Peace Hunters

by NA_SolarEclipse

Chapter 2: A Push in the Left Direction

-Fresh Starts are Reserved for the Undeserving-

Being pegasus, the journey down to Ponyville was rather easy for Nero and Arkay. Taking the steam engine would be too expensive and time consuming. Another reason was that the two hunters had still not gotten used to the rumble and rocking of the still relatively new mode of transportation. Flying was much easier and convenient for them. The cool night air had overcome the warm sunlit afternoon and coupled with the relatively strong breeze, made for a chilly journey down from the lofty heights of Canterlot. Neither of them spoke, the two of them were rather stressed about the direction their lives had taken recently. Going from not necessarily legal treasure hunters to supposed ambassadors in service of royalty to double agents and informants was quite a wild ride to be taken on in a little less than two days, even for pegasus. The two hunters were both very nervous about being discovered by Luna and what kind of work they would be assigned to perform, but neither of them would admit it.

“So, run it by me again?” Nero asked Arkay. He had never been one to deceive comfortably.

“Basically, we are in the service of Princess Luna. We do as she says, and we don’t ask why. However, we need to inform Celestia of anything she has us do. We need to do this as carefully as possible so not to arise suspicion of our true motives. Make more sense the fourth time of explanation?” Arkay had grown tired of explaining things to Nero.

“Rather sarcastic, just like the last two times Arkay. Its not that I don’t understand, it’s just that I am still trying to make myself okay with deceiving royalty, in the service of royalty. How does that make any sense?” Nero had always been relatively honest throughout his life, but this was a different kind of wrong.

Arkay could only nod in response. “It’s alright Nero I can’t just be okay with this either, but Celestia did say this was important. I think we should trust her like we should have been for all these years. And who knows, maybe this is a way for us to both pay and make amends for the wrongs we have committed.” Arkay said rather solemnly. The small town of Ponyville was now coming into better view. There were several windows that were lit with soft candle light. The chilly breeze kept the citizens inside their warm houses. At the center of the town was a fairly large tree to which Luna was standing next to. The two hunters descended and landed next to her to stare at the unremarkable tree.

“Apparently this is where the new library is supposed to be built. I cannot be forced to wait until it is finished to begin operations.” Luna announced to Nero and Arkay.

“What exactly do you plan on doing about that Princess?” Nero asked rather curiously.

“I am going to make a library out of this tree.” Luna proclaimed rather triumphantly. Nero and Arkay exchanged a confused look and took a few steps back. Luna intently focused on the tree; a light blue glow enveloped both her horn and the tree. The tree started shaking lightly, but then more violently as an over glow enveloped Luna’s horn. The clouds above seemed to swirl over the tree rather menacingly as it began to grow.

The two hunters stared astounded as they watched the tree grow at an alarming rate, even for magic. As quickly as it had started growing, the tree suddenly stopped expanding. Luna smiled rather triumphantly at her creation as the two hunters regarded the new library with mouths agape with awe. “I guess you can make a library with just one tree.” Arkay said as the princess gave the two hunters a snide look.

“You should not doubt your princess subjects, I am quite able to perform all kinds of powerful magic.” Luna said as she regarded the new tree house proudly. She then stepped toward the tree house and opened the door, Nero and Arkay followed her into the interior of it. The inside of the tree house was much more impressive than your average tree house. In the center of the entrance foyer was a round table that seemed to be a stump still attached to the actual tree, there were several empty bookshelves that seemed to just beg the two hunters to go out and find books to place onto them. Off to the side was the entrance to what seemed to be a small kitchen, next to that were stairs that spiraled up the wall into another level. The princess led Nero and Arkay up these stairs to find an observatory, a balcony and a bedroom with two beds. “You will sleep here for tonight hunters, it’s not the royal castle, but I believe you will find these quarters to be sufficient enough to live in for the time being. There is an important assignment I need for you two to perform tomorrow and it would be best if you were well rested for it.” Luna informed the two hunters with little emotion into the words at all.

“Um, alright Princess, what exactly is that assignment?” Arkay asked quite curious of the nature of this job.

“I will tell you in the morning, now sleep.” Luna replied almost irritated. Suddenly, the two hunters felt the exhaustion of two days ago resurface and weigh them down. Nero and Arkay marched to the two beds and fell into them immediately. Nero attempted one last time before drifting to sleep to stay awake, and saw only the glow of Luna’s horn as he again shut his eyelids and fell asleep.

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Nero opened his eyes quickly as he awoke panting and sweating. He looked around and was not entirely sure how to react. In stead of the comfortable fluffy bed of the new tree house, Nero felt cold mud under his back. Getting up onto his hooves, he found that he was indeed no longer in the tree house at all. The sturdy reassuring walls were replaced with a seemingly endless horizon of grey flat ground that met with a slightly darker grey cloud cover that was oppressive and threatening. The warm air of the tree house was replaced in stead by the thick, cold, moist air that seemed to fit the depressing shade of grey that covered everything. Looking down, Nero found that the ground was not just mud; there was a sparse attempt of grass trying to grow into the cold mud, but all of the patches of it were yellow and dead. Everything in this field could be described in one word; lifeless. There was however, one landmark prevailing in the distance. A pitiful and dead tree towered above the rest of the mud almost as a mockery for any chance for life to begin again. Nero trotted up to the tree and stared at it for a moment. It was blackened and shriveled compared to any living tree, and had only one limb protruding from the trunk, upon that limb were five brown leaves. The tree almost seemed sad, and seeing it made Nero want to cry. There was a quite shuffling behind Nero. In reaction to the noise, Nero spun around to face the source of it.

Nero yelled triumphantly “Ha! Thought you could sneak up on me did y-” but he stopped as he saw the cause of the noise. There before him was small grey Pegasus colt with a dark black and blue mane sitting on his haunches and staring toward the endless horizon of grey. The small colt turned to Nero with a whimper. The colt had two blue eyes, filled with tears. They pleaded Nero to make everything alright for the little grey colt, but he was uncertain as to how exactly he could help.

“Please.” The colt begged Nero, “make them go away.” Nero was taken aback from this.

