The Long Road Home

by The Midnight Stalker

Leaving Out

He woke with the sun. Normally he would've got up earlier, but after last night he felt a little extra sleep was deserved. And with the day he had ahead of him it probably wasn't a bad idea either way. He had spent all day yesterday preparing for the journey he had ahead of him.

Now up he stared to go about getting everything to go. There wasn't much to do really though, he did most of it yesterday. Now all he had to do was collect everything. All he had to do was grab his saddlebags and his rifle. He went ahead and tossed in the pipBuck that The Boss had given him. Maybe he could find somepony who could help him figure it out, or he could always trade it for something a little more useful if it came down to it.

The pipBuck reminded him that he should stop by and let The Boss know that he was leaving. He needed to go to that side of town anyhow. The Boss Lived on the south side of town, so it was perfect. He started to make his way to the other ponies house. As he walked he saw that a few other ponies were already up. While this didn't surprise him, it was nice to see that others took enough pride in their work to go and take the time to do it right.

To them, though, the sight of Lonesome was an eerie one. He was the town's resident hermit, coming out only when necessary and rarely in town to begin with. He wasn't hated by the others, but they were wary. They had good reason to be. After all it's not every day you introduce yourself to a town by taking out the local gang leader. Not that it was much of a gang. Just a few local punks trying to extort money from passing trade caravans, but the leader was a crook who came out here from one of the big cities, probably Manehatten. He likely would've wound up running everything around here if Lonesome hadn't shown up. After he was challenged when he walked into town, Lonesome just lifted up his rifle and blew the other guys head off. A pretty grisly sight. It didn't really endear him to the townsponies, but they let him stay so as long as he doesn't kill any locals.
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While Lonesome was working his way across town The Boss was busy as well. He was in a meeting with an old colleague. The Boss needed information and he'd decided to call in an old favor to get it. After all it's best to knew who you're working with, and Lonesome was an enigma, even after all this time. So he called in his "friend", a fellow who was acquainted with others who could get nearly anything and find anypony. It made him cringe at the thought of some of the things these ponies were willing to do to get what they want. Thinks that even he, The Boss, wouldn't approve of.

"So what do you need, Flaky? You have a lot of gall calling me all the fucking way out here. I have things to do, you know." Said a dark blue unicorn pony.
"Damn it, I told you not to call me that. Now shut up and listen! I've got a good lead on the Robonco Gadget..."

"So, then why do you need me? If you've found it then let me go home." Retorted the other pony.
The Boss scowled. He didn't like being interrupted, but he held his tongue and continued.

"I haven't found it, but I got a guy looking for it for me. Call's himself Lonesome."

"Sounds stupid to me." the other pony interrupted again, "but it's not that bad."

"Be quiet." The Boss glared at the blue pony. "Here's the thing, he's not doing this for caps. In return, I'm supposed to look into something that happened out near Fillydelphia about 10 years ago. I'm not really sure what we wants though, he never gave me much to go on."

"And now you want me to dig up some dirt on this guy, right? Find out who he is?"

"Yeah. I need a better idea as to what his angle is, ya know?"

"Sure, I got you. Look, it may take awhile, but I'll see what I can do. You said Fillydelphia?" The Boss nodded. "Good. I've got a few contacts out that way. I'll talk to 'em and see. Might tell them that you got a good lead on the Widget too. They've been wanting it too, ya know."

"Who in the wasteland doesn't want it?"

"True. Now, when's this fellow supposed to leave? You said he had a lead, and I'm assuming that means he's leaving town.'

"Yeah he is. I'm not entirely sure where he's going, said something about heading south. Probably leaving today. Never stays longer that he has to." There was a tapping noise at the front of the building "Probably him now. He always stops by before he leaves. Likes let me know when he's gone so i can keep other ponies away from his house."

"Well in that case, I shall leave. Good seeing you again, old friend. Perhaps next time we can simply visit?"
"Perhaps. Now, please take your leave."

Then the mysterious blue pony left out the back. Lonesome was just entering the front.
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He knew something was up the minute he walked up, but that didn't surprise him. With The Boss there was always something afoot. He knew that The Boss had someone over right now. He could hear snatches of their conversation.

"Be quiet... working for free... out near Fillydelphia.. sure what we wants... gave me much to go on.."

"And now you want me to dig up some dirt...."

"Yeah. I need a better idea.. ya know?"

