

“Suffice to say, I nearly had to give a leg for them... So? Are my caps good here now?”

“Depends, how much do you want for the whole bag.” Cream said, trying her best to look disinterested. Heh, right where I want her.

“Consider them a peace offering, you know, after last time when I... Said all those things.”

“Take a hydraulic suck on my sex muscle.” Cream said calmly.

“WHAT!?”

“Your words. What you said last time...”

“Yeah, those words. I am so sorry.” Honestly, where the hell did I come up with that!? Had I been drinking again?

“Yeah, I guess I could do business with you, for the right price.”

“Ok, what would be the 'right price' for one dozen muffins.”

“Owe Ditzy muffins huh? How bad did you cuss her?” Cream said, leaning in like she was about to learn some juicy gossip.

“Not at all actually. I like her.” I whispered into her ear.

“245 caps.”

My right eye started to twitch uncontrollably. Her sign even said 10 caps per muffin, that's 120 caps! What the hell!? Is 125 caps an asshole tax?

“Wha-” I started.

“Before you start your rant, just know these are for Ditzy, she gets special muffins. Trust me, you want to buy these for her.” Cream said with a stern glare.

“Fine... But you better not poison them. I actually like her, so I'm trusting you won't mix in little bits of spit with them.”

“Like I said, she gets special muffins. I'll have to get the ingredients ready, pay somepony to go get them. I'll have them ready in the morning.”

Special ingredients? What in Equestria would be 125 caps special that Ditzy would want in a damn muffin. I have known her for as long as I can remember and as far as I have seen, she has always been very thrifty with her caps. Granted she had always been very free giving with generosity, but I have never seen her pay too much for anything, let alone muffins of all things. Those better be some damn good muffins! I forked over the 245 caps and made my way back to the lobby to find Cal to see about a room for the night.

Still feeling decidedly ill over the amount of caps that had just left my possession, I did my best to take my mind off of things via pony watching. When I was younger, Boss had taught me to watch other ponies closely to learn their mannerisms and habits. Doing so would show me the 'statues quo' of the ponies around me and how things should look at all times. It would also help to discern possible threats from the normal atmosphere of ponies. It was also good fun sometimes, kinda like eavesdropping on a lewd conversation that I wasn't meant to hear. Sometimes I would even make up funny voices in my head and place them to ponies who were taking together to amuse myself.

So many times ponies would be talking and the whole time have no idea that I was watching them from across the room. Or that the whole time they had actually been talking about covering each other in two century old jam and running from bloatsprites. It was stupid, but it passed the time easy enough. Around me now I could pick out a few conversations that were going on, a lone colt looking like he had just lost his parents and an decidedly angry looking purple mare who was standing right...

“Psssst! Joey! Down here.” Came a whisper from the bush beside me.

“Cal, is that you?” I asked, turning to the bush.

“Don't look! Is she gone?”

“Who!?” I said, averting my gaze.

“Lavender, is she gone?” The talking bush asked.

“How should I kno.... Oh. No, she's still here.” So that's who that angry mare is with the little... Oh for fuck sake.

“Damnit Cal! Please tell me that's not your foal.” I said through my teeth.

“What foal!” Cal said, poking his muzzle from the bush.

“Oh... Oops.”

“Seriously? Oops is your go to word for this situation?”

“Shut up! I have to get out of here!”

“Cal! That could be your kid! You have to go talk to her!” I said, raising my voice.

“Shhhh! Quiet, damnit! Here's the room key!” Cal said, sliding the key across the floor at me, from his original position, deep in the fake shrubbery.

“Go to the room like nothing happened, I will meet you there.” Cal said with a long pause, followed by the bush he was hiding behind slowly beginning to slide away from the walkway.

“You have got to be KID-ing me.” I said just loud enough for the purple mare to hear. Cal froze in his track, the action prompting the leaves to start shaking.

“I just can't believe I dropped my key again! How silly of me!” I said again, loud enough for her to hear. Bending down to pick up the key on the floor, I could hear Cal whisper as loud as he dared.

“Oh you are the worst kind of pony... I'm so kicking your flan-”

“Who would put a shrub here! I almost broke my neck!” I said passing the potted plant, giving it a swift kick as if I were mad at it.

“OK! OK! PLEASE! JUST GO!” Cal said, from his new hiding location, behind the pillar.

Heh, that should teach him to run from his own battles. Cal had ducked out of the way just in time not to be seen as I kicked his camouflage half way into the lobby. I gave a glance over my shoulder to see him working his way to a long-since dead air conditioning vent with the purple mare rounding the corner. Well best of luck Cal, hope she doesn't kill you, not that you don't deserve it. I made my way to the stairs leading to the fourth floor, just in time to still hear the words coming from the purple mare Cal had been hiding from.

“I know that bastard is here somewhere...”

Oh Cal, why...

When I read the name “Goldentail's Luxury Suites”, I expected a few things. Beds, place to scrub the filth out of my coat, maybe even the odd toilet if we were lucky. But never would I have thought that I would have to expect there to be carpet in the room. Of all the things to be missing, why did it have to be the carpet. I mean, sure I don't really mind, but it was very off-putting that I could see the ponies in the room below me through the small cracks in the flooring. Apart from that, the room featured all the amenities that I would have wanted in a room. Bed with little to no love juices, shower (would have preferred a bath but whatever), running water and only two radroaches that were quickly dispatched with a kick of the hoof.

Provided that Caliber would be away while, I decided it was time to address the fact that I reeked of sweat, mud and a metallic smell/taste that I could not place at the time. Moving to the bathroom I found that there were no towels to dry off with, great. Now, I know I'm bitching but, when you have wings, you really appreciate having a towel to dry your wings with. Granted other ponies had it much worse than I did at this moment in life, but still. We are paying, far too much I assume, and I would at least like a damn towel. Oh well, Caliber won't notice his sheets missing from his bed.

I turned the brass knobs of the shower and was met with the glorious feeling of warm water, oh how I had missed that! It almost takes the sting out of the price of paying for a place to sleep when you can just relax and unwind. I set myself to removing my saddlebags and almost stepped in the shower when I remembered that I had forgotten to take off the now 2 day old bandage. As I'm sure that any healing properties it may have had were long gone once we hit Fetlock, I had thought it would be better to leave it on to keep out infection. Now if I could only get Cal to listen to me about not messing with his ear, then maybe I could get him to bathe and not smell like ass.

Slipping the bandage off, I decided not to look at the bald spot on my shoulder. I'm sure the coat will grow back but I would still rather not see the damage that had been done. Call me vain but truth is, something deep inside me didn't want to be reminded of what had happened just the day before. Besides, it didn't even hurt anymore other than the random 'phantom pain' that I'm almost positive is due to the lack of Med-x in my system. Great. I'll have to add detoxing to my list of shit to do this week, despite the pain in my leg feeling worse by the hour.

Having showered and finally feeling pony again, I stepped out of the shower to hearing Caliber walk through the door. Wow was he pissed. He didn't even make it in the door before he started describing, in vivid detail no less, all the painful things he intended on doing to me for what I had done in the lobby. Thank Luna for bathroom locks, one of the few things working in this place. Seriously, did functionality come as an additional extra? I know this is the wasteland and all but... nevermind. Deciding I could no longer evade the inevitable, I opened the bathroom door to face down one very pissed off Caliber.

“Cal, before you start, just know that you legit knocked up a mare and ran from your own child to keep from facing responsibility. It was only right that you got some form of punishment for what you did. Now I know that...”

“Uh... Joey?”

“No let me finish. I know that the last thing anypony wants in the wasteland is to be weighed down but..”

“Joey!”

“What!” I said, mad that he was so wrapped up in his own ego that he wouldn't even listen to reason.

“We need to get you to a doctor. NOW!”

“Don't start with that addiction shit again, I already know that I have an issue, I'm already detoxing.”

“No not that...”

“Then what. Don't try playing this off on me missing a spot cleaning up.”

“Joey! Look at your fucking shoulder! Shit, look at your back!” Caliber said.

Now seeing his look of shock, I feared the worst. Had the wound gotten infected? Had I just gotten used to the pain and inadvertently let it spread to my back? I didn't want to look, but knowing I had to, I squeezed my eyes shut and pointed them to the offending wound. When I opened them once again, initially I didn't see anything wrong but then I noticed the faint black lines.

“What in the hell!?” I said, looking into the mirror. The wound that once reached from my shoulder to my upper leg, had in fact healed very well. My coat was even growing back nicely thanks to the magical healing potion being applied directly, rather than consumed. But ever so slightly, just beneath my coat, dark gray lines were forming, made more pronounced where my coat was growing back over the wound. Strips? Was this blood poisoning? I remember being told that when you get an infection that your veins would carry it and at times, give a striped look.

“Joey, this looks bad. We have to get to the med station. Now!”

“W... What about Lavender?”

“Forget Lavender! Your problem looks worse than any ex-mare ever had!” Cal said, now pushing me out the door.

“But, I'm still wet!” I said, now panicking.

“Stop it! You do this every time you get scared! You start your rambling shit and just make things worse.”

“B...But I'm cold!”

“They have blankets in the infirmary...” Cal said, now guiding me down the hall. What was going on, Why was everything moving in slow motion? It felt like my throat was starting close up and my chest felt so tight that if you were to poke it, that it might deflate like a balloon. I could hear my heart in my ears as if it were beating right between my eyes and my hooves started to feel like they were made of jelly. My head began to feel lighter and lighter with every step that we made. I could hear Cal, if just barely, as we passed a mare who I had presumed to be Lavender, scream out.

“Not now bitch, one crisis at a time!” Cal said, as we passed by.

As he shoved her out of the way and into the open door of a room, I felt my legs give out from under myself.

Darkness.

I felt like I was floating. I was floating! As my senses came back to me, I could feel that Cal was now carrying me, and he was running. My whole right side was now numb to the world around me, even my lips felt heavy. I worked my best to overcome the eminence tingling feeling that was now my right side, just to open my right eye. Finally, I felt it crack open and... nothing. Oh Celestia I couldn't see anything out of my right eye!

Slowly, I began to see fuzzy blobs moving through the vision on my right side that seemed to be rushing by at an alarming rate. As my vision began to clear, an overwhelming sensation of dread was left in it's place. Even though I seemed to be recovering, my head was starting to pound and no matter how hard I tried to convince myself, I couldn't overcome the feeling that I was dying. It was as if a switch had been flicked in my brain from normal to chaos and my body was doing it's best to override it. Finally I made out the fuzzy crosshatch on the door of the clinic, seeming to know I was now going to be in good hooves. My body decided enough was enough and logged off line. A black haze clouded the edges of my vision, exhaustion overwhelmed me and the blackness filled my vision.

Darkness.

Coming to on the clinic room table brought about a flood of thoughts to my brain. What happened? Why is my butt so cold? Am I dead? No, I'm not dead, I can hear Caliber talking to somepony so I guess slipping into the sweet release of death was too much to ask for. Did I pass out at some point? At any rate, at least my body is starting to feel normal again, the feeling of dread being replaced with one akin to a hangover. I can deal with that, I have been hung over loads of times but that depressing feeling of dying is for the birds.