“What do you mean little one? Who are they?” Nero asked, desperate to try and cheer up this little colt. The colt however did not answer; he simply got up and started to walk away. Nero just watched for a moment and looked down at his own hooves, one a mechanical prosthetic attempt at replacing a real hoof and his real still attached hoof. Which was also grey. Nero looked again at the colt and realized, it was him. All but the eyes and the prosthetic hoof were exactly the same. “Hey, wait!” Nero shouted to his younger self, but he did not stop. The younger Nero continued walking toward the endless horizon of grey, tears occasionally dripping from his muzzle.

“Ah, to be young again, such a sweet sentiment isn't it Nero?” A voice called from behind Nero. He whipped around to face the voice, but there was no pony there. Nero looked back to where the younger him had been, but he was gone.

Nero trotted next to the dead tree and called out. “Where are you and what did you do to the young one? Come out! Show yourself!”

There was simply an evil chuckle. “Look down.” The disembodied voice said. Nero looked down to see his reflection in a puddle, but this reflection was not him. The reflected Nero had several scars around the muzzle, no prosthetic hoof, and somewhat of an unkempt mane. The most unsettling difference however were the two red eyes that stared back into Nero’s own with an intense hatred that seemed to burn into his soul. “Hello Nero, good to see you again.” The reflection said on its own.

“No, not you. Where did you come from?” Nero stammered as he backpedaled from the evil reflection. This did no good however, because the reflection simply stepped out of the puddle and pulled himself onto the cold mud that Nero fell back on.

“Why with the easy questions Nero? I am you. I’ve always been here Nero; you just haven’t been looking hard enough. Shame really, it’s been rather boring with you shutting me out like you have been. There is no pony to talk to in this desolate abyss of a subconscious mind.” The now standing reflection replied.

“I know what you are, but how did you get out? I thought I locked you away forever, I don’t need you trying to ruin every thought I have.” Nero attacked the reflection with accusations, but it simply stayed calm and collected.

“Oh, come now Nero, why do you keep referring to me as if I am some sort of monster? I do believe you even gave me a name so as to not confuse my, ha, suggestions with your thoughts.” The reflection replied, completely ignoring the hostility in Nero’s voice.

Nero fumed. “Yes, and I wish I could have locked it away with you Orian.”

“Ah, so you do remember me, good. I don’t think I could continue existing if you forgot it. Then again, how could you forget?” Orian replied without missing a beat. “Good talking to you Nero always was. Now, you have got some waking up to do sleepy head. That annoying Mr. goody horseshoes friend of yours is going to wake you up for that assignment you’re supposed to go on. Happy hunting buddy.”

Nero tried to respond, but Orian, the grey mud and horizon, and the sad dead tree all disappeared before he could.

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There was a jabbing at Nero’s side. “Nero, wake up. The princess expected us to be ready about an hour ago.” Arkay urged him to get up with more jabs in the side. “Wake up!”

Nero got up finally and half opened his eyes. “Ugh, fine Arkay I‘ll get up. I don’t see what you have against sleep. Did sleep steal your lunch money once and you resent it for that one time?” Nero never really did like waking up early, but Arkay always did keep him in line and out of trouble when he slept in.

Arkay frowned down at Nero. “No, but you were tossing and turning this morning. Also, I don’t think that panting and sweating are exactly normal when sleeping in a generally cool room. I was just a little worried that you were sick or something, we can’t have you being sick if we are going to travel.” Arkay said concerned. Nero replies with a sigh and gets up out of bed. “Now come on,” Arkay continued, “Luna expects us downstairs soon, let’s go.”

Sitting down at the center table, Princess Luna’s horn glowed a light blue as she stacked several books onto the new bookshelves. Coming down the stairs, Nero and Arkay regarded her with confused looks. In response she gave them a dignified look. “Well, if we have the space, I see no sense in not using it.” Nero just shrugged as he reached the bottom.

Arkay however, gave Luna a query. “Why did you make this tree a library anyway princess? I didn’t think we would need space to store books.”

Luna smiled at that. “Well you see, it wouldn’t feel right making this area something it was never meant to be. So instead of cutting down the tree so they could build a library in its place, I made it a library.”

Nero just gave Luna a quizzical look. “Well that seems a little bit of a leap, but anyway Luna. What kind of assignment did you need us for?”

At that Luna rolled her eyes but responded with authority. “I need you to do exactly as Celestia instructed you to do.”

Immediately, both Nero and Array’s spirits dropped and fell into a hole in the ground, then dug a mine deeper into the hole and began mining for ore, then subsequently caused an intentional cave in on the mine, burying them deep beneath the ground.

Arkay responded slowly and carefully. “Uh, what exactly do you mean by that princess?” If Luna knew that he and Nero were informants for Celestia, this serving royalty thing would be rather short and painful. The two of them were pretty sure that espionage, no matter how short it was in order, was illegal, especially when it was royalty they were dealing with.

Luna regarded the two with a rather confused look, but responded with strength and valor. “I need you to be ambassadors to different species and the different pony races. However, instead of asking them to mend political relations with Celestia, I want you to convince them to join a new rule for the good of all species. I plan to unite the various nations under a republic. We will rebel against the tyranny of my sister and overthrow her rule! This will not be easy, but with the two of you as ambassadors, I am certain we will find success.”

Nero and Arkay immediately started digging to rescue their spirits. In the mean time, Arkay responded to the assignment. “Of course princess, that is exactly what we are thinking. Every plan needs a first step however, so where will we be going first?”

Luna nodded and brought out a map of Equestria and its neighboring nations, and set it on the table. “See this small settlement out to the east?” She pointed at a small dot a quite a distance from the capital city of Canterlot. “This is a community that has resisted Celestia’s rules for quite a while. If we can gain their support, we may be able to get a proper foothold on securing the support of other nations and communities. In this sense, you are right Arkay, we must start somewhere. There will be a steam engine going out to this settlement from Canterlot later this evening, make your way there and board the steam engine with these royal passes.” Luna brought out two black cards with the royal seal upon them; the two hunters took them and nodded.

“What exactly is this settlement called Luna?” Nero asked legitimately curious.

