//------------------------------//
// Noon 
// Story: Racer And The Geek 
// by kalash93 
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Chapter 5: Noon
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Morning was kind to Sunny Breeze, although not much better than usual. It was not yet light when he rose to greet the new day, now in a better mood than usual, singing to himself.“Morgen, Mond! War letzte Nacht schöne? Morgen, Sonne! Würdest du nicht mir glänzen? Los bleiben lang heute.  Sowieso, ist es gut sehen dich!” He showered. When he got out, he inspected himself in the mirror. Every part of his was good to go. His eyes were drawn down to his cutie mark- his shame. A rifle cartridge was emblazoned on his flank. It never let him forget who he was or what he did. It would forever stigmatize him to others.

He quickly got dressed and armed. On the way out, he took a few swigs from the whisky bottle before turning to the framed picture of the four stallions. He tapped it thrice and said “Ich lasse”, stepping out the door. He had to be quick and stealthy in order to get to the bank unnoticed. His shift technically didn’t start for a few hours, but there was no way he would dare walking down there in broad daylight. While the heckling normally might not have been quite as bad as it was on Saturday, it would still be bad, and aside from the face that he would have to deal with ponies trying to figure out where he lived. He’s to relocate if the secret got out.

The sneaking itself wasn’t all that difficult for the cream-coated stallion. Sure, he was a bit louder and clumsier than usual, but nopony was awake to observe him. He had just managed to slip into the bushes when suddenly , several shapes dove from the sky, streaking straight for him! Sunny remained motionless, not even daring to breathe. They suddenly pulled up and revealed rainbow, lightning, sunburst, and thundercloud contrails. They seemed to be either racing very intensely or trying to knock each other out of the sky. Even though Sunny had an idea what it might have been about, he decided to slip away before the commotion reached him.

The current phase of the journey was the most risky one. Thanks to fire and building codes, Sunny’s apartment complex was located on a knoll somewhat distant from the rest of the town. The only road leading to it a gravel path raised above the fields on both sides. There were somewhat more than a solid hundred meters of open ground to cover before he would be safe in the confines of Ponyville’s narrow back streets. There was no way to sneak across in blind daylight; anypony who wasn’t blind could see him as a black shape moving among amber waves of grain. The solid black of his uniform offered some concealment at night. He really ought to try learning a concealment spell, but his upbringing had not allowed for much in the way of magical education.

The first rays of light began to creep over the horizon as Sunny got into position along the darker slope of the embankment flanking the path. With practiced deliberateness and stealth, he crawled on his elbows and knees through the thick tall grasses at the bottom of the embankment. He strained his senses for any sign of motion or sound, dreading detection and the fallout that would come with it. It took him several minutes to make it across the field and then melt into the shadows of the streets.

The main road between the bank and the apartment complex was a relatively spacious boulevard with little that could be used as cover. Even worse was the fact that it primarily ran along an east-west course, which would mean that it would be flooded with sunlight before a pony could make the half hour walk to the bank on the far end of town. While being discovered here would probably not result in him being exposed, it still was not worth the trouble.

This was why Sunny Breeze had adopted a peculiar twist to his daily commute. The stallion approached a street corner before he paused to confirm that he was alone. Nothing moved on the ground. Sunny looked up. The skies were not clear. He observed patiently as Derpy made her rounds delivering the post. She waved to him and he waved back. The sky was clear of contrails and other fliers, so Sunny seized the opportunity to unsling the rifle from his back. He made a quick break across the street, aiming himself at one of the numerous storm drain entrances and dove for the opening, twisting his body to just exactly fit through the gap. Now that he was inside, he returned the FAL to its place and marched onwards towards his objective, singing the whole way.

