//------------------------------// // These Blades // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// The foals had safely returned to their lit train car, and decided to have some much needed dinner before bed. Fire Fight still had some ingredients to work with, but he decided to cook outside of the coach for the risk of setting its carpet floor ablaze. Air Slash took out the loaf of bread he’d bought, and finely sliced it with his swords. The stew that Fire Fight had whipped up turned out to be a good main dish for the bread to compliment; he was thanked for thinking to buy it, but he was too lost in thought to give a heartfelt ‘you’re welcome’, and he simply nodded. Dinner was pretty quiet considering what the foals had just endured. They were still a little shaken at the actual event despite having managed to becalm themselves. Shadow Shroud could tell that all of them had been caught completely off guard, and still felt a little guilty. Feeling their forgiveness however, she was able to eat happily…..even if Air Slash didn’t quite give off the same vibe. She was caught a little off guard when Air Slash suddenly handed her a second slice of the bread. He didn’t face her, but instead looked down and away from her. She eyed him curiously. He shifted his eyes towards her for a second before looking away again. “Is this some form of peace offering?” Shadow Shroud asked. Air Slash shifted his eyes back towards her. “If……you wish to call it that…” he grumbled. “Well…” Shadow Shroud gently accepted the slice. “I accept.” She said softly, but with a slightly detectable hint of firmness. The other foals were pleasantly surprised to see them be even remotely friendly to one another, especially considering the circumstances. Turf War lightly nudged Air Slash, and Air Slash looked at him. “See? You getting’ d’ere.” Turf War whispered. Air Slash rolled his eyes. Kickback turned to Fire Fight and Shadow Shroud. “Say, did the burial go alright?” he asked. “Yeah. We used those huge tools he tried to cut us open with, and covered the mound of dirt with some of those dead…..things he was making.” Fire Fight explained. “Did ya give him a proper sendin’ off?” Kickback asked. “We….did say a little prayer for him after we were done, I guess.” Fire Fight said. “And I gave him his last rights just before I ended his life.” Shadow Shroud added. Kickback shook his head. “Now that just won’t do. Even if he was one heckuva kook, he still deserves a right n’ proper funeral.” He said. “Yeah, I guess, but…..I really wanna sleep. I think we’re all still pretty exhausted.” Spiral Galaxy said. “Well…..Ah suppose we could stop by his grave in the mornin’ and then hold it. Whaddya think?” Kickback suggested. “Yeah….I guess it was kinda f*- messed up dat we just bounced like dat.” Turf War commented. “I’m down.” “I think that’s a fair compromise.” Fire Fight said. Shadow Shroud nodded in affirmation. “Ok, sure!” Spiral said. “Very well…” Air Slash muttered. Fire Fight looked at him with concern. “You sure you’re okay, Slash?” he asked. “Yes, Fire Fight. Thank you.” Air Slash replied. Shadow Shroud leaned towards Fire Fight. “I think he’s just dealing with his pride. It’s best you give him some space about it for now. He’ll come around….maybe.” she whispered. “Maybe you’re right…” he replied. With that, he magically smothered out the lanterns in the train car, and let himself and his comrades fall asleep. For a short while, Air Slash found himself unable to fall completely asleep. Tonight’s events and their outcomes left him weary. Spiral’s words to him earlier gnawed at him. How could she, or any of them have any trust in a pony who had the nerve to take a life? Or was it that he had something to overcome? Had his father influenced him more than even he realized? All these questions manifested as one thought in his head. “Am I truly worthy of these blades?” In Baltimare... “So once we get down to those old subways, we’ll just set up our equipment and get started. We’ve already set up a dressing room for you down there, and your costume. Sorry if it’s a little hard to wear. You’re playing the role of a homeless mare, and your character just took some leftover cloth, and just….tied it together- adds some realism, ya know? Be careful though. It’s really dark down there, and…” a movie director was speaking to a dark gray mare with a black and white striped mane, sapphire eyes, and comedy masks for a Cutie Mark, but she had a solemn, inattentive look on her face, one that worried the producer. “Ms. Film Noir?” Film Noir snapped out of her trance. “Huh!? I-I’m sorry. What were you saying?” she asked. The producer grimaced. “You’re still worried about that ‘Fire Fight’ kid, huh?” Film Noir sighed. “Yes….I’m sorry. I won’t let it affect me while I’m acting. It’s just…..” “Pretty sad, huh? I wonder how Action Shot’s doing in jail with