Shame

Chapters

Chapter the First: Tumbleweed
Chapter the Second: Cactus Flower
Chapter the Third: Collapse
Chapter the Fourth: Crisis
Chapter the Fifth: Survival
Chapter the Sixth: Santa Maria
Chapter the Seventh: Familiar Ground
Chapter the Eighth: Ravens Land
Chapter the Ninth: Impression
Chapter the Tenth: Recovery Begins
Chapter the Eleventh: Meet the Sheriff
Chapter the Twelfth: Winding Down
Chapter the Thirteenth: Down Time
Chapter the Fourteenth: Storytime
Chapter the Sixteenth: Night Raid
Chapter the Seventeenth: Held Up
Chapter the Eighteenth: Good Night
Chapter the Nineteenth: Background
Chapter the Twentieth: Generally Pleasant
Chapter the Twenty-First: Dust Cloud
Chapter the Twenty-Second: Dull
Chapter the Twenty-Fourth: Broken Dreams
Chapter the Twenty-Fifth: Coping
Chapter the Twenty-Sixth: Departure
Chapter the Twenty-Seventh: Gone
Chapter the Twenty-Eighth: Lost Control
Chapter the Twenty-Ninth: Murder of Crows
Chapter the Thirtieth: Afterlife
Chapter the Thirty-First: Life After Death
Chapter the Thirty-Second: Damages
Chapter the Thirty-Third: Recompense
Chapter the Thirty-Fourth: Sweetwater Returns
Chapter the Thirty-Fifth: Beyond Repair
Chapter the Fifteenth: The Simplest Gesture
Chapter the Twenty-Third: Unbound

Chapter the First: Tumbleweed

Cacti. Everywhere Ruiz looked, there were cacti. Travelers from Equestria often called them a nuisance, nothing more than a spiky, parasitic waste that sucked up all of the water the barrens had to offer, often citing that there was no water there to begin with. No crops would grow here because the cacti were hogging all of the water.

This was simply untrue. The cacti did not need very much water, and thus didn't take very much water. It was surprisingly easy to drown a cactus. The reason their crops were failing was due to the heat. Cacti, in their bulbous shapes, were much better at regulating their temperature than the paper-thin leaves that nourished other plants. To survive this heat, the plants needed to be hardy.

To those that had spent their lives here, as Ruiz had, cacti in abundance had a completely different meaning. If there were plenty of cacti on the surface, that meant that there was water not very far below. In all likelihood, someone had noticed this before, and dug a well here. That would lead to a home being built, then more, and a settlement would grow around it, and a settlement meant a high likelihood of food.

Coming up over the hill, he was not disappointed. The road cutting through the cacti was leading him toward a small community, with several buildings in the center even reaching two stories tall. He looked over the town as he approached on wobbly hooves. It seemed to be an artisanal community, or rather, it seemed to have been one previously. A short wooden fence ran around the outside of the town, likely the old city limits, as a few buildings were set up outside the border. The fence was clearly old, as evidenced by several sections being patched with barbed wire stretching between the posts.

What gave it away as an artisanal settlement was the sign. Any settlement that had started as a work camp placed a small, poorly painted sign with the name, as well as the population at the last census. This one was meant to last. Over the gate stood a carved archway with the words "Welcome, one and all, to beautiful Sweetwater!" The population had been painted on a plank with the intent to paint over it yearly, but it was not hanging from its hooks. Rather, somepony had haphazardly nailed it over the name Sweetwater, in a lazy enough fashion that one of the nails had already fallen out, leaving the plank to swing from the sign, displaying both names. Additionally, somepony had hastily painted over the population count with the new name for the town, Oasis.

As he crossed the threshold into town, he didn't see anypony for awhile. He stopped to wonder if perhaps the place was a ghost town, but a ruckus from a barn nearby pushed that thought aside. He also spotted a gryphon with jet-black feathers drinking from a glass bottle whose neck poked out of a brown paper bag. Lastly, he saw a stallion hitch himself up and walk away with an empty cart. Clearly, it hadn't been completely abandoned yet.

On reaching the center of town, Ruiz spotted something he hadn't been expecting. With names like Sweetwater and Oasis, he had been expecting the well to be a fantastic centerpiece. While there was certainly enough space, and several matted metal accoutrements, the actual well was blocked off from the public, a shack haphazardly built on top of it with two gryphon guards in front of the only door. Like the other gryphon, these two were black, but it was clearly painted on, as it was running in certain spots, betraying their whites and purples underneath. The door they were guarding was adorned with a heavy metal lock, and a sign told passersby that there was no entry by order of the sheriff, and that violators would be shot. The well water was not an option for Ruiz to hydrate himself. He didn't want to go see the sheriff and file paperwork just for a drink. What few coins he had would probably afford him something at the inn and saloon.

The door swung shut behind him as he walked in. A raucous crowd had already gathered, mostly comprised of black-coloured gryphons, whether that was their natural colour or not. They were too busy laughing and yelling, drinking and smoking to pay him any mind. The attention he did receive was quickly forgotten, except by the innkeeper, who was tending the bar. He was a brown, balding stallion with a beard and a black eye, and he was drying a glass when Ruiz walked in. When Ruiz sat down at the bar, he was almost certain that his hooves would have given out if he had stayed standing much longer. He really needed a good night's sleep, but a short sit would have to do for now.

"All payments in advance," grumbled the innkeeper, pointing to a sign on the back wall that said much the same. "Don't cause any trouble, either. I don't want to have to throw you out, ya hear?"

Ruiz pushed his sombrero back over his head and onto his back, covering up the several days' worth of stickers that the wind had secured to his poncho. He rubbed his hooves against his face to clear away the dust from his black coat. He might have blended in with the gryphons, were he not obviously a goat. Hell, his right horn was little more than a broken-off stump, so he might have even been able to say he was a unicorn, as he hadn't seen any in town. "I hear you, Señor," he nodded, his voice scratchy and dry. "I'm not here to cause trouble."

"Alright then," nodded the innkeeper, setting the glass down to work on another. "What do you want?"

"How much for a hot meal?"

"Four bits."

Ruiz reached down into his purse and pulled out his coins. Four bits was a paltry sum, but he'd missed having a hole cut in his pouch that needed fixing. His cash had fallen out of his purse, possibly days ago, and had been lost to whoever had cut the hole. He only had two bits left. "I'm sorry for troubling you," he sighed, standing up and turning around.

"Hold it," called the innkeeper. "If all you have right now are those two, I can give ya a can of peaches for each," he offered. "Not a whole meal, but it's better than nothing."

With a tired nod, Ruiz placed his coins on the countertop and returned to his seat. "Gracias, amigo."

Chapter the Second: Cactus Flower

Ruiz sat at the bar, waiting patiently for the innkeeper to come back from the stockroom. He'd not had the canned peaches behind the counter, and had to go grab them from the back. He'd already taken Ruiz' money and deposited it into the register, so now it was just a matter of patience.

"Money problems, seen-yor?" belted out a gryphon, grabbing Ruiz by the shoulder and sitting down on his opposite side. "If you're short on your dough, me an' the boys can help ya out."

Ruiz reached up and brushed the Gryphon's claw off his shoulder. "I don't take charity, señor, and I am no beggar."

"Call it a gift then," laughed the gryphon. "We're ah-mee-goes, ain't we? We help each other out of jams and such? You scratch my back, I scratch yours?"

"What work are you proposing, señor?"

The gryphon once more placed his claw firmly on Ruiz' shoulder. "Me an' the boys were lookin' for some entertainment for the evenin'. That'll earn ya a hot meal, a warm bed, an' a chance to join the Ravens in pleasant company."

Ruiz took a deep breath. While a hot meal and a warm bed sounded luxurious at this point, what they were asking was not something he was willing to do. As soon as the innkeeper came back, he brushed off the gryphon's claw once more and accepted the canned peaches, tucking them into his belt. They were conveniently keyed, meaning he would not need anypony to open them for him. He could take them on the road with him.

"Barkeep," barked the gryphon, "Set up my friend here with a hot meal and a room. Now!"

"That won't be needed, señor," huffed Ruiz, standing up. "It is kind of you to offer, but I must be moving on."

Leaving the saloon, he went out into the town proper, cutting his way down side streets and ducking into alleyways until he was sure he wasn't being followed. All the way, he saw hoof pumps for the well water that had been dismantled and capped off. Those that used to live here had been competent enough to set up multiple wells throughout the town, meaning they didn't need to all come to the center to collect their water. Under martial law, however, the water was controlled. The common citizen could not draw water without the express permission of the sheriff.

He found a shady spot to sit in a location so out-of-the-way that nopony would think to look for him here, but not so hidden that onlookers would find him to be out of place. He wouldn't be staying long, just enough to eat and be on his way. There was no free water, and he wasn't looking to become a whore for his dinner. This place would not have him.

As he opened the first can of peaches, he heard a pained whining behind him. He turned and looked, and there sat a dog of medium size. She looked at him with her big brown eyes, her tail between her legs. A large bruise adorned her left side, just behind her ribs. But it was not her that had whined at him. Trailing behind her were two pups, following their mother as if their lives depended on it, which they likely did.

With a heavy sigh, Ruiz stood up and dumped the peaches onto a large flat rock in front of them. While he rather liked his neighbor's dogs, he'd never had his own due to his little brother's severe allergies. This trio was in a bad way, and he didn't like seeing it. At the very least, he could do something nice for them.

Having given up one can, he opened the other. This one had to be his. The dogs were already polishing off the first can, and he hadn't eaten anything yet. As he lifted the can up to his lips, a mare burst through the alley behind him, knocking the can to the ground. A quartet of gryphons followed her, trampling his meal into the dirt. What was left was inedible. Even the metal can had been crushed.

Ruiz let out a groan of frustration. All he'd wanted was something to eat and drink. Was that so much to ask? The dog didn't think so, coming over to lick his hoof in thanks. "Were those tasty, perrita?" he said, patting her neck. Her coat was ragged, and filled with knots, likely formed around stickers. If he had the time, energy, and shelter to take care of her, he'd have gladly given her a good brushing, a trim if necessary, and something more substantial to eat than a small can of peaches. Also a bed to rest off that bruise. "Scamper off, now. Find somewhere safe for those pups."

At his command, she limped her way across the road, her pups following behind. He wished her well on her journey, a notion that he was sure she wished on him, as well. Perhaps a local farmer would take her in and clean her up. One could only hope.

It was time to go. It was no use sticking around here any longer. Still tired and still hungry, he would just have to suffer his growling stomach until the next town, wherever that was. He followed the alleys and backroads north. That was the direction he'd been running off to, and that was the direction he would continue to go until he escaped.

Just as he moved around a large crate, he spotted the mare that had cost him his meal skidding around a corner. He could hear the gryphons calling out behind her, ordering her to stop. From the names he was hearing them say, she'd likely been given the same job offer they'd given him, and they were tired of taking no for an answer.

He reached out and grabbed her shoulder as she rushed passed, dragging her into the alley he'd just come out of. He pressed his hoof over her mouth, wrapped his leg around her waist, and pulled her tightly toward the wall, keeping her behind the crate, squirming in his lap and trying to shout through his hoof.

A moment later, the gryphons blew past them. He was about to release his grip when he felt her elbow slam against his ribs, and her teeth biting down on his wrist. He immediately released his grip with a quiet wince, so as not to give away their position, and she ran off the way he'd originally come from. Perhaps she thought he was involved with the gryphons, and was holding her down so they could have their way with her. He wouldn't begrudge her fear.

As he picked himself up and made his way out into the street, one of the gryphons doubled back. "Hey! Pendejo!"

Ruiz stopped and turned. The gryphon was much closer than he sounded, and quite large. On top of that, the other three were nearby. A fight would undoubtedly end in their favour under these circumstances.

"You seen a palomino mare come through here?"

Ruiz raised his hoof, the one with the bite mark, and pointed to the alley opposite of the one she'd run down. "That way, señor."

"Not so dumb after all," the gryphon smiled, tousling Ruiz's mane. "Let's go, boys!"

Ruiz pulled his sombrero back over the top of his head. His assessment coming in was wrong. This place was dead, and he needed to be gone before night fell.

Chapter the Third: Collapse

The evening sun was just about to touch the mountaintops. Night would fall soon, and that meant another day with no food. Ruiz had spotted a young barrel cactus fruit on his way out of town, but aside from not being ready to be picked yet, it was deep into the maze of thorns, and Ruiz didn't have the protective boots to tread through it safely. It would have been a waste to take a new array of micropunctures just to claim a fruit that wasn't mature enough to be eaten.

It wasn't far out of town, less than a kilometre, that the cacti disappeared and the road went back to dirt and sand, surrounded by large rocks and bordered by tall shoots of yellowed grass. If it had rained recently, perhaps he could have eaten that, but as dry as it was, there was little hope of digesting it properly.

The list of things Ruiz would give for a taste of rain right this minute was very short. This was not because he didn't want the rain, but rather because he didn't have much to give. He'd even perform a Guanacoan rain dance if he thought it would help. Unfortunately, he didn't actually know the dance, the chant that they sang with it, or even their language, nor did he have a drummer to aid in his plea.

He pulled off to the side of the road and sat down, pressing his back against the corner of a fence. It wasn't a great spot to sit, but it would do. A fence post wasn't as good as a bed, but he was behind the grass where nopony on the road would spot him right away, especially at night. While there were less cacti around here, there were still a few, and sleeping on a hot rock was a bad idea. No burns for him, no cuts. His poncho would protect him from splinters.

He'd been asleep for what felt like five minutes when he was awoken by the sound of shot bouncing off of wood. He dove to the ground and covered his head with his hooves. It took a few seconds to reorient himself, but he soon noticed that the shots were not directed at him, or at least, not intentionally so. The palomino mare from earlier sped past, a wagon on her back, though not for much longer. With every shot, pieces were flying off in chunks.

The shots were being fired from the air by two blackened gryphons in masks. Why they needed masks at all was baffling to Ruiz. If they shot her, they wouldn't have needed the mask, as their witness was deceased. Capturing her would lead to the same end; she would not be reporting them to the law if she was tied up. Even if she did manage to escape, what would she say? Two black gryphons from Sweetwater attacked her? From what he'd seen, they made up more than half of the town's population.

As the gryphons flew by, Ruiz knew that this was none of his business. He'd helped her escape from them before, and she'd bruised one of his ribs and bitten him. He owed her nothing. He didn't need to interfere, and in fact, doing so might be even more detrimental to him. He would be better off returning to his fence post and sleeping for the rest of the night.

He pulled his slingshot out from beneath his poncho, grabbed a hoofful of rocks off the ground, and took aim. His first shot smacked the larger of the two gryphons in the balls, turning his attention to Ruiz as he loaded up another shot.

As the gryphon's rock sped toward where Ruiz had been standing, he took another shot. He wasn't shooting to kill, and a smack to his claw caused the gryphon to drop his weapon. As the gryphon picked up his weapon, the third shot pelted him hard in the wing, causing the creature to scramble for cover.

By now, the other gryphon had turned around and was rushing back toward Ruiz as he scooped up more rocks. He once more aimed for and struck the beast's claw, causing him to drop his weapon. However, rather than diving for it, this one dove toward Ruiz, claws outstretched.

Being a goat, Ruiz was short, light in frame, and not very strong. He relied on his range to win fights, as if it was his hooves against a gryphon's claws, he stood no chance. It was a dirty trick, but as soon as the gryphon was close, he threw a scoop of sand right into the gryphon's eyes.

The gryphon did collide with him, regardless, and Ruiz was knocked to the ground, kicking a hoof at the gryphon to make sure it flew a little further from him, so it couldn't slash at him through feel alone. The way he was clawing at his eyes, Ruiz guessed that the sand had done its job perfectly, blinding the creature, at least temporarily.

A large boulder, the size of a small dog, collided with his side, right where his bruise was forming. It knocked Ruiz aside, but he regained his stance before he could fall over. The larger gryphon was now hiding behind a much larger rock and lobbing boulders in his general direction.

Ruiz called out in mock pain and took aim with his slingshot. As expected, the gryphon popped his head up to see his work, and for his efforts, found a rock being launched through his teeth and hitting him in the back of the throat.

Ruiz made a point to move around the cover as he prepared his next shot. As he struck just the tip of the larger gryphon's tail, he made it clear that this was going in his favour.

Taking the hint, the larger gryphon grabbed his blinded and useless companion and flew off, wobbling on his injured wing. Ruiz could have very easily fired again, either removing the blinded gryphon from the other's claws or knocking out the flying one's other wing, bringing them both down. However, he decided against doing so. He was not trying to kill them, and his only intent as far as injuring them was to deter them from chasing the mare.

He holstered his slingshot. For the first time since he'd woken up, he took a deep breath to take in his surroundings. It was the middle of the night, a waxing half-moon hanging right above him. As the adrenaline was wearing off, he could feel all of the damage he'd sustained. He hadn't taken notice at first, but the smaller gryphon had sliced through his side with his claws, and his beak had dragged across his face, leaving a large gash. The rock that had almost knocked him over had some sharp corners, and had ripped his skin, as well as his poncho. This was not a fight he had won. It was a pyrrhic victory, at best.

The mare had doubled back, the wagon parked a short distance away. Ruiz watched her approach, her own slingshot aimed in his general direction, though if she were to fire as-is, her shot would slip between his chin and neck. She said something, but Ruiz couldn't quite make it out. Loss of blood, several days without food and a paltry amount of sleep were conspiring against him, and his adrenaline couldn't hold him up forever. "De nada," he mumbled as he collapsed on the side of the road.

Chapter the Fourth: Crisis

Hell looked different than Ruiz had always imagined. He'd thought it was a large open cavern with red stalactites dripping their condensed tears onto stalagmites, where they would immediately evaporate into a salty gas that would sting at the many puncture wounds administered by the demons that inhabited the caves. Not a demon was to be found, and in fact, he wasn't even in a cave. It looked more like a house, but nicer than any he'd been in. It reminded him of the saloon from Sweetwater, but quieter and more nicely decorated.

Could it be that he was actually in paradise? Could his turnaround in the last few months have afforded him a pass? As he sat up, he knew that couldn't be the case. He was still in agonizing pain. Perhaps this was hell, and he was just being tricked into believing that it was better than it actually was. The devil was a trickster, after all. So why was it that his place of eternal punishment felt like a foam mattress? Why was he covered by a sheet? Why was he given a pillow?

It dawned on him that he may have survived the encounter. An inspection of his body showed the white star on his chest and bandages covering his injuries. He hadn't been left on the side of the road, and given the decor, it was a logical assumption that he'd been dragged back to town by the gryphons that he'd assaulted, or perhaps their reinforcements, and he was intended to be pressed into service whether he wanted to be or not.

He wasn't keen on the idea of being a whore, nor did he want to be a common thug. He wasn't sticking around long enough to figure out which one they wanted him for. His hooves flopped down to the floor and he looked around. His poncho, sombrero, and belt were nowhere to be found. He checked the dresser drawers, the closet, the wardrobe... all filled with clothing and such, but nothing in his size, except a stetson hanging from a hook on the wall with a white cotton cord.

The closest thing he could find that fit the description of a weapon was a large rubber mallet. The most damage he could do with it would be to drive the short wooden stakes nearby through the gryphon's skulls, or wrap them in the tarpaulin and smack them, but those didn't really work very well. On top of that, they would likely be armed, so without his weapon, he was screwed if he ended up in a fight. His best bet was to sneak out without being spotted.

He pulled on the door and it creaked open loudly. Ruiz panicked for a moment, thinking he'd given away the fact that he was moving again, but when he peered out into the hallway, the place was empty. He could hear voices at the other end of the hallway, echoing out of a stairwell. They weren't speaking very loud, and he couldn't make out what was being said, but he was pretty sure it wasn't about the door being opened, or they'd be sending someone up after him.

There was a string of windows in the hallway looking outside. He was on some kind of farm. He expected to see a group of gryphons working the fields, or perhaps some other type of creature, but there was only one mare, looking to be in her early fifties, pulling some potatoes out of a smaller, more varied section. Having grown up on a farm himself, he knew the purpose of the distinction: the small plot was for personal use, while the larger was for supplying the locals for profit.

Briefly, he considered slipping out through the window. He would be less likely to be seen if he could duck into the corn. However, there were a few big problems with this plan. Even if he did escape that way, he'd be leaving both his poncho and sombrero. He could steal the stetson and some oversized clothes, but he still would have lost his belt, along with his sling and knife. Besides, given his injuries, a drop from one floor up would be tremendously painful.

He stepped over to the stairs and listened closely, trying to find any amount of information he could before going downstairs. He had to be sure that he knew where everything was before sneaking around. Ideally, he'd be able to find his clothes and equipment, or some facsimile thereof, and be out the door before anyone realized he was down there.

"I'm not saying you should have, Maria," came the voice of a stallion, filtered through a moustache. "Given what happened yesterday and last night, I think it was admirable. But why here?"

"Where else?" replied a mare's voice, probably Maria, whoever that was. "I don't have any other place. What would you have me do, stuff him in the barn?"

"It'd be safer," argued the stallion. "For all we know, your first instinct may have been right on the money." There was a pause. "Did you at least lock the door?"

"You're overreacting," she huffed. "I'm pretty sure he..."

As she moved into another room, Ruiz stopped being able to hear her.

"Yeah, and your father's a jackass," growled the stallion in response. His voice was also growing quiet, signaling his withdrawal from the stairs. Ruiz lowered his head and took a few steps down, trying to keep quiet as he looked around. To his right, a doorway led to a dining area, with another doorway behind that likely leading to a kitchen. On his left, a living area with a desk pressed up against a window. The door was just in front of him and to the left. He could bolt and make it, but as he took another look around, he saw his sombrero sitting on the dining table.

He tiptoed into the dining room and snagged his hat. Some loose straw fell off of it and scattered on the floor, and there were a few holes in it, indicating that they had torn pieces off. He still needed his belt, as it held his sling, but it wasn't there. Perhaps it was in the living room?

"What are you doing?!" shouted the stallion from the kitchen doorway. As expected, he was sporting a bushy moustache.

Ruiz bolted to the door. It was a shame to leave his weapons behind, but he needed to leave, now. As he ran, the rug was pulled out from under him and he fell to the floor. By the time he scrambled to his hooves again, the coatrack had fallen across the front door and locked in place against a candle sconce. That barred his primary exit.

He turned and ran into the next room, immediately tripping over some metal basins. He could hear the stallion approaching, and there was nothing he could do to slow his chase. As he stood up, he noticed a young mare, looking to be about fourteen. She had been washing clothes, by the look of it, which explained the basins lying out.

Even knowing that what he was doing was a shitty move, he grabbed the mare and the nearest sharp object he could find; a fireplace poker. His hoof was shaking as he held the tip near her neck. He didn't know if he could bring himself to harm her, but he needed insurance that he wasn't about to be shot, a necessity as the stallion had drawn his weapon on Ruiz as soon as he entered the room.

Chapter the Fifth: Survival

Ruiz stared into the eyes of the stallion. The stallion stared right back. Neither of them had moved or even so much as breathed since the beginning of the standoff. While the stallion was currently sporting the clear advantage in weaponry, Ruiz held the advantage in armour. The stallion was aiming a slingshot right at him, but he had the protection of a young mare being used as a meat shield.

