> Fallout Equestria: Burned Feathers
>  by Bad Pun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ignorance was bliss
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



Chapter 1 - Ignorance was bliss.



It was a great day for once. I had just been accepted as a neophyte of the Talon company just as I had wanted for so many years. A few weeks of training and a short tenure as a probationary merc and I would be well on my way to earn the right to have my own contract drafted. I'm sure that mother will finally be so proud of knowing I'll finally be following in her paw prints. Though Dad had been killed in action many years ago, I'm sure he'd be proud as well while he was looking out for us from the great beyond.

It was nearly noon now, and I had to get going if I wanted to avoid mother's wrath for being late. I flew as fast as my wings would carry me, heading back to home where mother would be waiting. My hometown of 'Claw wasn't a very large place by any means, but it was nice enough. Being home to mostly Talon mercs, the raiders tended to keep their distance. Our only constant problem was the yao'guai, but almost all of the buildings were spread apart a fair ways from each other and raised above the ground on great struts by at least a dozen meters, so they didn't bother us much either.

Flying home was always the hardest part of training up to be a Talon, and it didn't help that mom was always chastising me for being such a weak flier. No-one knew why my wings ended up being so weak, but I don't know why she always made it sound like it was my fault. I hated the kilometer-long flight from the Talon office because it was particularly draining, this time barely making it to the front porch before my wings gave up on me. I opened the door and slipped inside the house, finding Mom was sitting on the couch like she did before work everyday.

"*huff* *huff* Mom! *gasp* I was accepted... *cough* as a neophyte!" I tried to convey my excitement, but it was hard to do so as the wear of the day’s flying completely caught up with me.

"That's surprising, seeing as you can hardly make it there and back" She said without even looking up from the mission reports she was glancing over.

"I'm finally going to be a mercenary like you and Dad!" I said with a grin as I walked around the front room, trying to get her attention. "Aren't you proud of me?"

"It took you longer than it should have to get in. Though, I guess I should be thankful to see you finally getting in at all." Her expression softened as she put the papers down. Still, she didn't smile. She never smiled. "I'll be out on duty tonight, see that your chores are done before I get back."

"Yes, mother!" I said enthusiastically, my chest was still sore from the last time I had forgotten to do all of them. I didn't mind the pain, mostly because mother always told me that if young griffons aren't disciplined harshly for their failures, they only grow up to be monumental failures. And there's no way I'm going to let mother down again!

With a brief 'harrumph' she got up and left, leaving me to my duties. Normally, that meant scrubbing down the walls, washing the windows, dusting the furnishings, and doing the dishes, but today was still a good day. I found that there were a couple shot glasses left in the sink, some loose coffee grounds on the kitchen table and the assortment of documents left laying on the front room table. The former two were cleaned and put away in short order but I left the paperwork where it was, not wanting mom to give me another whipping for 'disturbing sensitive intelligence'.

The plain, corrugated steel of the walls weren't in need of a cleaning as there were no signs of grime or rust to be seen, so I went straight to dusting. Surprisingly, there were quite a few things in the home that needed dusting, a couple of flowerpots (Mom had always kept them empty since Dad's passing for some reason.), a few awards given to the both of them by Talon H.Q., and several old pictures in frames. I paused, looking the old photos over for probably the thousandth time.

I had always found it interesting that one of the griffons at H.Q. had apparently been an accomplished photographer, and only Celestia knew how he had found a functioning camera in the wasteland. I followed the set of images along the wall, the whole set was arranged in chronological order. The first was a picture of my father dressed in his Talon gear. The way he looked made me think that he must have been the best merc out there, so stoic and serious. I always enjoyed the fact that my black plumage matched his, imagining that the bright speckles of gold in our feathers would match up like in a mirror.

Next to the picture of my father was the wedding picture of Mom and Dad. They both stood in a dilapidated chapel next to someone I haven't seen around 'Claw. The mystery griffon held a small, black book in his talon as he smiled at the camera. Dad was dressed up in some fancy pre-war getup and wore a bright grin, while Mother looked the happiest I had ever seen. The light hit her just right as she wore that gown, the normal frown she carried was replaced with the closest thing to a smile I have ever seen on her face. I laughed quietly to myself how the black and white image of this photo didn't do her a disservice, her feathers were already grey anyway.

I skipped over some of the more mundane photos to get to the last one, smiling slightly as I looked over it. It was the day H.Q. promoted mom to lieutenant and gave her command of her own platoon. She stood next to me in full gear, her listless eyes only punctuated how tired she had become after dad died. I could see the hint of the bruised eye I had that day, though not even the pain from that could dampen the happiness I felt for her then.

"I wish you could have been there, dad." I said with a sigh, dusting the frame lightly.

While I was finishing my chores, I faintly remembered a recipe that Dad used to make every weekend. He didn't have a written copy of it anywhere, but I could remember the smells of it vividly enough I might be able to make it myself. I remembered the scent of the broiled meat covered in brahmin butter and most of the certain spices he had rubbed it in. He always served it alongside a couple of baked potatoes, making my mouth water just from the thought of them. I had no clue where to find the potatoes, but I know that I needed ground pepper and onions to get the meat rub good enough. Those were common enough around 'Claw, not to mention Vanhoover as a whole, so they shouldn't take long to find and pick.

Leaving home, my still tired wings carried me out to the flat lands beyond the dried riverbeds to the east. I always enjoyed flying over what remained of the spacious forests that used to cover this part of Equestria, the serene landscape was always so peaceful. Sometimes I'd try to imagine what it would be like to be flying over them before the war, a lushous green blanket over the hills, teeming with all sorts of wildlife. Speaking of wildlife, my eyes were drawn to the ground as I spotted a decent-sized rat digging for something in the dirt.

"Hello there, tasty..." I muttered before diving down, enjoying the rush of cool air through my feathers. I flared my wings as reached out, snaring it in my talons tightly, feeling as its neck easily snapped while I twisted it. Pulling the strap on my pack to bring it around to me, I put the dead rodent in before turning back towards where it was digging. In a stroke of good luck, it was exactly what I needed, a pair of fat wild onions that lay half buried in the ground. Uprooting the whole of them, I put them into my bag as well and began to walk home, my wings now too tired to carry me much further today.

It would be nightfall before I actually got home at this rate, but with mother out, it would hardly be a problem. I always enjoyed the time that walking along the wasteland gave me, normally using that time to reflect on how things in my life were. Right now, I'm just proud of how far I have come on my way to becoming a mercenary. I know that Mom is proud, she just doesn't like to show it, but we both know that soon I'll be turning out to be just as good of a merc as dad had once been. All in all, things were good I guess, the only thing missing in my life, was dad.

"If only I had time to get to show you how well I've been doing, I know you'd be proud of me." I shouted out to the wilderness, hoping he could somehow hear me. The husks of the once great trees that crowded the land had always listened to me, but tonight was different. Never before had the forest answered.

A strained voice replied to me, making me pause along my walk. "Well, ah'd hate to be a bother, but ah'd be much obliged if'n yah 'done somethin' well' fer me..."

"Wait, is someone out there?" I asked again, waiting a moment for a response. "Ummm, hello?" I spotted a hoof pop up behind a large boulder twenty paces or so of the path up ahead. I ran over as I heard a groan echo out from behind it.

There was a bright yellow pony next to an overturned cart, grimacing as I came around the corner. He wasn't hiding the pain he was in very well as he lay on his side. Wincing, he leaned back and presented his rear left leg, a rusty bear trap had it's teeth sunk deep into him as his blood flowed out from it steadily. "Ah heard that ya'll were hav'n some troubles with 'Guai out here, but ain't this a might bit much?"

"Sorry, I guess. Here, let me help!" I took off my bag and tossed it a couple paces away. I grasped the jaws of the bear trap in my talons, pulling at them with the little strength I could muster. The jaws refused to move enough to open them up, yet giving way just enough to allow the distressed pony to slip out if his predicament without much effort.

He watched as I let go of the trap, the metal teeth closing with a loud snap. "Ahh! Many thanks, youngster. Ah'm sorry ah don't rightly have anything to give ya for yuh troubles." He dug into a saddlebag, fetching himself a healing potion. "Ah'm lucky that hadn't 'ave broken mah leg, woulda' ruined mah trip up here ta do some tradin'." The injured pony slugged down the potion greedily, wiping his muzzle with a hoof as his leg began to heal up. "So whossit yah been shoutin' 'bout?”

"Oh, my dad." I said solemnly as I picked up my bag and threw it back on. "He died years ago, I never got to know him."

"Ah'm mighty sorry 'bout that, youngster. Ah never rightly remember mah own father neither, I reckon It's just mah age catchin' up with me." He looked me over with an air of suspicion. "Yah dun look old 'nuf ta be a Merc, yah from 'Claw?"

This pony seemed to like to talk. The Talons I had met said that they all did, but I haven't really seen that many aside from the ones that are raiders trying to murder everyone they see. "Yes, I'm going to be a Talon soon enough!" I announced with pride.

"Oh! Yer goin' ta be a big griffon, eh? Sellin' out some services someday?" He asked with an eager smile. “Ah wouldn't mind hirin' on a big, young griffon mahself sometime soon.”

Yup, he talks a lot. I'm not exactly sure why everyone said that's a bad thing, I didn't mind it. It was indeed awkward, but kind of pleasant in a way. "Yep, I start tomorrow. But I should be getting going, Mr...."

"Mah name is Beer Can, ah'll be up'n these parts again in a while, Maybe ah'll look 'round fer ya when ah git up there. Take care, now!" and with that he busied himself with righting his cart of assorted things.

Back on my way home, I kept a quick pace along the trail, seeing as it was already dusk and I was already going to be late getting there. Even with having been able to rest enough to MAYBE fly back, there wouldn't be enough time to cook dinner before Mom got home, and I was already going to be sore enough come tomorrow. Weighing my options, I stayed on the ground. I hurried with what little speed I had left, jogging when I could to try to make up some time.

When I returned home, mother was already there waiting for me. The walk had taken longer than usual, but I know I'm not THAT slow, not to mention Mom only came back when something went wrong at work.