Luna sighed and responded with a shrug. “The locals have taken to simply calling the settlement ‘The Outpost’ or simply ‘Outpost’. Within the Outpost, there is an earth pony that has taken to being both the settlement’s mayor and law enforcement. I am sad to say that I do not know what this pony’s name is for certain, however I do know it starts with a ‘J’. It is almost common knowledge that the Outpost is not friends with the local buffalo. Easing the tension between the buffalo and the citizens of the Outpost peacefully and gaining support from both would be the best case scenario, but if things do not go as planned, I trust you will make the right decisions. When you have completed your assignment, return to the library and report your results to me.”

The two hunters exchanged a look and nodded. They began to make their way out the door, but Luna stopped them. “Oh, and if you are interested, I have a proposition for you as well.” This stopped them and grabbed their interest. Turning around, Luna continued, “Since the two of you are indeed treasure hunters, there is a gem I am interested in retrieving.”

Nero’s eyes lit up immediately. “Gemstone?” He couldn’t have responded any more like a diamond dog if he tried.

Luna chuckled. “Yes Nero. Gemstone indeed. I am looking for a very valuable gemstone. I know it is in the area around Outpost. Unfortunately, I know not exactly where it is or how far it is but-”

Nero interrupted Luna, “Say no more Luna, we are on it. We have gone on much worse information before. We will find this gemstone and return with it for you princess!” Nero always did get rather excited when the words ‘gem’, ’valuable’, or really any word that hinted to money.

“Thank you Nero, trust me, you will know it when you see it.” Luna responded to a rather excited looking grey pegasus. “Now be off hunters, there is much that must be done. Best of luck to you two.” And with that, the two hunters made their way out the door and into the town of Ponyville, and toward the station.

Now with free passes, Nero and Arkay decided that taking the steam engine back to Canterlot would be ‘fun’. Arkay insisted on it as they were going to be riding the steam engines a lot to get to the Outpost, they might as well get used to it. There was a small crowd of ponies going up to Canterlot on the steam engine; most of them were earth ponies of various color and emotion. However, there were a few unicorns onboard as well. Even stranger, these were not returning visitors from Canterlot. They were not dressed in the highest fashion or the latest accessories. Perhaps unicorns born in Ponyville trying to make it big in the capital city? Either way, every pony was eyeing the two hunters suspiciously. Clearly, they were not used to having pegasi who were willing to ride along with them in stead of simply flying around. Arkay simply ignored it while Nero returned the suspicious looks.

“Why are we even stopping in Canterlot? I’d really rather get started on this gem hunt, I mean political mission, as soon as possible! I don’t think we could stop by the castle and not have Luna find out about it. What do we need there?”

Arkay rolled his eyes and sighed, but gave a response anyway. “I have a promise I need to fulfill with a certain unicorn, and you can get that old brace still on your leg to Shinny. You can’t have forgotten that thing was still on you, can’t be comfortable can it?”

Nero beamed and looked down at the brace again. It was indeed still there right where he had left it. Still smiling like a mad pony, he laughed insanely. All of the passengers turned and looked at the crazy pegasus until he quieted down. Arkay continued, “So that is why we are stopping in Canterlot, we still need to get paid for that last treasure hunt, and I am going to get some ‘magical expertise’. We don’t know if we will need it or not.” Nero just responds with a sigh and looks out the window, watching Canterlot as it approaches from the horizon.

With Nero off getting the bits for that old brace, Arkay focused on how exactly he was going to explain this to Cherri. Assistant ambassador? No, political advisor? Definitely not. There didn’t seem to be a job title that fit with helping him and Nero sway the allegiance of an entire community. Perhaps secondary speaking assistant and part-time treasure hunter would have to do. All thoughts stopped however when he saw Cherri at the entrance of ‘The Crystal Jewel’ yelling at what he could only assume was her boss.

“Get back here Cherri; you can’t just walk out of here! Any pony would be honored to work here! Just come on back and maybe I can overlook that insult to our hotel.” The rather scary sounding boss yelled to her from inside.

“I don’t have to take that kind of treatment from you, and I definitely don’t have to have every goddess damned stallion and colt hitting on me or trying to get me into bed with them! I quit!” With that, she stormed off toward Arkay, she almost passed him but stopped when she saw the concerned look on his face. “Don’t even say anything you-oh. Hey uh, Arkay, sorry you had to see that. Just, heh, quitting. I guess I will be getting a different job to do until I get tired of the crap. That is, if I can. How are you?” She stumbled over her words worse than he did when he was nervous.

“I am well actually. In fact, I may have the answer to your prayers. I am going off on royal business and I was wondering if you would be interested in a little political reformation and treasure hunting. You do have ‘magical expertise’ correct? I don’t think there could be any better need for magic than when dealing with the unknown. What do you say?” Arkay tried to make it sound as inviting as possible, however there was no easy way to ask her.

Cherri scrunched her face a bit at that request. “Uh, political what now?”

Arkay sighed. “Well, it’s rather a long story, and I could explain on the way, but basically, we are going to gain the alliance of the Outpost for Princess Luna. I remembered that you wanted a new job, and I am pretty sure that working for royalty will pay better than what you can get here. Interested?”

Cherri stared off into the distance for a while. After almost a minuet like that, she finally responded. “Alright.” Simple response.

“Really?” Arkay asked surprised. “It’s that easy?”

“Yes, I can’t stand this city or its citizens anymore, and royal business beats unemployment quite easily. I’ll accept your offer under one condition.” She responded, regaining her composure.

Arkay let go of a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding and replied. “Sure, what is that?”

Cherri smiled. “You have to keep that grey friend of yours on a short leash. If he can’t keep from constantly trying to woo me, this is going to be a very short partnership.”

“Don’t worry,” Arkay started. “He only does that once, usually. But if he does it again, I’ll be sure to stop him. Or at least try to. Now, let’s go collect that grey friend from the market before he gets into too much trouble.” With that Cherri nodded and the two of them made their way to the market district. Arkay couldn’t help but feel a lot better with that request over with.

The market of Canterlot was as crowded as ever, not surprisingly by mostly unicorns. Cherri kept mostly quiet while she and Arkay made their way through the busy crowd. Other than the occasional ‘Excuse me’ or ‘How rude’, the two of them didn’t speak much. Arkay knew exactly where to find Nero, so they arrived at their destination quickly. In the busy market street there was one stall that was completely empty. ‘Closed for renovation’ a small sign said on the table. To this, Cherri sighed and spoke over the crowd to Arkay, “Is this the place we are supposed to find him?”

