Outskirts

Chapter Six

A Brief Respite

Whoever it was that said “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” had obviously never spent an entire morning venturing through the desert only to find that your destination had been turned into a smoldering pile of ash.

In reality though, I should have been able to predict this outcome. The ‘cloud’ I had seen on the horizon was exhibiting very strange oscillation behaviors for condensation. Anypony with a trained eye could have identified it as smoke. But I had been exhausted so I gave myself the benefit of the doubt and decided to mentally pawn off the blame on Warrick for not even noticing the plume of smoke in the distance. Not that it mattered at that point. Ponyville II was not much more than burn residue and the haunting carcasses of what had once been rather impressively designed buildings, before being burnt to the ground that is. Which of course raised the question of who it was that started the fire. A question for which I was quite sure Warrick had at least an idea of the answer to.

“Hey Warri-”

“Shh.” he commanded in a harsh whisper.

“Fine,” I whispered back, a tad miffed, and went back to crawling through the burnt out interior of what looked like a classroom of some sort.

There was ash everywhere. You couldn’t take even the lightest step without sending tufts of the stuff into the air. And Warrick had us doing a military crawl as to “Maintain the element of surprise." So I was breathing in what was surely an unhealthy amount of it. But he had a point. It didn’t take much to put two and two together. Pestilence’s zombies had burned down Raincap, and it didn’t take a genius to guess why. They were after Warrick. And they probably expected this to be the place he’d be heading next, and they were right. So it wasn’t hard to believe they were still here searching. So maintaining silence was pretty important.

Vanity however, did not know the meaning of the word.

“Ahhhh...” She reeled back, gasping a plume of ash and fighting the urge to sneeze. Warrick and I froze solid. She exhaled peacefully and we continued crawling.

“Ahhh....” We froze again. I could feel a bead of sweat rolling down my temple. Vanity trembled, trying to hold it back. She was too weak.

“Eeechew!” It was a sneeze even a small rodent would regard as tiny. I could barely hear it, so there was no possible way anypony else could have.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLACK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLACK CLICK

“Make one more move and the whole building comes down! We have you surrounded!”

Or that.

<<-------------------------------------------------->>

Luck. A force that brings about fortuitous, yet completely chance events that are beyond the control of those that witness them. Events such as missing a pop quiz because you couldn’t catch the bus, being the millionth customer at a restaurant, or finding out that the group of ponies that just surrounded you with enough firepower to turn you into a pile of chunky salsa just so happen to be friends of the mysterious black buck you’ve been travelling with.

“Eeechew!”

Another of Vanity’s tiny sneezes cut through the awkward silence of the room. It had turned out that the ponies who had cornered us were soldiers, and the only other ponies left in Ponyville II. They had us waiting in what must have been their barracks while one of them went off to go fetch their commanding officer. And by “had us waiting” I mean they were holding us at gun point until their boss came and decided whether or not he wanted them to turn us into Swiss cheese. Fortunately, Warrick seemed rather confident we’d be okay. Then again, Smuggler’s Cove had been his idea as well.

When I had tried to query the guards about what had happened they had made it clear that silence was the order of the day. So I took to observation. When they had ordered us out of the class room I got a pretty decent view of what Ponyville II looked like, and from what I could tell, it was similar to what I had seen in my social studies book regarding the actual Ponyville. At least, in terms of civil design. Whereas in the real town there were libraries, bakeries, and stores that sold quills and sofas; in Ponyville II there were armories, training gyms, and classrooms designed for the teaching of battle tactics. Or at least the charred remains of those things. The barracks itself was still impressively intact. From the outside it looked like it had taken a bath in sut, and been vandalized by the troublesome local kids. But for a building caught in a town sized blaze, it was in uncannily good shape. Inside, you could hardly tell anything had happened at all. The beds were all made neatly, and each had a chest at its foot, presumably to store the owner’s belongings. The barracks building had several levels, but they were holding us on the base floor. Probably to ensure the least amount of property damage when they decided to fill us full of holes.

The soldier ponies themselves all looked eerily similar. They all wore thick utility vests and helmets that looked like salad bowls repurposed as protective head gear. And all their tails were trimmed down to almost nothing. Same with their manes. Or at least I assumed as much as I couldn’t see any hair poking out from under their helmets. Then again they could all just be suffering from early hair loss. It would certainly explain their abrasiveness.

