“THWOONGGGG!”
The crossbow bolt struck the tree and buried its head into the wooden flesh.
A few paces behind it, leaning with his back to a grass covered mound in the middle of the forest, a charcoal unicorn stallion slept, a Stetson hat pulled over his face.
At the sound of the arrow hitting the tree, he immediately perked-up. Gazing wide-eyed out from underneath the brim of the hat, he realized immediately the danger he was in. He tore his hat off and turned to his right.
“TRIXIEEEE! THEY FOUND US!”
A few seconds later, he, along with a light-blue colored unicorn mare were barreling through bushes and over logs, a mob of angry town ponies in pursuit, torches and pitchforks borne.
“I told you we should have taken the left at the fork in the road!” Trixie yelled, using her magic to keep her wizard hat from flying off her head.
“Me?” he fired back, “We were doing fine until you launched that firework flare into the mayor’s office and started a fire!”
The roar of the horde calling after them redoubled as they broke out from the trees and into a clearing.
Ducking another shaft, out of the corner of his eye he saw an opportunity for escape off to their left.
“Come on! This way!”
He wrapped one of his hooves around hers and pulled her to the side as they ran.
“Hey!” She cried, objecting to the rough handling. “Wanderlust, I think this way leads to the-”
At a full sprint, they both leaped off the edge of the cliff.
“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!”
Trixie clamped onto him around his waist, terrified by the 20-meter drop to the running water below.
They fell, he using his magic to hold onto his saddle bags. The river flowed at a moderate pace, and when they splashed into it, they sank below the surface.
Huddled together on the bluff, the crowd watched with irritation as their quarry escaped.
The stallion burst from the water first with a gasp for breath
“Like she said, my name is Wanderlust.
Roamer, wanderer, nomad, vagabond, call me what you will.
I’m the type of pony who never settles down, I go from place to place, move from town to town.
You know how the song goes. Long story short, I left home a long time ago to travel the world. Seen a lot of things, met a lot of ponies, had my fair share of adventures and close calls. And your share, and her share, and his share over there in the corner.
Now, normally I don’t like to brag. Unless it’s going to get me out of a jam. Or, into someplace comfortable, then I’ll brag my flank off. But I usually don’t like to lie. This time however, I had to tell a little white lie. For a good reason mind you, a totally good reason.
See, me and my running buddy Trixie, she’s that pretty little aspiring wizard that the angry mob also wanted to catch, are on a mission. Well, she’s helping me on my mission really, I took her on years ago back in Fillydelphia when she was just a… well… a filly.
Being the rover that I am, I’ve had occasion to come across some interesting bits of information, sometimes maps, sometimes just a rumor. This time I was working off a pretty reliable source as far as treasure goes, couldn’t say much more about his state of mind, but he knew his stuff when it came to plunder.
He told me a legend about piece of jewelry, an amulet to be precise, one that granted the wearer great magical power. If this amulet was the one I was thought it was, then I had to find it before it fell into the wrong hooves. Trust me this amulet is a nasty piece of work that could do some real damage if the wrong pony got a hold of it.
We were investigating a lead in a little town east of the Macintosh Hills, some small settler outpost. Turns out this group was from Dodge City, and had certain… disagreements with how they thought a city should be run. Namely the degree to which they should enforce what they called “Moral Purity Laws”. Needless to say me and Trix had to watch ourselves.
The lead was that they kept a few magical items in their town hall, locked in monument they built their village around. Equestrian ponies aren’t known for being the most ideological bunch, but you do get the odd pockets of those who really, really want to set a good example for the rest of us.
Strolling into town earlier that day, we had a game plan. It was a trick we had used a few times, simple, played to our strengths, and if all went according to plan everypony got a good show.
EARLIER THAT DAY
“Alright Trix, you know how this goes.”
Standing beside a general store, Wanderlust and Trixie eyed the locals who milled about in the town square.
“You give ‘em the old razzle-dazzle, and I go see if there’s any honey in the hive.”
Wanderlust continued to fixate on the town hall, but Trixie changed her focus to stare incredulously at her partner.
“Wanderlust, you have the worst phrases, you know that?”
He whipped his head around to give her a confused and wounded expression.
“What do you mean, ‘the worst phrases’? What’s that supposed to mean?”
This was a conversation they’d had a dozen times, but Trixie just returned a smile and chuckled slightly.
“You make it sound like we’re here to rob them the way you talk.” Her smile flattened into a suspicious frown, “Wait, you’re not planning to rob them are you?”