"Where did y...yah run off ta?" She slurred out as she looked up at me. Her yellow eyes were glazed over and she stunk of gin as she sat at the kitchen table, a nearly empty bottle sat next to an already empty one as she frowned.

"I went out to get us something fresh for dinner" I replied, pulling the rat out of my pack with a smile.

Mom's perpetual frown deepened as she looked at it. "Yah didn't clean out the car... carcassh after yah killed it. The meat ish probably tainted from ish entrils by now. Throw ish out."

"I'm sorry, I didn't think about it." I replied glumly, beating myself up inside my head for forgetting such a simple thing. How bad am I that she's drunk and she even noticed it! I decided to change the subject as she took another drink. "So, you're home early, how did the patrol go? Everything alright?" I new it wasn't, but I hoped it wasn't too bad.

Her frown turned to a snarl. "We losht Ravenplume tonight to a group of fuckin' raidersh! Whass worsh ish that we radioed fer reinforcements, and wha do we get?!"

I shrugged, barely making out her words through her drunken slurring as she tried to take a drink from the empty bottle. Grunting in frustration, she threw it against the wall. I sighed softly as I looked at the broken glass strewn about, knowing she wouldn't remember this tomorrow and blame me for not washing the walls when they smelled again.

She continued with her point, "We get orders ta fall back! Can you beleeff it? No reshribushton, no jushtice... We almosht weren't able ta collect her body..."

She began to shake. I couldn't make out if it was in rage or sadness, but I decided to once again change the subject. "Mom, I'll still make dinner for us. There has to be something in the cupboards." I got no response as she stood up and simply walked over to the front room, sitting down and angrily shoving the reports she had left on the table to the floor. How could H.Q. do that to her? How could they make her suffer so much after how hard she works herself for them?

I was relieved when I found that the kitchen did have a few things worth preparing. A can of beans and some Cram would make for a decent chili when I put in those onions I found. I frowned as I thought about how much I had wanted to make Dad's dish for her, knowing that it would have at least helped her cope with the loss of a wing mate. In short order I had finished chopping up the onions and had prepared the Cram, happy to find that it took only a turn of the gas knob and a few strikes of flint before the small cooking fire lit on the stove. All three ingredients were unceremoniously dumped into the one pot we had and left over the heat to simmer.

After a few minutes of making sure everything was cooking right, I decided to check on Mom again. She was still sitting in the front room, though now with yet another bottle, this time bourbon, on the table in front of her. I walked over and sat down next to her on our old couch, just about to ask if she was alright when she swung around hard, hitting me with a solid left hook. My head pounded as I found myself on the floor, feeling the familiar pressure of the swelling behind what was soon to be my bruised eye. There was my answer at least, she had to be sad. She only ever hit me that hard when she was feeling terrible about something.

I picked myself up and staggered back into the kitchen to stir the bland chili. There wasn't much more to be done with the meal, so I served up a bowl for Mom and set it aside, pausing a moment as my head was still a bit fuzzy. I thought about how the slop I made wouldn't have helped her feel better and that I should have tried harder to set up the meal Dad always made for her. A disappointing dinner was a bit less appealing at the disappointing end of a otherwise good day, so with a light sigh, I placed the pot into the refrigerator and closed it. Thinking about it, it was odd that we even did that, seeing as the refrigerator was a device that probably hadn't worked since the great war and didn't do a very good job at preserving food.

I grabbed a spoon and brought the bowl of chili to mother, heading upstairs without another word. My simple room was quite bare, a few trinkets of my younger childhood years sat on a shelf against the wall. A dresser with a small assortment of work clothes that were so well used, you might confuse them with a pile of rags that had been sewn together. What I was really looking forward to was my bed. The small, cushioned thing on an oversized frame with a single blanket atop it may have been a meager furnishing, but it was a welcome sight tonight. I flopped forward, simply laying upon it and finally relaxing, drifting away quickly into a dreamless sleep.


---



I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping outside, the first light of the predawn hours glowing through the cloud cover that had blanketed the wasteland since the war. It was a pleasant way to start a day I thought as I got up with a deep yawn and a stretch, expelling the last traces of sleep from my sore limbs. I winced as I felt the sting from my bruised face, trying to brush my speckled plumage into something presentable before I headed out of the room.

It was finally the day I've been working towards my whole life. The day the I finally get to become a Talon and make my parents proud. I grabbed the cooled pot of chili for breakfast, looking around to find that mother must have made her way to her own bed at some point in the night. In my haste to get going, I didn't even use a bowl, simply grabbing mom's spoon and quickly stuffing a few scoops from the cook pot into my beak. Once I had my fill, I put it back into the fridge and hurried out the door to get to training.

Enthusiasm drove me to fly faster than am sure had flown before, but my excitement soon waned, leaving me gasping in the effort to even stay airborne as the adrenaline wore off. Fortunately I had gotten up with plenty of time to spare, so a quick break halfway there to catch my breath wouldn't be any problem at all. Setting down near the store I had passed so many times before, I took a moment to take in the wonderful view to the eastern hills.

The sun was nearly cresting them, at least as well as it could given the ever-enduring cloud cover. I recalled from history lessons that the pegasi had closed up the sky when the megaspells went off, though I was never quite sure why they had done it, or why they never opened it. I was also once told that the Vanhoover area had always had constant cloud cover and that the only difference from before was that the war killed off most of the plants and creatures living in the wilderness.

Unfortunately, my time for reflection had been spent, the oddities of years long past, as enticing as they were, had to wait. Two quick breaths, a brisk canter followed by a flap of my wings was all it took to get me up again. It may just be fact that I wasn't all that strong of a flier, but I had always felt so liberated when I was in the air. I couldn't help but feel a twang of pity for the other griffons, who always seemed to take being able to fly for granted. It's true, being a griffon usually means that you can fly, but it is always viewed as being so mundane. I loved every minute of flying, even though it was always so draining to me.

As I approached, there was no question that this was the most important building in 'Claw, at least to the Griffons who resided there. The Talon office loomed before me as I wound through the other ruins in the city. Its imposing grey physique was originally built as a police department, its concrete walls and ballistic resistant windows were built to last. It came as no surprise when the company had chosen it to house the local Vanhoover H.Q. and training facility.

Shortly after entering, I easily found my way to the recruitment office door past the main desk. A section of the building I had not yet seen. Knocking as I opened it, I immediately noticed that the office was well furnished, a book case and a pair of chairs sat on the left, a large wooden desk sat to the right. I looked up and was greeted by a cheery griffon with a lithe frame, he was reclined in his desk chair with his paws up. There was a brief flash of recognition in his eyes when he saw me walk through his door, quickly pushing his chair out and getting up with a smile. I looked over the desk, noticing that he had a wooden plank that had been painstakingly carved out for him. The bold words read 'Staff Sgt. Swan Lightfeathers'.

"Ah, Prancer Thistledown, a pleasure to see you!" The smiling griffon belted out as he held his talon out.

"Umm, thank you. I don't believe we've met though, Sergeant Lightfeathers." I said with a smile, gripping the outstretched talon. His grip was strong for having such a... delicate name. Who names their son 'Swan' anyway?

"Mr. Lightfeathers will do, and no, we haven't met yet, not officially. My husband babysat you whenever your mother was away. Your mother spoke of you often during our... off hours." He said with a an odd kink in his voice as he nervously broke our talonshake. He walked around behind his desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a clipboard and placing it on his desk. "Mr. Thistledown, I would first like you to confirm for us that you acknowledge the fact that you do not meet any of the Talon Company minimum recruitment requirements except for age. You have scored at the bottom of nearly every competency test we gave AND have the lowest recorded wing power of any griffon since the great war."

"I know I have my shortcomings, but I'll more than make up for it in drive and determination, Sir." I stiffened up and gave my best salute. "I know it will be hard work, but I am willing to give it my all."

"At ease..." He said dismissively with a sigh, scooting the clipboard across to me. "Just sign your name at the bottom and I'll get you set up with the other recruits." I leaned forward and eagerly signed my name where indicated before he continued in a more serious tone, "I hope you can show me that you have more to drive you than just your family's name." With that, he directed me to a waiting area just past the reception hall.

Despite my break on the way here, I still seemed early. There was only one other aspirant here, a griffon I remembered from school named Strix. He and I never spoke all that much though, he was always busy reading an old book or some other studious activity, as he was doing now. That was fine for me, he always had a talent for making me feel dumb whenever we talked anyway. The waiting room beside the front desk was thoroughly decorated in Talon Company colors. Hanging prominently in a protective case at the center of the room was a recruitment poster predating the megaspells, urging griffons to sign up and fight against the zebras. A stern griffon was pictured on it with an outstretched talon, the caption reading; 'The ponies can't do it all! - Equestria is your home, too!'.

With a sigh, I sat down on one of the many chairs in the waiting room. Strix looked up from his book, some sort of weird textbook, what's 'biochemistry' for anyway? Seeing his face up close again reminded me that I had forgotten how much he looked like an owl with the round glasses he wore, he always had the plumage of his face brushed around in a disk shape from the lenses. I was glad to feel the urge to chuckle drain away as I put on my best 'serious' face.

"Hello, Prancer, you've finally been accepted too, I see." he was about to get back to his book, but something seemed to cross his mind, "do you think they have waived recruitment standards this year?"

"Huh? what do you mean?" The dumb was coming, I knew it.

"Well, it's just that there has been fewer Talons around. Casualties have been high this last year, fertility rates had fallen when we were young, the Yao'guai have become a nuisance and there have been reports of strange bandits in surrounding areas."

"How did you learn that?" Yep, two minutes in and he's making me feel stupid. It's fine, I don't need freakish booksmarts to be the best mercenary out there. What good are casualty and fertility rates when we have a contract to uphold? That's what we're supposed to worry about.

"It was in my parents' report on the current state of Talon Company. They make sure I read it to keep current on Talon business, making sure I know what's going on.” His expression darkened. “But they just kept pushing me to join up."

That was a lot different from what I was used to. "Oh, my mom doesn't like it when I go through her documents, and she always said that I only need to do what I'm told."