“Okay! Nah what’s this Ah hear about trespassers?” Put lightly, the voice was comical. Like who ever it belonged to was trying their very best to sound as masculine as possible but only managing to sound like somepony with a frog in their throat and a very pronounced speech impediment.

When I saw who the voice actually belonged to, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself.

The soldier that had left the barracks entered first, followed by a stallion so massive he could hardly fit through the door. He was the kind of pony that would make my dad say “You’d have to shoot him, cause there’s no way you can fight him.” His coat was a pale evergreen, like there were years of stress greyed into it. But apparently stress had no effect on one’s musculature. The obviously-on-steroids pony stopped short as he entered, looking us up and down and smirking.

“Well Ah’ll be damned. If it ain’t Luna’s shield himself. Long time no see Warrick.”

Long time no see and the last time was fun and rainbows? Or long time no see and now we get torn apart in a hail of bullets?

“Weapons down boys. Wouldn’t wanna get court martialed nah would we?”

The soldiers lowered their heads and removed the face cannons from their snouts. A few of them left the barracks while the others went about their business, seeming to lose all interest in us now that shooting was no longer an option. Vanity looked around, noticing the soldiers dropping their staunch demeanor in favor of a more relieved aire. Sensing the positive change in mood, she stepped forward, raising a hoof to the giant, a smile on her lips.

“Hey! My name is Vanity. Who are you?”

The monster stallion looked down at Vanity, then back at Warrick. She lowered her hoof and stepped back in line with us, sulking.

“Ah gotta say Warrick, yer lookin’ spiffier n’ a million bits,” he said, in a tone I wasn’t altogether sure was sincere.

“Fourleaf,” Warrick began.

“Ah just got one question,” the commander, Fourleaf, interrupted. “Where the fuck have you been?”

Well that didn’t sound very good.

“Did you forget or somethin’? Or did ya’ jus’ not care that you were supposed to rendezvous with us here a day ago?”

Warrick looked back at him narrow eyed.

“But Ah guess that’s alright since apparently instead of doin’ yer job and y’know, defendin’ shit, you were out chasin’ tail!” He pointed at Vanity and me. “And wait just a damn second! Who the hell are these ponies?!” He pointed to one of his men. “Get ‘em outta here! Drug ‘em or somethin’! They’ve seen too much!.”

Two of the cadets looked at eachother then began making a move. One of Warrick’s wings shot open and the soldiers drew back.

“They’re with me.”

“Ah can see that. What Ah wanna know is why?”

“Raincap Village,” Warrick began.

“Huh?” Fourleaf interrupted again. If he was trying to come off as being a belligerent imbecile, he was doing a good job.

“It was hit last night,” Warrick continued.

Fourleaf froze solid.

“They’re....they’re attacking within Equestria?” he asked.

“Uh....no,” Warrick began, sounding embarrassed. “They were looking for me.”

“An’ what in tarnation were you doin’ inside the damn border?!”

“I got shot down outside the fence. The Raincap ponies found me and locked me up in that abandoned underground lab. Apparently they had found it and turned it into some kind of drug cooking plant.”

Vanity and I exchanged wide eyed glances.

“How industrious,” Fourleaf remarked.

“Yeah, well I guess kidnapping and torture aren’t that much of a moral conundrum for drug dealers. They had me strapped to a medical bed. Did a number on me trying to get me to tell them where I was from, who I was. I was sure they were gonna lynch me, until these two came along and set me free.”

That was news to me. The Mayor of Raincap never struck me for the type that would be involved in such a base practice as drug dealing. Then again, she was always rather charismatic, which would serve a salespony well. Oh, and as I recall it was me that set Warrick free. Alone.

“Well in that case Ah suppose you had a good reason fer...wait a minute. Lemme get this straight. You mean ta’ tell me, you were rescued...by a couple a’ school fillies?!”

Fourleaf looked around to his soldiers, inciting them to join in as he laughed at the apparently unbecoming events surrounding Warrick’s continued existence.

“That’s not important!” Warrick asserted, defensively. “How about you tell me what happened here? Last I checked, using military installations as fuel for bonfires was a big no-no.”

Fourleaf stopped laughing.

“Pestilence.”

Warrick nodded like he had already known, but was just making sure.

“Figured as much. They burned Raincap down as well. It’s strange though, I didn’t see any bodies out there.”

