An evening about a week later Arc and Scootaloo reach the edge of the forest. They peek out across the way to see the town of Dodge Junction. Scootaloo points a hoof.
An evening about a week later Arc and Scootaloo reach the edge of the forest. They peek out across the way to see the town of Dodge Junction. Scootaloo points a hoof.
“That has to be it!”
Arc looks at his map. “Yeah. No doubt about it.”
“Think it’s okay to just… go down there?”
“Probably not. After all, the citizens of Knothole Village weren’t exactly welcoming of me.”
“Well, we have to go into town for supplies.”
“I know. We ate the last of our food a couple hours ago.”
“So… do we just head for the store?”
“We didn’t bring any money.”
“Oh… right. Sorry, but I’m just so used to walking into my parent’s store and taking what’s needed.”
Arc sighs. “It’s fine. But now it looks like our only option is to find jobs.”
“What kind of stuff could we do?”
“No idea. Let’s just walk through town and see if we come across something.”
“We?!”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“You can’t be seen! Everypony would just freak out!”
“Well, you kinda stick out too with that cloak and wrap over your face.”
Scootaloo sighs. “True. But I's so used to covering up that don’t know what to do about it.”
“You could just take it off.”
“And let everypony make fun of my freakishly small wings and weird voice?!”
“I guess you could leave it on.”
“But what about you?”
“My cloak lets me turn invisible, remember? I’ll be right behind you the whole time. The only problem will be communicating.”
“That’s not too hard. As my master, you can talk to me telepathically.”
Arc appears confused. “I can?”
“Yeah! Just focus your thoughts on me. Like this…”
Scootaloo thinks very hard.
“Can you hear me?”
“Y-yes. Your voice is in my mind?”
Scootaloo nods. “Yup. Only masters and thralls can do this though. And since I’ve never bitten anypony else, this’ll be a private channel.”
“Should work. Ready to head into town?”
“I guess. We should hurry though. If it’s anything like Knothole Village, the shops will be closing soon.”
“Let’s go.”
Cloaking, Arc steps out of the forest. He looks around for a few moments before calling out to Scootaloo.
“No one around. Come on out.”
Scootaloo looks around a few moments before hopping out of the foliage.
“The only problem is that I can’t see you, Big Brother.”
“You just walk. I’ll follow a few steps behind you and call out directions.”
“Okay.”
Heading across the path, they walk toward the town. Arc looks around and winces. Scootaloo calls out to him.
“I can sense your pain! Are you okay?!”
“I… I’ve been here before.”
“You have? Are you sure?”
“Everything is so familiar.”
“Maybe you lived here?”
“No idea.”
“Well, with luck, somepony here might recognize you!”
Arc sighs. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Huh?”
“Remember, I recalled a memory a while back of killing a stallion in armor. I could very well be a criminal.”
“That’s… possible, I suppose. But you’re just so nice!”
“Thanks. But that could just be due to the fact I don’t remember anything else.”
“We still have to find out for certain. I mean… don’t you WANT to know the truth?!”
“I guess. But let’s focus on one task at a time.”
Entering town, they begin walking down the main street. The shopkeepers appear to be closing for the night. Arc calls out to Scootaloo telepathically.
“Head for the place with the most ponies.”
“What?! I thought we were trying to keep a low profile!”
“We are. But at the moment we need to figure out where to find work.”
“There’s a lot of ponies walking that-a-way.”
“Follow them.”
Doing as she is told, Scootaloo turns a corner and trails the stallions.
“Looks like they’re all heading for that big building.”
She wrinkles her nose as they approach.
“Ugh! It smells like that drink my dad used to make!”
“Yeah. I’m guessing they make that here too.”
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
“Probably not. But I’m guessing this’ll be the best place to get information.”
“So what do you want me to do?”
A short time later Scootaloo walks under the swinging doors of the Saloon with her hood up. She looks around to see stallions sitting at various tables talking loudly and laughing happily. Mares walk around carrying trays of alcohol and food. Arc calls out to her.
