Final Verdict

by Material Defender

Chapter 1: Bounties

The griffon ringleader skulked his way through the damp alleyway, pausing for a moment to ensure that he wasn't being followed. He meandered through several corners, making sure to keep his profile against the wall until he reached his hideout's door, and stepped out of the pouring rain. Giving several sharp taps against the metal door, the viewhole opened up, quickly closing as he made himself obvious to the bouncer.

High atop a building across the way, cautious eyes watched the ringleader enter the building. The group of three gave silent nods to each other as they began their mission to apprehend the griffon. A Stetson-wearing human unholstered the heavy crossbow on the back of his duster, locking in a rope bolt in the groove and arming it. With a click of the trigger, the bolt sailed across the open gap and found purchase on a wall, slamming into the old brick and lodging itself in place.

The hooded zebra gave a nod of thanks, and locked in her zipline hook, zooming across the way and landing on the roof of the building, quickly disappearing within through an open window. The human's other companion, a buffalo equipped with a heavy steel helmet, departed soon after, quickly making his way down the fire escape and bounding around the corner, quickly but silently.

Giving the building a final look, the human locked the crossbow into safety and stored it on his back, pulling out his own hook. He held down his hat and sprinted for the edge, swinging the hook onto the line and feeling the brick beneath his feet disappear. His form was obscured by the heavy cloud cover, the flash from a single bolt of lightning as he crossed over the only trace of his entry, thunder cracking as if it were an indicator of the grim tidings to come.

The ringleader had been known to hold meetings once in a blue moon, among other locations. This one had required some clever string pulling and some interrogations to get the concrete evidence of his gathering. Unfortunately for him, there were plenty of unsavory elements within Manehattan who gave up him at the presence of directed force and the knowledge that there were bounty hunters on his trail.

He bounced off the line, breaking into a roll as he hit the wet roof, still clutching his hat. Looking around, it seemed that the only way in was through the open window, a rectangular shape that easily accommodate his buffalo companion if he had decided to sneak in alongside him.

With a soft push, he widened the entrance further, and peeked inside. The warehouse was completely empty save for lights that brightened the center of the area, where a group of criminals - griffons and ponies alike - stood conversing amongst each other.

"What'll we do now? We have a contract out on our heads, and there's a bounty hunter after us!"

"Shut up, you idiot! We'll deal with him as he comes, take him down when he least expects it. It's just one bounty hunter, how tough could he be?"

"How tough? Whoever that bounty hunter is, he single-hoofedly crippled all our operations in Manehattan, and now he's coming after us! This guy's serious business, so stop treating this like some stupid game!"

"Did you get any beans on him?"

"Yeah, yeah... got it right here." One of them pulled out a bunch of folded papers... papers that the human recognized as ones that he planted himself to give them something to go on. If it hadn't been for his bluff that he was working alone and on a cold trail, they would have skipped town already, and he didn't want that. "One... uh, Jameson Harper. A human."

"A human? You're telling me that a backwards hick from the plains down south is stomping all of our guys?" The griffon scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I already told you to stop treating this like a damn game, Crezio! This 'backwards hick' killed or jailed every single one of our boys he's come across. The bounty hunters are serious business, and now he's coming for us!"

"We wouldn't be having this problem if all of your guys were trained half as well as mine are."

"Are you slandering my guys? Your guys are pushing daisies right now; at least my guys actually managed to hurt the bastard."

"Hurt? Hurt who? Themselves? The way they held up against that bounty hunter, they must be real masters at stabbing themselves in the flank."

They continued arguing as the human hopped inside, landing on the brick floor with a soft thud next to his zebra companion.

"Hear that, Jamie?" she asked him, chuckling. "They're arguing about you."

"Yeah, well, criminal types never change, Anora," Jamie said. "I see three lights and plenty of open space. Can I count on you to work your magic when I give the signal?"

"Of course. And you know Redhorn will come charging inside the moment he hears any fighting."

