Luna headed southeast, her pace comfortable considering her current loadout. As always, the Ace of Spades was strapped to her hip, with Loaded Question on the small of her back, and Cover of Thunder slung diagonal across her shoulder. If she had her Sparrow, she'd be able to make it to the Badlands and back before daybreak, but she had no such luck. From what she'd managed to gather, the Badlands were about a three-days' walk from Ponyville. And since she still had the transmat beacons she'd set up in Ponyville, return travel time would be effectively zero.

"Why didn't you tell them where we were going?" her Ghost asked as Luna continued her brisk jog through the forest.

"Because they consider these ~changelings~ to be a hostile race," Luna answered as she followed the river. "I don't need their approval to go ask some questions."

"Won't they freak out when you're not back in the evening?" the Ghost inquired. "Or in the morning?"

"I left a note for them that I'll be in the forest for a few days. They won't worry," the Guardian said.

She slowed down to a walk, beginning to inspect the trees around her. Just off the riverbank, twisting roots wove between being above and below ground. Dense underbrush disguised the forest floor, concealing the presence of perhaps dozens of wild critters. The canopy above, too, was thick enough to block much of the sunlight from reaching down to even the bushes. Even with her natural low-light vision, she couldn't see more than fifty or so meters into the forest.

A fox stepped out from the forest a few meters away, pausing as it saw her. Its eyes gleamed with curiosity and fear. Luna stopped and sat down on the river bank, plucking her backpack from beneath her cloak. The fox watched as she pulled a wrapped sandwich from her bag.

(Recommended Listening)

It cautiously approached her, keeping its head low and its ears pointed forwards. Luna smiled softly, plucking a piece of meat from the sandwich and placing it on a rock near her. The fox's gaze shifted between her and the small offering, calculating the risk of taking the meat.

It quickly dashed forward, snapping up the meat and bouncing back to its original position. Luna simply smiled a little wider, acknowledging the fox's presence but turning her gaze to the other side of the river to show she was not a threat, and went back to eating her sandwich. After a few quiet moments, the fox approached her.

It approached from the side, seeming to recognize her display of non-aggression, just within peripheral vision. The fox sniffed her armor, its eyes watching Luna's face carefully should she suddenly move. Then it moved up, cautiously lifting its nose to the hood of her cloak, taking in the scent trapped within the cloth. After a moment, it decided to sniff Luna's face.

The Guardian in question had to hold in a giggle as the fox's nose and breath tickled her face. Her smile widened.

The fox stepped around to be directly in front of her, still sniffing her face.

"Curious, aren't you?" Luna murmured, absolutely floored by the interaction that was happening.

The fox finally pulled its nose away, looking up at her with curiosity. Tentatively, she reached out with a hand with her palm up. The fox sniffed it. Luna gently petted the fox's neck. The fox stepped closer, laying down in front of her, seeming to smile at her. Its tail swished back and forth slowly.

For a few beautiful moments Luna just pet the wild fox, smiling so much her face hurt. The gentle sounds of the river flowing and the cool breeze in the trees gave the moment a sense of serenity. Though she was sure the fox could smell far more than she could, the earthy scent of fresh forest air only added to the peaceful atmosphere.

The fox stood. Luna pulled her hand away as it approached her face again. But instead of sniffing her face some more, it instead licked her cheek before turning and trotting away, leaving Luna to herself once more.

"Fare thee well, friend," she murmured, her dopey smile refusing to fade.

After she finished off her sandwich, she continued onwards, following the river.

She was still, somehow, hungry.

The sound of the river mixed with the rhythmic crunches of her boots on the pebbles. At her comfortable jog, the tempo of her footfalls was perfect for a simple melody to play in her mind. Using a technique she'd honed over the decades, she began to whistle the song to the forest, both while inhaling and exhaling.

And the forest sang back. Birds hiding in the trees began mimicking her melody after hearing it only twice repeated.

