Just as Dawn made its morning rise, the aforementioned forest came into view. Air Slash and Fire Fight, who were awake for their turn to watch at the time woke the others up. Spiral Galaxy had slept the rest of the night after the meteor fell. The other three groggily awoke, and gathered their things as Fire Fight and Spiral Galaxy used their magic to dock the raft at the riverbank. Once they hit shore, the unicorns packed their things, and helped the others pull the raft onto land.
“We need to hide this in a place where we’ll remember to find it. Just at the tip of forest should suffice.” Air Slash said.
“Yeah, good idea. I’ll make us some breakfast after we do.” Fire Fight said. So he did.
They levitated and dragged the raft into a little clearing just big enough for it within the little branch of forest right by the river. Once that was done, Fire Fight got a fire going, and used some of their bounty they gathered before the voyage to start making a little breakfast stew for everyone. Just as he did, Air Slash ascended into the trees, and managed to nab a few bird eggs. He handed them to Fire Fight. “Finally, some good protein!” Fire Fight said with delight. While he didn’t have enough to make omelettes, he instead just scrambled them, and just plated them with everything else, much to everypony’s delight.
Once breakfast was finished, the foals refilled their water bottles in the river, and set off in the sunrise towards their destination. Dodge City could just barely be seen over the horizon even from where they were. It was indeed as close as Shadow Shroud’s map would have you believe. It certainly helped that there was a dirt path leading towards it; it was probably used to go to the river for the desert-dwellers to gather water at the river. With that in mind, the foals decided to keep to the shadows of the nearby forest in case any passerby happened to……well, pass by.
The city was finally just a hop, skip and jump from the line of trees hiding the foals. Cowponies could be seen going about their business on the outskirts. Other than that, it seemed like a western version of Ponyville. “So what exactly are we to look for?” Air Slash asked.
“Just look for foals who seem like they’re not very popular for their special talent, Air Slash. If they look like they don’t have very many friends, if at all, maybe even their parents don’t seem to like them, you know. Stuff like that.” Spiral Galaxy explained. “At least….That’s what the others told me, right?”
Fire Fight nodded. “Yeah. Basically look for a foal that you see much of yourself in. Their skills are unappreciated, maybe even seen as dangerous.” He explained.
“Might I suggest we leave our weapons here? We’d get plenty of funny looks, and consequently, unneeded attention. Air Slash should also conceal his nature as a Bladerunner. Wouldn’t want his pride to be an inconvenience, now would we?” Shadow Shroud said.
Air Slash leered at her in annoyance. “Are we quite certain it’s my pride we should concern ourselves with?” He asked.
“Can y’all two save da brova and sistuh arguin’ fo’ some otha damn time? We got lost foals to pick up, d’ho.” Turf War said.
Shadow Shroud pointed her kunai at Turf War. “Any further insinuation that he and I are siblings will result in a cut throat!” she threatened.
Turf War just put his hooves up playfully. “Damn, homegirl. My bad.” He said.
“Enough of that, guys!” Fire Fight ordered. “Shroud has a point. It might have been better to leave them with the raft- well……actually no. Let’s look around for a bit first, and find a spot to lay low. The city’s already too busy to safely find a hiding place with so many of us.”
“Yeah. They might think we’re on a field trip or something. Plus, we’d be pretty out of place since none of us have cowpony clothes or anything.” Spiral Galaxy added.
“There’s that too.” Fire Fight affirmed. “So let’s go see if we can’t find another cave or something.” He turned to looked at Shadow Shroud and Air Slash, whom were glaring at one another. “Right, you two?” he firmly asked.
The two rivals broke out of their staring contest, and looked at Fire Fight with the expression of a student who’d been caught napping in class. “Uh…Yes, of course.” Shadow Shroud stammered.
“Mmhm.” Air Slash said.
They ventured into the forest beyond the city. There were many more trees to traverse this trip seeing as they had hiked further inland from the river along the trail. It was a forest like any other- quiet, yet an eternal theater where Nature’s many choirs sang fervently. There was a clearing, or little ditch here and there, but nothing to really serve as a hiding spot. Eventually, the foals came across a space between two trees about ten feet apart that was occupied by a massive bush. Surprisingly enough, they could crawl into it like a small fort, so they did. It was a bit of a tight fit, but the foals managed. They set up their bedrolls, and the colts stored their much more conspicuous gear by their respective ones; Air Slash had sewn one from a surplus of tendril strips he had peeled. Spiral Galaxy stored her armor by hers. Shadow Shroud, of course, kept her concealed arsenal at hoof in case of an emergency. The foals marked there little hideout with an ‘X’ drawn into the dirt by the entrance with of Shroud’s kunai.