“Head for the bar.”
“Why there?”
“Because that stallion behind it looks like he’s in charge.”
“How can you tell?”
“He’s the one calling out orders to those mares working here.”
“Makes sense.”
Doing as she is told, Scootaloo walks up to the bar. She attempts to hop up onto a stool, but miscalculates and hangs there with her flank hanging off. Arc gently gives her a push up onto the stool with his foot as the barkeep walks over.
“We don’t let foals in here!”
Scootaloo shrinks back nervously. “I’m just looking for… um…”
Arc calls out to her telepathically. “Water.”
“…for a drink of water.”
“We don’t serve that here!”
“Please, sir! I’ve been walking for a really long time, and I’m very thirsty.”
Sighing, the barkeep pulls out a tankard and fills it with apple juice. He sets it down on the counter and frowns.
“I’m assuming you don’t have any money.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Fine. This one is on the house. Now drink it and go!”
“Thank you.”
Scootaloo drinks thirstily and sets the empty tankard on the bar.
“I… uh… was wondering if there was any work in town.”
The barkeep shakes their head as the fill a tankard for another patron. “None for a foal, no.”
“Tell him it’s for your big brother.”
“Oh, it’s not for me. My older brother is the one looking for a job.”
The barkeep points a hoof toward the door. “Then tell him to check the Writ Board. It’s just down the street at the main corner. Can’t miss it.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll let him know right away.”
She moves to hop off the stool but again miscalculates. Tumbling to the floor, Scootaloo lands in a heap face first. The patrons laugh heartily as the little filly does her best to get up. A burly stallion walks toward the vacated stool. As he passes he hoofs her in the side, knocking Scootaloo down again.
“Out of the way, runt!”
Arc calls out to her telepathically. “Scootaloo, teach him a lesson.”
“Wha-what?”
“Get up and challenge him.”
“Are you serious?!”
“Very.”
“Why?!”
“We’re going to earn you some respect. Make him apologize.”
Scootaloo stands up and turns to the stallion.
“Hey! That wasn’t very nice!”
“So what? You gonna do something about it?”
“Y-yes!”
The stallion laughs. Turning to face the filly, he sits down on his haunches and grins with outstretched hooves.
“Go ahead. Take a shot.”
Everyone in the saloon turns to watch. They chuckle as Scootaloo walks toward him. Arc calls out to her.
“I want you to hit him in the face as hard as you can.”
“But I’m… just me right now! No Crimson powers!”
“Trust me.”
Scootaloo takes a deep breath and lunges at the stallion. As her small hoof makes contact with his face, Arc leans forward and plants his fist on their assailant’s jaw. The stallion flies head over fetlocks over the bar and into a wall before falling into a heap on the floor. Scootaloo walks over to him and pulls a bag of bits from the stallion’s hip. Tossing them to the barkeep, she looks up into his surprised face.
“This should cover the damages to the place. Thank you for the drink.”
Turning, she walks out the door leaving everyone speechless. Stepping into a nearby alley, Scootaloo sits down on her fetlocks and leans against a building as she breathes heavily. Arc grins as he calls out.
“You did great back there!”
Scootaloo nods with her back against a brick wall. “I’m guessing that was actually you though.”
“That it was. But you had the courage to stand up to that guy.”
“Only because I had to.”
“Were you scared?”
“Of course I was! But in the back of my mind I knew you wouldn’t have told me to do something like that without a good plan.”
“I’ve got your back. But let’s go check out that Writ Board the bartender was talking about.”
“Okay. It should be just down the street here anyways.”
Returning to the road, Scootaloo turns a corner and finds what appears to be the board. She looks over it with Arc.
“Looks like there’s lots to do in this town. Which one should we take?”
“How about a bounty?”
“What’s that?”
Arc points a finger at a paper. “Take a look.”
Scootaloo raises an eyebrow. “At what exactly?”
“Oh… right. Forgot you can’t see me.”
Reaching out, Arc pulls a piece of paper off the board and allows it to fall to the ground. Scootaloo looks it over.