This continued until she stopped for the night.

She stopped at the edge of the forest, just off the riverbank. Her camp was nothing more than a small fire and a large, slightly concave rock to nestle into. As usual, she tapped her limited Solar Light to bounce an incendiary grenade off the ground. The blast killed her instantly, but lit the fire perfectly well, and with a pulse of light, she was resurrected no worse for wear.

She took a moment in the dying light of sunset to wade into the river, watching the clear waters as fish swam against the current. Slowly, she pulled her knife from its place on the small of her back, just under Loaded Question. She watched carefully, anticipating the movements of the fish, and with a swift strike, Luna had caught herself a meal.

The night passed peacefully. Luna wavered between consciousness, dozing off in the dim light of the low fire. The insects chirped their own counter-melody in rebellious harmony with the birds, dozens of individual symphonies mixing in the forest air. No monsters attacked her. None of the wooden wolves howled. All but the insects were at rest in the calm of night.

(Recommended Listening)

In the morning, she stamped out the ashes of her fire and resumed her journey southeast, leaving the forest behind to an empty plains untouched by the ponies. Hills rolled slowly over the horizon, covered in a sea of grass that reached up to her hip. On a few hills, she could see ancient oak trees that were large enough to have been there longer than even Mae had been alive. In the early light of dawn, rose-stained clouds hung lazily in the air, barely moving with the light breeze that made waves on the ocean of grass. As the sun continued its ascent, she could see the lines of the cloud shadows stretching out into empty sky, yet to make contact with the ground.

She did not jog this time. Her steps were still measured, still keeping time, just slower. Her hands stretched out ever-so-slightly, passing through the grass for a moment before returning to her sides as she continued on in silence.

I hope Mae and Rose are doing okay without me... she thought softly. I almost hope they manage to find a way here and get stuck with me...

She crested a hill and took a moment to stand beneath an oak and look out over the vast expanse of plains.

I would't want them to suffer being stuck and unable to go home though...

She heard a rustle behind her, and a tiny squeak before silence. Luna turned around, hand twitching in anticipation. She saw a small void in the grass where it was parted by something. Carefully, she stepped closer, pulling her knife from its sheath.

A fox looked up at her, a freshly killed mouse in its mouth. It seemed quite pleased with itself. Upon seeing her, the fox's tail swished back and forth, and it trotted over and gave her leg a nuzzle.

"Hey buddy," Luna cooed softly. "You sure you should be following me?"

The fox did not answer. Instead, it plopped down at her feet and ate its mouse. The sun was high in the sky and would begin its descent soon. And a meal would be nice after the hours of walking. So she sat down, as she had before, pulling a wrapped sandwich from her backpack and biting into it.

Blesséd be bread...

With that thought, she plucked a small piece of meat from her sandwich and offered it to the fox, who gladly accepted it. It carefully but eagerly snapped up the meat, its tail swishing back and forth behind it.

"Why are you here, my furry friend?" she asked softly, mostly to herself.

The fox did not answer. Instead, it simply looked into her, its eyes gleaming with intelligence and curiosity. Perhaps that was enough to satisfy her question.

"I do enjoy your company, however," she mused as she continued munching on her sandwich.

The fox stood and got closer, curling up next to her, resting its head in her lap.

"You know, I used to fight time-hopping alien murder-robots in outer space. I've seen four cats and a chicken in my whole life," Luna said. "I've seen a whole lotta weird, and not a lot of normal. Somehow, you are the most normal weird thing I've ever seen."

The fox simply looked up at her with its intelligent eyes.

"You're weird, and I love you," Luna giggled.

The fox's tail swished a little faster.

Luna finished her sandwich, but found herself still hungry.

She did not rise to continue her journey immediately. She instead took a moment to sit and pet the fox that had decided to follow her. Its fur was soft against her hand, and wasn't nearly as dirty as one might expect. She scratched the fox's head just behind the ears.

