//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty Seven: Rex // Story: The Pieces Lie Where They Fell // by Evilhumour //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty Seven   Rex   The pack finally took a break in their rapid departure after bailing from the XJ-6 skimmer, deep in the Outer Everfree Forest region with everyone panting heavily.   "Don't take this personally, Vix-Lei" Wind Breaker gasped as he tried to catch his breath as he leaned against a strong oak tree. "But who the fuck taught you how to drive like that‽" Vix-Lei grinned rather proudly as she swept a few hairs out of her face, leaning against a tree. "I learned from some of my dad's employees; he’s the shipyard master of Ledra," she explained before letting out a small shout, trotting forwards before limbering up her arms. "And most of them worked part time driving passenger chariots when they were in college so they knew how to do all kinds of sick turns! Besides, what kind of shipyard calf would I be if I didn’t take a few on joyrides every now and then?" Xvital looked greener than normal, letting out a pained purring sound as she rubbed her stomach. "That explains a lot."   “It was rather chaotic,” Rex said as he reached into his bag to retrieve some water.   “I doubt you found it too rough, Rex,” Page said with a chuckle as she and Night Blade sat down beside each other, the latter pulling out a carton of mango juice. “You seemed to be enjoying it a lot; sticking your head off the side with your tongue waggling in the air and barking with joy.”   “I most certainly did not do that,” Rex was insulted that Page Turner would make up such a baseless lie about hi-   “Yes you did, Rex,” Night said with a bit of laughter as he jabbed a straw into the hole in the carton that he made with his fang. “It was pretty funny to see.”   “Not cool Night,” Xvital said sharply as she took the carton of mango juice, twisted the top off and drank it down. “To make fun of others; we need to work together here.” Rex winced as he saw Night glare angrily at her but kept quiet on the matter. They would need to address this in the fut-   “And you were no better Xvital,” Vix-Lei said as she reached into her pack for some her grapes. “I distinctly remember how you wrapped yourself around my chair, whining and groaning, kitty cat.”   Xvital let out a bit of a chuckle as a blush spread across her face. “Yeah, I tend not to do well on airships and with how crazy you drove…”   “Knocked off a couple of your lives?” Wind Breaker offered which caused everyone except for Night to start laughing at the joke, the nox pony simply scowling off to the side.   “Yeah, maybe,” she said, scratching the back of her head. “But I can just steal them back and then some.” She then yawned, shaking her head. “Is it just me or is anyone else tired?”   “Yeah,” Wind Breaker said, yawning like a bird would do, stretching his neck out. “It is pretty late…”   “It has been a long day,” Rex commented. “For all of us.” He looked around. “I would advise that we sleep in shifts again, especially given where we are. The Everfree’s Deep Woods may be some distance from here, but even the Outer Forest has its dangers.”   “I will take the first shift,” Night said a bit eagerly, starting perk up again.   “No; you kept falling asleep last night,” Xvital said curtly. “Wind Breaker, you’re up first, then Vix-Lei, then Rex, then Page, then me and then you Night.”   “I had a hard time staying awake because I was dealing with the fact that I killed somepony yesterday,” Night snapped back, his coat bristling out in anger.   “And didn’t you say you were fine?” Xvital countered. “And yet you obviously weren’t.”   Night began to sputter, struggling to explain himself before scoffing loudly and storming off to the edge of the group, pawing the ground and flicking his wings angrily. Rex was about to say something when he heard Wind Breaker let out a loud amused snort that he quickly tried to hide under a cough. By the glare Night was giving the griffon, he heard it and was about to do something when Page walked over to him and began to soothe him down.   “Rex, can you start a fire?” Xvital asked him, causing Rex to blink in surprise before he reached into his vest and pulled out a firestarter.   “Stand back everyone,” he said after Vix-Lei and he had finished making a firepit. “I do not wish to set any of you on fire.”   “Even me?” Vix-Lei asked in a cheerful tone, batting her eyes at him.   “Well now,” Rex said, tapping his chin. “That is an interesting proposition.”   “Heh, good one Rex,” Vix-Lei patted him in the arm, although her smile began to falter when Rex kept silent and his own grin up, “Rexy? You’re joking, right?”   “I might be. I might not be.” Rex kept up his grin as he used his firestarter in the pit. “After all, as one of my former packmates once said, There is no problem that cannot be solved with copious amounts of fire.”   “That’s a bit worrying,” Xvital said with a smirk on her face as the pack started to huddle around the fire, with Xvital running up the tree to set up a sort of funnel for the smoke to dissipate in a way that would not show their location.   “Rufus always was a bit strange,” Rex replied. “But I must admit, his methods came in very useful when we had to deal with an infestation of Scorpios a few years back. How a swarm of arachnid starbeasts ended up in our tunnels, we’ll never know.”   “I didn’t even know that arachnid starbeasts still existed,” Page said as she looked at Night who was slowly walking over to join them, staying on the far edge of the circle from Xvital and Wind Breaker. “You didn’t kill them, did you?”   “It was a very tough sell to my former pack, but after I informed them that we could make some profit by working in unison with Canterlot to herd them into a new location, they were very much agreeable in my suggestions.”   “It’s good you managed to save a few of them but what I’ve heard is that they’re dying off faster than they can breed them,” Vix-Lei said, shaking her head sadly. “There used to be a whole herd of Taurus Major and Minor living on Ledra before their stars simply started to dim and they just died. I think there’s about twenty or so left.”   “Do you believe that theory, that we’re entering an age of no magic, is the cause?” Night asked cautiously, wrapping a wing around Page.   “I don’t know, I don’t have access to magic myself,” Vix-Lei said with a shrug. “Rex?”   “It is a valid theory, with how many ponies are born with either no arcane abilities or have theirs burn out quickly as well as the fact that more are registering with below average levels of arcane access,” he said as he looked into the fire. “I cannot help but wonder if we might find the answer in the course of our travels. The exact source of magic is something I have always wondered about.”   “You among several hundreds others,” Page said as she began to set up a small cooking pot over the fire. “Along with the lost city of the Virtues, ponies have spent ages searching for it.”   “And we might be a bit too busy heading for the frontiers to go out searching for lost cities or the secret source of all magic,” Xvital said as she began to stir in some food into the pot.   “The frontiers?” Night asked in surprise and with a bit of fright in his voice.   “Yeah; it might be a bit far away but it’s lawless neutral land and Equestria won’t be able to touch us,” Xvital added as she continued to prepare their dinner. “You can take however much time you need to get your Element going once we’re there Night.”   Night simply huffed, rolling his eyes again before nuzzling against Page again. “And then you can somehow find yours.”   Xvital raised an eyebrow at this, but thankfully didn’t take the bait, just focusing on making a stew that smelt wonderful. “The slop is almost ready; it’s Pozole, something from back home that even I can cook.” She shrugged. “Normally it’s got meat in it, but since I’m cooking for ponies, I can use beans instead.”   “I don’t mind meat in my meals; Night has given me his meat in the past and I really liked it,” Page said before blushing horribly as she realized what she’d just said out loud.   “Oh don’t stop now, girl,” Vix-Lei grinned as she took her bowl of Pozole. “Tell us more about Night sharing his meat with you.”   Page facehoofed. “Not. That. Kind of meat,” she hissed. “I’m not even-never mind, not getting into that one,” she said a bit sharply, taking her bowl with her magic a tad roughly before shoving a bowl into Night’s hooves and placing a spoon into his mouth. “And don’t you start.”   Night just chuckled and rolled his eyes before reaching with a wing to take the spoon out of his mouth. “Spicy meat,” he said before squeaking as Page used her spoon to boop his nose.   “Spicy meat?” Vix-Lei asked, tilting her head, a smile threatening to break out again.   “She loves spicy foods,” Night said as he took a spoon of the dish into his mouth. “I swear that she would eat one of your insane peppers, what is it called, Phantom Pepper, and be as happy as could be.”   Rex turned to see Page blush at the same time Xvital shook her head in disbelief. “You’re joking, no pony would be willing to eat that; Mictlan, not even I would eat that on a bet.”   Page shrugged nonchalantly. “I have a very strong stomach and tolerance for heat. I have had red habaneros before, after all.”     “Strong?” Xvital shook her head again. “You sure you weren’t forged and not born?”   “One hundred percent organic, I promise,” Page told her before she dug into her bowl again. “This is good, by the way. Could use just a bit more kick.”   Xvital shook her head once more before saying, “You’re fucking loco and I like it.” She then laughed and patted Page on the back with her tail hand.   “You’d probably love Barricade’s chili then,” Wind Breaker commented. “He worked at the Hatchery, and put a lot of spices into his cooking. I had his Special Five-Alarm Chili once and almost burned my beak off until somepony gave me a bucket of ice to help.” He shuddered at the memory.   Page grinned. “Sounds delicious.”   Night Blade almost snorted into his bowl, but even he looked amused by her remark.   Nearby, Vix-Lei finished her own bowl and set it aside with a yawn. “As much fun as this is, I’m ready to hit the sack,” she said. “And that ground looks very inviting to me.”   “My apologies but I forgot to purchase some basic camping gear,” Rex said honestly enough but Vix-Lei shook her head.   “Nah, it just means I have to sleep a bit differently as I am wearing a skirt here, guys, and I do have some decency,” Vix-Lei said as she leaned against a tree, removing her hammers and their carriers from her back.   “From your jokes before, it’s a bit hard to believe,” Wind Breaker said as he placed his bowl to the side, with everyone in the pack laughing at the joke save Night who was studying Xvital’s reaction with a frown on his face.   “Fair enough, Windy,” Vix-Lei said, biting back a yawn. “To be honest, I tend to use my bad material when I meet new people; bad habit of mine. Sorry if I offended any of ya beforehand…” she trailed off, becoming uncharacteristically quiet.   “It is alright,” Rex said, doing his best to ease her worries. “It is how you are, Vix-Lei and I do not hold it against you.” That caused the rest of them to chime in with the minotaur smiling in relief.   She thanked them before letting out a yawn and shaking her head. “G’night, guys.” With that, she flopped down against the tree and was snoring in seconds.   “I think Vix-Lei has the right idea,” Night said as he gave Page a kiss on the cheek before trotting off to the edge of the clearing and hunkering down against a tree, placing his pack and sword within reach. Page kept her eyes on the nox pony until he was asleep; she then turned to look at Xvital.   “Okay, why did you make Night go last? He wanted to help,” Page said, with her eyes narrowed.   “Because he had a rough night last night and he’s still not one hundred percent?” Xvital offered. “I wasn’t going to put him through another early shift and I want him,” Xvital tilted her head towards Night. “To have a good night’s rest.” Xvital held up her hands in defense. “Like I said before, I’m not a complete bitch and I am trying to make sure this crew of ours can actually last.” Xvital then let out a yawn, took up her bowl and the rest of the pack’s and placed them back into her pack. She then climbed onto a tree branch and settled into the crook of the branch, curling up against the tree’s trunk.   Giving her a last look, Page sighed and went over to join Night Blade, snuggling up next to him as the nox pony, who may not have been as asleep as Rex had thought, lifted a wing for her to get under. On the other paw, Night was snoring away, so it may have just been a reflex, the Diamond Dog reflected.   Rex turned to face Wind Breaker, with indecision and nervousness on the griffon's face as he began to break down the fire. “Will you be alright Wind Breaker?”   “Yeah,” Wind Breaker replied. “No problem.” He still sounded nervous and he was rubbing his throat as it was his tell.   Studying him, Rex made up his mind and pulled an object out of his vest. “Here.”   Wind Breaker took the object, and looked at it in confusion. “What is this?”   “An alarm,” Rex replied. “If something dangerous actually enters the clearing, press the button and you’ll make enough noise to wake even the deepest of sleepers, so only use it in the most dire of emergencies.” He sighed. “I wish I had thought to bring one of my other projects with me, but I wasn’t expecting I’d need to set up proximity wards when we set off.” He shook his head. “I know the runes to make them, and there’s plenty of wood around here. Maybe I can carve some tomorrow and have Page enchant them when we have some time to rest again.”   Wind Breaker nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Rex.”   “You’re welcome, Wind Breaker.” As he finished covering the firepit, he looked around. “I will see you in the morning.”   Wind Breaker nodded, and Rex went off to find his own corner of the clearing to rest in for the night.     Rex awoke to find the pack in the midst of Xvital and Vix-Lei preparing the morning meal, with Page just starting to stir.   Which left Night and Wind Breaker unaccounted for…   He turned in his head in time to hear Night snort in amusement.   “What?” Wind Breaker snapped at the nox pony. The two of them were standing off to the side and both had their weapons out as to practice. Night seemed to have done more practice as he was as covered in sweat as Wind Breaker was fresh as rubies. He was holding his new crossbow with a single talon and aiming it at a tree.   “You’re doing it completely wrong with that crossbow,” Night said as he moved through a sword kata.   “Have you ever used one Night?” Wind Breaker snapped, turning to face Night with the nox pony hissing and leaping out of the range.   “Well, no, but,” Night started to say when Wind Breaker interrupted him.   “Then shut up and let me do my thing,” the griffon said before pulling the trigger and, without any surprise, the shot went wide as Wind Breaker recoiled in pain, beginning to curse as he dropped his crossbow and began clutching his talon to his chest.   Night simply rolled his eyes as everyone else went to Wind Breaker’s side with a still sleepy Page blinking in confusion as the noise woke her up. “As I was trying to inform you, you were holding it with one hoof while it is clearly a two hoof crossbow. Also your stance was terrible, no way to properly brace yourself from the recoil and-”   “You didn’t think to tell me before I fucked up my talon, you ass‽” Wind Breaker growled as he got to his feet.   “I would have if you hadn’t cut me off!” Night Blade snapped back.   “Hey, knock it off,” Xvital snapped as she jumped in the middle of them, glaring hard at Night. “If you two,” her attention was still focused on NIght, with the slimmest of looks directed at Wind Breaker. “Hadn’t noticed we’re on the run and we need to keep quiet, you understand?” she practically growled the last bit before turning her head at him. “Rex, can you check out Wind’s talon? Make sure it’s not broken or anything?”   “Yes, of course,” Rex said almost by reflex, walking over to inspect the griffon’s talon and hoping that-   “NIght, go find that bolt and bring it back,” Xvital said as she went back to the pot, causing Rex to wince as she did the one thing he had believed she knew better to do.   “What no!” Night snorted, shaking his head. “Why the hell should I?”   “Because one, I said so, and two, you’re the only one doing something completely pointless; me and Vix-Lei are making breakfast, Rex is making sure Wind Breaker is fine and Page just woke up. So go get it Night.”   “Wind can get it himself, the fu-”   “Night,” Page said as she moved directly in front of him, placing a hoof on his chest and no doubt giving him a look as Night began to calm down, his hard breathing beginning to fade. She then turned to Xvital and with her magic, dropped the bolt into her hand. “Here is the bolt.”   Xvital simply rolled her eyes as she placed it into Wind Breaker’s pack. “Thanks Page,” she flashed a genuine smile at the mare which got Night growling again before the nox pony walked the very edge of the clearing to do more of his sword kata, venting out his anger. Rex wanted to talk to either Night or Xvital, but he had his paws occupied with dealing with Wind ‘s talon. It seemed that Night was right about Wind Breaker having a poor stance and the danger of using one talon, as Rex was forced to use several of his stronger healing remedies.   Hissing in pain as Rex finished applying his medicine and bandaged the talon, Wind Breaker gave him a look of gratitude. “Thanks, Rex.”   “It was no problem,” Rex told him as he packed up his supplies. “But perhaps in the future, if somedog is trying to warn you about something, you might want to listen.”   