//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: A Monument To All Of Your Sins. 
// by The Whisper on the Wind 
//------------------------------//

	The first thing I had to do was sell off the gold cloak pins for some bits, theft for supplies or essentials I couldn’t produce with magic or by other means for myself wasn’t an option for two reasons.  One: it would obviously attract unwanted attention in the form of the law and may even result in an arrest warrant being issued.  And two: in all honesty, I just had too much of a moral center to allow myself to stoop that low, no matter how I would have attempted to rationalize it.

A few hours passed by as I continued to fly southeast, away from Canterlot.  Aside from taking in the scenery by noting various places that would make for good, hard to find camping sites on the ground while giving a wide berth to a few Pegasi that I had crossed along my path, not much really happened.

But in due time, I came to a crossway where train rails met a dirt road, with a junction of buildings nestled around it.  Still cloaked, I circled high over the buildings while sharpening and enhancing my vision as I looked to see if there was anywhere for me to unload my gains.

I spied a bank off to one side in the middle of the main street, and seeing as to how it was a finical institution, I could go in and ask if they did the type of exchange I was looking for.  If not, there was a saloon at the furthest end and on the opposite side of the road.  If anyone would know if I could find what I was looking for here, it would most likely be the bartender or any of the old farts looking to get out of the heat and for a brew to slog.

That was one part of the plan ironed out, now I needed to hammer out the rest of the details.  Fortunately, that didn’t take very long to figure out.  After all, what I had to do to hide in plain sight was a complete no-brainer.  Flying over to a corpse of trees of to the far side of town, I checked my surroundings one last time and getting conformation that I was alone and safe for the moment, I snapped my wings shut and went into a controlled fall.

All I was really doing was making an improvised version of a military-style HALO jump.  I had my will on standby, and when I got to around a hundred feet above the ground, my levitation kicked in and saved me from injury by acting like a shock absorber. I came to a dead stop about four feet off of the ground, the sudden deceleration proving to be enough to knock the wind out of me with a small wheezing grunt while also leaving me dazed for a few minutes.  Once I got by bearings back, I alighted gently on the ground with all fours, keeping my frame low while canceling the levitation in the process.

I waited tensely for a few moments, using all of the physical senses at my disposal for any signs that my entry had tipped others off to my presence.  Seeing as to how I picked up nothing out of the ordinary, I felt confident enough to safely conclude that my drop was a success.

Before I started on the next phase of my plan, I cast a spell to set a silent perimeter alarm about fifty feet away from me.  Once that necessary step was completed, I dropped my active camo and summoned a pony-sized mirror in front with a wave of my talon, causing it to fade into existence from the surrounding air.

I gazed into the reflection of those vermilion predator like eyes for a moment. Like it or not, I had to admit that they were now my own.  But at least I had a workaround that would allow for plausible deniability should anyone see them.  I closed my eyes, concentrated on my will, and felt my form shrink in on itself while making the necessary changes for my disguise to work.  While there was no pain, it certainly didn’t feel like a shower of kittens.  I felt uncomfortably constricted and compressed as the process continued. When it was all said and done with, if I had attempted shrink any smaller than what I already had, it would have started to hurt.

I reopened my eyes and was greeted with the sight of a tall unicorn stallion that looked to be about in his mid-twenties with a gunmetal grey coat and a long navy blue mane and tail.  As expected, the vermilion gaze was the same, but that was quickly covered up by a pair of summoned sunglasses.  I smiled to check on the dental structure of my new mouth, and was pleased to see that the majority were flat like an average ponies would be, but there were also small yet prominent canines that were only further emphasized by the flatness by the surrounding dental structure.

There was only one thing left to do before I was ready to make the trip into town.  Turning so that my flank faced the mirror, I uncovered my hindquarters to reveal that they were unadorned with a mark.  That was to be expected.  I wasn’t a pony after all, even if I had to masquerade as one for the time being.  Deciding on a mark that wouldn’t arouse suspicion, I put down an image of a walking staff standing up on the side of an open path.  It wasn’t a true cutie mark by any means, all I really did was change the pigment of the fur and skin beneath it, but it would hold up to passing scrutiny well enough.