Looking around and taking in my surroundings, I could see that I was in fact in the infirmary and that I was strapped to the table. Why had they strapped me down? If my memory serves me correctly, I had been incapable of moving when I got here. So the fact that they felt the need to tie me down like this is starting to stir up those too familiar feelings of something bad wrong being with me. Raising my head off the table a few inches, I could see caliber talking with somepony who I guessed was either a nurse or a doctor.

“Uh, guys? Why am I tied to a table? Did I miss something fun?” I asked. My response was met with a long pause, followed by the white buck with an spiky red mane coming to my side.

“Oh, you're awake. It's good to see you coming back to your faculties. My name is Life Bloom, Dr. Helpinghoof's assistant.” Life Bloom said.

“What happened to me? I feel like somepony took my brain out and messed with it. I feel confused.” I said, again trying to get up.

“Just lie back and try to relax, the doctor will be in shortly. We think that you had a severe panic attack that may have lead to a stroke, the doctor will have more answers for you once he gets here.” Life Bloom said, walking to the door.

“Joey, how you feeling bud?” A very concerned looking Cal said at my side.

“Bad, but getting better I think. Cal, what happened to me?”

“I don't know, one minute you were fine and the next you were drooling everywhere and talking gibberish.” Cal said, looking down on me.

“Yeah but what could have caused it? Everything's such a blur, did you carry me here?”

“Yeah, I kinda had to, you were completely off your rocker back at the room. One second I was about to kick your flank because how mad I was at you and the next I'm carrying you to the clinic.”

“We have a very complicated relationship, don't we?”

“Heh, yeah. It's good to see you coming back to normal. You scared the shit out of me.”

“Uhuh, you were scared that you would have to walk back to New Appleloosa.”

“Yeah... sure.”

I was just about to ask Cal why he looked so upset when the doctor walked into the room and trotted to my side.

“Hello Joey, I'm doctor Helpinghoof. How are we feeling?” Helpinghoof asked, sitting on a rolly chair.

“Bad but, I think... Better maybe? I can't really remember.” I said, thumping my head back to the table.

“Well that would be normal for a severe panic attack in your state. You are lucky you didn't have a stroke, your blood pressure was all over the place when you came in.”

“My state? What's wrong with me? Am I dying?” I asked, again feeling that panicky feeling creep back over me.

“Well, according to the tests we ran, you had a severe panic attack brought on by shock and complicated by...” the doctor trailed off as he flipped through the pages on his clipboard.

“... Sleep deprivation, dehydration, physical exhaustion, malnutrition, infection in your broken leg and trying to go cold turkey off Med-x. Now where I can appreciate you trying to get clean on your own, you should know that we have procedures to do such things.” The doctor warned.

“Yeah I had heard, I didn't think I could afford to pay for the treatment and I had just figured out that I was using a bit too much of the stuff.”

“Try 6 syringes a day Joey.” Caliber interjected.

“What! I don't remember that! I thought I was only using like, three at the most!” I said in shock.

“No, You have been blowing through Med-x faster than...” Cal stopped to think of a appropriate example.

“Like you bang through mares?” I asked with a sarcastic grin.

“Worse I'm afraid. According to your blood work, you show to have a high dependency to Med-x, your blood work also shown that you had a mild case of taint. After talking to your promiscuous friend here, I would say it was from where your were bitten.” The doctor said looking at his charts.

“... The predator. That explains him acting like a loony.” I said, looking back up to the ceiling.

“It's possible that he had been exposed to taint and that it had a significant effect to his thought processes. Taint effects everypony differently, it can kill you slowly, causing tumors throughout the lymphatic system and brain. It can also trigger minor to severe mutations ranging from completely benign to completely changing your appearance. Going off of what your partner here said, chances are slim that you were exposed more than three days ago, so that would put your exposure in the same time frame as being bitten.”

“So how bad is it? Am I...” I trailed off, feeling that sense of dread returning.

“We were able to purge your body of the taint, your case was less severe than others that I have seen in my time. But I'm afraid that there will the permanent effects that will be non-reversible.” The doctor said, motioning for his assistant to come over.

“Doc, what's non-reversible?” I said looking up to Life Bloom. My gaze was met with a soft smile and a syringe being held in his magic.

“What's that?” I asked.

“A sedative, just in case.” Life bloom said, looking down at me.

“I swear if I grew a horn and turned all purple, just kill me now...” I said, thumping my head back down to the table.

“Caliber, can you help me remove his restraints? I think it's time Joey looked in a mirror.” Helpinghoof said, unbuckling my leg restraints.

Once free, I was guided to my hoofs by both the doctor and Caliber, under the ever watchful eye of Life Bloom and his needle filled with knockout drugs. The two guided me to the mirror in the corner of the room and what I saw... was me. Just me, the same as I had always seen in fact. What did they want me to see that was so special.

“Uh doc? Help me out here, what am I looking for?” I asked.

“Turn to your side Joey.” The doctor said, giving a guiding hoof to turn me to my right and... what are those....

“Stripes!? What the hell? Is this blood poisoning?” I asked turning back and forth. Just beneath my coat were the faint impressions of dark gray stripes akin to that of a zebra except that they did not reach to my legs. Instead they reserved themselves to my back, lower neck, shoulders and top of my flank. The strongest lines coming from the area that the Predator had taken a bite out of my shoulder.

“It would appear as though the taint triggered a mutation in your genes, bringing about the stripes you are seeing. At first we initially thought that you had been in contact with killing joke after Caliber mentioned that you had been to the Everfree Forest. But once the tests came back negative, you later tested positive for taint and then we found this.” The doctor said holding up my necklace.

“My necklace did this to me?” I said, unable to pull myself from the mirror.

“No, I highly doubt it. Chances are that you may have some zebra DNA somewhere in your bloodline and the taint brought about the mutation of your stripes. Though I have never seen it myself, I have read about this sort of thing happening to the offspring of a mare and a zebra buck. But their stripes would occur naturally over time, yours would have come in by now according to what I have studied.” The doctor said, looking closer to my coat.

“My mother was a zebra, my dad was a pony.” I said, still in shock. This was going to make being accepted a lot harder in life. Ponies already avoided me because I was depressing to be around, now they had a actual, physical reason to steer clear of me.

“Hmmm. It is possible that you favored your father's genes and that suppressed the appearance of your stripes. The taint would have acted like a catalyst, bringing out any mutations that would not have appeared naturally.”

Taking in a deep, shaky breath, I braced myself for the question I didn't want to hear the answer to.

“Is it permanent? Is there anything that's going to kill me?”

“Like I said, we were able to purge your body of taint, but it's effects are non-reversible. But other than that, none of the scans we performed revealed anything that would be life altering or threatening, let alone life ending. So, other than your stripes, you are a healthy pony. Though you could use a good trip to the cafeteria, all of the extra work you have been doing flying, especially carrying a load, burns calories at a alarming rate. You need to keep yourself well fed and steer clear of the pain killers, you have already made yourself susceptible to addiction. We performed a detox on you but I would like to go over the implications of Med-x addiction.” The doctor said, nudging me back to the table.

An exhausting hour later, I now knew everything there was to know about being a junky, in fact, I feel like I had been force fed the information. After listening to him drone on about addiction and the dangers of the overuse of painkillers, I doubt I would ever touch the stuff again. Not because what all he said scared the hell out of me, but more so because I didn't want to listen to his lecture again. The whole time he was talking I found myself squirming in my seat like I had when I was a colt. For a moment I was back to being a 12 year old colt who stole a bottle of bosses booze and was being given the “this is for adults” speech.

Not saying it wasn't well deserved, but I had no clue that I was going through as much Med-x as I was. I had thought that I was using the usual amount needed to stave off pain, but Caliber was quick to inform me that once I had take one syringe, I would take another not even a hour later. It was like an involuntary action that I had become immune to noticing once it was established and I was oblivious to it. I had came dangerously too close to becoming a junky, maybe even crossed the line in fact, in less than three days. Luna only knows how many caps worth of the stuff I had consumed, caps that I desperately needed for this venture nonetheless.

Cal and I walked from the clinic, significantly broker than when we got here, into the main lobby of the hotel. If this keeps up, we would have to start looking for work just to get back home, let alone to find Zu. Even though the new stripes on my body were faint, it still felt like all eyes were on me everywhere we went. Few ponies seemed to notice, but those that did, shied away from me in the hallways. I didn't like this, I felt self conscious and embarrassed to be out in public with ponies acting this way towards me. If my E.F.S. Had been working at the time, I'm sure I would be surrounded by red ba...

“WHERE'S MY PIPBUCK!?” I screamed to Caliber, reaching to the now bare spot on my leg.

“Woh! Calm down, I mentioned to Life Bloom that it was glitching out and he took it to see if he could get it working again for you.”

“Great! That will cost me I'm sure, why did you let him do that?”

“Hey, had it been working, you never would have been caught by that weirdo and you wouldn't have those stripes. Also, I might still have the rest of my ear.” Cal said, rubbing at the now bandaged ear.

“Bu... But. Caps!?” I said weakly.

“Dude, you have got to start loosening up those purse strings. I can understand saving money but not at the cost of your own safety.”

“I will take that under advisement... did you have any luck with the book?” I asked, trotting towards the lobby once more.

“Nope! I checked all over too, there weren't many place to go. I even put in a request with Dj Pony's receptionist. Nothing!”

“Lavender...” I said, stopping in my tracks.

“Seriously? What would my ex be able to help us with at this point.”

“Uh, Cal?”

“No Joey, I'm trying to avoid that crazy mare. Why would I ask her for help.”

“Crazy mare!? I'M NOT THE ONE WHO CLAIMED TO BE A EX-STEELRANGER WHO WAS TRYING TO GET HIS LIFE BACK TOGETHER!” Said the now very angry, purple mare.

“Hehey! Lavender! Long time, no see! How's it going?” Caliber asked, inching away at Lavenders advancement.

“How's it going? HOW'S IT GOING!? I was promised commitment by a buck who just wanted to get me into bed! Then he left in the middle of the night, pregnant!”

Called it! That little buck looked way too much like Cal, no way it wasn't his kid. Across the lobby, the small colt sat reading a book, stealing glances at his two arguing parents.

“Oops?” Cal said, now cowering from Lavender.

“OOPS!? Three years and all you have to say is oops!?”

“I'm sorry?”

“You had better have a damn good reason to leave me to bring a kid into this world without a father!”

“I uh... shit.”

Cal had all day, and the whole time in the clinic, to come up with something to say to Lavender about why he stood her up like he did and the best he could manage was 'shit'? As mad as she looked to be, I could see more hurt than anything in her eyes. This was about to turn ugly fast, I think it would be best if I left Cal to sort out his own family issues. I looked to the little colt across the room and found my way out.

“What's his name?” I asked, trying to break her pace of anger towards caliber.

“What?” Lavender said as she wheeled on me.

“Your little colt. What's his name?”

“Fetch! Why!?” Lavender asked, clearly angered by my intrusion. Now would be a great time to go say hi to 'Fetch' I think.

