The following morning after the foals found another cave to dwell in that was very well-hidden, they had their breakfast and trekked south through the mountains towards Dodge City. They encountered some resistance along the way in the form of some wild creatures that didn’t take too kindly to their presence. Packs of Timberwolves would ambush them, a couple Bugbears, but thankfully no more giant pythons. None of these threats proved too great a challenge with the foals’ new weapons courtesy of their newest comrade as well as the little samurai himself, whose flawless techniques with his swords made the others feel like real warriors.
Turf War’s new hammer-axe bashed and chopped right through the Timberwolves as though they were firewood. His new shield would block them as effectively as a magic force field. Not to mention his shield bashes and punches were pretty concussive apart from the hammer itself. He was having a blast with his new toys. “Yo, Air Slash! D’ese are my sh- uh…. Freakin’ awesome, bruh!” he exclaimed.
“Glad you like them, friend.” Air Slash replied. “I made them with only the finest steel I could muster and reinforced them with only a thin layer of diamond. The shield even has an inner layer of python scales.” He drew one of his swords. “So the best part…” he slashed across the shield and the pole of the hammer, but nary a scratch was left. “Not even my blades will so easily cut through their defense.”
Turf War pulled him in for a bro hug. “Word up!” he said. Air Slash chuckled lightly.
Fire Fight was equally thrilled with his new gauntlets. His hooves were starting to callus from so much punching, so these were already pretty convenient. Apart from that, being able to hit way harder so even a Bugbears hide at least bruised made Fire Fight feel more like he could take on the world, especially after not being able to effectively combat the big python back the Hoofington forest. He was okay with the fact that they didn’t help his fire magic.
Another Bugbear suddenly flew out of a big tree and rocketed towards them with its stinger at the ready. All Fire Fight had to do was flame-jump towards it and sock it right in the face to knock it out. “Man….I kinda miss the challenge.” He said.
Air Slash chuckled. “Oh don’t worry, friend. I’m sure we’ll encounter plenty a worthy foe on our quest!” he declared. He turned to Spiral Galaxy. “Is that armor still to you’re liking, Spiral?” he asked her.
Spiral smiled proudly. “Oh yeah! It’s a little heavy, but pretty comfy.” She answered.
“Good. I’m sorry couldn’t muster anything that would contain you’re cosmo magic. Our clan doesn’t particularly deal with that.” Air Slash said.
“That’s ok. I meditate with Fire Fight and Shadow Shroud when we have time, so I’ll be able to control it on my own eventually.” Spiral Galaxy said.
“Hmph.” They looked over to see Shadow Shroud as she walked forward facing front barely leering at them, namely Air Slash, who returned the dirty look.
Spiral Galaxy grimaced. “…Amongst other things” she whispered to the other colts.
Fire Fight and Turf War grimaced at one another. Air Slash and Shadow Shroud would likely be constantly on the verge of killing each other this whole trip, but Air Slash made the choice to leave the home he felt he didn’t belong, and Fire Fight adhered to his self-imposed obligation to help him.
“You sure dis was a good idea, Fire Fight?” Turf War whispered.
Fire Fight sighed. “It is our mission to help foals like Air Slash…” he muttered. He then looked at Shadow Shroud. “Even if we won’t totally get along…”
Turf War patted his back roughly. “Ya know somethin’, dog? Back in da hood, I seent a lot o’ gangs be built around ponies who got beef wit one another. The more d’hey try to smoke each other, the less d’hey wanted to. D’hey was makin’ dat connection d’ho, ya know what I’m sayin’?” he said.
“Yeah! And if you think about, Equestria was founded the exact same way! The three tribes hated one another, but learned the value of friendship and the rest is history. The same thing just might happen with these two.” Spiral Galaxy added.
“Word!” Turf War affirmed.
While encouraged, one more look at the two rivals told Fire Fight that that’d be a long way away. He knew that Shadow Shroud wasn’t very happy with him right now, but the fact that she hasn’t left nor killed him meant that she was as willing as Air Slash to give this whole ordeal a chance, even if she didn’t express it. “Yeah….I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“And we will, son!” Turf War said.
Fire Fight chuckled. “I wish I had your optimism sometimes, Turf War.”
Turf War shook his head. “Nah, son. If ya did, you’d prolly still be in Ponyville tryna be Super Stallion or whatever.” He said.
The two colts bumped each other’s shoulders and laughed. Spiral Galaxy giggled with them. Finally they’d reached the foot of the mountain. It was still lush with grass and flowers, so the desert wasn’t too close.
Shadow Shroud looked at her map. “There’s a river just to the east from here. If we manage to build a raft or something buoyant, we should be able to more effectively reach the desert leading into Dodge City.” She explained.
“I know which one you speak of; my family collects water from it. It flows out from Neighagra Falls quite rapidly, so it would certainly cut our travel time considerably.” Air Slash explained.
“I was just getting to that.” Shadow Shroud hissed.
Air Slash eyed her. “Well, be quicker on the draw then.” He said.
“That’s enough, you two.” Fire Fight lightly commanded. The two scowled downward. “Let’s start gathering materials for the raft. Turf War, Air Slash, find a really big log to chop if you can. If you have to settle for chopping down a tree, that’s ok too. Spiral, help him carry it, but try to not lose control, ok?”
Spiral nodded. “I’ll try!”
“We do dat!” Turf War said.