The utility infrastructure was very familiar territory to Sunny, who let his eyes adjust to the darkness. The channel for water was in the middle of the tunnel, flanked by two narrow walkways underneath a low-hanging vaulted arch ceiling. While the storm drain tunnels themselves were particularly spacious, for even a stallion the size of Big Macintosh could traverse a significant proportion of the largest mains without trouble but a little claustrophobia, although many of the service tunnels, maintenance accesses, and secondary passages were too small for larger ponies.  His destination could certainly be reached through the main tunnels, but the topography of Ponyville meant that his route would be very circuitous, as the town was primarily constructed upon three hills. The storm drains seldom mixed until they reached the river into which they emptied, which was some miles away. Rather than add hours to his journey, Sunny opted to cut through the warrens of tight subterranean auxiliary passages and the odd natural cave. These made him thankful for his small size and compact build. It was actually quicker for him to travel this way than on the surface. Nevertheless, they did bring him to his final destination.

When he arrived at the bank, it was a golden morning with not a cloud in the sky. With a final heave, Sunny Breeze hauled himself out of the storm drain and brushed himself off. “Guten Morgen. I was wondering when you’d show up, Telny,” a voice joked at him. “Just ten more minutes and I’d have started composing your eulogy.” He turned to face the speaker, who was holding a G3 rifle.

“Schlechten Morgen," replied Sunny, twisting the typical Zebrische greeting. I’m sure it would’ve been awful enough to return me from the Well of Souls, Keffiyeh.” They brohoofed and took their places flanking the one gap in the bank’s curtain wall of tall holly bushes. They both stood on their hind legs. This pose made them seem larger and therefore more intimidating, in addition to giving them a significant boost to the scope of their situational awareness. It was an acquired skill. “So, how was your weekend?”

The other stallion snorted. “The usual, except for filling in at my sister’s noodle stand.”

“How did that go?” The answer would have to wait, for the first of the employees began to arrive then. And so they stood as living statues- black vultures promising violence. As expected, the first one to arrive was the manager, a silvering calico mare with thick horn-rimmed glasses. She pulled out her identification card and displayed it to the guards. All was in order, so they saluted and let her pass. It took her a few seconds to unlock the door and take Haye “Keffiyeh” Bailer inside with her to open up the vault, leaving Sunny all alone. He stepped in front of the door.

A couple early birds soon arrived. Sunny recognized them as Caramel and Sassaflash, who always seemed to either arrive together or in close succession. They only knew him by a nickname. “Yo, Stripes!” called out Sassaflash, raising a hoof with her ID plainly visible.

“Morning, Sassaflash,” shot back Sunny, using a coarse Griffon accent to disguise his true voice. The mare stopped when she noticed that he was standing alone directly in front of the door and that the second guard was not present.  Caramel, on the other hoof, trotted headlong into Sunny. He let out what sounded like a muffled apology before backing up several feet and presenting an ID card. “You know that I can’t let you in if it’s just me here, Caramel.” The guard tapped twice on his FAL deliberately and pawed at the dirt.

“Sorry, I forgot again,” answered Caramel, nervously kicking his front hoof in the air.

“I will not likely shoot you, but perhaps some other guard might, not knowing your forgetful ways and being a jumpy new colt… You understand me, no?

“Y-yeah.” Caramel gulped. Sassaflash brushed against his shoulder, stopping his trembling and restoring his smile. An awkward silence ensued for a few minutes until Haye returned and let the couple be on their way.

Haye picked up their conversation at almost the exact point where they had been interrupted. “Harder than you’d think. I mean, it’s harder than you’d think to run a noodle stand.  Still, it wasn’t all that bad. I did get Honeycomb to help out with the evening shift.”

“She’s that fine one with the pink and blue mane from the Crystal Empire, right?”

“Yup, that’s her. I brought her back to my place afterwards.”

Sunny gave a bit of an exasperated sigh. “Just exactly how many mares are you seeing now? And don't you have a wife?” Haye chuckled and nodded as if amused and took a sudden interest in the rear rotary diopter sight setting on his G3 rifle.

“Yeah, I don’t have all that many, actually. Klee's my wife, I told you all about how we met in Neighdersachsen, Zebricy. Then I've got three regular fillyfriends and five bed friends. Honeycomb’s one of the former.” He saw the incredulous stare Sunny was giving him. “Ain’t gender imbalance great?”