“What? No!” Wanderlust glanced around quickly to make sure nopony had overheard that part.
“We’re just here looking for the Amulet, nothing more, nothing less. Though I will be fair, if it turns out they do have the Amulet, then yes, we will be stealing it.”
“Well…” Trixie took another look past his shoulder to where an earth pony stallion was exiting their target building. “If this thing can really do what you say, then it’s best we get it into the right hooves in Canterlot before it can unleash all kinds of chaos.”
“Yeah, the princess will know how to handle it better than these bunch of headcases.”
Trixie gave him a sharp elbow in the ribs to admonish him, but he grimaced defiantly.
“Trust me, I know how bad things can get when ponies take their ideologies too far.”
Across the square from the civil headquarters, was a raised stage of some kind for public displays. Trixie got a wry smirk when she saw it.
“There’s my platform. You just worry about getting caught poking around their little treasure trove.”
“Don’t chu’ worry, they’ll be too captivated by your fantastic new act to notice little ‘ole me.”
Trixie and Wanderlust regarded each other for a few moments with narrow eyes. She pulled her head back slightly, and gave him a wink accompanied by a click of the tongue.
“You got that right.”
“That’s my girl.” he said as she walked past him, and he retreated to the rear of the building.
A few minutes later, as the townsponies went about their business in the square, the raised platform was engulfed in smoke and a series of pyrotechnic flares. They stopped and stared wide-eyed at the display, worried murmurs and curious onlookers gathering around to see what might emerge from the fume.
“Prepare yourselves!”
Trixie’s voice wafted through to the crowd, and the chatter among them increased.
“For the greatness and power of!…”
As the smoke cleared, they could see her standing with her fore-hooves raised, her cape flapping and wizard hat tilted to the side.
“TRIXIE!”
While those assembled gaped and awed, and Trixie began her presentation by holding her hat out in front of her, a fountain of sparks flowing out of it in the shape of a bouquet.
Glancing at the show from a distance, Wanderlust smirked.
“She’s come so far.” Was what I thought to myself as I watched her do her routine. True I had seen more powerful unicorns in my time, but Trixie’s talent lay in her presentation, her flare for showmareship. Which was good, because it helped to make her a great distraction.
Wanderlust skulked along the individual buildings, none of them more than two floors tall. The square was arraigned in a circle, and the stage was opposite the town hall. One of the double doors hung open, and he squirmed his way inside without making a noise.
Ducking aside to a shadowed corner, he gave the small rotunda a quick look around, making sure that the building was indeed vacant save him, and safe to proceed. In the center of the rotunda, was a statue of an Earth Pony stallion, his fore hooves resting on a raised crag, he looking out over some metaphorical vista.
At the base of the bronze statue, Wanderlust could discern the straight lines of the sides of an access panel.
Stepping lightly so as to not allow the clop of his hooves to echo too loud, he made his way over to the figure, staring intently at his point of entry.
He cranked his neck side-to-side and exhaled, preparing to remove the panel with all the delicate concentration of a heart surgeon. Using his magic, he carefully dislodged the slab of metal, a few minute glances of contact made him wince, but he got it away without much trouble, and placed it on the floor.
Though the opening was too small for him to stick his head inside, his horn illuminated the dark space and he peered inside.
“Where are you…” Wanderlust muttered under his breath, trying to catch sight of the items that were supposed to be kept within.
“Please tell me I haven’t wasted a month chasing down a false lead.”
Finally, he spied the corner of a box, and a smile crept across his lips. Wrapping it in his magic, he drew it out, the opening being just wide enough for box to slide through. In the light, he saw that it had once been a pastel green, but was now caked in dust and grime. Made of ceramic, it wasn’t much bigger than a shoebox, whatever item it held was the right size to be the amulet he sought.
“and now for my newest trick!” Outside, Trixie’s sounded like she was getting excited. All the better as far as Wanderlust was concerned, it just meant that she was keeping their attention.
He bit his lip as he lifted the cover, the grinding sound making him anxious. When it separated at last, the item inside was not an amulet.
“Aww, nuts…” he said. Sitting there was a small golden chest, it’s base connected by some adhesion to the ceramic. While it wasn’t what he was looking for, it intrigued him nonetheless. He unlatched the little hook that held the cover, and peeled it back to reveal a large silver ring containing a ruby.