"I see. I usually just skim them, though. I never wanted to be a Talon, not really anyway." He sighed and glanced over at his old book.

How could he say that? To be a Talon merc was the height of Griffon society! What else was there in life? "Well, what do you want to do, Strix?"

"I want to set up a library, a real one, in a town that could use it. Not the incomplete set of shelves Mr. Bookbeak has tucked away in his empty shack he teaches in." He closed the book, pushing his glasses further up his beak. "Going through the Talons is my best chance to do that, I could eventually bid for some sort of education grant and get it built."

That sounded so... boring. Although, maybe that's just because I'd never actually seen a 'real' library. Or it could be just because I wasn't a complete egghead like he was. "Sounds perfect for you. So, like you were saying, what makes you think that they waived recruitment requirements?"

"Well," he said sheepishly, "it's because I was actually accepted. I never qualified before, then I'm suddenly approved as long as I sign a waiver. With the extra troubles the region is facing it makes it pretty clear, they just need extra members, qualified or not."

As congenial as he was, it was getting frustrating to talk to him. He always made being smart look easy. Fortunately a distraction appeared. The other aspirants had made it to the office. Two young hens; one a giant slab of muscle, the other a springy, grey ball of spirit. Staff Sergeant Lightfeathers was chatting with them in his same jovial nature he had used on me. I had managed to notice though, that they didn't have to sign the same waiver Strix and I had.

A few moments later and they headed our way. Swan was shaking his head about something.

"It appears that the last member of your group is not coming, so let's get started with the orientation. Prancer and Strix, I see you know each other already." He pointed to the slender hen with the grey-tipped feathers, "This here is my daughter, Gavii," then pointing to the big girl, "and her friend, Tarsus. Gunnery Sergeant Panzer Faust will be observing your initial test and training. We're likely to be short on time, so consider yourselves oriented."

The other sergeant entered the room from a door in the back. He took a few moments to size up all of us neophytes. I had no idea how, but he seemed to have a more grave expression than even my mother was capable of.

He turned to address Lightfeathers, "This sorry lot is the new batch?"

"All but one who hasn't shown up. I had decided it best that we..." He was cut off as another griffon burst into the office. There didn't seem to be a speck of color on him. "Cora! You are late! Get your tail over here and fall in line!"

"Yeah, sure." He mumbled, sauntering over to our group

Gavii giggled, "He's silly looking!"

"He's white." Tarsus blandly pointed out.

Strix cleared his throat and pushed his glasses back up, fanning his feathers back into their owl look, "He has albinism, a rare condition where his body can't produce any melanin resulting in almost zero pigmentation in his feathers, fur or skin."

Sergeant Faust Cleared his throat, "Ahem, if you are all done socializing, let's head to your initial testing." He motioned us to follow him out the door he entered from.

Through the door we found ourselves in a long hallway, It led past some private offices and the jailhouse towards a set of double doors labeled "EXIT". That door in turn headed out to the back of the building. Behind the Talon office was a stretch of road that curved around a few low, tree-covered hills.

Faust pointed towards a flag post beside the road. "Time for you fledglings to prove you belong here, all that you have earned so far is the right to show us!" bellowed Faust. Cora motioned as if to say something but was cut off, "SHUT YOUR BEAK! You may not speak at this time, cream puff!" He took in a deep breath before resuming, "Your first test is going to be a kilometer-long timed flight along the marked telephone poles. For no reason are you neophytes allowed to stray from this path! You will be met at the finish by Sergeant Lightfeathers. Keep in mind that there is only three openings for initiates. Any questions?"

My hopes died right there and then. Only three will pass; only three that didn't need the waiver. I know I'm not nearly as smart as Strix, but I could see where this was headed. All I could do was wait for this day to be over.

Tarsus broke the silence, "So, over half of us will pass?" Gavii giggled playfully at the stupid question.

The sergeant facepalmed, "Yes, slop for brains, that's basic math for you! Now get limbered up, with that question, you all have lost the right for all further questions!" He walked around us, slowly, eyeing each of us with a look so intense it made my knees weak. I couldn't help but feel depressed, I was never going to beat the other griffons. Still, I had to do my best. We all lined up at the starting flag, ready for the signal.

Gavii turned to Tarsus, "bet'cha can't catch me!" she sang. To which Tarsus simply grunted.

Cora didn't say anything, he seemed content to flap his wings, happy with his stark-white feathers. Then he was... preening himself? In public? I never thought that that was appropriate, mother always slapped me if I did.

Strix leaned over to me, "Prancer, I recall in a book once that in an endurance test you cannot use up all your strength in the first sections, save your energy for a sprint in the last stretch."

"Do you think that'll work?" Why would he be giving me advice if the two of us aren't even really in the running anyway?

"Well, it was written over two centuries ago by ponies for marathon races, but yes, I think so." He stretched his legs, keeping his eyes fixed down the road ahead.

Cora snorted, "What could eggheads writing books know about racing?

"Now that gossip time is over, will you all KINDLY SHUT UP!" interrupted Faust, "The hell is it with the constant chatter coming out of your ungrateful beaks!" He flapped strongly, boosting himself above us with surprising speed. "Ya know what? Time starts now! GO!"

Tarsus got off the line immediately, not saying a word. She was followed closely behind by Gavii, calling out to her, "Not fair, Tarsus! Wait for MEEEE!"

Strix nodded to me and we both took off. I felt a bit of pride seeing that my launch was more graceful than his. This little ego boost was short-lived though, Cora easily passed the two of us. I really didn't think I could get anywhere in this if I just paced myself, so I redoubled my efforts and pressed my wings to carry me faster.

After only a couple minutes, Cora seemed to be listing to the left after passing the third pole. He was going to cut the corner over the copse of trees heading between the hills. That wasn't right, Faust was adamant that we stick to the path and now I realized why. It wasn't that it was cheating, there was something alive in there! Something...thin and green... was moving, it spat something at me that soared high over my head. I tucked my wings back to trade some altitude for more speed. The thing's second spit missed me again, but tagged Strix behind me. He screamed in pain and began to fall.

"PRANCER!" he whined, doing his best to keep up with me.

I didn't have any hope of winning anyway, and the thought of mom losing a wing mate yesterday guided my thoughts. I had to help. I doubled back to catch him. I reached out for him, realizing at the last moment I had no hope of catching him. He hit the dirt hard, sliding along for a few meters before tumbling over. I managed to land safely, if a bit hard, just ahead of him. I looked back at him, he was clutching his side.

"S-seed pod, help... p-pull it out quickly!" he groaned

I ran to him, the seed pod had dug into him behind his ribs. Grabbing hold, I tried pulling, eliciting a squeal from Strix. The damned thing was already taking root! I had to think quickly and got idea that he'd never forgive me for going with, twisting the slender stem that protruded from his side as hard as I could. I have never heard anything that felt so loud as the noise he had made, not even my few experiences with firearms could compare. With the solid snap still fresh in my ears, I had broken the roots the pod was growing enough to yank it from him.

Tossing it aside, even I could tell that while that thing was now out of him, he needed more help than I could give. "Strix, what do I do?!"

"P...put pressure on it, push down on it, hold it shut..." He coughed out.

I had no idea if help could arrive in time, but he's the smart one, so I pressed my talons down on the hole in him. There wasn't too much blood coming out of him, relatively speaking I suppose, It was mostly sappy, plant goop. I looked around, trying to see if there was anything I could use to plug the wound. There was nothing but barren dirt and dead trees, but I could make out someone coming up the road. It was Sergeant Faust! He was carrying something with him, a yellow box? I've seen those before, he was bringing a medical kit!

"Good job, kid, keep holding that." Sergeant Faust said as he brought out a potion from the kit for Strix to drink.

As he drank, I could feel the wounds slowly knitting together under my touch. It was an odd sensation, but it was a good thing I was sure. Up ahead down the road I could see Lightfeathers leading the others back.

"What happened?" Lightfeathers asked once he touched down next to us.

"What's-his-name? Cora? He drifted too close and riled up the spore plants and nearly got this guy here killed" Sergeant Faust pressed a section of bandages against Strix around where I was holding, making sure the wound had closed cleanly.

"So I assume then that we won't need to resort to times for this test?" Lightfeathers didn't sound too disappointed at that.

"Nope, I've got my three. We won't be needing Cora and this bookworm isn't in any shape for training. So we won't need any other tests either." The gruff Sergeant spoke as he packed the empty bottle and bandages back into the case.

Cora leapt forward, "What?! Why not? I placed third in the race! I have the best physical scores!

Faust slapped him and yelled in his meanest growl I've heard yet from him, "You have the highest wing power we've seen in over ten years, the best flight times we've seen in almost twenty." He paused for a breath, "You are also the most selfish and prideful piece of alabaster horseshit this wasteland has ever squeezed out! Not only are you NOT going to be a Talon, you are going to be billed for the medical expense of this neophyte's injury!"

Cora looked astonished, his cheeks flushing red with rage. "You lied to me, then! I played your little game, placed in the three spots open and you cut me?!"

"I'm gonna say this once, then you had better be gone before I find something to bludgeon you with! It was NOT a race! When the hell had I ever said that?! It was TIMED in case we had all five of you follow the guidelines as I instructed you! Only then could it have been a race!" He paused for more air again, "Had you applied yourself you would have easily gotten the fastest time, yet you slacked off thinking it was an easy pass! Worse still, you cheated and nearly got a wing mate killed, so you had better get your sorry ass out of here!"

I think Cora finally got the hint, crying to himself as he left with a great deal of unintelligible whining. Wow, even I knew how to take comments like that with more dignity. I never doubted that Mother was right, all the yelling and pain toughened me right up!

"Prancer," I heard Strix mumble from under me, "please get off of me, it's starting to really hurt."

"Oh, sorry!" I hadn't realized that I was still pressing on his wound.

"Well, you little chickadees have it easy, no more tests today. Take the night off and I will have the rest of your training ready in the morning."

I nodded and headed back to the Office. Looking over my shoulder I could see Faust leading Strix to the clinic. Strix didn't look that bad from what I could tell, he was walking without help, though I have never had a seed pod in me, myself.