"Sure, I got you. Look, it may take awhile... I've got a few contacts out that way. I'll talk to 'em and see. Might tell them that you got.... They've been wanting it too, ya know."

"Who in the wasteland doesn't want it?"

"True. Now when's this fellow suppose to...? you said he had a lead. I'm assuming that means he's leaving town."

"Yeah he is...sure where he's going...heading south. Probably leaving today. Never stays longer that he has to."

Then he heard hoofsteps and some silence. It lasted for a minute before he heard something approach the door. Then it opened. In front of him was The Boss.

"Come in, come in" He motioned for Lonesome to enter. " How are you this evening?"

"I'm doing fine. Just came by to let you know that I'm leaving town. Make sure that you keep my stuff safe."

"I will, like always. You can count on me. Now if you'll excuse me I have a mess to clean up." Lonesome started to leave, but The Boss waved a hoof at him. "Oh, don't rush off. I can talk while I'm doing this."

"Okay." The Boss noticed Lonesome looking around.

"If you want to know, I just had an old friend over. He just left. We had some business to discuss."

His curiosity sated for now, Lonesome spoke. "Whatever. It's your business, not mine. Anyhow, I'm going to be
gone for quite some time. The journey there is three days, four at the most. So I'd say I'll be gone at least two months. Likely much longer."

"Thanks for telling me Lonesome. I'll be a little lonely without you, but I think I'll be okay." The Boss gave Lonesome a little grin.

"Well, I guess you'll have to suffer. I have to get going. It's already noon, and I need to leave before it gets any hotter."

"I understand. Farewell, Lonesome. I hope you make it back. From what Mallet was saying, you had a close call last time. Almost didn't make it back."

"Well I did. That's all that matters." Lonesome said as he started out the door.

The Boss looked back to say something else, but saw that Lonesome was gone.
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He quickly left town after leaving The Boss' house. He silently cursed himself for waiting so long to leave. He had hoped to get some distance between him and the town before it started to get hot out. It was Barely past noon and it was already hot. Lonesome figured it was probably well over 100 Degrees by now. He silently sent a prayer to those above that it wouldn't get too much hotter. Sadly, he knew there wasn't anything he could do about it. Hopefuly he won't see any mirages. Last time he saw one of those it wasn't pretty.

He had wandered all day towards what he thought was a large pond, one that was always just a little further away. At some point he had collapsed. Luckily, he was found by a Merchant who got a few of his workers to drag him along till he woke up. It could've been worse. He might've been found by Raiders or never found at all. So now if something seems a little off, he ignores it. He'd learned a valuable lesson, after all: Don't always trust your eyes.

Now he was trudging along the dry, cracked desert landscape. As he looked ahead, he really didn't see anything but the dry parched ground stretching out in front of him. He hoped that he would see somepony soon. Maybe somepony who could tell him a little about the town he was headed towards. He needed to know how the town was set up, who was in charge and the like.

Several hours later the heat of the day had passed. Lonesome hadn't made as much progress as he would've liked, but he had gone far enough. He could travel through the night, but he know he would be tired in the morning. He didn't need that. He planned on getting up early so he could some some distance before the heat came back.

He had been lucky today. He hadn't encountered anything remotely dangerous. That made him worry about tomorrow. His luck was rarely ever this good. He had spotted a coyote at one point but it ran off before he got close. Now that night was upon him he had to get ready for it. He knew from experience that it often got cold at night, especially in the desert, so he had packed a tent for shelter and a warm sleeping pad. He often liked to sleep under the stars, but he set up the tent anyway. You never knew when the weather could take a turn for the worse out here. A dust storm could come up at any time, or you could get caught up in a flash flood. You never really knew.

It was starting to get cooler now. Lonesome could tell it was going to be a real cold night, so he started gathering some of the scrub grass and bushes. Soon he had a small fire going. He laid out his sleeping mat, then he lay down himself.
As he lay there, he thought about his life. He thought about the choices he had made and all his decisions, both right and wrong. It was a rough life, but he did what he had to do. That was the plain and simple truth. Finally, and not for the first time, he wondered if it was all really worth it. He didn't know if they would like him after so long. He wasn't the same pony he used to be, after all... Maybe it was just a waste of time.

Then he decided, not for the first time or the last, that it didn't matter. He'd do it anyway. Clearing his mind, he contented himself with gazing at the everpresent clouds, and wondering if Luna's silver moon was shining down on the wasteland from somewhere high above, where no pony could see it.