Chapter 3 - Homecoming

"I must admit the city noise took some getting used to. Where I'm from, nights are so quiet you seldom hear a peep until the roosters wake you."

After some quick introductions, or re-introductions really, Mom had to get back to work. Lead offered to let me sleep in his home until I was on my hooves here. I wasn't exactly tired, but I took him up on his offer.

"I gotta ask Lead, and don't let me sound ungrateful, where is my equipment? It's kind of all I've got in the world. Other than you two now." he looked at me and grimaced.

"The uh, mayor asked me to lock it in the town hall. You gotta understand that it's nothing personal, but she also knew you're from a slaver camp and that made her uneasy. I told her you came here voluntarily, buuuut that didn't help matters any. I'm sure she'll wanna talk to you first thing in the morning." He rubbed a hoof on the back of his head, "I'm willing to trust ya, but some of the other ponies aren't, least of all with a gun and armor."

"That's fair, other than Mom and you, I can't exactly say I trust them. And it's more or less for the same reason, you know how Dad is. He raised me to be paranoid just like him. Thank Luna most of those lessons didn't stick. But the paranoia sure did." I looked down, "The ponies I've met here have been nothing but kind, and all I can do is distrust them. What the fuck?" I shook my head.

"Hey, that's okay, It's a whole new place, filled with ponies you've never met, and you were brainwashed by Dad. I wouldn't tell anypony else that last part, but the other two are understandable to anypony here." Lead sounded empathetic, not pitying, but like he genuinely understood what I was feeling at that moment. I felt something in my chest, like a tightness had been made loose. I felt understood, loved, and cared about. I hadn't conciously been in this village for a whole day, and I already felt love from a brother I'd just met.

While that made me happy, I also felt more paranoid because of it. I tried to push that last part out of my head. "Hey Lead, let's get some sleep."

"Yeah bro, that's a good idea." he said with a half smile.

The next morning.

At first light I was up, Lead was still asleep, and the party outside was completely finished. I hadn't been drugged or killed in my sleep, so I trotted outside. On the outer wall there was a note posted.

Silver Lining,

Please have Lead show you to my office before midday, I assure you that this is simply an interview so that we can get to know you better. I've given your mother the same letter, so stop by the med center when you head out.

Sincerely,

Mayor Stingray

Yeah, I knew this was coming, and I knew exactly what it meant. They wanted to see whether I'd be a threat or a benefit to them. Not that I didn't understand it, I knew full well what I was to them. I actually respected the fact that the mayor had phrased it as kindly as she had. And she was sending me with backup so I'd feel more secure. And not just backup, my family.

It felt sort of wrong to call them family though. Lily abandoned me with a power mad slaver, and I'd just met Lead yesterday. While they both seemed decent, they weren't my family in any sense besides the biological link. But, they both embraced me as family immediately. Hell, Lead let me stay in his home. So it felt wrong to not at least call him family. Great, one of those situations.

I shook my head again, 'Just don't think about it Silver.' I thought. I looked around the village. I saw some smoke out in the distance, and from it I could smell something cooking. Since I skipped out on eating the night before, I decided to try it out. I made my way over to the palm hut where the smoke was coming from. Outside of the hut there was a beautiful unicorn mare, her dark brown coat and blonde mane stunned me immediately. That was, until she turned around and saw me. She was a bit shocked to see me.

"Hello, sorry, I'm not used to seeing anypony out this early. Did you come out for the hangi?" she asked, excited, but also clearly out of breath.

"I gotta be honest, I don't know what that is, but if that's what I'm smelling then yeah. How much are they?" I asked

"Oh, we operate on a barter system here, but you wouldn't know that would you?" she giggled a little, "You must be that new Silver guy Lily asked to be allowed here. Tell ya what, you do a little something for me and I'll give you a couple."

"Well that depends on what you're asking for miss-"

"Koko, and it's nothing hard, I just need a little help with pest control. As long as you agree to do it when you've got your stuff back, they're on the house and I'll even toss one in for your mom, she patched up my uncle little while ago and didn't ask for anything in return, so this is the least I can do." A pretty name to match the pretty face.

"What sort of pest are we talking here?" I asked.

"Well, they're really just big lizards, we call them ngararas" I didn't think I could pronounce that if I tried.

"Big lizards? You can count on me Ms. Koko. Soon as I get my gear back, they're good as gone." I said with a wink.