I turned and began to fly back to the Talon building. I was so happy to have been accepted. I know I had only barely passed, but it had to be something meant to be. I was actually going to become a Talon!

"Yay! Prancy made it!" Gavii shouted in an overly joyous, sing-song voice. "Between your teamwork skills, Tarsy's strong muscles, and my amazingly cheery attitude, the rest of training is sure be a breeze!" She took off into the sky without a moment's pause, followed unceremoniously by Tarsus.

It wasn't a long trip back, seeing how I never made it through the whole of the timed flight. I wandered through the halls I had seen earlier, up to the front desk where Gavii and Tarsus were waiting for me. Mother was there, too. She was arguing with Lightfeathers's assistant, who had apparently already been informed of the incident.

"...He passed him?! For what, being nice?" Mother shrieked, "That kind of leniency is going to get someone killed! I'm definitely taking this upstairs, Ooooh, HQ is just going to love this." and with that she pushed past the desk and into a doorway leading to a stairwell.

Gavii waved to me, "Prancy! This way!" Gavii beckoned, while Tarsus just smiled warmly.

I followed them into the bunk room, where Gavii told me that we had the pick of any of the dozen cots in the room. Having been given the option of picking whichever bunk I wished was quite the treat I assumed, but I didn't want first pick, seeing as they were the only ones to technically earn their spots. I gave first pick to Tarsus and Gavii and found myself a spot just across the aisle from them. I could hear them whispering to each other, but I just wanted to lay down and get some rest. Tomorrow was going to be ten times tougher, and I needed all the rest I could get.

Settling in, I wasn't sure how I could fall asleep. I was very excited about the next day, my first Actual day of training. I was going to do all the things I've been waiting for, I'm certain I'll do much better than when I'm struggling to fly! There was nothing I would let stand in my way from making a name for myself, not when I have made it this far! If only... I could get... to sleep...


---


I found myself flying high, panting hard to keep up enough air, but it didn't feel uncomfortable in the least! I was finally flying above the clouds! I had never been this high, the sun shining down on me. I couldn't believe I was actually all the way up here, it couldn't be possible! I realized that there had to have been some other thing that got me up here, I've never been able to fly above the cloud cover, let alone touch it! Something about it was just... wrong.

I began to wonder about that, what did get me up here? where did whatever it was go? The thought started to gnaw at me, growing like an itch I couldn't scratch. The fear was building, there had to be something. I looked around. There was nothing around, just more clouds, above me was only empty, blue sky. I dared to look down, and the clouds parted. There was a beautiful landscape below! Lush, green hills and craggy peaks. I pondered how sharp the rocks must be on those mountains under me.

...and that's when I began to fall.


---


I was awoken to Faust's elated voice, "Good morning, initiates! This is the last fun day you'll have in training!"

He had a few vests, a couple rifles in tow and a machine gun slung on his back. The three of us drug ourselves out of bed slowly. What did he mean by that? wasn't this just the first day? It took me a moment to figure out his statement, that he planned to make everything harder on us than anything we saw today.

We each collected a vest and a rifle, except for Tarsus, who was given the LMG on a battle saddle due to her size. Her vest was actually a size or two too small, so it had to be left open, which for some reason seemed to entertain Gavii as she poked at her with her talon. I looked down, the old rifle felt weird in my talons as I looked it over, it was kinda front heavy, but I didn't know much about prewar weapon designs. That would be something Strix would have probably made me feel dumb with again anyway. Gavii didn't seem bothered by the size or weight of her rifle, she was looking it over, playing with all the controls and moving bits.

"Instead of just letting you useless cubs waste a lot of actually useful bullets on sheets of plywood or paper, today we're going to use much more useful targets for you to train on" He puffed himself up a bit, "You lot are going to clear out those spore plants on the hillside. They are both a danger to Talon company operations and incredibly hard to get rid of! I expect nothing short of a spore plant genocide on that hill by the end of the morning!"

I was aghast! How was I supposed to just go back to those things, on purpose, no less! The look of Strix's wounds were still burned in my mind. I didn't think that the sight would ever fade. All the same, Faust wanted us to go kill them, so we must. A Talon follows orders.

"What the hell are you waiting for, a formal invitation from HQ!? Get moving, initiates!" His voice made me jump, I nearly fumbled the rifle out of my talons as he waved his arm to the door. "You should all remember the way! Once there, report to Sergeant Lightfeathers, he's waiting there with your 'specialized spore slaughtering ammunition'!"

The three of us headed through the backdoor into into the long hallway again to the double "EXIT" doors. Once airborne from the back of the building, we flew back down the curved road until we found Lightfeathers as we were told. He was holding a large pouch filled with something heavy.

"Good morning, initiates. Sergeant Faust has planned a cute party for you, you are going to render a service to the Talons early in your careers," he turned to me and smiled, "Prancer, I assume you want to deal out some payback for your friend, too?"

He was right. Strix was deserving something for what he went through. I felt a bit of anger welling up towards these pests. I nodded eagerly and pulled my rifle close.

He continued, "The goal today is to put enough bullets into these bastards to knock them down so another unit may burn them out safely." He began pulling things from his satchel, "Here's a few magazines for your rifles, load up, keep the safeties on and wait while I help out Tarsus with her weapon."

Gavii held one of the bullets in her talon and looked over it intensely. "But Sergeant Faust said that these were super special bullets. They look pretty normal ta' me!"

"Yeah, sure." Lightfeathers let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. "They're only special if you believe they are. Does that help?" Gavii let out a happy squawk as Lightfeathers finally fit a magazine into Tarsus's light machine gun. I finished loading my rifle as Faust made it up to us. He had a satchel of his own he was carrying, looking at least as full as the one Lightfeathers had.

"Ooo! Ooo! Are those special bullets as well!?" Gavii nearly shouted as she lightly took off, doing a flip before landing. Her constant excitement was really starting to wear on me, maybe mother had a wing mate like her and that's why she was never happy.

"You little featherkittens get ready to get to work?!" Faust announced, "Prancer, I assume that you remember where they are, so you're up first!"

I certainly did know where they were, even now I could see them from the road where I stood. I wasn't sure though if I could hit them at this range, they all looked so dang small. "How do I hit them from here, sergeant?"

"You don't even..." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Look, It's simple, point the front sight on the target and line them up in the rear sight. Then exhale a breath and squeeze the trigger until the rifle fires. This isn't like we're crafting a damned megaspell here!"

OK, I could do that...at least, I think I could. I held up the rifle and placed the sights on the shifting plant as I was told. I could just barely make out what looked like a face. A grinning face. I pressed my talon against the trigger ever so gently until I felt it go off. I then found out why the rifle was designed so heavy on the front, as it barely jumped from the recoil. I noticed something that was rather disheartening, though. I missed.

"Prancer, keep your eye focused on the front sight, not the target! Fire again!" Sarge barked into my ear, only confusing me. How is that supposed to work? I need to see the target, but I'm not allowed to look at it? I lined up the sights again, focusing on that front post. The grinning thing's outline blurred as I thought about how it felt oddly symbolic. When the spore plant was out of focus, all the mattered was the rifle, the shape behind it was a thing that didn't matter anymore.

Then I squeezed the trigger, this time holding the rifle tighter.

With the shot's report drifting off through the hills, the green shape wobbled, nipping at the air around it as it drooped over to the ground. I don't think it was grinning anymore.

"There ya go, kid, ya got it. Now safety your weapon and wait with Lightfeathers. Giggles! You're up!"

I made my way over to Swan and Tarsus who were still working on getting her battle saddle set straight.

"Prancer, I need a little help with this. Tarsus has her girth strap tangled and I can't reach all the way around her." He said, punctuated by Gavii's rifle fire.

"Sure" I said as I pondered how to get the strap loose. It looked as though it was just wrapped around itself. I stopped when I heard Gavii fire again. She was laughing. I really thought that she was having too much fun. Looking to the mess of Tarsus's gear again, I moved to grab it out from under her, but I hesitated a moment, was she blushing? She turned away from me to stare straight ahead, so I just back to the issue and pulled the strap clear. "Now what, Sergeant?"

"Buckle it in, tightly, then loop the remainder of the belt over itself"

I pulled it around her and buckled it in. There wasn't any slack left over and was buckled nearly into the last hole of the belt. I noted that Tarsus was breathing heavily and shaking a bit.

"Is it too tight, Tarsus?" I asked. She just shook her head.

Gavii bounded towards us wearing a gigantic smile. "Tarsy! It's your turn, Faust wanted me to leave ya' somethin' to shoot at. And how could I not let you try when it's so much fun!"

Tarsus nodded and moved up to learn the basics of shooting. Faust was talking about things like 'suppression' and 'controlled fire'. A moment later she opened fire onto the hilltop. Her weapon had an impressive chatter as it fired, the bullets throwing splinters from trees and tossing showers of dirt from where they hit on the hill. I couldn't imagine that the spore plants could have survived.

Faust patted her shoulder and motioned us over. He pulled his bag around in front of himself and pulled out a couple metal spheres. If they were just a bit bigger, they'd have looked like really smooth wild onions.

"Well, now that those are dealt with, time for you badasses in training to really let it fly. We're going to make sure you know how to use basic explosives without killing yourselves." He pointed down the road to the south, the opposite way from our first test, "almost two kilometers is an old convenience store. It's a far better place to let you light stuff up than here in town." He turned to Lightfeathers, "Swan, radio back and let HQ know that the hill is ready for some phosphorous. We're moving ahead."

We headed south from 'Claw, we were heading the furthest I would have ever been from home. Faust set a fairly slow pace, presumably to let Lightfeathers catch up later. I was mortified at the thought of flying two kilometers while wearing my gear. I had never flown that far at a time, I hardly even flew that far in a single day! It was helpful to have a group to spur me on, still, I was running out of breath. Even at our slow pace I wouldn't be able to keep up. The rifle I had slung underneath me felt like it weighed more every second. I heard something behind me, looking back I saw sergeant Lightfeathers approaching us at a good speed, now carrying a weapon of his own.

He called out to me, "Cheer up, Prancer, we're nearly there!"