The mare was trembling in his grasp. He felt exceptionally guilty about holding her hostage like this, but she was the only thing keeping him from being shot. She swallowed hard as she glanced at the stallion. "Dad..." she muttered, her voice cracking.

"Let her go," the stallion spoke slowly. "No funny business."

Ruiz took a step toward the back door in response, keeping his eyes locked on the stallion. "Where are my effects?" he asked.

"You're free to leave," answered the stallion, "with all of your belongings. Just release my daughter."

Ruiz took another step toward the door. "Bring them to me. Let me see them."

"Not while you have my daughter. I'm not letting you take her."

The backdoor swung open, and the mare from the garden came in. "What's all this?!" she demanded.

"He's holding our daughter hostage," barked the stallion.

"He's holding me hostage," spat Ruiz right back.

"Lands sakes, Jed, lower your weapon," spat the older mare.

"Sadie, he has our daughter," Jed growled.

"And I'm not going to let you hit her, now lower your sling!"

Jed stood there for a moment longer before lowering his hoof, though he kept his weapon loaded and ready. In an instant, he could be back on his target.

Sadie then turned to Ruiz. "He's not holding you hostage. Why he didn't bother explaining that to ya's beyond me. Let my daughter go, return to your bed, and stop bleeding all over my nice, clean floor," she commanded.

Ruiz was compelled by her mere presence, but he was able to resist the urge to do so. She was imposing, to be sure, but he was still in fear for his life. With a sideways glance, he steeled his resolve. With a shove, he pushed the young mare into her father's arms. He would likely release his weapon to catch her, giving Ruiz enough time to escape, weapons or no. He bolted through the door, only to trip over the steps leading down to the ground. The impact of his chest against the dirt sent a massive shockwave of pain through his body that seized his muscles and brought his movement to a complete stop.

"Well, two out of three ain't bad," huffed Sadie, turning and walking into the kitchen. "Take him back upstairs, Jed, I'll be up in a minute."

Ruiz found himself lightheaded and dizzy as Jed tossed him over his shoulders and carried him back into the house. "You're just all kinds of trouble, aren't ya?" he remarked as he made his way up the stairs. "No idea what she sees in you."

Ruiz couldn't bring himself to respond. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he was right back to square one, in worse condition than when he'd woken up. He was bleeding and battered, weakening him, his sombrero was sitting on the floor in the laundry room, his poncho was nowhere to be found, and his weapons were still lost somewhere with his belt. This had all been a tremendous backstep.

Jed was surprisingly gentle laying him on the bed. He'd expected to just be flopped down like a sack of chicken feed, but he made sure to place him down in such a way that didn't damage his bandages or cause him any extra pain. "Don't move from that spot," he commanded. "And keep your hooves to yourself."

Just as Jed walked out of the room, Sadie came in carrying a large white box and a stool. She placed the box on the nightstand and the stool next to the bed for her to sit on. She pulled a pair of scissors out of the box and pressed her hoof into Ruiz' shoulder. "Hold still," she told him. "If you cooperate, this won't hurt as much."

With a nod from Ruiz, she cut open his bandages and removed the torn stitching. All open wounds were given a fresh round of sanitizer and topical antibiotic before being sewn up and covered with a bandage. She was no surgeon, but there wasn't one handy at the moment, and she was the best substitute available. His probability of survival was at its highest in her hooves.

She had him roll over a few times to ensure she'd covered all of the damages, then made him stand up so she could swap out the mattress and sheets he'd bled all over. She left him with a glass of water and his thoughts.

He couldn't believe what he'd done, especially with that young mare. Given his past, he completely understood why Jed had drawn on him. Just as Ruiz would have given his life to protect his siblings, Jed was willing to shoot him in front of his own daughter just to keep her safe. To make matters even worse, holding her hadn't even accomplished anything. She now had a greater degree of fear in her life, and for what? An attempted escape that hadn't panned out. He certainly wouldn't be trying that tactic again.

He considered trying to leave again, this time just walking out the front door. If he was shot, so be it. If he were the one in Jed's shoes, he'd be sitting in a rocking chair in the hallway, his slingshot trained on the door in case he decided to ruin his house even more. After the stunt he'd pulled, he'd completely understand if he was brought out behind the barn, tied up and executed by firing squad.

So, why the bandages? Why the first aid? He'd seen a large coil of rope outside when he looked out the window, so why wasn't he tied up, or at least secured to the bed? Why was he given a clean mattress and set of sheets? If he was being held here, why was he being treated this way? Surely, if they'd wanted him dead, it would be easier and more cost-effective to just shoot him on the road. If they wanted to torture him, surely it would be better to let his injuries fester.

The only answer he could come up with made him sick to his stomach. He wasn't a prisoner being kept for profit. Somepony had found him on the road and brought him back to their home to heal him. He'd repaid this debt by destroying their house and holding their daughter hostage. This was as bad a fuck-up as could possibly be imagined, and he had no way to repay the damages that he'd done, let alone account for their kindness.

Chapter the Sixth: Santa Maria

A good hour passed before Ruiz heard a knock at the door. The room had darkened, as the sun was beginning to set, the last of the light filtering in through a window that was too high to look out of and facing to the east. He shifted in his bed, calling out to the door, "It's open."

"Are you decent?" asked a mare. It sounded like the voice of Maria from earlier.

"I don't know where my poncho is, if that's what you're asking."

The door handle rattled for a moment, then the door swung open. The contrast of light in the hallway to darkness in the room was so sharp that Ruiz could only make out the silhouette. "Are you going to behave?" she asked. "Or do I need to bring my dad up here to keep an eye on you?"

Ruiz nodded. "I'll do my best, señorita."

"Good."

She stepped into the room and grabbed the candlestick from the nightstand, a simple brass dish design, and brought it into the hallway to light it from there before bringing it back in. With more light shining on her face, Ruiz recognized her. She was the palomino mare from Sweetwater. The same one that bit him, bruised him, and nearly shot in his general direction.

Everything added up now, a notion that one would think would make Ruiz feel better, but it only made him feel worse. She'd been alone out there, meaning she'd been forced by circumstance to load him onto the back of her wagon, which was already badly damaged, and carried him back to her place, and it was her home he had been destroying.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

He was, but at the same time, how could he ask for food? He'd already taken advantage of her family's kindness, and receiving services he hadn't paid for didn't sit well with him. He didn't have the cash to compensate them for their food, he hadn't done anything that qualified as work for them, and he'd actively been harmful to her home. He didn't deserve food. "No."

Right as he said that, his stomach growled, betraying his more basic desires. "Are you sure?" she asked, clearly seeing through his obvious lie.

His stomach growled again before he could answer. "What I mean is, you don't have to feel obligated to feed me, señorita. I can't return the favour."

"Don't worry about it," she smiled. "This is a gift."

"I don't like accepting gifts that I can't reciprocate."

"And I don't like the idea of you dying in my brother's bed. And I'm not alone in that thought." Ruiz turned his head away. She was adamant about this. His stomach growled again. "How long has it been since you ate?"

That was a question he really didn't want to answer. She had her mother's commanding presence, compelling him to tell her the truth, but if he did, she'd hold him down and force feed him for sure. "It's been a few days," he exaggerated. He wasn't wrong. Four or five, he couldn't remember, but it was more than simply skipping breakfast and lunch.

"Looking at your figure, I'd have guessed a week. Didn't I see you eating a can of something in town?"

He caught himself right as he was about to tell her that she'd knocked the peaches out of his hoof. It was true, but he didn't want to make her feel as if she owed him. "The gryphons trampled the contents into the road." This was also true, and it was clear she was no friend of theirs.

"Allow me to make up for costing you your meal yesterday," she said, stepping back into the hall.

Crap. She remembered bumping into him. Now she probably felt that she had to feed him. He would feel that way, if the situation were reversed.

She came in with two large bowls of soup. Ruiz knew he was a goat, making him smaller than the average pony, but there was no way he'd be able to eat that much soup, even if he did feel that he deserved it. Even one bowl would be a lot.

Thankfully, one was all he would be given. As he sat up, the nightstand was moved to serve as a small table that they could both eat at. To an outside observer, this might have seemed romantic and intimate. They were sitting face to face at a small table, eating dinner by candlelight. He didn't even know her. For all he knew, he'd misheard the conversation from the top of the stairs, and her name wasn't even Maria.

At least the soup was good. He'd always enjoyed potato soup. It was cheap, it was fast, and it was really easy to make it in a large batch for his mother and just shy of a dozen siblings. He had fond memories of making it for them, teaching his sister how to check the potatoes to see if they were done, and the time he'd run out of potatoes halfway through and supplemented it with carrots.

"I never did thank you," said the mare, pulling him back to the moment. "Back in town, I was sure those bastards had me. You pulled me into that alley, and I thought I'd never see my family again. Then you pointed them in the other direction, even after I bit you. Sorry about that."

Ruiz shook his head. "You don't have to apologize. You didn't know what was going on. You were scared. It's understandable that you would hit me. I should be apologizing to you for messing up your home."

The mare shook her head. "You don't have to apologize. You didn't know what was going on. You were scared. It's understandable," she repeated.

"What I did to your house, especially that young mare, your sister, was heinous."

"She'll be fine," waved the mare. "You just spooked her. If somepony had been here when you woke up, it probably wouldn't have happened."

"It was unforgivable."

"Then how am I able to forgive you?"

That knocked all of the wind out of his sail. He had no response for that. He couldn't reply, and all he could do was return his attention to the soup.

"I'm Mariachi, by the by. Maria for short. I help my parents with the farm work around here."

"Ruiz. I used to work on my family's farm, a gift to my mother from her first husband."

"Not anymore?"

Ruiz shook his head. "It's nothing more than a pile of ash and skeletons now."

Maria swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm pretty sure you weren't involved in burning it down."

"I mean, I'm sorry to hear that. I apologize for bringing up the memory, and to hear what happened to your home brings me sorrow. I can't imagine how that must feel."

Ruiz took a big swallow of soup. "I hope you never have to find out."

Chapter the Seventh: Familiar Ground

"Come on, it won't be that bad," waved Maria, prompting Ruiz toward the stairs. "You're overreacting."

Ruiz didn't think he was overreacting at all. Meeting Maria and apologizing to her wasn't easy, but he at least felt that he had the grounds to ask for her forgiveness. He didn't feel that he deserved it, and he certainly wouldn't be forgiving himself for it, but he had the grounds to ask for it. Such was not the case for her family. When it came to the rest of them, he'd done nothing to earn their forgiveness through his actions.

Nevertheless, he was in her house, and that meant she set the rules, so long as it was reasonable. If she needed him to go downstairs and meet her family, then so be it.

At the bottom of the stairs, a left turn took him into the living room. The entire family was there. Sadie was sitting on the couch, holding his poncho in her hooves. It was brighter than he remembered, and far more vibrant. There were also some faint pink stains that peppered the cloth, and with the needle in her hoof, she was patching a hole right over one of the pink stains. If he followed the position of it, it lined up with his most prominent laceration from the night prior. The stains then must have been his blood, and with them being pink instead of red, it had likely been scrubbed clean.

The young mare that he had taken hostage was on the floor, feeding straw through his sombrero and clipping the ends. This had already been half begun when he'd come down the first time, but in the dining room. The holes torn in it during the fight were being repaired. What had stopped her might have been her mother telling her to take over the washing while she went out to pick potatoes.

Jed had been sitting at the desk, but as soon as he saw Ruiz, he spun to face him and grabbed his slingshot. He did not load, charge or aim the weapon, merely displaying that he was well-versed in its operation and was ready to leap into action if necessary.

Ruiz looked around the area. He'd not taken a good look after his escape attempt. The laundry room, or what he could see through the doorway, had been cleaned up, as had the trail of his blood from the hardwood flooring of the living room. The sconce on the wall next to the door, the one he'd hit with the coat rack, was badly dented. The dish that kept the wax from dripping onto the floor was so badly dented that it now acted as a spout, pouring any hot wax from the basin out onto the floor, and the whole apparatus had been twisted to one side.

"Put it away, dad," growled Maria, coming down behind Ruiz. "I'm pretty sure he won't do anything this time."

"Will you?" asked Jed, holding up the weapon to remind Ruiz that his choices would have consequences.

"No, señor," he replied, shaking his head. "I do not wish to cause you any more trouble."

With a curt nod, Jed placed the slingshot on the desk, keeping it well within reach. Ruiz could tell that he wasn't trusted, and why would he be? He completely understood Jed's apprehension toward him, and even supported his perceived train of thought. The incident several hours ago was not something any of them wanted repeated.

"How do ya feel?" asked Sadie, glancing up from her sewing. "You'd better not have torn my stitching, again."

"I'm fine, señora," Ruiz winced. "I think it's all still there."

"I'll tan your hide if I find out you're lyin'."

Ruiz swallowed hard. He was sure she would, too. How she held such sway over him, he didn't know, but despite her outward appearance being no different than any other mare, she was terrifying.

"So, I know you've already met," said Maria, stepping forward, "but let's go over it again properly. This is my mother, Amber Saddle."

"Call me Sadie."

Maria gestured to the floor. "The young mare working on your hat is my sister, Mintberry."

"Hello," she waved briefly. She'd moved away from Ruiz when the conversation had started, a clear indicator of her discomfort with him.

"And my father--"

"You may call me sir," he interrupted. "Or señor, as you seem to prefer."

"Jed!" admonished Sadie.

"Let me be perfectly clear," he continued. "We're not friends. The only reason I let you in is because you were allegedly injured while protecting my daughter. I thank you for doing so if it's true, but you'll understand if your little stunt earlier has called into question whether or not that was a good decision."

"Dad!" growled Maria.

"It was not, señor," confirmed Ruiz. "I have no way to repay your kindness, nor can I undo any of the pain I have caused you. As I said, I do not wish to cause you any more trouble. The only way I have to help you is to relieve you of my burdensome presence at earliest opportunity. If you would return to me my belongings, I will leave you in peace right away."

Jed leaned back, opened his desk drawer, and pulled Ruiz' belt out. Much like his poncho, it had been cleaned, but there was no repair necessary. Right where they were supposed to be, the handle for his knife, the arms for his slingshot, and his stepfather's belt buckle were attached.

"Jed," admonished Sadie again, standing up and dropping her sewing on the table. "Stop pushing him out the door."

"I'm not making the decision for him," Jed responded. "He wants to leave. He's already tried to leave, in fact. I'm not forcing him to go, but I'm certainly not stopping him."

Ruiz bowed his head in Sadie's direction. "I appreciate what you've done for me, but I don't want to overstay my welcome. I owe you all a debt I can never repay, and I'd like to keep it from increasing further. Please, señora."

"Your injuries aren't even close to healed," she growled back. "I didn't put in all the effort to keep you from bleeding out just so you could die of infection. On top of that, you have no canteen or food. Do you really want to waste my time and energy by dying?"

Her words hurt more than his injuries. Her tongue was sharper than the claws of any gryphon he'd ever met. He couldn't answer her question, not really. He didn't want to seem ungrateful to her, but he also didn't want to take advantage of her generosity.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to answer the question. A loud crash rang out behind the house, drawing all of their attention. "What in the name of Tartauros was that?" asked Jed rhetorically, grabbing his slingshot and proceeding to the backdoor.

Chapter the Eighth: Ravens Land

Everypony, Ruiz included, filed into the laundry room. With all of the washing done before sunset, the basins and washboard were stored away against the wall, leaving plenty of space for them to stand and look out the windows. In the shadow of the house, just as the moon was creeping its way into the sky, they could see something nondescript moving in the darkness over the cornfield.

Jed grabbed a lantern from atop a shelf near the door and lit the wick. Three sides of the housing were fitted with mirrors, reflecting the light in one direction, focusing it wherever he pointed the lantern. As he waved it out the backdoor, the family all saw what was going on. Three gryphons, all decorated in their black makeup, were flying around, swooping down over the corn and tearing up debris. The windmill that fed their water pump had been knocked over, obviously struck by one of the gryphons on their way in.

"Damn these ravens," huffed Jed, grabbing his slingshot and heading out the door. Sadie immediately began ushering Mintberry into the living room while Maria grabbed the lantern to act as a spotter for her father.

"Y'all best leave now!" shouted Jed, loading and charging his weapon. "I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit tonight!"

For his efforts, Jed was pelted with multiple ears of corn. He took aim at the nearest gryphon and loosed his first stone into the air. The rock zipped by the gryphon's neck, just barely missing his feathers. As he reloaded, another barrage of corn was lobbed in his direction, but one of the gryphons also pulled out a slingshot, striking Jed's shoulder with a rock.

Jed's next shot connected, striking the chest of one of the circling gryphons, though not with enough force to injure it, as it was only a glancing blow. In response, the gryphons all stopped with the corn, and a barrage of rocks fired from slingshots pelted him. But it wasn't just the stallion that was hit. Some of the rounds made their way to the house, knocking chips out of the window where Maria was standing, trying to take down the spotter so they could not be as easily seen.

Ruiz had seen enough. He returned to the living room, grabbed his slingshot from out of his belt, and left through the front door, making his way around the side of the house. By the time he came to the corn field, Jed was retreating to the laundry room, and the window had been broken, scattering the light from the lantern.

Ruiz wasted no time, scooping up a rock and launching it directly at the neck of the first gryphon he could identify as a target. It immediately faltered in its assault as it needed to restabilise its flight. Another gryphon looked at Ruiz, only to be struck across the beak with a second shot.

"What's the matter with yo-- GAH!!" shouted the last gryphon as Ruiz' third shot hit him. With a rock lodged firmly in his earhole, and more coming in from Ruiz with significantly more accuracy, he sounded the retreat.

One of the gryphons, however, the one Ruiz had hit in the throat, did not leave. He charged at Ruiz, grabbing him by the horn and punching his chest. Ruiz did his best to pull free, but could not. His injuries were too recent to allow him a full range of movement.

Luckily, Jed had recovered, and with a resounding strike, clubbed the back of the gryphon's head with a metal pipe. Unable to keep ahold of his senses, the beast stumbled off toward the road. For a brief moment, Jed considered striking once more to end the creature, but one look at Ruiz told him that there was something more important to take care of right now. He helped the goat back to his hooves. "Thanks for your help. I owe you for that."

"No, you don't," replied Ruiz, stumbling back toward the front of the house. He was quickly redirected by Jed toward the backdoor. "If anything, I owe you. All I did was draw their attention. You saved my life. I told you I didn't want to be even more of a burden."

Maria rushed out with the lantern, clearing their path and directing them both inside. "Hurry up," she ushered, "before they decide to come back."

Upon entering, Sadie was waiting for them. She had a cold wet cloth for the bruises she'd already seen on Jed, but Ruiz' bandages were stained red again. As she approached, Ruiz felt a wave of dread crash over him. "Now, didn't I warn you against pulling out your stitches?" she asked. "Go on upstairs and wait for me, and keep those bandages on and under pressure. I don't want to spend the whole night cleaning up."

Ruiz nodded wordlessly and slunk his way upstairs, returning his slingshot to his belt on the desk. He didn't want to risk even more trouble if Jed found out he was armed in his home. He especially didn't want to hurt Sadie any more than he already had by having a weapon while she was sewing his flesh back together for a third time.

She came in shortly after he did with the first aid kit. Before she'd arrived, Ruiz had moved the empty bowls from dinner on top of the dresser, pushed the nightstand back where she had it, and replaced the stool by the side of the bed. He was sitting on the stool, so as not to risk staining the sheets if the bandages bled through.

She sat down on the bed behind him and started taking apart the bloody bandages. "Hold still," she commanded, and though he tried, he was still a bit shaky. "Maria never did finish her introduction, did she?"

"I thought she had, señora?"

"I don't think she did. I'm pretty sure my husband put a stop to it before she could finish."

"Who was left out?"

She held him still. "Stop shaking. This will only hurt more if you don't sit still." He did his best, and he once more felt the needle pulling his skin together. "Well, for one, she has a brother. This was his room. He's out working away from home, but we have a photograph on the desk. But that's perhaps the less important part she left out, as you can't expect a photograph to speak with you."

"I think your son would be important, señora."

"He is, but I'm talking about the introduction. There was someone else left out."

"Who?"

With all of the wounds quickly stitched up, she began wrapping bandages around him. "She never told us your name."

"Oh. It's Ruiz. I'm no one important."

"You came to rescue both my husband and my daughter. I think they're important." She finished wrapping him up and closed the first aid box. "You need to go to bed, Ruiz. Even if you did want to leave as soon as possible, you'd just be sleeping on the side of the road. It's too late to be leaving, so you might as well stay the night. I'll come check on you when breakfast is ready. Sleep well."

She took the bowls off the dresser and closed the door as she left the room. Ruiz let go of his tension and found that he was exhausted, even though he'd only been up since early afternoon. He wasn't going to argue with her. Blowing out the candle, he curled up on the bed and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Chapter the Ninth: Impression

Ruiz still felt like shit when he pulled himself out of bed the next morning. The evening prior had not been pleasant, and waking up in the middle of the night to a cold sweat multiple times had not helped. He needed to be quit of this place, before they could heap any more debt on him.

As he made his way toward the living room, he ran into Jed at the bottom of the stairs. "Going somewhere?"

"I was just leaving, señor."

Jed placed his hoof firmly on Ruiz' shoulder and directed him the other way. "There'll be a time to do so, but before that, I want to talk to you. Sit."

Ruiz was concerned that he was being pulled further into the hole he'd been trying to escape from, but he sat down at the dining table, regardless. Jed sat across from him, pressing his hooves together in front of his mouth. For several seconds, they just sat there, staring each other down. "Is there something you needed to say, señor?"

Jed nodded. "Just picking out the words I want to use." He lowered his hooves to the table, as if he were about to speak, sighed, then pulled his hooves back up. "Tell me about yourself, Ruiz."

"Not much to tell, señor," he shrugged. "I'm the bastard son of a goat trying to find a place where I'm not completely useless."

Jed's eyes darted from side to side, then fell back on Ruiz. "Is... Is that all?"

"What do you want me to say, señor? I was given a purpose, and now it's either dead or scattered to the winds. The only thing that gave my life meaning is gone now."

"And what was that purpose?"

Ruiz tensed up and looked away. "I'd rather not bore you with the details, señor. It's my problem alone."

Jed nodded. "Did your purpose involve firing that slingshot of yours?"

Ruiz simply nodded.

"It's a good slingshot. Well-made, well-maintained... It's clear that a lot of care went into it. I'd expect nothing less, if your very reason for existing was tied to it."

"Gracias, señor." Ruiz' voice was very flat, as if the compliment had been completely empty. "It originally belonged to my step-father."

"Of course, the tool is only any good in the hooves of somepony skilled in its use. Given any half-decent slingshot, I bet you'd be a good shot."

"Gracias, señor."

"So what was it that brought you through Sweetwater?"

"Just passing through."

"On your way to where?"

"I don't know, señor. I'm just going somewhere. I'm not sure where, but wherever it is, I won't be a disappointment."

Jed nodded, then leaned back to look at the ceiling. Ruiz couldn't tell what he was thinking, as he kept a very still expression, as if he were trying to hide his emotions, a face he knew all too well. "Tell me about your family."

"Señor?"

