Chapter Eleven
All that glitters is not gold and even the sun will die one day.
They walked down the dirt path leading away from the foothill where Glyphmark was located. On either side of them were rolling grassy expanses, the Everfree Forest and Froggy Bottom Bog visible off ahead, Rambling Rock Ridge just south east of their position.
Falcon Wing continued to talk about the implications of what occurred in Dodge City all the way.
"So what happens if they start warning other settlements about us? Or if they put a bounty on our heads? Do you think we'll be able to get back into Junction Town?"
"Well they think we're outlaws already Falcon, we might be able to get into other towns but we'll never get a break from those inside... and if we go back to Dodge they're likely to shoot us before we even pass through the gates," Alana replied, oddly calm for someone admitting they were criminals on the run. "I suppose it might have been different if we could clear our names but most of the population saw us running away from a mob of ponies with me shooting one before we got out of there..."
"Some hero I turned out to be..." Falcon Wing snorted.
"You mean well. You just... stumble a bit from time to time," Alana said comfortingly.
"I've been stumbling more than a drunk, one-legged donkey as of late," Falcon Wing retorted.
"Which means you'll just have to work hard to compensate, and I'm more than willing to help mister hero. Do a few good deeds, gain some notoriety, eventually they'll be sure to see that we're not thief-raider scumbags!" Alana said in response.
"I didn't think we'd need to be on the run to do something good and decent, Alana," Falcon Wing replied, the whole notion uncomfortably similar to his initial goals when he left the cellar.
Klaxon's words came back to him.
"Look kid, if you expect to go out there in the Wastes and become a hero, I think you need a reality check. Better stallions than you have tried and lost their lives in that ridiculous pursuit. Not everyone can be the hero."
And after everything he went through, he believed it. But at least he tried... even if he went about it completely wrong.
"We don't. It's just that it will be a... fortunate benefit. A gift that keeps on giving, you know?"
"I still have my reservations... but I suppose its the best plan we have right now. So how do we go about it?"
"We travel, we help where we can and hope that we are recognized for our efforts!" Alana said triumphantly, raising a hoof in a dramatic fashion towards the sun.
"... And this is our best plan..." Falcon Wing mused. "Oh boy..."
Alana scoffed. "Nothing good will come around with that attitude, Falcon!"
Falcon bowed his head. "I'm for it, not to redeem myself in the eyes of Equestria -- though I have no objections if that ends up happening regardless -- but to help you clear your name. You did what you did to save my life, I won't have you become an outlaw for it."
"That isn't necess --"
"Oh, but it is," Falcon Wing interjected sternly. "You... are stronger than I am by far. Able to make tough decisions on the spot. Have endured so much yet can still look at our world and smile. Willing to put yourself in harm's way for the good of some idiot pegasus colt. I'm no hero Alana, you are."
There was silence between the two for a short while, Alana having a wide grin on her face for most of that time while Falcon walked beside her feeling a bit sheepish.
"That's... sweet. Thank you Falcon. Good to see that you have high self esteem as well!" Alana teased him.
"There's not much about myself to be proud of," Falcon Wing said dismissively. "The only reason I survived the first week out here was Klaxon and Steiner. The only reason I'm still alive now is you."
"Are you forgetting that it was you who saved me before, Falcon Wing? The way I see it, we're just about even," Alana retorted.
Falcon Wing smiled. "One good thing to be proud of."
"You used your know-how to track down those Enclave units too," the caramel mare added.
"Two things then... though that wouldn't have been possible without Klaxon and Steiner"
"That's not the point," Alana asserted. "you have a lot to offer and you have the potential to do a lot of good. You can't linger on your mistakes, just learn from them."
"Be a better pony?" the flightless pegasus asked.
"Be a better pony."
The walk thereafter was done in much higher spirits by the both of them. Falcon Wing turned on his Pipeye's radio and allowed DJ Pon3's selection of music to take the edge off of everything that had happened in the last few days. Dodge City and Froggy Bottom were said and done. The future on the other hoof was still up in the air.
A cheerful melody without lyrics came to an end and the DJ's deep voice filled the lapse in music.
"We interrupt this broadcast of sunshine and rainbows t' report some fucked up shit, because of course, we can't have nice things!"
Falcon Wing cringed, half expecting the report to be about his less than stellar exploits.
"Look out for a red colt in a black overcoat and a mare with gray barding, they started trouble in Dodge City, shot a pony and are now roaming the country side!" Falcon Wing thought.
The reality was a lot more morbid.
"We have another death in Baltimare, the young Cliff Racer, a mare described as being 'as beautiful in soul as she was in body'. Now all we can do is honor her spirit. She's just another confirmed victim of the sick freak ponies in that area are calling the Shadow Sweep, and if this trend continues unchanged then their targets are young ponies, both colts and fillies. Keep your kids inside at night Baltimare folks, and our hearts go out t' ya...the Baltimare guard have our hopes and prayers..."
DJ Pon3's voice trailed off, and an especially somber song started playing in respects to the deceased.
The two ponies looked uncomfortably at each other.
"Shadow Sweep?" Alana asked.
"Baltimare..." Falcon Wing replied, scrolling through his Pipeye settings and pulling up his map. "It's just a train ride away..."
"We're going after a child murderer?" Alana queried, raising a brow. "Falcon... this pony doesn't sound like any regular raider. He's been eluding the city guardsponies and has struck more than once at that..."
"So he can sneak around pretty well. So can I. Sweepy probably has magic on their side... and so do I," Falcon replied, pushing his Pipeye back onto his forehead as he did. "Even if we don't catch him... even if he gets away from us in the end... we've gotta do something. We've got to try... there are kids at stake... ponies that aren't much younger than myself at that!"
Alana frowned, looked to the ground for a short moment then nodded in agreement. "And maybe we won't be the only ones going after him. Maybe there are other ponies already pursuing him in Baltimare," she suggested.
"Then it's settled. We're going to find us a shadow," Falcon said with a fiery determination in his gaze.
He was back.