“Sorry, I'll leave you two alone.” I said, walking to where Fetch was now watching curiously.

“Joey! Wait! Don't Leave me!” I could hear Cal say through the barrage of words coming from the mare.

Fetch, the little colt that had caused so much controversy between Lavender and Cal, sat alone reading his book near the lobby's water fountain. Curious as I was that he was reading at such a young age, what really peaked my interest was his almost shocking resemblance to Cal. Same blue and cyan mane, albeit in contrast to Cal's, light purple coat and the same eyes as his father. He even squinted like Caliber does when he's trying to read something he doesn't understand. My heart went out to the kid. No father, mother jaded by anger and guilt, and here the kid was trying to make a go at reading.

It was almost surreal thinking about it. He didn't know Cal, yet life moved on for him. The pain that his mother was displaying was no doubt lost on him, colts this young are still trying to figure life out. It's sad to think that he would have to grow up like this, but then again, isn't that how I was raised myself? School of hard knocks, Boss used to call it. Even still, something deep inside me felt for his struggling to read a simple kids book. Boss had taught me to read when I was not much older than he was, I even still have the book. 'A Swan's Song', a book he had found when he too was young in a old stable when he was still hiding out in the bushes.

It was a kids book about a young pony named Spring Melody who had been teased and tormented by bullies at his school for not having his cutiemark yet. One day, he went for a walk in the woods after the ponies from his school had teased him to the point of tears. There he found a pond with three swans that swam to the shoreline where he stood. Spring Melody sat on the shoreline and cried to the swans for what the others had said to him, telling them everything that they had said. The swans listened patiently to the young colts story, sitting by his side all the while. Once the colt had finished his story, the swans began to sing to him.

“Fear not for what others may say,

fear not for what others may do.

One day you will find your way,

one day you will see this through.

You are young still, just you wait and see,

soon this world will reveal your destiny.

So cast your fears to the winds.

You will find soon that you will make new friends.”

I can still remember the words as if I had read them just the other day, even though I had not opened that book in years. I always kept it with me, it was the first gift I had ever gotten in fact. Boss had passed it down to me in the same manner he had given me the pistols I still carried to this day. I had help growing up, I was taught by a family, even if it was a assembled one rather than one brought together. Would Fetch have anything close to that in his life? I steeled myself from the thoughts and approached Fetch who was now looking at me quizzically. He wasn't even my kid but for some unknown reason, I felt an odd connection to him.

"Hey there, little guy. whatcha reading?" I tried to say in the friendliest way I could. Fetch studied me for a moment, seeming to try and decide whether or not I was a threat. Finally after a few tense moments, Fetch decided that I wasn't trying to foalnap him and spoke.

"My book. I got it for my birthday!" Fetch said with a wide eyed grin.

"Yeah? When was your birthday?"

"Tomorrowday!"

"Wait, do you mean 'yesterday'?"

"Ya! Thats it!" Fetch said, seeming to realize he had made a mistake. Sometimes kids can be so cute, even though he knew that he had messed up, he was excited to be corrected.

"Oh! OK, well congratulations buddy! How old are you?"

"This many..." He paused and began to tap his hoof on the tile floor four times. Wow, what kind of genes does Cal have that allow him to pass on character traits like that. Nevertheless, the actions were adorable and they made the pain I was once feeling for him begin to melt away. I don't know why but, kids have always hit a soft spot with me, they have always hit that button deep inside me that would key up my instincts to protect them.

"Really? Well then, I'm very happy for you! You really seem to be loving that book, what's it about?"

"I don't know. But the pictures are really pretty!" Fetch said with a smile.

"Pictures? Wow! You are a lucky boy, when I was little, I never got a book that awesome. Your mommy must love you a whole lot." I said, trying to build on his happiness. The smile faded from his little face and he looked back to his book.

"... Mommy didn't buy it for me. Ms. Cream gave it to me." Fetch said at an almost whisper volume. Cream? Did something nice? Every time I had any interaction with her, from a young colt all the way up to present day, she had been more than her fair share of rude to me. So hearing that she had done something nice for somepony all but put me beside myself, then again if it was for this little guy, I'm happy she had done it.

"She didn't? Well I bet that whatever your mommy got you was just as cool." I said, hoping that she actually had.

"Mommy didn't get me anything... " Fetch said with a broken voice, looking away.

"What? She didn't get you anything?" I said, almost involuntarily.

"Mommy, never gives me presents. Mommy doesn't even play with me..." Fetch said, trying to cover the sound of a sniff.

Oh that cunt. His very words broke me in two like I had been made of glass. This was her colt, sure the situation wasn't ideal but still, that's no reason to not get him a simple birthday present. And not playing with him? I know kids never really give you the full story about anything, so taking into account that he was saying this, it wasn't that far of a leap to conclude that she wasn't spending very much time being a mother at all. It dawned on me that she had even named him after a mistake, the name Fetch even had a ring to it that brought to mind thoughts of being far flung. Any pity I had been harboring for her vanished, she deserved to feel pain for what she was doing to this poor foal.

Then again, another part of me held a genuine hatred for Caliber for causing all of this. Granted, what was done was done, but due to his actions, he had not only brought a colt into this world, but he had brought a colt into this world that was being neglected. Even if he did not know any of this was going on, it would be his duty to at least try and reach out to the poor colt. But instead he was running away, casting aside the young colt that bore his very own striking resemblance, all to avoid being tied down. Even if Lavender was a total bitch face, he should be trying to help the kid at least. I had only spent a few moments with him and already I wanted to hug him. Nevertheless, I had upset him by hitting a landmine in our conversation, but I think I can turn this around.

"I'm so sorry to hear that buddy, hey, you said you didn't know what the book was about?"

"I know my ABC's but I can't read yet. But the pictures are fun to look at!" Fetch said, starting to show the shadows of a smile.

"Would you like for me to read it to you? I wouldn't mind seeing the fun pictures too." I said with a genuine smile.

"You want to read to me? My book?" Fetch said, almost shocked that a stanger would offer to do such a thing.

"Sure! I would love to in fact. I mean, if you want me too."

"OK!" Fetch said, Beaming with excitement.

I trotted to his side and lay on my belly next to the young colt, Fetch, pushed the open book between us and I eagerly but gently, guided my hooves to turn to the first page. The last thing I wanted to do was tear a page in a book that might be this colt's only present, forget conversational landmines, that would be a balefire bomb. The first page was adorned with the images of ponies on a beach, playing in the sand and waters of the ocean.

"Wow, this is really pretty. I don't think I have seen a book this nice in a long time." I said, smiling to a very proud Fetch.

"Uhem, page one... The Sea Ponies of Sapphire Shore..." I stopped. There is absolutely no freaking way this just happened. All this time, all those miles, and the book I was after was in the hooves of Fetch. I can't believe this, a simple act of kindness had granted me the access I needed to the book that would help me find Zu. Obviously I couldn't take it with me, but now I could read it... scratch that.

"Fetch, what do you say instead of me reading this to you, I teach you to read it instead."

"Really!? You can teach me how!?" Fetch said, almost levitating with excitement.

"Sure, Why not. There is a whole other world in this book that you are missing out on, and I don't want you to not be able to see it for yourself." I said, patting him on the head with a wing.

"OK! Show me, show me, show me." Fetch said, trying to become one with the book with his face.

A half hour later, across the room Cal had almost melted into the tile work from the fiery words the mare had been screaming at him. In that time, we had managed to read through the short book four times, each time, the little colt would try and sound out more and more words. Fetch and I had made quite a bit of progress, granted, this form of teaching was more memorization than actual reading. but nevertheless, it was a seed that he could nurture and hopefully grow into a skill for reading books. With a life that he would undoubtedly be living, having the skill to read would help him immensely in this world. Fetch had been so eager to learn that he was hanging on my every word, doing his best to sound out the words in the book like I had taught him. I was having so much fun in fact, that I had forgotten my reason for even reading the book entirely and had instead become a teacher.

There was just something about seeing his face light up when the words that before had just been scribbles on the page, came to life and told him a story. It was refreshing to see a young pony learning rather than fighting to survive in this cruel place, and it was nice to do something good for the sake of helping, rather than being paid to do so. Fetch was very bright for a colt his age, taking to the task of reading like a duck to water as Boss used to say to me. In some way I felt that helping him was like repaying a debt that had been charged to me when I myself had been taught to read. It felt, good. After our fourth reading of the book, I decided that if I was going to play the part of a teacher, I might as well grade my student.

"Ok Fetch, I have read this to you four times now. What do you say that you try and read it to me now."

"I don't think I can."

"Nonsense, you are a quick learner and I have confidence that you can do it. I'll help you when you get stuck."

"But, I still don't know all the words yet."

"It's ok, just go slow, take your time and sound them out like I showed you."

Fetch shifted back and forth in his sitting position, crinkling his nose as he did his best to focus on the words on the page.

"It was a... su... sunny fun day on the b... beach of... " He paused.

"Sapphire" I filled in.

"Sapphire sh...shore. Everypony played in the s... soft sands of the b-beach."

Fetch struggled his way through each word in the story, but rather than becoming frustrated like I would have, he instead began to swell with confidence with every triumph over a difficult word. By the end of the book, Fetch had found a rhythm, apart from the odd word that would trip him up from time to time. I'm sure that much of what he was doing was just repetition of what I had said the word was, but he was actually reading on a fundamental level.

I had also discovered the likely whereabouts of a certain zebra that I had been pursuing all over the wastelands. According to this book, Sapphire Shore carried a striking resemblance to another place I had been to a few times myself. White Saddle Shores in fact. it was a place farther south than most ponies were willing to travel seeing as much of the trip would be in an area of Equestria that had few to no ponies to start with. Just getting there was nearly impossible unless you had a burning desire to do so. Miles of desert, radscorpions and scorching hot sand separated it from the nearest town. The only means to get there being from the Ponyville train station that had been closed for 200 years for obvious technical difficulties.

Knowing the task at hoof would be much more than a quick trip south began to weigh down on my mind. If Zu had gone there, she would have no doubt gained the isolation she was looking for and more than likely would be safe. But the journey there would be dangerous at the best of times, not to mention life there being near inhospitable due to it's lack of water and food. Sure a pony could make a life there, but it would be harder to survive than in Hoofington for completely different reasons. Nevertheless, had she gone, then I was destined to walk the same path she had in order to find her. I could only hope that I would find her alive and well and not dead on a trail somewhere along the way. The thought of her making the trip alone scared me to no end and brought an all too real dread to mind that was now plastered across my face. Fetch seeing this, took it as a sign that he had done a poor job of reading.

"I stink, don't I."

"What? No! You did awesome considering we have been at this less than an hour now. In fact, as your teacher, I think I should grade my student."

"Grade me?"

"Yup! I feel like giving you an A for how well you have done. And I feel that such a good job deserves a reward."

"A reward!?" Fetch said, jumping to his hooves.

"Yes a reward. I think you have earned it for being such a good student."

I opened my saddlebags and began to search for the book that I had learned to read for the very first time. There, buried under countless pieces of food and medical supplies, was the book that had been given to me for my birthday so long ago. It only felt right that it would be passed along to Fetch as it was given to me, even if his birthday was 'tomorrowday'.