Really, were we? Looking ahead of us I could see a large signpost standing in front of a building beside the road. Faust pointed downwards and began to land, so we followed him down.

"Alright, my little, downy hens. We finish the trip in the dirt. Spread out along the road, and get ready. We are now practicing patrolling, so keep your eyes open and beaks shut! Faust ordered.

We only had several hundred meters left to go. Several hundred empty meters. This was the first truly boring part of being a Talon initiate so far. I couldn't believe mother really did patrols like this each evening. At least it didn't take long to get there, having caught my breath in that time as my legs were far easier to use than my wings. Once we had arrived at the store, Faust and Lightfeathers turned and addressed us.

Sergeant Lightfeathers started off the lecture, "As per standard training, we are going to practice fragging this pre-war shop. Thrown grenades are extremely dangerous, they have a lethal radius of five meters and a wounding radius of fifteen. Sometimes fragments may even travel over a hundred. A good throw could get about thirty meters in range, and I don't have to tell you that's well within the danger zone, so make sure to get yourself down once the grenade is thrown." he waited a moment, letting it sink in, "Grenades are best used by throwing them into a room or around a corner. Somewhere where you can put something solid between you and what needs to be blown up."

Faust nodded, "This building aughtta' be perfect. Reports show that a firefight broke out a day ago here and was left abandoned. Leaving it a ripe training ground to teach you kids how to use a grenade without killing yourselves." Faust continued as he unslung the satchel from himself. Movement inside the convenience store caught my eye, as I squinted, I could make out a few shapes inside moving about. Pony shapes.

Unexpectedly, we came under fire. Following the Sergeants' lead, we all dove to the ground, dropping behind a large fallen tree that sat alongside the road. I was rather impressed how Lightfeathers had his submachinegun at the ready as soon as he hit the dirt, but he didn't seem to be too sure how useful it would be as he pulled it close.

"Damnit! There wasn't supposed to be any raiders left here!" cursed Lightfeathers

"These ain't raiders. Raiders would have run out after us by now, yelling and screaming and practically lining up for us to hand out bullets." replied Faust, "These have gotta be something else!"

"So what do we do?" I yelled over the roaring gunfire.

Faust laughed, "Today's training has now changed to 'live-fire room clearing'! Beefcake! Get up to that rock and lay down suppressing fire!" He ordered, pointing to a small boulder ahead. "Everyone else on me, were gonna toss some grenades in then kick down their damn door!"

As soon as Tarsus began firing we moved up, keeping our heads down. No-one was shooting at us now, though, I could see that they were focused on firing blindly at Tarsus. I at least hoped that they were firing blindly and that Faust was wrong. Mom always said that raiders could hardly hit the broad side of a barn from the inside, but I never wanted to actually test that theory.

My hopes were cut tragically short. A shot rang out from a broken hole in the wall of the store. I could see Tarsus flinch, but she kept firing, pouring rounds into the convenience store, at least until her magazine ran dry.

Slowly, she slumped over, landing on her side. I slipped along the log we had used for cover, running back over around the rock to her. Blood was beginning to pool from a wound on her chest as I knelt down next to her. I fired blindly at the opening the shot came from, my weapon gave a sharp clack as it ran empty. I drew a fresh magazine and attempted to replace the old one, but I fumbled them attempting to juggle both the old one and the new one in one talon. they landed in the dirt with a thud.

I was reaching for another magazine when I heard Faust yelling, "FRAG OUT" he said, followed by a couple muffled 'whumps' from inside the building. I peeked my head around the rock as Lightfeathers and Gavii ran inside, hearing a couple more gunshots ring out...

Then silence.

I turned back to Tarsus beside me. What do I do? She's bleeding all over! What would Strix do? Aha! 'apply pressure', that worked before! I pressed on the wound. I pressed my talons down against it as I felt Tarsus relax, starting to panic when I could feel her heartbeat slowing. I needed more help!

"Sergeant! She needs help!" I called over my shoulder. No response.

"It's OK, I don't feel bad about anything, my daddy told me I'd find a nice boy I'd spend the rest of my life with." she said happily, "I'm glad it was you."

"I really don't think that this is what he meant!" I cringed as my heart pounded. "SERGEANT, I NEED HELP!"

"Doesn't matter to me, I finally got to talk to you." She said, giving my leg a quick nuzzle, then she laid back and closed her eyes. I felt her take one last breath... then nothing...

She was gone. I couldn't think of anything to do or say about it, so I stood there, staring for what felt like hours. I could already feel her blood drying on my talons and paws in the wasteland's heat. I could hear the others moving about now, topping off their weapons and checking for anything to salvage. They felt so far away, so I had thought, until Lightfeathers brought me back into reality with a gentle nudge.

"You two should get back to base." He told Gavii and I, "We'll... handle the rest here. Turn in your gear, get cleaned up and get some rest."

I nodded dumbly. I could almost feel a ringing in my ears, one not from the gunfire but a distant hum in the back of my head. Gavii flew off ahead of me with tears flowing down her beak, leaving me to walk in silence. I thought back on where I first met Tarsus but I couldn't remember it. She was younger than me, so we wouldn't have been in school with Strix and me learning from old Mr. Bookbeak. Remembering him was a welcome distraction and put a small smile on my face, I was never told his real name, only having heard that everyone from his unit before he retired called him 'Bookbeak' and it really stuck. Still, that didn't answer my thoughts. 'Claw wasn't much more than the Talon office, a store, the "library" and the private homes of the mercenaries, I had to have seen her before.

It dawned on me, I had seen her, but that was it, nothing more than passing glances around town. We never spoke to each other, not once, which explains a bit of what she meant earlier. I'd see her when I was running errands for mom, a quick glance, a brief smile. Why did I never talk to her? Was it because she was always busy with Gavii? Maybe, it would have been rude to interrupt them. Though how could I not, they were inseparable.

Oh well, it's too late now. All the conjecture in the world won't help bring her back. I was already halfway back to the office, so I gave up on my thoughts and took to wing, ignoring the soreness in them as I pushed myself to fly. The hum at least died down while the wind whipped past me, the scenery was all a blur while I flew the rest of the way to the office doorstep, I wasn't able to bring my eyes into focus on anything. I didn't even really register that I had flown a whole two kilometers during these assignments. It just didn't seem like an accomplishment to me after today.

As I entered through the front doors I was met by a young griffon at Lightfeathers' desk. I was confused at first by her look of shock, but quickly realized it was most likely because I looked like I had ripped something apart with my claws and talons alone. I spoke up quickly, before she could freak out or something. "Quartermaster's office?"

She didn't reply, she just pointed off to my right. weird how I hadn't noticed before that it was just past the bunk room and across from the washroom. walking up to the door, I saw the name placard stating 'Lt. Calico Rackkam, Quartermaster'. I stepped inside, but I didn't see anyone.

"Uh, lieutenant Rackkam? Initiate Thistledown to drop off a rifle." I announced

"Yes, fine. Leave it on the table, and don't give me your damn formalities!

"OK... sir..." I stood for a moment, lost in thought about how Tarsus was just... gone.

"Whatever, just don't talk to me like your mother, and do grab a bottle of water or something and one of those rags on the counter, you stink!"

While setting down the rifle I could see the quartermaster working on some sort of long tube. He was unbolting a large casing from the side of it. "Look, I can still smell you there..." He started to say as he turned to me, "Sweet Luna's sunless nethers! What happened to you?!"

"It's a long story, where did you say the water and rags were?" I replied

He pointed to a neat and tidy set of shelves, "Right there, now please leave me be. I have a missile launcher here that some idiot jammed up tight and I'd really hate to explode this early in the day!" and with that he returned to his work.

I took them and walked to the washroom across the hall, stepping inside and plodding over to the one sink left standing. I looked into the mirror, my green eyes stared back into myself in the broken glass. If I didn't know better I might not have been able to recognize my own fractured image. could this be what mom felt at the end of each day? How does she manage to even get up every morning?

Trying my best to clean off the blood and grime, managing to get back to some semblance of normality. Having the rest of the day off from training wasn't a blessing, not today. I had no drive to do anything, yet without something to busy myself with, I found my thoughts haunting me. I wandered back towards my bunk and fell into a reverie of last week. Without this Talon business I'd be cleaning the house, doing the dishes, scrubbing, dusting... Oh, how I wished to have those picture frames here. I know I always looked at them every day.

I was almost to the small barracks set up for the initiates, time not seeming to have any sort of regularity through my haze. I focused on imagining what dad would do, I'm sure he would find a way to carry on, some way to find meaning in what happened. As I reached the doorway to the bunks I could hear a soft crying. Looking in I saw Gavii sitting on her bunk, her head in her talons as she trembled softly. I knocked on the door frame, I wasn't sure if I should just come in, not wanting to upset her further.

She looked up at me, "Hi, Prancy." She had said, her voice a weak shadow of the last couple days.

Crud, what do I say about this, "Do you, umm, want to talk? About... stuff?"

She giggled lightly and nodded. Laughter, that's good, right? "Prancer, you're as bad at talking about stuff as Tarsy, aren't you?"

She scooted over on her bunk. Did she want me to sit down? Hesitantly, I decided she did and set myself down beside her. "I've never had the chance to talk much, so, I guess I haven't had a chance to get good at it."

"Tarsy didn't talk much either, not unless we were talking about you." She smiled as she said that. Girls are confusing, first sad, then giggling, all at a time like this. "She was too shy to talk to you, though. She was afraid that you weren't interested in ladies, either."

"Why would she think that?" I liked girls well enough, I just, never thought about her like that.

"You always acted so scared around them," she pondered it a moment "maybe that's the wrong word. I guess you just avoided them, or something."

"Do I? I never thought I did that." I really didn't, did I? Even on a good day, I have no idea how to talk about girls. I need to redirect the focus, "So, if she talked about me, then who did you talk about?"

"Me... Well, I always talked about Strix. He's great and all, but..." she curled her paws and talons in, balling into herself as she cried again. "OH CELESTIA, I LOVED HER!" Gavii's voice resonated in the room as I just sat, not sure what to say. "All those years, she never knew and now that she's gone..." She let out a soft wail as she sobbed. I put my talon around her back, patting her gently. This was as far as I ever got talking with mom when she was sad, she always started hitting me after this.