"You came to know mine. I want to hear about yours."

"I have eleven siblings, señor. Are you sure you wish to know about all of them?"

"If you care for all of them, certainly."

Ruiz took a deep breath. "My youngest sister, Amaranth, would have been six years old last week. She had an adoration for pegasi and gryphons and all the other flying creatures. She thought I was being too cruel in driving the crows from the corn we grew, and every time I'd drive them off, she'd pelt me with rocks, along with her older brother, Milo. But Milo was not mad at me for bothering the crows, he was just an angry, violent kid with a nasty temper. His father would let him do whatever he pleased, with no regard for the consequences. He once ran up to me after Rosa had kicked me in the balls, and he followed it up with a blast of sand in my face. Speaking of Rosa, she is the oldest of my siblings, about two years younger than I am. She joined a group of brigands and together, they burned down my home. My mother was in the house at the time, a rare occurrence that I wish I could have been there for. If I could go back... The last thing I said to her was "I'll see you when you come home." I wasn't... I can't..."

Seeing that he had hit a nerve, Jed held up his hoof. "That's plenty. I can see that it's bothering you, so you don't have to say anymore."

Ruiz rubbed his face with his hooves, trying to hide his hurt. "Gracias, señor."

Jed nodded. His expression suddenly changed as he took a deep breath. He looked uncomfortable, as though he had something he had been building up to, and it was about ready to burst. "Now, you had mentioned that you did not wish to burden us further."

"Si, señor."

"Well, the fact of the matter is that you have already cost us quite a bit of time and effort, along with certain materials." Jed shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not looking Ruiz in the eye. "That comes to quite a hefty monetary sum."

"I have no money, señor. If I could, I would pay for the damages I caused, but I have nothing, and no means of making more. I would gladly give you all I have, but it wouldn't be enough."

"I know," nodded Jed, clearing his throat and looking worriedly at the kitchen door. "And since you cannot pay me for what you have done, we will have to discuss some alternative method."

Ruiz swallowed hard. "S-señor?"

Jed returned his focus to Ruiz and his comfort and confidence returned. "You're quite skilled with that slingshot. I can hit pretty close with a reasonable accuracy, but you? I think you could hit the weathervane on the barn from the back step in less than five shots."

Ruiz thought about it for a moment and nodded.

"You lived on a farm for several years, according to my daughter. On top of that, you mentioned that you grew corn. I don't know if you took a look out back, but that's also what I'm doing right now. What with my son gone, it's been harder on my whole family, trying to compensate for him.

"So here's my proposal for you: I want you to act as a hired hoof here. I will give you a place to stay, two square meals a day, three on Sundays, and after your debt is repaid, I'll even pay you in currency. In return, you will aid in the fieldwork, housework, and any other tasks I ask of you relating to the farm. Additionally, you will use your slingshot to protect my family and our home. You may once more have a purpose, if only for a short time. Deal?"

Ruiz fell silent. He didn't expect that. Last night, Jed had been the one most gung-ho about his departure, and now here he was, offering him a job. Surely, that little spat with the gryphons hadn't changed his opinion so drastically, had it?

Still, he didn't like being a squatter, and right now, that was what he was doing. If he left right now, he'd be leaving these ponies, the same ones that had taken him in, fed him, cleaned and bandaged his wounds, saved him from a gryphon and given him a place to sleep, worse off than when he arrived.

On top of that, he couldn't find a meaningful way to apologize if he left. Staying and working wasn't much of an apology, but neither was walking away. At least this way, he might amount to something.

"You don't have to answer right away," said Jed, taking another worried glance around the room. "If you want to accrue more debt, th--"

"Okay."

It was Jed's turn to fall silent.

"If you and your family want me to work for you, señor, I'll stick around. I'll try not to squander your generosity."

Jed smiled broadly. "Excellent. We'll start ya off with something easy while you're recovering."

Just as Ruiz was about to ask for a more hefty workload, Sadie pulled open the kitchen door. "Ruiz? Good morning. Breakfast?"

"Bring him something strong, dearest," smiled Jed. "You're lookin' at our new farmhoof."

Chapter the Tenth: Recovery Begins

After breakfast, before anypony could start on their chores for the day, Jed made the announcement that Ruiz would be staying with them for an indeterminant amount of time. He neglected to tell them that it was to be an unpaid position until he could restore the household to a stable monetary state, but Ruiz didn't mind. He wasn't keen on hiding it, but he wasn't going to advertise the reasons for which he agreed to it.

They split up for their dailies. Sadie stayed in the house to wash the dishes and Mintberry went to feed the chickens. Normally, Jed and Maria would handle tending to the fields, but before they could start on that, there was a busted windmill on top of the corn that needed to be dealt with first and foremost.

The blades for the windmill itself were still in good condition. A little bent, but still functional once they pulled it out of the dirt. A wheel attached to a sail would redirect the mount for the blades to catch the wind, and a sprocket attached to the blades would turn a shaft that would automatically operate the pumps for their private well. Everything was still in working order, thankfully. It was just on its side and not attached to anything.

With Maria and Jed's strength combined, they were still having a bit of trouble starting the pull. "Do you need help, señor?" asked Ruiz, having cleared away the path for them.

"We're fine," grunted Maria. "Just take it easy today. Your injuries are too fresh to pull this up."

"Besides, I don't think you have a significant source of towing power," agreed Jed. "We'll handle it."

Ruiz looked back at the windmill. All they'd managed to do with their pulling was bend the frame. Considering the fact that it was a mesh of angle and flat iron building the tower, that was impressive strength. It really should have been up by now. "We'll need to sister the broken struts, señor."

"There's some spare angle iron in the barn's loft," huffed Maria, letting the rope fall slack. "The key's on the wall inside the utility room."

With a nod, Ruiz grabbed the key and went to the barn. All manner of machines were stored in the lower level. Some were used for watering crops, others planting and tilling. At the back was a combine harvester. He climbed up the ladder by the door and found the storage up top. It was neatly organised into two halves, with hoof tools on one side, many of them very old, and others still in good condition, and scrap materials of all variety on the other side, from wood cutoffs that were too long to throw out, three spools of baling wire, and a stack of flat and angle iron.

He grabbed two long rods of angle iron, much longer than he needed, opened the loft door, and slid them down to the ground outside. He certainly could not carry them down the ladder, and he definitely wasn't going to jump from the second floor.

By the time he'd closed and locked the door, Jed had made his way over. "We only needed one rod. We're going to cut it down to the length we need."

"Trust me, señor," nodded Ruiz, hoisting the load onto his good shoulder. "I know you don't want me to strain myself, but this is going to help."

He dug one end of each rod onto the ground next to the windmill's base, inside up. Into either of the two troughs he placed one of the ropes as Jed returned to his harness. The top ends of the rods extended up above the break, and as a result, when Jed and Maria pulled on the ropes, the top of the tower was pulled upward at a significantly steeper angle, making it much more inclined to go up.

Due to the bending previously done, the legs didn't quite line up, and as Jed ascended the tower to try to realign them, Maria called Ruiz over to talk while she cut the angle iron into patches. "How'd you do that?" she asked. "You made the whole thing move like it was nothing."

"It's just a lever, señorita," he shrugged. "Your method would have worked eventually, but when you want things to go a certain way while you're pulling another way, it can be beneficial to change the angle of attack to something steeper."

"I'll have to remember that," she smirked.

After the new braces were cut, Jed fastened them on with rivets. He could handle the rest, so Maria started looking over the damages to the cornfield. Thankfully, the only badly damaged stalks were the ones that the windmill had fallen on. The ones cut up by the gryphons were mostly damaged near the top, and the ears were mostly fine. A fair amount of the ripped-up stock was unfit to be sold as produce to the ponies of Sweetwater, but if removed from the cob and dried out, it would make good chicken feed, so it wasn't a total loss.

What with the sun being as hot as it was, Ruiz and Maria opted to put the corn into large baskets and move them to the front porch, where they would have shade while shucking the damaged earss. There was no letting them dry on the stalk, it was too late for that. They would just have to either find a way to dry it out as it was, or shell it manually, both of which required shucking it.

Ruiz was the first to begin shucking. As nopony wanted him to overextend himself, they thought it best that he handle shucking the corn while Maria carried the baskets. While he would have preferred being more helpful, he was content to just be doing something that could qualify as work. It wasn't much, and he couldn't see himself paying back his debt at this rate, but at least it was keeping him from accruing more of it.

"How are your injuries?" asked Sadie, stepping out of the front door. "They're not givin' you any trouble, are they?"

"I'm okay, señora," he nodded, and for once, he was sure of it. He didn't think he needed any further aid at the moment. The bandages looked clean, he was pretty sure he hadn't torn out the stitching again, and with the promise of a full day's work, he'd eaten well at breakfast.

"Well, I'll just be in here. Your poncho still has a few holes that need patching. Let me know if you need anything, alright?"

"Actually, señora, would you mind bringing my belt? I need a knife for some of these."

With a silent nod, she grabbed his belt from the desk and passed it to him. He wrapped it around his waist and clamped it in place. "Gracias, señora."

Chapter the Eleventh: Meet the Sheriff

There was a lot of corn that needed shucking. Even after bringing two large baskets to the front of the house, there was still a fair amount of corn left, and Maria just kept packing it up and bringing it forward. In many cases, the damage was superficial, and the kernels themselves were mostly unharmed. They could hang in the heat of the sun and air dry.

"How's it all going?" asked Maria, bringing forward a fifth and final basket. "Working okay?"

Ruiz slipped his knife back into its scabbard. "Don't worry about me, señorita," he smiled. "I'll have this taken care of in no time."

"Good," called Jed, walking around the side of the house. "The faster you take care of this, the faster we..." He trailed off as his eyes caught sight of something coming up the road. He immediately dropped his train of thought as he made his way inside the house to grab his slingshot. Sensing the sudden change in tone, Ruiz drew his own and stood up on his hind legs. Just over the golden wheat that grew in the front of the house, he spotted the two black-coloured gryphons making their way up the road, led by a brown stallion in a leather vest.

As poor luck would have it, the trio turned onto the property and made their way up to the house. "That's close enough, sheriff," called Jed, holding up his empty hoof. "What possible reason could you have for coming out here?"

"You hurt me, Jed," mocked the stallion. I had heard that some bandits had come out here last night to knock over your windmill. I come in peace, to offer the services of my colleagues to help you put it back up, for a price."

"Didn't think you were blind, sheriff," snorted Jed. "Windmill's already back up and fully functioning. We don't need your help."

"Oh?" chuckled the sheriff. "Let's just see that windmill, then."

"You can see it from the road," growled Jed, stepping into the sheriff's path. "Be sure to take a good look at it on your way back into town."

"Why do you insist on making my job difficult, Jed? I only want to help make sure nothing happens to your little homestead. It would be a real shame to hear that somepony was hurt." He lifted his hoof as if he had an idea. "I know! I'll offer you the protection of my deputies in exchange for a small fee."

"We don't need the protection of your flunkies, especially considering that they're the ones what attacked us in the first place."

The sheriff placed his hoof over his chest. "Jed, you hurt me again. The Ravens are protecting everypony around here. The fact that another group of miscreants has donned their faces in disguise is an unfortunate coincidence. You will note that every other farm near the town pays for the protection of the Ravens, and have not been attacked since."

"They weren't attacked before the Ravens showed up, either. Besides, we can protect ourselves."

"Oh, yeah?" huffed one of the gryphons. "What if they did this?" He took off toward the wheat field, claws extended and ready to cut. He quickly collapsed to the ground, however, clutching his balls.

"Then I would do that, señor," puffed Ruiz, a fresh pebble loaded into his slingshot and ready to launch. Not a single grain of wheat had been harmed, but the gryphon would be walking funny for the next week. Being shot in the testicles hard enough to tear the skin was going to take its toll on him.

"Pretty sure that's assaulting an officer," scowled the sheriff, pulling out his own slingshot. "Turn yourself in, and we might let you live, little goat."

"Assault, señor?" smirked Ruiz. "Nonsense. He was giving a demonstration of what a bandit attack looks like, and I was giving a demonstration of what we do to bandits where I come from. If you weren't paying attention, I would be glad to show it again."

The yard fell silent as Ruiz and the sheriff stared each other down. With Sadie showing up at the door with a spare slingshot and Maria with her own, they totaled four. The sheriff and his one remaining gryphon were outnumbered. With the whimpering of the gryphon on the ground, the last one standing behind the sheriff was clearly agitated, and took a step back in fear. He had swaggered up with confidence, but now it was gone.

"Alright, Jed," huffed the sheriff, holstering his weapon. "I'll leave you folks alone for now. But mark my words, those bandits are going to come back, and you'll wish you had the Ravens to drive them off." He smacked the frightened gryphon in the chest. "Pick up your brother; we're done here."

As the sheriff walked off, the standing gryphon picked up the other, and with his tail protecting his balls, ran off after him. Jed chuckled at the sight and placed his hoof on Ruiz' shoulder. "I knew you were accurate, but I didn't know you were that fast. I picked well."

"I do what I must, señor," huffed Ruiz. "Do you think they'll be back anytime soon?"

"I wouldn't put it past them. After a hit like that, though, they might take a day to reorient themselves."

Ruiz descended the stairs. "I'm going to go check on Mintberry, señor y señora. If I were a bandit, I'd be picking at the small one when they're alone."

"Good idea," agreed Maria, hopping after him and catching up. "Come on, I'll help you look."

The two of them made their way back behind the barn to where the coop was. It was rather large for just chickens, and when he pushed open the door, Ruiz saw that there was more to it than that. Separated by a small gate, the yard for the chickens was a bit smaller than the yard for two pigs and a cow. Mintberry was giving the cow a good scrub with a dry brush. "Something wrong?" she asked, looking up at them.

"No, nothing's wrong, Mint," smiled Maria. "The sheriff and his goons just came by, and we thought we'd make sure that no one had made off with you, that's all."

Mintberry rolled her eyes. "They come by every week. Why is it such a shock to see them again?"

"This time ended in violence. We're fine, but we needed to be sure you were still here, that's all."

"You should go tell your father that you're alright," ushered the cow. "Go on, now."

Chapter the Twelfth: Winding Down

Mintberry slipped out the door, going back to the house with a basket of eggs. This left Ruiz and Maria alone with the cow, as well as the pigs and chickens. "We should probably finish her chores," sighed Maria, grabbing a pail off the wall. "I'll go fetch the pig feed. Why don't you milk Bea?"

Ruiz took the pail, and as Maria disappeared, he turned to the cow. "You must be Bea?"

She nodded. "You must be new. I don't recognise you. Given the fact that Maria and Mint seem to trust you, at least to the point that you're walking around without a lot of security, I would guess that they don't think you're dangerous."

Ruiz moved the pail into position and pulled up a stool. "I think Jed's the only one who considers me a danger, señorita."

"Señora, por favor," chuckled the cow. "I appreciate the compliment, but I'm not that young."

Ruiz turned his face away in embarrassment. "Sorry. I'm not as familiar with cows, señora."

"It's alright," she smirked. "Whenever you're ready to begin."

Grabbing a teat in each hoof, Ruiz began to to milk Bea. She was content to just let it happen, as he was quite skilled at it. He, on the other hoof, was glad of the cease in conversation, considering the act to be just a task. The pail was half-filled when Maria returned with a second pail filled with slop for the pigs, with added corncobs, particularly those that were too damaged to still use. It was one way to be rid of them, anyway.

"This one's a keeper," smiled Bea to Maria. "He's a natural, considering he's unfamiliar with how cows work."

Maria looked over from the pig pen. "How long has it been since you milked a cow?" she asked Ruiz.

"I've never milked a cow before, señorita. Señora Bea is the first one I've ever met. If I'm being honest, and please, don't take offence, señora, I was unaware that they could speak before today."

"I do take some offense," huffed Bea, "but given the circumstances, I forgive you. You can't expect everyone to know everything about everyone else, and to be fair, I was unaware that goats could speak until you walked in. I suppose we're both inexperienced."

"So, if you bought all of your milk, how do you know how to milk a cow?" asked Maria. "That's an odd skill to be naturally gifted at with no experience."

"We didn't use cow's milk," shrugged Ruiz. "I didn't just work on my family's place. I helped out the neighbors for pay, too. They didn't have cows, either, and having it shipped in was expensive. We used goat's milk."

Maria nodded slowly. "I suppose that makes sense. Your skill in milking goats transferred over to milking a cow. So who'd you milk?"

For a few moments, the coop fell silent. Then, as if avoiding the question, Ruiz just went right back to milking.

"Your face is red as a beet," smiled Bea. "Was it someone special to you?"

"No comprende, señora," mumbled Ruiz, trying to hide his face with the sombrero he wasn't wearing. He quickly finished milking Bea and collected the pail.

"Well, whoever she is, she has great taste in men, señor. You take good care of her when you make it back home."

Maria very quickly moved over to Bea and whispered something to her while Ruiz poured the milk into something a bit more airtight to keep the dust and bugs out of it. When he turned back, they were both looking at him.

"I'm really sorry," said Bea, lowering her head. "I honestly had no idea about your home."

"Don't worry about it, señora" waved Ruiz. "You can't expect everyone to know everything about everyone else. If you'd said that to anyone else, it would have been completely harmless. It's like offering somepony a sandwich. You don't always know who's allergic to strawberries, especially when it's your first time meeting them, and such an odd quirk has yet to come up in conversation."

Bea smiled. "I'm glad you can forgive me. If you stick around, perhaps we'll be able to see more of each other. We'll earn a rapport soon enough."

With a nod, Ruiz and Maria slipped through the door and made their way back toward the house. It was the middle of the afternoon, and Jed was just starting to water the crops. A massive sprinkler was geared up and ready to walk its way across the field, drizzling a shower from the windmill pump.

"Usually, I'm watching the other end of that sprinkler," pointed out Maria. "I guess, due to the reshuffling, my mom took the other end. Mintberry's probably up front with the corn, so I guess I'm making dinner. Feel like helping?"

Ruiz nodded. He was actually feeling a bit strained, as it had been a month since he'd done so much work. He was operating on a full stomach, but that just made him feel even more tired. He would have to rebalance his workload against his current state, and right now, making dinner seemed easy enough.

Luckily, Maria was perfectly content to take the lead and assign him tasks that he was easily capable of doing. Chopping peppers, peeling and slicing carrots, stirring the batter while she went out back to collect wood for the stove for making cornbread. Given that they would be collecting a lot of corn meal shortly, and corn flour on top of that, a corn chowder and cornbread seemed a fitting way to spit in the face of the bandits. Perhaps not the most comfortable thing for the ponies who lived here, but still a show that even now, despite the attack the night prior, they were capable of turning it into a positive note.

After dinner, Ruiz opted out of any social interaction. Usually after dinner, the family would sit in the living room and chat, perhaps going over the day's events. They'd also engage in easier activity, such as reading , writing letters, sewing and other such activities. Perhaps someday, Ruiz would join them, but until then, all he wanted right now was some restful sleep. He made sure Jed would call for him if there was any trouble, and quietly made his way upstairs to his temporary bedroom.

He removed his belt and placed it on the nightstand. Ever since he'd left home, he'd slept with the belt on, ready to whip out his slingshot at the first sign of trouble. It had been a necessity twice on his journey. Finally, he had the opportunity to assess the situation before needing to fire. Perhaps that's what made the bed feel so good. The moment he lay down, before he could so much as cover himself with a sheet, he was out.

Chapter the Thirteenth: Down Time

The next week and a half passed without incident. Ruiz would wake up, don his poncho, eat breakfast, put on his sombrero and do some chores. What those chores were depended on the day. Early on, his tasks were easy to perform, such as making dinner, carrying lightweight things, or assisting in the heavy lifting that one of the others was taking the brunt of. As time went on and his injuries healed, he started taking more and more work onto his shoulders.

He was finding a fair amount of comfort in being depended on once more. They would ask him to do something, and he'd be right there, ready to go. What's more, he could feel and see the progress being made on the crops, in no small part thanks to him. It felt good to be working again.

As he was once more making his way up to his bedroom after dinner, less to go to bed early than to just be alone with his thoughts, he was cut off by Sadie, who blocked off his ascent.

"Not tonight, Mr. Ruiz," she scolded, waggling her hoof. "I know you value your privacy, and I respect that, but we can't have you hiding from us all the time. All this solitude isn't good for you. You need some non-work interaction."

Ruiz pulled back and looked to the living room. Jed was sitting in his chair, rereading a letter he'd shared with the family yesterday, Ruiz excluded. Maria was reading a very worn novella, one she had read hundreds of times and could almost recite. Mint was crocheting a series of circles, essentially just hooking them together for now, though she would likely do something when they were all finished. Next to where Sadie usually sat, one of Jed's shirts had a hole torn in the shoulder, and she was going to repair it.

He moved into the room and sat down, unsure of what exactly he would do. Typically, he would sit on the edge of the bed, reflect silently, remind himself of his past mistakes to keep from repeating them, and stare at the floor. He supposed that was still a possibility, he would just have to skip a certain reflection.

After a few minutes of staring at the floor in front of him in complete silence, Maria pushed her book across the table towards him. "If you need something to occupy your time, I'd be happy to loan you one of my books."

Ruiz shook his head and pushed it right back. "I can't take away your book, señorita. What would you read?"

"I have other books," she said, picking one off a shelf. "You looked bored. I wanted to give you something to do."

Ruiz lowered his head. "I'm not much of a reader, actually. I can do it, but it's not something I'm good at." He looked at the cover. It was not a novella, as he had thought, but rather, a collection of short stories and flash fiction. Of Mares and Monsters: An Array of Brief Fictional Tales of Beauties and Beasts.

"Not a big fan of the written word, huh?"

"In my household, we didn't have a lot of books. We read roadsigns and catalogues when we had to go shopping, but books weren't our preferred method of telling stories."

"What was?" asked Sadie, looking up from her stitching. "You don't talk about yourself much, so there's not a lot for us to go on."

"He probably doesn't want to talk about his family, Sadie," sighed Jed. "That's why he spends so much time alone in his room."

"We can't come to know you any better if you don't tell us about yourself," Sadie replied to Ruiz' nod of confirmation. "We want to know more about you, since you're living here, and if we start asking questions, we could very easily hit a nerve unintentionally. We don't want to hurt you by accident, and certainly not on purpose, but if you don't talk to us, we're going to say something innocuous that you might take offense to. Help us find that boundary so we don't cross it by mistake."

After a short pause, Ruiz nodded. "If that is your wish, señora, then I shall tell you. That is what we did; we told stories. The oral tradition of swapping stories has a good side to it, in that they can be modified easily to fit their need. In the process, a great many stories have lost their origins, but that's okay, so long as something comes along to fill the gap left behind. It is a very fluid method."

"So, the story changes every time you tell it?" asked Maria. "Or are there just multiple versions?"

"Both are true, señorita. In one case, a story of an imp that made a deal with a prince offered him an out if the prince could guess the imp's name. While the name can easily be changed from Flibby Wotzits to Spiderlegs, and all manner of other things to keep the listeners from shouting out the correct guess, the end result after the prince guesses correctly can be retold. For a more mature audience, the imp may rip himself to shreds or stomp the ground hard enough to shatter himself, but for younger children, he may just storm off, or stomp so hard that his claws end up stuck in the floor. Even the moral can change, as it may be about games of chance, or it may be on how one should never go blabbing a secret, or not making deals with devilish imps. I've heard it so many ways over the years that I have no idea what the original story was anymore.