"I think that this should do nicely, seeing as you have a newfound skill for reading and all." I said as I gave him the tattered old book with the words 'A Swan's Song' on the cover.

"This is for me!? You're giving this... To me!?" Fetch said, in shock that somepony he barely knew would give him anything.

"Yes sir, this is for you. I think now that if you try really hard, and practice every chance you get, you will be reading this book in no time flat!"

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Fetch screamed as he wrapped himself around my right leg. Even though I was doing my best to keep calm, on the inside I, was just as excited as he was. I had a feeling that I had never felt before inside me, like I had given a gift to somepony that nopony else could have given. That feeling was complicated by the others that I had towards Cal and Lavender, how could they be willing to miss out on something like this? It was simple and pure, something that I think only a parent could feel towards a child when they had done them proud. For some reason that just made me even more mad towards the both of them, speaking of those two, how long had they been standing there.

Lavender and Cal had taken notice to mine and Fetch's time together and came to see what we could be doing that seemed like so much fun. Lavender wore a face of almost agitation that I'm sure she was holding back, due to it's very display at such an activity being completely socially unacceptable. Given her status in the Tower, it would be unfitting for her to slip into such a social pitfall. Cal on the other hoof looked like he was both relieved that the heat was now off of him and confused that the young colt was so happy to be around me.

"Mommy, mommy! This buck just taught me how to read my book!" Fetch said, jumping back and forth between me and Lavender.

"Uhuh, thats nice." Lavender said, glancing down to him, The very gesture pissing me off even more.

"He even gave me this book as a reward for doing so good!" Fetch said again, trying to get his mother's attention.

"Yeah, that's nice. Go show Cream your new book. Mommy's busy." Lavender said, nudging the colt away.

"Mister? What's your name?" Fetch asked, looking more forlorn than when I originally met him.

"Coyote Joe, but you can call me Joey." I said giving him a pat on the head. Seeing his smile return once again did little to hide the anger that was now growing towards his two parents. Fetch promptly ran off to the direction of the Tower's shops, presumably to find the hateful, yet kind, confectionist. I would just have to deal with those confused feelings later, I needed to have a heart to heart with Cal.

"Wow Joey, you have a way with kids!" Cal said, being cut off by Lavender.

"You have no right to speak to my child!" Lavender belted out.

That's it, I can't take this anymore, Tower policy be damned. With all my strength, I spun and planted both off my hind hooves into Caliber's chest and lower jaw, sending him flying across the lobby's floor. The impact had the desired effect of getting him as far from me as I wanted and knocking him out cold. I then turned to Lavender, who was now backing away from me with a look of shock.

"Don't you dare hit me..." She managed to squeak out as I advanced on her.

"How dare you! How could you be such a worthless cunt towards Fetch like that! He was genuinely happy about learning to read and wanted to show you the book he earned. What did you do? You pushed him away! When I first met you, I felt sorry for you. Now? I hope you take a long walk off a short roof." I said with all the hate that had been building inside of me. I also somehow managed to keep my voice low enough not to rouse the security guards, but threatening enough to have the desired effect of scaring the purple mare.

"I DON'T DESERVE THIS SHI..." Lavender started, but was quickly cut off.

"You don't deserve HIM. Not this, HIM! FETCH! That little colt is the sweetest kid I have ever met, how he turned out so well with a bitch of a mother like you is a mystery."

"THIS IS ALL CALIBER'S FAULT!" Lavender said, hoping to push the blame on the still unconscious buck.

"You have no room to talk, it takes two ponies to make a baby. Even if you didn't mean to, Fetch is your responsibility now and as a mother, you should... oh I don't know... BE A MOTHER!" I shouted in her face, despite my best efforts to try and remain calm. Lavender no longer held a look of anger, but instead, now wore one of regret.

"I'm trying my best! It's hard to raise a kid and pay to live here!" Lavender said now cowering as if she expected anything that she said would set me off. I lowered my gaze to her's until I was inches from her face.

"TRY. HARDER." I said putting as much emphasis on the word 'harder' as I could.

"But I'm..." Lavender started.

"Not trying hard enough. I don't want your excuses for the way you treat him. Oh yeah, he told me that you won't even play with him, so don't think I have no clue what a massive pile of shit you are." I said. Lavender had figured out that nothing she could say would please me. Even though I could not see myself, I would venture a guess that my eyes had turned blood red with anger. I was shaking, gritting my teeth and doing my very best to maintain my composure. The fact that doing anything more than I already was would get me kicked out of the Tower was not lost on me. Just the same, I'm pissed. And right now, I'm forcing everything that's in my brain through my internal filter at an alarming rate. If I keep this up, I might actually snap and buck the purple bitch through a wall.

"I.. I'm sorry..." Lavender said, tears beginning to bead up in the corners of her eyes.

"You're sorry alright. I will be back here one day, and when I do, you had better be treating Fetch the way he deserves to be treated. He's too good for you." I said, walking past her and the guards that had now started moving closer to the commotion.

"What about Caliber?" I heard Lavender say as I trotted past the guards.

"Oh trust me, He's not going to get off as easy as you did."

I made my way to the edge of the lobby to where Cal was just coming back to the world of the living from his surprise nap.

"Joey? What the hell happened to me... " Cal started, but was quickly cut off when I grabbed his tail in my teeth and began dragging him behind me.

"OW OW OW OW! JOEY STOP IT! WHAT THE HELL." Caliber shouted at me.

"Shut up! I'm not done with you by a DAMN sight boy!" I roared back to him. Oh wow, where did that come from. Did I just channel my inner Boss? Wow, talk about imprinting.

I continued to drag Cal behind me, despite his continued bellowing that he was in pain and that he did in fact have four legs and could walk for himself. I paid neither him nor the shocked stares of the other ponies around us any mind, I'm still pissed off and Cal will be my punching bag for everything hateful I have left. Starting up the stairs, Cal's words became more choppy as his head bounced off each step during our accent. About halfway up our 4th flight, we passed a dark gray mare with a messy mane who, taking in the I'm sure bizarre display before her, looked to me, then to Cal, then back to me and gave me a wink.

"DJ, Ow, Pony's asis, Ow, assistant! Please, Ow. HELP ME!" Cal said between the each step's assault on his lower jaw.

"Oh my, Have fun you two." The gray mare said as we passed her by.

Now what was that all about. Cal is not going to be having any fun tonight, he's going to get a worse cussing than the baker did. That reminds me, I need to find a way to thank her for being so nice to Fetch...

"Of all the low, dirty, horrible things you could do Cal, running from your own child is at the top of the list of shitty things you have managed to do in your sad fucking life." I yelled across the room. Cal was now lying on his sheet-less bed, nursing a bruised chest and I'm sure, an extremely sore jaw.

"Joey, where the hell are my sheets? They didn't give me any?" Cal said, trying for the fifth time now to change the topic.

"Don't try to avoid this Cal, do you have any idea what this is doing to Fetch? Did you ever think about that? The poor kid has a cunt for a mother, has to grow up alone and has a father that wants nothing to do with him!"

"Joey, I grew up without a dad and I turned out just..."

"Don't you even say it! No buck that runs from responsibility, fucks anything with a pulse and could be this big of an asshole, turned out just fine! You are unbelievable sometimes, this isn't just something that will go away Cal, Fetch will always be here, you saw to that your-damn-self."

"Exactly, he will always be here, whether I'm here or not, so why does it matter?"

"It matters because this isn't just some dog you found, this is a life you created! Fetch is a pony, YOUR son and you are dismissing him like he's some stray animal that somehow has inconvenienced you."

"Look, I know how this must look to you, but you don't know what it's like in the REAL WORLD. You stay buried in your work and never even talk to other ponies, you don't know how things work around here."

"I know that everything you just said was bullshit. I know that you have no clue what your are doing. I know you are the problem here, not the solution."

"Oh, I'm the problem? What about Lavender, If I recall, she could have kicked me to the curb at anytime. But she was just as willing to bang as I was, where does the blame fall for her?" Cal, despite my best efforts, remained on the defensive.

We had been at this for hours now and my voice was beginning to fade out from all the yelling. Twice now, Tower Security had been called to our room for multiple noise complaints and had warned that the 3rd time would result in an additional charge being placed on the room. Cal had held his position that he was blame free of the situation, casting all the fault to Lavender's eagerness to get him into bed. It was a false wall that he put up between him and the rest of the world to validate his own mistakes and absolve him of his actions.

"She is irrelevant, she's a fucking cunt that doesn't deserve to have that colt and honestly, the way you are acting, neither do you."

"Oh so now I'm the bad parent? Tell me, is he being beaten everyday? Is he being forced to go out and hunt for food for his mother? Does he have to sleep outside like a dog just because his mother can't stand the thought of him being near her? Does Fetch have to deal with any of the things that I had too?" Cal said, his anger growing with every word that left his mouth.

"Cal, don't bring up your own past and try to compare it to him."

"No Joey, you want to really talk about this? You will never know the pain I had to deal with, but let me give you a little taste of what things are really like outside of that safe little caravan you came from." Cal said, jumping from his bed to the floor near me.

"When I was his age, my mother tried to sell me off to slavers just so she could make a few caps to pay for drugs. I had to run away for weeks at a time when she was using, so that she wouldnt try to beat me to death in my sleep because she thought I was a radroach. When I was 7, she broke my fucking hind legs so that I couldn't leave her when she got sick. I had to kill my own mother just to survive! So don't you dare tell me who the bad parent here is, you hopeless fuck!" Cal said turning from me.

It was no use talking to him, I already knew his past. I also know that it's the place he goes to when he wants to end a fight. He looks at arguments about his own faults like a competition of whose life is more fucked up and will try to use the heaviest of his memories to shut them down, just to win the fight. But the past is the past and regardless of what happened to him when he was like a colt himself, he was doing the very thing that caused him so much pain to somepony else now. I guess it's true what they say, hate breeds hate, pain breeds pain and self pity keeps the cycle moving.

"So your mother caused you so much pain that you have to hurt others just to hide it from yourself? You have to fuck up everypony else's life to justify your own existence? You are running from the one kid that you know for a fact you have, because you think that he deserves to feel the same pain you did?"

"Don't you put that on me! I'm nothing like my mother! I wouldn't hurt anypony who hasn't earned it!"

"Really Cal? Because that's exactly what you are doing to Fetch. It's a different form of pain that hurts just as bad. He's just a kid, he doesn't know about the fucked up way you look at the world or how you think things should be. He just wants to be loved and for somepony to care about him. He might not know you, but not knowing your own father because he's so wrapped up in his own self-pity that he had to have a fucking kid and ignore it to justify his own past is just as fucking bad."

"Fuck you! You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me saving your simple ass."

"No Caliber. Fuck you. Fuck you for being the worst of anypony I have ever met. Just because you have done some good in your life, doesn't mean you can cast your sins aside. And now, you are making brand new ones. Life isn't a scale where you can just out-weight everything you did wrong with a few good action to atone for them. No, you have to carry them with you everywhere you go, you have to try to be a better pony even after you have done something so horrible that you can't bare to live with yourself. The only way you can overcome them, is to accept them for what they are and let them make you better for it. Not pretend to throw them away and let on with a false bravado to hide your pain."