"Thank you, Prancy, I'm just going to need some time to myself. I'm glad she found the strength to tell you how she felt." She looked up to me and smiled softly. "I guess I don't have a reason to refuse Strix anymore, do I?" said as she moved to playfully punch me in the shoulder. I don't know why, but I flinched. I don't even flinch when mom hits me. "...you ok, Prancy?"

"Yeah, I think so... I guess... probably not. Maybe we aught to just get some sleep." I surmised.

"OK, that sounds pretty good right now anyway. Night, Prancy."

I pulled off my vest and set it on my footlocker, getting irritated at the hum in my head, it had returned with a vengeance. I was sure though that I would feel better after some sleep... But as I lay there, I couldn't help as my thoughts replayed that moment outside the building. Closing my eyes only made the images and sounds more vivid. More and more, I couldn't understand this life. Each day filled with exhaustion, pain, fear, sorrow. I have yet to see any upsides.

I sighed as I lay there, the ringing winning out over the sounds of the HQ. As all I could do was focus on the sound, I felt ashamed that part of me wondered if this life was really the best one for me. What would Mom say to that? What would Dad...


---


I couldn't recognize where I was. Everything looked familiar, sounded familiar, even smelled familiar; though I just couldn't place it. I could see a squalid, tin building ahead. The door was open. I felt a knot forming in my gut. I wasn't able to tell what, but something impelled me towards this shack. I stepped through the doorway and waited for my vision to adjust to the gloom. In the center of the room was a big griffon sitting at a red table. It was Tarsus! how could she be here?!

She looked up from the table, "Prancer, you're back!"

She smiled, just looking back at me. I could only stare agape at what I saw, I thought I lost the chance to get to know her! I stumbled over to her and set my talon upon the table to steady myself. I know I had only just 'officially' met Tarsus, but there was something about her that I couldn't resist. She was pretty, although I had never quite seen her beauty before. Mother would like her, a bit simple, but that's not really that bad, right?

It had dawned to me as I lifted my talon off the table, seeing the flaking, light blue paint underneath. It wasn't red, it was covered in Tarsus's blood. She was still bleeding from that ragged hole in her chest. She started choking up more in wet, raspy coughs. The coughing fit didn't subside, it worsened. She sputtered, hacking up more of that crimson and spattering it on my face.

"No... no, no, no, no!" No matter how I tried, I couldn't get away.

She stood up and was moving to hug me. All I could think of was that she was going to drown me! There was only one thing I could do, I screamed.


---


I awoke to yet more screaming, though not my own. The sergeant's voice rung in my ear and startled me up as I jumped out of my bunk. I didn't even remember getting to bed, let alone drifting off.

"Initiate Thistledown! You have new orders!" He barked, "Get your gear on, you're moving in ten minutes!"

I blinked and spoke dumbly as my brain tried to collect itself. "But Sergeant, how do I already have orders? I thought there was more training to do..."

"If I questioned my orders as much as you have, Initiate Thistledown, they would have kicked me to the dirt so hard that even the fucking earth ponies would think that I grew in as part of their fucking summer harvest!" He stiffened up and took in one of his trademark deep breaths before he continued. He seemed more ragged this morning, probably having just as hard a time with Tarsus as Gavii was. "You were requested by name, initiate, you don't get to question it! Now get the fuck off your lazy flank and get moving!"

At least fetching my gear was easy, I hardly had anything besides my standard issue training vest. Hell, I hadn't been issued a personal weapon nor did I have any caps to buy one straight off of the quartermaster. I pondered about asking about using one of the rifles, but as the Sergeant left, I decided that the orders would probably detail anything extra I needed anyway.

I made my way hesitantly to the front office to receive my assignment from Sergeant Lightfeathers. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why I was chosen for a job, there had to be someone else better suited, even Gavii or Strix would have been better. Dang, this had to be what mom and Sergeant Faust kept talking about, just do what you're told. Lightfeathers spotted me as soon as I rounded the corner to the front desk. He had a grave look on his face and his eyes were bloodshot. Had he not slept well or had he been crying? Both maybe? Regardless, he didn't seem himself. All the same I walked up to the counter and saluted.

"Initiate Thistledown reporting for orders!" I exclaimed, trying to present myself as best as I could for having woken up two minutes prior.

"Yes, I have your dossier here." Sergeant Swan said without his usual enthusiasm, "You have been selected to run a covert reconnaissance op tonight, the goal is to confirm the location of a target we have been commissioned to eliminate."

That didn't sound too hard, no wonder they wanted me. A job to walk up, observe, and walk out again would be perfect. I was just about to open the folder I had been given when Lightfeathers held out another object towards me.

"You should take this too," It was his 10mm submachinegun, "Though I certainly hope you won't need to use it, but if it comes down to it, don't hesitate." He turned and left as soon as he finished speaking, disappearing through the door in the back of the room. I opened up the sealed envelope, reading as it detailed a location about five kilometers outside of town. It also reinforced that it must be completed tonight, lest the target moves on. That was unfortunate, that meant that I had to get moving immediately, I had at least wanted to see if Gavii was alright. But just confirming that the target was there shouldn't take too long.

Seeing that there was little left to do I left the office, nearly running into mom at the front door. "Sorry, mom! I didn't mean to get in your way!"

"Hurrying off somewhere?" She asked with the faintest ghost of a smirk. Was that... pride? Did she actually just smirk in approval!?

"Yes, mom, I have an assignment!" I said, feeling my own pride swell, "I have to be going, see you afterwards!" And with that, I headed out the door. For a brief moment, the misfortune of the last few days disappeared as I jumped over the gate of the Talon office, feeling as the air caught under my stiff wings.

As I flew off towards the cliffs as instructed, the journey took me south over the old building we fought at yesterday. I felt guilt well up inside me as I spotted the blood stained rock where Tarsus died. I pushed myself hard, trying to keep the images of yesterday from coming up again. I needed to stay focused, this wasn't training any more. 'Claw was relying on me to do my duty, and most of all, this was the one time that I had seen mom relatively happy, and there is no way I will risk disappointing her!

But as of now, I was out of 'Claw and unsure if I could even make rest of this journey by wing after how much flying I had been doing this week. Usually a trip across town was more than enough to get me winded, only getting better when I had made the one kilometer flight between the Talon office and home a couple dozen times. But with as far as I had flown both yesterday and today, I'm afraid that I won't be able to make the return flight, let alone the trip there.

My wings protested sharply, feeling more and more like lead weights on my shoulders. I couldn't give up though, I was almost to the target zone and just needed them to give me a few minutes more! I cringed as my flight muscles had no intention of hearing this plea, forcing me to descend as I could feel a cramp coming on. My tired wings had only enough left in them to glide down just shy of a hundred meters from the foot of the cliff, groaning in pain as I folded them up. I thought that they had hurt before, but I know that they would be seriously sore tomorrow morning, probably sore enough that I would be forced to walk back. I cringed at the prospect of getting that far before sunset and straightened myself out, continuing along towards my assignment. After a few minutes of rest, I clambered onto a large rock that provided me a much better viewpoint.

Looking at the enormous rock face before me, I found the craggy hole at the bottom that was described in the mission briefing. This had to be where the big 'gaui from the mission files was hiding! I froze as I was struck with an inspiring thought, H.Q. knew next to nothing about the beast. If I could get closer and observe it, I might be able to find a weakness that could end the problem that the whole town faced! Then the Talons could actually focus on culling raiders and protecting caravans, which is what they came out here to do in the first place. Most importantly though, it would certainly make Mom proud of me! She'd have to smile once she learned I was a pivotal part of taking it down.

I carefully picked my way across the arid stretch of land, winding around the boulders that lined the area around the dark entrance, trying my best not to make any noise, just like keeping from waking mom up in the morning. About fifteen meters away, the path opened up into a flat pan of dirt leading to the cavern's mouth, the stench of rotten meat permeated the air. I felt my pulse quicken as I inched towards the wide hole, peering into the cave slowly to meet a pair of milky-white eyes glowing back. A deep growl rumbled from the entrance and it plodded out into the moonlight. Not only was it much bigger than I ever thought it could have been, it was missing patches of its skin and actually WAS the source of the smell of rot.

I pressed myself against a nearby boulder as it stopped and sniffed the air for a moment. I held my breath as it looked about, seemingly unaware of my presence. I used this chance to look it over in detail, not noticing any particular part that could be exploited in an attack. I felt the wind pick up behind me, feeling amazingly good as it flowed up through my sore wings. The Bear snorted, swinging it's head over to me with a low growl. Shifting winds had given my scent away! The bear took a step towards me as Lightfeathers' instructions flashed through my mind. "Don't hesitate." I muttered to myself and aimed my SMG up, giving the trigger a quick squeeze to fill the air with the gun's staccato report.

The 10mm rounds bit into the putrid hide of the mammoth fiend, not having the effect I had hoped for as the bear appeared to be completely unfazed. With a roar, it charged at me, forcing me to fire another burst, unknowingly emptying the magazine of my weapon. The second burst had no more of an impact than before, and my legs started to shake, never in my life felling this amount of sheer terror. The hammer of the gun made a 'click' as it struck on an empty chamber, helping my brain force me to act. I turned to flee, practically falling over myself as my limbs didn't want to co-operate, slamming into the dry dirt with a loud thud.

Before I could scramble up, the monster snarled and grabbed my hind leg in its powerful maw. I wailed in pain and felt my thigh burn as it was crushed in the enormous, decaying jaws, the hollow snaps from my bones echoed through the night along with my scream. I clawed the dirt as the ground was ripped from me, the bear flung me away as the it reared up and twisted it's head. It let out another deafening roar as I sailed through the entrance to the cave, tumbling end over end. I knew that even if I were a great flier, I would have found there was little chance for me to right himself before I crashed back down into the dirt. I yelled in pain as I tumbled along the dirt, skidding slowly to a stop while the Uberbear growled at me.