On my way back, I stopped by the medical building, Mom was already up and helping patients. Though noticeably less then last night. Once I saw she'd stopped for a rest I called over to her "Hey Mom, I got you a little something from Koko. She said she wanted to pay you back for helping her uncle."

"Oh Silver! I didn't expect to see you so soon! I got the letter from Mayor Stingray, are you headed over there now?" she asked.

"Nah, I smelled her cooking and made a deal to get a few for us and Lead.” I replied.

“What kind of deal?” she asked, clearly concerned. Her clear concern worried me.

“Uhhh, I’m taking care of some big lizards, nag-raras?” I got kinda close to the right pronunciation I think. She, however was clearly more concerned than she had been before. “What? They’re just big lizards”

“Yeah, big acid spitting lizards. Did she leave that out?” the scrunched up expression on my face had definitely betrayed me. “I swear I’m gonna kill that girl, get Lead to lend you his armor for the day, all of the guards’ armor is resistant to acid.” explains why they wear that gaudy looking shit.

“Well I’ve at least got the time to grab my gear, assuming the mayor allows it. But be honest with me here. What’s the likelihood that I’ll be able to stay?” I asked, taking on a much less friendly tone. Not a mean one mind you, just more serious.

“I give it a 50-50 chance. But that’s only because Stingray is a hard-ass when it comes to slavers.” Not necessarily good news, but again, totally understandable. “If your brother, Koko and I all vouch for you, then it goes up to 70-30. Still not a guarantee, but with all of us vouching for you and you offering to do some work for the town, then it’s pretty damn close. But, don’t suggest anything that’d put you in a place of power. If I were you, I’d suggest offering your services here with me, along with hunting outside of town.” Well, if that was what it’d take then I’d do it. Learning medicine couldn’t be that hard, and going back to Northpass would nearly be a death sentence for abandoning my post. The wasteland as a whole would basically be a death sentence if I was going alone.

“Hunting and medical work huh? That doesn’t sound too bad. What’s the worst wildlife you’ve got here anyway?” I was ready for it to be something like flaming wolves or mutant Star spawns.

“Probably the acid lizards. They’ve gotten four of us in the last month, but they’re also a good source of protein here, so try to save as much of the meat as you can when you do that job for Koko.”

Okay, so she had me hunting down the most deadly species that existed here. Liking her less and less now.

But, on the bright side, now that the sun was getting up higher, and I realized it was late enough in the day that Lead might be awake. “Hey, you think it’s late enough to go to my interview?” I asked. Rather than looking at a clock or something like that, she went outside and just looked up at the skies. Skies that, unlike those in the wasteland, were almost perfectly clear. It was odd to see the sun whenever I looked up, and even more odd to see them use it as a way to measure time. That of course meant that it was clear enough on a regular basis to not only know that it was day, but to actually see the sun. Weird.

“Yeah, by the time you get your brother out of bed and get to the mayor’s home it’ll probably be about the earliest she could expect you.” Of course, based on that, they were also clearly a pretty lax society. Of course, I’d only been here a day, so these were all baseless assumptions and I was really making these assumptions purely out of my ass.

“Alright mom,” I leaned in and gave her a hug, “I’ll see you at the mayor’s, wish me luck!” When I pulled back, I could see tears starting to form. I wasn’t sure if it was from fear, or happiness that I was already regularly referring to her as ‘mom’. Either way, I really didn’t know what to do or say, so I went back to Lead’s place.

Only to find him still asleep, and not just lightly sleeping, but a full on dead sleep. “Great, one of a tiny group of ponies that stands between me and being sent back to that radioactive hellscape, and he’s asleep.” I tried nudging him gently to no avail. Then softly calling his name, also, to no avail. Finally, I gave up and just yelled, “YO LEAD!” which did the job.

“We under attack?” he groggily, yet also somehow alertly asked.

“Nah, we just have to get to Mayor Stingray’s in time for my interview.” he pulled up a bit of his barding to reveal a PipBuck. Kinda like my own, but definitely more customized. Probably a hand-me-down from some old buck in the village.

“What time’s your meeting?” he asked, now more groggily than alert.

“Well, the letter I got just said ‘before mid day’ I’m guessing that means it’s open to interpretation?” he gave me a look and said,

“Silver, it’s eight in the morning. Gimme a couple hours more to-”

“Mom’s on her way now.” I cut him off, to which he grimaced a little before shaking his head.

“Alright, guess we’re headed there now. You better hope she’s up.” he slid out of bed like a foal who didn’t want to go to classes. Not that I couldn’t understand, he was up late and wanted more sleep.

