//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Quagga // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Shadow of the Day // by Kaciekk //------------------------------// The temperature had risen but the humidity stayed the same as the group of young ponies traveled west that morning. GleamingChance was insistent on guiding SwiftHaze in the right direction, despite the Pegasus assuring she could follow her E.F.S. compass. OrchidRays took over for Haze for a bit so she could eat her breakfast, making up for the rushed departure. Haze was back in the harness, the flat desert earth passing beneath her hooves. She groaned in boredom. “There’s nothing out here but cactuses!”  “Cacti,” Chance corrected from his position in the wagon. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” “A Pegasus of all ponies should know words ending in ‘U-S’ have an ‘I’ as their plural,” Chance said. “Shut up,” Haze muttered. Ray leaned forward near the front of the wagon. “Not just cacti. Look, there’s some mountains ahead!” Haze squinted and saw the faded outline of a mountain range on the horizon.  “Well, how do we pass over them?” Haze pointed out. She heard the crinkling of paper as Chance took out his map. “Looks like there’s a path that crosses over them. Go to the south. You should be able to find it.” Haze studied her Eyes Forward Sparkle. She followed the ‘S’ and steered the wagon in that direction.  The road was just as barren as the rest of the desert. At least the concrete was easier on the wagon’s wheels than the rocky soil. The mountains appeared no closer than they were before.  “Ugh, so bored!” Haze groaned dramatically again. “What about some music?” Ray offered. “Fine. But Ray, just because we are descendants of Linkin Pony doesn’t mean it has to be Linkin Pony every time,” Haze informed her. “Okay,” Ray said in a disappointed tone. She browsed her PipBuck. Haze recognized the song but couldn’t for the life of her remember who it was by. It was a sort of punk rock song, with a fast beat. It did make traveling a little bit livelier. A few tracks later and the mountains grew before them. They rode upward into the pony-made valley.  As they passed through, Ray asked, “At least one Linkin Pony song, please?” Sighing, Haze accepted, “fine.” Almost immediately, Ray played the song. Oh of course it’s that one Haze thought as she heard the simple piano intro.  “I know this one,” Chance noted, but continued to read his book. A few lines into CharmingRhythm’s rap verse, Ray began chanting the lyrics along with him. She stopped once to call out “Come on Haze! I know you know the words!” Rolling her eyes, Haze went along with it despite her annoyance. She sang strongly, mimicking HyperBlitz as the chorus started. I tried so hard, and got so far But in the end it doesn’t even matter! Haze had to admit to herself that it did feel good to sing out loud. The trip was much more bearable this way. Leave it to Ray and her obsession with music. As the girls kept going, Chance picked his vision off the pages of his book to keep a lookout on the surroundings. He scrutinized the rocks they traveled past. Instantly he felt a jolt of panic. “Stop! Stop singing!” Chance hissed. His magic wrapped around Haze’s muzzle like rope. “Turn it off!” He snapped at Ray. She silenced her PipBuck. “What the fuck, Chance?” Haze spat as soon as his magic let go of her muzzle. “You got a problem with singing?” “Quiet!” He said in a forceful whisper. “Look!” He pointed at the stones they were rolling past. They had long grooves in them. “Those look like Hellhound marks.” “Hellhound?” Ray asked in a low tone. “Yes. And they have extremely good hearing,” Chance said. “We gotta be careful.” “What’s a Hellhound?” Haze wondered as she kept pulling. “Only the most fierce creature in the wasteland,” Chance revealed grimmly. “Their claws can cut through stone and metal like it was paper.” Haze peered from side to side as they passed through the valleys. The long marks in the stones seemed to continue. There were a few holes in the earth, nearly covered by fallen rocks. The further they traveled, the more dispersed the mounds of rocks were. The mountains were behind them, and now they were in a field of rocky earth, as if it were miniature mountains. “Chance, give me my rifle,” Haze requested. Her fur was standing on end. The strap of her assault rifle floated over her head and onto her shoulders. It was almost deathly silent besides the squeaking of wheels. Haze caught sight of something moving by the corner of her eye. She looked to the right and saw several meters away where two large creatures stood by a mound of rocks. With sharp claws, one was slicing through the rocks with ease. The other