"I really am starting to regret saving you now."

"I wish you had not, I never would have seen the pony you have become. I don't want to live knowing ponies like you exist if that's the way you look at the world."

Cal said nothing, instead he trotted back to the bed, climbed in and reserved himself to staring at the ceiling. He had shut down and refused to acknowledge his own actions for what he had done. Sure he had done bad things in the past but, this was a mistake that could be fixed and he was walking away from it like it was as simple as a spilled drink. He saw Lavender and Fetch as yet another inconvenience that he had to deal with on some minimal level to move on to his next mistake. It was infuriating that it made me feel pity for him, but then again, that's exactly what he wanted. Even if all this pushed him over the edge and ended our friendship, I would be OK with carrying that with me for the rest of my days if he were to change even in the slightest for it.

Not just for the sake of Fetch, but for him too. How could a pony go on living with the way he does and not feel the weight of everything that he had done. Such a thing would weigh me down to the point of crawling through life, barely surviving anything that was thrown at me. But all Cal had to do was open another bottle of booze, find another mare, kill another raider and he would have the strength to keep moving forward. It's insanity, some deep seated parasitic pain that festers into something far worse over time, numbness to the pain you cause from your own actions just to keep it fed so that it will let you keep moving. Ignoring it would weigh you down with its eminence bulk until you either collapse under it's pressure or find a way to deal with it. I guess that's why drinking, chasing mares and killing are all called crutches, because for somepony like Cal, they are the only thing holding him up.

I turned to walk out of the room, nothing I could say would get through to him, only he could unlock the door to the room he was hiding in. A long silence fell between us as my hoof found the brass door handle, I looked back to Caliber, who was still staring into space.

"I guess that's why they call you Sparky. Everything good you are near, you set it on fire."

The comment prompted a glance in my direction as I turned to ornate handle and left the room and Cal to work through their own demons alone. Closing the door behind me felt almost like I had closed the cover of a book, the feeling was melancholy, happy that the fight was over, but still upset that nothing was gained. I wanted him to see what he was doing to the world around him, not just keep moving forward for the sake of survival. But Cal was having none of that, he was fine with perpetuating his very own hell that he had placed himself in, even if it scorched the lives of everypony that dared come near him. He had even done the same with me, burning that part of my memory that he had invaded like a wildfire would the forest. Every perception I had of him now was tainted by his actions and scared by the pony he had shown me that he could be.

I wanted the old Caliber back, the funny guy that I had come to know and love through his own reckless stupidity and bravery. Not this monster that consumed the lives of everypony around him, bring them pain and suffering. I miss the times when I could hang on his every word he would say without it having to come into question for the lives he hurt along the way. Before I could laugh when he would tell me about the fights he had gotten into or the crazy mares that he would have to hide from after a wild night of drinking. But becoming friends with him meant that now I had to see the other side of him, the real Caliber that hurts other ponies with his own selfish need to cope. Everything that he would do or say from now on would be stained with the sins that he threw on them to avoid his own guilt. I just don't know if I could be friends with somepony like that.

Then again, was I any better for casting him to the side like something foul that I had stepped in? Wouldn't a true friend try to help him get past this? Yes, they would and that's exactly what I was trying to do now. The only way for Caliber to get any better would be for me to help him through this, even if it meant me leaving him on his own for a while to think about what he had done for the last few years of his life. Part of me felt that I was right in doing what I did, saying the things that I knew would hurt him to try and shock him back into reality, for him to face these problems head on. After all, he had done the same for me when he told the doctors about my Med-x addiction. I didn't like it then, but now, I felt better than I had in weeks despite the fear of coming so close to going down a dark road. Cal had cared for me enough to keep an eye on me then and now I was doing the same for him, I just hope he can see that through all the hurtful things that I screamed at him. But for now, he just wanted to be left alone, and I just want my friend back.

Looks like we will be staying the night here, probably for the best seeing as Cal was still sulking in the room and I was still waiting for the muffins I had paid for. What could be taking her so long that I would have to wait until morning before I could pick them up, also, where the hell is Life Bloom? I have been trying since I left the room 4 hours ago to get my pipbuck back and despite my best efforts and going to the clinic three times now, I have managed to miss him all three times. I have walked all over this place now twice, I even got kicked out of the restricted section of the Tower's staff quarters when I happened along them by mistake. The level of boredom I was being subjected to was now at a monumental level, and I was starting to go stir crazy.

I sat down on a bench in the wares section of the Tower, just opposite of Cream's Confectionery and stared into the plate glass window. At this point the most exciting thing in the whole damn place was my own reflection, albeit still a bit unsettling to say the least. The stripes that had begun to appear across my body were still very faint, but visible nonetheless. Gazing into my own reflection I could see that they were much more pronounced on my right side and seemed to be getting darker. Granted much of their darkening color was in my imagination, still shocked from their appearance, but I couldn't help but notice the dark grey lines every time I saw myself. I don't look like me anymore, I feel the same but now it's like I have this dark cloud hanging over me everywhere I go.

Part of me doesn't mind in the slightest that my body is starting to look more and more like a zebra with each passing hour, but another part of me wishes it would all go away, back to the way I used to look. Sure I was boring to look at, but at least other ponies paid me no mind, now however, the few that did notice them, would curl their lips up in disgust. Had this been New Appleloosa, I would be devastated by this form of mistreatment, but here? They can all kiss my ass. Sure it was awkward, but I honestly couldn't care less what these ponies think about me, after all, it's hard to value the opinion of anypony whose biggest fear is the restaurant running out of wine. Scratch that remark about not caring what anypony here thinks of me.

I sat and watched as Fetch made his way into the baker's shop, he had not noticed me as he bounced his way down the hall past me and through the open doors. He was greeted by Cream who, walking around the counter, guided the young colt around it to a bench where he promptly sat down and began to start talking. Judging by the Cream's facial expression, Fetch was packing ten pounds of information into a one pound bag. Well I could sit here and feel sorry for myself, or I could go see how Fetch is doing, maybe even grab something to eat while I was at it. After all, the doctor did say that I needed to start eating better. I wonder If bread counts, maybe even muffins.

I trotted through the open doors of Cream's Shop and made my way to the counter where Cream was being, as best as I could tell, held hostage by her own kindness.

"Hey Cream, what do you have that's ready to eat, like now?" I asked while Fetch was taking a deep breath.

"Oh! Yes, I have some cookies left and I think that I've got half a loaf of bread back there. everything else is still baking." Cream said, kinder than I'm used to being talked to. I can't tell if she being genuinely kind or just happy to break away from the colt's verbal assault.

"Cookies and bread, eh? What the hell, I'll have a cookie sandwich!" I said jokingly.

"You got it!" Cream said, running through the doors to her back room. Ah, happy to get away it was then.

I looked over the counter to where Fetch was sitting and saw nothing but an empty bench with a few odd books lying on it. It was at that moment I became aware of a large mass attached to my hind leg, either I have grown a tumor in the last five minutes or...

"HI JOEY!" Came the squeaky voice of the young colt now squeezing my leg for attention.

"Woah, hey kid! What are you doing up this late? Don't you have a bed time?" I asked, giving my leg a shake, hoping to get it back.

"NOPE! Mommy works late a lot, so I come here and talk to Ms. Cream until she get's off." Fetch said, still refusing to release my leg.

"Well then, I bet she loves having you around to talk to! Have you been reading your book?" I asked, again shaking my leg in hopes of freedom.

"YUP! Mommy says I'm getting faster! She even read it with me at the spa!" Fetch said, refusing once more to loosen his death grip.

"She did? How do you like that, I bet that was fun for the both you two." I said, now conceding that I was not allowed to have my leg back.

"She says she's going to take tomorrow off and spend the day with me! I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun!" Fetch said, seeming to vibrate with enthusiasm. Lavender? Spending time with Fetch? Well, I guess a good cussing is all that's needed sometimes. Even if it was founded in fear, I don't see how that could be a bad thing.

"No way! I'm happy for you buddy!" No sooner than the words had left my mouth, Cream shouted from the confines of the back room.

"Joey! Would you mind giving me a hoof? Ask fetch to wait outside, It's too dangerous for him back here right now." Cream yelled. Too dangerous? It's a kitchen, what could be so dangerous back there.

"Ok Fetch, I need my leg back. You heard Ms. Cream." I said, finally feeling the blood return to my hind hoof.

"Yeah, yeah... rads are bad for little colts, I know..." Fetch said, trotting back to the bench behind the counter.

Wait, rads? Why would there be radiation in the kitchen? Walking behind the counter to the double doors that lead to the kitchen in the back room, I took notice to Fetch who was reading the book I had given him earlier. Well, trying to read anyhow. It was good to see him making such a strong effort to learn, even if he could just barely produce any real results. Approaching the doors to the kitchen, I was met with a green glow that was overcoming the ambient light around me. It was almost eerie in it's glow that bathed me once I passed through the doors.

"Put that suit on in the corner and take one of those Rad-X tablets!" Came the muffled voice of Cream who was also wearing a yellow suit.

I trotted to the corner to retrieve the similar looking suit that, once I had put it on, covered my head, front legs, chest, half of my back and wings. This thing had to be made for a mare, judging by how tight it was around my mid section and chest, a young mare at that. The Stable-Tec logo was adorned on the back of the suit, and by the looks of it, the suit would do little to protect me from anything if it were to be behind me.

"Ok, give me a hoof with this Joey." Cream said, holding a long pair of forceps with a small vial of green glowing powder in it.

"What in the sweet fuck is that stuff!?" I asked, looking to Cream for guidance.

"Ground up stone from a balefire crater that I made. I call it 'Rad Powder'. I need you to stir the batter as I pour the powder in, you think you can handle that?" Cream asked in a stern parenting tone.

"Yeah, yeah. One question, why are you putting radioactive powder in this... stuff?" I asked.

"Ditzy's Muffins. Remember? Ditzy's a ghoul if that fact has managed to slip past you, Rad Muffins are her favorite." Cream said, as she let the powder begin to trickle out of the vial into the smooth contents of the bowl.

"You do know you are contaminating everything in this kitchen right?" I said, mixing the glowing green powder into the contents of the bowl.

"Radiation doesn't work like that dumbass! It's the material that causes contamination, not the radiation itself! The rads you absorb into your body come from the the decay of the radioactive material, in fact the rads that this stuff gives off will kill any germs within a ten foot distance! Now focus, this stuff is so fine that it goes everywhere when you spill it." Cream said, still dribbling the contents into the bowl.

"Uhuh, you said you made this stuff right? Here in this kitchen?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Just... just mix the fucking bowl." Cream said, clearly flustered.

Rad Muffins... I should have known. Granted I had never heard of them before but it stands to reason that Ditzy, a well loved ghoul across the wasteland, would have muffins fortified with radiation. I now understand why they had cost so much to buy, Cream would have had to pay a ghoul to go and get the stones from a balefire crater, grind them up, make them into a powder and bake them. The very thought of what she was doing back here unnerved me to no end, NO WONDER EVERYTHING I ATE FROM HERE MADE MY PIPBUCK CLICK!