"This plan practically works for itself," he laughed. "I reckon that we shouldn't bother their little party... let's get ourselves set up." He drew his pistolbow, a weapon that he made for himself early on in his bounty hunter career, and loaded switched out the ammunition for shock bolts. Loading the cylindrical magazine inside, he armed the lathe with a silent whir, ready to incapacitate any unwitting guard.

The slight jingle of Anora's belt could be heard as she readied several of her custom-made blinding bombs. "So, Crezio is here, after all, then. It's fortunate that he's so self-absorbed... makes it easier for us."

"So..." Jamie hefted his pistolbow. "You ready?"

"Whenever you are."

Jamie nodded, hopping over the railing and landing on the ground floor with nary a sound. Barely on the periphery of the darkness and standing just right where the light began was a earth pony guard, leaning against a pile of boxes, casually relaxing as his superiors argued their superiority over each other.

The guard sighed, shaking his head as he began to wish here were someplace else instead, muttering about better places to be... like a bar, or a brothel. Jamie decided to oblige him by sending him to dreamland and fired a shock bolt directly into the back of his head. The body spasmed several times as the bolt's contained magic worked its wonders, a voice of strain just barely unable to escape from the guard's mouth.

Dragging the body behind the boxes, Jamie slid up on the corner and peeked his head around to get a better count of the numbers. A good deal of them were senior members of the criminal group that he was familiar with, a bunch of influential crime types that owned several districts in Manehattan that revolved around foal-trafficking. Over the course of a couple of years, a dossier loaded with evidence and clues had been built up to the point where it was absolutely concrete that these members were guilty of the crimes they had committed.

Naturally, Princess Luna wasn't very keen on such things, and had given Jamie and his group the task of bringing them to justice. It went without saying that the Princess's draconian stance on this particular crime wasn't argued against within the Judicators, nor most of her trusted council. The very idea of sullying innocence through means that would leave foals scarred for life deserved no quarter.

Unfortunately for all of them, Princess Luna only cared to have one of them alive, and that was Crezio. The rest were entirely expendable, and Jamie had no intention of leaving any loose ends to come chasing back to him and his companions later on. Such was the nature of keeping his position a secret: they were not aware that a Judicator—a word spoken with terror in underground circles—had been assigned to this case, instead of a standard bounty hunter.

He looked up into the stands and nodded. Three bombs were let loose towards the center of the warehouse, exploding with a flash of white powder and blinding the entire group.

"Agh, what the—who did that?!" Crezio shouted, clutching his face. "Guards! Find them!"

Unfortunately, the other two bombs had been let loose towards the exits of the warehouse, blinding the guards, as well.

"We—we can't, boss, agh... we're blind, too!"

"Damn idiots, all of you!" Crezio waved his claw around in front of him in futility, stumbling around erratically. "You fucking find those intruders and deal with them now, you hear me?"

"So much for being well-trained," the other pony responded.

"Shut up!"

"You know, if you were half as good as me, you would have—agh!" A bolt flew into the side of his neck, and he crumpled without a word. Then more bodies fell around Crezio as Jamie reloaded and continued firing. By the time they had recovered their eyesight, half of their numbers had already been wiped out, leaving less than a dozen alive.

Crezio huffed, enraged by the ambush. "Guards, get that son of a—" He was interrupted by a crash from one of the exits, as the sounds of battles commenced. He could hear one of his guards give a bloodcurling scream before everything went completely silent again.

"It... it's that bounty hunter, boss..." one of his goons said. "He's here for us!" He pointed at the sarcastic pony's once-living body. "And he's not here to arrest us... every pony and griffon for themselves!" They all scattered, running for the single and only exit that hadn't been claimed by some deadly misfortune.

"Run, boys, run, we're home free! We're home—AHHHHHHH!" There was the sound of an explosion from the door, rocking the entire building and causing dust to spatter down from the ceiling. Jamie smirked: Anora had set up a tripwire bomb at the exit. Very clever.

