//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Doubts on the Trail // Story: Caravan Trails: Dust and Blood // by Tomsketchit //------------------------------// Chapter Two Doubts on the Trail It was past noon, and Wagon Trail wasn't sure of himself anymore. Early that morning, he had hugged his mother goodbye. He had said goodbye to all his old friends. Almost all of the town had come to see him off. It was a big day for everyone; a member of the community that revolved around caravans going off to not only join one, but RUN one! There were few higher honors. The sheriff had taken it upon himself to pay for the caravan ride. Dust Cloud was the leader's name. A large, burly pegasus who's coat matched his name. A fairly intimidating stallion, especially with his Wing-blades, those razor-sharp yet light-as-air armor-like blades attached to his wings for combat and defense, glinting bright silver in the morning sun. It was a modest sized caravan, not as impressive as Side Track's, with mostly Earth ponies working. They had one or two unicorns, about five pegasi, and a single gryphoness. The rest, Earth ponies. They glanced over Wagon without much expression, not seeming to care whether or not he came, as long as he kept out of the way and took care of himself. Part of the agreement between Sheriff Swift Shot and Dust Cloud was that Wagon Trail bring his own water canteen and food for the trip. They would waste no rations on a pony who wasn't a member of the crew. Wagon had offered to work, but had been turned down. They didn't need foal labor, they said... Now, after traveling for a few hours, he was doubting whether this was the right choice. His emotions were conflicting. He felt overjoyed, terrified, homesick, nervous... He honestly didn't know what he was right now. Was this a mistake? Should I have stayed? He wanted to tell himself no, that this was his dream and he was going to live it... But somehow he couldn't. Not being allowed to do much on the trip to La Colte, Trail just trotted with the other ponies silently. The pegasi scouted from above, the unicorn was on hoof in case of a break down, the Earth ponies were pulling the carts, carrying and passing out rations, and basically doing most of the manual labor. It was boring, tedious... but somehow, watching them all working the monotonous jobs gave him comfort. He couldn't understand it, but the sight of a caravan crew at work always put him at ease, reassured him. It just felt... right, somehow. Just as he began to feel calm again, that everything would be fine, he heard the shout that he knew all caravaneers dreaded, the shout that drove all the reassurance from him: "Bandits sighted!" As Dust Cloud began barking out orders to ready for battle, Wagon Trail looked out. There, across the desert wasteland. Five, maybe six bandits. Mostly unicorns it seemed, wielding swords and spears in their aura's. They whooped and hollered wildly as they galloped for the caravan, desperate for any supplies it may carry, not caring who was hurt in the process. The sight chilled Wagon's blood. He had always known the risks of caravaneering, but to see them first hoof... no amount of wrist blade training could prepare him to actually prepare him to use one in self-defense, let alone to take another pony's life. The caravan's pegasi dive bombed the bandits, flaring out their blade-edged wings and turning up from the ground at just the right moment, scoring at least one of the bandits with a wound. The group's gryphon pulled out a rifle, one of the strange unicorn weapons that could only be operated by magic or hand, and began taking carefully aimed shots at the heads of the attackers, taking down at least on of them. Still, though, the bandits came forward, slashing and stabbing with their weapons at anything that moved, paying no mind to their fallen comrade. As one of the pegasi dove again, she was met by the business end of one of the bandits' spears, shrieking in pain as the tip stabbed into her shoulder. She dropped down and was slain by one of the remorseless ponies. And the battle raged on. Wrist blades came out as the Earth ponies rushed forward in a desperate attempt to hold them off. While normally an Earth pony would be at a disadvantage in a fight with an armed unicorn, these caravaneers had greater numbers than the unicorns. While one Earth pony deflected the unicorn's attacks, the other would try to score a blow with their blade. Sometimes the unicorn would spin around and block this blow or would pull out another blade and fight with two, but the crew's strategy paid off, slaying two more of the bandits. Only two bandits remained, and they showed no hint of surrender or retreat. They were desperate. They were going to get this caravan's supplies or die trying. That was the way of the bandit, the pony who had lost everything and so had nothing left to lose. The first of the two wielded two swords, quickly slashing and parrying the attempts to down him by the ponies around him. He had even managed to take down two of the crew members, and seemed as though he would take more. Then, suddenly, a spray of blood burst forth from his head, and he slumped to the ground as a corpse. The gryphon grunted at her kill. "Sorry it took so long. Damn rifle jammed again..." The other unicorn stood her ground, weaponless it would seem. She glared around at the approaching caravan crew, teeth grit defiantly, looking for any opening. And then her eyes landed on Wagon Trail, who had been watching the battle with a sense of horror, never having seen a pony killed before. She smiled, and an aura flared around her horn. In a flash, the spot she stood in became empty, and Wagon found himself to have a knife at his throat. "Not another step. Or the kid gets it!" cracked a rough, female voice from behind him. The unicorn was holding the knife at his throat. She was going to slit his throat, and then he'd be dead and he wouldn't be able to keep his promise. No. No. NO! That unicorn had made a mistake. She had left herself magically drained from the teleportation spell, and had to hold the knife by hoof. She was a unicorn mare, he was an Earth pony stallion. And his uncle had trained him for this. In an instant, he flung his head into the direction of the voice, hitting home against her muzzle. In her surprise at the sudden pain, she slackened her grip, allowing Wagon to throw her off of him. And then, before she could get up, he flicked his wrist, extending out the blade, and struck. As the blade pierced the fallen mare's chest, he winced and felt tears well up in his eyes. He had never taken a life before. He knew he would have to to be a caravaneer, but... he'd never known it would feel this way. This awful feeling of dread, of self-loathing, of sheer horror at what he'd done. He stared at the blood-stained blade. It had to be done. It was either her or him. And he had a promise to keep. He told himself this... but it didn't help much. He felt a strong hoof touch his shoulder. Turning, he came face to face with Dust Cloud. "Boy," the gruff pegasus stated, "That was some fine work there. You handled yourself well, didn't let your fear get the best of you. Remember that. I know your first kill can be rough on you..." The caravan leader turned to trot back to the front of the wagons. "But out here, it's kill or be killed. You can't handle that, then you're in the wrong line of work." The caravan began moving again, and Wagon Trail followed along, head hung in thought. He thought over Dust's words... and doubt lingered in his mind once more, fueled by the blunt words and the image stained in his brain. The image of that mare, lying beneath him, dead by his hoof.