Arkay just walked into the stall and knocked the sign over. “There will never be any renovations, come on. There is a secret entrance.” He said. Cherri looked around suspiciously, but entered the stall as well. “Well, when I say secret entrance, I really mean this is just the store front. Back here, the real business happens.” Arkay said as he gestured to the back curtain flap, he pulled it away to reveal a small, but not uncomfortable house. Cherri marveled at the change from market stall to house as Arkay trotted into the next room, she followed and they were met with the arguing of Nero and Shinny.

“You have to be kidding me! You said it was worth 550!” Nero had obviously lost his cool over this payment.

“No, no, no. I promised that to my two best hunters.” Shinny somehow remained calm in the onslaught of Nero’s yelling. “I did not promise that price to some government pony.” Arkay saw where this had taken a wrong turn.

“Look,” Nero started, “we are still treasure hunters, and nothing has changed in that stance. Just, now we are in the service of royalty as a side job. Now come on, we have been working like this for years Shinny. You really want to throw all that away over something like a simple misunderstanding?”

“Ugh, not this again Nero. Fine! I will give you original payment. But this is the last time Nero! I don’t work with royal agents; too much word getting out would get me arrested, and that means you too. Now take your bits and leave me.” Shinny really did not like the fact that they were now working for royalty apparently.

Nero turned around with his bag of bits and saw Arkay and Cherri standing, the latter looked confused while the former simply looked concerned. Nero shot Arkay a pleading look, while Cherri broke the awkward silence. “So this is what you do Arkay? Huh, no wonder you wanted to keep it hush-hush.” She then turned around and trotted out, Nero and Arkay exchanged a look then followed.

When the three of them were back in the crowded market street, Cherri again decided to speak. “I did not know that you could pawn off ancient treasure like that, so much for being ‘private contractors’ hmm?”

Nero shot Arkay a displeased glare. Arkay tried to fix the situation. “Well, yeah. I can’t lie. We are treasure hunters, or at least we were. Now however, we work for the princess.” He tried to puff out his chest triumphantly, but ended up looking rather silly.

Cherri chuckled. “Right, regular secret agents huh?”
Nero let up on his glare as he put on a rather confident and charming look. “That’s right my sweet little cherry, big bad secret agents on a mission to save the country.” Cherri’s good mood deflated immediately as Nero continued. “I’ll tell you what else too, we-” he busted out laughing “Ha-ha-ha, oh-okay. Sorry, I couldn’t say that without laughing. I’m just kidding; I couldn’t hit on my partner’s crush like that.”

Arkay tensed up so tightly that his neck popped and blushed a bright red that contrasted horribly with his green coat. Nero just chuckled as he trotted away, leaving Arkay and Cherri behind. Arkay looked over to Cherri and gave a sheepish grin. “I-I promise it’s not like that, I just uh, I respect you and, stuff.”

Cherri giggled and responded to Arkay’s stammering. “Oh it’s not like that hmm? Oh darn, I was really hoping to find a stallion that would ‘respect’ me, but since it’s ‘not like that’ I guess I’ll just have to keep looking hmm?” Arkay didn’t know that she could be that evil, and could only respond with more stammering and tripping over his words as he followed Cherri who was following Nero to the steam engine station.

The station was now quiet and almost deserted, there were a few unicorns lingering around. The engine conductor was lazily looking over the crowd. As the three of them boarded, none of them exchanged words. The two hunters flashed their royal passes, and Cherri paid the fare to the last stop: Outpost.

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Flat. The land, the rails, the plateaus; all flat. Everything past the eastern mountains of Canterlot was flat. Despite the endless flat, the steam engine still managed to be as bumpy as ever. Within the steam engine passenger car were Cherri, Arkay, and Nero sitting near the back. The rest of the car was empty beside an orange unicorn mare that refused to associate with the three of them. She in stead kept to herself and read a book. Conversation between Nero, Arkay, and Cherri had become less interesting as the scenery changed. Apparently Nero had dropped the whole ‘crush’ thing after the initial laugh over it.

“So, let me get this straight. The two of you are former treasure hunters now employed by Princess Luna to bring the nations together to overthrow the rule of princess Celestia?” Cherri still didn’t seem to believe that they could be in the service of royalty.

“Yeah, just drop the ‘former’ part on the treasure hunting. We still do that. In fact, we are looking for a gemstone that Luna said was somewhere around these parts.” Nero responded to her disbelief with a smile and a proud look. It seemed that the two of them were on better terms now that Nero had stopped hitting on her.

Cherri just rolled her eyes as Arkay continued Nero’s thought. “Well, we are here to get the support of the citizens of Outpost first, remember that Nero. I don’t even think we are going to find this gemstone. Do you know how many gems are in a wasteland-desert?”

Before Nero could answer, there was thump in the engine room. The engine began to slow down quite rapidly. Nero, Arkay, and Cherri exchanged a look and started toward the door to the engine room. As Nero opened the door, the three of them saw a large buffalo blindfolding the conductor. The buffalo looked up and sighed. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry.” The buffalo barely finished that statement before more buffalo snuck up on the three of them and knocked them over the head with what they could only guess were boards.

“They could be useful, duck ponies not so common in these parts.”

“No, they not. That exactly why they almost worthless, invaders only regular ponies.”

“Yes, but the horned one could be worth more, invaders always need them.” Arkay awoke to the sounds of three gruff voices that he could only suspect were the buffalo that knocked them out earlier. He didn’t dare give any sign that he was awake; otherwise they may feel inclined to knock him out again. Arkay attempted to open his eyes, but then realized that he was blindfolded. This realization was short lived however, because it was ripped away roughly, revealing the cold morning sunlight on the horizon. How long had they been out?

“You! Green one. What you doing so far from home? There no need for you to be here. So tell me now, you here to meddle. Invade what you do?” The rather large, and smelly, grey buffalo was giving Arkay no room to breath as he fired off questions he had no answer for, so he tried lying.