Crezio turned around, his eyes darting in every direction frantically trying to discern his attacker. "Come out! I know you're that bounty hunter! We... we can talk about this! I can pay you!"

The attempt at an offer was always amusing to Judicators... a pathetic last attempt to save their own skins before they were sent to jail, the afterlife, or Princess Luna herself to be judged and found guilty... and then subsequently executed. There was no respect nor trust to be had for scum like them, beings who played off of the misery of others to perpetuate their own despicable lifestyles. Thankfully, Judicators were not bound to capture their targets alive, so justice could be delivered in a more final and immediate method.

Shaking his head, Jamie reloaded his pistolbow with shock bolts. Princess Luna had specifically stated that Crezio was to be taken alive so that she may speak to him herself, so Jamie would oblige.

"Please?! I know you're out there, just... just talk to me, please!" Crezio shouted. "P-please be merciful, I—zzzzzzzzzz!" Jamie implanted a shock bolt into his chest, knocking him out as the body fell to the ground, giving a few small kicks as the electricity faded away.

Redhorn quickly ran into the light and hefted Crezio on his back. Anora walked out of her side of the warehouse, stepping over the bodies and giving Jamie an amused look, while the cowboy himself holstered his pistolbow, satisfied with how well the plan had gone.

"That plan went off just perfectly" Jamie said. "Time to turn this one in."

---

The Lunar Office of Judicial Affairs—the Manehattan branch—stood brightly lit, sitting straight in the middle of one of the city's many commercial districts. Around this time of night, however, barely anypony would be found outside without good reason, so that made Redhorn's job easier as they could take the side entrance without garnering any strange looks.

Giving a nod to the police officer standing guard at the secondary entranceway, they walked through the grounds on their way to the back, passing by ornate griffon and pony statues in valiant poses and gardens teeming with plant life and small ponds. The door itself was always unlocked, but was enchanted with a special barrier spell by Princess Luna that only gave bounty hunters the right to pass through their specially-enchanted badges.

As they entered the silent back atrium, a bored official looked up from his counter.

"Badges, please," he said flatly. Jamie pushed aside the left part of his coat, revealing an ornate moonsteel badge, a circular object emblazoned with the emblem of the Commonwealth: a glowing sun with a single crescent moon within. The official leaned forward, adjusting his glasses to get a better look, before sitting back and nodding slowly. "Very good. Here to turn in a contract today?"

"Yes, sir. Here to turn in a contract on Crezio."

"Of course..." The official rolled away in his office chair to a row of file cabinets, and slid on open with the rickety sound of metal. The sound of pages flipping could be heard as he went through the envelopes. "C... C... C... Crezio... here!" He rolled back to the table and slapped the file down, giving a glance to the unconscious griffon on Redhorn's back. "Hope you didn't go through too much trouble to bag him."

"Not that much trouble, really..." Jamie said. "Sort of... played right into our plans. Everythin' went off without a hitch."

"Very impressive. A good number of bounty hunters like to overlook the foresight and planning part. It's nice to know that there are still some out there who value the virtue of thinking..." He opened the file and noticed who had put up the contract. "Well..." He looked up, smiling at Jamie. "I guess with bounty hunters like yourselves, it's sort of a given. We don't get many of you around here."

"Yeah... well... we tend to make ourselves scarce until the moment's right. Probably won't be seein' many of us just strollin' in during the day here, so I guess it was just fortunate that it was night."

"Very befitting of your group's rather intriguing nature," the official noted. He pulled out a photo of Crezio and compared it to the drooling griffon. "He checks out. Just have to turn him in and we'll arrange for him to be transferred immediately. The Night Guard fortunately serve here in Manehattan, so they'll be able to expedite his journey to Canterlot via carriage."

"So does that mean down to the cells, or...?"