“Well that is curious…”
“Look out!” Came the voice from the crowd outside, and Wanderlust’s eyes popped open in alarm.
Smashing through the window above him, a sparkling flare shot into the room, bouncing off the walls like a superball and starting small fires on everything combustible it touched.
Using his magic to create shield, the firework ricocheted above Wanderlust’s head, as he hastily put the box back in the cavity. He was putting the panel back when a few of the towns ponies, rushed in through the front doors, water buckets in their mouths.
For a moment, Wanderlust and the others stared at each other, the firework still bouncing off the walls. In a second, they dropped the pails, their faces angry.
“Hey there! Thief!”
Wheeling around towards the nearest window, Wanderlust threw himself out of the building in a single leap, hit the ground in a roll just as the civilians reached out to him, and took off.
Making sure to glance to the other side of the square, he noticed Trixie had likewise began sprinting down from the stage, another set of enraged locals crying out after her.
She looked over, and seeing where he was heading, made off in the same direction. They converged outside of town at the edge of the forest, disappearing into the woods with a dozen or more ponies forced to skid to a halt before the narrowing brush.
PRESENTLY
“And that’s how we gave them the slip initially. We got a ways into the woods before we felt confident that we had put enough distance between us and them. So, once we got a chance to catch our breath, go over what happened, and have her console me about wasting a month of our lives.
By then it was late in the evening, so we decided to bed down for the night. The skies were clear and the temperature warm, so a nice nap under the stars seemed in order. That was until the morning when…”
THWOONG!
TRIXIEEE!
Trixie screams as they sail over the edge of the cliff and into the river.
Gasping for breath, Wanderlust blew water from his nostrils as he came up for air. A few paces away from him, Trixie also re-surfaced, using her magic to keep from losing her hat.
Between them, a log came drifting along the water, becoming a barrier over which they gave each other tired looks. After a few moments, Wanderlust laid his forelimb on one end, turning it sideways. Trixie took the invitation and climbed onto the driftwood.
“Gonna join me?” she said.
“Naw… I climb up there, I’ll catapult you. I’ll just… relax a bit in the water.” He flung his other foreleg onto the log and hunched over.
Trixie, scrunched her muzzle and she fixed on him, “You know, there are easier ways of going about trying to find this thing instead of acting like a thief.”
“True.” he said without lifting his head from resting on his limb. “But it does need to be done without raising too much attention.”
She scoffed, “You’ve been saying that for years. Frankly, I’m starting to think you’re the only one who cares about that stupid thing.”
Now, Wanderlust tilted his head to give her an inspective look. “Would it matter if I was?”
“I just… I just think you should move on with your life. Maybe it’s not even out there anymore, maybe it’s lost forever. It’s frustrating to watch you waste your life chasing this thing.”
Use the song to guide you with the lyrics, 'cause it might get a little confusing going back and forth between the solos and the harmonies
.
For a minute or longer they floated along in silence. Giving her companion a sidelong glance, Trixie slid over as far as the center of balance would allow, and stared off into the horizon.
“There are times I think your mission, is a phantom. And your goals in mind are, no offense, askew.”
“None taken.” he muttered.
“Still, whatever mess I land in, who’s always understanding? Nopony else but you.”
Wanderlust cracked a smile, “Well, your attitude is now and then, bewildering. And your magic tricks I‘d say, could use a little work.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
“But who deserves my deep affection, in this life that we are destined.
Nopony else but you.”
“No-pony else but you.” They both sang, “It’s just our luck, we’re stuck together. Nopony else but you, it’s crazy enough to believe we’ll come through.”
“So your jokes are older than an Alicorn princess.” She teased him.
“And your ego makes a dragon seem, petite.” He retorted.
“But when I feel life‘s depression, who else can I depend on?” They asked each other.
“If you’re having trouble guessing here’s a clue.” Trixie smiled, poking at his nose with a hoof. “Though he thinks he’s understated, he’s just really antiquated. And he’s nopony else, but-”
“No-pony else but you, we’ve turned into, a true-blue duo. Hard times, we’ve had a few.”
“Like we’re thrown in the drink.” he said, splashing his hoof into the water.
“Like we’re tossed out of town.” she saluted back over her shoulder.
“Hey if I’m gonna sink, then I’d rather go down with nopony else, but, Y-O-Uuuuuuu!”
Wanderlust rolled the log backwards, and Trixie fell into the water next to him.
“Aww really!” She cried, but they both fell into laughter, splashing water at each other as they continued to float on.