To this, Sunny replied, “Not as great as you’d think if you could never enjoy it… I don’t get it. How do you get that much? How does one even handle that many mares?” Genders in Equestria had always been noticeably skewed in favor of females. Polyamory was a very widespread and accepted practice in a land where mares seemed to outnumber stallions no less than a dozen to one. Most colts had more than one filly at a time, even if their girls weren’t privy to each other’s’ identities. Some degree of infidelity was expected. It was the wholly monogamous couples like the Cakes that were considered the odd exceptions.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Telny,” said Haye. “I saw you with both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash at the festival. Not bad, bro.” Sunny almost dropped his FAL.

“W-wait!? How did you know that? I-I-I mean, Pinkie just happened to show up. Rainbow Dash found us and we just hung out the rest of the day.”

“Chill, bro. You did good. Hell, in my personal opinion, Rainbow Dash is a good piece of ass.”

Sunny groaned, “But we aren’t together like that!” As if to punctuate his indignation, they heard a large pile of cans being dropped into a bin and a stallion with a country accent swearing something fierce over the ruckus.

Haye laughed, “Sure as hell looks like it.” Keffiyeh stopped for a moment, giving an exaggerated check of the area before whispering loudly. “I bet she’d do it with you.” The other stallion just stammered. “You totally need to get laid. C’mon, it’s time that you finally did something about being a cherry. You do want to, right?”

Sunny shrugged. “Are you ever going to come off it?”

“Nope- not until you’re a real stallion. I’ll make sure you do it, even if I have to drag out to the red light district myself.”

Sunny grimaced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Remember Klopdahar?”

Keffiyeh stopped manically grinning. “I sure do. But hey, you’re older now and you’re not hiding from the sound of popcorn.”

The other stallion looked him dead in the eye and said without any trace of humor or levity, “Drop it or I’ll drop you.” He turned away. Keffiyeh knew that this was time to stop teasing his friend.

“Look, I’m sorry, bro,” apologized Keffiyeh. “It was right after you got back from Hill 20 and-” He just stopped.

“Yeah, I know- just trying to make conversation and all that.” Sunny sighed wearily. “You’re probably right as always. Just do me a favor, okay?”

“What is it?”

“No hookers, no obligations, and for the love of Celestia, let her be gentle.”

A mischievous glint shone in Haye’s eye. “I get it. You’ve got the hots for Fluttershy!” Sunny cracked a small grin.

This whole thing was like a game of theirs, a way of filling the long, dull hours on duty. At other times, they’d talk about other things. Naturally, mares were a frequent subject,; considering the notable surplus of females in Ponyville being one of the highest to scale of any city in Equestria, and also because they were both stallions in their prime. The next time they would be together, it’d be Sunny’s turn to try to make Haye squirm.

The rest of the morning passed them by with its customary slowness. The rest of the employees at the bank filtered in over the course of the next hour. Then they had to stand around for another agonizingly dull hour waiting for when the bank would open to customers. To pass the time, they talked, told dirty jokes, and would try to point out anything that might be good for a laugh. One of their favorite pastimes was to  discretely mock anything and anypony that wandered across their field of vision. This exercise was not only fun, but also kept them sharp at searching for trouble and made them pay extra close attention to their surroundings. These things continued for hours, but they always returned to their stern aspect whenever other ponies drew near. Sunny found it difficult to concentrate on his shift, so filled was he with the prospect of meeting Rainbow Dash. This he did not confide in his friend, for he feared that he’d never hear the end of it.

At the midway point of their shift, the manager came out to speak with them. They gave the customary salute. Both of them had an idea as to what it was about before the words ever left her mouth.

“Gentlecolts,” began the mare. They both knew exactly what she was going to say. “Next weekend is when we will have the van to make the run down to Hollow Shades. As usual, the company requires that we send out one guard to ride with the van. This will be a routine trip. Escort the money down there and get everything back here safe and sound. If you’re interested, come to my office before this weekend and let me know.” She huffed a bit. “Don’t make me pick a victim.” Having said that, she stepped back inside the bank. The stallions looked at each other.

Haye spoke first. “You want me to do it, bro?”