I could barely lift myself up, let alone fly away before the creature loomed over me. I couldn't do anything but lay there in agony as a horrifying realization came to the front of my thoughts. I was going to die. I looked around the cave in panic, trying to find something, anything I could use to help. The interior of the cave wasn't what I had expected, looking more like a home than a cave. I felt the heavy stomps as the enormous bear followed me in. I looked over my shoulder in horror as it reached it's paw up, each thick claw glinting in what little light was left, bracing myself to share in as horrific an end as Tarsus had, the image of her from my dream would be the last thing I thought about before I died.

A single gunshot that came from behind the bear, the report was sharp and loud. I watched in awe as the massive beast wobbled and fell to the ground beside me, barely making out the jagged shape of its ruined skill from his spot in the dirt. Chunks of the bear's gaping head gleamed in the light from someone's lantern, it's crimson blood draining into the dirt as it let out it's last, deep breath. The gargantuan yao guai had finally been slain, and I had all but been saved. I looked down as I tried to move, my rear leg was nothing more than a mangled lump of flesh that was screaming at me to simply give up right here. I began to feel light headed, like everything seemed distant somehow as darkness clouded my vision.

Whomever my savior was, she must have been thinking something was funny, because she began to laugh. Wait, no. That wasn't a happy laugh, it was twisted in some way. The lantern grew closer, obscuring the one who had it.

"Ha ha ha ha... I guess this is irony," Wait, that voice! Mother had been the one who saved me! It was definitely her, I had just never heard her laugh before! She spoke up again, getting closer as I sat in the dirt holding the twisted remains of my leg. "I send you on a mission like this, using all my bribes and favors, just to get you killed, to be rid of you before you disgrace me any further, and I can't even sit back and let it happen!" She devolved into an obscene cackle.

"You... what?! Mom... I don't understand, what do you mean?!" I said as I tried to stay conscious through the pain. How could she say something like that? She never wanted me to die, all those times she beat me was just toughening me up... right? She couldn't hate her own son! I know I'm not as tough as dad, but with time, I could be! I winced and held my mangled wreck of a leg, hoping that we could get me back to the infirmary.

"I had hoped to be able to just let you go... to have some peace without your feeble attempts to have me gain some semblance of pride in you with your pathetic displays of 'prowess'!" She explained with a great waving of her talons. "To finally end your insufferable attempts of trying to live up to your fantasized notions of how great you thought your father is!"

"But, he died a mercenary, everyone said he was a legendary fighter!" I cried out to her, trying to pull myself along the ground towards her as she stood a ways in front of me, the pain from my leg was unimaginable. "How could you say that about him?"

"HA! Other than the brass up top, I was the only one who truly knew! How could I have told anyone else at the company that I had chosen a husband who left me as soon as the responsibility of being a parent broke him! He was a failure and he sired me another failure in kind! It's better that he be declared dead when he ran off than to disgrace the company!" Her bemused look returned as she continued, "and now I fail in turn. Does failure run concentrically, can it come 'full circle'?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, feeling tears welling up as I continued to crawl. Blinking them away didn't work, only leaving a red smear in my vision as I wept blood. There was a hollow feeling in my gut, a strange ringing in my ears. I stopped crawling and sat there staring for what felt an eternity, trying to speak but managed a mere whisper. "So, my life, our family, it was all a lie?"

She scoffed at the notion, "No, it's not a lie. It's all a joke, it's all a fucking joke! None of this matters!" She belted out, falling to her rump with a defeated look on her face.

I drug myself a bit closer before I tried in vain to stand. "Mom, it matters to me. Let's go home... please." I reached out to her, watching as she shook her head slowly.

"I just can't do it anymore," She muttered, "There's just nothing left." With a single tear she pulled her pistol, turning it on herself, and for the first and last time that I could remember...

...she smiled.





--------------

Level 1 reached!

Starting Trait:
Float like a Fluttershy
Flight ability is reduced by one rank. You are very capable on the ground, however, and recieve a 10% bonus to skill checks while all four legs are on a solid surface.
What's that? Only three? Prancer lost a leg already?! ...well then, I got nuthin', sorry.	




> Burdens to Bear
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Chapter 2 - Burdens to Bear



The gunshot was still ringing in my ears as the shock of the sudden events started to dull. What do I do now? I had to get back to H.Q. and get some help for Mom. How could someone help her, though, how do you help dead?! 

Dead... Mom's dead...

I stared at her unmoving form, the pain both wracking my body and my mind making the gun still firmly gripped in her talon look like a gift from whatever malevolent beings reside beyond. They would have to be malevolent to give me such the life I've lived, wouldn't they? Everything has been a lie, my father, my mother, even this mission was! I kept my eye on the glinting firearm, the urge to pull myself to it growing stronger. What use was I now to anyone anyway?

I shook the thought from my head. "No, I still have to get back, but how?" I grunted to myself, trying my best to stand, finding I couldn't quite manage to keep balanced with my twisted, right-rear leg. I fell backwards, still expecting it to be there to hold my weight. I screamed when I landed on the lump of meat it now was. I can do this! I NEED to do this! If I don't, then mother... then she was right.

Standing up to a crouch, I did my best to just let my mangled leg hang as I tried to figure out which way was best to head. I couldn't just jog back through the wilderness the way I came, and the road where I might be more easily seen by a Talon patrol was probably closer anyway. So that's the way I needed to go, nothing hard about that. I took it one step at a time as I headed down the hill to where the sun should rise again soon.  

After only a few steps, I couldn't hold it back anymore and screamed. I felt as if knives were jabbing into me when I pulled my leg forward. I continued like this for awhile. Step, step, step, drag. Scream.

A dozen agonizing paces later I collapsed, totally exhausted. It was strange, my leg wasn't bleeding as much as I had thought it might be. It was obscenely swollen, though... and backwards. I felt another surge of adrenaline, pushing myself with every appendage I could.  Paw, talons and wings, strained as I managed to get up once more. "Just... to the road... that's all..." I growled out as loud as I could. My voice carried along the wilderness, echoing in the hills as if to remind me just how alone I was.

Crawling along on five limbs was particularly awkward. Even so, it was getting me further than before and much less painfully as well! I managed to slide myself slowly to the bottom of the hill in what I felt was a reasonable rate, just another rise to climb and I was sure I would be able to at least see the road. But every part of me was aching and refused to answer me, leaving me in the dirt as I wheezed.  I just needed to rest, to close my eyes for only a moment. I'm sure I can find the strength...

---

I don't know how long I was out, it felt like only a moment, but I awoke with the sun rising ahead of me. My leg managed to ease into a slow ebb and flow of pain as I regained my senses. I had to get to the road, I needed to get somewhere I might be seen if I wanted to prove mother wrong. I stood up, using my sore wings again for support, and clawed my way up the small hill before me. I wasn't able to see where I was stepping, my vision was too blurry and everything seemed to be running together. I ended up scattering loose rocks with every step, making me reflexively try to regain my balance with my limbs.

I cried out with every step, even my wings were no longer making it any easier to move. Lightfeathers' SMG was bouncing around on its sling.  The fucking gun had proved worthless in the fight, maybe if it had actually done something than... No! Why do I keep thinking that anything I could have done would have made a difference!? Mother set this whole thing up to kill me, even if she did end up ruining everything. With my thoughts distracting me, I did manage to reach the crest of the hill though. Just as I had hoped, the road was there right before me. A stone's throw down a hill was my salvation, I hoped. I took one more tentative step...

...and slipped

I must have hit my head while I tumbled down, my world flashed in even more pain for a brief moment and disappeared into darkness.

---

Everything returned to me slowly, there were a few muffled voices around in the darkness. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but there was at least two... no, three different voices. As I opened my eyes slowly, and the blurred splotches reformed into more defined shapes, I could swear that I remembered the place I was now. The smell of rubbing alcohol and blood finally gave it away. I had somehow found my way into Dr. Clipwing's office.

"Doctor, Prancer is waking up!" a familiar voice spoke. I know that voice... oh! It's Strix!

I blinked away the fuzziness in my vision and looked around. I saw Strix in the bed beside me, he was looking a lot better than he had two days ago. He gave a light wave of his Talon before pointing at me. No, not at me, to the other side of...

Without warning, I was jumped upon by another griffon. "PRANCY!" Ow, my ears. I looked up as she took in what looked to be the deepest breath she could. "I'm so glad to see you, 'cause when I woke up in the morning, I didn't see you in your bed and so I thought to myself, 'huh, why would Prancy be gone?'. And then it hit me, you were sent on some sort of super spy mission or something where if you told me you'd have to kill me! Anyway, I just had to tell Strixy all about it because we were so worried about you! But then they said some ponies had found you and were hurt, but I knew you would be fine because you made it through both exercises just fine! AND YOU ARE!"  She gasped again and heaved in deep breaths, giving me a smile so wide I thought the top of her head would split along her beak.

"Thanks, Gavii... Umm, could you, you know..." I groaned out as politely as I could, pricks of pain spreading through my body with each moment.

"Oh, Did I hurt you, Prancy? I'm sorry!" she exclaimed as she got off of me.

"It's not that, I mean, I can't really feel anything." Now that she was off me that is, but I did have an odd sensation still bothering me. "I knew that you were good, Dr. Clipwing, but my leg doesn't even hurt!" I said with a smile. "I know it's probably just the med-x, but still, thank you for saving me!"

That's when I saw their expressions change. Strix, Gavii, Dr. Clipwing, even Beer Can. Wait... Beer Can? What was he doing here? He caught my look and gave me a nervous smile before looking to the doorway at a couple of ponies I didn't know. All of them had a grave look, except for a small, brown pony with a horn on his head, he just silently watched the others in the room with an expressionless gaze. I felt my own smile fade slowly. Something was wrong.

My body took over as I instinctively clawed at the bedsheets on top of me, ripping into them as I tossed them over. Its... gone. My leg... was just gone... All that was left a discolored and lumpy stump at the bottom of my flank.

"Now Prancer, don't freak out..." Strix's voice snapped me out of my shock, my brain scrambling to catch up to where my body was. I started to panic.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LEG?! WHERE IS IT?!" I couldn't believe it, it was there this morning! I was breathing rapidly, where did it go?