stood up on two legs and lifted its canine shaped head. Long arms hung from its torso, nearly reaching the ground. Those arms possessed massive claws. The Hellhound turned its head towards the passing ponies. A few seconds later, it began to chase. “Fuck!” Haze blurted out. She began flapping her wings as hard as she could. As they rushed down the uneven path, more shapes of Hellhounds appeared. Some followed the wagon with howls, some dug into the earth. The ground crumbled upward like bubbling water just a few meters ahead of Haze. She jerked the wagon to the left and swerved around the creature. Its claws swung down on the wagon, slicing into the wood as well as one of their bags. Contents from the bag flinged out of the wagon as Chance attempted to scoop it up with his magic. “Haze! Just keep flying!” Chance shouted.  Swiftly, he levitated his pistol up and began firing on the trailing Hellhounds. BLAM. One of them staggered, shook its head, and began scampering again on four legs. Chance kept focusing on it, unloading his whole magazine into the rampant Hellhound. Its bullet wounds didn’t stop it from chasing.  As Chance reloaded, Ray peered around at the Hellhounds that followed them, some behind, and some to the side of them. Quickly, she reached for her bags and pulled out a grenade. She pulled the pin with her teeth, and chucked it out of the wagon. A moment later, it exploded, causing one of the Hellhounds to topple over from the explosion. It held its ears with its paws and howled in pain. Haze’s heart pounded as she pumped her wings. Again, she saw the earth cracking open from the tunneling Hellhound. This time, the creature swiped its razor sharp claws at her. They tore through her wing, causing a gaping wound to open and blood to spew. She screeched in pain.  A tip from another claw had run down her back leg, causing a long, shallow cut. The pain overwhelmed Haze, causing her to cease flying. Her wing throbbed every time she flapped it. Falling to the ground she began galloping as fast as she could. The Hellhound that injured Haze was drawing near again. Ray lunged halfway out of the wagon and swiped her foreleg at it. She got a clean cut on its eye with her switchblade. Chance put a few bullets into its neck. “They don’t like the sound of the explosions!” Ray told Chance and reached for her grenades again. “Good idea.”  He searched his own bags and fished out a few mines. He tinkered with them, then threw them overboard. In quick succession, three explosions went off. One blasted an arm off of a Hellhound in a bloody display. Another toppled one over. They all caused the Hellhounds to hold their ears and cry in agony. They stopped chasing, and were left behind. “Keep going!” Chance yelled to Haze. “I- I don’t- I cant!” She kept running, but her heart and every muscle was burning. Overextension was getting the better of her. She slowed her pace. Chance glanced behind them. He could still see the Hellhounds grouped up, but they didn’t appear to be following now. He feared that if they slowed, the canines would attempt to chase again.  “Ray, can you take over?”  The Earth Pony nodded quietly. When they came to a stop, she hopped out of the wagon. Chance stood up and walked over to the front and unlatched Haze. Her wing was nearly torn in two and was soaked with blood.  “Fuck,” Chance muttered. “Haze, get up here.”  He knocked down the back hatch so she could have an easy way up into the wagon. Groaning in pain, Haze pushed herself up into the vehicle, then collapsed onto her belly. Chance attempted to extend her wing, but she screeched in protest. He reached for their healing supplies. “Oh shit. No, no… fuck! Those motherfuckers!” Chance cursed as he saw the sliced open bag. Much of the contents had spilled out of the wagon when the Hellhounds had attacked.  He found a single potion and levitated it up to Haze’s mouth. There were a few healing bandages left, which he attempted to use on her wing. Slowly, the potion mended the slice on her leg completely, but it only healed her gaping wound halfway. While the bleeding had stopped, the red tissue of her wing was still visible. “I can’t fucking believe it. We’re going to need more healing supplies,” Chance growled. “But where do we go?” Ray wondered as she began cantering. With a huff, Chance rolled over and pulled the map out of his saddlebag. He studied it for a moment. A pinpoint outside of the mountain range was labeled “Quagga.”  “There’s a town nearby. Um… Qwug-gah? I don’t know how to pronounce this.” “Are you sure it’s close?” Ray asked anxiously. “It… better be,” Haze rasped. “Yes, it’s just along the road and near the mountains. It’s gotta be close. Just keep going on the path,” Chance assured. “But… what if it’s abandoned?” Ray fret. “Well, if it is, there’s still got to be some supplies left in it,” Chance said with hope he didn’t have. Eventually, abandoned buildings began appearing sparsely. They grew closer and just beyond them was a gate which fortified even more well kept buildings. Two figures roamed the top of the gate, similar to the guards at South Gait. As Ray pulled them near the gate, something was made abundantly clear. The striped coats of the guards indicated that they were not ponies, but rather Zebras.  One of them, a stallion, called down in a strange accent. “Halt. What business do you have in Quagga?” Chance peeked his head out from under the roof of the wagon. “We mean no harm. We’re in serious need of medical attention. Please, we need help.” “How can we be sure you ponies aren’t planning some attack?” the Zebra stallion accused. “What? Attack? No, we need help,” Chance reassured. “Please. We have items we could trade for medical supplies.” The other guard, a mare, whispered something into the stallion’s ear. He gave her a nod back, then leapt out of sight behind the gate. A few moments later, the gate was pulled open with creaking hinges.  “Thank you so much,” Ray said as she passed the guard who opened the gate. He eyed them with suspicion, and continued to follow them into town. With a grunt, SwiftHaze sat up to take in the sight of the foriegn eyes watching her. Zebras! She had never seen real Zebras before. They looked like ponies, but less colorful and with stripes.  The stallion guard guided them through the streets. Even the architecture of the town was quite forign to the ponies. Small, rustic buildings that were simpler than the grand towers of Los Pegasus. “Come. I’ll show you to a healer,” the guard leading them said. They stopped in front of a two story building made of logs with a stone base.A windchime jingled just above the door.  Ray parked the wagon along one of the walls. Haze stumbled as she exited their vehicle. Both Ray and Chance rushed to aid her. She placed her good wing around Chance’s back for support. It wasn’t just her wing that throbbed, but her whole body screamed with pain. They made their way past a set of curtains and stepped inside. Gery daylight scattered across the room from an open window. A Zebra mare appeared from another room and mader her way around a low standing table. She wore her mane in thick strands, two mirroring each other on each side of her face. “Greetings. How can I-” The Zebra mare stopped in her tracks. Her widened eyes stretched her face, which suggested that she was near her fifties. She goggled at the ponies, bewildered. “Ponies…” she uttered. “And ones I’ve never seen before.” The guard who escorted them stepped forward. “These ponies claim to be in need of healing.” “Claim?” Haze sneered. “Have you seen my fucking wing?” “Haze!” Chance silenced her. Slowly, the Zebra mare inched forward and extended her hoof to examine Haze’s wing. She stretched it out, causing Haze to wince in pain. “Oh my,” the Zebra muttered. She turned to face the guard. “I think I can handle this from here, thank you.” Without a word, the stallion bowed his head and proceeded to exit the building. “Now then,” the mare was saying. “My name is Ayza. What brings you to Quagga?” “It was the closest town we could find,” Chance explained.  “What did this to you?” Ayza asked Haze. “H-Hellhound…”  Ayza shook her head. “Such dreadful creatures. Damned by the stars.” “Come, lay here.”  Ayza picked up a blanket in her teeth and dragged it over the low table. Haze forcefully pushed herself onto the table and laid flat on her belly, letting her wings droop off the edges. Once again, Ayza examined the wound and removed the bandages that covered the perimeter of it. She swiveled around and searched through many bottles that sat together on shelves. “I had no idea there was a whole Zebra town out here,” Chance brought up as Ayza treated Haze.  “Quagga has grown within the past few decades. Zebras from many walks of life have gathered here for a safe place to stay. We even have a small population of ponies among us,” Ayza revealed. “Ponies?” Ray wondered. “So you don’t hate us? I thought Zebras didn’t like us.” Ayza poured a liquid into her hoof then applied it to Haze’s wing, causing her to flinch, but say nothing.  “Perhaps our ancestors did, but it has been many generations since the war. There may be some who resent ponies, but I know none who seek to harm you ponies.” “Huh,” Ray took that in. “My whole body hurts, not just my wing!” Haze complained. “Can you do anything about it?” Ayza cocked her head and inquired, “Have you harmed yourself in any other way?”  “Um, well… I ran like fucking hell.” “Hmm, you may have torn some muscles. A potion might heal them.” Ayza turned around and returned to the corner of the room. Stretching her head down, she pulled out a crate from a bottom shelf, causing the sound of glass clinking. She picked a thin vile of green liquid in her teeth then popped the lid off and prompted Haze to drink. “Eck, what is that?” Haze muttered. “Healing potion. Homemade. It is more natural than the common potions you may find in the wastes. And because of that, it’s not quite as strong,” Ayza explained as she shifted to another side of the table. Haze glanced at her wing, but didn’t see the wound close any further. “It’s not immediate healing?” “No,” Ayza said. “Because it is organic, it promotes natural healing. Still quite faster than your body mending on it’s own, but not as rushed as its Equestrian potion counterpart.” “Ugh, I wanna be able to fly again right away!” Haze whined. Ayza let out a sigh. “Have patience, my dear pony.” Farther in the house was the sound of hooves descending down stairs. A few moments later a Zebra stallion appeared in the doorway that Ayza had first appeared from. He was much younger than her, yet still mature. “Ay, Ma, I heard some voices. You got-” the stallion stopped mid-sentence as his lime green eyes widened. “I know all the ponies in this town, but never have I seen y’all before.” His accent wasn’t quite as thick as his mother’s. “Whatch’all doing here? How did this-” with a wave of a hoof he gestured to Haze on the table. That instance, he took a second to get a better look at the pony mare. “A Pegasus? Well, that’s a new one.” “You know all the ponies here?” Ray questioned him curiously. “Yep! I hang out with them. Not so bad folk,” he claimed. “And you are…” Chance said awkwardly. “Xoqan. And how ‘bout yourselves?” “Erm, I’m Chance.” “OrchidRays!” “And that’s SwiftHaze.” Chance used his muzzle to point to the Pegasus on the table. She only grumbled. Ayza stepped back a few paces. “There’s not much more I can do. You must rest and let the treatment set in. I have extra beds upstairs for patients to rest. You may stay the night.” “We’re going to have to pay for this, aren’t we?” Ray directed at the healer. Then she turned to Chance. “Do you have anything we can offer her?” “I-I… Well, th-that depends… on what you’ll take as payment,” Chance stumbled over his words. There was a small chuckle from Xoqan.  For a moment, Ayza silently stared at them, as if lost in thought. “Your payment need not be immediate. I will think about this.” “Of course,” Chance said as Haze got down from the table with a stagger. “I guess we’ll need to repair our wagon too,” Ray thought aloud.  “Well, sounds like a job for you,” Chance pointed out. “I’m sure you could think of some solution.” “I could look around for parts,” Ray considered, her mind wandering. As Haze walked through the room, she dipped her head to the healer. “Thank you, Ayza. I’m feeling better already.” But not better enough, she omitted. “Certainly. I could show you to a bed, you may rest,” Ayza responded. After a few steps, she paused to place a hoof on Xoqan’s shoulder. “I’m sure you can help these ponies get accustomed to Quagga.”  “Of course,” Xoqan smirked. Ayza’s striped tail disappeared past the doorway, but Haze hung back for one moment. “Ray, could you get my bags and bring them up?” “Sure!” Ray smiled then dashed outside. Now as Ayza led Haze up the stairs, it left only Chance and Xoqan in the treatment room. Chance shuffled his hooves awkwardly. “So… you like hanging out with ponies?” “Probably a good idea to get comfortable with them so I can manage out in the world when I travel.” “You travel?” Chance wondered. “Well, not yet. But one day I will,” Xoqan claimed. “I’d love to go to other ponies cities and practice my healing skills.” “So you’re a healer too, huh?” Chance asked, intrigued. “Yeah. My ma taught me, but I taught myself some things as well,” the Zebra stallion boasted. “That’s pretty cool,” was all he got out of Chance. “Soo… what’s with the Pegasus? Why ain’t she up in the clouds?” Xoqan queried. “Haze? She’s from a Stable; she’s not part of the Enclave. I mean, she is wearing a Stable suit,” Chance explained. “Well, I ain’t ever seen one of those suits before, so it’s not like I knew,” Xoqan defended and shrugged. Outside, OrchirdRays cantered towards their wooden wagon. Despite being sent in search of Haze’s belongings, she was distracted by the crevice in the wagon. The Hellhound had carved out a portion of the side and the floor of the wagon, a few hoof-lengths wide. “Hmm… I could patch the hole over, or I can completely replace the boards,” Ray pondered out loud, tapping her chin with a hoof.  “Who are you talking to?” “Eep!” Ray jolted and spun around. She saw an ice blue pony- no- Zebra?- standing in the middle of the stone street.  “Oh, I was just talking to myself,” Ray said then added bluntly, “You’re a weird looking Zebra.” The stallion cringed a bit. “That’s because… well, I’m a Zony.” He had darker stripes on his coat, but none in his purple mane. “What’s a Zony?” “Well, my mom was a pony, and my dad a Zebra.” “Whoa, really? That’s so cool! I didn’t even know that was possible! Ray exclaimed. “Um… thanks, I guess. At least you think it’s cool… unlike a lot of the Zebras around here,” the Zony added, his pink eyes drifting away. “I’ve never seen Zebras before. This place is weird.” Ray took a wide look over all of the buildings in front of her.  “So, I guess you’re not from here.” The Zony tilted his head so he could peer past Ray, at the wagon. “You’re traveling?” “Yep! You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find supplies to fix this, would you?” Ray requested. “If I could buy them, or-or maybe salvage them. I need wood. Oh! And nails.” “Well… I do know one place you could salvage some,” the Zony replied. “Really? Can you show me?” Ray beamed. The Zony blinked then shrugged. “I guess.” “Awesome! I’m Ray, what’s your name?” “Torrent,” the Zony stated as he began trotting down the road. Ray hurried after him and left the wagon behind. Wearily, SwiftHaze laid in the second floor room. The bed under her was hard and small, but she didn’t want to refuse what she was offered. It seemed as if hours had passed since Ayza left the room, but in truth, it had only been ten minutes or so.  Haze sat up. Something’s not right. Carefully, she placed her hooves on the floor, causing the planks to creak under her. She paced over to the window that overlooked the streets. She saw Zebras passing through and foals chasing each other with laughter. There was one Zebra conversing with a merchant at a small stall. Directly below her window was the roof of her team’s wagon. What she didn’t see was OrchidRays. I thought she was bringing me my bags, Haze quibbled in her mind. She called out Chance’s name, and sure enough, he soon came running up the stairs. “What’s up?” “Where the fuck is Ray?” Haze demanded. “Um, I saw her go out but she never came back in,” Chance said. “Well, she’s not out there now.” Haze made an exaggerated action of looking out the window with wide eyes. With a groan, Chance rubbed his temple with a forehoof. “She must have gone looking for parts to repair the wagon.” Xoqan’s voice spoke from the open doorway. “A pony who doesn’t know the streets could get themselves in big trouble. The gangs don’t play around.” Chance sighed. “I’ll go find her.” “I better come with you. Since you don’t know the streets either,” Xoqan informed Chance. “Before you go, can you get my stuff?” Haze begged. “Fine. May as well bring in all of our stuff,” said Chance. GleamingChance followed close behind Xoqan as they wandered the streets of Quagga. The many guards that patrolled the blocks told Chance that this was a secure town. Still, he felt vulnerable as foriegn Zebra eyes followed him as he passed. “I hate when others look at me,” Chance muttered. “Well, you are a pony,” Xoqan said. “You kind of stick out, so of course there’ll be Zebras watching you. They’re just curious,” he assured. “But I thought the Zebras here were used to ponies living with them,” Chance recalled. “Er- not too much. They’ve shoved all the ponies into a run-down neighborhood, so most of the time they don’t interact,” Xoqan explained. He gave a friendly nod to a Zebra as they passed by. “Getting back at the ponies for what they did to the Zebras during the war,” Chance guessed, keeping his voice low so no Zebra could hear him. “I suppose so, but I don’t see the point of doing that. When the world’s gone to shit, we should be working together.” Chance nodded. He was right, of course. But generations of bigotry were not easily undone. “Wait. Hold up.” Xoqan halted and backed up a few steps. He peered into an alleyway, where voices could be heard. He entered the alley while Chance was waiting out in the street. In the alley were two Zebras, a stallion and a mare, cornering an Earth Pony between some crates. The pony’s eyes were wide with distress as the Zebras kept pushing him into the crates. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know it was yours!” The tan pony pleaded with his voice cracking. “Bullshit. You knew it was and you were going to steal it anyway,” the Zebra stallion wearing green threatened. “You shouldn't even have been around these parts, let alone with a knife. My knife!” “I said I’m sorry!” “Hey!” Xoqan called out. All three contenders swerved their attention to him. “What the fuck is going on here?” He demanded. Chance crept a few hooflengths farther to get a better view of the conflict. “This punk was stealing my knife!” “Did he give it back?” Xoqan inquired, his voice low. “Well, yes, but that-” “Then leave him the fuck alone,” Xoqan commanded with confidence. “These ponies don’t deserve special treatment. He’s a fucking thief and he’s going to pay for it!” The Zebra in green said. “I said leave him alone!” Xoqan shouted and flicked his forehoof upward. Some abnormal, dark mist formed and swirled around it. Less then a second later, the same type of mist also enveloped the instigating Zebra’s hooves. Xoqan slowly raised his forehoof higher, and the Zebra lifted off the ground, his hooves wrangling in the black mist. “Go,” Xoqan told the cowering pony. Quickly, he darted out of the alley, saying thanks to Xoqan as he did. “Okay! Okay!” The Zebra in green begged, still hovering in the air. His eyes were wide with fear as he had no control over his movements. Xoqan held his position for a moment longer, then set his hoof down on the stony ground. The black mist dissipated under the stallion’s hooves, causing him to fall to the floor. He collapsed onto his belly, with all four hooves splayed out. In horror, the second Zebra stared at Xoqan. “C’mon,” Xoqan whispered to Chance and turned around to exit the alley. The Zebra mare called out, “fuck you too, Xoqan!” But Chance was frozen, attempting to process what he just saw. With a start, he rushed out of the alley to catch up with Xoqan. “What the hell was that?” Chance exclaimed. “A pony being harassed for no good reason. These thugs knows what happens when they do that... I get pissed! They never learn,” the Zebra stallion grumbled. “Yeah, but -Um-uh-I,” Chance was at a loss for words. “Spit it out,” Xoqan insisted. “Or did a starspawn take your tongue?” After a breath, Chance said, “I mean that’s great you stand up for others, but I was referring to what you did with that Zebra. How did you make him float?” Xoqan stopped and fully faced the Unicorn. “Dark magic. I promise it’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s just one of the only forms of magic a Zebra can perform, besides enchantment. Well, I guess that’s the same case for anyone who isn’t a Unicorn.” For a second, Xoqan eyed Chance’s horn. “Dark magic? I thought that was some kind of folklore. So it’s real, and you can use it?” “Yep. Takes a lot of practice to unlock and get any good at it, though,” Xoqan explained. “Huh,” Chance let out. Somehow, there were still things about the world he was learning about. What else was left out in the books he read?” “Anyway, this is what I’m talking about when I said a pony can get in trouble. We’ve got to make sure your friend isn’t stepping into the wrong neighborhood. Do you have any idea what kind of place she’d be?” Xoqan asked. “Hmm... probably somewhere she could find parts for our wagon,” Chance explained. “We can check the marketplace,” Xoqan offered. After nearly two hours, GleamingChance and Xoqan explored the marketplace and streets adjacent to it, but found no trace of OrchidRays. They needed a better plan. After the failure at the marketplace, Xoqan took them back to his home. When they approached the building, Chance paused as he saw Ray standing right next to the wagon, as if she never left. She was hammering a piece of wood into the side of it. Her ear flicked, and she turned her head. “Oh, hey!” “R-Ray? Where the fuck did you go? We’ve been looking for you!” Chance snapped. “Oh... I went looking for parts. I found some!” Ray said with a smile. “Ugh, Ray! You were supposed to get Haze’s bags,” Chance pointed out. “Oooooh. Yeah, I forgot about that, sorry.” Chance rubbed the tip of his hoof between his eyes. “That... That’s not the issue Ray. You can’t just go wandering all on your own without telling any of us!” “I’m sorry,” Ray squeaked and lowered her head with pushed back ears. “But you told me to find parts...” “I didn’t mean just go search all on your own!” Chance quipped. “But, I wasn’t alone! I had a nice Zony take me there, his name is Torrent. He showed me a great spot for scavenging junk and wood,” Ray assured. “I know Torrent,” Xoqan commented. “He’s a nice guy.” “Still. You can’t blindly trust people out here. You need to stay safe, and stick with us,” Chance said. “Sorry,” Ray murmured with shame. Chance sighed. “I’m just glad you're okay. I know you're new out here. You still have a lot to learn.” He walked past the Earth Pony and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Good job finding things to fix the wagon.” That made Ray perk up a little bit, and she continued to work on the project as the two stallions made their way inside.