“Nah. You did it last month. Besides, I don’t have anything else to do. Also, Keffiyeh, it’s not like there’s anypony else for the job. You already know what Goggles is like. I don’t know what to make of Shades, but he is most certainly not a pencil pusher. We could make him do it. He's been here for a while.

Haye rested his head on his hoof thoughtfully. “I agree. It’s just the four of us guys that make up the Ponyville outfit. Based on what you’ve told me, Goggles sounds completely inept. And as for Shades, well, I’m not officially supposed to tell you this, but he’s the kind of pony that legal department loves.” Sunny’s eyes dilated as he came to the realization that had eluded him for many months.

“So he's former guard or somethin? Eclipse?"

"Try Antumbra." Sunny snapped to attention. "Eclipse is just a legend." Sunny shrugged helplessly.

"That explains a lot. I’ve had a hard time figuring him out. He seemed too clean cut to be another contractor, but too slick to be just your average colt.” His tone did not match his contemplative words.

The other stallion nodded. “And he doesn’t drink.”

“Really? No way.” He seriously is one hundred percent temperate?” Haye nodded again. “Well, that makes me trust him even less. If a stallion never lets himself be tempted, then who knows what kind of schemes he’s trying to bring to fruition? I never met an honest stallion that didn’t drink.”

“That too,” replied Haye. Sunny yawned and stretched. He was feeling uncomfortably warm in his black uniform, especially now that the sun was beating down directly upon them and the somewhat sheltered guard post meant that the air was stiflingly still. The early spring also brought the curse of thick clouds of pollen. It didn’t affect Sunny, but never failed to make Haye miserable. He sniffled and sneezed.

"Well, in any case, I can't say that I know too much about how he is as a fighter. He uses an FN SCAR-L chambered in 5.56x45, or 223 Remmington for whatever that's worth.  At least he's highly professional. They sure are paying him royally."

"That's what I'd figured, too. I've never seen him use his, although if what you're saying is true, then I bet he's here because of PR. After all, our outfit has a pretty bloodthirsy reputation." They grinned at each other.

"It's not an undeserved one. We've got a mercenary and a legionnaire in our outfit."

"That too. So, you gonna take this one, or is he doin' it?"

Sunny turned to Haye and answered, “Let's have him sign up for the trip then' we always get stuck doing it. You did the last one after all, and I don't need the money for anything important."

“Just for ammo and liquor.” They both laughed. Surely enough, when the shift had ended, Sunny waited around a few minutes for is replacement to arrive before calling it a day, much to his chagrin and aggitation. After a good fifteen minutes, Goggles finally showed up with his Sterling. He seemed to be in an unusually good mood.

Sunny decided to rib him. “Did Rarity need you for something?” He didn’t know if Rarity was involved, but given her popularity with stallions, it was always a fair guess. This particular guess hit the nail on the head.

“As a matter of fact, she did,” declared Goggles from behind his lenses.

“Well?” Keffiyeh demanded. “What for?”

“Repairing her sewing machine, thank you very much.” He obviously did not understand the game.

Telny put on his best campy voice. “So, um, did she pay you in lace or in makeup for fixing her gizmo?” This almost sent Keffiyeh to the ground in stitches. Goggles seemed to twitch a tiny amount at that last word.

Goggles was not taken aback. He continued to speak with his rather distinctive nasal twill. “Actually, miss Rarity repaid yours truly with fellatio.” His voice became almost flamboyantly overdramatic as he neared the end of the sentence.

“Good for you,” shot back Keffiyeh. He sent Telny a look which said ‘trust me -- take his word for it.’