“Uh, well me and my colleagues here were just on vacation. Yeah that’s it. Vacation. We were just love taking the steam engine around for enjoyment, and we haven’t been to the lovely eastern desert wastelands yet, so we decided to…you’re not buying this are you?” Arkay never was good at lying. Terrible really.

The large grey buffalo just snorted and turned away to join the rest of his heard a short trot away. Each wore their own unique necklace made of different rocks, stones, and the occasional gemstone. They all turned to face him, tied up on the ground. Arkay turned to see that Nero, Cherri, and the conductor were also tied up on the ground and blindfolded. The orange unicorn mare was no where to be found however. Looking back to the buffalo, Arkay saw they seemed to be preparing to charge at them with thick spears in their mouths and horns ready.

The buffalo readied their weapons and horns for the charge. Before they did however, was the sound of thunder. The sudden loud boom caused Arkay to flinch. When he looked again, one of the buffalo was on his side, bleeding. His head had a sizable hole in it and flowed a dark crimson into the dirt around him. The rest of the buffalo immediately turned tail and ran. They all ran in different directions, very unorganized. Arkay looked over to see where the thunder came from, but was greeted however by a gruff looking earth pony carrying a metal tube with wooden around the bottom and the back. He holstered the device on his back and slowly trotted over to the group of tied up ponies.

“Well, this most certainly is a sight. What is this? Two flyin’ freaks, a witch, and a scrawny little regular one huh? It’s like the start of a bad joke.” The gruff earth pony certainly didn’t seem to be the nicest individual. But Arkay couldn’t help but be thankful that he did save the three of them and the conductor. He had a grey vest over a yellow-tan collared shirt and a red bandana around his neck, on his belt was a holster for a smaller version of the metal thunder tube on his back holster. Upon his head was a grey-black hat that was adorned with a small belt and a tiny white feather. Arkay just hoped that he wouldn’t decide to use the thunder tube on his belt. The loud bang had woken up Cherri, Nero, and the conductor as well.

Nero and the conductor struggled against the binds around their hooves and legs while Cherri simply removed them with magic. She looked at the brown earth pony in the vest and tilted her head. “This ruffian is the one who saved us? Well who exactly are you supposed to be?” She didn’t seem as awestruck as Arkay by the gruff savior in their midst.

“Huh, they didn’t teach you much about something called manners up in your high class city did they? But to answer your question, I am the law around these parts. I have a name, but most ponies don’t bother with it anymore. It’s Joseph, Joseph Marshal. Most folks just call me Marshal though.” Marshal said with a small nod. Arkay looked up as soon as he heard the name Joseph; this was the mayor and law pony that they were supposed to meet!

“Well thank you Mr. Marshal, we appreciate your gesture of kindness. I am Cherri, this grey one over here is Nero, and the green one is Arkay. Don’t know the conductor, but I am sure he is grateful as well.” Cherri seemed dangerously sarcastic for the situation they were in. Marshal just smirked and nodded again.

Cherri got the binds off of Nero, who then spoke up. “Well then Marshal, we are looking for a place called Outpost, since you are the law pony around here, mind pointing us in the right direction?”

Marshal chuckled. “Well, seeing as I am the law pony of Outpost I can point you there, but why should I? All you have done is cost me a bullet and some more buffalo hate. Not that I care for ‘em too much.”

“Well actually,” Arkay started, “me and Nero here are looking for you. We were sent by the princess to speak with you. Could we find a place in Outpost to do so?” He wanted to get to see the town they had almost died to find. Perhaps politics were this pony’s forte?

“Bunch’ a government boys, should’ a known these chicken ponies were no good.” Marshal said under his breath, but loud enough to be heard. “Well, not exactly the best I could’ a hoped for, but fine. Let’s go, I’m sure the ‘professor’ would like to see you.” He didn’t seem very into the gesture though. However, Arkay was very glad that Marshal did half-heartedly invite them to the town. Perhaps this mission would end up in success after all.

“One question though,” Nero cut in, “who is this ‘professor’ you’re talking about? Why would he be interested in meeting us?”

Marshal just sat and contemplated that question for a moment. Then another. After a minute or so, Marshal finally answered. “He’s not really a ‘professor’ as to say, as much as he is simply more intelligent than the rest of the town ponies. He thinks; which is more than a lot of the ponies bother to do. However sometimes thinking can be dangerous, he thinks that we can reason with these buffalo; claims that they aren’t really like this. He tells me that they are just following a bad example, I like to think the same thing, but I can’t exactly back that theory up without meeting this so called bad example and putting him down. So, until the professor can prove his little theory, I keep those buffalo out of my town.”

That was a rather violent ultimatum; then again, Marshal never really came off as one to be soft or compassionate. Cherri gave Arkay a concerned look. He wasn’t sure there was any way he could comfort her in the situation they were currently in. There was nothing safe or reassuring about following the ruffian law pony back to the Outpost, so he simply returned the concern with a similar look. Marshal turned and started off in a direction that seemed almost at random and called back to Nero, Arkay, Cherri, and the conductor, (who had stayed completely silent during the entire interaction) “You comin’ or not government boys?” Arkay and Nero exchanged a quizzical look and followed; not entirely sure how the rest of the mission was going to turn out.

Outpost was rather unremarkable in its appearance, but it was the answer to Arkay’s prayers. The five of them, Nero, Arkay, Cherri, Marshal, and the conductor, had been trotting in the hot sun for the better part of the day. All of them but Marshal were exhausted from the sheer distance coupled with the heat. The lack of water definitely didn’t help either. Neither Nero nor Arkay flew the entire trip, flying with no rest or water was dangerous. It really was rather lucky that Marshal came by when he did; otherwise there would be no way that any of them could have found their way here.

Outpost seemed to be tired as well. There were only a few ponies out and about. The rest of them must have been either in their homes or within the few stores and saloons that made up the main street of Outpost. Now on this main street, Nero could see that there wasn’t much else to the town than that. At the end of the dirt road was the train station they were supposed to have reached. On one side were general stores with various trinkets and things within. On the other seemed to be all of the saloons. Well, at least they were organized in that sense. Marshal made his way to the last saloon on the row and entered. Nero went ahead and followed, with Arkay and Cherri close behind him. The conductor left the group as soon as they had entered the limits of Outpost.