After a few minutes, she stood, and the fox stood with her, looking up at her as if to say, I will follow.

"I'm heading into a desert, you know," Luna said, looking down at the fox as she began walking again. "I didn't bring enough food for the both of us."

The fox yipped at her with a sly smile.

Luna sighed, shaking her head as an exasperated smile turned up her lips.

She continued on. The fox followed close at her side, occasionally pausing to sniff at spots in the tall grass, but always returning quickly. On occasion, when she crested a hill, she'd pull her linear-fusion rifle from her back and take a peek at the horizon through its scope. Eventually, she saw the barrier foothills that separated the ~Badlands~ from the plains, and train tracks directly south. As she followed the tracks through the scope, her gaze fell upon a small town, whose rails were the end of the line. ~Dodge City~ was its name, according to the ~changeling~. It was the first town in her path, the second being called ~Canter Creek~.

She slung her weapon over her shoulder and began directly south, giving the town a wide berth. She'd head to the foothills and follow them to the pass further east. Much as she'd love to stop and barter supplies to feed the fox with when she entered the ~Badlands~, she didn't want to cause any panic like when her presence was revealed in ~Ponyville~. She'd have to make do with what she could hunt at the foothills.

It took the rest of the day to make it to the pass. A well-worn road stretched from the rail town out into the ~Badlands~, which she was careful to make camp away from. It would be bad if ponies from the road saw her. Once she found a suitable spot, she began collecting firewood and searching for any signs of critters she could catch. She transmatted the Ace away, swapping it for her combat bow. After messing with its smart-weapons programs, the explosive arrowheads were exchanged for normal ones. And with that, she hunted.

She managed to kill four decently sized rabbits before it became too dark to hunt effectively. As the moon began its ascent, Luna reached for her limited Solar Light, trying her best to tap into it. A smoldering knife formed in her hand as she threw it down at the firewood. Luckily, it ignited the wood.

After skinning and gutting the rabbits, she set the meat over the fire as she began piling stones around it to limit the glow of the flame. The fox simply lay curled up on the ground, watching her as she worked, eyes occasionally flicking back to the cooking meat. Once Luna finished her work, she turned the rabbits.

It took a while, but the first two rabbits were done. Both she and the fox began munching on their meals at the same time, and considering the lack of ingredients, Luna was quite satisfied with how it all turned out. Burning mountain sage with the firewood gave the meat a unique flavor that she rarely got to taste back in her home universe. From her backpack she removed a canteen of water, which she shared with the fox. But she had a bit more work to do before she could sleep for the night.

A tarp transmatted in, and she set to work building a small dome over the fire, with a small vent at the top. The smoke and heat was soon trapped inside, only escaping through the vent, and the fire burned low and slow. In another hour, she let the fire burn down to cinders and let the remaining smoke do its work. An hour after that, she put away the tarp, put the now smoked rabbits in containers, and reignited the fire, keeping it small. Just enough for a little bit of warmth against the chilly breeze passing through the hills from the desert. Satisfied with her work, she allowed herself to sit back against a boulder and doze off just a little bit.

She was still hungry.

In the morning, Luna walked out to a tiny pond she'd seen the previous evening, and filled a small metal pot with some water. From there she set the fire up once more, breathing life back into the near-dead embers. She burned the fire hot, and set the pot over the flame to boil. The whole time, the fox watched her.

"You know, I didn't plan on having company for this trip," Luna murmured as she sat back down cross-legged to wait. "Didn't bring enough food or water for you to come through the desert."

The fox yawned and stretched before stepping into the space in her lap and curling up once more. Internally, Luna squee'd in delight.

"You're dead set on following me, aren't you?" Luna asked.

The fox made a slightly forceful exhale, as though indignant that she'd even ask such a question.

"You're lucky you're cute and fluffy," Luna sighed. Her hands began petting the fox, occasionally scratching behind its ears. "It helps that you're the mascot of my team..."