"And that's what happens when it's passed down in such a way. It's a system based entirely on your memory, so if you can't remember how it goes, or how it's told, the whole thing can be lost. In such a way, I suppose I envy those who have the wherewithal to read the stories to their siblings and children and step-children."

"I suppose that makes sense," nodded Maria. "Books cost money, and if you have thirteen goats in one house, that's not the first luxury you would go for."

"What story do you know best?" asked Mint. "If you've heard a lot of them, can you share one?"

With another slow nod, Ruiz resituated himself. If he had to pick a story he knew well...

Chapter the Fourteenth: Storytime

Once, many many moons ago, there was a prince of a grand kingdom. He cared a great deal for the subjects of his kingdom, and would regularly travel among them, listening to their problems and lending aid wherever he could. His denizens loved him, and depended on his generosity. He was glad to give what he had for their prosperity.

One morning, before he had even woken from his slumber, the grand duke burst into the room. "Dear prince, dear prince!" he shouted, shaking his shoulder. "The grand duchess has gone missing!"

"She's probably just out for the day," replied the prince. "Perhaps she's gone on a walk?"

"She was gone all of yesterday, too," the duke whinged. "She walked out yesterday without a word to anyone. You have to find her and bring her home!"

The prince knew that the grand duchess was known for running off and shirking her responsibilities. Several times, he'd had to shoulder all of her duties to ensure that the kingdom remained stable. She relied on the prince's generosity and care for the kingdom to ensure that she did not need to work, as long as the queen wasn't looking.

Taking his trusty bow and mighty machete, the prince left his kingdom in the care of the grand duke. The queen was to return on Friday, two days away. The grand duke could handle things until then, for sure.

He rode out across the kingdom to where the grand duchess had been spending all of her time lately, where a group of bards masquerading as missionaries had set up camp. The leader of this group had been attempting to woo the grand duchess, and the prince had seen it. While he would have been happy to be rid of the grand duchess, the queen would most assuredly send him after her, so it was better that he found her before her trail went cold.

When he arrived at the camp, the bards were gone. By the state of things, it was pretty clear that they'd left recently, within the last few hours, and had been in a bit of a rush when they were packing up. Several things had been left behind, marring his magnificent kingdom with an array of litter. While he would have normally been so appalled by the sight of this scar across his lovely landscape, he had to push that feeling aside for now.

The tracks for the group took off to the northeast, across the country, not following the roads at all. No doubt, it was to keep them from being followed. They were afraid of him tracking them, and rightfully so. Kidnapping a grand duchess was a heinous crime, but being the prince, he could overlook it if he so chose, and if the grand duchess wanted to stay with them, then he would. Unfortunately, the bards did not know that.

The prince took off after them at a brisk pace. He was alone, and at his last count, they had been just over twenty strong. He would move faster than them, for sure. As long as there was no storm to cover their tracks, he would catch up with them eventually. Still, he wanted to find them fast. The sooner he caught up to them, the sooner he could return to his kingdom and protect them. He had confidence that the grand duke could run things during his absence, but were there some sort of emergency, he would rather be there to ensure the kingdom's safety.

For two weeks, the prince chased them down. At times, he would need to stop for a rest, and they would need to stop for supplies. At multiple intervals, he would come close, and they would bolt in the opposite direction to be as far from him as possible. At the end of the two weeks, he was so close that they knew they were caught. They set up a temporary arrangement in the middle of a field and waited. Less than half an hour after they stopped, a mere five minutes since they had finished their final defenses, the prince rode into their camp.

"Let me speak with your leader," commanded the prince. "I would prefer that we settle this through our words."

With two arrows pointed to him, the prince walked into the tent to speak with the leader of the bards. "You have been chasing us with an insatiable bloodlust across these sands," huffed the bard leader. "Now you wish to speak?"

"I have no such bloodlust," answered the prince. "I have come to ask for the return of the grand duchess. If you return her to me, then I shall leave you in peace, and you will be free to wander the lands without my interference."

The leader of the bards laughed. "We don't have the grand duchess," he bellowed. "She left the day before we did. I offered her my eternal service, and she turned it down without a thought. I am sorry to say, highness, but you have been chasing the wrong group this entire time."

"I don't believe you," growled the prince. "She must be here."

After giving the camp a thorough search, the prince sat down next to a pillar. The bard had been telling the truth, and there was not so much as a trace of the duchess. Not so much as a hair from her head was found. The bards packed up their camp around the prince as he just sat there, unable to move for the longest time. By the time he was ready to stand up again, the camp was long gone.

The prince walked back home, a heavy burden on his back. He'd failed to bring home the grand duchess by wasting his time chasing the wrong caravan, and had nothing to show for it but splinters and scars. It took him three weeks to return home, partially because of his heavy heart, and partially because a storm had kicked up the sand and blown away the path, leaving him to wonder if he was even going the right way.

Finally, after what seemed like an endless walk, he found himself crossing the border into his kingdom, though it took him a bit too long to notice. The fields had been torn up, the bodies of his beloved subjects were scattered about, and his castle had been reduced to rubble. While he had been away, the grand duchess had called in a group of barbarians from a neighboring kingdom to ransack the place. His home, his people, and all he cared for in the world was now lost to him.

Chapter the Sixteenth: Night Raid

Ruiz was having a lot of trouble falling asleep. His heart had been pounding in his chest since he'd returned to his room, and no matter how hard his attempts, he found that he could not calm down. What had she done to set him off so? How could something so harmless as a hug have turned him into the terrified mess that he had now become? Who in their right mind was afraid of a hug?

She had told him to come talk to her whenever he needed. Well, now he needed to talk to her. The problem was, she'd probably been asleep for the last hour. Even if he did wake her up, what would he say? That he was afraid she would hug him again? She'd probably try to make him feel better, and end that conversation with a hug, which would only set him off again.

Perhaps he needed some time to think. A breath of fresh air and a short walk to calm his nerves. He could think to himself, work off some energy, and check the perimeter. Better that he inspected the crops than the back of his eyelids. He put on his poncho, secured his belt and weapons in case of critters, and made his way down the stairs and out the back door.

He certainly picked the right time to do so. Not even a minute after stepping out the back door, he spotted by the road intersection three lights moving across the night sky. A few seconds after, two were snuffed and the third dimmed significantly. On closer inspection, they resembled birds, and the bright, almost full moon did not reflect off their wings. They were Ravens, and they were headed his way.

He ducked into the corn, keeping his eyes on them as they approached. He remained silent as they crossed over the property line. If they just kept flying, and passed over the property without stopping, they would be somepony else's problem. He wouldn't have to care if it wasn't his place of residence they were after.

"This is the place," said one of the gryphons, gliding to the ground. "Keep your voices down. We don't want 'em waking up."

The trio landed next to the back steps. One of them had a large box, about half a metre in length, width and depth in his claws, that had a few wires sticking out of the top.

The one that had spoken earlier, the one with the dimmed lantern, turned to the other two. "Do you two dumbarses think you can set those up without fucking it up?"

"We're not that stu--" started the one not holding anything, only to have the first one grab him by the beak.

"Not stupid?" he growled quietly. "I told you to keep your voice down, fuckwit! That means we whisper. Or do you want that faggot goat to come out here?"

Ruiz might have chuckled at that, were he not trying very hard to figure out how to proceed.

"Now, since ya can't even figure out how ta remain quiet, let me make this perfectly clear. If that dynamite goes off before I give the signal, y'all'd both better flee, because if the sheriff don't kill ya for fuckin' this up, I will castrate the both of ya and make the other one eat 'em raw. Do I make myself clear?"

"What if ya don't give us the signal?" asked the one with the box.

"Then ya don't set off the dynamite. How is this too complicated for you?"

That settled it. Dynamite was exceptionally dangerous. Ruiz would need to take those two out first. As they started to the barn, he was about to trail after them, but the leader wasn't following them. Instead, he pulled out a knife and cut a hole in the screen door. Ruiz hadn't locked it on his way out, because the lock on the backdoor was only on the inside, but the gryphon didn't know that.

Shit. There was no way he could go after all of them. That box could be full of dynamite, and that was more than enough to level both the barn and the coop, which would not only end señora Bea, the pigs and the chickens, but force the family to harvest everything by hoof. That said, a gryphon with a knife in a house full of sleeping ponies was also a recipe for disaster. As dumb as they were purported to be, splitting up was a pretty smart move.

With a silent apology for señora Bea, Ruiz followed the gryphon into the house. If anything, he could hope that the other two could follow instructions, and then prevent this one from signaling them. No signal, no explosion. Besides, having him around meant that working the place by hoof would be a little easier, and he already knew that his feeling of guilt would drive him to work even harder just to pay off the extra damages.

The gryphon had already moved into the kitchen to look around. He was seeking something out, and turning rather quickly. Ruiz drew his slingshot and prepared to fire, but when he rounded the corner, the beast had already moved on, and the only thing he would have hit was his tail.

Ruiz moved up on the door to the dining room, taking cover behind the doorframe. He watched the light from the lantern as it cascaded across the floor. There was no shadow from the gryphon in the dim light, meaning that if Ruiz poked his head out, he'd be spotted right away. He needed a clear shot before he could do anything, and he couldn't line it up if he couldn't guess the distance.

By the time Ruiz could be sure he wouldn't be spotted, the light was disappearing, meaning the intruder had moved to another room. The living room. Such was made clear with the rustling of papers and the squeaking of drawers being opened. Ruiz knew the orientation of the desk, and was very aware that he would be spotted if he went in the same way. However, as the gryphon was going through the drawers, he returned to the utility room and came through the other way, sneaking in behind him.

Just as Ruiz was about to draw his shot, a door slammed shut upstairs. The gryphon turned and saw Ruiz, tackling him to the ground. Ruiz' shot was thrown off, glancing off the gryphon's forehead and breaking the lantern, knocking out the light. He would have prepared the next shot, but the gryphon had grabbed him by the left wrist in one claw, and his good horn was in the other, wrenching his body in a very uncomfortable position.

As Jed came down the stairs, armed with his own slingshot and lantern, Ruiz was unable to fire. "Not another step," barked the gryphon, "or I break his neck."

Chapter the Seventeenth: Held Up

"Put it down, or your little goat-faggot dies."

Ruiz could feel the sharp beak of the gryphon prodding into his crown. His sharp claws dug into his wrist, and he could feel the pressure against his good horn. His slingshot had been knocked from his hoof and now lay in the middle of the floor. As the gryphon spoke, his grip tightened around Ruiz' leg, and he knew that there was no chance of him overpowering the beast.

Jed didn't know what to do. He could fire a shot at the gryphon and hope that it killed him before he had time to snap Ruiz' neck. On the other hoof, if he were to lower his weapon, he might save Ruiz, but what then would this gryphon do to him? His house? His family? Would he even refrain from killing Ruiz?

The entire room was under immense strain. In the end, it was Ruiz that snapped. His slingshot may have been sitting in the middle of the floor, but the tension was so palpable, he could cut it with his knife. Using his free hoof, he pulled it slowly from his belt, gripped it tight, then wildly stabbed it over the back of his head, where he thought the Gryphon may be.

The first lunge landed in his naris, causing immense pain. The second lodged itself in the gryphon's eye socket, plunging into his brain and killing him instantly.

The gryphon collapsed on top of Ruiz, who had to work to stand up. The claws gripping his arm had gone deeper than he had thought, and had slashed his skin open. The first stab had also caused the gryphon to tense up, and that sudden compression was something Ruiz could still feel in his neck and shoulders.

"Are you alright?" asked Jed, rushing to help him up.

"They have dynamite out there!" barked Ruiz. "Come on, there's two left!"

As soon as Ruiz was back on his hooves, he grabbed his slingshot and followed Jed out the backdoor. The moon was as bright as ever, and it was no trouble at all seeing the two gryphons mucking about near the corners of the barn. With little coaxing from Ruiz, the two of them ducked into the corn so as not to be spotted.

"Can you still shoot?" whispered Jed, knowing to keep his voice down. "That damage on your leg looks really bad."

"I'll be okay, señor," he replied, "focus. How do you want to do this?"

Jed looked at the scene before him closely. "The one on the right; our right, has the plunger that activates it sitting next to him, and it looks like it's already primed. If we go out there and reveal ourselves, he could stomp on it suddenly, and the damage is done. But then he'd be killing himself, and I don't think he's that dumb."

"I beg to differ, señor. I'm pretty sure they're both that dumb, and the one in the house said that they would die if they fucked this up. I don't think we can count on scaring them off."

Jed shook his head. "I guess we have to deal with them permanently. You're the better shot; you take the one with the plunger out. I'll take the one on the left. Fire when ready, and I'll follow your lead."

Ruiz took aim at the gryphon on the right, but as soon as he pulled back, his hoof started shaking. He couldn't keep his shot lined up. The damage to his leg had destabilised his aim.

"I can't line up my shot good enough from here, señor. Stick to the plan. I'm going to move up."

In order to not be spotted, Ruiz had to move from the cornfield to the garden, then to the house, around the wheat out front, then past the fence. There was a small overhang just beyond the fence that would obscure him until he was behind the barn. As long as he stayed in the shadows and against dark backdrops, he could remain hidden very well. It was times such as this that he was glad to have a pitch-black coat. With his poncho covering his star and his sombrero still in the house, he was one with the shadows as he approached silently.

Rather, he tried to approach silently. Being completely obscured by shadows was good for no one seeing him, but it also meant that he hadn't seen a stick just lying on the ground, giving away his position with an audible snap.

"That you, boss?" asked the gryphon. He was still not keeping his voice down. "We was just about to look for yer signal. We're almost rea--"

He was close enough. With a strong pull, Ruiz drove the sharpest rock he had into the open throat of the gryphon. He then immediately fired another round while moving closer, trying to hit his eye. His aim was still a little off, but he hit close enough to disable him. In a last-ditch effort, the gryphon reached for the plunger, but a quick butt from Ruiz' horn knocked him far enough away that he wouldn't be much of a problem anymore.

The other gryphon had been hit twice by Jed's shots, and was now trying not to be hit by the metal rod Jed was using as a club. A shot across the beak from Ruiz was enough to distract the gryphon, enough that Jed could bring the rod down onto the bird's head. A few steps to the right and one more swing, and all three gryphons were dead.

Jed turned to face Ruiz. "Don't think we're done yet."

Ruiz disconnected the wires from the plunger, and began winding up the cable. "I wouldn't dream of it, señor. We still have to remove the explosives, repair the screen door, and dispose of the bodies."

"And fix your leg," added Jed. "Just so we're clear. In that case, keep taking those down. I'll be right back."

The dynamite had been just stuck to the walls with tape, with the biggest adjustment made being that all of the fuses were bound together and all set to go off at once. When he'd taken everything down, he put it back into the box, just in time for Jed to return with the body of the first gryphon on his back. He opened the barn door and dumped the body into the wagon.

"Load up the other two, quickly." Ruiz did as ordered, also loading the box as Jed secured himself to the front. "I'm going to take them out into the desert and dispose of them, and all of this stuff, as well. Don't worry about fixing up the screen door or cleaning the floors, you need to be patched up, first. First aid's in the living room. Rest well, and I'll be back around dawn."

Chapter the Eighteenth: Good Night

After a quick inspection of the barn with a lantern, Ruiz was satisfied that the damages were minimal, and decided to go back to the house. He didn't have the materials to repair the screen on the back door, but he knew where to find a bucket and brush. Besides, it was more important that he remove the blood stains from the floor before they soaked into the boards and became more permanent.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one that thought so. On his trip inside to collect the key, Jed had woken everypony up to help aid in the cleaning. His reasoning was that, if they all worked together, it would take half an hour, but one pony doing it all alone would give up their whole night, and having the whole family start a little late was preferable to having Sadie out of commission for the whole day.

Mint was in the utility room, scrubbing up the trail that led from the living room to the back door. Most of it was undoubtedly from the gryphon, but the hoofprints made it very clear that some of this had come from Ruiz. As he walked through, he lifted his injured leg, so as not to drip or leave prints where she had just finished scrubbing, or to leave a new trail to add to her workload.

Sadie was handling the living room floor, and Ruiz swallowed hard when he saw just how large a puddle had been left when he had cut two holes in the gryphon's skull. For its perceived small size, his brain had drained all over the wood, leaving a rather gruesome puddle.

"Over here, Ruiz," called Maria. She was sitting on the couch with the first aid kit in front of her and a towel over her lap. "Come, have a seat."

"Before you drip anymore," added Sadie.

Ruiz quickly made his way to the couch, where Maria immediately moved his injured leg over the towel. If he was going to drip, it would be easier to clean the towel than it would be if he had bled all over the furniture. She began dabbing at the wounds with a soft cloth. It was not so much a single cut, but a series of small cuts. His skin was more akin to a sieve in this scenario than a large gash. Since all of the cuts were perpendicular to his leg, they were more likely to heal properly than they were to kill him.

"You're going to be okay, Ruiz," she smiled, wrapping him in a bandage. "What happened out there?"

Ruiz relayed the story, leaving out the gory details. Rather that saying that he stabbed the gryphon in the house, he "dealt with him." Rather than caving in the skulls of the other two, Jed "finished them off." And of course, all homophobic remarks were removed. After all, Mint was just in the other room, and could hear him.

"How did you know they were coming in? asked Sadie when the story was finished. "Jed didn't hear anything until your scuffle in the living room."

Ruiz nodded. "I was having trouble falling asleep, señora. I had a lot on my mind, and it was bothering me, so I took a walk around the cornfield to clear my head. I spotted them coming in."

"What had you stressed out?" asked Maria. She looked genuinely concerned, as she knew that the last thing he had done before going to bed was talk to her.

"It was nothing, really, señorita. It's not anything to worry about."

"If something's bothering you, we should talk about it," she insisted. "Was it something I said? Something my family said?"

Ruiz shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "No, really, señorita, it's fine. I already feel bad that your mother and sister had to wake up and clean up the mess I made, I don't want to cause any more trouble for you tonight."

Their heads all shifted as a loud boom was heard in the distance, like the explosion of dynamite somewhere off in the desert. "That has to be Jed with the explosives," nodded Sadie. "I hope he did that safely, and it wasn't a mistake."

"I deactivated it as best I could, señora," nodded Ruiz. "If it went off, it's because he re-armed it. I'm sure it was intentional."

Sadie took a deep breath and went back to her scrubbing. It was clear to Ruiz that she was worried about her husband, but he'd already done all he could to make her feel better. He hoped that Jed knew what he was doing with those things, because they were dangerous.

Mint walked through a moment later and made her way upstairs. She had been given the easiest job, and had finished first. She didn't say anything, just walked upstairs and closed her bedroom door.

"I'm sorry," Ruiz bowed his head. "I didn't mean to upset her. I'm sure señor is fine, just a bit tired and dusty."

"I'm sure he is," added Maria. "We're all a little tired and cranky right now, given the situation. I think she'll be fine after breakfast."

"None of us are upset with you, Ruiz," assured Sadie. "As much as we all want to go back to bed, you're not standing in the way of that, nor are you the one responsible for what happ-- Well, you are a little bit responsible, but I mean that in the best way."

Maria closed up the first aid kit and stowed it away, ushering Ruiz to follow her. Sadie was almost done with the floor in the living room, and While Ruiz would have been happy to finish up for her so she could go back to bed, he was curious to know what Maria wanted from him.

He sat down on the inside of the door as directed. While his earlier assessment that the screen could not be replaced was accurate, he would hold the edges in place and provide a firm backing with his good hoof while she taped the hole shut.

"I really did mean what I said earlier," she said, tearing off a strip of tape. "If you want to talk, or I've offended you somehow, you can always talk to me. I want to help you, but you have to tell me how. I don't want to keep guessing."

As she placed the last of the tape, Ruiz nodded. "I appreciate the offer, señorita, but I don't know if I even can be helped. The truth is, something you did earlier did bother me, but I don't know how, or why. One moment, I was just mildly uncomfortable, and the next, this dread just washed over me, and I don't know how to explain it any better than that. If I could at least figure out where it came from, I could talk to you about it, but I can't place it. I'm sorry, señorita, your offer is most generous, but I cannot accept."

She sighed. "Well, if you ever figure it out, you know where to find me." She pulled him into a hug, and the intense dread washed over him again. Any lethargy he had felt a moment ago suddenly disappeared as his heart began to beat harder and faster. "Goodnight, Ruiz."

Shit.

Chapter the Nineteenth: Background

Two days after the assault on the farm, things had returned to normal. Jed had come home, the sheriff had come to ask about the explosion that had been heard in the night, and everypony had gone to bed a little early to make up for the previous night. It was on the evening of the second day that Jed told Maria that they needed to do another supply run into town, and gather a few things. The following morning, she and Ruiz hitched up the wagon and started off down the road.

Ruiz did not know the way. He knew it was south, but did not know that it was also east. He hadn't been back to town since before he had come to the farm, and had no desire to return, but also very little choice at the moment. Sure, he could refuse, but it wasn't an unreasonable request. After all, the last time Maria had gone to town alone, she'd been jumped twice. A bit of hired muscle was a good idea.

"Nervous?" asked Maria as they turned the corner.

"A bit, señorita," nodded Ruiz. "We are walking into the Ravens' nest, after all."

"That, and they know we're together now," added Maria. "I think they're going to be a bit harder to trick. Then again, you've been consistently breaking them down, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they're all terrified of you. Hold your head high, and they'll be too afraid to even look at you."

Ruiz shook his head. "I'm not the ghostly spectre you're describing, señorita. Nor am I some immortal being of limitless power. I'm just a vaquero goat. The very fact that I'm wearing a bandage will tell them that I can bleed, and if I can bleed, I can be killed. I'm not special."

"You're special to me," she smiled, placing a hoof on his shoulder. She could feel him shaking. "You know, Sweetwater was a pretty nice place before those Ravens took over. Nice ponies, plenty of water. It was all paid for by the town council, too. If you had the money to do it yourself, you could put in your own pump, but you had to maintain it. The main pump in the middle of the town was beautiful. On hot days, they'd just let it run, and the moisture in the air would leave this beautiful rainbow."

"I can't imagine the town being so colourful," huffed Ruiz. "I suppose that's because I haven't seen it without the Ravens."

"I really hope you have the chance to see it someday. If we can be rid of them, I think the ponies of Sweetwater will come together to return the town to its former beauty. But that means the Ravens have to leave, first."

"How did they even come to take over the town, señorita?"

Maria glanced to Ruiz. "You haven't been told yet?"

Ruiz shook his head. "I was in town for less than a day. The rest of the time, I was with you."

"I suppose that's fair. Really, in order to explain that, I should go back a bit further. The Ravens were always bothersome, but little more than a nuisance from the east. They snuck into town one night and ran off with Ms. Buster, one of the mares that sang at the saloon back when it was safe to do so. The sheriff; not the current one, but the one before him, went after them. He brought her back, but they were both pretty beat-up. She recovered. He didn't.