The inside of the saloon was much more alive with activity than the outside. There were several tables with various earth ponies around them. In the back of the room, near some stairs was a somewhat well-dressed stallion playing a piano. Nearby was the bar proper, a long table with various bottles, both empty and full along it. Marshal trotted up and slammed his hooves on the bar table. “Good to see you boys again, where can I get a strong apple whiskey at a time like this?” Arkay was appalled by this action, but every pony else simply continued their business as usual. Obviously, Marshal did this often. The bartender simply nodded and brought out a bottle filled with red-orange apple whiskey and a smaller glass, and filled it. Marshal took the smaller glass off the table in his hoof and downed it in one swig. “What? Ain’t you ever seen apple whiskey before?” Marshal seemed a bit standoffish at Arkay’s concerned look.

“Well no actually, apple whiskey is not served in Canterlot.” Cherri replied
“Course they don’t,” Marshal continued. “They don’t know how to have a good time in that stuck up city. If you unicorns could get you heads and horns out of the clouds, maybe we could talk like reasonable ponies. Then again there ain’t no place for us ‘lowly mud ponies’ up on the Canterlot cliffs huh?” Marshal seemed to be a bit more hostile about the unicorn’s lack of friendly relations than Nero. Cherri gave a frustrated grunt.

This was going swell for the mission. “Well, I myself am not too fond of the capital either, that is why we have come here. If you haven’t been informed, there has been a shift in the ruling of our land. Princess Luna has broken away from the rule of Celestia, and decided to make her own republic. We are here to see if you and the Outpost were willing to rebel against the ‘tyranny of Celestia’ and join the republic of Luna. We are planning to bring ponies and other species to gather to bring a new order of things to Equestria and its neighboring nations. Would you be willing to help us?” Arkay tried to make rebellion sound as inviting as possible. Certainly Marshal’s hate for the capital city alone would be enough to get his support. If not, perhaps breaking away from the rule that did not give them true freedom would.

Marshal did as usual and thought for a while. The bustle of the rest of the saloon quieted down for a moment; they seemed to be waiting for his answer as well. Marshal downed another small glass of apple whiskey and finally replied. “So, you’re not government ponies proper. You’re here to ask for my help?” Arkay gave an assertive nod. Nero simply sat at the table and stared at the apple whiskey. Cherri seemed to be waiting as well. Marshal continued, “Well, as much as I jus’ love to have rules and such shoveled out my way to ‘help’, I think I am gonna along with this crazy idea of yours.” The rest of the bar cheered in response, Arkay was right there with them, on the inside. “But,” Marshal again continued, Arkay’s hopes of an easy return were doused in one simple word. “I don’t help a pony unless you can help us first.” Of course, there was always a catch.

Nero broke in from his staring at the bottle. “What could you have us do that you couldn’t do yourself?” Arkay had a feeling he knew.
Marshal smirked. “Let’s go see the professor, he can tell you more.”

“Here it is.” Marshal said simply as he led Nero, Arkay, and Cherri to the small house a short trot from the saloon. It was sight to see. There were several wheels and gizmos on the outside of the structure; the roof was made entirely of metal instead of regular roofing or wood. The windows were rather small. This, coupled with the wheels made it a rather interesting structure to look at. Nero seemed unimpressed by it, but knocked at the door. Within, there was a loud bang, as if some pony fell off of a stool, followed by the sounds of the resident approaching the door.

A rather serious, sophisticated-looking white earth pony stallion answered the door. He looked over the four of them until his gaze fell on Marshal, he then lightened up. “Ah, Marshal good to see you again. Who are these gentle ponies and lady at my door? More importantly, have you seen my three-quarter inch cog anywhere? I haven’t the slightest clue where it could have rolled off to.”

Marshal just shook his head. “I don’t know where your cog is, but these are a group a’ government ponies that want to have our support in overthrowing royalty, but I thought they could help with the buffalo problem we’ve been havin’. Would you kindly point them in the right direction?” That confirmed Arkay’s suspicion about what the task they were going to have to deal with.

The white stallion answered without so much as missing a beat. “Overthrowing royalty? Well, I am sure that there are parts of this that I am not getting, so perhaps you can explain?”
“Strange, you seem to be the only one that isn’t absolutely on board with this rebellion thing. Who are you anyway?” Nero inquired quickly.

The white stallion nodded. “Of course, where are my manners? Most ponies around here simply call me ‘professor’, but my name is Nikola. I am an inventor of sorts, and oversee how we handle the buffalo.”
Arkay’s hope of finding an intellectual in this den of ruffians was finally realized. “So, you are a sort of scientist and a politician? It’s good to find another thinker so far from civilization. We are actually representatives from Princess Luna. She believes that it is Celestia’s rule that is keeping all of the races and species apart. She plans to change this by uniting all that she can and overthrowing the old and outdated rule of Celestia. Luna also thinks that once the rebellion has gained enough power, the ponies and other species will be ready for a more representative system of rule. If you can support our cause, we will ensure that your efforts will not be in vain.” It seemed that the more that Arkay advertised this republic idea, the more he himself believed in it. He had to remember that they were to serve Celestia in the end, uniting the races is just to get Luna’s trust.

“Ah, and there’s the part I was missing. Now it seems so much clearer. Nothing personal to Celestia, but this idea of a republic sounds like a great one! There is so much potential in the implications of representative government. Furthermore, uniting the species to gather could be a the right way to go, we could stop focusing so much on how different we are and start working toward a brighter future! Indeed, this is the most interesting thing I have heard from royalty in a long time! However, every plan needs a first step, and the buffalo are definitely where we can start. Before we continue, could I get your names? I have to admit I am a bit in the dark on the three of you.” Nikola didn’t seem to know the meaning of thinking silently.

Nero took the honor of introducing the three of them, being impulsive. “Of course, where are our manners? The green one is Arkay, Cherri is the unicorn, and I am Nero.” Nero held out his prosthetic hoof for a hoof bump, but never got one. Nikola was simply staring at his prosthetic hoof intently.

“Where did you get that?” Nikola stated simply.