“Funny story ‘bout that. Pinkie Pie was here yesterday. Had one of her weird muscle spasms an’ said we needed to evacuate. I had no idea what was goin’ on, but Twilight took it real serious so we did as we were told.”

“She was...here?” Warrick asked, his voice carrying something I hadn’t heard in it before. Was that...concern?

“Don’t worry, everypony important got out long b’fore we got hit,” Fourleaf assured him.

“Good,” Warrick said with a sigh. He looked up at Fourleaf, his expression betraying confusion. “If there was an order to evacuate, why are you still here?”

“An attempt to protect the instillation. Ah had a hoof full of mah best stay behind to try t’ fight off whatever it was that wanted in.” He lowered his head. “Ah’m ashamed t’ say that when Ah saw what we were up against...Ah ordered mah boys t’ hide an’ wait the whole thing out.” His teeth were grinding together, like he could barely contain himself. “We jus’ watched as they burned the whole damn place down.”

“Good thing too,” Warrick said, as if praising Fourleaf for his cowardice.

“What?”

“Youre bodies would have just added more fuel to the fire, might’ve caused even more damage.”

Fourleaf looked back at Warrick as if he were staring at a madman. Then, as if realizing that yes, he was, he composed himself.

“Well anyway, since ya was bein’ tortured an’ all, Ah guess I got no reason to be mad about ya missin’ the party yesterday Warrick. And if that’s the case then Ah owe an apology t’ ya’ little lady,” Fourleaf said, looking at Vanity. She lit up and dashed over to him, raising a hoof.

“Apology accepted! I’m Vanity! Who are you?!”

Fourleaf looked at Warrick in confusion.

“She always like this?”

Warrick shrugged his shoulders.

“An’ how ‘bout you?” Fourleaf asked, nodding at me.

“Me?” I asked, barely able to get the word out. It was strange, like it was hard to open my mouth, or even breath for that matter. I felt weak. “Yeah...you know, I’m...me...blue...my name...”

Warrick and Vanity turned to me quickly.

“You okay?” Fourleaf asked.

“Oh....” Warrick’s eyes went wide as his gaze fell on me right hind leg.

I slowly lowered my head, looking for myself. The bandages on my leg were soaked red, and blood was flowing out in a torrent. I stared at my wounds, half in shock and half in a state of mental absence.

“Hmm. Paralyzing exhaustion and sporadic mental delirium as side effects of traumatic blood loss.” I looked up, nodding at the three of them. “I think I’ll pass out now. Vanity catch me.”

“Wha-”

THUD

<<-------------------------------------------------->>

“Are you sure she’ll be okay?” Get a million ponies all together in the same place, get them all talking at once, and I could pick out that overly high pitched, sweeter than sugar, unrelentingly annoying voice without even trying.

I blinked my eyes open, adjusting to the light of the room. I was in a bed, with an intravenous tube in my foreleg. Beside me, Vanity and a unicorn buck with an orange coat and dark brown mane looked over a screen with a read out of my vital signs. Or rather, the orange buck was examining the screen while Vanity shoved her way beside him to have a peek. She gasped, pushing his head down with her hooves and placing her face directly on the screen. She lifted his head back up, smearing it against the monitor.

“What does that mean then?!” she demanded.

“It means your sister is going to be fine,” the buck mumbled.

“How would you know?! You can’t even see the screen!” she argued.

“Then maybe you should stop crushing my face,” he said flatly.

“Oh...sorry.” Vanity released him, an awkward smile on her face.

The buck looked at the monitor then at me.

“She lost a lot of blood, but we had more than enough synthetic stuff to thin out what she had left. She’ll need to rest for at least a day or two, but she’ll be fine.”

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” Vanity threw her forelegs around the buck and began squeezing the life out of him.

“You’re...welcome,” he wheezed.

Vanity released him and trotted over to my bedside.

“Hear that Peri? You just gotta sleep a little and you’ll be A-okay. And don’t worry, I’m gonna be right here the whole time to talk you through it!”

Two days with nothing but Vanity’s endless filibusters to keep me company? Yeah, I think I’ll go ahead and take the sleep option.

<<-------------------------------------------------->>

Six apples, three school textbooks, a sand covered blanket, a jar of sugar cubes, some dresses, and an old novel by Anima Roads. My backpack was getting lighter and lighter every time I opened it.

“Where’s my first aid kit?”