"Without a sheriff, we were pretty vulnerable. The ponies that lived in town held their end, but didn't want to have to drop their businesses to protect the town, so they petitioned the governor for a new sheriff. Our working theory is that the governor never received that letter, and it was intercepted by the Ravens."

"What makes you think that?"

"None of our other letters have reached the governor. On top of that, the post officer was replaced along with the sheriff. And the new sheriff... Well, you've met him. He lets the Ravens just do whatever they want, as long as they share their ill-found gains with him. He takes a share of any loot they bring in, and he can be bribed to look the other way if they end up being caught."

"Why hasn't anypony gone to the governor to discuss this face-to-face?"

"Aside from everypony being afraid to go claw-to-hoof with the combined forces of the Ravens' improved numbers since the event? A few have tried, and were hanged for disturbing the peace. That's how the old deputy died. He would have been a good sheriff, but he refused the position. Said it was because he was more suited to supporting the law than actually enforcing it. A bit cowardly, I think, but his last act was a brave one. On top of that, with how the Ravens have grown, it'd take an army to remove them now, and we don't have that kind of force. Not to mention that the town would probably end up destroyed."

Ruiz nodded. "I can't say I blame any of you. I think you and your family have the right idea, honestly. Hold your ground against them, take them out slowly, refuse to just roll over."

"Yeah, but we have the added advantage of being capable of fighting back. That's the only reason we've been able to hold them off for as long as we have, and that only works as long as they keep trickling their forces onto us. If they dropped their guises and just sent thirty or forty of them out to the farm, we'd probably be dead, or worse. The ponies in old Sweetwater had the sheriff, and lived in relative protection. Didn't see so much as a coyote. What's a baker and miller going to do when you point a dozen slingshots at their face?"

"I suppose that's a fair point. I really only have my own experiences to go off of, señorita."

"It's alright, Ruiz. At least now you know."

As they finished their conversation, Ruiz spotted the fencepost he had used as a bed that first night. He could see the rocks that the larger gryphon had taken cover behind, and the one that had slammed into his chest, with some dried blood still on it. All of the hoofprints and drag marks had been blown away on the wind, leaving just this rock and his memories as the only evidence of the event.

Chapter the Twentieth: Generally Pleasant

The town was exactly as Ruiz had left it. Dusty wooden buildings whose paint had either faded or chipped, clay and brick buildings whose façades were crumbling away, and businesses held captive by Ravens. There were some places allowed to operate autonomously, but they likely had to pay a share of their profits.

He tried to take stock of the emotions of the town, to gauge how those who saw the two of them reacted, but most of the ponies just looked away. They seemed to be indifferent. The gryphons, on the other hoof, met them with mixed results. Some of them actually did fear Ruiz as Maria had suggested, others that had considered both of them as nothing more than a good time made catcalls, and others simply didn't care.

Maria knew where everything was, so Ruiz was content to let her lead. He shuddered as they passed by the saloon, remembering the first place he went on arrival. It was currently the only building in the entire town that he had been inside of.

"Señor gave you the money to make our purchases, right?" he whispered, not wanting every Raven in the vicinity to know exactly where they kept their purse.

"I have it, yes. Don't worry, he's not going to make you pay for all of this stuff."

Ruiz furrowed his brow. He was pretty sure Jed would add some of this to the money he owed, as that was their arrangement, but he said nothing. He couldn't pay for any of this, anyway. They all knew he didn't have any money.

They stopped in front of the general store and unhitched themselves from the cart. It may have been a bad idea to leave it unguarded, but given the circumstances, it was better that Ruiz stayed by Maria's side. Besides, they couldn't very well take the cart inside.

Thankfully, the store was practically empty. A blue unicorn was reading the back of a tobacco box, and briefly looked up as the door opened, only to return his attention to the box seconds later. A green pegasus mare was filling up an empty shelf, and looked up with a small smirk. "Who's your new friend, Maria?"

"This is Ruiz, our new farmhoof. Ruiz, this is Meteor Sweep, the general store owner's daughter."

"Pleasure ta meet ya!" she beamed, extending her hoof.

"Gracias, señorita," nodded Ruiz, unsure of how to feel about her. He shook her hoof, regardless, not wanting to seem rude. There was nopony else in the store that he could see, leading him to believe that it was safe enough for the time being.

"He's cute," Meteor chuckled. "Is that what brings you here today? Showing off the new boy toy?"

Ruiz suddenly came down with a coughing fit, turning away from the mares and hacking into his elbow. His face felt very hot all of a sudden.

"Don't make fun of him like that," sneered Maria. "If it weren't for him, I'd probably be in lockup right now, being railed by gryphons, with my parents begging the sheriff to do something about it. Can you give him some respect?"

Ruiz felt a hoof on his shoulder. "Sorry about that. I'm only teasing, honest."

Ruiz nodded and composed himself. "I'm fine, señorita. Just some dust from the road, that's all."

Meteor turned back to Maria. "So, what really brings you in today?"

"We have some things that we need to pick up," nodded Maria, pulling out the list. "All the normal stuff, but with a few extras."

Meteor looked over the list. "Looks like stuff's been breaking down out there."

"I'll give you three guesses why."

Meteor rolled her eyes. "Let me go grab you a box to put all this in."

As she left the room, Maria turned to Ruiz. "You alright? That cough sounded bad."

Ruiz shook his head. "I know a bad cough, señorita. This was just a bit of dust. Don't worry, I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Positive." He was, for the most part, actually telling the truth. It wasn't the whole truth, but it really was partially caused by dust. He'd gasped at the assertion that the two of them were an item, and the dirt from the road had done the rest. "So, how do you know the owner's daughter?"

"Like I said, the whole place used to be different. Used to be, I could come into town just to spend the day with her about once a week, and then her mom would take me back home. Not so much anymore, as we both have to work, but we still find some time to spend together, even if it's not as much fun as it used to be."

Meteor came back a moment later. "Found you a some boxes for your stuff. Some of it's in the back, so I'll load that up for you, but you can handle the front, right?"

Maria and Ruiz nodded and started loading up their boxes according to Maria's memory. A lot of it was small stuff that they could just chuck in there, such as boxes of ground dried herbs, a large bag of coffee beans, or a five litre bottle of cooking oil. Other things, like a large coil of rope, Ruiz carried on his back. It didn't take more than ten minutes to gather everything up into boxes. After that, everything was counted up, totaling seventy-eight bits.

With a bit of help from Meteor, they loaded the boxes into the back of the wagon and hitched Ruiz up. "Do you need these boxes back, señorita?" he asked, turning to Meteor. "I'm not exactly familiar with your practises."

"They'll come back into her hooves," nodded Maria, hugging Meteor before joining him. "We'll put the corn in them, take that to the miller, he'll turn it into corn meal and corn flour, then send them in the same boxes to her. It's all very cyclical. Less waste, too."

"It was lovely meeting you, Ruiz," waved Meteor. "Stop by and see me again, sometime."

"I very well may do just that, señorita," he smiled. "Adios, y gracias."

"So charming," she chuckled. "I wasn't kidding about him being cute, Maria. If you don't lay claim to him, I'm going to."

Before he could have another coughing fit, the two of them started back towards the farm.

Chapter the Twenty-First: Dust Cloud

Shortly after crossing the city limits, the wind began to pick up and kick sand across their path. At first, it was just a simple breeze, but as they reached the location where Ruiz had collapsed, it had grown into a wind storm. A hoofful of small vortices swirled a short distance away, kicking up even more dirt and sand.

"Do you think you can find your way home blind, señorita?" asked Ruiz. "Our visibility is reducing with every step."

Maria looked around at their surroundings. "In my experience, these don't last more than a few hours at most. There should be a tarp in the cart, and we just bought some rope. Let's pull over and wait it out."

With a nod, Ruiz helped pull the cart into the large rocks that had been used as cover for the gryphon that first night. Now, they would be providing cover for them, instead. The tarps, once pulled out, tried to drag him away with the wind, but with Maria's help, they managed to pin them down and secure a spot out of the wind.

"Nothing to do but sit and wait for it to stop," observed Maria. "Did you ever have dust storms like this?"

Ruiz nodded. "The worst one covered three fifths of our wheat crop in sand. We had to work fast to save it." He brushed the dust off of his sombrero. The chin strap had kept it from flying away with the wind, for which he was very thankful. He also took the time to remove his poncho and whip the dust from it, as well.

"You sure that dust won't bring your cough back? It sounded really nasty."

Ruiz shook his head. "It wasn't that bad, señorita."

Maria folded her front legs. "What constitutes a bad cough, in your eyes? What would you consider to be a bad cough?"

Ruiz shook his head. "It's a long story, señorita."

She leaned back against a rock. "We have time. The storm's not going anywhere."

She had him there. If ever there were a time for a long story, it was now. "Do you remember our talk in your bedroom? The one where I talked about my father?"

"I don't think you talked about him that much, but yeah."

"After I was born, my mother married. This time, it was a goat, like her. He--"

"Whoa, whoa, back up. Was your father not a goat?"

Ruiz cleared his throat. "Would you rather hear that story, or this one?"

Maria grinned sheepishly, lowering her head. "I'm sorry. Please, continue."

"My mom's first husband was my first role model. He treated me the same as his own children. He bought the plot of land where I grew up, started building the house, taught me how to shoot with a toy slingshot he bought me, and worked hard to make sure we were provided for. He even kept his eldest daughter in check; the "grand duchess." Perhaps he wasn't the ideal father, being gone a lot of the time, and spending a lot of home time sleeping, but what time he did spend with us was important.

"Then, when I was seven, he just... stopped showing up. For awhile, I was upset with him, until I found out what happened. When I was old enough to read, I found a letter he had written to my mother. It said "Estoy tosiendo sangre.""

"And that means?"

"He had a nasty cough. His lungs were filling with blood. It was a disease he didn't want to risk spreading to us, so he promised to write once a week to keep us informed. Two weeks later, the letters just... stopped."

Maria placed a hoof on his shoulder and gave him a solemn look. "I'm sorry."

"This was his belt. The slingshot, the knife, the buckle; all of it was part of his daily wear. In his letter, he told my mother that he wanted me to have it. As his oldest son, and I wasn't even his son, he wanted me to keep his family safe. My mom thought that would be too much for me, so she didn't say anything until years later. That's why, when I went to go bring his daughter back home, I brought them with me. Partially because I mistakenly believed that his authority over her would transfer into me, and partially because it was his wish that I had them. Maybe he considered me disposable, and that's why I was the first line of defense, but he was the first positive male influence in my life. I love him, and I wish he was my real father."

As Maria pulled him into a hug, he found that he wasn't afraid this time. It actually felt really good. So good, in fact, that he hugged her back.

"So, not to bring up a sore subject, but did you actually ever meet your biological father?"

"No, and I hope I never do. For his sake, as well as my own. I'll have another memory of him, and he'll be dead. It's a lose-lose situation, and I'd rather it never happened."

"So how do you know he's not a goat?"

"My mother was there when I was conceived. She knew what he looked like. She said she would never forget his face. It would haunt her nightmares. She never outright said it, but my face looks nothing like hers, at least in terms of structure and shape. I think she saw his face in mine."

"Ouch."

Ruiz shook his head and took off his poncho. "This was not something that belonged to my stepfather. I was the only one among my entire family that had to wear some kind of clothing inside the house. A poncho is good sun protection outdoors, but inside the house, it's not really as much a boon."

"So why did you have to wear it?"

Ruiz pointed to the white star on his chest. "This is my Caina. Rather, that's what it was called whenever it would show itself."

"So it showed up after your sister left?"

Ruiz furrowed his brow. "No, señorita, I was born with it."

"Then it's not your Caina. I don't think you even have one. It's just a mark on your chest, that's all."

"No, it's more than that."

"Do you know the origins of the Caina?"

"No, but--"

"But nothin'. Cainae are reserved for creatures who do terrible things to their families on purpose. You didn't decide the method of your conception, did you?"

"No, bu--"

"And you didn't know that going after that guy who you thought had run off with your sister would result in your home being taken, did you?"

"N-no."

"Did you ever so something with the intent of killing or wounding your flesh and blood?"

Ruiz pulled his sombrero down over his face.

"I don't think you did. Maybe I'm wrong, but if you did, you clearly feel that it was wrong. It's not a Caina."

"But my father had the same mark..."

"Who cares? You're better than he was. You're not the same. You said, earlier today, that you're a vaquero goat. He wasn't even a goat! I don't know what he was, but I'm certain that you don't belong in Tartauros with him."

For a minute, Ruiz was silent. Silent and still. Finally, he slipped his poncho back on. "I think I've said too much," he mumbled. "But, I know it's going to come up later. He was a gryphon."

Chapter the Twenty-Second: Dull

As Maria shifted to the side, the sudden movement pulled Ruiz back to reality. It had been a few hours since they'd settled themselves in this spot, and the storm had died down. The bottom edge of the tarps had long since stopped flapping, being covered in dirt and sand, but now the other edges were calming down, too.

After their talk, they'd sat around for a bit, not really doing too much as they waited for the wind to die down. They'd both opted to just lean against one of the large rocks that supported their tent. Ruiz had spent his time reflecting on her assertion that his existence wasn't a mistake that he had to atone for, and she had dozed off into a nap. This had lasted until she had shifted toward him, and wrapped her legs around his waist like a pillow.

It was already late afternoon, and while he was certainly capable of it, he didn't want to sit out here all night. He was also pretty sure that Maria wouldn't be particularly happy to sleep in the dirt when he had the capacity to bring her to her bed.

He gently shook her shoulder, stirring her awake. "Storm's over, señorita," he whispered. "Time to return home."

She yawned and stretched, several of her joints popping loudly as she twisted and shook. "How long was I out?"

"About an hour and a half," answered Ruiz, his own joints popping as he stood up. "The wind has calmed down, so the dust storm should be over."

They poked their heads out of the tent, and sure enough, the storm was over. As they puffed the sand off of the tarps, they noticed the stains on the outside. They were recent and dark red. These were the same tarps Jed had used to dispose of the dead gryphons, and had forgotten to wash. Still, as long as they were dry and clean on one side, that was the side they needed to make sure they were touching.

The tarp covering the cart had no blood on it, and had successfully protected all of their goods from the sand and dirt. The wheels were entrenched in a freshly-formed sand dune, but after a fair amount of tugging from both parties, they managed to pull it out of the sand and back onto the road. Now that they could see where they were going, the only thing standing in their path was the surface of the road being lumpy, stiff and unstable. It wouldn't stop them, but it would slow them down.

It was just after sunset when they arrived back at the farm. It, too, was covered in a layer of dust and sand, though not as much as they had seen in the middle of nowhere. Some of the buildings, along with the fences and crops, had acted as a partial barrier, and kept the place relatively clean.

"There you are!" called Sadie, poking her head out of the front door. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd even be home tonight."

"We ended up right in the middle of it," replied Maria. "We had to hunker down and wait for it to stop."

"Were ya still in town, at least?"

"No, but we found a place."

As they unloaded the cart into the house, Maria told her mother about the trip, leaving out certain details, such as Meteor hitting on Ruiz, anything he'd said to her in confidence, and the fact that she'd woken up with her head on his chest. Ruiz remained silent, unless asked to confirm what Maria said. It was only after everything was unloaded that she actually had anything to say to him directly.

"Dinner will be ready soon. We couldn't really do that much today, what with the weather, so Jed went out to the barn. Can ya let 'im know that he needs to wash up and come in? You could do with a quick scrub, too, while you're out there."

"Certainly, señora," he nodded, making his way out. Once outside, he removed his poncho and gave it another whip, then ran his hooves all over himself to remove any loose sand to prevent him from needing as much water to wash himself. He would still need some, but a simple wipedown would make the whole thing much easier.

He made his way out to the barn. Jed was supposed to be out here, so it was not at all surprising to find that the doors were unlocked. "Señor?" he called. "Are you still in here, señor?"

There was a clatter, and a soft groan from behind one of the tillers as Jed pulled himself up behind it. He looked worse for wear, as if he'd had a very bad day. His mane was disheveled and sweaty, his shirt was sticking to him, and he seemed a bit lightheaded.

"Are you alright, señor?" asked Ruiz, coming a few steps closer. "Do you need help?"

Jed flopped back to the ground. "What's wrong with you, Louis?"

Ruiz approached, expecting to find somepony else, but all he found was an empty glass bottle, unmarked. A citrus odour filled the air. "Have you been drinking, señor?"

"I suppose I should rephrase the question, Rouis." That was enough to clear up who Louis was. Also, since his breath and the bottle smelled similar, it wasn't hard to guess what was going on. "What's wrong with me?"

Ruiz nodded and sat down next to Jed. "I don't think there's really anything wrong with you, señor."

"Then you must be stupider than I gave you credit for."

"Señor?"

Jed tilted his head back. "You didn't really grow up in the badlands, did you?"

"I've never left them, actually. I was born here, señor."

"Then how do you not know the most basic of concepts? It's everypony for themselves out here. Why haven't you walked off yet? I wasn't expecting you to come back."

"I try not to abandon my responsibilities, señor. The last time I did, I lost nearly everything that mattered to me. I came back because we had a deal."

Jed spat a gob of snot across the room to the far wall. It wasn't an unimpressive shot. "It was a shitty deal. I almost didn't propose it. I thought, "No way does he take this bait. He's gonna run for sure." And then you buy it, without so much as a counteroffer. You could have walked out without so much as a harsh word, and you stayed, for no pay. I reiterate, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

Chapter the Twenty-Fourth: Broken Dreams

The next morning, Ruiz awoke to a pounding on his door. He scrambled to his hooves and threw on his poncho and belt, dashing out only for Jed to stop him. "Whoa, hold on! There's not an emergency, I just need to talk to you in private, and it's easier to do that here than it is in the dining room. May I come in?"

Ruiz nodded and pulled the door back. He was about to ask what the subject of their conversation was to be, but decided not to. Given their conversation last night, he was either about to be given a sum of money, asked to leave, or both. It was best to just wait for him to come to it, in case he was still thinking about what he wanted.

"I'm told you pulled me out of a bottle last night."

Ruiz tilted his head to the side. "Do you not remember, señor?"

"I'm a bit of a lightweight when it comes to liquor. Normally, that wouldn't matter, because I stay away from it, but I was in a pretty bad way yesterday. Did I say anything notable?"

"Well..." Ruiz scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. How much could he reveal without driving him back into a bottle? "What sticks out the most, señor, is that you kept calling me a dumbarse."

Jed ran his hooves through his mane. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean that, at all."

"Actually, señor, you did. You gave me multiple reasons why you thought I was dumb, and some of them were very valid points."

"But I didn't really mean it."

"You believe it, but you have made the choice to hide away your belief in order to keep your wife and daughter happy. Much like our agreement, señor, the details are to be kept between you and I."

"Thank you. Was there anything else?"

"You said you wanted me gone from here, señor. When your family is involved in your decisions, you seem to be more tolerant of me, but last night, you were looking out for yourself. I had thought we were growing closer in understanding, but I suppose that's reserved for when you make an effort."

"I have been making an effort," admitted Jed. "I suppose there's no use in hiding it right now; no, I don't like you. I just make a show of it. I only tolerate you. That said, for what this is worth, I do trust you. I hope this doesn't undo all of the mutual rapport we've gained over our time together."

"Of course not, señor," nodded Ruiz. "I don't expect you to have me around forever. Just until your son comes back, at most."

Jed rubbed his hooves against his face, hard enough to leave red marks. "Ruiz, this is very important: Did I say anything about my son last night?"

"Not a thing, señor."

"Are you sure?" Jed looked right into Ruiz' eyes, as if searching for something.

Ruiz took a deep breath. "If you did, señor, I did not pick up on it. That, or I do not recall."

Jed narrowed his eyes. For a minute, nothing happened. Finally, Jed was satisfied. "Okay. Just, don't mention him again for the rest of the workday, would you? Even if you're lying to me, keep it under your hat, okay?"

After breakfast, the day resumed as normal, albeit with Sadie and Jed acting differently. Jed was distant and quiet, and Sadie was upset about something. When Maria asked Ruiz about it while preparing dinner, he did as Jed asked, telling her that he had no idea what had upset them. He might have guessed, but if it was important, they would tell them.

His assertion was correct. After a particularly quiet dinner and cleanup, Jed called everypony into the living room. "Ruiz, you can head upstairs if you want, but girls, you need to stay here. There's something you need to hear."

"Should he stay?" asked Maria. "I'd hate for Ruiz to be the only one that doesn't know."

Sadie shook her head. "That's up to him. This doesn't have anything to do with him directly, but he may benefit from hearing this, as well."

Maria grabbed Ruiz loosely by the wrist. He could leave if he wished, but she wanted him to stay. At any rate, it was better to know what had been eating them all day. He couldn't help them if he didn't understand what was wrong. He sat down next to Maria and listened to what Jed had to say.

"Alright," nodded Jed, picking up an envelope. "I received this notice yesterday from the Fairweather iron mine out west."

"Where Cole works?" asked Mint.

"Yeah. They normally have to fend off attacks from wild boars, but they do so without incident. They have mercenaries out there, and even with the worst attacks, their injuries per strike usually don't make it to double digits, much less deaths."

Ruiz' stomach turned suddenly. He could already infer what had happened.

"One week ago, there was one such boar attack," Jed continued. "The company informs me that, while a few buildings were smashed, nopony was injured in the ensuing fight. All of the miners, including Cole, were successfully filtered into the mines where they would be safe from the wild boars, and the mercenaries were successful in driving the boars off. But one of the miners, we're not sure who, knocked out one of the tunnel supports. Nine injured, five dead."

Maria's grip tightened around Ruiz' hoof. "What happened to Cole?" she demanded. "What happened to my brother?"

"He was among those who had been buried under the rocks."

Slowly, Maria stood up, let go of Ruiz, and walked upstairs to be on her own. Mint seemed to be too stunned to move or speak, and just sat on the floor, a look of terror frozen on her face. Jed, having finished his speech, turned to his desk and held his head in his hooves.

Sadie walked toward the kitchen, waving for Ruiz to follow her. As the door closed, she fell to a whisper. "I suppose you might not be too hurt by this, considering you never met him, but can you do me the favour of understanding that this is a hefty loss for the rest of us? Especially Maria; she really looked up to him. I want you to please understand that, if we're a bit more pushy on you in the near future, it's just because we're hurting."

Ruiz nodded. "I understand, señora. I know how it feels to lose a family member."

"Oh, I didn't mean--"

"I know what you meant, señora. Don't worry. I don't mind. Take whatever time you need."

Sadie pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry. Thank you for understanding."

Chapter the Twenty-Fifth: Coping

Ruiz was finding it very difficult to fall asleep. How does one fall asleep easily after receiving a message such as that? True, he'd never met Cole, but he still felt sorrow. This had been his room. He'd grown up here, become a stallion, then left to help feed his family. Ruiz was little more than a filler for the empty shell Cole had left behind, so there was a certain kinship there, but there was no memory to lock it in with.

It wasn't as though he wanted to stay awake, either. He needed sleep right now; tomorrow, he'd be handling the brunt of the work. If he spent the whole day being tired, what kind of help was he, really? Nothing more than a disappointment.