Nero looked down at his hoof; metal, he had grown so used to it that he forgot that other ponies didn’t usually have a replacement hoof. “I had a, uh, accident at an early age. I have pretty much always had this thing. Why?”
Nikola continued to stare. “That is my design. I invented prosthetics many years ago, but the lack of a need for then caused me to move onto something else. Tell me, did you get this from a Pegasus named ‘Rainy Days’?” Nikola seemed to be both happy and sad at the sight of Nero’s metal hoof.

“Yeah, I think that was his name. Are you telling me that you came up with the idea for replacement hooves? I was told Rainy Days came up with it on the spot.” Nero defended the old Pegasus doctor; he did after all save Nero’s life with this prosthetic hoof.

Nikola simply chuckled. “Oh how they lie to the young. No, I invented this technology. However it was claimed to be an unneeded device, so I never got to publish the idea properly. What you have is an old prototype of my design. I figured that something was suspicious when he left ‘for no reason’. Crafty devil must have run off with my design. Tell you what. If you would allow it, I would like to give you my more updated design. It isn’t doing me any good just sitting around my workshop, and this could give you the chance to show off the original inventor’s work instead of thinking that it was made by some thief.”

That gave Nero a lot to think about. How long had he believed that Pegasus engineering saved his life, when all along it was actually the work of a mud pony living in a run-down settlement far from civilization? Nero wanted to deny that he was saved by an earth pony’s design, but when Nikola brought out a new prosthetic hoof with an updated frame, he couldn’t think of any other solution other than that Nikola was telling the truth. After a few moments of thinking and reorganizing his thoughts, Nero gave Nikola an answer. “Yeah, sure professor. I’ll take you’re your offer. No sense in using an outdated old hunk of metal yes?” Nikola seemed to brighten up at that. How could he not? He was going to replace a lie with the truth.
Marshal seemed unmoved by the act before him. “Well, if you ponies are done living in your mechanical lives, I’m gonna go back to the real world, and get myself a few drinks.” With that he left to inventor’s house and trotted to the main street of Outpost.

The workshop of Nikola’s house was a larger room with all sorts of inventions and failures strewn about. If there was any organizational system for this room, it was on a different level of thinking than Nero, Arkay, or Cherri could comprehend. After rummaging through many other pieces of metal, or machines, the others couldn’t really tell, Nikola pulled out a device that looked like a screwdriver, but not. It seemed that it didn’t exactly know what tool it wanted to be, so it instead chose to be every tool. “All you have to do is sit relatively still for a moment and I will get you all set up.” Nikola spoke easy, as if having your hoof replaced was an everyday thing.

Nero was a bit apprehensive about letting go of his old hoof, but gave in and let Nikola go to work. “So, you invent stuff? What is your focus or reason for this?” Nero wanted to make this at least a little more like a regular interaction. However there could be no words that would make replacing a hoof seem like a normal interaction.

“Well actually,” apparently Nikola was used to talking while working, or perhaps he was just ‘thinking out loud’ when he was, “I find that pony kind could do so much more than just exist. Why not live instead of simply getting by? So in an effort to help ponies, I invent new ideas to advance our ways of thinking and doing. Why pull a plow when you can simply have a machine do it for you? Why contact others by letters when you can use the telegraph to send your messages over long distances? I have many thoughts of how to improve the lives of ponies, but most of them end up being failures. I do however have an idea that is sure to work. If we could harness it, lightning could power many, many things. I am finding ways to harness the electricity from lightning to power devices. One of these I call the light bulb.” Nikola really was an earth pony through and through. He looked past the fact that unicorns could light rooms and places or that Pegasus could harness lightening easily, and created things for the betterment of other earth ponies. He had good intentions, but it was no wonder that he lived so far from civilization. “There we go! Good as new Nero.”

Nero looked down; surprised that Nikola had worked so quickly, and couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of his new hoof. It was a bit of a heavier frame, but this new hoof was much sturdier than the old one. It was much smoother in design, and had two wires along the side of it, but overall was comfortable. Nero gave it a few kicks and stomps, and it held up perfectly well. Nikola looked upon it somewhat proudly and, like a father would look upon his colt when he got his cutie mark. “Well, now that that business is out of the way, shall we discuss the buffalo?”

Back in the main room of Nikola’s house, Nero, (still getting used to the new hoof) Arkay, Cherri, and Nikola sat down and enjoyed some nice cool water. None of them realized how thirsty they were until the offer of water was made. Cherri seemed much more receptive to conversation now that she was properly hydrated. “Well, I have to say that this town is much more pleasant than the unicorns of Canterlot make it out to be. There aren’t mad ponies running around crazy, and there certainly is water. I can’t understand why the high class unicorns of that city have to put down other cities to make theirs seem so much better than others.”

“Oh, there are crazy ponies. You just haven’t had the chance to meet any of them. Also, water is a very precious commodity out here. We need to be careful or we could run dry. If that happens, we are all too far from any other town to effectively get helped soon enough to stop ponies from dying. Marshal keeps most of these things in order, but one pony can only do so much.” Nikola said calmly. Cherri gave him a surprised look, certainly there was a joke somewhere in that, but she could find none. He was being serious.

“Well anyway,” Arkay wanted to get things back on track, “what exactly do you need us to do to help the buffalo situation out here? You said you had a plan or something?”

Nikola nodded. “Yes, I do indeed have a plan. Theses buffalo are not naturally violent and disagreeable. They are following a leader that is a bad influence on them. I know this because there is a buffalo I normally do business with named Rock that is a rather pleasant and normal individual. He has told me that one chief has taken many of his brothers and sisters into a life of violence because it is ‘what they were called to do.’ I would like to believe that this is true. If you could take out the bad chief, then the buffalo would fall back into the docile and peaceful beings they naturally are.”
Arkay remembered Rock; he was the buffalo that pointed Nero and him to where Naburu the boat zebra was in the town of Brandonbuck. “Alright, how do you purpose we remove this bad chief from influencing these buffalo Nikola?” Arkay asked. It was the burning question on his and Nero’s mind.