Checking the opposite side of my flank and satisfied to see that the image had mirrored, I put my cloak back down (it had changed its size to accommodate my new stature), dismissed the mirror and deactivated the perimeter alarm.

I was now ready for what I could only hope would be a brief journey into town. I followed the corpse of trees while staying hidden amongst them as I followed the road further away from town, making sure to leave as few tracks as I could.  In a few days, any signs that I had left in the place where I had touched down while in my serpentine, mismatched form would decay to the point where only an expert tracker at the very least would be able to make sense of any of it.

I just had to prevent anyone from finding it out in the meantime.  The corpse of trees ended about a quarter of a mile from the outskirts of the town.  It was a little closer than what I would have liked, but I had little other choice than to take what I had been given.

Checking my surroundings one last time and seeing that I was in the clear for the moment, I exited the trees onto the road and started working my way towards town. As I walked, I mentally reviewed whither or not it would be worth it to find a general store while I was here to procure a map at the very least.  I wasn’t worried about a compass, I could just summon one whenever I needed it.

Geography tends to change over thousands of years after all, and Discord didn’t exactly have the luxury to come and go as he pleased.  With only a few exceptions, any geographical based memories of his would be grossly outdated.  Shaking myself from my thoughts, I refocused on my surroundings.  One thing at a time, first I needed to see if this place actually had the services I required.

As I started to get into the town itself, I noticed that pretty much anyone who was outside refrained from stepping out into the street and mainly stuck to the shade that the awnings that stuck out of the buildings.  Which was understandable admittedly, it was right around noon, and given the sparse high-desert biome the town was located in, the temperature would definitely start to climb quickly in short order.

That wasn’t to say that they weren’t friendly towards me.  It was just the opposite in fact, as I got multiple offers from the locals to join them on their porches, away from the heat of the day.  Some even offered ice-cold drinks of tea or lemonade as refreshments.  Although they may not have been as receptive if I had my hood up as I traversed through the settlement.

Of course, I had to politely, yet quite firmly decline all of the offers by citing that I had places to be at.  The locals didn’t take any umbrage to my refusals, or if they did they didn’t express it in the slightest.  Regardless, I made good time and came up to the bank at a brisk and purposeful.

I took a moment to look over the instruction.  It wasn’t as rustic as the rest of the town and while it certainly didn’t look as grand as the Taj Mahal, it was more modern in its overall form and construction, and was well maintained.

As I walked into the doors and passed the empty foyer, my vision was graced with three teller booths, only one of which was currently staffed by a Pegasus stallion with a well-kept appearance that everyone who works in a bank seems to do their best to achieve.

Said stallion was too absorbed in his work to notice me approaching.  But there was something about the way he worked that gave me pause and forced me to look a little bit deeper than I normally would have.

It took me a moment to realize that all he was really doing was relying on his muscle memory, going through the motions while his mind was distracted on something else.  And judging by the quiet tension and heavy, burdening weight that he carried on his withers, it must have been something that was very important to him.

But whatever was bothering him really wasn’t any of my business, and seeing as how the building was free of patrons, I skipped the corded fence and went straight up to the teller.  He must have been even more distracted than I had previously thought, and he looked far more tired than I could have told at a distance, with his professional appearance doing little if anything to disguise the fact.

Wanting to get out of the town as quickly as possible, I rapped a hoof on the counter, drawing the attention of the stallion by breaking him out of his work with a start.  He regained his composure quickly, and addressed me with a smile and the tired yet polite air of professionalism that the good veterans of the service industry seem to always develop.

“Hello and welcome to the National Bank of Equestria, Doge Junction branch.  How may I assist you today, sir?”

Damn, even his voice sounded like it was carrying the burden of a thousand anvils.  It was actually kind of impressive of how good of a job he was doing in spite of it all.

“I was wondering if you did gold exchange here,” I responded with a friendly and open air about me, “And if you don’t, could you point me in the direction of the nearest institution that does?”