Telny turned back to Goggles and spoke with him in a very matter of fact manner with just a hint of growl to it, “It’s just ribbing. Everypony gets it. Now, if your schedule tells you to be here at fourteen-hundred, you’d better be here at fourteen-hundred sharp; you’re a full twenty minutes late for relieving me of my post! Whether or not that thing with Rarity is actually true, that’s either one great reason to be late, or a gutsy excuse. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got an appointment which you’ve just made me late for. Keffiyeh’s the boss here. Consider yourself lucky that I’m giving you this talk myself instead of throwing you to him. Now good day, Goggles. I expect better in the future, or else…” And so Telny walked away into the bank. He found Shades at his post standing like a gargoyle and his short-barreled SCAR hanging completely undisturbed. Affixed to it were an Aimpoint reflex sight, a vertical foregrip, a laser pointer, and a Surefire weapon light. Unfazed by the gun porn, Sunny strode up to the pony, who rivaled Big Macintosh in size.

Shades must've seen his out the corner of his eye, for he pivoted his head with almsot mechanical precision and looked down at the smaller pony. "What is it, Telny?"

Telny straned his neck to look him in the eye. "We need a guard to go to Hollow Shades, and Keffiyeh wants you to go." He cricked his neck.

The other stallion nodded. "Copy that," he responded, tapping his hoof.

"Speak with the manager," added Sunny as he turned to leave.

Sunny Breeze hurried back to his apartment posthaste. He tore off his work uniform and threw on some inconspicuous business casual clothes. He then took a big stiff drink from the whiskey bottle and sprinted out the door. Luckily for him, Percival’s wasn’t too far away. It was a ten minute brisk walk to the west. Sunny arrived at the outdoor café not too late after their initially agreed-upon meeting time, although slightly drunk. Rainbow Dash was waiting for him at a table, scraping the ground with her hoof.

She waved him over. “You’re late. I was wondering when you’d get here.”

“A stallion is never late, nor is he early. He arrives exactly when he intends to.”

“Do what works for you, but this pony needs her food and she needs it now.” A few seconds later, they were interrupted by a waitress bringing a big plate full of garden salad.

Sunny looked at it. “I take it that you’re pretty hungry. Are you going to need help with that?”

“Nah,” replied Rainbow, seizing her utensils and digging in like a diamond dog.

The stallion turned to the waitress, who thankfully had stayed put. “Will you be having anything, sir?” He got a good look at her. She was cute unicorn mare with a peach coat and an aquamarine mane.

Sunny had been to Percival’s a few times, so he knew a few items off the top of his head. “I’ll have the falafel roll- what’s your name, please?”

“Faraday.”

“Alright then, Faraday, I’d like the falafel roll, please, would you kindly.”

Faraday smiled a bit and nodded. “Certainly, sir. Would you like anything to drink?”

“Just some Dunkelbier, than you,” answered Sunny. Rainbow snorted.

“Yes, sir. Will there be anything else?” Both the diners shook their heads, so off she went.

Sunny Breeze turned back to Rainbow Dash. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Work got in the way.”

Rainbow looked up at him with a mouthful of greens. “S’kay. ‘Appns me, too.” And then she returned to her meal with a vengeance. Sunny let her eat undisturbed. It didn’t even take a full minute for the beer to arrive. A great swig was immediately inhaled down his throat. The mare’s mouth was clear. “You drunk,” she teased, taking her coffee mug into her hooves and downing several piping hot mouthfuls. How did she not get burnt?

“Go home, Dashie, you are didactic.” The cream-coloured stallion proffered a hoof. “I’ll walk you home.”

A grin crossed the mare’s face. “Buy me a drink tonight and I’ll consider it.” Her demeanor changed, becoming huskier and more intimate. She put a hoof on his upper foreleg. “Of course, if you ask nicely, then maybe I’ll overlook the fact that it’s a little early…” He blushed. She laughed briefly, but when it stopped, she had a surprisingly predatory expression on her face. Sunny was saved from certain temptation by the return of Tom with the falafel roll. He made a mental note to give Faraday a big tip.

Sunny Breeze got started on trying to make slightly less perilous conversation with Rainbow Dash.  “Anyway, what’s up with you, Rainbow? How was dinner with Lightning Dust?” He almost spat out the name like a venomous spider. She looked pleased to have a chance to discuss her favorite subject.

“Fine, thank you.  The rest of the evening was pretty fun. Just the usual stuff.  We’re training for the next show. It’s going to be in Fillydephia next month.”