“I have organized a pow-wow, a sort of meeting of the minds, with Rock and some of his brothers tomorrow in the morning. If you could get them to help, it would be easy to get that chief out of power. I need to stay here and finish working on some of my new wiring for electric powered fans, and Marshal said he would too busy dealing with outlaws and such to make time for buffalo. So would you be willing to go in our place to try and fix this situation. I am sure that Marshal could get the rest of the towns support in joining your republic if you could get this buffalo problem fixed.” Nikola explained. His plan was fair and equitable to Arkay’s view point.

After a moment of thought and a look from both Nero and Cherri, Arkay gave his answer. “We accept Nikola. We will go to this pow-wow and try to sway the peaceful buffalo to our side. We will need to sleep here for the night and leave in the morning, would that be agreeable to you?” Nikola could not have brightened up more at that.

“Of course friends, we can’t have your tired for the pow-wow. The three of you can sleep in my workshop. I usually have a few matrasses or pillows in there; I fall asleep when I work sometimes. You may sleep there and then leave in the morning to meet with Rock.” Nikola had a strange way of living indeed, but Nero and Arkay couldn’t complain.

Cherri on the other hand could. “Me? Sleeping in the same room as these two? In a workshop? You must be crazy. Certainly you have some quarters more suited to a lady?”

Nikola just answered easily. “Nope, take it or leave it dear, I don’t usually entertain guests, so I don’t see the need to have an extra room for them. Sleep well friends and see you in the morning!” And with that, he led them to the workshop and left without another word.

Nero had no trouble finding a place to sleep. He pulled a rather large pillow out from under a round metal pipe and fell right asleep in a very unceremonious position. Arkay and Cherri however were both very hesitant to do the same. Arkay pulled out a rather lumpy mattress from under a table and nudged Cherri. “Here, you sleep here. I’ll find something else to sleep on, doesn’t seem to be any more pillows. Um, I’ll just sleep on the floor, uh, goodnight Cherri.” Sure, Arkay could talk his way out of law enforcement, convince a manticore not to eat him, and even get Nero to stop being rude to different races most of the time, but when it came to talking to Cherri alone, he was less than useless. He couldn’t help but trip over his words, especially after last time when she ended up teasing him for half an hour.

Cherri just looked at the mattress, then back to Arkay. “Thanks Arkay.” She lay down upon the bed and got comfortable while Arkay found a nice cold piece of floor to lie on. After a few minutes, Cherri spoke up again, almost to herself. “Really are different Arkay.” Arkay couldn’t help but smile as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

The dirt lands were as inviting as ever as Nero, Arkay, Cherri, and the two buffalo leading them in the morning sun to the pow-wow with Rock and his brothers. The buffalo only gave grunts of response to any question Arkay could ask, so conversation died down quickly in the group. They were to meet Rock and his brothers near a ring of cactus where the sands began, or at least that’s how Nikola described it as they were led away from his house. Nero was having some trust issues having to be led through the desert by buffalo, and Cherri did her best not to complain about the heat. After what seemed like hours of trotting in one direction, Arkay could make out the shapes of several buffalo off in the distance next to several cacti. They had arrived

As the group approached the circle of cacti, the buffalo leading the group finally spoke. “Stand in the circle ponies.” Simple directions enough. So Nero, Arkay, and Cherri did as they were told.

Once in the center of the cacti circle a rather important looking buffalo with several necklaces and a head dress spoke to the three of them. “Ponies, you have come to speak of peace between the buffalo and the citizens of Outpost. This is a very important leap into good relations between our races, and we thank you.” As this buffalo continued to speak, Nero couldn’t help but notice the sand creeping up on his legs. Cherri and Arkay were too stressed about the speaking with the buffalo to notice. “However, there is something I must confess to you friends.” Arkay and Cherri began to notice the sand as well as it crept over their upper legs. “You will not be around to speak of peace at all.” The speaking buffalo threw off his head dress and tore off his necklaces. “Because the three of you will be taking a long sand nap.” It was a trap! They were being buried in quick sand.

Arkay and Nero tried at once to flap their wings, but it was too late, their wings were already buried in sand. Cherri struggled against the sand to no avail. Nero suddenly yelled at the buffalo several obscenities that even Arkay was surprised by. Arkay himself could only ask, “Who are you and why are you doing this?”

The buffalo now wearing a bandana around his neck lined with turquoise chuckled. “I suppose the dead should know. I am ‘chief Rolling Thunder’ to those damnable betrayers, but you can call me by my real name. Name’s just Thunder, and when you see that damn idiot Joseph Marshal in the afterlife, could you say ‘hello’ for me. He’ll remember. See ya’ invaders, never should have gotten involved in what you don’t understand.”

Arkay tried to respond to Thunder’s constant talking, but couldn’t. His head was already under the sand. Nero, Arkay, and Cherri were all pulled under the sand. Arkay couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, and couldn’t move as he slipped further and further into the sand. His last thoughts drifted to his friends as he started to lose consciousness. “Nero, you were right all along,” he thought, “and Cherri, I’m sorry.” All of his senses shut down as he drifted into his final rest.

Nero himself was still struggling against the sand that surrounded him. However no movement he tried made any change in the sand that continually filled in any space around him. Panic slowly set in when Nero finally accepted that he could not change the fact that he was going to die in this miserable sand pit. He didn’t dare open his eyes or speak; no need to accelerate the process of suffocation. In the empty silence of the sand, Nero could make out the whisper of a voice in the back of his mind. “That buffalo was right you know, really shouldn’t have got involved Nero.” Honestly Nero couldn’t disagree with the voice either.

Cherri tried to focus her magic on moving the sand she was sinking in, but it was rather difficult to focus on magic while you slowly lost any sense of feeling, sight, or sound. “Well,” she thought to herself, “look where following those two has gotten you. Would have been better off begging on the streets in Canterlot than dying in the sand with two Pegasus you hardly know. Maybe next time you would do good to remember that? Oh wait, there won’t be a next time will there?”

Author's Note:

Well, I for one certainly enjoyed writting this chapter, hope you guys enjoyed reading

Again, if you have any comments or suggestions, by all means post them. I always want to improve

(Also, sorry for the wait. The next chapter will hopefully be done sooner than a month)
(Now with tab problem fixed, yay copypasta)