Just after he rolled over in an attempt to be more comfortable, he saw the doorknob twist, and the door swung open quietly. In came Maria, moving as quietly as she could to avoid waking him as she snuck across the room to Cole's wardrobe, opening the doors and grabbing a box from one of the smaller drawers. She very nearly dropped the box when he struck a match to light the candle beside the bed. "Why are you still up?!" she shout-whispered. "Do you have any idea how late it is?!"

"I could ask you much the same," said Ruiz, his tone normal, but his volume a bit low. "What's in the box?"

Maria sighed and moved over to the bed. She sat down next to Ruiz and placed the box on her lap. "I know you never met my brother, but he dabbled in photography. Not the really good images, but the really simple ones from a hoofheld camera. He took the camera with him, promising to bring back a whole scrapbook for us, but these," she shuffled the box lightly, "are his personal shots. The ones he wanted to keep for himself. He said they were special to him, even if they weren't very good."

"You think there's anything in there that will make you feel better?"

Maria shrugged. "Perhaps not. But I want to see his face again."

Ruiz nodded and brought the candle closer. "You can tell me about them. If you're set on remembering him, it'll help bring you back to those times, and perhaps I may appreciate him a bit more."

Maria lifted off the lid. The inside of the box had a label for "Bear's Best Boot Barn," and was about the right size for a set of four boots, assuming that Cole was of average size. Inside were several rows of lined-up photographs flopping back and forth like cards. Against one side, an envelope pressed against the wall.

Maria pulled out one of the photographs. The first one was just a picture of the back of Jed's legs, if Jed was a much younger stallion. "This was the first photograph he ever took, right in the store. He was trying to figure out what the buttons did. To be fair, he found the most important one."

The next one showed a young colt, presumably Cole, at the same dinner table as was currently in the dining room. Also at the table was a very upset-looking Sadie, and a young Maria with a noodle sticking out of her left nostril. "He was playing around, and he made me laugh while I was eating. I was really mad at the time, but not so much anymore."

In the next one, Maria was a bit older and sporting a ponytail. She looked like she had been running along a track, but just before the picture was taken, she had tripped. She had faceplanted into the dirt and sand, and her neck was the only thing holding her up. "I realize now that a lot of these are going to be embarrassing for me. Maybe I should have looked through these on my own."

Ruiz shook his head. "I don't think less of you because you used to be a filly, señorita. This is all in the past, and not a big deal anymore. You've grown up since then."

Maria blushed. "Let's see if we can find something more recent." She put the photos back and pulled something out of the other side. This was much more recent. Cole had taken a self-portrait of himself as Jed hammered a final plank into the wall of the barn. "This was his last repair before he left," she said. "This wasn't a gryphon attack, just a storm that knocked down a tree. We still have the stump."

She sat there for a minute, just staring at his face. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes as she began to tremble. "Do you want to look at another, señorita?"

She sniffled and nodded, putting the picture away. The next one was Cole and another stallion, in a very comfortable-looking bedroom. The other stallion was lying on a bed with a smirk on his face, and Cole looked pretty happy to be there. "That's his best friend, Lace Curtains. Before he headed out, he spent the last day away from the mines with him."

"Is señor Curtains still around?"

"Curt? Yeah, he lives just up the road."

"We should tell him."

Maria rubbed her face. "Yeah, I didn't even think about that. They were pretty close. Cole liked to spend a lot of time over there. At first we thought it was because he had a lot more income than us, but it was actually Curt's parents not wanting him to come out to our place."

As she put the photo back, the box shifted in her lap, and a few photographs slid out of the envelope. She caught them, and was about to put them back, but as soon as she looked at one, her eyes went wide. Cole had his face mashed into Curt's bedspread, his left eye closed, and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He looked to be in absolute bliss. His hips were up in the air, with Curt's hooves wrapped around his waist as their back legs joined together.

After this was a shot of Curt biting down on a pillow, his underside on full display and spraying like a firehose. Cole was only at the bottom of the frame, his belly pressed to Curt's hind end and his hoof clasping Curt's leg.

Maria gathered up these photos and, without a word, slipped them back into the envelope. She closed the box and turned to Ruiz. "This stays between us, okay? Don't tell anyone, not even Mint or my parents what you saw tonight, okay?"

Ruiz raised his eyebrows. "I don't recall seeing anything, señorita. What are you talking about?"

Maria smiled, leaned in, and kissed Ruiz on the cheek. "I'll take these to Curt tomorrow. He should definitely know what happened to his... best friend."

As she put the box away, she looked to be a bit more shaken than when she came in. As she put her hoof on the doorknob, she turned to Ruiz one final time. "Do you..." she shook her head. "Nevermind."

"What is it, señorita?" urged Ruiz. "If there's something I can say that will make you feel better, I'm willing to try."

She paused a moment longer. "Do you... When you saw those pictures, did you feel something? Like, something carnal?"

Ruiz shook his head. "I'm sorry, señorita. I'm not interested in stallions. I prefer mares."

Maria nodded, took a deep breath, and walked out the door.

Chapter the Twenty-Sixth: Departure

It was a late start the following morning. Not just for Ruiz and Maria, but for everypony. As he had promised Sadie, Ruiz made every effort to take the lead on all of the work, lending his support wherever applicable. By the end of the day, he was dead tired, and would have no trouble sleeping tonight. After dinner, Jed called for a family meeting. This time, however, he did not send Ruiz away. In fact, he insisted on Ruiz staying, because he needed to hear this.

"I'm going to be leaving for a few days," he said, looking around the room. "I trust that all of you can hold this place down while I'm gone. You'll have Ruiz around to help out and keep you safe, so I'm not worried that you'll have any big trouble."

"And just where do you think you're going?" spat Sadie. "We need you now more than ever! You can't just heap everything onto Ruiz' shoulders; he ain't even related to us! He has no obligation to stay."

"Perhaps not," admitted Jed. "But I'm pretty sure he's not going anywhere, are you?"

"No, señor."

Jed turned back to Sadie at Ruiz' response. "I know I should have discussed it with all of you, first, but I'm sure you'll agree with my reasons. I wouldn't have made this decision unless it was important: I'm bringing Cole home." The room fell silent as everypony slowly nodded in agreement. "Tonight, I'll be packing up the wagon. After breakfast, I'll be headed out to the mine to collect him and bring him back here, where we can have a service and lay him to rest. I'm sure he'd rather be here, surrounded by family and friends, than covered in rock underneath a mountain."

Maria stood up and took a step forward. "Speaking of Cole's friends, I want to tell Curt what happened. They were..." she looked uncomfortable for a moment, then shook her head. "They were very close, and I feel that he would want to be involved in the service. It's what Cole would have wanted, too."

"I think that's a splendid idea," smiled Sadie. She turned to Ruiz. "Curt was Cole's best friend. Those two were inseparable."

Ruiz nodded along, as if this was new information.

"I had intended to go today, but with everything on the table, I just... There was a lot today. I'll go tomorrow, after my morning chores."

Jed nodded. "I'll trust you two to set it all up. Curt has quite an affinity for picking out good-looking decorations. He can make Cole's site beautiful."

"And I'll take a picture of it," volunteered Mint. "Cole always liked having his picture taken."

Maria hugged Mint. "That, he did."

With everypony planning out how they would go about honouring Cole's memory, Ruiz sat back and remained silent. He had not intended to act as a replacement for him, nor did he like the idea of being seen as such. The best thing Ruiz could think to do to appease Cole's memory was to leave his room, after carefully cleaning it. After all, he had no intention of stepping on the hooves of the departed. Not that he was about to clear out, though. As much as that was what Cole may have wanted, his family wanted someone to fill the gap he'd left, and while Ruiz was not a great fit, being just over half his size, he still thought Cole would want to see his family at least a little bit happier.

The following morning went exactly to plan. Jed looked very worn as he trotted up the road, his wagon trailing behind him with a pine box inside. After clearing her morning chores, Maria set off in the other direction, presumably towards Curt's house. Ruiz might have accompanied her, but Sadie insisted that she needed a hoof with the rest of the chores. Given how heavy the equipment was, Ruiz couldn't have done it on his own, either. The two of them together, however, made it all doable by dusk.

"There ain't no time to make dinner," huffed Sadie, wiping a sheet of sweat from her forehead. "'Sides, I'm beat. I think we might have to skimp a bit on the dinner prep. Unless, of course, you still have some energy left, Ruiz? Can you whip up somethin' quick?"

"I can try," lied Ruiz. He was just as exhausted as she was, perhaps even moreso. Still, he had to wash his face before starting, or risk sweating into the meal. He was hoping that some cold water splashing over him would invigorate him enough to think of something.

As they approached the house, however, Mint opened the door for them. "I made dinner," she proudly proclaimed.

"By yourself?" asked Sadie. "How many times have I told you that you're not allowed to use the range until you're tall enough to see into the pan?"

"I didn't use the range," answered Mint, directing them to the table. In the spots usually reserved for Ruiz and Sadie, two plates were arranged with four half sandwiches. Two open jars of apple butter and strawberry preserves sat on the table, along with a loaf of corn bread that had been made with yesterday's baked beans. "I thought that, since I'm too small to help out there, I could try something in here."

With a chuckle, Sadie rubbed Mint's mane. "Well, I suppose I can't be mad at you for that. Perhaps it is about time I teach you how to do all of the cooking."

Ruiz placed a hoof on Mint's shoulder. "Even I have trouble reaching your range top. This was very clever of you."

They all sat down to eat. It was goopy and mushy and a bit hard to chew, but it was better than nothing. The table was still empty, though. Half of the ponies that usually sat there were gone. Jed wasn't around to give his compliments to the chef, and Maria wasn't there to make short work of the cleanup.

After dinner, Ruiz handled most of the washing. Sadie put away all of the extra foodstuffs and, rather than going to the living room to have the third family meeting in a row, or even just to do some light sewing, she followed up on her exhaustion and went to bed a bit early. It wasn't long after that Ruiz did much the same.

Chapter the Twenty-Seventh: Gone

Ruiz began to worry when Maria hadn't returned by the end of breakfast. It had been his hope that she would have come back during the night and just slept late as a result, but she wasn't in her room. While Sadie had told him not to worry, that she could handle herself just fine, he could see that she was a bit shaky on those claims. While Maria was no pushover, even the best would need a lot of help to take on a force that outnumbered you five to one, especially if they could fly.

Still, there was work to be done. As much as he worried about Maria's safety, he couldn't leave Sadie and Mint to do all of it. It was almost time to harvest the corn, so now would be a very bad time to leave them alone. There were enough of them gone already.

It was Sunday, meaning there was a promise to break for lunch. Sadie was adamant about making enough to carry over to dinner, to avoid needing to rely on Mint again. As he couldn't work the heavy equipment on his own, Ruiz opted to spend the time she was spending preparing lunch to sit out front and sharpen the scythes. The combine harvester in the barn was still in good condition, but only Jed knew how to operate it safely. Ruiz was more comfortable employing methods he had been using for years, rather than operating equipment he was unfamiliar with.

It was while he was checking one of the blades that he spotted the sheriff walking up again. He called Sadie over as backup, and she arrived just as the sheriff turned up the path from the road. He had four gryphons with him, three of which were holding crate panels as if they were shields. It was never a good sign when somepony approached with their armaments on full display.

"What are y'all doin' here, sheriff?" growled Sadie. "You know good an' well that you're not welcome 'round here."

The sheriff spat on the ground in front of him. "I'm here ta see Jed. Go fetch 'im for me, would ya?"

"Anything you have ta say ta my husband, you can say ta me."

The sheriff scoffed. "This is not a conversation for mares. Let the stallions talk."

"Then talk, señor," spat Ruiz, reassembling the scythe. "If you don't want her telling you to shove a hot coal up your arse, then allow me."

"Well, looks like ya grew a pair, pendejo," chuckled the sheriff. "Well, if'n ya want to be the big stallion what stands up fer 'is mare, then let me tell ya: Yer gal Maria came inta the office last night, just beggin' us to come out and work her farm."

Ruiz narrowed his eyes. He knew Maria wasn't that stupid.

"She even paid a partial sum, offerin' to do work that a mare is more suited for than the hard, grueling work she'd have ta do out here."

"We're takin' very good care of her," chuckled the only gryphon with no shield, placing his claw under his belly and gyrating his hips.

"So here's what's goin' ta' happen," continued the sheriff. "My boys here are gonna take care a' y'all, do the work for a fair cut of the profit, and then reunite ya with your daughter. How's that sound?"

Sadie looked like she was about to be sick to her stomach. Mint, who had heard the whole thing, was horrified. Ruiz, on the other hoof, was absolutely livid. He was mere moments from leaping on top of them and stabbing recklessly, but with some effort, he kept his hooves to himself. "And if we refuse, señor?"

"Oh," laughed the sheriff, shaking his head. "You don't have a choice. Payment has already been extracted, at least in part." He turned and waved his hoof as he walked away. "All yours, boys! You can bring the remainder of the payment to my office."

As the gryphon without a shield approached, his eyes showed an intense hunger for Mint. "You're first," he proclaimed, reaching out his claw to her. Sadie made a grab for his wrist, but it turned out to be unnecessary. Ruiz still had the scythe, and with a simple kick, the freshly-sharpened blade came up, severing his claw just behind the wrist.

As the injured gryphon stumbled back, clinging tightly to his stump and shouting in agony, the other two drew their weapons. "Close and lock the doors, señora," growled Ruiz, swapping out the scythe for his slingshot. "Don't open them for any reason."

Sadie didn't need to be told twice. The gryphons all took flight, including the injured one, ducking behind their shields. This was very much a countermeasure against Ruiz, as it would take several shots just to poke holes in the shields, being made of decent wood. It also made them very heavy, meaning that they couldn't go very high off the ground.

They closed in on Ruiz. Being so significantly weighed down, they'd lost their speed, but if they all stayed together, they could remain safe. As small as he was, they really only needed to pin him down. After that, just one could hold him under their barricade, even just sitting on him.

This thought was interrupted as spears began to poke their heads out through the miniscule gap. They didn't mean to pin him. He was not allowed to survive this encounter, anymore.

As he was backing away, trying to buy time, he saw it. The shields were slightly turned to allow the spears to be more forward. He was banking on that, literally.

He fired a shot right down the middle. In bounced off the shield, slamming directly into the eye of the gryphon next to him. The creature shrieked out in pain, dropping his shield. Ruiz immediately fired another shot into his other eye. This one dropped him to the ground. He may have been blinded, in extreme pain, passed out, or dead. Ruiz didn't know or care which; he wasn't his problem anymore.

With their first fallen, the two remaining hoplites charged forward as fast as they could muster. Ruiz waited until the last moment, dove to the side, and, from his back, fired at one of the gryphons' balls.

The injured one was standing over him with a very large knife, and, in a scramble to his hooves, Ruiz threw up a hoofful of sand into the gryphon's eyes, narrowly avoiding the knife coming down in top of him.

The dust cloud gave him partial cover, and knowing that his life was on the line, he ripped out his own knife and stabbed the injured gryphon in the back of his chest twice. He didn't know if he'd killed him, but he could guess that something vital had at least been hit.

The dust cloud cleared up with only just enough time for Ruiz to see one of the shields charging back at him. This one was flying blind, so to speak, and pinned down the injured gryphon by mistake, stabbing him over and over with his spear, thinking it was Ruiz. In the confusion, it was little trouble for Ruiz to jump on him and slit his throat.

As he turned to face the last one, he found he had done so just a few seconds too late. The gryphon he had shot in the balls had now wrapped his claws around Ruiz' throat, and was now holding him aloft as he squeezed down on the goat's trachea. He smiled and licked his beak, clearly enjoying it as Ruiz struggled to free himself, or at least breathe. He was fucked.

Then, just like that, the gryphon dropped him. As Ruiz struggled for breath, coughing and rubbing his inflamed neck, he saw the face of the gryphon, an arrow piercing through the entirety of his skull. Sadie approached, a bow over her shoulder. "Come on," she said, grabbing Ruiz by the wrist. "You need healing."

Chapter the Twenty-Eighth: Lost Control

"I told you to lock the doors, señora," winced Ruiz.

"An' I told you, I don't take orders from nopony," Sadie spat back, wrapping a strip of gauze around his shoulder. "I do whatever I feel is best for me an' my kin. An' right now, that means keepin' you alive. Now, hold still!"

Ruiz did his best, but it was hard to keep his body from shaking. A complex web of emotions, the likes of which he'd been numb to for over a year, was tugging as him in every direction. He didn't want to seem ungrateful to Sadie for rescuing him; he'd be dead if she hadn't stepped in when she did, but she had to know that stepping out into the fields where death was swarming was inherently dangerous.

More importantly, there was something that weighed heavily on him, something that should have been weighing on the others, as well. "Do you think Maria actually met up with Curt?" he asked, turning his head to Sadie.

"Well, she didn't go to the sheriff on her own," answered Sadie. "I don't know what happened out there, but there's nothing we can do about it now. We'll just have to fortify our house and hope she's still kicking by the time Jed comes back."

"You're not going to do anything?!" Ruiz was bewildered by what he was hearing. "You just said you do what's best for your familia, señora. What about your daughter?!"

"Don't you take that tone with me!" she spat back, grabbing him by the mane. "I love Maria! But I can neither take Mint into the hornet's nest to pull her out, nor leave her here on her own to fend off the gryphons by her lonesome! It's a shitty thing that we have to leave Maria in their clutches for now, but we don't have a lot of choice in the matter. When Jed comes back, and you're all healed up, we can figure something out, but right now, we're too few. Our best bet right now is to prepare for another wave of gryphons and try to hold out until reinforcements arrive!"

Ruiz turned to look at Mint. She was just a filly. He remembered the look on her face when the gryphon had tried to grab her. She was barely any bigger than he was, and they'd tried to take her innocence. The Ravens were relentless and cruel, and they would stop at nothing, especially if the sheriff was around to protect them.

"Okay, señora," Ruiz sighed. "I'll make sure that your family is kept safe. That's what Jed asked me to do, regardless."

"Good," nodded Sadie. "And you have my word that as soon as we have a means of recovering Maria, I'm going to ensure that it comes to fruition. I'm not leaving her there any longer than I have to."

As Sadie tied off the last of the bandages, Ruiz looked down at his belt. "I need to go collect my knife, señora. As good as I am with a slingshot, I need something in the event that they come too close."

Sadie nodded and patted his shoulder. "If you haven't sharpened it recently, now would be a very good time."

He had sharpened it recently. In fact, he had done so right before the scythes, because he knew that his knife wouldn't take very long to sharpen. He made his way out to where he'd dropped it, and noted that the gryphon he had blinded was crawling ever so slowly deeper into the farm, away from the road. He was the only one still alive. With very little effort, Ruiz picked up one of the spears and stabbed clean through the beast's leg, pinning him to the ground.

"You have but one chance, pendejo," he said, his voice level. "Tell me where Maria is, and I'll release you. Any funny business, and I will make your death the slowest, most painful experience I can. Bake you in the sun, cut off your penis half a centimetre every day, and shove a pear of anguish up your arse, keeping you alive so that you feel every second of it. Make your choice."

"Sheriff's office," he whimpered. "In the basement."

In truth, Ruiz had no intention of torturing this gryphon under any circumstance. It was just more work, another mouth to feed, and to no benefit. Keeping prisoners was a luxury he could not afford. Still, he kept his word. He reached down and slit across the gryphon's throat, killing him and freeing him from his bodily torment.

Ruiz looked up toward the house. He did understand Sadie's point of view, and he knew she was right, but he disagreed with her method. It would be much easier to defend the house with Maria around, and it would probably be a few days before the sheriff sent anypony else out here to satisfy themselves. After all, if those spears were any indication, he'd expected Ruiz to die if he didn't comply. What better time to strike than when he was thought to be either subdued or dead?

As he took off down the road, he considered what he had been ordered to do by both Sadie and Jed. Jed wanted his family protected. Sadie wanted what was best for her kin. Ruiz was going to do both, if not the way they wanted it done. He was still following orders, by his own interpretation. Not the words, but their spirit.

He'd grabbed a large box of threaded nails before leaving. He was done firing rocks as a way of stunning or warning. This was not a time to pull punches. This was a time to raise up his weapon and strike decisively.

It wasn't until he reached town that he realised that he had no idea where the sheriff's office was. He guessed that it was near the center of town, and stuck to the shadows. He didn't want to risk being seen before finding the place. When he did come across it, it was from behind, and there was no sign back here, only some evidence through the window, and the sheriff with his back hooves on top of a desk, talking to a Raven.

The building was fortified, with the only entrance being out front and leading out into the main street. The walls were thick and made of stone, and the windows were all barred. Nopony was breaking out of here without significant help.

With a deep breath, Ruiz made peace with his existence. Grabbing a half dozen nails from his box, he circled the building, kicked the door open, and shot the raven through the eye, driving a nail into his skull. Before the sheriff could so much as jump to his hooves, he, too, had been shot through the eye with a spiral shank nail.

From the stairwell, a voice called "What's going on up there?" As soon as the gryphon's head crested the stair rail, it had a steel rod driven into its ear. Another imbedded itself in bone, but a swift kick from Ruiz drove it all the way through.

Ruiz dropped down the stairwell and turned left. Maria, along with Meteor and another mare he didn't know, were chained to the wall, their knees bound to their shoulders. One last gryphon was down here, but as he was lost in pleasuring himself with Maria's bound body, he was an easy target, and a swift slice across his neck was all Ruiz needed to drop him.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you, Ruiz!" called Maria. "Do you have the key?"

"No," he answered, breaking the support rail for the stairwell and removing the anchor from the wall. He slipped it into the mount for her chains, climbed up her body, and began to pry the anchor directly out of the wall. Just as the mounts ripped free, a loud whistle was heard upstairs.

He rushed up to see the sheriff up in the window, blowing hard into a steel whistle. Ruiz stabbed him in the throat, but it was too late. The sky was beginning to blacken as a wave of Ravens took to the sky and came down to the street in front of him. He had thought that there were perhaps thirty, or at most fifty. Now his guess was closer to eighty. This was a swarm.

Chapter the Twenty-Ninth: Murder of Crows

Ruiz had maybe thirty seconds, assuming the best case scenario, before the gryphons began bashing down the door after him. There was no time to lose.

He grabbed the sheriff and pushed him down the stairs, following after and dragging the body over to Maria. "He must have the key on him," he noted, picking up the pry bar he had used to pull her from the wall. "They're all coming in now."

He turned back to the stairs, not fast enough to miss the look of sheer terror on her face, but fast enough to see that a gryphon had already made it downstairs. Taking a page from Jed's book, he swung the rail across the gryphon's face, clubbing him with the bent metal rod. He had planned to barricade the door with it, but first, he would have to reach the upper level again.

Ruiz poked his head into the stairwell just long enough to see two gryphons at the top. As one descended, Ruiz dropped the rod and pulled out his slingshot. He's never dropped the nails, and fired two into the first gryphon. He fired his sixth at the other, but it wasn't enough. As he was fishing for a reload from the box, the gryphon charged.

A loud ringing sound was heard. Maria had freed her back legs, and in her front hooves was the metal rod Ruiz had dropped. The very moment she was sure that she'd caved in the gryphon's skull, she dropped the rod to the floor and went back to trying to open her locks.

