//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 - The Question and the Meeting 
// Story: I Am A Soldier [Nanowrimo] 
// by GreyVestibule 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Six - The Question and the Meeting

After a while of working through the few books on the shelf, the soldier was pleasantly surprised to find a book that consisted almost entirely of pictures. There were words still, yes, but so much was shown through the pictures instead as well. Every page  was filled with squares, rectangles, or sometimes other shapes that were filled with images which, when looked at in a sequence, seemed to tell a story. It seemed rather ingenious in a way. While a full context was still missing, the result was something that the soldier felt like she could understand. The book seemed to focus on an alicorn mare who used a disguise to appear as a stumbling earth pony. She would then get in close to an opponent and then, after discretely finding a place to to remove her disguise and put on a more intimidating appearance, trounce her enemy, which seemed to be a purple mare of some kind.
It was kind of surprising to see this sort of story. The main mare being an alicorn seemed to imply she was the “hero”, but the disguising aspect seemed unusual to have. The soldier thought, if nothing else, pony society was one which would not welcome those who deceive. Or was she maybe misreading this in some way? It was of course hard to tell. Ponies were strange. What was also strange was how this book in particular was bound together very simply, by a few tiny strips of metal punching through the paper instead of the pages being bound to a spine. It was curious that the book with the most effort put into it with all these pictures was made to be so flimsy.
Every once in a while, the soldier would make sure to make a quick survey of the area. After having those foals figurative sneak up on her, the changeling wanted to make sure she wasn't so easily caught off guard. There would be the occasional townspony walking by, their full emotional state dulled by the distance and walls in-between the changeling and them. The soldier had started to get a whiff of what was coming in through the windows though. At first, the faint smell of stress was something the soldier thought was a leftover of those who had been healing from trauma while with the doctor. The fresh smells though made it clear that, despite some of the other myriad pheromones in the air, there was an undercurrent of stress in the town – or at least in this part of town.
Looking up from the loose picture book again to sniff at the air, the soldier smelled something else. It was... that smell was sugar was it not? It did not excite her changeling taste buds, but she did recognize the sweet smell. What did excite her though was the faint warm feeling she felt closing in at the door. It felt a little familiar. Was it...
The door opened to reveal Bones carrying along a basket, pushing the door itself forward with a telekinetic push. The doctor, just like she thought. Bones leaned into the room with a grin, coming in to set down the basket at the table.
“Wound up getting a little more than expected. Hope you don't mind sharing, I'll be back in a moment,” Bones said before walking off to his desk I the main room of the clinic. Coming in soon as well was Silverstar, who gave her that strange look with that strange cocktail of emotions going through him before he followed after Bones, discussing something in hushed tones for a quick moment before both appeared in the doorway. Bones naturally took the initiative, it being his clinic after all, and stepped in, using his telekinesis to open the folds of the cloth covering the basket, revealing a still warm batch of buns flavored with cinnamon and bits of raisin. Each one was decorated with a cross of icing. The soldier eyed them tentatively.
“Well go ahead, help yourself while they're still warm,” Bones insisted.
The soldier, not sure of what else to do, since refusing food seemed likely to generate suspicion, took a bun and munched on it. She felt the soft texture of the bun, the slight granular sensation of the cinnamon and icing, and the curious sensation of how the icing itself was halfway between solid and liquid with it's current temperature. Naturally though, it didn't really excite her, or bring about any real positive reaction. It was a simple fact of her biology. Her kind didn't thrive on sugars, carbohydrates, or vitamins, so her body wasn't meant to respond positively to it. She could process the food, certainly, but nothing was gained from it. If anything was giving her a slight pick up in that moment, it was the excitement in Bone's emotions which were, unfortunately, slowly dipping down at the soldier's lack of real, positive reaction.
“It alright?” he asked, seeming a little confused.
“It is okay,” the soldier responded after swallowing a mouthful.
Something was wrong though, with a curiosity shared between sheriff and doctor, a sense that something was off. Shoot. Did she give the wrong response?
“It tastes good,” she tried. The lack of enthusiasm showed through though.
Bones and Silverstar shared a look before both took a bun of their own and took a bite. The soldier immediately felt the buzz coming off of them, like a short-lived high.
“Yeah, that is about par for what Hot Cross usually manages,” Bones said, as though he were answered some unasked question. An affirmative grunt came from Silverstar as he took another bite. Both looked her way, eyes raised. The soldier glanced between the two of them for a moment as worry built in her mind. They could clearly tell she was covering something up. Was this another thing to potentially give away what she was?
