//------------------------------// // 51- Bullet holes in memories. // Story: Blazing a Trail to the Past. // by Daylight_Dreamer //------------------------------// "So this is where Zecora lives?" Gilda asked as I parked the Jeep by the hollow tree. "It's a pretty traditional healer hut," I said, "Being built into a tree was preferred so they would blend in." "So how did you find them when you were hurt?" Gilda asked. "In times of peace they can be decorated," I said, "during the war. You didn't find the healer, the healer found you. Most of the time anyway... Those bold enough not to hide built a standard hut and painted their roof red. It rarely turned out to be a good idea." 'It certainly didn't work out for Forrest’ I thought to myself, 'but he wasn't really capable of looking for the battles with his hind legs and hearing gone. So it was that or just give up. Total respect!' "What a delight you are to see," Zecora said opening her door as we approached, "did you have more questions for me?" "Does she always talk like that?" Gilda asked under her breath. "just roll with it," I muttered back before turning to Zecora, "I was just curious about that gun you showed me when we first met. I didn't get around to asking before." "I only use it if I am under attack," Zecora replied, "I suppose I should ask if you'd like it back." She led us into her hut, reached into a drawer and pulled out what I recognized as a standard issue Wonderbolt sidearm. Only Wonderbolts haven't been issued sidearms in centuries, "It once belonged to you. Kizzy's daughter claimed it when your time as a pony was through." "I take it you have never shown that to a pony," I said. "It's only been seen by that which I've shot," She said, "All are dead, and that's not a lot. It only attacks, it can't do much good, but it comes in handy out in the woods." "I really don't think I'm going to get into that much trouble as a pony," I said, "and that isn't designed for hands. You keep it. I just wanted the details." "You sure?" Gilda asked, "it won't be long before we're going on that expedition into timberwolf territory. We might want a weapon." "Do you have hooves to pull that trigger?" I asked. "No," She said, "I have talons, you know that." "We'll get back to that when we get home," I said, "That gun won't do either of us much good, and I keep a gun under my seat that should." "I guess I won't argue," she said. I turned my attention to Zecora, "I hate to leave so quickly, but I need to get home before too late." "It is fine, it is not rude of you," she said, "I too have things to do. You will not regret leaving me this gift. If ever you need me, just call. I shall be there swift." We got back to the cabin with a good few hours of daylight to work with. I only slowed down a little. "So why did you want to get home before late?" Gilda asked. "I want to take you somewhere," I drove right past the cabin to the edge of the woods where the graves of Jerry and Apple Seed could now be seen. "What is this place?" Gilda asked. "It's where we buried a couple friends," I said as we got out. Gilda flew over and looked at the markers. "This must be the Apple that planted the orchard," Gilda said. "No," I said as I picked a few apples from a nearby tree, "but he dreamed of it." "There was another Jerry?" She asked. "I was named after him," I said setting the apples in a line on a stump behind the graves, It was kinda off to the left so the graves were out of the line of fire. "What are you doing?" Gilda asked. "Setting up targets," I said. "For what?" she asked, "are you going to show me that gun?" I silently walked to the Jeep and pulled the .357 from below the seat. Gilda walked up to see what I was doing. "This gun should fit in your claw a little better," I said, "I figured you should know how to use it. It's very dangerous if you aren't careful." "What exactly does it do?" Gilda asked eyeing the gun, "Griffins don't exactly have them either." "Well I'd usually start by showing you how to clean, load, and handle it but since its already loaded," I eyed the six apples I had lined up, "It throws lead at frightening speeds. Observe." I took aim and knocked all six apples down one by one. "Holy shit!" She said, "Can I try?" She asked with excitement in her voice. "That's the idea," I said, "First I have to tell you the golden rule. Do not. I repeat do NOT point it at anything that you don't want dead. There are only two valid reasons to want something dead. One, it will kill you otherwise. Two, you plan to eat it." "Sounds reasonable," She said, eyes still wide. I showed her how to handle the weapon and spent at least an hour teaching her how to aim. I kept a good three boxes of ammo under the seat with it and reloading supplies in the back. So I wasn't worried about running out. Things went amazingly well until the last reload for the night. I had set up five apples because she was only averaging three out of six anyway. She managed to hit all five on the first try. She was so excited she turned to me fast and the last round went off as she started to turn. The round hit Apple Seed's grave marker and chipped some of the stone away. It didn't do any real damage but I was pulled from reality so fast I felt myself start to fall to the ground. --- I was at the graves paying my respects. The dirt was still fresh. Out of nowhere, a bullet hit Jerry's stone chipping away most of his last name. I quickly turned around to see Firestorm hovering twenty feet in the air ten yards behind me. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" I asked. "Do you know what a commander does?" She asked. "A good one keeps their soldiers alive," I said. "Wrong!" she shouted, "a commander leads an army. What kind of army will there be if the war is ended?" "What does it matter to you?" I said, "you were already disgraced." "I'm trying to look out for the next generation," She said, "I'm not going to let you destroy my son's future. The only thing that will stop me is death." "Thanks for the advice," I said unfurling my wings and going for the charge. I knew she expected a full-on charge, so I stayed low until I was right below her and flew upward. It was enough to miss her shot but she dodged before I got a hold on her. She wasn't quite fast enough as I took my shot and got her in the stomach. She lost a few feet of altitude and clenched her free hoof to the wound in pain. She tried to take another shot at me but I was already next to her. I swung a hoof down landing on her left wing. A loud crack could be heard just before she fell from the sky. Her sidearm fell off and landed a good five feet from her. I landed next to her. She was trying to get up. She saw me and started reaching for her gun. It was well out of her reach. "You could have joined me," I said, "you could have been the commander that ended the war. Gone down in history." "You really think ponies will remember your friend Easy Glider a hundred years from now?" she asked, "I wanted to make sure there was a place for my son when he was old enough to lead." "And I wanted my daughter to sleep well at night!" I was getting sick and tired of her backward thinking, "Just drop it, you lost." "That's what you think," She thought I hadn't noticed she was inching her way to the gun but I was already turning around to buck her before she could spring. She landed a good ten feet away. "I think I felt ribs crack on that," I cringed, shattered ribs and a gut wound. Her chances of surviving this far from care were slim, "Fuck an A. I really didn't want to kill you. I didn't want to kill anypony. All I wanted was to keep my friends alive. You didn't like that. You were ready to kill me and didn't mind wasting Wonderbolt resources to do it. Now you wonder why your son doesn't have a guaranteed future as the next commander? It sure ain't my fault!" "If you're going to kill me just do it," she said. "If I hadn't gotten help would you have just shot me?" I asked striking a match with my hoof to light a cigarette, "or would you have tortured me? Tied me to a tree? Let me watch the hut burn before going with it?" The terrified look on her face said it all. She would never have granted me a quick death. She tried one more time to get away but with her broken wing and shattered rib cage, she wasn't going anywhere. I walked up and placed the barrel of my gun to her forehead. She just closed her eyes. "You're lucky I'm not you," I clocked her on the side of her head hard enough to knock her out. I left two bone mending potions in front of her and poured a vitality potion down her throat to fix her vital organs and keep them going. Can't say I was worried about her choking or getting an ulcer. So I kept my granola bars. Before I left I wrote a note saying this was the last time I let her live. I really did hope she lived. I was a healer. A military healer, yes, but just because I wasn't afraid to kill doesn't mean I ever wanted to do it. I also took her sidearm... A picture flashed of me placing it in the glove box of a jeep. I felt like I'd done something awful. --- I woke up on the couch. "That Jeep never left Equestria," I muttered. "What was that," Gilda asked. "Don't worry about it for now," I said, "I plan to catch you up on everything I've learned in those visions. I'd just rather wait till after the party." "Fair enough," Gilda said. "How long was I out?" I asked. "A good forty-five minutes," Gilda answered, "I put the gun away. Sorry about your friends grave. I got so excited I forgot about the sixth round, and after you had made such a point to act like it's loaded either way." She looked down as she spoke. "It happens," I said, "now that you know the reason for the rule you'll follow it better, right?" "If you still trust me with that thing," she said cheering up, "you bet I will! That was cool! The way it made those apples explode." "If it went off in the wrong direction that could just as easily be a ponies head," I said, "Apple Seed won't mind a chip in his stone if it's all it took to teach you not to treat it like a toy. If we run into timberwolves us both knowing how to shoot will be invaluable." "I think I got the hang of it," she said, "but if we only have one gun. Why worry if I can shoot it?" "Did I say I only had one gun?" I asked, "I don't remember ever saying that." "I guess I just assumed," she said, "That wasn't the first time I saw that one. I figured if you had more I would have seen them too." "My father was an engineer," I said, "With a military background. If you wanted a gun hidden he could hide it so well apparently a unicorn won't even find it in a scan. I expected him to, but he showed me the sketches and it's not in there." "You mean there's a stash in that Jeep that even Slag couldn't find with his magic?" Gilda asked, "I'm not even from here and I've heard how thorough he is when he has something he wants to know about." "Well its designed to fool the metal detectors at customs into thinking it's part of the gas tank," I said, "apparently it fools unicorn magic as well. We just need to go get the Jeep and I'll show you." "Oh," she said, "I ah, didn't think you wanted to leave it out there. So I kinda put you in the passenger seat and drove here." I didn't know what to think. I was doing my best not to look angry, that's my go-to any time anyone wants to touch my father's Jeep. She didn't know that. Furthermore, I was impressed she managed to pull it off. I knew it wouldn't run forever, it wouldn't kill me to trust one person to drive it. Considering no people were available there was only one creature I would even consider trusting that much. I decided right then that if she wanted to drive my Jeep, I would let her. Now I just had to find a way to show it in my tone so she didn't feel like she did anything wrong. She should have asked, but it's not like she saw it coming, and it wasn't an option at the time. "You managed to drive my Jeep?" it came out astounded. I was relieved. "I had to move the seat up and sit on the edge," she said, "but I like watching you drive, so it wasn't hard to know what to do." "The secret compartment can wait," I said, "Let's just get stoned and chillax. We can finish preparing after the party." I realized Asmodeus was coiled up in my lap and I started absentmindedly petting him. He moved his head under my hand like a dog going for a scratch behind the ears. I was only a little surprised, earth snakes don't do that, but he had yet to act like an earth snake. "Sounds good to me," Gilda pulled the pipe out, "He actually showed up right when you fainted. He just coiled up on you and kept looking around for whatever knocked you out." I smiled to myself wondering what kind of treats you get for a guard-snake.