As much as Ruiz wanted to help, he had a hoofful of spiral shanks, and an army of gryphons that outnumbered the amount of ammunition he had remaining. Right now, his best hope was to fortify the chokepoint, but now, he couldn't. The rod he was going to use had been the only weapon Maria could access as that moment, and she would need it if he failed.

Four more gryphons were waiting at the top of the stairs, with more coming in. He shot one in the throat, then ducked back down. They were too many, too close. They could file in one by one down the stairs, where he could strike them one at a time, but that couldn't work forever. There were already too many bodies down here, and it was filling up quickly.

That's when the gryphons began bringing armor and weapons. Armor came in the form of meat shields, and weapons mainly by way of spears. There was no shortage of bodies for them to hold up as they came forward, as each one that came before them collapsed on the ground as partial cover, or better if they picked them up. The sheriff alone had half a dozen nails drilled into him by the time the lower level cleared up enough for Ruiz to release his tunnel vision.

He'd not been working alone, as he suddenly found out. He'd been so focused on clearing the gryphons at the door that he'd lost his situational awareness. He'd completely missed Maria and Meteor aiding him amidst the bedlam. Maria, much like her father, was keen to using the metal pole as some kind of club, and Meteor had collected a gryphon's spear. She wasn't a strong fighter, but simply being less threatening and knowing where the pointy end was supposed to go was enough to make her formidable.

He took a moment, in the brief calm, to check his box. Four nails remained, and it was unlikely that the sheriff would have kept a spare box just lying around, especially down here.

"I think that's all of them," sighed Meteor, dropping back to unlock the final mare. "Come on."

"Not even close," replied Ruiz. "If I'm being generous, this looks like half." Another gryphon clambered down the stairs and was promptly shot in the ear.

With a silent nod, Maria bolted up the stairs. Worried, Ruiz ran after her, watching her batter a few more gryphons before being slashed across the chest by a gryphon's claw and knocked aside. Seeing her bloodied sparked a rage in Ruiz, and with his knife drawn, he leaped forward, slashing open the Gryphon's throat and kicking it out the front door.

He slammed the door shut, just as another gryphon was trying to plow his way through. In his rage, he slammed the door several more times, shattering the beast's skull before the door closed properly. He was about to pick up the bar and shove it into the latch, but Maria was already back on her hooves, and pushed it right through without Ruiz even indicating that he had planned to do exactly that.

"Oh, fuck me," whimpered Meteor, looking out the window. Several dozen gryphons still remained outside, and a few of them were already trying to batter the door down. Others, noting that the door was not opening, began clawing at the windows.

"There has to be something," huffed the yet-unnamed mare, ripping through the sheriff's desk, looking for anything she could use. She made it through the first drawer and was about to open the second when a rock launched from a slingshot outside, driving itself into her eye. She collapsed to the ground and did not move.

If the gryphons were going to fight through the windows, then Ruiz was going to employ the same tactic. As a rock pelted Meteor in the neck, he fired one of his last remaining nails out the window, into the eye socket of the bastard that thought himself a marksman. One more went into an archer, and the final nail pinned the claw of a gryphon who had reached through the window to grab Meteor's tail.

They were out of ammunition. Ruiz grabbed a spear and began stabbing through the window bars, hoping that the mass of flesh he was stabbing into was being damaged, and not just slipping out of the way. Maria did much the same, until the door finally ripped from its hinges and several gryphons poured in, maybe a dozen. Ruiz managed to take one down with the spear, and two more with his knife, before he felt the claws of a gryphon ripping into his gut.

The intense pain that shot though him at that moment was too much for him to recover from, and he fell to the ground, stunned and unable to move. He could see his blood pooling on the floor, or was that just a bit of everypony? He couldn't tell anymore, and didn't have the energy to check. He thought back to the first time he'd met Maria, here in town, as well as his encounter with her on the road. He would never have guessed that these events would have foreshadowed his demise.

Chapter the Thirtieth: Afterlife

Ruiz opened his eyes. He was home again, in his own bed, his brothers still asleep in the bunkbeds across the room. It was as barren as he remembered it: a hovel for sleeping, added haphazardly onto the side of the house when they needed more room. He'd made the walls himself.

He opted to let his brothers sleep. He wasn't one to rely on their help, if he could avoid it. He slipped his poncho over his chest, covering the white star that marked him, and walked outside.

"Good morning, Ruiz," came a masculine voice. "Sleep well?"

Ruiz slowly turned to face the older goat sitting on the bench on the porch. He was mostly white, with large red splotches covering his shoulder and back. From his own poncho, tan, dark green and rust red, he pulled a pipe, which he promptly filled and lit, sucking in the smoke and letting it billow out of his nose. "Raul? What are you doing here?"

Raul shrugged. "I payed for the place. Don't I deserve to be in my own home?"

Ruiz shook his head. "You've been dead for years. How are you here?"

Raul took another drag from his pipe. "Perhaps I'm not. Or maybe I was always here, and you never took the time to see me. You certainly haven't looked around."

Ruiz turned out to the fields. He couldn't see more than a few metres away, as everything was covered in a thick fog. "What am I supposed to be looking for?"

"That's up to you. What do you want to see?"

Ruiz looked again, and a small section of fog cleared away, just enough to show a shadowy figure, but as soon as he looked closer, it vanished. "Did you see that?"

"Is that what you expected?"

"I don't know, I didn't see it very well."

"Then you must not have wanted to see it that badly."

Ruiz stared at the spot, but couldn't see anything, even taking a step closer.

"Careful, now," warned Raul. "If you're not sure what it is you're going after, every step has a chance of sealing your doom."

Ruiz stilled his hooves and took another look around, not seeing anything else in the fog. "I don't see anything out there."

Raul blew a smoke ring in front of him. "That means you don't want to see it."

"But I do," argued Ruiz. "I need to know what's out there. What if it's something dangerous?"

"What if it's something good?" asked Raul. "I can see a few things in the clouds." He pointed to a wispy tuft. "There's your mother." He pointed to another. "Your sister's over there," he turned to a third location, "And there you are, settling down with Maria."

Ruiz frantically turned to the third location he'd indicated, and for a moment, he could see a mare, but he couldn't tell who she was, as she vanished back into the fog. "How did you... How do you know Maria?"

"I don't. We've never met."

"Then how do you know her name?"

"I don't."

"You just said it!"

"Did I?"

"Yes, you did!"

Ruiz was starting to feel his temper rise, made even worse by his stepfather's dismissive chuckling. He took a deep breath and ran his hoof over his head. Both horns were there, at full length and sharp. He looked up at Raul, still having all four of his own horns, though with chips and chunks missing. Finally, it sunk in.

"This isn't real, is it?"

"Only as real as you want it to be," nodded Raul.

Ruiz closed his eyes, turned around, and took another look. Rather than being on his own porch, he was on Jed's, and the fog had cleared away, though there was still a patch remaining, right next to the windmill.

"So, what, this is paradise or something?"

"Or something."

"Is it hell?"

"Perhaps. Is that what you wanted?"

Ruiz sat down and rubbed his face. "I don't know what I want."

Raul took another drag from his pipe and coughed up some of the smoke. "I don't think that's true at all. You know what you want. The question that always holds you back has never been what you wanted, but what you needed to give in order to have it."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

Jed walked out of the house and sat down next to Raul. "Think back on what I said when I was drunk, Ruiz. You were an idiot for taking the deal, and I stand by that statement. You could have lived here for free, at least for a little while, and you refused until I mentioned that you could work for me in order to pay it off."

"Nothing is free, señor."

"And there it is, kid," chuckled Raul. "That's your problem. You put in the work, but you never let yourself have what you want. You're afraid that you don't deserve it. And given your upbringing, it's not hard to see why. You even told Maria that the star on your chest was a mark of shame that labeled you as the very worst creature to have ever existed."

"That's what that was for?" asked Jed. "I thought it was just the way his coat was coloured."

"It is," answered Raul. "It's been there since he was born."

Ruiz shook his head. "I told her why I shouldn't exist. I never should have been conceived, much less born."

"And she didn't listen, did she? You were so convinced that you were a mistake, that the only way to atone for what you'd taken was to act as a shield. And she gave you doubt."

Ruiz fell silent and stared at the ground. "So this place really is hell. I'm being torn apart on all sides, and those I had come to consider dependable are talking down to me."

"It's not hell," answered Raul, taking another puff of his pipe. "You can easily reach there from this point, though."

Ruiz looked up. "Can you stop talking in circles? It's very confusing."

Raul nodded. "You want clarity?" He gestured all around him. "This is a near-death experience. You're dying right now. That wisp of fog that still remains is the one thing that can save you. But it's not yours. If you take it, you will be performing a selfish act. You will be doing it because you want to. Such may not translate to real life, but you may be able to make it work. The only way to find out is to proclaim what you want and try to claim it."

Ruiz gazed into the tuft of fog and stood up. It blew away to form a beautiful palomino mare, looking back at him with an encouraging smile. He took a few steps forward, then turned back. Jed was gone, and Raul had returned to his own porch, and was looking at Ruiz with a raised eyebrow. This wasn't his decision to make, it was up to Ruiz. With a nod, he walked up to Maria, took her hoof in his, and looked up into her eyes.

"I want you," he said, squeezing her hoof. "If you'll have me, I want to return to you."

Chapter the Thirty-First: Life After Death

As reality set in, Ruiz felt the dull ache of existence return to his body. His eyelids slid open to reveal a ceiling made to look like birch bark. He tried turning his head to look around, but the muscles in his neck cramped up as soon as he tried to move, and he let out a rather loud groan.

"Ruiz? Don't move." There was a sound of hooves against the wood floor. He could feel his bed shift as Meteor sat down next to him and came into view. "How are you doing?"

Ruiz tried to lift his head again, then let it fall back into the pillow as his muscles burned. "What happened?" he asked. "Is Maria...?"

"She's going to be fine," assured Meteor, resting a hoof on his chest. "She's asleep in the other bed. How do you feel?"

With no small amount of strain, Ruiz turned his head to the left. What he saw was a wall. He turned all the way to the right, pain pulsing through his whole body, and there she was, lying in a small bed on the other side of the room. She looked so peaceful, and her injuries seemed minor from here.

"How. Do. You. Feel?" repeated Meteor, a bit upset that he hadn't even tried to answer her question the first two times.

"Relieved," sighed Ruiz, smiling a bit. He let out a soft chuckle, but stopped when he realized how much it hurt to laugh.

"Are you in any pain?" Meteor clarified. "Where does it hurt?"

"I'll be fine," answered Ruiz.

"Don't move," commanded Meteor again. "I'll be right back."

As soon as she was out of the room, Ruiz did the opposite of what she requested, pushing the sheet covering him out of the way and trying to lift his head off of the pillow. His end goal here was to sit up and look around, perhaps even stand if he could. Through his efforts, after a full minute of grunting and straining, he managed to lift his head and shoulders, and prop himself up on his elbows before Meteor returned to the room.

"I told you not to move!" she scolded. "You're not supposed to be up!"

"It's alright," came the voice of a stallion. Ruiz had been keeping his eyes closed the whole way up due to the strain, but now stable, he opened them again. A dark brown stallion in a white shirt approached his bed and shifted the pillows so that Ruiz could maintain his more upright position, and even scooted him back so that he could be even further upright, in a mild recline. "You can be upright for this, though I would prefer that you lie down and rest as soon as we're done here."

Ruiz, finally upright for the most part, looked around the room. The walls were plain, covered in a tan wallpaper with minimalist brown flowers printed on in even intervals, and lined with landscape paintings. On the outside of the door were metal numbers pinned in place reading "204." Other than the two beds, there were two wooden chairs and one with cushions, as well as a small table, just big enough for two.

"I'm the doctor here in Oas-- er, Sweetwater. Or maybe the name change will stick, I don't know. We'll just have to see. Look this way, please?"

Ruiz kept his eyes on the doctor's pen as it moved around. "What happened?"

"Well, after all of that commotion, Meteor came into my office and told me to come help you and Diamond Dovetail. As soon as you were stable, she and Maria carried you both here to recover and rest. You were pretty torn up. I did what I could, but it's going to be awhile before you fully recover."

"Where's here?"

"The inn over the saloon. How's your neck? Can you move your head on your own?"

With a series of grunts and groans, Ruiz nodded slowly, only making small movements at a time.

"Well, we'll work on that. You lost a lot of blood, so you're undoubtedly pretty stiff. We'll keep an eye on that, but do try to stay hydrated. I'll bring you some orange juice before I leave, but I needed to verify that you'd be able to recover on your own. You seem to be alright, but if you have any problems, let me know. Any questions?"

Ruiz took a deep breath. "I can't pay for any of this."

"Maria told me to tell you to not worry about that," responded Meteor. "I thought she was just making a joke at the time, but I guess she knows you better than I do."

"Pretty sure everypony in town is willing to pay for your recovery, Ruiz," agreed the doctor. "If half of what Maria said is true, we kind of owe you. A lot more than a few nights at an inn, some emergency surgery and a few quarts of orange juice is worth, too."

Ruiz let out a sigh. He felt as though he didn't earn it, but if his dream had been any indication, he probably had. He'd removed the sheriff, which Maria's family regarded as a good thing. He'd also killed a large number of Ravens, regarded as being a pox on the town. If Maria could be trusted, and he felt that she could, their removal would free up the town and improve the lives of everypony who lived here before. Or rather, those that were still alive. Perhaps some of them shared his ideals, and felt that they owed him, and wanted to give him some kind of compensation.

He was given a pint of orange juice, much more than he could feasibly drink in a short time, and on the doctor's orders, lowered himself to the bed. He was already feeling a bit better, and even he knew that he couldn't do anything to set things right until he could stand up and walk around, and he wasn't ready to do that, yet. That would have to come later, when he was more completely recovered.

For now, what he needed was rest. Perhaps in the morning, he could do some damage control, and mitigate the amount of money he thought he owed, all the while watching to see how Maria recovered. She had been the reason he'd come to town, she'd been the reason he'd taken on the Ravens, and she was the reason he had come back to life. Whether that experience was actually real or not, his choice mattered, at least to him. He did want to be with her, and if she couldn't recover, then this was all for nothing.

Chapter the Thirty-Second: Damages

Ruiz awoke to a crash of thunder, bolting upright and immediately regretting it. The shock had him fall back down onto the bed until the pain subsided. When his nerves finally calmed enough that he could read what was going on around him, he was greeted with the gentle thrum of raindrops against the window pane. He saw flashes of lightning, heard loud booms of thunder, and in some instances, he could feel the building shake.

The door opened, and two sets of hooves came in. He pried his eyes open and turned his head, much easier than last night, to see Meteor and Maria walking in. Now that she was out of bed and uncovered, Ruiz saw the worst of Maria's injuries; her chest was completely wrapped up and her back legs, especially around her hips, were covered in bruises.

"See? He's already awake," said Meteor, closing the door. Ruiz hadn't been paying too close of attention last night, and hadn't noticed similar bruises to a lesser degree on her legs. She turned to the side and showed a tray on her back. "We brought you some breakfast."

Ruiz sat up, slower this time than how he had awoken, and it was much easier. He wondered if he could possibly stand all the way up if he really tried, but for now, just sitting up was good enough.

Maria sat next to him and placed the tray on his lap. She looked uncomfortable, which was wholly understandable, given what had gone down recently. He didn't know if it had been yesterday, meaning the surgery hadn't lasted very long, or the day before, meaning he'd been out cold for at least twenty-six hours, so he didn't know how long she'd taken to recover already. All he knew was that those bruises probably made it hard to sit.

He did his best not to look at her as he ate his breakfast: scrambled eggs and cinnamon toast. He thought that staring at her would only make her more uncomfortable. Perhaps she blamed him for what happened. He had been the one to start that fight, after all. He had to wonder whether or not she'd ever killed a sentient creature before, as this may have been the first time, and that was always a harrowing experience.

"It's a lovely day," smiled Meteor, gesturing to the window. "It hasn't rained for over a month. We needed this infusion of moisture." Maria nodded in response, looking out the window at the streaks that distorted the town and clouded any distant objects.

Ruiz finished his meal, and Meteor collected his tray, taking it back downstairs, leaving the two of them alone. He had to tell her. Perhaps not all at once, especially with her being particularly vulnerable right now, but he had to do something. Her expression made her look like she was dead inside.

"H-how are your injuries?" he managed to say after a few deep breaths. She shrugged, not taking her eyes off the window. "Did you make it back home to see your family yet?" She shook her head. He might have expected that. Not knowing how long it had been, it was likely that she'd stayed by his side the whole time.

He moved toward her, his intent to place a hoof on her shoulder, but noting the bandage covering it, opted out. No matter his intent in doing so, he didn't want to apply unnecessary pressure to a spot that was in pain. Even if he was trying to comfort her, he didn't want to hurt her.

He tossed off his sheet, and that immediately drew her attention. She moved away a few centimetres, and her breathing became faster, as if she was suddenly frightened of what was coming after her. She did her best to calm down, but it was pretty clear that he had upset her. He thought about it for a moment, and remembering what she had been through before he'd arrived, came up with a clear indication of why she wouldn't talk to him. Perhaps now was not the time to confess his feelings, as she'd compare him to the gryphons, being in such close proximity.

He scooted away from her out of respect. She didn't want to be close to him right now, solely because he was male, and they hadn't been particularly kind to her of late. The best he could do would probably be to cover up again, but he had other plans. He turned to the side and gently lowered his back hooves to the floor. Maria watched, her fear now mixed with concern, a much more preferable emotion. She may have been afraid that he was going to jump on her, but at least she didn't want to see him hurt. It was something, at least.

He took it slow, one hoof at a time, moving deliberately and keeping his hooves spread out as he stood up. The throbbing pain in his legs actually felt pretty good. Bolting upright had been agonizing in every way. This hurt almost as much, but at least he was out of bed. With any luck, he'd be able to walk all the way back to the farm as soon as the rain stopped.

He took a step forward. He had to learn how to walk again, no matter the pain. He set in mind his goal: the door. If he could make it at least that far, he could return to his bed.

Another step. He turned to Maria, whose expression had not changed. Remembering all that he had seen when he was close to death, ruminating on the conversation and his own ideals, he knew what he had to do.

Two more steps toward the door. He wanted her. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but she wasn't ready. Instead, he would show her. He would pull himself up onto his hooves and take all of the weight off her shoulders while she recovered. He needed to be strong enough to act as a support for her. But first, he had to support himself. He had to stand up and walk.

Finally, after two and a half grueling minutes, he'd walked all the way from his bed to the door on the far side of the room. His body felt as though it was on fire, but he felt great. Perhaps after a short rest, he could walk all the way down to the end of the hallway. If he really tried, he might even go downstairs for dinner without any help.

Even so, he knew that his body had limits. Even if he was pushing them now, he couldn't do so forever. He now had to walk all the way back to bed, and this time, Maria would be staring him in the face the whole way. He was sure that he could just lie down here, and she'd come carry him over, but then what was he? Just a burden for her to take care of. It would then have been easier on her to just sit in bed and do nothing. If he collapsed now, it would just look like he walked away from her, just so she'd come pick him up. He wasn't that sort of goat. He would walk all the way back to bed on his own.

Chapter the Thirty-Third: Recompense

"Steady, now," waved Meteor. "Don't drop him."

Ruiz hobbled down the stairs one step at a time. In spite of his injuries, he was walking down to the dining room to eat his dinner. It would be good to be out of his room for a bit, and this would work well as a test as to how well he would do on a decently lengthy journey.

Maria walked in front of him, off to the left. If he fell, she would catch him. She had not said this to him, as she had not spoken a word to him all day. Allegedly, she had spoken with Meteor at lunch, but that had been out of his range of hearing. She would nod and shake her head, but she was having trouble with her words when he was around. He would just have to wait.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, the bartender called out "That's him, over there." Ruiz looked up and saw two young stallions at the bar. Their gaze followed the bartender's hoof and turned to face him. Ruiz instinctively reached for where his belt should have been, had he not left it in his room, but rather that pulling out weapons, they applauded. This quickly spread across the room, with very nearly everypony clapping and looking his way.

Having reserved a table in the corner to both remain close to the stairs and prevent anypony from sneaking up behind them, Meteor had already decided their location and led them over to sit. The applause died down as a server came over to talk to them.

"Good evening," he smiled, pulling out a paper pad. "Before we begin, I just want to say how much I appreciate what you've done for us all. I think what we really needed was a good shove in the right direction. Can I bring you anything in particular?"

Ruiz shook his head. "I'm not picky, señor. Chef's choice. Anything's fine."

"Make it three," nodded Meteor.

"Anything to drink?"

"Doc says he has to have some kind of juice while he's recovering," interrupted Meteor. "And he definitely can't have alcohol until the stitches come out."

The server turned to Ruiz, who nodded along. He hadn't asked the doctor, but he neither wanted to argue nor drink, and a tall glass of grapefruit juice would be just fine.

As the server disappeared, ponies came up one by one to talk to Ruiz, ask him questions, talk about their part in the battle for their town, and try to buy him something, whether it was paying for his food, sending him a bottle of whiskey, or offering him some kind of expensive gift. He declined all gifts, though Meteor was quick to mark them down as being willing to help out. As the owner of the general goods store, her father was one of the bigwigs during town council meetings and noting how much everypony was willing to contribute would influence his decision.

After the eighth guest asked Ruiz how long he would be staying in town, and if he'd be willing to take the empty position of sheriff, to which Ruiz responded that he had little interest in, the server returned. With him, he carried three plates of some kind of salad, loaded with fruits and nuts. Their plates were clearly a fair bit heavier and larger than normal, as Ruiz had seen the same dish brought out twice before. It was pretty clear that they were being given preferential treatment, something he found to be very embarrassing.

The parade of ponies didn't stop there, either. Ruiz ended up having to eat slowly because he was being regularly asked to give his testimony on how a hero should act, having his picture taken for the local periodical, and having to repeat that no, he was not accepting gifts at this time. It was eventually the bartender who came over to drive them all off, yelling at them to let him eat; that there would be time to talk to him later.

Throughout the rest of the meal, Ruiz once again tried to talk to Maria. "How's your food, señorita?" She would shrug. "Is everything alright?" She would nod. Other than the occasional glance, she wouldn't look at him, unless his attention was on something else, such as a visitor, or if he decided to talk to Meteor.

After dinner, Ruiz and Maria went back upstairs, with Meteor staying behind to "handle the bill." Going upstairs was significantly easier that going down had been, whether that had something to do with a full meal inside of them or just a sign that Ruiz' recovery was going very well. It might have also been easier to go upstairs because of the shift in his center of balance.

Maria sat down on her bed as soon as they made it to their room. She had seen Ruiz walk back and forth all day, becoming more and more proficient as he learned to cope with the pain, so she had good reason to believe that he could make it back to his bed.

However, Ruiz wasn't going back to his bed right away. He moved in front of her and held out his hoof, letting her make the choice of whether or not to take it. "I know you're afraid of me, and I'm pretty sure I know why. I have a few guesses, anyway. But I want you to know that I will do everything I can to help you. I'll take you home to your family, I'll tell your parents what's happened, I'll even take care of your chores for as long as it takes you to feel better."

She looked at his hoof, reaching out with mild trepidation, and just froze when she came closer.

"I lied, señorita," he admitted, "back at the sheriff's office. Your mother didn't send me out to bring you back. I came because I wanted to; because I needed to."