Once they’d finished settling in, the foals made the trek back to the outskirts of Dodge City. “I wonder how that Rodeo Show went? We probably missed it.” Spiral Galaxy asked aloud.
Air Slash cocked his head. “Rodeo Show?” he asked.
“Oh! I guess we didn’t a chance to tell you, did we?” Fire Fight said. He let Shadow Shroud explain what she had overheard on the train bound for Dodge City before they had to…..make their sudden detour. Air Slash didn’t seem very surprised to here anything about such an event being held in such a place, but the mention of guns certainly caught his interest.
“Is that so? And you presume this colt that apparently wields these….er, ‘guns’ might be a lost foal?” Air Slash inquired.
They nodded. “I seent what a gun can do, Air Slash. And lemme tell ya somethin’: d’em li’l b- things don’t play!” Turf War said. He explained the incident he’d described once to the others, and a look of worry overtook Air Slash’s face.
“Then who would be so foolish as to allow a foal to wield such a dangerous weapon!? This all seems rather farfetched.” He said.
“The same kind of fool who would allow foals to wield swords, I’d presume.” Shadow Shroud sneered.
“Hmph! Or whatever all you’re carrying!” Air Slash retorted.
“Exactly.” Shroud said.
Fire Fight rolled his eyes at their banter, but acknowledged that it brought up a good point. “All we know is what Shroud was able to gather from the mares she heard talking, and she gathered that this colt, if he’s even real, has a special talent with guns just like we do with our own stuff. I think you can agree that’s asking for trouble- trouble we might need to see for ourselves.” He said.
Air Slash thought for a moment, then conceded. “Hmm…I suppose you’re right.” He said. “But tell me, Fire Fight. This ‘utopia’ you hope to create, why is it that you believe that this is the answer to everypony’s problem?”
Turf War, and Spiral Galaxy were surprised to hear him ask that. Shadow Shroud sighed to herself as though she had expected to come up sooner or later. Fire Fight was surprised, but he kept his composure. “If you’re still wondering about that, I’m a little surprised you decided to come with us.” Fire Fight replied.
“Indeed, so tell me why I should continue to take this journey with you.” Air Slash retorted.
Fire Fight took a deep breath as he thought of an answer. More than anything, he wanted to get away from the hate he’d constantly receive from his peers for what made him who he was, and he had the compassion to take others with him, which is what sparked this whole journey to begin with. Though admittedly, he’d thought little of what its ultimate outcome would be. He thought he’d just let things happen, and plan out from there, but Air Slash quickly reminded him that it wasn’t as simple as that. Thinking long and hard about his experiences, he mustered a reply.
“Because you and I can both see that Equestria is a broken item that refuses to be fixed, and we’re what’s breaking it. You and I have felt what it’s like to feel trapped at your own home. You and I find comfort outside of what we’re taught from birth, but others refuse to acknowledge that. And You and I both remember how Equestria was founded. Ponies who escaped the prison they had unknowingly built around themselves found comfort far away from it. They knew they wouldn’t last much longer the way things were, so what did they do? They ran away from it all, and through cooperation, built the paradise we know now. Their first paradise had become broken because what they believed, and now over a thousand years later, history is repeating itself little by little. But I’m not going to wait until everything freezes over like our ancestors did! I’m going to act now, and save what I can- save what I have to before history totally repeats.” He said.
Turf War, and Spiral Galaxy listened in awe at their friend’s speech. Even their own decision seemed a little rash in the long run, they were glad to have joined such a strong, determined colt. Shadow Shroud silently smiled as she listened to the whole thing; she knew she wasn’t a fool for joining him either.
Fire Fight gazed at Air Slash with determination, wondering…hoping that this was a good enough answer for his newest companion. Nervousness overtook his conscious when for a moment, the young samurai just stared at him. He couldn’t tell if he was still contemplating the speech he’d received, or just disapproved of it altogether. He relaxed when Air Slash smiled proudly at him.
“I was hoping you would say that!” Air Slash said.
Fire Fight smiled seeing that he’d satisfied his friend. He held his head high once more, and led his entourage through the forest with a clear conscious.
Air Slash suddenly noticed Shadow Shroud sneakily eyeing him with approval. She walked up next to him, and whispered. “Seems I couldn’t find the right time to put that pressure on him. Not bad, Bladerunner.”
Air Slash eyed her pompously. “Well, somepony has to pick up your slack, Shadewalker.” He whispered back to her.
“I suppose only you’d be nitpicky enough, so I thank you. It’ll be nice to have….a little butler in that sense.” She devilishly giggled. “I jest.”
Air Slash’s pompous eyeing quickly turned into an annoyed glare. “You’d better be.” He growled.
Once the foals reached the edge of the forest once more, they looked out into the city, observing what had changed so that they might plan their next move.