"No need for that. Excuse me, guards!" Two pegasi Night Guard appeared and gave a respectful nod to Jamie and the official. "Take the prisoner, and take care with him. The Princess wishes to... speak with him herself." The guards saluted and took Crezio off of Redhorn's back before hauling him off. "As for you three, you will find your payment in full to collect at the front office." He stamped a red 'COMPLETED' mark on the file and put it into his outgoing box. He grabbed several more stamps and worked on more papers, giving a final signature before handing them over to Jamie. "Just show these to them. Have a good night!"

"How much do we get?" Anora asked. She fumbled with her taking her hood off as she attempted to look at Jamie for a response. "A tidy sum, I hope?"

"Enough to pay for my used bolts and then some," he said. "I think we'll be fine for a while, unless there's another crazy bandit crew runnin' around the Mild West again."

They walked past the desk and through the doors that led into the grand entrance chambers of the Lunar Office. The affairs of management for the police departments and the courts were handled within this building, and also doubled as the location where bounty hunters turned in their contracts after picking them up from the police department's bulletin board. What ponies still remained at this time of night paid the three Judicators no attention as they walked to the front desk.

The mare behind the table absentmindedly toyed with the tie on her business suit, unaware that she had visitors. The heavy iron bars that protected the front desk workers was old with age, but still sturdy in function. She sat alone in the booth, the other workers having already checked out for the day, and eventually, the night, too.

"Ahem," Jamie interrupted. The mare nearly jumped in her seat, immediately straightening her tie and giving an embarrassed smile to him.

"Uh, sorry about that... how can I help you, sir?"

"Can you check these in for me?" he said, sliding over the papers.

"Oh... just a moment, please." She quickly disappeared behind a set of doors and returned with three large bags stuffed with bits. "Here you go, sir," she said, checking off on the papers and putting them into an envelope. "Have a nice night!"

"Thank you," Jamie responded kindly, handing off each of the three bags to his companions. "So, any ideas on what to do now?"

"Well..." Redhorn said through his plated helm. "I'm tired. And hungry. I'd prefer to solve those problems, but not in that order."

"Agreed," Anora said. "I'd be glad to lay off of my equipment for a while. Really, you males have it so easy... I'd ask Redhorn to carry my bombs, but Celestia knows he might accidentally set one off with his rough-housing antics." She tossed her silvery mane around, thankful to have it out of her hood where it could freely stretch down to its natural shoulder length.

"I can be gentle when I need to..." he said.

"Not when you're crackin' heads, you aren't," Jamie joked.

"Okay, fine, maybe I'm not as... dainty as I'd like to think I am."

"Well, enough is enough, and this has been one long night for all of us." Jamie rubbed his chin. "Do any of you remember where the entrance to the base was in this place?"

---

"A painting? A painting is the entrance to the Judicator hideout?" Jamie said flatly. "That's practically the oldest trick in the book!"

The three had wandered through the maze within the Lunar Office in an attempt to locate the Judicator homebase hidden within. Unfortunately, none of them had actually visited the city nor the office in recent months during their stints in other regions of the Commonwealth, so it took them quite a while to actually locate it. The painting had been located down a rather nondescript hallway located between the janitor's closet and a windowsill that held a nice vase with a flower in it.

"You know that the Princess has enchanted our badges with special magic, Jamie," Anora said. "Only we can walk through that painting. To anypony else, they'll just walk straight into canvas."

"Judicator privileges," Redhorn sang, walking through the painting as his helmet clanked off of his side. The canvas shimmered slightly as the physical form passed through, making Jamie laugh.

"Well..." Jamie said. "Let's hope they're not too shabby when it comes to bunks... I think I've had enough staking out on hard floors and wooden boxes for a while now."

The inside held a hallway with a set of stairs leading down, into the lower areas beneath the Office where the base could be managed in secret. Most Judicator bases were located within Lunar Offices for safety and expediency, and could range from cramped in size to enormous in space. The base located within the Canterlot royal castle was obviously the largest, as it was the Judicator headquarters.