Wind Breaker sighed. “In hindsight, you’re right. But I can’t help it, Night just…” he shook his head in frustration. “He just pisses me off, you know? I can’t help but get mad every time he opens his big mouth!”   “I know the feeling,” Rex replied dryly. “I felt the same way about somedog from a rival pack. But even if they do make you angry, losing control like that is a good way to get yourself in a lot of trouble.” He gestured to the bandaged talon. “Case in point.”   Wind Breaker nodded. “I see what you mean.”   “At any rate, keep the bandages on for now. It’ll take a few days, even with my medicines, but you’ll be healed up soon enough.”   “I appreciate that,” Wind Breaker told him. “Hopefully I won’t have to use it until then.”   “If a certain more superstitious member of my former pack was here, he’d say you just guaranteed we’ll run into trouble.”   “Ah, crap,” Wind Breaker then grinned. “Thankfully, my vice is drinking, not gambling so I don’t know the odds against us.”   “I say it’s a wash since we acknowledge it,” Vix-Lei piped up from the campfire. “I might not roll the dice but I do know about comedic timing and junk.” She then turned around and waved them over. “Come on, guys. Breakfast is ready.”   Rex walked with Wind Breaker back to the firepit and taking a seat next to the griffon with the nox pony remaining on the outside of the group. He seemed like he was trying to avoid them but thankfully Vix-Lei was smart as sapphires and loudly called him over. “Come Night, I made Strapatsada!”   Eyeing the dish as he came over, Night Blade took a bite from the offered spoon, then looked at her in surprise. “How did you get fresh eggs out here?”   “Picked up a batch in a container with a cooling spell on it a few days ago,” Vix-Lei explained as she took a serving and gave it to Night. “Unfortunately, that was the last of them, but it’s worth it.”   “It is good,” Night Blade replied after he took a second bite, a small smile gracing his face. It was brief but the minotaur saw it and gave one back.   “Hey now, you can actually smile, Nighty,” she grinned as she began to serve up bowls to everyone else. “Can I see it again? Please?” Night, for once, seemed to be in high spirits and responded by forcing an all too wide smile on his face, showing off his fangs and sharper teeth in a frightening way. “Okay, that’s a bit much,” she giggled, shaking her head.   Night continued to smile.   “Okay, Night, you can stop now,” her giggles began to slow down but she was still smiling.   Night smiled even bigger than before, leaning towards her.   “Night, stop it,” Vix-Lei pleaded playfully, pushing him back lightly before turning to Page Turner. “Page, make him stahp.”   Page shrugged. “All right.” Then, her horn and snout glowing, she lunged.   A moment later, Night Blade was recoiling. “Gah, Page; That was my ear you just froze!” he whined as he rubbed a hoof along it.   Page smirked at him. “But it got your attention, didn’t it?”   “True. But honestly, was the cold nose in the ear really necessary?”   “Yes.” She smirked again. “Yes, it was.”   Sighing and brushing his fur down, Night Blade turned his attention back to his food. “You know you’re the only one I’d ever let get away with doing that to me,” he grumbled before taking his next bite.   “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she told him before digging into her own bowl.   It was almost fifteen minutes later when the group had finished eating and disassembling their camp, and Vix-Lei stretched. “So, I know we’re going west,” she remarked. “But do you have any destinations in particular?”   “One,” Xvital replied as she pulled a map out. “There’s a small settlement on the western edge of the forest - it’s called Sunny Town. We should make it there by nightfall.”   “I’ve heard of that place,” Page said thoughtfully. “I think the founders were devotees of the Goddess Celestia, but eventually something happened and they wound up moving on. Now it’s just a quiet town, with no more than a dozen or so residents. It should be safe.”   “Then let us get moving,” Rex said, hoisting his pack onto his shoulders. “We have a long road ahead of us.”   The others nodded, and with their destination firmly in mind, headed west. Vix-Lei hummed quietly under her breath as she brought up the rear, a tune Rex recognized as one from his own puppy-hood.   The greatest adventure does indeed lie ahead, he thought to himself.