“... Not a fan of sweets?” Bones guessed.
The soldier thought on that for a moment, trying to sample the air for a bit. Bones didn't seem to have a malicious intent of trapping her in some way, nor did Silverstar. Just the mix of confusion and curiosity. With nothing else in mind to possibly work with, the soldier elected to nod.
“They're not bad. Just not a 'fan',” she affirmed. In truth she probably would have eaten a hoofful of dirt and it wouldn't matter. She didn't have the taste buds for it either way. “Thank you for bringing food.”
There was a flash of embarrassment hidden under Bone's scrutinizing look, but the doctor otherwise took it in stride.
“Well, hopefully you'll enjoy what else I brought you,” he said as he lifted up the small tin the buns were in to reveal a hay sandwich underneath with some cherry tomatoes on the side.
The soldier glanced down at the food, then back up at the doctor. She wasn't quite entirely exasperated, though there was some of that mixed in with a sense of amusement at how hard the doctor was trying to appeal to the need for nutrition. In a way, she wished she could say what she was so neither of them had to continue wasting time with this charade. But, she could not. So instead, she did what she had to to play this out. Picking up the sandwich between her hooves, she took a bit of it, and eventually some of the tomatoes.
“They taste okay.”
No sense in pretending otherwise, they could apparently see through the matters of food. There seemed to be a slight feeling of resignation on Bone's part, but also a... sense of understanding? Some sort of sense of resolving hanging questions. Something else was building though, a sense of anticipation within both stallions before her. After finishing the sandwich and trying to wash down the food  from her mouth with the nearby water, Bones finally asked a question.
“So, Dusty, we were wondering something,” Bones said, breaching the silence.
The soldier glanced at Silverstar as she sensed a sudden rise of anxiety, before looking back at Bones, waiting for him to say more.
“We were wondering if you might be willing to help bring in Scornful,” he finally said, bringing a raising sense of anticipation from both himself and Silverstar, more so than even before. What was it about this topic that was so stressful?
“One of the stallions I fought in the cave Cameo was in?” she attempted to clarify.
“Yes. He's a wanted pony, been one for a while, only right he eventually have to answer for what he's done,” Bones answered with a  nod.
“Wanted,” the soldier repeated back. That word. She'd found it hard to think of the word being used with the same tone being used in that moment.
“Yeah, dead or alive. Alive preferably,” Silverstar finally said, bringing himself into the conversation, “We want to make sure he gets the punishment he's due for. He's caused mayhem, stole much, hurt several innocent ponies, and even...”
The soldier wasn't sure what the last thought was suppose to be exactly, but a deep, seething anger repelled her for a moment. At the very least though, she felt like she was starting to get an understanding of some things. So that's what the 'wanted' meant. A pony who was causing discord in pony society was singled out and sought after to administer punishment to them – that made sense. It was like singling out an irregular in a hive and either correcting their deviation or removing them.
“Point is, we want to make sure he stops his ways,” Bones said after a worried look at Silverstar, “And since you've apparently managed to take him on in a fight, we figure you might be a good match for him if he gets up again. So what do you say, think you'd be willing to lend a hoof? We'll make it worth your while.”
The soldier stared down at the bed for a moment. She could probably do this, but did she have any reason to? Right now the only thing she wanted to do was a secure a route to the east, spend a little time researching a method of safe passage. She also wanted some positive emotion to sustain herself on for while she was here, which could easily do without the ponies knowing. Now that she was a little more on top of herself and not desperate she could probably plot out and more efficiently gather her reserves without an added, tremendous risk of attracting attention. That would be assuming though of course, that she could continue to blend in with these ponies, and the soldier was beginning to suspect she was testing her luck with long she'd actually be able to get away with her deception. On the other hand, it was maybe possible that following through with this request might help with such blending in. After all, if she showed she was interested in maintaining the order of pony society, it would make her look less likely like something from outside pony society. However, there was also a chance that a conflict might drain on her reserves faster, and possibly have a net zero benefit to her chances of gathering energy and looking for ways out. This was an uncertain proposition to say the least.
“You don't have to say anything now,” Silverstar said, breaking the silence that had settled since the soldier had drifted into thought, “It is tall order to ask of you after all, and you are still needing time to recover. We certainly ain't asking you to go back out into the desert this afternoon, hehe.”
The soldier – and Bones as well, she noted – looked at Silverstar curiously. For the soldier at least, it was a case of curiosity at the reaction in combination with the maelstrom of emotion within him. He seemed to be trying to put on an affectation of at least minor joviality when it was clear, even on the surface, that this was a pretense. The soldier wasn't entirely sure why such a need for such a pretense would occur, at least in a real pony, but those feelings were probably at the root of the matter.
