Cranky and Steve's Final Adventure

by libertydude

Lonely River, Lonely Pain

Come morning, the two rose from their shoreline resting places. The town already rumbled with life, with bearded stallions walking down the docks and children running by the shoreline, gawking up at the resting river serpent before taking off down a side street.

Cranky roused himself to go into town, wandering through the labyrinth of buildings back to the general store. Now it bustled with various ponies, browsing aisles and chatting like any other gossipers.

“I heard they’re closing the spa for a while,” a tan mare said to her nearby compatriot.

“Me too,” the ashen mare said. “Maybe permanently. I hear the owners want to contact some Royal scientists, just to make sure that green stuff is safe to be around. I mean, can you imagine a spa being on top of something so toxic like that?”

Cranky said nothing, gathering his supplies and paying his bill at the now operational cash register. The cashier didn’t give him a second glance, nor any indication he recalled the donkey as the savior of his town. Just a simple and indifferent, “Have a pleasant day.”

Soon, Cranky found himself back at the docks. Steven sat nearby, staring into one of the upper windows of the nearby fishery. His hands fumbled around the top of his head, trying to manifest a look that hid the large hole in the middle of his coif. Most results created a hairdo akin to a reverse-mohawk, a position Steven’s grunts indicated to be undesirable.

“Sorry about your hair,” Cranky said, reaching the end of the dock.

“Likewise,” Steven said with a huff. “Seems this spa trip wasn’t as relaxing as I promised.”

“Priorities straight as usual,” Cranky sighed. He stared downriver, where the water grew calmer as the rocks fell away from the river’s middle. “Where were you going next?”

Steven threw his arms in the air. “Well, I simply have to go back upriver. There’s a nice hairdresser up in Chariotsville that might be able to fix my hair. Celestia knows I’ll need it.”

Cranky stared out over the horizon, past the river and into the plains. The morning sun already began to arch overhead, and the docked boats began to bob with the increasing current.

“Steve…” Cranky said. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“What?” Steven said, his hair flopping down in the middle of a tussle.

“All of…” He waved his arm back toward the town. “…This. Travelling. I’m getting too old.”

“Nonsense! You’re positively chipper compared to all the other donkeys your age.”

Cranky shook his head. “And how long is that going to last? Five years? Two?” A look of resignation crossed his face. “Look, Steve…You’re a fine friend. The best anypony could have. But after everything we’ve been through, I’ve always thought about her more than you.”

Steven nodded, grim acceptance across his face.

“When I was in the spa, I had a dream about her. Back when we were young. And when I woke up…I saw that bastard. Enslaving ponies, making them his playthings just to be… whatever the hay he was trying to be.” He stared down through the planks, all creaking in time with each new current. “Finding Matilda’s been the only thing I wanted all these years. Just like Bersal and his damn fountain.”

“Cranky…” Steven said. “You’re not like him. You’re doing this for you and Matilda.”

“And where’s that gotten me?” Cranky snapped. “Twenty-seven years of failure! I’ve done nothing but make myself miserable.”

Steven shook his head slowly, little pieces of singed hair falling out with each shake. A shimmer began to appear in his eyes.

“So I’m going to visit one more place,” Cranky said. “San Franciscolt, the one place I never got to. It’s a one in a million chance, I know. But I’m going to try.” A surge of anger flowed through him and he thrust his hoof towards the town. “Because I’m not one of those damn do-nothings in that rest home. I will do something. And if she’s not there, then…” He stared back at the horizon, desperate for Steven to not see the tears building in his eyes. “Then it’s all over.”

Steven wiped his eyes. Cranky readied himself for the barrage of assurances and head pats and claims that no, he wasn’t old and wasting his life. That persistence is a wonderful trait and all that ballyhoo. But the serpent just sniffled, swishing his tail around the dirt.

“I know you won’t believe me,” Steven said between tears. “But I completely understand.”

Cranky stumbled backwards, almost falling into the river. “Really?”

“Of course. Do you think I want all of these shenanigans to happen when we’re together? I just wanted to breeze through life, enjoying everything that came my way. But you’re not the only one getting older. I realize now how hard it is to keep up this youthful vigor. Bersal wanted that, and look what it drove him to do. I don’t want to be in fights all the time. I just want to settle down and live the quiet life.”

Cranky nodded. The tears became overcome with sweat, a relief he gave a quiet thanks to Celestia.

“Where do you plan on going after San Franciscolt?” Steven asked.

Cranky shrugged. “Depends. Where you going after the hairdresser?”

Steven cracked a small grin. “There’s a river just outside Ponyville, inside the Everfree Forest. Quiet and close enough to civilization for a talkative serpent like moi.”

Cranky nodded. “What about non-talkative donkeys?”

Steven smirked. “You planning on settling down, Crankster?”.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Cranky said, trying to hide his bemused expression. “I’m just visiting.”

“Whatever you say,” Steven said. Cranky hopped down onto his raft and began untying the lines. Steven looked down at him with an expression somewhere between pride and sadness.

“I presume San Franciscolt is a one-jack expedition?”

Cranky nodded. “The river’s smooth from now on.”

“Besides, you’d get too many looks hanging with a big old river serpent slithering alongside you.”

Cranky stared up at Steven, his face filled with determination. “I’ll never be embarrassed to be seen with you, Steve.” His face fell to a frown. “But you better not tell anypony that.”

“Hah! Donkeys still have a reputation, right?” He watched as Cranky loosened the last rope. “Be sure not to come around until after the Summer Sun Celebration. Celestia’s coming this year, so there will be an absolute ruckus for days.”

“Alright.” The last rope began to dip further into the water, the river’s pull becoming more noticeable with each loosening knot.

“I hope you find her,” Steven said. “I really do.”

“Me too.”

A few moments of silence passed between them. The rumble of the river and the Windvane carts rolling down the busy streets filled the prairie.

“I’m not saying goodbye,” Steven said.

A ghost of a smile came across Cranky’s face. “Neither am I.”

With that, Cranky pushed off the pier and began drifting down the Maresouri. He waved at Steven until the stiffness in his knee built up too much and his leg fell to his side. Steven waved the whole time, even as he turned into a purple speck in the distance.

Cranky turned back to the raft’s bow. He sat down and leaned against the cart, bobbing in time with the river. He closed his eyes and thought about her face again. Within the hour, his bones would ache and his muscles strain from lying upon the hard wood, but he didn’t care. It was the one kind of pain he knew wouldn’t last.