“Sounds interesting. Tell me more.”

“We’re going to be welcoming dignitaries from Zebricy.”

Sunny snapped to attention. “Really?” Zebra dignitaries are visiting Fillydelphia?” His speech was just ever so slightly faster than normal. He could hear the telltale notes within it, but Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to notice them.

“Mmmhmmm,” hummed Rainbow. “It’s the first stop of a tour of Equestria. They’re going to stop in Ponyville to meet yours truly.”

He sounded panicky. “W-wait? They’re coming to Ponyville? Why Ponyville?” He then inhaled the remainder of his victuals before sucking down a full two thirds of his beer in the blink of an eye. Some of it spilled from his muzzle and spotted his shirt. He then looked around for Faraday. He caught her eye and called her over. “A big one, please- same type.” The waitsmare replied with her usual courtesy.

Rainbow answered his question. “Of course they’re coming here. We’re only THE living embodiments of the Elements of Harmony. Besides, it was Zecora’s idea. We were originally going to meet them when they arrived in Meymaneh. Faraday brought a full quart of beer to the stallion.

“Thanks a ton.” The perspiration on his body stuck to the cool glass. He drank deeply. “Who’s Zecora?” Sunny inquired, placing his glass back on the table. In his tremulous grip, it clinked slightly against the ceramic coaster.

“She’s this Zebra friend I have. She lives in the Everfree Forest. Sounds crazy, right?”

“Yeah,” breathed Sunny in a struggle to remain composed. “Completely and utterly cracked.” Sunny didn’t hear too much of what Rainbow Dash said next.

The mare went off on a tangent about how they had first met Zecora. He resisted the drunken impulse to blurt out that Zecora had most likely not been trying to communicate annoyance when she had been kneading the ground with her hooves. He heard something about somepony named “Flutterguy”, but thought better of it than to ask. Rainbow was delivering a monolog. There was no need to do naught but nod, hum, and listen. Ponies had always said that they appreciated how he could let them go on about whatever was on their minds, and he didn’t mind doing this. It was certainly easier and safer to do this than it was to carry on a conversation. He distinctly recalled Rainbow talking about the inside of Zecora’s hut with all of its strange sights and smells. This Zecora, he figured, was most likely some sort of shaman if Rainbow’s intel was to be believed. “Zebras don’t have cutie marks!” He blurted this out before he could stop himself.

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. “Huh?”

It couldn’t hurt to interrupt her even more. “I said that zebras don’t get cutie marks. They get tribal tattoos sometimes on their flanks, but they don’t have anything like cutie marks. A lot of them have blank flanks throughout their entire lives.”

Rainbow Dash gave a rare contemplative look. Something shifted in her eyes.  It was as if perhaps she had suddenly found a solution to a problem she had long given up on solving. “Thanks, Sunny. I didn’t know that.”

“You’re welcome. Say, what kind of tattoo does Zecora have?”

“It’s sorta like a sun… kinda.”

Sunny's eyes narrowed. “When did she arrive in town?” He demanded with a distinct steeliness in his voce.

“Several years ago. I think it was maybe like four or eight. I can’t remember; she travels a lot.” Rainbow looked up at him. “Why?”

“Just curious,” answered the stallion automatically.

She suddenly eyed him suspiciously. He evaded her gaze. “Say, you’re not a blank flank, are you?”

“N-no!”

“Are you sure? I’ve never seen your cutie mark… or you when you aren’t wearing clothes.” She winked.

“I assure you it’s there. It’s just that I work at the bank, so I have to wear a uniform.” Close enough. If Rainbow found out the whole truth and reacted poorly, then it would be future Sunny’s problem.

“Okay, I believe you. I’m kidding; don’t take me so seriously.” He took a small swig of beer and gasped, feeling the tension flood away from his limbs. He didn’t even realize that he had been clenching.

Sunny Breeze was drunk enough to try pushing his luck. It took a lot of courage, but he slid his hoof across the table towards his dates. She did not resist. He grasped hers. Success! He grinned. “So, is there anything else you’d like to ask the wisepony?”