“Time to consider this would help,” the soldier stated.
“Right then. The doc said he wanted to keep an eye on you a couple days more right? Should be enough time, especially if Scornful is needing his time,” Silverstar said while looking questioning at Bones.
Bones himself nodded before turning more fully to the sheriff.
“I reckon it'll be okay if she starts walking around tomorrow, would be good anyway to keep the body moving. She shouldn't strain herself physically though for those few other days.”
“Right,” Silverstar said before he started to head for the front door, “I'll make sure to check in later, but for now I'll see about making my rounds.”
With that, the sheriff made his way outside, going down the street. The soldier eyed him until he was out of sight, still curious about him and his odd emotions. She then directed her attention onto Bones, recalling his previous incredulous reaction.
“Is there something about him that appears unusual?” she asked. If nothing else, and it was not what she had observed, it might be something she could learn from.
“You could say that,” Bones confirmed before focusing on the the soldier, discomfort clear on his face, “It... has to deal with someone in his past. You seem to remind him of someone he knew.”
The mare from the photograph, no doubt.
“He had mentioned that when he first visited me,” the soldier explained.
“Did he now? Don't suppose he mentioned the details about that?” Bones asked.
The soldier shook her head.
“I see...” Bones muttered, eyes looking down to the floor for a moment before reconnecting eyes with the soldier, “Well, don't worry too much about it. Ain't your fault for resembling someone else.”
It was her fault actually, a fault the soldier was regretting for this reaction it was bringing about. Perhaps she really should have tried for other aspects of change in appearance. Then again, she hadn't really retained much memory of specific pony shapes, so for all she knew she might have created some erroneous shapes if she tried to be any more “creative” than she had before. Bones, seeming to try to change the subject again, glanced down at the table, noticing the flimsy book.
“Ah, I didn't know I had a comic in there,” he remarked, levitating it up and looking it over for a moment, chuckling before setting it down, “Must have been donated by a foal. Like comics, do ya?”
Comic. She had a proper name for the object at least.
“I like the pictures.”
A somewhat repetitive response with how she had remarked about the previous book, but it was the truth, and it seemed to be evident that providing little bits of the truth were becoming necessary to blend in. Bones raised an eye at that, a little less amused and knowing compared to last time, but he didn't seem interested in pursuing it otherwise.
“Well, I'll leave you to some resting. I'll try to bring in dinner later.”
More useless food. At least she seemed convincing enough that she seemed to need the stuff in the doctor's eyes. With a slight nod, the soldier laid her head down as the doctor headed out to fulfill his own role.
Nothing else really happened for a long time. The soldier merely spent her time mostly in a sedentary manner. Not needing to move was good in that it gave her a chance to rest after being out in the desert. It left her with a sense of restlessness though with her thoughts. She had think of what to do next. In a way she kind of missed how “Go east”  was the only directive she had to follow, even though it was during a dire state – naturally she didn't miss near starvation. It was simple, but at least it didn't require as much thought to figure on, and it was something she felt she understood a little better, which was navigation back to her home. Her goal had still not changed, but she still had to process more information, and in areas involving subjects she was very much not used to. The thought of indulging the easy option was tempting. Just drain a few ponies and keep heading east without further worry. It wouldn't require much thought, or effort – aside from the hunting of ponies of course. That could be made easily done though, with her own shapeshifting and a little reconnaissance. When she thought about it though, that could also be an opportunity to research about the area ahead, better find a way to follow her plan to head east. Perhaps that would help, yes – do the research. If she had an easy way out, she could follow that. But how –
The soldier found her thought process interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Her own room had been closed to prevent anymore unwarranted visitors, but with some focus, the soldier realized she recognized at least two voices speaking to the doctor, along with two unfamiliar ones. The soldier strained her ears to attempt to listen in on what was being said exactly.
“... not exactly the most excitable, so forgive her if she seems underwhelmed or uncaring about what you say. I'm starting to think it may be part of her personality and not just from being out in the desert for days on end, but I guess we'll see,” she heard Bone's voice say.
“That's fine,” an older, female voice spoke, “It's worth the saying all the same.”
“It's okay to see her then?” one of the familiar, older male voices said. The soldier wasn't sure what it reminded her of though.
“Certainly, just don't crowd her – basic manners.”
With that there was a sudden patter of hooves on the ground, and a little stamping at the door. The soldier found herself leaning back from it a little.
“Can't reach it,” Cameo's voice whined.
