The Long Road Home

by The Midnight Stalker

Preparation

The Long Road Home

By The Midnight Stalker

(Remember I'm Watching You)

This is my first FoE side fic. I've been inspired by Kkat and my friend Cascadejackal. Kudos to you, My Friend.

Starting the day early is something that's been ingrained in him since his youth. His father had always believed in a hard days work and it showed in his childhood upbringing. Now with the sun high in the sky he's been out for several hours doing what has to be done. Simple mundane chores for now. He had swung through the market getting food for the trip ahead. Mostly dehydrated and prepackaged foods. Where he's planning on going luxuries like refrigeration aren't available. But it's all for the better he assumes. Best not get too soft, or the wasteland will eat you up.

Now he's headed for one of the local armories. This particular on is his favorite. He's been doing business with them for quite some time, and it shows. They know what he likes and he knows what they need to get the job done. It's an agreement of sorts he has with shop owner, a unicorn by the name Mallet. Sure he's aware of the archaic nature of the name, but he doesn't care. The fact that the pony gets the job done is all that's important.

As he walks up he greets the pony at his place of business.

" Morning Mallet"

" How're you doing this fine day?"

" I'm doing just fine Mallet. I'm here to see about getting my barding fixed." He gets out the barding in question. As Lonesome hand it over, Mallet takes a look at it. It looked like something took a bite out of it.

" What happened this time?"

" Got attacked by a radigator 3 days out. Bastard thought I'd be a fun to chew on I guess. To bad for him I had other ideas."

" Thank Celestia you got out of that alive Lonesome! I don't know where I'd find another costumer to replace you."

Lonesome chuckles at that. " Well I'd hate to leave you high and dry like that. I guess I'd better be more careful."

" You know I'm kiddin', but still, you are my best costumer." Mallet flashes a quick smile "Just come back later for this. I'm going to assume that you're heading out again."

" Eeyup. I am. I've got some leads on something and I need to follow them up. The Boss' been getting kind of restless here lately, so I need to find something soon. "

" Gotcha. Well, See ya"

With that Lonesome walked off. Now he was at a loss as to what he should do. He had already finished everything he'd been planning for today. Now what am I going to do, He thought to himself. There was always something going on in town, but he didn't feel like socializing. Apart from the few ponies he bought stuff from he really didn't talk to anypony. The fewer ponies he talked to, the less who asked questions. He didn't like questions. Lonsome simply decided to wander the town. He could always try and find someone to help, but he'd rather not.

The town really was a marvel to behold. Unlike many towns around the Wasteland this one didn't exist bofore the Bombs fell. It was a recent addition to the landscape. It had been founded about 30 years ago by some enterprising traders. There had always been a rest stop here for travelers and such, but it was never a place to stay. About that time some mercenaries blew through and killed off most of the raiders and such. Didn't mean there weren't any still around, they were just smarter about not coming around. After that some ponies stared settling down around here.

Looking about the dusty landscape, it was amazing to see what could be accomplished in such a short span of time. While it wasn't a large town, it did have a few stores and such. Hardware, a grocery and a general market. Like any respectable town there was a good bar right out on the edge of town, called the Hangnail. Owned by a Griffon by the name of Dead Eye. The Hardware and the grocery were owned by The Boss. The market was onw by whoever the hell wanted in. A community sort of thing. ya' know? All in all, not a lot happened here. Besides the store, there were a few houses down the main drag. Everypony else lived completly outside of town. There were a few ranches and farms near by, growing who knows what. but they sold it at the market and it was edible, so nopony was going to complain. Aside from a few rest houses and decent hotels there wasn't much else to the town. The only thing keeping it all together was the trade that came through.

Since the Raiders were gone trade was safe again. Several towns south of here finally saw a way to get some goods and the traders north of here was a new place to sell. Naturally a trading town sprung up. It was the perfect place. Situated along several trade routes it got plenty of business. It also had the benifit of being situated along the only way north to the larger cities like Manehatten and the like. It was right in front of the only passable trail around the Great Canyon for miles around. In that way the town was reminencant of Canterlot of old, because the town hugged the rim of the canyon. Not a pleasent idea to vistors, but the townsponies were just fine with it. It offered good protection on one side of the town. It also gave you one of the most breathtaking veiws you could ever imagine. The only thing that could make it better would be if the damn pegasi would clear the skies and let some sunshine through.

____________________________________________________________________________

Looking out on the canyon below was Lonesome. He didn't come here often. Normally when he had time to himself he would find the nearest pub, go in and proceed to get drunk. Some days, however, that wasn't appropriate. He felt that today was one of them. He needed to think. He needed to plan. He had a three day trip ahead of him. He knew the conditions that he would face. He would be crossing a hot, bleak, desert wasteland. To most this wouldn't be a problem, because most ponies travel in groups. He did not. he knew it was dangerous, but he didn't care.

All he cared about was that he needed to go south. He hoped he would learn the name of the town on his way there. The more information he had the better off he would be. He knew that he probably wouldn't find his objective on this trip, but who knew? Maybe the great powers above would look down and smile upon him for once. Sometimes he wishes he knew what The Boss wanted with it, but that would lead to questions, and neither he nor The Boss liked questions. For now, all he knows is that it's a device of some sort and the key to many mysteries. Not a literal key, but one just the same.

Not for the first time he wondered if, just maybe, it could help him. Perhaps it could. He's sure The Boss wouldn't mind. Especially with all he's done for The Boss. He didn't know how it could help, but maybe The Boss did. The Boss is better with that sort of thing anyhow.

Now that he had time to think he realized it was probably a good time to return to town. It was starting to get dark now. He had been out here longer than he had thought. A good two hours at least. Not that it mattered. He had all the time in the world. As he headed out he remembered that he still needed to pick up his barding. He debated briefly if he wanted to go and get now, or wait until tomprrow. He decided now was as good a time as any.
As he worked his wayback into town he looked around. Everywhere he looked he saw life, love, and laughter. He was envious of them for that, but it mattered not. Perhaps one day.....

He was headed to the house now. He longed to get some sleep. He knew there was a long trip ahead of him tomorrow. He had already stopped by the armory and got his stuff. It was in perfect shape now. Mallet really knew his trade, so he paid extra. The caps were wearing a hole in his saddlebags anyway.

As he went into the house he noticed something was off. He didn't know what it was so he brushed it off as nothing, for now. He went about and put up his barding and straightened up a few things. Then he realized how tired he was.
He went into his room and got ready to got to sleep, when he spotted something. It was a black object that wasn't there before. He immediately knew what it was though. It was a Pipbuck. He'd seen them before, but what was it doing here?

Then he saw the note.

Thought you might want this. Dunno if you'll use it or not, but why not. Just found it and it didn't need it.
Have a good trip.
~~~The Boss~~~

He didn't quite know what to think, so he just put it away for now. After a while, he finally drifted off to sleep.

For those who are brave enough to read this you've noticed this has been in present tense. I'v decided that from here on out i'm writing in past tense. Why? Well to be blunt present tense is kicking my flank. Please bare with me and continue to read. And done be afraid to let me know what you thank

Comments

[Vermilion and Sage]

This story has an interesting premise for sure, but take care to avoid letting technical error get in the way of the story. A good idea would be to go back through each chapter and read it aloud to yourself, so that you can catch mistakes, or phrases that don't sound quite right. Better still, try to find someone to proofread it. Going through I found a lot of words capitalized that didn't need to be, and a few that didn't which needed it. Moreover, be very careful in making sure that you use a consistent tense. All of that goes a long ways into turning an average story it a great one. Good Luck!