“Oh, the orange guy took it. He said there was only a little stuff left in it, so he took and said it was payment for making sure you lived.” Every word out of her mouth was punctuated by her smile. Seeing me awaken from my exhausted daze was to her what Hearth’s Warming Eve was to preschool fillies.

“Did somepony say ‘the orange guy’?” The orange pony entered the room carrying bandages and a bottle of chewable pain killer. “I see you’re up. I’d give you a tour of the infirmary, but you can get the same effect by looking left, then looking right.”

He wasn’t kidding. The “infirmary” was the size of most small kitchens. two beds, the machine for reading vitals, and enough room to fit two or three non-patient ponies. And it was anything but sterile. Just looking at the walls was enough to make me fear infection. The orange pony trotted over to the bed and lifted the sheets off me. The set of bandages I had on were slightly tainted.

“Well, well, well,” the buck began, examining the bandaging. “I guess I’m a better healer than I thought.”

“That puts my mind at ease,” I remarked.

As he undid the old wrappings his eyes trailed up to my wings. He lowered his head.

“Damn cultists will even go after a mare’s wings.” He looked up at me apologetically. “I’m sorry, there was nothing I could do to fix them, they’re already set.”

“Oh...um yeah, don’t feel too bad about that.”

“But...your wings...”

“Have been like that since birth.”

He stared back at me awkwardly for a moment then began running a hoof through his mane and smiling.

“I’m really sorry about that,” he offered, raising his hooves apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it.”

He nodded and went back to changing my bandages.

“Hey,” I began, remembering my manners. “I don’t think I got your name.”

“Oh yeah!” Vanity exclaimed. “Me neither. I was just calling you the orange guy.”

The buck let out a small sigh and muttered something under his breath.

“What was that?” I asked.

“My name is...Clementine...”

“Huh? I couldn’t hear yo-”

“My name is Clementine!” he shouted, cutting me off.

Vanity and I exchanged glances. I could tell she was trying as hard as I was not to let a giggle slip out.

“That’s a very...” I paused, trying to think of some word that, under the circumstances, couldn’t be taken in an insulting manner.

“It’s a girl’s name,” said Vanity, biting back laughter.

Clementine sunk his face into the bed and finished wrapping my leg.

“There. I’m gonna go drown my shame in those sugar cubes if you don’t mind.” My jar of treats levitated out of my bag and Clementine began to trot out of the room.

“Hold up,” I said, halting him. “Where’s Warrick?”

“He’s off talking to Sergeant Fourleaf. Making plans or something. Why, is there something you need?”

“Tell you what. I do mind you eating my sugar cubes.”

‘Huh?” He looked at the jar and began to lower it. “Oh...sorry I guess. I just-”

“But,” I interrupted. “You can have the whole jar if you’d be willing to answer a few questions.”

He looked at me cautiously, then at Vanity, then back at me.

“What kind of questions?”

“I want to know about Pestilence.”

Clementine was taken aback. He stared at me for a moment, then levitated the jar of sugar cubes over to the bed and released it.

“Sorry, but there are some things that aren’t for everypony,” his tone was absolute. He continued, but this time with a smile, “Plus, I really should be cutting back on the sweets.” He turned to leave.

“That’s not the answer I was looking for. Vanity, the door.”

The door was wrapped in white magic and swung closed. Clementine looked at Vanity, then began laughing and turned to me.

“What? You’re threatening me?”

“Threatening you? What? No, no. Why, should we be? I was under the impression you were going to help us. Was I wrong?” Evil little bitch mode: Activate.

“Okay listen to me. This isn’t funny. I don’t know what you think you know, but even if giving that kind of information wouldn’t cost me my position and maybe more than that, I still wouldn’t tell you. I’m sorry you lost your home, and I know you must want answers, but I can’t be the one to give them.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Please, don’t push this.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you what. You tell us what we want to know, and I we won’t tell your officer that he has an attempted rapist in his squad.”

Evil little bitch mode is very aptly named. Even I felt dirty saying that.

“You can’t even be serious right now. You’re joking right?” He was in shock that I’d suggest such a thing. And to be fair, he had the right to be. But I needed answers, and I wasn’t getting them from Warrick. It was a brash decision, but it was too late to go back now. “They’ll never believe you,” he reasoned, an aire of hatred in his voice.

“Oh really?” sweet Celestia why couldn’t I stop? “Because I think all it would take is one little scream. One scream and they’d all come running. I could tell them what ever I wanted then.” I looked to Vanity, who seem more disturbed by this than anypony. She’d forgive me though, she always did. “You’re a pretty good actress, right Vanity? How about a little scream?”