“Wisepony? That’s a laugh! You’re not a colt, but just barely. I got years on you, kid.” The last word was punctuated with playful false outrage, but the rest of the sentence was undeniably serious. Dash tossed her beautiful mane back over her head in a rainbow cascade. She paused to think for a moment before speaking. “That reminds me- the craziest thing happened to me after the festival last weekend.” Did his luck ever get a streak? He polished off his beer and got ready to hear the worst- that she had seen through his disguise.

“Ready. Shoot.”

Rainbow began her story. “After the festival, I hooked up with my teammates, Lightning Dust, Spitfire, Arrow, Sun Beam, and Thunderhead. We partied at Twilight’s house until we got volunteered to go on a liquor run. Sun Beam and Thunderhead peeled off to go look for this special Cloudsdale brandy.” Sunny hummed disinterestedly, so Rainbow cut to the chase. The stallion steeled himself for what he knew was to come by ordering yet another beer. “We ran into this armed guardspony. We’d all been drinking so we thought it’d be funny to mess with him. Spitfire started it, but he didn’t really react so we kept pushing him.” Sunny’s cheeks burned with both shame and anguish. If Rainbow noticed anything, then he truly prayed that she thought it was the alcohol. “So we keep pushing him and pushing him. And then Lighting Dust, who can be a very mean drunk, calls him a foal killer.” She stopped. Sunny snorted and swished his mane around uneasily.

“What did he do?” Sunny had no need of reminders, but he wanted to know what Rainbow thought. After all, he had pointed a gun at her.

Her expression was unreadable. “Nothing. He just stood there and took it.” She shifted her gaze uneasily. The beer arrived and the stallion began to drink once more.

“Then what’s the problem?”

She wasn’t looking him in the eye anymore. She ruffled her mane. Sunny chugged through the beer in record time so that he could clasp his remaining hoof to Rainbow’s, a gesture which she accepted wholeheartedly. Sunny appreciated the bracing effect, too.  

“I think we went too far. We didn’t stop. We kept pushing him and pushing him until Arrow tried to grab him. He suddenly made this strange sob, yelling something in this weird language before he snapped and pointed his gun at Arrow. We stopped, but then he swung his gun around and pointed it right at Lightning Dust.”

“Did he fire?”

Rainbow answered slowly, almost as if she couldn’t believe her own words. “That’s just the thing; he didn’t shoot her. I thought gunponies were supposed to be heartless killers. All he did was just point and tell us to go away. Nopony got hurt. It all turned out okay.”

“Then why are you acting like you’re trying to absolve yourself of some sin?” Sunny looked hard at her. It was taking a lot of discipline to avoid drunkenly spilling everything right now. It was taking a lot of discipline to just sit there and let the mare tell her story.

“Because I saw him later. He was almost in tears. I felt bad- okay!? I took him to a place and bought him a drink. I think I cheered him up and I let him go.”

Sunny Breeze didn’t know what Rainbow Dash was driving at. What in Equestria could possibly be the matter with her? He forced a shabby attempt at a reassuring smile. “Rainbow, you did the right thing; you made amends for something you did to somepony. Perhaps you discovered that gunponies aren’t as bad as you thought they were.”

Rainbow stopped him. “That’s just it. I felt bad for him and I helped him, even though he almost killed my friends.” Sunny felt an unpleasant knot form itself in his stomach. She failed to mention that the gun had passed over her.

“Maybe you don’t feel like you did enough to make nice, or you feel like you betrayed your friends by helping this stallion who threatened their lives.” Sunny was really sticking his neck out here. Rainbow was so close to disclosing something big. He just had to know what it was.

“Exactly!” Rainbow Dash suddenly became very serious. “I HATE gunponies! They don’t do anything but bring death, and they’ve almost killed my friends! So WHY the buck did I help this one?” She slammed her hooves on the table.

Sunny was stunned. His limbs went slack. Seeking to comfort himself, he picked up and sloppily attempted to get a few drops from an empty beer glass. He didn’t know what to say to the Wonderbolt. He had all the wrong experiences and information. All he could do was sit there feeling all the warmth flood out of his insides. There was a long silence. The gunpony tried to speak, but the words just would not come. They simply refused to yield. He opened his mouth again, only to be cut off by Rainbow Dash.