They walked down the length of the stairs until they reached an open chamber, a kitchen that was staffed by a single pony chef and two Night Guard. An adjoining doorway on their immediate left when they entered revealed a room of bunks on the other side. Opposite that on the far side of the room was a closed door, a sign above it saying 'chariot landing pad', for discreet air transportation between cities.

"Well, hey there!" the chef shouted, cleaning mugs at his station. "Didn't expect to get anypony in tonight, I'll get cooking on some food, just wait a moment." He fired up the stove and began chopping up ingredients.

Jamie went to bring back three cups of chilled cider as Anora and Redhorn took their seats. Bases always tended to be equipped with the best in foods, even if the bunks were lacking. Princess Luna spared no expense for her most trusted agents... well, except when it came to munitions. They had to pay out of their own pocket for that, since there was risk that the paper trail would lead back to the Princess if they became compromised in the case where she'd been funding their weapons. Things like luxurious foods and other necessities wouldn't set off any flags if any enterprising eyes found the expenditure papers.

"Woo-ee! You three sure are one strange bunch! Here in the Manehattan branch, we almost never get any visitors. And then tonight we get a zebra, a buffalo, and even a human!" He finished stirring the pot and began plating the food. "Don't see Judicators working in groups pretty often, especially not in a ragtag group such as yours."

He carefully brought over the three trays, handing off the freshly-prepared food to the tired Judicators, and prepared himself a mug of cider before sitting down with them.

"When was the last time you had anyone down here?" Jamie asked, taking a sip of his pumpkin soup. The warm broth was a welcome change from subsisting on the most basic dry foodstuffs during his careful investigation over the past few months.

"Well... I don't know, time passes by like a blur in here... I think around a few months? Last visit was a griffon Judicator who would probably stare everypony to death if he could." He shuddered. "That wasn't a pleasant visit... at least he retired to bed early and only stayed for a day. Princess Luna can sure pick them..."

"I'm sure he has his reasons... all of us do."

"The ultimate peacekeepers, huh? Well, I can't say I envy your job. The underground's a pretty bad place to be. Did a little moonlighting myself as a vigilante back when I worked the police department, but nothing like the kind of stuff you guys deal with... anyway, what's the story with you three? Not every day you see something like this, after all, especially the human. Could you tell me anything about humans?" he asked Jamie.

"Yeah, well... we like to keep to ourselves, mostly. Trade with the buffalo and all that," Jamie said, taking a sip of his pumpkin soup. "Most folks back home are a lot like myself, if you're gonna ask about that."

"Well, dang, you all talk like that?"

"S'the way it's always been, sir. We're fine with what we have, so we usually never leave our farms. The land provides for all of our needs."

"What about those tales..." the chef said, leaning towards him with expectant eyes. "...about humans being carnivores? Is that true?"

Jamie laughed. "Sort of. We don't have a lot of that sort of food down in the Southlands, so we maintain a mostly vegetarian diet. So it's no problem for us if we have to jump into pony cuisine... except hay or flowers. We can't eat those."

"What about magic? Do humans have magic? Er, sorry... don't get many humans around here, have to ask all these questions."

"Sort of... I guess we're kind of like earth ponies? We're tough and work real hard, but other than that, we don't have any fancy tricks or anythin' like unicorns can do, and we obviously can't fly..."

"Uh-huh... keep... going..." The chef was jotting all the stuff down on a small notepad. "For reference, of course."

"Are humans really that rare 'round these parts?" Jamie said, raising an eyebrow. He finished off his quiche and turned to his drink. "I didn't think we were that rare..."

"Psh, we barely get enough humans in Manehattan as it is! Most only ever show up at the farmer towns out on the south side of Equestria. I think there's a human in the Manehattan City Council, maybe I should go ask him sometime."

"Yeah, you go do that, then," Jamie laughed. He hadn't seen another human for several months now, though it didn't bother him much since he was always preoccupied with his work.

"Mm-hmm. So, a buffalo and a zebra. What's the story for you two?"