“So we will.” Air Slash said.
“Cool. Shadow Shroud and I will gather more food so I can whip up some lunch. Sound good?” Fire Fight said. He looked at Shadow Shroud to see that she wasn’t too thrilled.
“I suppose so…” she said unenthusiastically. She walked towards a field of herbs and motioned for Fire Fight to follow. “Come on.”
Turf War and Spiral Galaxy grimaced as they looked at Fire Fight, who was starting to feel bad about forcing her to work with a Bladerunner. He gulped and followed her.
Air Slash just shook his head as he watched them walk off. “Hmph. Typical Shadewalker.” He said.
Turf War nudged him. “You ain’t bein’ much better, bruh. I know y’all might think dis whack, but Shadow Shroud’s really carried us so far. Y’all better start showin’ her some respect.” He said.
“Yeah, Air Slash. We’re happy to have you along, but not if you and Shadow Shroud are just going to keep fighting. Our new home won’t be very fun for anypony no matter where we decide to make it if you two are constantly on the verge of killing each other.” Spiral Galaxy added.
Air Slash rolled his eyes. “I stated before that I’m willing to associate with her if it means bettering myself. And I truly wish to help Fire Fight, so worry not.” He said.
“Then show that.” Spiral said firmly.
Air Slash. “Very well.” He conceded. They got to looking around the edge of the forest for suitable wood for a raft.
*****
Fire Fight and Shadow Shroud spent their hour gathering some natural wheat, edible flowers and a couple natural melons they found. It was a bountiful enough harvest, but not a word was said in the tense atmosphere for a while. Fire Fight knew that Shadow Shroud was upset with him, but wasn’t sure how to approach the issue. He was pretty sure that they were past the point of her expressing her feelings through her weapons, but he wanted to tread lightly just to be safe.
“So, uhh…..What all have you got?” he asked her casually.
She didn’t face him as she continued to scan the area for food. “The melon I picked up, two plates worth of wheat, some hibiscus and some strong grass to tie the raft together with.” She answered dutifully.
“Oh!.....Uh,…..Cool! Yeah, that’s…pretty much what I got too!” he replied. “Think we should head back?”
She turned to her head halfway to scowl at him. “You can. I’ll gather some more. I’m getting hungry anyway, so the sooner the better.” She said.
Fire Fight lightly sighed in frustration. Sure, he was slightly afraid she might change her mind about him and go for his throat, but his biggest concern was their friendship. Despite being a living enigma in the form of a filly with the nerve to take a life, it was Shadow Shroud who sparked his passion to begin his quest and became a trusted ally in the process, and eventually a friend.
“Shroud, look, I know you’re mad at me, but you promised to help me in return for letting you explore Equestria. I don’t know what was confining you to that old castle, but look, this whole thing with the Bladerunners and the Shadewalkers, that’s strictly between you and Air Slash, so-”
He was cut off when Shadow Shroud suddenly threw a kunai right between his front feet, causing him to jump. “And you didn’t show an ounce of respect to that!” she scolded. She scowled fiercely as she marched towards him. “I remember well the pact we’d formed that night, don’t get me wrong, so why was I not given a say in the matter, huh!? Why did you let that knife-brandishing whelp into our party without consulting the one somepony who’d have an issue with it!? How is handling a situation like that going to be helpful in the future!?”
Fire Fight regained his composure as he put his game face on. “Because it was Air Slash’s choice to join us even after considering that he’d be working with his so-called enemy! He was abandoning Equestria, so essentially, he abandoned his rivalry with you!” he argued.
“Oh! If only it were that simple! Perhaps you thought he was going to protect you from me in case I went rogue- which I never will; I gave you my word! And you still didn’t answer my other question: Why was I not given a choice?” Shadow Shroud rebutted.
“I just told you! It wasn’t your decision to make! It was Air Slash’s! I don’t care if your old enemies or something! Every foal we rescue has a fair choice on whether or not they want to come or not!” Fire Fight answered.
“So by your logic, we should allow even a pup from those Diamond Dogs to come with us even though we’re enemies. Or perhaps a NightMare spirit? Oh! How about a dragon!? They still resent us even if their new ruler holds us in high regard! How do you think Turf War and Spiral Galaxy would feel about that!?” Shadow Shroud argued.
“Now you’re just being unrealistic!” Fire Fight said.
“Am I?” Shadow Shroud growled. She then noticed something out of the corner of her eye and gasped. “GET DOWN!” she shouted. She jumped onto Fire Fight and held him down as firmly as she could.
Fire Fight was surprised. He almost thought that she was trying to kill him if not for the sudden surprise from her. “Huh!? Shroud, what are you-” his question was answered before he could finish it by a huge, brilliant beam of magic that suddenly thundered right beside them! Fire Fight immediately laid perfectly flat for the couple seconds that the beam lasted.
When the beam diminished, Shadow Shroud lifted her head and looked down at Fire Fight. “You okay, Fire Fight?” she frantically asked.
Fire Fight found himself blushing at the awkward position they were forced into, but kept his composure. “Yeah, thanks!” he said. The two smiled at each other for a brief moment before getting up. “That must’ve been Spiral Galaxy! We better go make sure she and the others are okay!” he declared.
Shadow Shroud nodded. “Right!” With that, they dashed off to the aid of their friends, worrying what might have sparked Spiral to go full blast…