She looked up from his hoof, into his eyes.

"Before I met you, I was a husk. An empty shell with nothing to live for, and nothing to work toward. I had no direction, no purpose in life. I was just wandering, wondering where my next meal would come from, or if I'd even have a next meal. I had resigned myself to die out in that desert, and it would be no more than I deserved." He took a deep breath and lowered his hoof. "You changed that, señorita. You saw me as some sort of goodly force. You trusted me to work alongside you, to keep your secrets. You outright told me that I matter, that the white mark on my chest is not the evidence that I would one day betray those I loved, and that you considered me to be better than that. And I just..." he lowered his head and sighed. "I just... really wanted to believe that you were right..."

He lowered his hoof and turned to walk back to his bed, but didn't make it more than a step before he felt her hooves wrap around his chest from behind. She hugged him gently, not wanting to hurt him, and while it wasn't what he wanted to hear, he was glad that she finally said something to him.

"I'm s-s-sorry."

Chapter the Thirty-Fourth: Sweetwater Returns

Ruiz awoke to a feeling that he had never dreamed that he would feel. When going to bed, Maria had tried to hug him again, but when he tried to hug back, she once more felt that twinge of fear at his underside. He'd wrapped himself in a sheet to separate them, and that had been a good enough gesture. In fact, it had been so meaningful that she crawled into bed behind him, acting as his big spoon. It wasn't so bad as he had thought, and he found comfort in holding her hoof against his chest. She was still with him. She was still being good to him, despite everything. He had never been so happy, even before his family had been taken from him.

It was still raining, though it was much lighter now than it had been yesterday. The window was no longer clouded over with running water, but rather just peppered with a spray of mist. It was clear enough that he could see the clouds in the sky without so much as standing up.

Before long, she woke up, too, and after the shock of waking up next to him wore off, replaced with the memory that she had made the conscious decision to sleep in his bed, she helped him to his hooves and gave him a kiss. "G-good morning, she forced out. "S-s-sleep well?"

Ruiz nodded. "How about you, señorita?"

She nodded gingerly. It was clearly written on her face that she was still uncomfortable around him, but she wanted to change that. In the interim, there was really nothing he could do. He would just have to wait for her to come around on her own. Trying to push toward her would only result in her moving further away.

They went downstairs for breakfast, a much easier event now. He would find little issue walking all the way back to the farm, he reasoned. Even Maria was doing better today than she had last night, actually managing to order a plate of eggs over easy and fried potatoes from the stallion server.

The doctor came to see them in the middle of breakfast, not expecting them to be downstairs already. He wanted to usher them back upstairs for the privacy, but was content to let them finish eating first. He very much wanted to see how Ruiz handled stairs.

"You both seem to be recovering well," he smiled, once the door was closed. "Ruiz, I expected you to be unable to walk for a week, and here you are, using stairs."

"I'm uncomfortable being waited on, señor," answered Ruiz. "I didn't want to keep bothering everypony."

"I meant that in regards to your injuries. I was not expecting you to be up and walking around so easily. In fact, it's because of this that I need to check your stitches and replace your bandages. I need to see if you tore something." He turned to Maria. "I'll do yours next, so if you want to step out for this, feel free."

She stayed where she was, and Ruiz smiled. He was okay letting her sit in on his bandage changing. It was nothing she hadn't seen before. She'd been treating his injuries for a little over a month now, and had even seen inside of him at the worst of it. She was a tough mare, and likely would have little issue with this.

The bandages came off, and Ruiz had the first glance at his chest. He hadn't realized how severe his injuries had been. The lines of stitches stretched out in multiple directions, in a vast web that covered his entire torso. It was extensive, lending to how much it hurt to move around and making clear why the doctor thought he wouldn't be moving around just yet. However, everything seemed fine, and he was quickly cleaned up with a sponge and sealed up in in a crisp, clean layer of bandages.

Maria was next, and her injuries hadn't required nearly as many stitches. They covered a lot of surface area, but most weren't particularly deep. Her ribs had protected most of her organs, and she was also cleaned and wrapped.

After the doctor left, Ruiz sat down next to Maria and took her hoof. "It's stopped raining, señorita. We can go home."

Maria nodded. "I don't w-want my mom throwing a f-fit when we c-c-come in. Let me t-talk to her, first. I'm sure she'll underst-stand."

"Are you sure, señorita?" asked Ruiz. "I'm no stranger to being hated. Plus, it was my idea to come save you, after all."

"I'm sure," she nodded. "I'm not t-trying to keep you out of t-t-trouble, I just don't want her t-t-to hit you."

Ruiz kissed her hoof. "You are more than I deserve, señorita. If you insist, then I shall oblige."

The two shared a hug, with Ruiz being more gentle with a newfound understanding of just how injured she was. While he could keep applying the same pressure and she would be fine, it wouldn't have felt right to him. He needed, for his own self respect, to make sure she was comfortable.

As they walked out of the saloon, for the first time, Ruiz saw the main fountain at the center of town. Every time he'd come through before, it had been covered with a shack, but now, that had been ripped down. In its place stood a stone statue, with the top half ripped off. It depicted the back half of a pony, and at its hoof, there was a round hole, where a pole might be placed. A large basin at the bottom that was now filled with rainwater, albeit tainted with dust, had four grooves from which water could spill into and run along the metal accoutrements to spray everything down with a cooling mist.

Maria nudged him and pointed to a stallion next to the fountain, trying to convince the pump to return to power. In addition to this, a stonemason was prepping a large block of some kind of black and red stone to be carved, likely to replace the statue atop the big well.

The town was finally coming back together, and given enough time to recover, would likely return to flourishing, as the desert flower that one would find amidst the harsh thorns of the cacti that surrounded it.

Chapter the Thirty-Fifth: Beyond Repair

Ruiz and Maria walked right next to each other through the mud. After everything that'd happened, Ruiz finally felt that he could stay. He'd been told multiple times that he could, but now he finally felt it. To him, it had just been "the farm where Jed and Maria live." As he walked down the road, he finally could say that he was going home.

That's what the farm was to him, now. It was home. Sadie, Mintberry, Jed, even señora Bea; they were his family now. He liked the idea that, had it been Sadie or Mint that had been taken, he'd drop everything and go after them without hesitation. Perhaps he loved them more than he had his own family.

"Do you think your dad's back yet?" asked Ruiz. "I don't know how long I was unconscious."

"Maybe?" shrugged Maria. "Y-you were out for th-three d-d-days."

"Three days, plus yesterday, plus the day you were taken, plus the day I came in. He's been gone for almost a week," Ruiz reasoned. "I don't know where your brother worked, but if it's two days of walking, he should be back, three days and he shouldn't be just yet."

"If he's not b-back yet, he won't b-be long."

"Either way, it's pretty clear why I haven't had a good opportunity to meet your brother."

"You might have b-been friends."

Ruiz might have placed his hoof on her shoulder, except that his hooves were covered in mud and her shoulders in bandages. Instead, he placed his head against her, gently nuzzling her shoulder. "If he's anything like the rest of your family, I think we might have."

As they rounded the bend, they looked to the farm, knowing that just past the trees, there would be a large house, a barn, a coop, and a windmill towering over all of it, with the corn and wheat ready for them to harvest and prepare for milling. Despite Ruiz insisting that she could rest and let him handle it, Maria had no intention of just sitting around and waiting for him to do everything. She wanted to help, but also, she didn't want him to suffer more than was necessary.

Unfortunately, there was no wheat to harvest. There was no corn. There wasn't so much as a house to live in. There was no barn, the coop was gone, and all of the crops were either torn up, mulched across the ground, or piled up in a big black heap. What greeted them was not a home, but a big black smear on the landscape, little more than soaked ash and charred wood.

Maria immediately broke into a sprint, running up to the remains of her home. Ruiz took an extra few minutes, having shorter legs and more detrimental injuries. About a dozen charred corpses were scattered around the place, almost all of which had wings and beaks. It wasn't particularly difficult to find the one with a missing claw, as he was right where Ruiz had left him, a spear through his chest. The skeleton on top of him was a hole through his skull, meaning neither of these had moved in a week. Whether Sadie has retrieved the arrow, or it had become mixed with the piles of ash, it was nowhere to be found.

Maria fell to her knees in front of the pile of char that used to be her house. She was beyond words at this point, and Ruiz knew exactly how she felt. Her family was gone, and there was nothing he could do to bring them back. There was very little he could do to comfort her, but he could think of at least two things.

"At least your father's not here," he smiled, wading into the rubble and tossing it aside. His goal in doing so was to find the bodies of Sadie and Mint, that he could bury them next to Cole. "This would have been a lot harder if he was here."

Maria looked at Ruiz as if he'd just dropped a string of offensive slurs. "What'd you just say?"

"I just meant that if your father had been around, it would have been more of a fight," answered Ruiz, pushing the bookshelf out of the way. It tumbled to the ground in a cloud of dust, shattering on impact. "But he probably wouldn't have survived the fire."

Maria was speechless as Ruiz tore apart the remains of the living room and dining room, fully coating himself in charcoal as he moved things around. Most of the upstairs was little more than ash, having been closer to the center of the fire, but there was half of a bed in the middle of the dining room table.

"What are you looking for?" asked Maria. "It's all ash!"

"I need to find your mother and sister," he answered, noticing that her stutter had disappeared. He hoped that meant that her fear was gone. It was, but it had been replaced with something else. "If their bodies aren't here, they'd be in the barn, or in the coop. I'll check there next, but they should be here."

He was actually hoping that he wouldn't find anything; that their bodies wouldn't be in the rubble at all because they'd left before anything had happened. If they were elsewhere, that was a good thing, probably. They had gone somewhere safe. There was the distinct possibility that they'd been abducted and taken somewhere, but he'd like to exhaust all of the other options, first. They went to stay with friends, or they'd cut across country into town, or they were camping nearby in some out-of-the way place. He wasn't ready to give up.

"It was you," said Maria flatly. "You did this."

Ruiz stopped digging and turned to Maria. "Señorita?"

"This is what my dad warned me about," she scowled, standing up. "He said that you were after me, and that you'd do everything you could to take me."

"Señorita..."

"You're glad my dad's gone, you seem dead set on showing me the bodies of my mother and sister, and with my home gone, you're all I have left. And that's exactly what you wanted."

As she picked up a piece of wood and raised it over her head, she approached. Ruiz stopped looking and backed away. "You misunderstand, señorita," he said, looking up at her. "I would nev--" he ducked as she swung the wood at him.

"And all of this time, I had this feeling of something wrong with you, that there was something dangerous about you, and that I should keep my distance! I should have trusted it!" She swung again, barely missing him.

"I only wanted to keep you safe, señorita. Please, I--"

"Oh, I know!" she shouted. "That's why you left my family to die!"

He knew he couldn't dodge forever. The next blow landed squarely on the side of his chest. The impact was enough to break the wooden stick, having been made brittle by the burning. As she tried to find a new one, he bolted as fast as he could, not stopping until he was sure she wasn't following him.

He was in tears by now. All he had wanted was to keep her spirits up. Her father was probably still alive. Her mother and sister may have escaped the blaze and the gryphons. Even if he had found them dead, he would have gladly set up a funeral service to honor their memory.

What hurt most of all was that she blamed him. Not because such a claim was unheard of, but because she had been so very keen on not blaming him before. He'd convinced himself that she was right about him not being responsible for his family's deaths. Now she blamed him for the deaths of her family, and the worst of it was, she was right. Sadie had wanted him to stay, to wait for Jed to come back. To keep her and Mint safe. He'd failed in doing so, and that's something that Jed would agree with.

He didn't want to hurt her anymore. That much, he knew for certain. He didn't want her to be in any more hardships. Even if she wouldn't believe it, he loved her. And right now, what was best for her was that he left. If he stayed, he would be a constant reminder of the fact that her home was destroyed. After all, it was all a result of his choice to leave the farm unprotected.

He couldn't go back to town; he'd just run into her again. She would have to go somewhere, and would likely end up bunking with Meteor. She was her best friend; she'd know what to do.

With one final look back at the plot of land where the farm used to be, Ruiz turned and headed north. Nothing remained for him here. The one good thing in his life, the mare who'd made his days worth living, was sickened by his presence. It was time to leave. If she ever forgave him, he would like to return, but at this point, it would just result in his death, which was far too lenient a fate for the likes of him.

Chapter the Fifteenth: The Simplest Gesture

Mint shifted in her seat. "That wasn't a very good story, Mr. Ruiz. Shouldn't the prince's effort have awarded him something? Like the hoof of a princess, or something?"

Sadie shook her head. "That's not what made it a bad story. Isn't there supposed to be some kind of lesson at the end of this? Some sort of moral?"

"Begging your pardon, señora," sighed Ruiz.

"What are you talking about?" replied Jed. "I heard a few different lessons in there: Sometimes your best isn't good enough. Complete the tasks assigned to you in a timely manner. Never let your final line of defense walk away. Don't abandon the whole kingdom for one grand duchess."

"I don't know about that last one," huffed Sadie. "If the prince had known for certain that the grand duchess was elsewhere, his kingdom would still be standing."

Ruiz seemed to wince at that. "How could he have known, señora?"

"It's a story of bravery," stated Maria matter-of-factly. "The prince was destined to lose from the beginning. He couldn't have possibly succeeded, but he stood up to do what was right, based solely on what information was available to him. Perhaps he was lucky, as the invaders may have very easily killed him, too."

"I still think it could use a happy ending," groused Mint.

"Not every story has a happy ending, Mint," sighed Maria. "Come on, it's past your bedtime."

With a dissatisfied sigh, Mint went up to her room, with Maria trailing behind her. Ruiz stood up and returned Maria's books to the shelf from whence they'd come. It was a sparse collection, but given the price of books, it was significantly larger than Ruiz' library. Then again, even a single book would make it infinitely larger than his.

After a few minutes more, Sadie dismissed Ruiz, telling him that he could go to bed if he so wished. She had achieved her goal of learning something about him. She would have been content just talking to him about nothing in particular, but this was better.

"Ruiz," called Maria as he reached the top of the stairs, "can you come in here for a moment? My dresser drawer is stuck."

Ruiz turned to look. Maria's head was poking out of her bedroom doorway. He'd never been on that side of the hallway. He'd seen Mint, Jed and Sadie all disappear into certain rooms at night, but he'd never entered any of them. He didn't have much need to. He wasn't going to sleep in their beds, nor was he going to stand around and watch them. Anything he had to say could wait until breakfast.

As he entered her room, he looked around. It was the same layout as his own, but with far more aesthetic pieces. While his tiny window that only let in light was bare, she had a sheer cloth in front of hers, which would presumably colour the light as it filtered in. She also had a more grand bed. Though it was the same size as Ruiz', it had four decorative posts with animal faces carved in them. Lastly, from the ceiling hung a large drape against the back wall to add a splash of colour, rather than just the plain wood paneling that Ruiz had.

"Which drawer, señorita?" he asked, moving in front of her dresser.

"The top one," she said. "Can you reach it?"

He could, and while he didn't mind helping, it struck him as odd that she needed his help. She was bigger and presumably stronger than he was, so what did she expect would happen?

He gave the handles a gentle pull, and for the first few centimetres, it worked just fine. Then he could feel on the right side that it was stuck as the slide immediately halted. Something had wedged itself in the track. There was just enough space for his hoof to reach around and pull it out, but her hoof was too big. That made sense, now. He reached in, under and over. The material inside was soft and plush, and he worried that he might dirty them with his elbow. He could feel the cloth wedged against the track. With a simple movement, he slipped it out. The drawer opened just fine now.

Panties. That's what was in the drawer. A pair had fallen out over the side, and that's what had ended up wedged. He was holding the pair that he'd pulled out, and it looked to have been torn. He glanced up at Maria, who just took them from him without a thought.

"Thanks for that. Before you go, I had something I wanted to ask you. Would you mind shutting the door?"

Ruiz swallowed hard. He'd just shoved his hoof into her underwear drawer, and now she wanted him to shut the door. Sure, he thought she was physically attractive, but he had not thought it his place to comment on her appearance. He was not a suitor, and he didn't think Jed would approve.

"It's just a question," added Maria, seeing his discomfort. "I just want to talk."

With a small nod, Ruiz closed the door, but kept his hoof on the handle. "Are you certain this needs to be in secret, señorita? I don't think your parents would approve."

"Do you want them to come in here?" Ruiz shook his head. "I just don't want Mint to overhear us, that's all."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm pretty sure she's the only one that thinks your story was nothing more than a story."

Ruiz reached up and scratched the back of his neck. His gaze fell to the floor.

"I'm right, aren't I? You were the prince."

Ruiz sighed deeply. "I thought I would kill three birds with one stone, señorita. Your mother wanted to know more about me, your sister wanted to be told a story I remembered well and you wanted me to have something to do."

"So, your mother was probably the queen, your brother, the duke, and the ponies of the kingdom your neighbors. Was the duchess a guest?"

"My sister."

Maria's jaw dropped. "Your sister brought the bandits that stole your home?"

"Well, half-sister," answered Ruiz. "We share a mother. The same for all of my known siblings. My parents' only union was me. I was such a mistake that my own father would never show up again."

Maria walked over to Ruiz and wrapped a leg around his shoulders. Immediately, he felt his whole body heating up around her touch as his heart began to beat faster. A wave of fear crashed over him, paralyzing him temporarily. "You're not a mistake, Ruiz."

He took a deep breath. "My very existence stems from a lack of consent, señorita." His voice had cracked as he spoke, and sounded a bit hoarse "I was not wanted, but forced onto my mother's shoulders. I saw the regret in her eyes every time she looked at me. How can I not be a mistake?"

Maria pulled back and looked into his eyes. He'd never felt so small. "Maybe you were an accident. But if you had never been born, we would be worse off. The Ravens would still be here, I might be carrying unwanted foals of my own, and your sister would have had an easier time destroying your family. Do you truly believe that you are the reason your parents did not stay together past your conception?"

Ruiz closed his eyes and lowered his head. He didn't want to say anything.

"Thank you for your help, Ruiz. I'll let you go to bed, now. If you ever want to talk again, though, let me know, okay?"

With a silent nod, Ruiz stepped out into the hallway. He dragged his hooves on the way back to his room, and when he arrived, he just sat down in front of the door. He could still feel her hoof on his shoulder. What had caused him to be so afraid in there?

Chapter the Twenty-Third: Unbound

"You really are some kind of dumbarse." Jed grabbed for the glass bottle and pulled it to his lips, only to remember that it was empty.

"I'll not argue that point, señor," nodded Ruiz, taking the empty bottle and placing it out of sight and out of reach. "I make it no secret that I have no formal education. I can read well enough, and I can do things that I'm told are mathematics, but that doesn't make me particularly smart."

"You were dumb enough to take that deal I proposed. I made it unreasonable so you would throw a fit, and I could have a reason to throw you out."

"Then why did you stop me talking about my family when you saw I was uncomfortable?"

"I thought it would take too long."

"You could have just asked me to leave."

"Sadie and Maria wanted you to stay. Sadie said you needed to stay for a week to heal, Maria wanted to pay you back for helping her. She likes you, ya know?"

Ruiz once again felt his face flush red. He probably had meant that she liked him as a friend, and that was as far as their relationship was going to go. "Is that why you sent us off together this morning, señor?" he joked. "Trying to set me up with your daughter?"

Jed's face contorted in disgust. "Ugh, no! I sent you off with her because you seem to think that our agreement is a binding one, and I was pretty sure you'd bring her back, or at least keep her safe if something went wrong. As brain-dead as you are, I at least don't think you'll run off with her. And even if you did, she's no pushover. She'd kick your arse into next week!"

Ruiz nodded along, a bit disheartened. He'd thought that he and Jed were building up a decent rapport, but apparently not. He did know that Maria was stronger than him, though. If he tried to grab her and force her to do anything, she had the capacity to pin him to the ground. Perhaps she even had the weight to snap his ribs, if she really wanted to.

"Besides, we're all pretty sure you're into stallions."

Ruiz turned to Jed. "Are you going to remember this conversation, señor?"

"Probably not." Jed reached for where his bottle had been before Ruiz had taken it, and started looking around.

"And you're not paying close attention, anyway. Contrary to what you and the gryphons all seem to believe, I do prefer females. Maria is no exception to this rule. I think she is a very attractive young mare. But I have too much respect for her to make an advance. Besides, with the fact that I'm still under contract to work here until the debt is paid off, it would be very upsetting for her to work with someone she doesn't love, who has confessed his feelings toward her. She would want me to leave, but I would still owe you money."

"You don't owe us jack shit," spat Jed. "That's what I been tryin' ta tell ya!"

Ruiz shook his head. "I can't just take your bandages, your food, and live in your house for free."

"Yes, you can! You just have to ask for a few days off, and Sadie will make me go easy on you! Just ask her to take it easy on you, and you'll essentially be living rent-free for minimal work."

"I'm not going to do that."

"Why not?"

Ruiz cleared his throat. "I can't ask for help. I can't take it easy. Other ponies depend on me. If I can't hold them up, what good am I, really? Even when there's a whole network of ponies, like a family, holding each other up, somepony always has to be holding it all together. If somepony isn't holding the rest of them up, the whole system will collapse to the ground, and ponies will suffer. In some cases, they may even die. Somepony has to be around to hold it all up, and I drew the short straw. If I'm asking for help, it means I'm not good enough to support my loved ones on my own. It's shameful."

Jed said nothing, just leaned over and vomited onto Ruiz' lap.

"I think it's time you came inside, señor. Come on, you need to go to bed."

Ruiz stood up and let Jed's stomach contents drop onto the dirt floor of the barn, then helped the stallion to his hooves, acting as a support for him to lean on. "Do you really think I'm shameful?" he hiccupped. "I can't even keep myself upright."

"You're not shameful, señor," replied Ruiz. "You have the luxury of having additional support. Even if you fall, your family won't collapse. You have Sadie, and Maria, and me. I won't let your family fall."

"You let your family fall," reasoned Jed. "Why didn't you have any added support?"

Had Jed been sober, Ruiz would have been far more hurt by this observation. At the very least, he knew Jed was going to forget this, so it might do him some good to talk about it.

"I didn't have anyone to help me, señor. Those who should have wouldn't, those who would have couldn't, and those who could have didn't. I was alone. I didn't have somepony I could depend on to take my place. There was no one around that I could ask for help without being outed as the weak link. You should be glad that you have someone to support you when things go wrong. I honestly don't know why Maria decided to pick me up that night. By all accounts, I was worthless. I wasn't worth the effort. But you've gone and put me on this pedestal, and I'll be damned if I don't meet the expectations you've put on me."

Jed threw up again, this time over Ruiz' shoulder, just as Maria, freshly cleaned in the bathroom, came out to see what was taking so long. She immediately pulled the door open and ushered them inside, and while he was dripping vomit all along the walk behind them, the two of them, with guidance from Sadie, managed to bring Jed up to his bedroom, and place him on the bed. As soon as he was down, Sadie called Maria to her side to help clean him up, and demanded that Ruiz go shower immediately. Not wanting to feel her wrath, and also being in full agreement with her, he did as he was told, then cleaned up the mess that had been dripping from his hooves. He really didn't want to force her to clean up after him again.