Once the water was boiling, she pulled the pot off the fire before snuffing it with a smoke bomb. Once the smoke cleared, she transmatted a spare from her chest of personal belongings back in ~Ponyville~, as she waited for the boiling water to cool back to ambient temperature.

Satisfied that she'd put the fire out properly and ensured there were no embers, she scattered the ashes and stones and refilled her canteens.

She stood back up, leaving the hood of her cloak up to keep the sun from baking her when she got into the desert. Of course, her armor was climate controlled, so she'd be fine, but the stubborn fox was another story entirely. "Once the temperature hits triple-digits, I'm carrying you in the backpack," she said, looking down at her tag-along.

"It's already pretty cramped in here," her Ghost said.

"The fox isn't leaving, and I'm not just gonna let it bake in the desert," Luna said. "You won't have to share for long."

With that, Luna set out, fox in tow, her steps falling into measured time as the sun finally rose all the way over the horizon. She kept her helmet on as she moved through the pass, her eyes scanning the horizon and checking her motion-tracker for possible ponies. She replaced her bow with the Ace, its weight on her hip providing a sense of security for her.

(Recommended Listening)

The rough dirt patched with hardy shrubs soon gave way to a sea of sand, stretching out further than Luna could see. The occasional massive cactus stood the same way as the oaks of the plains behind her. From so far away, they seemed quite small, but Luna knew that they were at least twice as tall as her, even with her boots on.

She pulled up Cover of Thunder and looked into the distance with its scope once more, surveying the final leg of the journey before she reached her destination. She looked out over the desert, shifting her gaze from mesa to mesa, looking for the one that housed her goal.

Upon spotting it, she slung the weapon back to its original position over her shoulder and resumed walking, keeping her eyes on the temperature. The sun continued its journey up, and Luna and the fox continued their journey forwards. As the steps counted ever higher, the sand only became harder to trudge through.

The temperature reached one-hundred degrees, and the fox was beginning to show signs of overheating. They stopped in the shade of a cactus. Luna opened one of her canteens and began pouring water for the fox, who eagerly lapped it up between pants. She then opened her backpack as wide as she could. The fox seemed to understand, and sat down in the backpack, leaving only its head sticking out to look around.

After taking a few swigs of water for herself, Luna closed her canteen and warned her fluffy companion, "This sand is a bitch and a half to walk through, so I'm gonna be Hunter-hopping. Please don't squirm."

The fox simply licked her face-plate in response.

Her Rigs transmatted off her legs at the same time that her Bones transmatted on. With such wide sight-lines, an extra jump would be far more useful here.

She dug her feet out of the sand and began moving forwards, trying her best to break into a run through the sand. Once she reached top speed, she jumped, and jumped again, and jumped again, all before touching the ground. And the moment she felt sand under her boots, she pushed down and jumped again, starting the three-jump pattern. Each midair jump added forward momentum, and the desert soon began to speed by as she Hunter-hopped over the slowing sand.

This went on for the rest of the day. When they reached the particular mesa they needed to reach, Luna could instantly make out the cave entrance leading down into the ~changeling~ hive. But she did not descend into the depths immediately.

As the sunset dyed the sky in brilliant hues and the sand glowed in the dying light, Luna pulled out the smoked rabbits and the fox. The two of them ate their meal in silence, savoring the flavor of the meat and the cooling air. Soon, they'd be underground, and Luna's previous interactions with any kind of hive underground usually involved a lot of dying and killing. She hoped desperately that it wouldn't come to that.

After their meal and a quick drink of water, Luna pulled the Ace from its holster. Its familiar weight in her hand helped her keep her anxiety in check.

"Well. Time to get some answers."

She was still hungry.

Author's Note

This chapter is the single most fun and most difficult chapter I've written in this story because of the fox. Didn't plan on the fox showing up. Or staying.