“Do we offer gold exchange?  Huh, haven’t heard that one in a while,” he commented to himself, adopting an internally inquisitive look on his face whilst clicking his tongue before continuing, “matter of fact, we do.  But I’m not the one who handles the exchanges of that type.  For that, you want my boss, Heavy Purse.  She’s not here right now, but her lunch break is almost over so she should be back at any moment.  Feel free to take a seat in the meantime, and I’ll let her know your need her services when she gets back.” He finished, gesturing towards a couple of well-kept padded benches.

That wasn’t what I had wanted to hear, but I’ve learned that the best way to prevent drawing attention to yourself is to act as if nothing was wrong.  So, after thanking the teller I walked over to one of the benches, parked myself down on one, and proceeded to hurry up and wait while also making sure to keep an eye on my surroundings.

As I waited, I allowed my mind to wander a bit without sacrificing the ability to stay observant.  I reconsidered about picking up a map here in Dodge Junction, or if I would be better off skipping that for later.  On one hand, moving fast was my primary objective.  On the other, I really wouldn’t be doing myself any favors by not picking up a map, and I might just get lost without one or run into unexpected and unforeseen problems that could have been avoided if I had picked it up to start with.

My musings were cut short when the front door to the bank swung open and in trotted a unicorn mare with a grey business outfit on and a cutie mark that consisted of a leather pouch on a weighted scale.  She looked like she would have a more laid back manner than what any ordinary banker would dare to adopt, with a calm expression on her face that contrasted sharply with the sharp yet equally content look in her eyes.

As she passed the counter, the stallion from before stopped her and said something while gesturing towards me.  Understanding the que, I stood back up as she made her way over to me. I then waited with an air of patience that one would usually expect to see from an old man hanging around me.  She stopped before me in short order, and I raised my right foreleg for a hoofshake.

She reciprocated the gesture, and I took it a step further by giving a light, subtle smile while addressing her in as much of a respectful tone as I could muster at the time.

“Would I be correct in assuming that you are Heavy Purse?”  it may have seemed like a no brainer given her attire, but as my father once told me, assumptions are the mother of all screw ups.

The humble yet firm business like demeanor that oozed from her became more open and relaxed at that, and she responded in kind.

Good, so my initial impressions of her weren’t wrong.  But then again, considering just how small this town was, it probably would have been a bigger shock if she wasn’t like that.

“Yes ma'am,” I conformed while placing my hoof back on the floor now that the greeting gesture had ended, “he told you right.”

“Very well, then. Follow me to my office; I keep all of the necessary equipment for these kinds of transactions stored there.”

She promptly turned and guided me past the teller counter, down a short hallway to the right, and into her office.  There was a sort of organized chaos about it, with stacks and sheaf’s of paperwork littered all over the top of her desk along with several old wooden filing cabinets whose shelves where in various stages of extension, the files crammed in and plain for all to see.   Everything was placed in such a way that you could tell that it made sense to her, and would be hopelessly indecipherable to anyone else.  

I took a seat on the high back chair on the front side of her desk while I waited for Purse to come up on the opposite side before she fully extended the bottom drawer of her desk and rummaged through it.  Finding success in her endeavor, she pulled out an old-fashioned scale along with several weights to accompany it.

“Now, mister uh…?” she inquired.

“The name is Free Path.” I responded while taking out the cloak pins and placing them on the desk without any prompting on her behalf being required.

Without wasting any time, she took the pins, weighted them, checked their purity, and finally ran some calculations with a pencil and some scratch paper she had lying around.  Once that was over and done with, she turned back to me and gave me the rate she would be able to pay.

“For this amount and purity, I will be able to exchange no more than 500 bits.  Do you find that to be acceptable, Mr. Path?”

It was more than I was expecting, admittedly.  Gold isn’t as rare here as it was back in my home world, so the prices would undoubtedly reflect that.  After confirming that the rate was acceptable, Purse opened her mouth, and called in Sight before hoofing the pins off to him so that he could grab my exchange.