"Cream, is this even safe?" I asked, holding the whisk in my fetlock.

"Oh you poor little colt, it's no more dangerous than walking near a crater. Besides, you are in a suit, you'll be fine."

"Cream these suits are for contamination, not exposure."

"All the more reason for you to shut up and stir, the sooner this stuff is in the oven, the sooner we can get out of here." Cream said, emptying the remaining contents into the bowl.

Once we had completed the dangerous task of mixing the muffin mix, Cream then set both of us to the task of pouring the contents into the muffin trays. I had asked how I was supposed to carry these things back to Ditzy without dying of radiation sickness, but was met with a hoof pointing to a box in the corner. It was a dark gray box that seemed to be made of metal with a bio hazard symbol on the front of it with a locking lid that, once closed according to Cream, would keep things within the daily allowance of radiation dosage. Still, I think Caliber will be carrying the box of doom muffins... doomuffins... dooffins? Whatever.

Walking back to the front of the shop once more, Cream threw me a small juice box of Rad-Away and told me to "start sucking" and went to sit near Fetch. I turned the box over in my hooves to read the front of it to see the foal-like writing. Huh, Rad-Away for foals, I had never seen these before, berry flavored at that. I poked the small straw through in the hole in the top and began to sip the contents out and turned to look at the window. Outside I could see Cal and Lavender talking to each other, oh hell, this can't be good. Cream had taken up teaching Fetch to read his new book, the two studying it intently as I passed them by to trot out of the store.

"Look Joey! Cream is helping me read the book you gave me, we are already on the 4th page!" Fetch said, beaming with pride.

"Awesome, little guy! Keep at it, I'll be back in just a second, I need to talk to somepony really quick. I'm sure Cream won't mind helping you out for a while. " I said, making eye contact with Cream and motioning my head towards Cal and Lavender in hopes that she would keep him distracted from the fight that was about to happen. There was no need to see his mother and father going at it, he was too young to need to deal with that level of confusion just yet.

Cream, seeing my intentions, promptly shifted in her seat to put herself in the way of his two arguing parents and began to focus on teaching the colt to read. I started making my way to the door, but froze in my tracks when I heard Caliber's almost pleading voice echoing down the hallway. He sounded almost desperate, like he was begging even, in his tone towards the mare, something I had never heard from Cal before. Lavender however, held a tone in her voice I had heard before, It was one of resolve and not backing down that she was aiming towards Cal.

"I'm sorry, but I think things might be better if you just left the Tower, me and Fetch are trying to make it by and don't need your help." Lavender said.

"But, I could help! I know this place is expensive and all, I could help pay for somethings for you guys!" Cal said, again in that pleading tone.

"No Cal, you have done enough. I can appreciate you wanting to be a part of his life and even mine but, I think it would be better if he didn't know you."

"How can you say that!? He's my son too, sure I was a bit shocked when you told me, it's not something you can start a conversation with! If you would just let me talk to him..." Cal was cut of by a wave of Lavender's hoof.

"No Cal, too little, too late. You had your chance but you ran from it, you even had a second chance when you came back but you ran again. I don't want Fetch growing up around somepony like you. You should listen to your friend rather than fight with him, in the one hour he has spent with Fetch, he has been more of a father than you will ever be. He even taught him to read! That's more than I can say even." Lavender said. I couldn't help but cringe at that statement, feeling like I had walked on hollowed ground that I was never meant to tread on.

"I know, I just needed to hear it from him. He can be a right asshole sometimes but I know he's right, it's just so hard not to argue with him when I'm on trial. Look, please, I'm begging you... Can I please just meet him?" Cal said with a hitch in his voice.

"I'm sorry, the answer's no." Lavender said as she turned and walked away.

Caliber sat down hard and watched as the purple mare trotted away from him, leaving him to sulk in the mess they both had created. Even though she was making an effort to be a part of Fetch's life, she was using him to get back at Cal the only way she knew how, by denying him to meet his only son. The thought of her using Fetch like a bargaining chip was infuriating, but watching her do it to Cal brought about a lot of conflicting thoughts to mind. Sure Cal deserved to have his flank served up on a silver platter for acting the way he did, but at least he was making an effort. Honestly that's the only thing I wanted from him from the start, to make an effort, to acknowledge that he had done wrong and face the problem head on.

Cal had taken my advice and been beaten even more for his very trying to do right. I had thought that by him trying to make amends with Lavender that he would be doing the right thing, maybe even bring about some closure to this whole ordeal. But now I feel like I was used as a bat to hurt him even more by my very actions of helping Fetch learn to read. I guess the saying 'the path to hell is paved with good intentions' is true after all. My good intentions paved a road for Caliber to try and make things right by Lavender, now he was at her mercy to see his own son and in turn, placed him in his own hell. This isn't fair! He's trying to do the right thing but everypony just sees him for the ass he once was, not the pony he is trying to be. I guess in Tenpony when your name is mud, it stays mud.

Finally walking to his side, I couldn't tell if he was crying or shaking with anger, nevertheless, I was prepared for him to hit me, or hug me.

"Caliber? What are you doing down here?" I asked, deciding to let him tell me the details for himself.

"Oh. Hey Joey. I just came down to get some cheese. Fighting always makes me hungry for cheese. "Caliber said, looking to the closed-up cheese shop. "I guess they are closed..." Cal trailed off.

"Yeah, Cream said the guy who runs this joint is out with his wife somewhere in the wasteland or something." I said, trying to fill the dead space between us.

"It's not fair... All I wanted to do was try to make things right and she pulls this shit on me? Why do I even try!?" Cal said, more angry than upset.

"Because trying is the right thing to do. You made a mistake, sure you ran from it at first, but the point is you tried to make things right. It's not that you fell down, it's how you fell down that matters."

"Then why do I feel like shit for trying? I thought I would feel better after asking to meet him but now... it just hurts."

"Let me ask you something... Why did you talk to her about this?"

"I was sitting there, thinking of ways to get back at you for cussing me, then I guess I started thinking about it and I wanted to meet him."

"So you did this because you wanted to meet your son... Why?" I asked seeing him looking off into the distance.

"I don't want him to be like me." Is all Cal said, leaving much to be desired in the way of insight. But from what I could gather, I don't think that he was doing this for him. Maybe he had thought things through and decided that he didn't want the little colt growing up not knowing who his father was. Maybe it was because he wanted to feel better about himself after everything I had put him through back in the room. But it could also be that he wanted better for Fetch, maybe for him to know that there was somepony else out there that was just like him. Either way, Cal was moving in the right direction, just at a snail's pace thanks to Lavender. If she didn't want Fetch to know who Cal was because he was an asshole, that's fair enough in it's thinking, but I feel like she might be doing this more out of malice than love for her son. Nopony turns around in one day, this holds true for both Lavender and Caliber, but I still have this feeling that she's doing this to spite him.

"Hey, Do you want to meet him?"

"She said no Joey, how could I-"

"He's in the bakery, right behind you. He's reading a book with Cream." I said, pointing to the shop behind us.

"She said no, that's her decision to make not mine." Cal said, standing.

"Screw her, you should at least get to see him before we head out, if nothing else to know he's a good kid."

"What would I even say to him? Hi, I'm Caliber, your dead beat dad that didn't know you existed and ran away from you. Sounds like a great ice breaker!" Cal said, looking at me completely lost.

"How about hello to start with, you will figure it out from there." I said guiding him into Cream's.

"I don't know about this Joey, what if I fuck it up?"

"You'll be fine, trust me, he's a sweet kid." I said, looking over to Cream.

"Hey Cream, do you think you and I could have a word in the kitchen?" I asked, trying to make it obvious that we needed to leave the room.

"Back there!? Are you nuts!? The muffins are cooking and are about to hit critical mass! You can't be in the same room with them when that's happening!" Cream said with a look of 'are you stupid' across her face.

"Outside, whatever! I need to talk to you, you mad scientist!" I said, nodding my head to Cal.

"Fine... Fetch, we will pick this back up in a moment." Cream said with a huff, standing to walk to the door.

"Ok Cal, just play it cool." I said, walking past Cal.

"Heh, no pressure, right?"

Cream and I walked to the front of the store and sat down in the hallway, just within earshot of the two's conversation. Through the window I no longer saw my reflection, but instead saw Cal shaking in his hooves, standing next to Fetch.

"Ok Joey, what's so important..." Cream said, lighting a cigarette.

"That's Caliber, Fetch's dad."

"Wait, Fetch has a father!?" Cream asked almost in shock.

"Everypony has a father, Cream..."

"And you just so happen to find him."

"It's... complicated but yes, Caliber is Fetche's father. Now shush, I'm trying to spy." I said, leaning my ear to the crack between the door and windowed store front. Inside I could hear Cal fumbling through his words. It was actually kind of cute to watch, I was used to the wild and crazy Caliber, not this quivering mass of fear all stemming from a little colt. It was as if he had regressed to a young colt who was about to talk to the first mare he had ever met.

"Hi, Fetch is it?" Caliber said in a meek voice.

"Yeah! Who are you?" Came the enthusiastic voice of Fetch.

"Oh! Yeah! My name's Caliber. I'm Joey's friend."

"I know Joey! He gave me this book and showed me how to read it!"

"Yeah, he's a good guy, stubborn, but a good guy."

"I saw him talking to mommy earlier, do you think he would be my dad if I asked him?" Fetch said hopefully. Ouch, I didn't see that coming. Granted, Cal had expressed that he wasn't father material, but still, that had to hurt just the same.

"I don't know buddy, he's a busy guy. But I'm sure that given the chance he would do it in a heartbeat." Cal said, much more nonchalant than I had expected.

"Hey, what's it like hanging out with him? I bet you guys get to go on all kinds of adventures together! DJ Pon3 is always talking about how he shoot's up the slavers on the radio."

"It's fun, painful sometimes but we have fun together." Cal said, rubbing his half bitten-off ear. What do I have to do to get him to stop messing with that damn thing! It's going to fall off!

"I knew it! Tell me a story! Um... Please?" Fetch said, bouncing from floor to bench with excitement.

"A story? Like a story about me and Joey working together?" Cal said, taking in Fetch's rambunctious addicted with wide eyed amusement.

"Yeah, yeah! Tell me a story! Please, please, please!" Fetch said, almost vibrating with excitement. Wow, he even says "yeah, yeah" in rapid succession like Cal does.

"Ok!" Cal said, sitting down on the floor. "Joey and I were working on a job, trying to find a young colt who had been taken by slavers..."

Cal started, but I wasn't able to catch the rest of his, I'm sure embellished story, due to Life Bloom scaring me half to death when he tapped my shoulder.

"Sorry Joey, I didn't mean to frighten you." Life Bloom said.

"I'm going to check on the muffins, you two have fun..." Cream said with an odd inflection in her voice.

"There you are, how did you sneak up on me like that?" I said, looking around. There was no place that he could have come from, that I would not have seen or heard him coming.