“Patience is a virtue, young colt, I recommend you keep that in mind,” an unfamiliar male voice spoke.
“C'mon dad...”
“Your father has a point you know,” the female voice said teasingly.
Soon, the door was opened, the soldier catching a slight hint of telekinetic magic around the handle before it faded. Cameo came bounding in and close to the soldier.
“Hey there Dusty, how are you doing?” he asked with a surprising amount of enthusiasm.
Sampling the emotion in the air though, the soldier could tell that it was genuine in both energy and concern.
“I am fine. I have been resting,” she answered in her usual deadpan.
The soldier then turned her attention up to where she sensed a great deal of gratitude, as well as some feeling of concern. Not all of the concern was directed her way, she noticed. A yellow and red mare who had colors reminiscent of what was seen in Cameo. In turn there was a green and white stallion standing by her. Still near them, but some distant from them was a stallion the soldier recognized, that yellow coated one with the hat who stopped her when she first came into town.
“Hello there... Dusty, right?” the mare asked, “We're Cameo's parents. We wanted to thank you so much for what you did to help our little foal get back home and away from those... brutes.”
“Yes, we were worried, truly, about what would happen,” the white stallion said. Interestingly, even though he spoke more stoically, the soldier could detect a lot more worry underneath, similar to the mare's level of expression, “You have no idea how much it means to us to have him back.”
The soldier could actually, at least a little, but she wasn't going to share that.
“I'm grateful as well,” the familiar stallion finally said, offering a smile, “If you need a place to stay after you're done here, my door is open to ya'.”

“I see, okay,” the soldier said at first. When she sensed a certain buildup of pressure from her brief response, she expanded it, “Thank you very much.”
There was another build up of discomfort in the air, but the unknown stallion seemed to desire to break the awkward silence first.
“Well, where are my manners? We seem to have you at a disadvantage, Miss Dusty,” he started to say.
Disadvantage, the soldier wondered, how?
“My name is Water Chestnut,” he said with a slight bow of his head, “And this here fine mare is my wife.”
The mare smirked at Water Chestnut, some amusement rolling off her for a moment before she turned her attention back onto Dusty.
“My name is Cinnamon Cider, and my husband thinks flattery wins him points,” she remarked, causing the stallion in question to avert his eyes from anyone else in the group for a moment. Some embarrassment seemed to hint why, “And of course you've met our son Cameo.”
The soldier look down at the colt in question, who stood up a little straighter as he was brought briefly into the spotlight.
“And the one who has so generously offered up his home is my nephew,” Cinnamon explained as she glanced his way.
“Ma'am,” the stallion said with a slight tip of the hat, “Name's Braeburn. I uh, believe we met for a brief moment yesterday?”
The soldier merely nodded. No point in challenging the claim, though she wasn't sure why the stallion brought the matter up. Internally though, she was smiling because one key thing had been brought to the forefront of her mind. This concerned stallion was making an offer for her to stay with him in his home. Such an occurrence was a very serendipitous event to have presented to her. She could feed on him for sure.
“He's been letting us stay at his place for a while,” Chestnut explained, “Been sticking around a little longer than expected with the trains out of service.”
Trains... those were the transport machines that went along preset tracks. The soldier remembered riding some during the course of her disguised journey across the pony lands to engage in the invasion.
“Out of service?” she asked. She didn't recall that sort of phrase being heavily associated with the machines.
“Y'havn't heard?” the mare asked. A cough from Bones reminded Cinnamon though of why, “Oh, right, right, you wouldn't have heard. Well, apparently something big went down in Canterlot a few days ago, enough that they needed to shut the trains down. Not sure why, but it's a royal decree, supposedly.”
“Mhm,” Bones said, stepping forward, “They sad they'd send out someone to explain and give directions about whatever is going on, but we haven't heard anything in a while.
The battle at Canterlot, indubitably. The shut down of the transport – no doubt intended to lock down populaces so they couldn't move too much, and in turn, prevent other changelings from moving about without going out into the wilderness by themselves, which would put themselves at risk. And 'sending someone out', no doubt they would be doing so in an attempt to ferret out more disguised changelings and warn the populace without directly tipping off changelings. After all, something that had been distributed quickly through the hive was that one of the Harmony ponies had developed a counter to the disguise changelings were capable of. If that skill was distributed widely enough, the majority of the pony population would then be effectively 'vaccinated' against changeling infiltration.
Which meant that the soldier's days in this town were numbered. If she didn't get out by the time this representative of Canterlot showed up, she would most certainly be doomed. What was she to do about that though? Did they maybe...?