While I was waiting for him to come back, I took the time to reconsider and reevaluate what my next step would be. My foremost thought was, again, on that map.  I could still hang around long enough to pick it up, but as I pointed out to myself before, I still really didn’t want to stick around for any longer than what was absolutely necessary.  But then I suddenly remembered a detail that I had initially discarded.  Doge Junction was built on a crossroads, with train tracks and a road intersecting with each other.

Intersections of this type were usually home to train stations, and train stations almost always had maps in them.  Granted, I would probably still need to buy a personal map as I heavily doubted that I would be able to remember all of the nitty-gritty details, but at least I could chart out what my next destination would be.

The clacking of hooves on hardwood flooring announced Sights return, and I short order I now had a small, strapless leather pouch filled with bits.  Tucking it into my coat, and thanking the two bankers for their time, I asked for directions to the train station, which they were all too happy to provide.  

Taking my leave, I exited the bank and was greeted with a blast of hot yet not quite scorching wind to my face.  Taking a moment to look up at the sky, I noted that it was a little past noon, and the temperature spike was now reflecting that.  

Not wasting any time, I made for the station before the temperature climbed any higher.  And before long, I was standing alone inside the only terminal building for civilian transport, looking at the map that detailed the route lines and various stops.

From the look of it, the two closest population centers were the more sizeable Appleloosa, located to the southwest, and a small and seemingly podunk hamlet by the name of Ponyville of all things.  If the situation I was in wasn’t so serious, and I wasn’t so preoccupied with it, I probably would have chuckled a little at a name that was so on the blatant and on the nose.

Regardless, Appleloosa was the right choice.  For one, not only was it larger than Ponyville and would therefore have larger and more varied stores, but it also wasn’t oriented to the northwest, and by extension wasn’t located as closely to Canterlot.  Obviously, I would want to avoid going back in that direction for any length of time at all reasonable costs.

Now having my destination set and with a handle on my bearings, I departed Doge Junction in the opposite side that I had entered.  

Maintaining my current form until the town was little more than a dot on the horizon, I took stock of my surroundings, making sure I was truly alone and that there were no hidden, prying eyes before I turned off of the road and searched for anything that would make for good enough cover in the spare prairie that surrounded me for as far as the horizon stretched.  

Walking deeper into the wilds, I got lucky in the form of a dry, seasonal creek bed that was surrounded by thick, dead foliage.  It created a natural archway and the amount of shade that was splayed over the cracked earth was more than enough to let me know that there wouldn’t be any Pegasi that could peep in on me.  Setting up another silent perimeter alarm, I wasted no time in going back to my previous form.  With literally no ceremony, I undid my will and stretched out my body, starting with my nose and ending with the tip of my tail.

With that over with, I took a few minutes to just lie down on my stomach and enjoy the sheer bliss of not feeling like I was about to be crushed in a vice grip.  It was over before it began, and checking the position of the sun, I knew that I had less than an hour before night fell.  In fact, the sky was already starting to turn a light shade of orange in preparation for the inevitable sunset. And seeing as to how my current surroundings would make for an excellent campsite, I got to work on setting one up.

It was actually over pretty quickly.  All I really had to summon was a cot, the necessary bedding, and a tent that was large enough to hold my frame.  I also added an extra feature to the perimeter alarm.  In the event of it being triggered, it would not only wake me up fully, but also dismiss my campsite and activate my active camo in the process.

With that squared away, I summoned an appropriately sized lawn chair for my form, dismissed my sunglasses and just spent some time stargazing now that the sun had set.  

But there was one last thing I had to do this night before I turned in until morning.  And as I looked over those breathtaking pinpricks and orbs of light in the sky, my eagle talon, almost of its own accord, reached down into my cloak and took out the little alicorn doll that I had saved from the ruins.  Bringing it up to my face, I activated the function of the necklace around its neck. Then, without lowering my gaze from the heavens I began to speak, almost to myself.

“Audio log one of Alexander Ducasse, day two in Equestria…”