the rest of his mafia buddies?” the producer asked aloud. “I hear they had to go to a hospital first to get treated for their burns and stuff.” “I couldn’t care less about them. Right now, as far I know, Fire Fight is out there somewhere probably cold and hungry, but too scared to show his face again because all of those stupid parents, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it! I hope they took that seminar seriously. I don’t ever want to see anything like that happen again.” Film Noir said. The producer lightly chuckled. “You really like kids, don’t ya?” he asked. Film Noir creased a little smile. “Oh, I love kids! I think I already told you this, but I used to be a tutor when I was still in acting school. Some of the foals I worked with had overbearing parents or teachers, or were otherwise just in an environment that wasn’t good for them, and they had no control over it, so I read some books on child psychology and I think one about parenting so I could at least give them a homely place to study in. It always made me so happy to see them actually be comfortable.” She explained. “Yeah, I think you did. Ya know, Fire Fight said in that little note you told me about that he’d ‘find someplace else in Equestria to live’ or whatever, right?” the producer asked. Film Noir nodded. “Well as long as we’re traveling to shoot our movies, we might just bump into him! I mean we go to pretty unconventional places anyway, right? If I were still a colt and wanted to run away, I’d go to a forgettable place like where we’re heading down to now.” He said. The notion brought a sudden boost in Film Noir’s mood. While the odds were one in a million, it certainly wasn’t impossible, and any possibility was good in her book. “That’s true!......I just wonder how his mother is faring?” she wondered. Another little thought suddenly crossed her mind. “Say, didn’t we kinda spend a lot on food this time around?” The producer grimaced. “Yeah, well……apparently Fillydelphia has been having a harvesting issue lately, and they don’t know why. They’ve to raise prices as a result so…..yeah, I hope it gets fixed soon; I don’t want to pay five bits for a loaf of bread again. Jeez, that was ridiculous!” In Dodge City... With the report of a colt disappearing, the search entourage from Ponyville arrived without any delay. The desert heat was a little much for some of them to bear, but their thoughts were with finding Fire Fight. Twilight found herself speaking with the town’s sheriff. “YOU MEAN HE TOOK ON A WHOLE GANG OF VICIOUS BANDITS BY HIMSELF!?!?” she exclaimed. “AND ACTUALLY WON!?” Spike added. “That’s what Ah’d like to think, Princess, but those varmints told us that five other foals that they’d never seen before came outta nowhere to help him just before we hauled them to jail. The fact that they got knife wounds, burns and stuff along with bullet wounds matches up with their story, Ah’d say.” Sheriff North Fork explained. “But sadly, we found no trace of these five other foals themselves.” One of his deputies added. “And yet they swear by Celestia that they were there. Ah know they’re dirty bandit an’ all, but that doesn’t seem like something they’d lie about.” The other deputy added. “May I see these Sand Vipers? Are they safely locked up?” Twilight asked. “I’d like to hear it from them.” North Fork tipped his hat. “They surely are, milady, though not all o’ them are here; there were a lot of ‘em, so the rest are doin’ time in Appleoosa. Right this way, if y’all would.” He lead her into the cell room where the some of the Vipers were being held. Meanwhile... Cheerilee spoke as one teacher to another with Ms. Sunrise. “Oh dear….the poor thing. How could he have bottled that up for so long?” she said. She’d never heard such a tragic story about a foal in her life. Ms. Sunrise solemnly nodded. “Ah’m afraid so, sweetheart. Kickback had started comin’ to school just after that and made lots o’ friends, but…..Oh, why did Ah never wonder where his mama was!? I’m so stupid!” she said. “Oh, no you’re not. I don’t think any teacher could’ve done worse than me. At least I actually knew that Fire Fight had a problem to begin with.” Cheerilee said. “And it’s a good thing yer tryin’ to make up for it. There wasn’t much Ah could do mahself fer Kickback. When I told everypony about his mama, they just felt so bad for him, and gave his papa their deepest condolences. Oh, you should have seen how happy he was, but…..he felt really bad about how treated son right then.” Ms. Sunrise said. “Did he? I bet it didn’t make things too much better for him.” Cheerilee said. “Surely didn’t, and he certainly didn’t expect Kickback to run off like he did. That just tore the poor stallion up.” Ms. Sunrise affirmed. “And you have no idea where he might have gone?” Cheerilee asked. All she got for an answer was Sunrise shaking her head. Meanwhile... The