"Oh, I get around quietly. I have your pipbuck ready."

"Oh thank goddesses, tell me you go that damn thing working again."

"It was pretty beat up, but I managed to save the poor thing. You really should be nicer to your toys, they work better when you are nicer to them."

"I'll be nicer to them when they work!"

"Ugh... Ok, it seems the problem was that the video board had a hairline crack in it, that's why it went dark on you. But Caliber told me that you had been having problems more and more out of it since you two started working together."

"Yeah, it would just stop working at times for no reason. The inventory sorter would die out and the thing that tells me how messed up I am would go blank."

"Hold your hoof out for me, please." Life Bloom asked, holding the open pipbuck in his out-stretched legs. With a firm click, the small computer locked itself to my leg.

"Ah, just as I thought."

"What?" I asked, turning the pipbuck over on my leg.

"It's loose, chances are that since you have started flying more, you have lost a significant amount of weight." He said, poking at one of my exposed ribs. The gesture was met with a giggle from the odd sensation of being touched.

"Yeah, I know. I don't like things to be tight on me so I asked the mare to leave it a little loose." I said, guarding my side from his poking.

"There lies the problem. Pipbucks work off of the galvanic response from the wearer. They gather data from the sensor pad under the main screen of the unit and intemperate it into readable data for the user to address as needed. It also uses the wearer's body as a sort of an antenna to read local threats and items or locations that you have come in contact with. When it is loose, it will work intermittently, but ultimately stop working entirely from lack of inheritable data, or in your case, being hit too hard. The spell it casts gathers energy from the user to power its on-board functions, including its durability spell." Life Bloom said. Seeing my face of 'what the hay are you even talking about', he let out a grunt of frustration.

"Ugh! Too loosy, no worky! No foody means no fitty..." He said, rubbing his temples.

"OH! Ok! I understand now."

It all made sense. Every time my pipbuck had stopped working had been after a long flight or weeks in the wasteland. The fact that during those times I had burned a lot of calories and lost weight, making it not work properly. Life Bloom then removed a few tools from his bags and set to tightening the elastic straps on the offending pipbuck.

"Usually, these straps are tightened to just be snug enough to keep it in place, but loose enough to allow for the wearer's comfort. I would imagine that whoever installed yours had no clue about these things. But this doesn't mean that you can slack off on keeping yourself fed. We don't see pegasi very often, but from the few I have met, your race has shown to burn calories at an alarming rate. So even with them adjusted correctly now, you may need them adjusted again once you start eating better." Life Bloom said, finishing up the final adjustments.

"So doc, are you saying the remedy is cake?" I said with a smirk.

"Ugh... Just, be more careful." Life Bloom said, gathering his tools and walking away from me.

"Wait! Don't I owe you anything for this?" I yelled after him.

"No charge... Why do the cute one's always have to be so dumb." Life Bloom muttered.

"I'm not dumb! I'm just... Wait? Cute?" I said, sitting down hard.

Life Bloom disappeared around the corner by the time I had comprehended what he had said. Cute? He thought I was cute? What was that all about. I'm not cute! I'm the baddest pegasi I know! Well... considering that I'm the only pegasi I know, doesn't exactly give me much to go on here, but still. I turned from where Life Bloom had trotted off too and seemingly disappeared to look back in on Caliber and Fetch talking only to find that very little talking was actually happening.

Fetch had resorted back to bouncing from wall to wall with excitement while Caliber, looking very overwhelmed by the young colt's enthusiasm, did his best to keep his eyes on him and tell his story at the same time. I had stood from my seated position and pointed myself towards the door when I made eye contact with Lavender and Steel Water who were making their way towards me, both of them wearing looks of anger. Doing my best not to look shocked by what I knew was about to happen, I continued my advancement towards the door as calmly as I could, as not to draw attention to myself.

No sooner than my tail had cleared the door, I bucked the wedge shaped door jam out of its place and slammed the door closed behind me. Looking up to a very confused Caliber and Fetch and a very unhappy Cream, I shouted as loud as i dared.

"IT'S FETCH'S MOM AND STEEL WATER! HIDE!"

The comment was meet with a melody of emotions. Anger from Caliber, mild annoyance from Cream, but the most shocking look came from Fetch. Fear, pure hoof-shaking, clenched jaw fear permeated from the young colt. This was surprising considering that he knew nothing about Caliber being his father or that he would be murdered to death by Steel Water if they were seen together.

"YOU HAVE TO HIDE! IF MOMMY FINDS OUT I'M TALKING TO YOU, UNCLE STEEL WILL POUND YOU INTO LITTLE PONY PIECES!" Squeaked out a very excited Fetch.

"Oh hell..." Mumbled Cream

"If you two get my store destroyed over a father-son reunion, those muffins won't be the only thing in the damn oven!"

"CREAM! WHERE'S THE NEAREST A/C VENT!?" Caliber said glancing around the store in desperation.

"In the kitchen, between the ovens. Why?"

"No time! Goodbye Fetch, be a good boy and remember what I told you, ok?"

"Yup!" Chirped Fetch.

"Wait, what?!" I asked, looking to both of them with confusion.

"Later, I'll meet you in the room, I was never here!" Caliber said as he crouched under double doors of the kitchen and faded into the green glowing room.

"Stupid colt, I hope his nuts rot off from the rads back there." Cream said under her breath.

"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MY DAD THAT WAY!" Fetch screeched.

"What!? Never mind, both of you shush!" I said, turning to see Lavender and Steel rounding the corner to the bakery's door. Doing my best nonchalant impression, I greeted them both as they walked through the door.

"Well if it isn't Lavender and Steel Water."

"Where is he!" Bellowed Lavender.

"I saw him! He just came in here." Said Steel Water.

"Who? Fetch? He's right over there! What are you? Blind?" I said as sarcastically as I dared.

"YOU KNOW WHO THE FUCK I'M TALKING ABOUT! WHERE. IS. HE!" Screamed the now very, very angry purple mare.

"Seriously, I have no clue who you are talking about." I said, again putting on my best nonchalant face.

Lavender then looked to Cream who was doing her best to look busy, narrowing her eyes towards her in hopes of provoking the answer that would satiate her suspicions. A deep sinking feeling took hold of me, leading me to only hope that what little camaraderie we have would somehow be enough to allow her to lie for us. Cream, to her credit, did her best to evade the question.

"What are you talking about, I have only seen Fetch and Joey in here in the last 2 hours." Cream said while opening the register and counting down the till.

"Where is that prick Caliber hiding at Cream? I saw him come in here on the cameras." Steel Water said with a far too calm demeanor.

"What? On those two century old black and white cameras? I have seen the monitors. It's a wonder you can make out anything on those things. Are you sure you didn't just see Joey?" Cream said.

"I know what I saw. I saw him talking to sis over by the Cheese shop and then saw Joey lead him in here." Said Steel Water.

"Uhuh... Did you rewind it and look twice, or are you going off what you think you saw? Oh that's right, you can't rewind them can you? As I recall, you couldn't do that last week when somepony broke in here after hours and took all of the sweet rolls." Cream said arcing a brow. I had to admit, she made a very convincing argument, or at the very least, it sounded like she might have some dirt on Steel Water. Looking to him confirmed my suspicions. Steel Water wore a guilty look that he was trying to cover with an uneasy smile.

"No I can't sadly, the recorder has been broken for some time now."

"So you have no way of proving Caliber was even here? In my book that would be a blind accusation towards somepony whom you have a vendetta towards." I said accusingly.

"It is hardly blind! Because of him I'm a single mom!" Lavender belted back at me.

"Oh boohoo, a single mother in the safest place in the damn wasteland. Others should be so lucky! Besides, wasn't Caliber just talking to you, trying to make amends and help out in some way? If things are SO hard on you, why wouldn't you take his help?" I asked narrowing my eyes at the two of them. The constant shifting of blame was taking it's toll on Lavender's patience, the anger that she was starting to display was almost palatable. Having no dog in this fight meant that I had little to nothing to lose by arguing a lie and even less to be judged on. This also meant that while Lavender was busy getting mad, I was left calm and collected. She lost the fight before she even walked through the door.

"What do you know about me and my struggles? What business is any of this to you?" Lavender said, now being held back by Steel Water.

"You made it my business when you decided to call out one of my friends for being a bad parent when you yourself are not much better. What's that old saying? Don't throw stones in glass stables?" I said, turning my back to her.

"Com'on sis, there is no sense getting mad over this, didn't you say that Fetch had already figured out that Caliber is his father? What harm could come from it anyhow?" Steel Water said, trying to guide the irate mare out the door.

"Next time I see him anywhere near Fetch, I'm going to string him up by his hedge apples! You got that?" Lavender said, poking a hoof to my chest.

"And the next time I hear about you taking your frustrations out on Fetch, there will be little left of you to string up." I said with a deadly stillness in my voice. It was an idle threat, but it had the desired effect on Lavender to not only make her stern glare falter, but also prove to her that I wasn't Caliber and that she couldn't dissolve her own guilt with me.

Steel Water, who I had figured would have several things to say about my comment, seemed more insistent on putting as much distance between himself and Cream, whose glare had yet to leave the security buck. Once they had gone, I decided to make good on my promise to eat better by purchasing some food from Cream and took my leave shortly there after, leaving Cream to whatever mad science she was up to in her green glowing laboratory of a kitchen. On the way back up to the room, I paused only briefly to take note of my now working pipbuck. Life Bloom had worked wonders on the thing, making it not only work better than it ever had, but somehow changing the color of everything to very light blue. My only thought being that he must have had to use parts from other pipbucks that he had laying around at the time, somehow cobbling together a working unit for me to use.

A small frown crossed my muzzle when the sudden realization hit me that I had been so ignorant of what this little computer is capable of all these years. This was made worse by my own knowing of my lack of knowledge of technology, so much so that it actually had a depressive feel to it. I sat down with my back to the old walls of the hallway and stared at the cyan blue glowing screen of my pipbuck. I didn't even know how to work this thing properly! I should have asked Life Bloom for a manual or lesson's on how to work the damn thing.

"Ugh! I hate feeling inadequate!" I said aloud to myself, thumping my head against the hallway's wall.

"Lover's quarrel?" Came a voice to my right, near the elevators.

I looked to my side to see a dark grey mare with a messy blue mane trotting my way. I think she was the same mare that I had passed in the hallway before when I had been dragging Cal back to the room.

"What? No! Just having a moment of inadequacy towards technology." I said with a half-hearted grin.

"Uhuh. Well then. I don't believe I have seen you around the Tower before, are you a new resident?"

"Me? No, I'm just passing through the area. My partner and I needed a breather before we started out towards Hoofington." I said, standing back to all fours.

"Oh well, I suspect that you will be needing all the rest that you two can get before going there."

"Yeah, that was the plan, but it seems like my partner's past transgressions are coming back to haunt him."

"Who is your partner again and where are you two from?"

"Oh, sorry. Caliber, and my names Joey. We are from down south."

"You wouldn't be the same Joey that tracks down ponies would you? Coyote Joe?"

"That would be me, but friends call me Joey." I said with a bit more pride than I had expected to leave my mouth.