“Do you know when they might show up, and have the trains running again?” the soldier asked.
There was a collective shrug throughout the room that converged onto Bones, who seemed trusted by most ponies in the room to know what was happening.
“No idea. They said they'd send out some pony in a couple days, but that was when this first started. Some pony should have showed up by now.”
Indefinite arrival date, but supposedly they would have showed up by now. They were delayed somehow? That didn't mean they wouldn't arrive extremely late though. For all the soldier knew, they were approaching tomorrow. They could be approaching this night. It was an astounding credit to the soldier's capability at maintaining camouflage that she was not visibly panicking. If she could have afforded to exclaim then and there with fright though, she would have done so without question.
“I see,” she stated with underwhelming calm.
“Ain't all bad though, it's given me more time to hang with Braeburn,” Cameo piped up, “He can be a lot of fun to play with. Like, there's a whole bunch of games they play out here I usually don't get the chance to try 'cause Baltimare is boring like that. It's a lot more exciting out here.”
There was an amused snort from Water Chestnut, and a somewhat less amused roll of the eyes form Cinnamon Cider. Bones held a hoof to his face and just shook his head for a moment. Braeburn, despite looking sheepish for a moment, spoke up next.
“Young colt, just because you think it's exciting doesn't mean it's good living for a foal like yourself. You gotta respect the conditions you live in – if you're not careful you're liable to find yourself in a heap of trouble. Which you did by the way. You really didn't need to egg on Scornful like ya did when he hauled off with ya,” the stallion warned his cousin.
“Well... yeah, okay, I shouldn't have done that, but it worked out in the end, Dusty saved me, and pretty darn well” the colt said before beaming up at the soldier, as though hoping for approval of some kind.
The soldier however, had enough sense to know that agreeing with the kid was not wise. For one, the colt's comment was running counter to the running opinion in the room. Secondly, there was just the simple fact of something else that the soldier knew was true.
“Your release from Scornful was entirely dependent on a rescue from someone you could not have anticipated being nearby. Continuing to function under the expectation that you can escape or overcome dangerous situations because of unknowns working in your favor by chance is extremely unwise,” the soldier explained boredly.
“Or in other words,” Braeburn said as he came up next to Cameo and gave him a poke in the flank, “Don't press your luck, squirt.”
Cameo grumbled and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. Cinnamon Cider gave him a quick pat on the head.
“Trust me sweety, you'll eventually realize that you're getting sound advice here, and you'll yearn for the days of when things were boring,” she said with a slight smile.
“Yes, and you'll have child just like you,” Water Chestnut added with a smirk, “Who will give you the same worries. But you'll love 'em anyway.”
The two parents hugged their foal, who reluctantly accepted the attention, at least on the surface. The soldier could feel something more in him that appreciated the contact.
“Yeah, yeah...” the colt said dismissively.
After the moment was given a chance to pass, Cinnamon Cider took the chance to speak up.
“Well, we should probably get going. See you later Miss Dusty, it was nice to meet you.”
“Same,”
“Me too!”
Braeburn merely smiled with a nod of his head in agreement after Water Chestnut and Cameo. The soldier however, was thinking quickly about how to best use the situation. The messenger from Canterlot was bound to come sooner or later, and she needed to hightail it out of there.
“Would it be okay if I took the offer to stay at Braeburn's now?” she asked.
The words earned a collective curious look, especially from Bones for some reason. The soldier held her figurative breath as she wondered if she committed a faux pas somehow.
“Um, well I wouldn't mind putting up another guest. I just, uh...” Braeburn looked questioningly at Bones, “I mean, she's supposed to rest here isn't she?”
“Well, I'd think so, but she has been doing fairly well,” Bones figured, scratching at the scruff on his muzzle for a moment as he considered the idea, “I suppose it wouldn't be out of the question. Maybe a welcome, family environment would help her.”
The soldier had to admit actually, the ambiance of a connected group like this was nice to her. And if she could just be alone with Braeburn or perhaps Water Chestnut for a moment...
“Sounds like you're welcome, Dusty,” Chestnut himself said, showing his own approval of the idea.
“I certainly wouldn't mind having a seasoned soldier nearby in case something happens in the night,” Cinnamon Cider said pleasantly, half-jokingly.
“Very well then. Just give me a moment to prepare a container for some vitamins for Dusty, and she should be good to go,” Bones said, heading off to fill out what he had in mind.
The soldier said nothing, instead briefly looking between Chestnut and Braeburn for a moment as she considered what sort of nutrition she'd need before she left this place for good.