“It says this stallion here is a wanted criminal.”
“But if you look at the crimes listed, he hasn’t really done anything terribly dangerous.”
“And you want to find this stallion, why?”
“Because there’s a one hundred bits reward for his capture. I’m guessing that’s money.”
“It is, yes. But not really all that much.”
Arc shrugs. “Have to start somewhere though. That and don’t you recognize the picture?”
Scootaloo gasps. “The stallion from the saloon!”
“Right. So all we have to do is wait for him outside. If we’re lucky, he’ll just come with us to the jail.”
“And if not?”
“Then we teach him another lesson. Let’s go.”
Sighing, Scootaloo walks back toward the Saloon. Sitting down on the steps of the building across the street, she waits. An hour later the stallion leaves and walks down the street. She stands and calls out after him.
“Hey!”
The stallion turns around and looks at Scootaloo.
“You again?!”
“Yeah, me again!”
“What do YOU want?!”
Scootaloo holds up the wanted poster.
“You’re going to follow me to the jail so I can collect on this!”
The stallion laughs. “Oh! And why would I do that?!”
“Because… I… really need the money?”
Rolling his eyes, the stallion reaches into his belt and pulls out a bit. Tossing it at the filly he turns and walks away.
“Here. Go buy yourself a rattle. I’m outta here.”
Arc calls out to her. “Pick it up.”
“What?”
“Throw it at him.”
“But that’ll make him mad!”
“Exactly.”
Scootaloo grabs the bit and lobs it through the air. It hits the stallion in the flank. Turning around, he glares at her.
“I guess my charity isn’t wanted.”
Scootaloo shakes her head. “I want to earn my money!”
“Fine. Then I’ll give it to you in exchange for a beating!”
“Let’s do it then!”
The stallion charges at Scootaloo. She grimaces and calls out telepathically.
“What do I do now?!”
“Dodge to one side at the last second.”
Doing as she is told, Scootaloo throws herself aside as the stallion passes her. Arc follow suit and kicks the stallion in the ribs as he passes. He falls to the ground gasping for breath.
“You… you’re pretty strong for a… a runt.”
Scootaloo frowns. “And you’re pretty dumb for an stallion.”
“Oh, I’ll make sure you regret those words.”
Standing, he turns and bucks a large barrel at Scootaloo. Stepping in front of her, Arc holds out a hand to effortlessly stop it. Scootaloo takes the cue and jumps up on top of it to get some air. Lunging at the stallion, she hoofs him in the eye before dodging another blow from him. She runs back toward the barrel and jumps behind it. Bucking it with her hind legs, Arc gives it a swift kick himself. The barrel explodes outward pelting the stallion with shrapnel. He reels back as Scootaloo again runs at him.
“Take THIS!”
Jumping over him, she bucks him in the flank as Arc gives him a swift kick. The stallion flies down the road and into the side of a building. Scootaloo walks over to him as some nearby ponies cheer her on.
“You ready to give up?”
Slowly getting up, the stallion lumbers over to Scootaloo. Breathing heavily, he looks down at her. Jumping, Scootaloo uppercuts him in the jaw as Arc does the same. He flies backwards into the fetlocks of the local sheriff, unconscious. He nods to her approvingly.
“That was some mighty fine fighting, little one.”
“Th-thanks. Um… can I get the reward now?”
“I suppose you’ve earned it. Follow me.”
A short time later Scootaloo leaves the Sherriff’s Office with a small bag of bits. She grins as Arc pats her on the back.
“You were very brave back there, Scootaloo.”
“It wasn’t too hard to be. After all, I knew you were there too, Big Brother.”
“Well, we should probably look for a place to sleep.”
“How about heading back to the forest?”
“That would probably work. But first we need to get something to eat.”
He looks down the road.
“All the shops are closed, so it looks like our only option is the saloon. Um… do you think you can handle going back there?”
Scootaloo grins. “Don’t worry about that, Big Brother. I got this.”