"Nice to meet you Joey, I'm Homage, Dj-Pon3's assistant. I believe that I met Caliber earlier. You two were looking for a book from Sapphire Shores, correct?"

"Yeah, he said he spoke with you about it but the two of you came up empty-hooved. We ended up finding a copy just the same though."

"Oh? And here I though that I had found the only copy in the Tower. I was just on my way to Caliber's room to give it to him, but I suspect that neither of you will be needing it now."

"Actually, having a copy we could take with us would be amazing, if you are still willing to part with it that is." I said, putting on my best 'please give joey the book' face.

"Of course." She said, rifling through her bags for the old, stained book and passing it over to me. My pipbuck gave off a small flash, showing it to now be in my inventory.

"Thank you for this, you have no idea what this means to me." I said, tucking the book safely into my saddle bags.

"I have to ask, why in the world would you need a foal's book?"

"It's a long story..."

"I have time."

In the room, Caliber had yet to make his reappearance after the bake shop fiasco and I had decided to use my time wisely by trying to settle in for a nap. Despite needing to learn more about my now fully functioning pipbuck, my body had betrayed me into nearly falling over on the way back to the room. I was exhausted, but thanks to Caliber taking so long to get back here, I was no longer hungry. In fact,

I was nearing the point of nausea from how much I had eaten, though I can't tell if it was from the amount of food or the amount of rads. I had taken the time to stock up on food before I left the bakery and now, I was paying the price of excess.

I have no clue how long I was out for. An hour? Two? Maybe three? When I awoke to the loud crash of a ceiling vent smashing to the ground atop the dresser drawers. Caliber had made his triumphant return, scaring me out of the bed and onto the ground. I looked up to where he laid in a pile of what was once the dresser just in time to see him start flailing in every direction, sending bits of it across the room. In one hoof he held our possessions from the guard shack and in his mouth was a burlap sack. He shook his head back and forth to try and rid himself of the daze he was in from the fall, then with his eyes growing wide, he rose from the pile and started shouting.

"PACK YOUR SHIT! PACK YOUR SHIT! WE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Cal, what the fuck, I was sleeping!"

"WAKE THE FUCK UP! WE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Caliber shouted, throwing our various items into the sack and running into the bathroom.

"CALIBER! IT'S FINE! I TOOK CARE OF IT! CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"

"Wait. What? What did you take care of?"

"I ran into Hom- Dj-Pon3's assistant in the hallway. She gave me a copy of the book and agreed to get the guards off your back."

"What!? She can do that?" Caliber said, poking his head out of the bathroom.

"She said she had dirt on the guards and that as long as we are out of here by the morning we would be fine."

"Oh! OK. Whats for dinner?" Caliber said, dropping the bag and fording his way through the rubble to his sheet-less bed. Sometimes I wish I could turn on an emotional dime like he could.

"There are some day old muffins and a few cookies on the..." I trailed off, looking to the dresser where the food had just been.

"Good! Where are they?" Caliber asked, looking around for the sweet provisions.

"They WERE on the dresser... that you landed on... you moron." I said through long pauses, rubbing my temples with my hooves.

"Oops..." Caliber said with a sheepish grin.

"I guess I should go get more then?"

"What time is it?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"It is..." Caliber trailed off and started digging through the remains of the dresser. Soon he held up a clock that had been nearly smashed in his entrance. The speaker crackled and dangled off to the side of the unit as he turned it over in his magic.

"5 A.M. The bakery should be opening up soon, I could go get more food." Caliber said, throwing the broken clock back to the bathroom.

"5 A.M.!? Celestia! I HAVE been asleep! What the hell took you so long?"

"Oh! I took a nap for a few hours. When I woke up, I forgot where I was and had to find my way back. You wouldn't believe how big this place is. I found this one room just off the library that had these dudes dressed up in cloaks, talking all cryptic and shit. It was intense!"

"Cal, what the hell are you talking about?"

"It was nuts! They kept going on about that LightBringer chick and something about "The Twilight Society". The whole thing was straight out of a kid's ghost story book." Caliber said while searching his bag for caps.

"Caliber, did you hit your head when you fell or something? Secret rooms? Creepy cult within the tower called 'The Twilight Society'?" I said, tying to keep a straight face. Obviously, he had gone loony on me.

"I don't know, maybe I dreamed it. Hey! Shouldn't we get a move on? Its going to be a long flight to Hoofington if you are wanting to see that sister of yours." Cal said, slipping on his gear.

"Cal, why do you have our things? Aren't those supposed to be in the guard shack?"

"Well... I thought that we were going to have to make a getaway after the run-in at Cream's place."

"Damn it Cal..."

"Just... get your things, lets get out of here before Steel 'Twater' goes on duty. The other guards are not all there mentally, but he will notice our things missing."

We set ourselves to gathering what little things we had both come with and bought while we were here. I had insisted that Cal try and mend the broken dresser the best he could, but he instead threw one of the sheet from my bed over it and insisted they would never notice. Soon, we departed what was left of the room and made our way to the Towers bakery to retrieve the nuclear muffins that Cream had prepared for Ditzy. As luck would have it, Cream was already in the kitchen, packaging them up for the ride back to New Appleloosa. When I asked how I was supposed to transport them without my flank rotting off, she waved her hoof and pointed to a metal box with a biohazard logo on the front of it. We were instructed not to open the box under any circumstances during the journey, less for our own safety and more to ensure freshness.

Despite Caliber's mischievous behavior, the guards were none the wiser of him taking not only our gear, but also a few weapons from their stock pile. As upset as it made me that Caliber had stolen them, I had to admit, I was curious as to what all he had taken. Maybe there was something useful that would tickle my fancy, maybe it was a load of garbage confiscated pipe rifles, at any rate, I had mixed emotions about stealing. Thankfully, the way out of the Tower had little to no security measures meaning that we didn't have to pass through any of the Tower's scanners. Had it been the way we came in... better to not think about it.

Soon we were back outside, in the dim light of morning. Without any hesitation, Cal climbed onto my back and together, we pushed off the ground. I set the pipbuck's on-board map function with a waypoint for New Appleloosa with a few pokes of a hoof. It was then that I saw the button on the side of the unit that had embossed lettering that read E.F.S. Wasting no time, I pressed the button and was greeted with a cyan blue overlay in my vision once more. If nothing else good could come from this trip, at least now I had the means to keep us from getting killed. I set myself towards the direction of New Appleloosa and began to ascend parallel to the Tower.

In one of the windows, on the third floor, I could make out a small colt waving his hooves. Hovering closer to the building confirmed my suspicions that it was Fetch, book in one hoof, waving to Caliber and I, wearing a sad expression on his face. I bucked my head back to get Cal's attention and pointed to the forlorn looking colt. Cal, taking the hint, looked to the window and gave a long pause.

"Joey, can you fly me a little closer?"

Without hesitation, I moved to the edge of the window sill and did my best to keep us both steady in the updraft of wind from the Tower's walls. Fetch, wasting no time, tried to open the window, but it was no use. The Tower's windows had long since rusted shut from the constant exposure to radioactive wind and rain. Seeing that his efforts were in vain, Fetch fell back to his haunches and instead pressed a hoof to the wavy glass of his apartment window. Caliber, who was being oddly silent, returned the favor by pressing his hoof over Fetch's. Seconds seemed to pass, all the while the young colt's expression growing more and more sad looking through the window. Finally, after nearly a minute of looking at one another, and Fetch nearing the point of crying, Caliber broke the silence.

"I WILL come back for you! I promise!" Caliber said with a hidden, broken voice.

Fetch's face grew less upset following his words, seeming to once again become the bubbly, happy colt that I had always seen in the past. I slowly began to rise in the air, waving to Fetch as I passed him by and tapping the glass with a hoof. Before long we were full airborne and in route to New Appleloosa.

"Joey, can you turn on the radio? You know... flying music?" Cal said, sounding almost lost in his own thoughts.

"Yeah, no problem Cal."

I flicked-on the radio function on my pipbuck to listen to the one and only station that it had ever been on since the day I took possession of it. Soon the crackly voice of Dj-Pon3 came through the speaker, filling the air with his dulcet tone's.

"... and that children, is the weather. The same as it was yesterday and the day before... and now a special message for two bucks who are on a mission to find a missing pony. Yesterday, my assistant came across a buck in the hallways of Tenpony. Well, turns out that buck was none other than Coyote Joe, our favorite missing pony tracker I have talked about in the past. Now, I know what you all are saying. 'Dj-Pon3, why would this make it on your show? What about the Lightbringer? What about Security?' Well Children, I'll tell you. Coyote Joe, or Joey as he likes to be called, has his own missing pony problem. In fact, he has been hunting this particular mare for over 10 years now. Who is that mare you might ask? Well children that mare would be the love of his life that went missing long, long ago. Now my assistant had a nice long chat with our tracker and she says that even though he has traveled the wasteland in search of her, yet he has still come up empty hooved. Nevertheless, he remains hopeful that he will one day find her. It just goes to show, every hero has their own struggle, even though they may seem larger than life at times, deep down, they are the same as the rest of us. This next song goes out to Joey and Caliber, I hope you both find what you are looking for..."

The radio popped and crackled, soon the air was no longer filled with the sound of Dj-Pon3's voice, but was instead replaced by the singing of Sapphire Shores.

"Wow, we made it on the radio." Caliber said flatly, still looking off to the Tower window where Fetch once was.

"Are you ok?" I asked, looking up to Cal.

"I'll be fine... Well... If these muffins don't rot my junk off that is."

"Heh, that would almost be a good thing considering everything that happened back there."

"Joey?"

"What? That was funny!" I said, feeling like I had failed at my own humor.

"Do you think I could be a dad?"

"Maybe? Why would you ask that?"

"Just thinking about the future..." Cal trailed off, finally pulling his eyes from the Tower.

Soon we had ascended to a cruising altitude, just below the cloud layer. Cal had fallen silent, no doubt lost in thought. The universe had thrown him a proverbial curve ball, forcing him to deal with the cause of his own actions and face them head on. Whether it was a good thing or bad, Cal had discovered that he was not alone in this world anymore as long as Fetch was in the Tower. In a way, Fetch also could take comfort in knowing that he had two parents out there, even if one of them was a bitch and the other a moron. Cal seemed to be entertaining the idea of being a father, and while that was a good thing, it would be complicated by the situation with Lavender to the bitter end. She was unwilling to let go of what Cal had done in the past to let him move forward with being a parent to Fetch. Parents are protective, that's what they do, but Lavender was no parent in my book. Then again, how many fillies and colts are out there that don't have parents? How many are out there that have never even met their parents? Celestia knows I never had.

We had also found the book that held the key to finding Zuri and with it, another long flight to find her. It's only been a few days into this journey but it feels like weeks now since I found the rock she had carved. Soon we would deliver the muffins to Ditzy in New Appleloosa. From there it would be two long days of flying to Hoofington, then back to Ponyville to pick up the trail to White Saddle Shores. With miles and miles of flying ahead of us, one thought rang out above all the others in my head. I wonder if my mother is still alive.

Chapter 5: Everything Has A Price