“Forget it,” she said, regaining her usual devil may care attitude. “I gotta fly, so I’ll see you sometime later.” There was a brittleness to her speech. Sunny couldn’t let her go. In his overwhelmed, intoxicated brain, only one idea surfaced.

She stood up. He called out to her, “Wait! Rainbow, would you like to go on a hike with me on Saturday?”

They looked into each other’s eyes, her fuchsia to his crimson. For several moments, Rainbow seemed to be reluctant to spend more time with him. It was worth one last saving throw. “We’ll set out from my place at noon, but feel free to come earlier.”

A hungry grin spread across Dash’s face. “Sure thing. Now really, I do have to go like right now. Spitfire’ll have my wings if I’m late to practice.”

“Glad to hear it,” responded Sunny Breeze. “So I’ll see you Saturday then.”

“Saturday- got it. Later!” The pegasus rocketed into the air with a rainbow contrail.

Sunny suddenly realized that he had just been saddled with the bill. It wasn’t too much, and it was the least he could do to repay her for footing the bill at Sugarcube Corner the other day. He left his bits on the table plus a big fat tip for Faraday. The mare really had been a lifesaver several times over during the past couple hours. He was sure that she appreciated the gesture. He waited in his seat for quite a while, head in his hooves, trying to both steady the spinning of the world and the spinning of his brain. The sun was pleasant. The day was lovely and he was a happy drunk. So why did he feel like crap? Sitting like this was bound to draw attention Surely enough, it did.

“Excuse me, sir?” Inquired a voice. Sunny did not react. “Sir?” The voice came again and a hoof gently pushed on his shoulder. Sunny looked up and to his right, only to be greeted by Faraday wearing a strange mixture of concern, annoyance, and pity on her face. “Are you all right?”

The stallion yawned and stretched clumsily. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?” He was one of those guys who could keep his wits and tongue about him in the presence of strong drink.

Faraday hesitated a bit. “You seem troubled,” she said. There was a lot more meaning than just that.

What could it hurt to blab a little bit to her? She looked cute and harmless enough. He began, “Things with that mare are... complicated.” Understatement of the century. To his surprise, Faraday put her hoof back on his shoulder.

“I can’t really talk right now because I’m on the clock and ponies starting to stare, but I get off at six every day of the week. If you want to talk about it, sir come see me then.”

“Thanks,” replied Sunny thankfully.

The mare beamed at him before addressing him in a serous tone, “If you’d like me to call a cab, I can do that, but you can’t stay here and hog this table, sir. Besides, families with foals are going to start arriving soon.”

He answered, “Nah, don’t call a cab; I can manage. I’m just really tired; I didn’t sleep much last night and I got up before dawn.”

“Very well then. Good day, sir.” Sunny took a moment to compose himself before getting up and leaving. Sunny Breeze did not do much for the rest of the day. He felt too drunk to do anything and his head was full of confusion. The only other thing he did was go to the liquor store to get more whiskey before heading back to the apartment. Unfortunately, they did not have any more rye whiskey, so Sunny figured that he’d do something different for once and buy bourbon. Humorously, the bottle was labeled ‘Uncle Bourbon’ and used fake Cyrillic text with an illustration of a very tough-looking Stalliongrad soldier pony with the fur ushanka hat, a sabre in his right hoof, a whiskey bottle in his left, with a bolt action Mosin-Nagant rifle slung across his back. As Sunny walked home, he thought on what he had learnt. Rainbow Dash seemed to genuinely like him, but she would hate him if she knew the truth about who he was and what he did. Who exactly was this Zecora and where did she live? He had to know the whole truth for himself. And what was that business with Faraday all about? It was too much to deal with, so he took shots of whiskey until the room spun. Then he stumbled into bed and fell asleep. Little did he know that the winds of change were just starting to blow across his path. Soon, his life would take an unexpected new turn.