"Came to Equestria by boat like other Zebrican apothecaries," Anora said, shrugging. "One thing led to another, and I found out that I liked crime-fighting, and then I got an invitation to join the Judicators after a solo stint capturing a few thugs as a bounty hunter. Then I found these two gentlecolts and we've been running together ever since."

"You know we can't do anythin' without those potions and bombs you make, Anora," Jamie said, holding up his mug as a toast to her. "Got us out of more than a pinch with those things."

"Not as helpful as you and your crazy arsenal of bolts, Jamie," she responded. "If only it didn't cost a small fortune to restock your equipment." She looked at Redhorn's helmeted head. "At least Redhorn doesn't have to worry about that."

"Not true," the buffalo said. "I still have to worry about repairing my dents and scratches, you know."

"Nowhere near as expensive as buyin' a pack of shock bolts." Jamie pushed the tray back and wiped his mouth off with a napkin. "I pay to have the Judicator quartermasters to enchant them with magic, y'know. That ain't cheap. If all I had to worry about was gettin' a few scratches, I would be way better off. Of course, I could just use regular bolts... but that's lethal and sometimes contracts are worth more alive than dead. Shock bolts are probably my bread and butter in every contract we do these days."

"So, buffalo here, then," the chef said. "What's your story?"

"Met Jamie as my first partner when I started working as a bounty hunter. I was mostly a sign-on at the time as my chief ordered me to help him, but when I learned that there was a whole organization dedicated to stopping evildoers, I knew I had to sign up. And so we've all been partners ever since."

"Strength in numbers, huh?" the chef said, stacking the finished trays. "You're an interesting bunch; the organization tends to lean towards working the beat alone. Makes it a bit hard for everypony to get along, but I guess if they're all reporting to Princess Luna in the end, then that's fine." He walked off and deposited them in the sink, busying himself with cleaning work as he hummed to himself.

"Hmm..." Jamie said, leaning on his elbow. "Been a while since I've visited the Southlands..."

"I'm sure your parents would like to know how well you're doing," Redhorn said, taking off his thick-plated charging helmet. The griffon-forged plate was engraved with intricate carvings, some bloodied after the night's recent capture. "You haven't seen them in a while, haven't you?"

"Naw, my folks... I've been writin' to my folks... they know what I've been doin' in the center of the Commonwealth's influence and power. Granted, they ain't really happy about what I'm doin', but they understand, and that's good enough for all of us. They still want me to come down around for the next annual Bonfire Festival, but... well, shucks, I haven't gone to a festival for over six years now."

"Well, being a Judicator is tough work..." Anora said. "Uh... you didn't tell them about that, did you?"

"No, nothin' of the sort, just that I'm a... bounty hunter. If my folks knew I was a Judicator, that'd put their lives at risk, they'd flip tables and yell for me to come home... that, and our dearest Princess of the Night doesn't exactly let that fact slip around town all willy-nilly." He stretched his arms and yawned. "Ugh, these nights without sleep are gettin' the best of me. What say y'all we retire to the quarters for the night?"

---

Anora snored softly as she slumbered on her bed in the corner as Jamie hung up his duster and hat. He unlocked his heavy crossbow, looking over the weapon's lathe. It wasn't used very recently, so the checkup was short, and he turned his attention to his more preferred weapon: his pistolbow. The handheld device used cylindrical magazines locked into place in front of the trigger to load bolts into the groove.

The versatility with it was unmatched. On top of his non-lethal shock bolts, he could use net bolts, fire bolts, gas bolts, and a whole variety of other bolts depending on his needs. It usually cost a pretty penny to make, though, so that's what he usually picked up contracts in advance before ordering new ones to be made.

Redhorn's armor sat neatly piled on the floor next to his bed, as he began to make himself comfy. He flipped off his light, leaving only Jamie's nightstand lamp illuminating the darkness.

"Say, Redhorn..."

"Yes, Jamie?"

"That day's comin' up again... I think I'm going to tell her this year."