“Oh, and I grabbed you some breakfast if you’ll do me a favor later on. Mom said you’d probably be okay with it.” he half glared, half squinted at me. “I just need to borrow your armor when you’re off duty to take care of some pests. No big deal right?”

His glare continued, “You get a drop of blood on it, and I’ll make you clean it every night for a month. AND my weapon!”

“Deal. Here’s a hangi from Koko.” he lit up a little

“You said you got these from Koko? How’s she looking today?” I was taken aback slightly if this was the response he had to just her name.

“Yeah, she’s looking fine, just calm down a little before I make my case.”

Clearly he had a crush on her or some sort of feelings for her. “She’s not your marefriend is she?”

“I wish, I’ve been trying to get on that flank for months now. She mention me at all?”

“Just asked if I was the buck you and Mom got brought here. Which you were. More than Mom in fact.” I said, taking note of just how obvious he was about his crush with me.

“If you like her so much, why not just go for it?” I thought back to Northpass, there weren’t any fillies I had feelings for there. I guess that was good, all things considered.

“It doesn’t work like that here bro, mares ask the bucks out. It just makes em look bad if they’re asked by a buck here. Like they couldn’t work up the nerve on their own.” Weird, but okay.

I turned around, “I’ll be outside whenever you’re ready. But I’d rather not worry Mom so try to hurry up.” Of course, as soon as I was outside, so was Lead. “Lead the way dear brother.”

It wasn’t long before we’d reached Mayor Stingray’s office, though I had to admit, it was less regal than I’d expected. To put it simply, it looked like a captain’s quarters from an old ship and nothing else. It was literally just an office with a small bedroom in it. Mom and Koko were outside already.

“You ready Silver?” my mom asked. It was slight, but I could have sworn I’d heard some concern in her voice.

I nodded and said with the little bit of confidence I could “As I’ll ever be. Everyone know what they’re gonna say?” I looked at the three ponies around me as they all gave me some sign of agreement and understanding. “Good.” I said, then knocked on the door. Softly, in case she was still sleeping or just waking up. Of course, that was pointless because she swung the door inward almost immediately after I finished.

“Silver! Good to finally meet Lily’s long lost colt!” to say I was shocked would be the understatement of the century.

“Uh, Mayor Stingray?” I asked.

“Oh, no honey, I’m the mayor’s assistant, Coral. The Mayor is at her desk waiting for you.” I peeked over her shoulder to see a stern looking mare with a tan coat and silver hair looking at me with the most angry glare I’d ever seen. And my dad was a slaver.

“Come, sit Mr. Silver. We have much to discuss. Alone.” Well, there goes my backup. I was telekinetically dragged into the room as the door was shut behind me. A simple chair sat in front of her desk. Since she told me to sit, I did. “Now, for the record, I already know of your past to an extent from when your mother arrived here. You’re from a slaver tribe located in a town called Northpass. You’re the son of the stallion who runs everything out of there. You’ve been sheltered from the worst of slavery, all while reaping all of the benefits of it. I can’t say I have much reason to keep you around here.” In the few seconds she’d been speaking, I’d gone from shocked to sweating bullets on the verge of shitting myself. “If you can give me a single good deed you’ve ever done, then I’ll consider a program for you. If you can’t, or what you consider good isn’t enough for me, then I’ll have you on the next boat back to Baltimare.” Okay, now I was actually worried that I was going to shit myself and be thrown out of here on general principal.

“I offered to help Koko with her pest problem in exchange for some food. She’s got ngararas harming her crops and I had nothing to trade with her. Even if that isn’t good enough, then please, at least allow me to keep my promise and help her?” the door flung back open, and Stingray addressed my mother directly.

“He’ll be in the Hapu for six months. If he survives and proves himself, he’ll be allowed back with full honors.” then she turned back to me, “The Hapu is our away team of warriors, they fight any and all threats to our island on the mainland. You prove yourself to Chieftain Bowhead and you’ll be provided with a life here, a home, and a month’s worth of free supplies, as well as whatever you bring back from the wastes for trade. Do you agree to my terms?” Six months in the wastes, but with backup, fighting what threatens my new life. There was only one thing I could say in response.

“Sign me up.”

Level up: +15 to Barter

Author's Note

Thank you all for being patient, but a weekly goal is unlikely at best for the time being. Currently, my arm is still in a sling so I only have one hand to write with. That being said, I will try my hardest to make a weekly addition.