Vanity took a deep breath.

“Okay! Fine! Just stop it!” Clementine protested.

I smirked at him and he shook his head in disgust. Vanity just sighed and sat down on the floor. Clementine took a breath, then began.

“Four ponies, four roles, one united Equestria. That was the idea. That was the goal.”

“The goal? For what?”

Clementine sighed. “Okay, I’ll take it from the top, but I don’t know everything.” He said that as if it would actually deter me from asking anyway.

“That’s fine, give me the abridged version.”

“Fine. Princesses Celestia was afraid for Equestria’s future. There were so many beings that wanted to see civilization burn, just for the hell of it. Even Luna had gone bad, but I’m sure you’ve heard about that. Celestia realized she couldn’t do it alone. She couldn’t protect Equestria and be there to ensure it went on prospering the way it normally did. So she found help.”

Help? I’d never heard of anything like that before.

“Four ponies, four roles, one united Equestria,” Clementine continued. “She figured that if there was one pony for each role needed to keep Equestria functioning as the utopia it was, she could simply sit as the figurehead, a symbol for the people, and everything would still get done. So she found four she thought she could trust: Vitality, Immunity, Prosperity, and Defense.”

Warrick.

“Celestia called them ‘The Four’, and they were supposed to be Equestria’s eternal salvation. Their roles were pretty self explanatory. Vitality, Immunity, and Prosperity worked in tandem, ensuring that Equestria stayed beautiful, lively, and infinitely bountiful. And Defense, Defense did the things Celestia could only trust Defense to do. I don’t know the specifics, but barring cataclysmic events like the return of Nightmare Moon or that run in with Chrysalis, when was the last time you heard of violence in Equestria?”

For the first time in a long time, I was stumped.

“Exactly. Which I guess means he was doing his job well. That is, until it all fell apart.”

“What happened?” I asked, craving more knowledge.

“Greed is a funny thing. It can corrupt anypony, even if they already have something worth living and dying for. In the case of The Four, it was a lust for power. At least, it was for three of them. In a coup that had been being planned for who knows how long, Vitaly, Immunity, and Prosperity turned on Celestia. It was a miracle she was able to survive, let alone cast them out of Equestria. But the victory didn’t last. In their exile they allowed their hatred and greed to consume them. Made them even more powerful too. They were no longer care givers of Equestria, so they formed a new pact, and adopted new titles: Death, Pestilence, Famine, and War.”

“War...Warrick...seriously?”

“Yeah, we used to make that joke too. Turns out it was just a coincidence,” Clementine clarified.

“Wait a second. You said they changed? What is Warrick doing here then?”

“I don’t know, magic? See, Death, Pestilence, and Famine are alicorns. When they turned, they figured their old friend Defense would be right there with them. So they took it upon themselves to try to turn him. I don’t know how that was resolved, but obviously they failed. Either way though, their little trifecta didn’t last long.”

“But why? You said they grew even more powerful. Why not just topple Celestia?” That’s what I would have done...were I a psychotic megalomaniac of course.

“Greed is a funny thing. It can corrupt anypony, even if they are already rotten to the core. From what I gathered from the teachings, there was an argument amongst them as to who would be the true ruler of Equestria once they had taken it from the Princess. So they ended up splitting. Now they each reside out here, in the place outside Equestria, biding their time till one of them gets bold enough to take a shot at the homeland. That’s all I know. But, I have a question for you.”

That was a surprise. “Okay, shoot.”

“How did you know about Pestilence?”

And just like that I was back in that vent, watching Brazen Charm get wrenched in two by that disgusting green magic. I couldn’t help but tremble.

“I...talked to him.” Lowered my head and looekd away. That had been one of the most harrowing moments of my life. Well wait no, what am I saying, that was the most harrowing.

Clementine wasn’t expecting that answer. He sighed deeply and walked over to my bed. “Listen Periwinkle-”

“JUST...just Wink.”

“Okay...listen Wink, I’m sorry.”

“What? I just threatened to lie and tell everyone you were the scum of the Earth. Why are you sorry?”

“Because keeping guys like Pestilence out of places like Raincap is our job. And you being here means we failed. And for that, I think we all deserve to get at least a tongue lashing from the people we were supposed to protect.”

Either he was trying to get my guard down so he could smother me with my pillow, or he was actually just that...good.

