Chapter 2
Walking in the tunnel, Taro checked his watch. “We should stop soon. There should be a refugee camp up here somewhere.”
“Sounds good to me,” replied his companion, Rainbow Dash.
They soon came up to a faint glow, made obvious by the moving shadows and constant shouting. “I am tired of her continuously laughing and making those stupid noises and pranks!” shouted one man.
“Calm down,” replied another. A girl’s laugh was heard. “I am trying to help you!”
“Sorry,” she said back to the man.
“I will calm down when she does!”
“Okay, okay,” the woman said, “here, I apologize, and to prove it, a flower.”
Taro and Rainbow Dash rounded the corner slowly.
“Flower? Where did you manage...” The man was cut off by a squirt in the face from the middle of the flower.
A girl with pink hair fell to the ground, laughing hysterically.
The man did not take kindly to the prank. He pulled out a small revolver.
“Uh-oh. Better end this,” Taro whispered, pulling out his gun.
“Don’t...” Rainbow Dash started. She was interrupted by a shot from Taro. The gun in the geezer's hand flew far down the tunnel.
“Ah! Hey!” shouted the same man. He shook his hand and held it from the sudden and powerful jolt.
“Be happy, I could’ve moved my sight,” Taro replied walking up to the three people.
“He could’ve hit you in the head, chuvak,” said the second man.
“Shut up, Braeburn, I know what I’m doing.”
“I was actually thinking of going a little lower than the head,” Taro replied.
“Oooh... You mean...” asked the pink haired girl. “Ouch. You could've had a really bad stomach ache, and not a good stomach ache like when you laugh so hard you can barely breathe stomach ache, I mean a ‘I just won grand prize in the shooting gallery and now I’m going to get the biggest pig roast bullets can buy in the whole wide metro and stuff my face alone’ stomach ache. Those really hurt.”
“Don’t you see what we have to deal with! We could be free of this!” shouted the first man.
“Alexander, she’s only trying to boost morale,” replied Braeburn.
“I would love to have someone like her with us, wouldn’t you Taro?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Then take her! Let’s get out of here, Brae! Now where’s my gun,” Alexander shouted sourly.
“Come on Pinkie, we’re leaving,” Braeburn said calmly.
“No thanks, I’ll stay here for a while,” she replied. She sat down and watched them leave.
“Now that they're gone, nice shot Taro. Very impressive. I didn’t think anyone could do that,” Rainbow Dash complemented, sitting down on a small bench made of old, rotting wood.
“I was more thinking of shooting his hands. I missed, though,” Taro replied, sitting next to Rainbow. “So, what brings you to the metro tunnels, miss?”
“Pinkie Pie, and I was just going to see one of my friends,” replied Pinkie. “What about you?”
“Well I’m just tagging along with Taro here. I came for the adventure and danger of the dark metro tunnels,” Rainbow Dash answered.
“Ooh, sounds fun. What about you Mister Taro?”
“Well I’m on my way to Canterlot for some supplies from the surface. I’m a stalker you see. I collect things from the surface and bring them down here to sell to other people.”
“Ooh, sounds adventurous!”
“You’re easily amused aren’t you?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well there isn’t much to be amused by down here, so I try to think as positively as I can, hoping to spread happiness throughout the metro. Well, to anyone willing to listen to any of the things I have to say,” Pinkie Pies stated.
“Yeah, good luck on convincing the Lunar Republic, they hate pretty much everything,” Taro replied.
“Oh I know, I tried my best at making them laugh, but they wouldn’t budge.”
Silence ensued for only a second.
“So what station are you going to next?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’m going to Alandraskaya, and from there, there’s a little short cut across the surface to get into Venice in less than a day. Even a half day if the Watchers find you. They can get you there in an hour if there’s a REALLY big pack.”
Taro and Rainbow Dash laughed. “Great means of transportation, Pinkie Pie,” Taro choked out.
“Hey, wait. That’s the same path we’re going, isn’t it?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh yeah, it is.”
Rainbow Dash waited. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“Hey, would you mind if I went along? I mean, I suppose if you said no, all I have to do is leave at the same time and we would be going together anyway, so there’s really no need to ask, but I would rather get permission so it isn’t quite as weird incase...”
“Yes, you can come with us,” Taro interrupted.
Pinkie Pie gasped. “Really? Oh that’s just great! I was afraid you would say no, making the walk there together but not ‘together’ together would be really awkward and that you wouldn’t like me enough to even let me go with you. I would have had...”
“Yeah, we get it Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I think we might have made a mistake...” Taro whispered to Rainbow.
“Well at least we got someone else to watch our backs. I’ve never been to the surface, but from what I’ve heard, the higher the number, the better.”
“In most cases, I suppose,” Taro agreed. “But in any case, everyone needs to sleep. I’ll take the first watch, Rainbow Dash, I’ll wake you in an hour, and then Pinkie Pie will take her turn.”
“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie Pie replied, promptly falling face first onto the sandbag, snoring loudly.