Chapter Seven
Some questions should be asked sooner than later.
"But... but they are all kids..." Falcon found himself saying flatly at the top of the hill where lines of shacks were erected leading towards a larger structure, a Ministry of Peace building by the looks of things. "Yes. And they are all Angels!" Alana said and grinned. He heard her squee. "... They are all kids" the flightless pony repeated.
The young zebras poured out of their homes and they lined up at the front gate of their village expectantly at the return of the two ponies. Falcon Wing still couldn't remember the details of their first meeting here. He was beginning to fear he had some kind of brain damage from his last beating. It would explain the onset of occasional amnesia...
He looked around the place, feeling as if he were taking in the details for the first time. The place looked pretty well kept for a bunch of younglings living on their own. The shacks were well built, the ground free of clutter and there was even a fence. It was if the village was a mini version of Hope populated by juvenile zebras.
So it came as a shock when Alana told him the place used to be a dump.
That shock disappeared after he was informed the Stable Dweller had come this way a while back. "Of course she did," was Falcon Wing's reply. "explains why a bunch of zebra foals have been able to take of themselves like this..."
"You survived the bog!" one of the young zebra colts said excitedly at the front of the gathering, several hooves appearing out from behind him and tugging him back into the bulk of the group.
Falcon didn't respond immediately, captivated by how their stripes blended together, his eyes following the maze of black and white they formed when they stood together.
"Oh Celestia, is this a sign of brain damage? It is isn't it? Oh, fuck me!" he thought frantically.
Alana was more than willing to compensate for Falcon's silence, pulling out blue plants with purple speckles a similar shade to her mane and laying a bundle of them in front of the group of zebras, their large eyes widening further upon seeing the herbs.
"I hope these are the right ones, I don't think Falcon Wing will take well to another trip into the forest or the swamps!" she said.
Every head she could see was nodding to her words, the words of the group blending into each other into a droning murmur. She gleaned from the tone that she had gotten the right herbs.
"What... what potion... what potion will those make?" Falcon Wing stammered, trying to pull his attention away from his potentially crippled mental faculties.
"The potion to fix your head silly!" Alana said, playfully nudging his shoulder.
"... I don't follow" Falcon Wing said. For some reason, that seemed like a given. Of course he didn't follow. He was sure he had brain damage!
"Weeeell..." Alana began to say, "a few days back we got into a little scuffle and you took a few bad hits..."
"Don't you mean yesterday?" Falcon Wing asked. She shook her head no.
"That was just some of the more recent hits, and even those weren't as bad as the other ones!" she explained.
The prospect made Falcon's mind go blank, and in his current state that was very distressing. He had gotten into a fight and lost days of time? Perhaps losing a bit more after being beaten by those Enclave guards?
"... Just how much did I fuck up my head!?" Falcon blurted out. The zebra foals gasped. "Swear!" the colt from earlier called out from somewhere in the crowd.
"Quite a bit," Alana replied matter of factly. "Why do you think I've been extra attentive to you?"
Falcon looked down at his chest, seeing the bandages through his frayed vest. He leaned over to Alana and mumbled into her ear "I thought it was because you loved me..."
Alana smiled then whispered into his ears "Who says I don't?"
"They share lies and secrets right in front of us!" the colt cried out, the sound of several hooves striking him audible all at once.
Falcon recoiled slightly then pressed forward: "Why didn't you tell me all of this before!? When I woke up in that ditch!?"
"Well for starters you didn't ask, and I wasn't inclined to tell you: 'Oh by the way Falcon, you may have a concussion!' Secondly, I knew you'd panic, like you are now!"
"I'm not panicking, I'm freaking out!" Falcon Wing retorted. "I had a concussion for days and you had me running around like nothing was wrong!?"
"... I was keeping a close eye on you..." Alana said sheepishly. Falcon Wing had to agree, when things were going south back in the swamp, Alana had sprung into action instantly.
Wait, no he couldn't give her that! That would only justify part of her reasoning and make him look like a colt in over his damaged head!
"Ugh, whatever --" he looked to the gathering of zebras, who watched the proceedings either with patience or a strange interest, as if the exchange were some kind of soap opera to them. "-- just...just do your zebra thing, kids. I want my head to feel normal again."
A mare with a short mane nodded and retrieved the blue flowers. Alana guided Falcon Wing further into the village, where other zebras beckoned him into one of their huts.
It was a simple shelter, but he had just spent the night in a place a lot larger and a lot emptier. He had no complaints. He was told to lie down on a bed roll and rest his head. Again, he had no objections. Alana laid on the ground next to him.
He did not expect love to be something like this and certainly did not expect to find it with the caramel mare.
"Alana?" he said.
"Falcon?" she replied.
"You make my head hurt."
"I'm sure that's just the head trauma. Try to get some sleep while the others brew that potion."
She paused, then added teasingly, "Do you need a hug?"
"I...suppose so. It helped last night I think... even if I can't remember too much after that thing in the cellar..." Falcon Wing responded. He felt her forelegs wrap around him. "... What... happened after that?"
"The usual. You had a fit about me being down there with you. Dulled senses because of the concussion I figure," Alana replied, "then you sorta collapsed. I had to carry you but, what kind of earth pony can't carry a bit of extra weight?"
"Don't do that," Falcon said.
Alana lifted her head and looked at the red buck with a confused expression. "Don't hug you?" she asked.
"No, I mean... don't say things that are similar to things you've said before... my sense of time is warped enough without having to feel deja vu..."
"Ah. Right, sorry," she apologized.
"... How did you know Klaxon wrote that letter instead of Steiner?" Falcon Wing went on to asking.
"Because I know Steiner's name. His real name. It isn't Molasses, I'll tell you that..." she answered with a chuckle.
"And what, may I ask, is Steiner's real name?"
"I suppose you'll find out when Steiner feels like telling you!" Alana teased. Falcon groaned.
"You really do make my head hurt... deja vu?"
"Concussion," Alana assured.