“What do you know about Smuggler’s Cove?” I asked.

“More?” He sighed.

“I did say ‘a few’.”

“It’s an underground base several miles from here. It was originally used as a military hub for Celestia’s people. Pestilence owns it now.” he paused as if coming to some realization. “You were there weren’t you? That’s how you know Pestilence? Well, not know him, but know of him. But yeah, you were there weren’t you?”

“The crops,” I mused. “They were growing without sun or water, or even soil. Just growing right out of the sand.”

“Well, it’s Pestilence. He didn’t just lose his magic when he stopped being Immunity.”

Things were starting to make a bit more sense now that I had at least some context.

“Hey listen,” Clementine began. “I should get out of here. You need to rest, and I might be needed elsewhere.”

“Okay. And thank you.”

He smiled and waved me off. “Talking? That I can do. Just don’t ask me to do anything hard like calming down a rampaging ursa. I might actually have to break a sweat for that.”

I smiled. Some humor was just what the doctor ordered right about now, which was ironic since he was a doctor. And speaking of humor, Vanity had been uncharacteristically quiet during that whole thing.

“Vanity?” I leaned over to see past Clementine. Vanity was still in the room alright, and she was out like a light. I suppose it shouldn’t have come as any form of surprise. She did that all the time in history class. Learning was something she had a natural aversion to.

“I’ll take that!” Clementine offered in a humorously direct tone. He wrapped the sleeping Vanity in his magic and opened the door. “Now as for you, I expect nothing more out of you except the light breathing of a sleeping mare. Doctor’s orders. Oh, and I’ll take those.” He levitated up the jar of sugar cubes and left the room, closing the door behind him.

<<-------------------------------------------------->>

I had just been laying there for hours staring at the ceiling since Clementine had left with Vanity. Moonlight poured in through the room’s one window. This was the first time I had actually been fully conscious during the night time out in the desert, and I was exhausted, but with so much on my mind getting much needed rest was becoming a challenge. I buried my face in my pillow and tried to clear my mind. I reeled back, catching a whiff of the odor emanating from the pillow. The smell was thick and musty. It was like the time I was sent to the colt’s locker room to deliver a note to the polo coach. I had been so nervous. Walking into a room full of colts while they were all changing. Granted, we don’t normally wear cloths, but it was the principle of the matter. But I digress. The point is that the pillow smelled like a mixture of buck sweat and raw ass. And that was all it took to stir up memories of the home I had lost. And that was all it took for my tear ducts to spring a leak. It helped though, I suppose. At least I was able to cry myself to sleep.

<<-------------------------------------------------->>

“Nah, Ah’ve heard a’ cutie mark envy b’fore, but what in Celestia’s green Equestria is that on yer flank?”

The next morning Warrick and Fourleaf had come to check on me.

“Ah mean seriously? What’d ya splash paint on yerself or something? That’s a little extreme don’t ya think? Did a good job a’ gettin’ it pretty even on both sides though.”

“That is my cutie mark,” I explained. He was right though, not even I knew what it was. “And wait a second! What are you doing staring at my flank?!”

Fourleaf choked up. He looked around the room like a colt that had been caught with his hoof in the cookie jar. He smiled coyly “Can a buck be blamed?”

“That’s about enough of that,” Warrick said, pushing Fourleaf out of the infirmary and closing the door behind him. He turned around and nodded to my leg.

“It’s fine. Clementine did a good job.” He nodded and turned to leave. “What have you been up to?” I asked. I needed someone to talk to. Someone familiar.

Warrick turned back around and sighed. “Well, I just spent I don’t even know how many hours trying to explain to those degenerates why I’ve been running around with a couple of high school mares. That was fun.”

“Hey, you’re barely older than us,” I contested. An attempt at humor. More for myself than for him.

“Yeah...” Warrick looked at me. For a brief moment I could see guilt in his eyes, but it was replaced by a reassurance that I could tell was forced. “We’re gonna find your parents Wink.”

That was unexpected. At least, coming from him.

“What? Yeah, I know that, what are you-”

“I know teary eyes and sleep deprivation when I see them.”

Damn it. My cheeks must have been as red as macintosh apples. This is what I get for not packing tissues.

“I...”

“It’s okay. Just make sure you get your rest. We’re heading out tomorrow.”

“Where to?”

“The only other place the Raincap prisoners could have been taken...”

Pestilence’s Bog.