foals along with Applejack and Rarity spoke with the local foals to see if they could get some answers. What they got surprised them. “So you might’ve seen Fire Fight during that rodeo show you were having!?” Scootaloo asked. “Ah think we did! He was with a bunch o’ other foals we didn’t know; a bunch o’ tourists came here to enjoy the show, so we didn’t think much of it.” One colt answered. “Yeah, Ah saw him with that filly wearin’ that dress.” One filly added. “Who!?” Silver Spoon aggressively asked. Diamond Tiara had to calm her a little. “Ah don’t know, but her dress wasn’t too pretty.” “But she gave me the prize she won at the dart throwin’ game! She seemed real nice!” “Could you please describe the dress she was wearing?” Rarity asked excitedly. When she got the confirmation she was looking for, any doubt she had left had been expelled from her mind. It had to be the same filly! There was just no way it could be a coincidence anymore. It didn’t answer the question of just who she was, but she was surer than ever now. Applejack turned to her little sister. “Ah’m sorry, Sugarcube. Ah meant to take ya here for the show, but…..” “Fire Fight happened, huh?” Applebloom said. Applejack tipped her hat down in shame, but quickly looked back up when she felt her sister hugging her hoof. “We’ll find him. Everything’ll be alright, sis.” She said. Applejack’s spirits were suddenly lifted sky high when she saw her sister willing to forgive her. She returned the hug. “It surely will.” She said. “Mah baby sister’s growin’ on up.” She thought to herself. Meanwhile... Meanwhile, Ms. Fight conversed with Kickback’s father. “Sir, let me just give you my utmost condolences for your wife, and…..your son running away.” She said. Kickback’s dad had his hat over his heart. “Thank ya, ma’am. Ah had no idea that the town would take our story so well. Ah was so afraid o’ somepony findin’ out an drivin’ us away outta fear that……ugh…..Ah treated mah son rotten to the core because Ah was a big ol’ good-fer-nuttin’ pansy! Maybe it’s good that he got away from me. Ah don’t deserve to be his pa…” Ms. Fight put her hoof on his shoulder. “Now don’t you talk like that! You did more than enough giving up for a whole year when your son needed you, and now that you have a chance at redemption, you’d be an idiot to throw it away! What would your wife say if she could see you now?” she said. Kickback’s dad flinched a little at that question. Even if his wife was no longer here to set him straight, he could almost feel her looking down on him from somewhere. It was a look that yearned for her son’s safety. He confidently put his hat back on. “Yer right. What kinda father would Ah be if Ah just gave up all the darn time? Ah’m gonna find Kickback, an’ tell him just how sorry Ah am, and make things right!” he declared. Ms. Fight nodded approvingly. “Much better.” She said. The split party met up in the town square to discuss what they could gather. While they got confirmation that Fire Fight and the other runaway foals had come here and presumably took Kickback, they sadly had absolutely no trace of where they might have gone next. Twilight had Spike send a quick request to Canterlot to take some the Sand Vipers off of Dodge City and Appleoosa’s hooves. “Well, even if we’re one step behind them, we’re definitely on their trail. There’s still hope.” Twilight said. “Indeed. I just wonder who this other filly is?” Rarity said. “I looked into other cases of fillies running away, but came up short. She literally could’ve come from anywhere!” Spike said. “We might have to start posting ‘missing’ papers across Equestria to warn everypony to look out for them. We should start with this town, and then the ones closest to it. If they’re still relatively close, then we might just catch them that way. Of course, we’ll expand if need be.” Twilight said. Ms. Fight walked to her, and hugged her. “Twilight, thank you so much!” she said. She turned to the rest of the search party. “Thank all of you!” She then faced Cheerilee. “Especially you.” She said with a soft smile. Cheerilee’s heart fluttered at that. She was thrilled to have gotten at least some form of forgiveness from the mare who hated her the most. “Of course, ma’am. Anything to get him back!” she said. As everypony cheered them on, the mystery filly was on Twilight’s mind. The whole ‘ninja’ prospect had her worried, especially when she recalled what Air Slash’s father had said to her: “There exists a clan of ninjas that rivals ours called the Shadewalkers. They prefer to remain hidden from everypony so as to hide their evil practices. They will resort to taking lives if they believe it means protecting Equestria, and are very serious about their methods and remaining in the shadows. If this filly you spoke of is a Shadewalker, then this ‘Fire Fight’ of yours could be in incredible danger.”