Redhorn raised his head, his face marked with concern. "Are you sure? You don't know how it might turn out... you haven't seen them for nearly ten years, Jamie."

"Almost ten years now, huh...?" Jamie sighed. "At the very least, I owe them an explanation. Runnin' around pretendin' like nothin' ever happened... like it was all just a random accident... it wasn't random, and it wasn't a mistake. It was deliberate. If anythin', they deserve now, more than ever, to know the truth."

He undid his vest, hanging it at the foot of the bed, before taking off his dragonscale vest. The vest was a special order, courtesy of Princess Luna, and had required a lot of strings to be pulled, especially in obtaining full-grown dragon scales. The durability was unmatched, though, and had kept Jamie alive more times than he'd cared to admit.

Frowning at the several open gashes on his white undershirt, he shook his head, dropping off his armguards on the nightstand and kicking off his boots. Most Judicators traveled extremely light, bringing along only their weapons and equipment, so that they could immediately relocate if need be.

"I would assume that there might be the chance that they'll react... badly to your news."

"It's a chance I have to take. I'm actually surprised that I've kept it a secret for this long... been a long time since I've been to Ponyville."

"Ah, Ponyville? I recall that being the hometown of the filly we rescued just a few weeks back..."

"Yeah... I grew up there myself for half of my childhood back when it was a small town, but times change, I guess. The whole place might have turned into a city, for all I know. Given how that filly acted when we rescued her, I wouldn't be surprised if it did."

"Mmm... go to sleep, you two..." Anora mumbled.

"Sorry, Anora," Redhorn whispered. "We can head down there as soon as you'd like, Jamie."

"Yeah, that'd be nice. Maybe pick up some contracts in the Canterlot-Ponyville area and give myself an excuse to drop in... and maybe twiddle my thumbs some more on whether or not I want to tell them. I'm gettin' jitters right now just thinkin' about it."

"Well..." Redhorn said, rolling over in his bed. "I have faith in your choice. Everything will turn out fine. Good night, Jamie."

"Yeah... good night." Jamie turned out his light and rested his head on the cool pillow, bidding his mind to hasten its descent to sleep. Thankfully, this night, it did, and his mind drifted off to a more simpler time in his childhood: a distinct memory where the sun was bright and clear, everything was peaceful, and the orchard he ran through was alive with the sound of laughter... shared between him and two foals.

Comments

[TheArcher20]

i'll take a look at it. seems interesting with the summary.

Edit: wow this is really good. insta- like and fave

[The Grey Pegasus]

Highly intrigued. Amd what's with you and hidden paintings?

[mexipon3]

i set it on my read later.
it sounds really good from your description.

[Jet Howitzer]

This sounds quite good. I am looking forward to reading more of this in the coming days and weeks.

[Chuck Norris]

This is an excellent read, so far. I approve.

[Material Defender]

917470 917787 Thank you!

917506 I like paintings. Hidden paintings are cool.

917638 Hello again, Howitzer! Nice to know that you're reading this, too!

Anyway, this story was an idea I had in my head, and I thought it would be interesting to have a fiction where humans were native to the Equestrian world with a peculiar style of culture and speech that helps distinguish them. Oh, that, and bounty hunters. Yep. Also, this story will be taking over my story slot for Equestria: Global Offensive after I complete it.

[Sneaky Breeze]

Im interested in learnign more about this world. Otherwise great chapter

[Jet Howitzer]

918288 Of course I'm reading this. And I've actually been thinking of writing something similar to this, but you beat me to it. Not too surprising, though, considering the fact that I write sporadically at best.

[Lapison]

It's like you're holding cupcakes in my face and saying "Ah-ah-ahhh, still gotta wait some more..."
Quite a good concept, and played extremely well. I don't usually read AU, but this one caught my eye. Tracking, but you're not getting my thumb until I get a bit more background.

[Beyond the Horizon]

I do have to ask what the current tech level of the Human's is. It seems fairly in line with Equestrian development, but we don't see much here other than the pistol.