"Doctor, do something! His body must not be stressed any further!" a black and white pony exclaimed from the doorway.

Clipwing shook his head as I felt my heart trying to climb it's way out of my throat, "He'll be fine, don't you worry none. A lil' stress might just do him some good n'fact!"  

The black and white mare moved into the room and glared at the doctor. "No, stress will not! Look at him, he is hyperventilating! He is going to pass out at this rate!" She retorted.

Strix spoke up, "Actually, griffons have similar respiratory systems to many birds. Hyperventilation is in fact an evolutionary trait used to stave off hypoxia at high altitudes. Respiratory alkalosis is the real worry, but that wouldn't set in for some time." As much as I hated how much smarter he was than I, that did ease my mind a little. Too bad he wasn't wearing his glasses at that moment, the effect would have been perfect. I flopped back into the bed as my pulse slowed and my mind focused on what they were saying. I was going to be fine, right?

Dr. Clipwing turned to me again. "To answer yer question, Prancer, I had ta amputate tha gol-darned thing. Ya gone an' broke it in seven places and it was too torn up on tha inside for Hydra to even grow it back straight. If we had any, that is." He narrowed his eyes for a moment, "And no, I ain't gonna let'cha look at it. I made that mistake once before with a patient!"

I looked over to the annoyed sounding griffin that had just saved my life, unable to find the words to thank him. He sighed and used a talon to pinch the bridge of his beak. "As fer the rest of ya'll, I'll be needin yah ta let young Prancer here get some rest." He looked up and over to Beer Can, avoiding the gaze of the black and white mare next to him. "I'm sure I don't need ta show ya where the exit is." I shut my eyes and listened as the others shuffled out the doorway with little more than a grumble, the click of the door shutting came as a relief.

Rest sounds good. Maybe I can ask Strix about that library he wanted to build, that sounds like a nice, restful job. Now that I can't be a Talon, I... just remembered, I needed to report back to Sergeant Lightfeathers! I sat up and looked around for my gear. "Doctor, I need to get moving. Where's my pack?"

"Woah there, son, I have it here," he said, motioning to a table behind him, "along with your gun." I was about to ask him for them, but he stopped me, "Though you're going to have to stay put awhile. I ain't about to let you wander with those zebra brews on you. Not ta mention that as much as I don't want her doin' my job for me, she was right about not overstressin' yer body."

"Zebra? Like from the war?" I asked, my mind wandered back to the Talon recruitment poster. Now that he mentions it, "The black and white mare wasn't a pony?"

"Yep. That don't rightly matter now, that war ended 160 years ago. In most places, the prejeduce died with the rest of the world then, seein' as workin' ta'gether made survival just a mite easier." The door cracked open, drawing both of our eyes to it as the Zebra mare walked back in, a clay container was gripped in her mouth. He grabbed it and set it down on the counter beside him, "'Sizza-whatsit' 'ere had a stash of anesthesia potions I had a certain... pleasure bartering fer" He said with a hint of contempt.

"My name is Syzygy." she replied, "and it is your fault he is nearly immobile, you did not follow my instructions carefully enough."

Dr. Clipwing waved his talon in dismissal. "Meh. Few drops, half the bottle, all the bottle. It's all tha same, not like I have a medical license anyhow."

The mare stomped her leg on the floor in anger. "And that is why he has been in a coma for two and a half days!"

I couldn't have been out that long, could I? I swear it was just that morning I had crawled to the road. "It's really been two days?"  But what about mother's body? Had anyone even checked for her after they found me?

"That's right, Prancy! And I was here the whole time making sure you're alright! I sang songs and..." My ears stopped paying attention to Gavii about there, when did she slip back in, anyway? No one has even mentioned mom at all, so that means that they didn't find her.  Maybe the reason they didn't find her was because she wasn't there in the first place.  I'm sure I kind of remember a time Strix had bored me with some sort of near death hallucinations or something. If so, maybe she's still alive!

For only a moment, the image of Mother smiling popped into my head. No, she was there. If she had been an illusion, she wouldn't have smiled, my mind wouldn't know what she would look like with one.  Mom had killed herself on that mountain. I wouldn't be that lucky that she wouldn't have.

Dr. Clipwing adopted a very tired expression and leaned in closer to me, his dull voice pulled me back into the conversation going on around me. "Yep, two days dealin' with your... friend here."

"...I was even going to bake a cake too, but daddy said no..." Wait, Gavii was still talking?

I might have been out cold for two days, but I really was still quite tired. I figured I could get a quick nap, so I just closed my eyes a moment...

---


Beer Can and the Zebra were both back and talking trade with Dr. Clipwing when I woke up again. Meanwhile the odd, brown pony sat in the corner and looked bored. Gavii smiled as she scooted herself closer to my bedside, she probably hadn't left it for very long since she finished her story. Likely finished it while I was asleep, too. I let out a sigh, knowing full well that I was going to have to ask her to do me a favor. "So how am I going to get a report back to Sergeant Lightfeathers if I'm not allowed to go?"

"Oh don't worry, Prancy!  I'll take it to him. I haven't had a chance to talk to my daddy in a couple days since I was here watching you sleep." Ok, that was creepy, "what should I tell him?"

That had actually been easier than I thought it was going to be. I had to pause a moment or two to think, I wanted to at least sound professional giving my first report. Even if it was also to be my last. "The target was eliminated, and... ah." I swear I could remember my own mother's name... "Lieutenant Quila Thistledown was killed in action."

The room went dead silent.

Well, until Beer Can raised a hoof and began to speak. "Ah hate ta bother ya'll, but what's that meanin'?" Beer Can asked as he turned and stepped towards my bed, "Who's this Keela feller? Musta been someone important around here ta get ya'll ta go all quiet on us."

"She is... was, my mother. You see, she..." I stopped. What was I doing? I felt tears welling up, I couldn't bring myself to tell them that she claimed to be trying to get me killed in the first place. "...must have heard my gunshots while she was on patrol and came to see. She saved my life."

If I can't bring myself to speak the truth, how could she have said what she did?  Maybe it was just the result of the stress she's been under recently, the loss of Ravenplume, the increase in Yao'Guai attacks, something! Why would she have wanted me dead? After all that time trying to make me tough and responsible, even she would have seen it would have been a wasted effort! Sure, her punishments were harsh, but isn't that what all the young griffons went through? Did she really just do it all out of the hatred of my very existance?

Beer Can had a... smirk? "So, ah reckon that makes ya an orphan, sorry ta hear that." He turned to Gavii, "Yah figure ah might be able tah find me some more well furnished spot to rest mah head? Doc here is gracious an' all, but he ain't got much'n tha way of lodging."

I spoke slowly, my words felt clumsy. "We... I have a house in town. You guys are welcome to stay there if you'd like. I do owe you my life for bringing me back here."

"Ah mean no offence, Mr. Thistledown, but tha houses 'round here ain't 'xactly built ta accommodate an earth pony. Ya know, we tend ta stick towards tha earth." Beer Can said with a chuckle. Right, I forgot about the local architecture. Building on stilts tended to kept the Yao'Guai from snooping around, but it made having flightless guests difficult it would seem.

"Oh! I could ask daddy if you could stay in the bunk room! It's all neat and stable on ground level! OH, and best of all, you get to hang out with ME! It will be like my very own sleepover!" Gavii chirped with more enthusiasm than would be necessary for even a real party, "OK, Prancy, I'm going to go turn in your report. Let's go, Cheery-Beery-Beardy-Can!" She pirouetted with a flutter of her wings and disappeared into the hallway, followed closely by a very distraught looking Beer Can.

Syzygy turned to the doctor again, "Even with your overdose, he should be fine by this evening, and his bruising and minor injuries should be healed well enough by tomorrow morning." She turned to me, and I saw her bright, amber eyes for the first time. She gave me a small smile, it sent a chill up my spine somehow, "I am sorry for your loss, Mister Prancer. I know how much it can hurt to have what you care for torn from you." She turned and left as well.

The last pony I hadn't quite met gave me a nod, looked around the room one last time and exited as well without a single word. Strange, he didn't say a single word the whole time now that I had thought of it. Maybe there are some ponies who don't talk all that much.

Dr. Clipwing let out a yawn and stretched his wings out. "Well, I'm going ta head home, too. You go ahead and pay your bill whenever ya can, Prancer."

"Oh, well..." Right, this was his job, not a hobby, "how much do I owe you, Dr. Clipwing?"

"200 caps." He headed out before I could even come up with anything else to say.

200 caps? He knows I can't be a Talon after today! I have no job and no job prospects. "How am I going to get the money to pay for all that?" I asked the room a few flabbergasted moments later. Maybe I could convince Strix to give me an advance in return for helping him with his library idea. 

"I don't know," I nearly jumped out of my bed, I forgot that Strix was, in fact, still here, "the good news is that Dr. Clipwing is very forgiving about debts, he won't hunt you down or anything." That was nice, I suppose. "He just refuses service to anyone who has an outstanding balance with him." Never mind, that's kind of cruel.

"That's not a problem for you, though, right? Cora was getting billed for the seed pod I heard."  If only I could have been so lucky. Maybe if mother didn't spend all of her last pay on alcohol and I could at least cover part of it?

"I wish it was only that, I would be out of this bed by now. No, Dr. Clipwing had to remove the roots left in me after you twisted the damn thing." He tried to sound more annoyed than he actually was, but it wasn't working. With a sigh, I think he realized it as well, "Still, you did save my life, and for that, thank you. Without you I would have been another patch of those plants by now."

I rolled and stared up at the ceiling, finding at least some comfort in his words. "You're welcome, Strix. I couldn't just leave you. I had seen what losing a wing mate did to my mom a couple times, I didn't want to know how it felt."

"All the same, we lost Tarsus." He paused, probably waiting for a response I didn't give. "Gavii told me you were there when she..."

Her face came back to me. '...I'm glad it was you.' The look of peace in her soft, brown eyes. Just that morning I saw her blush...

I heard him shift in his cot. "...Sorry, Prancer. Are you alright?"

"Yeah." No, I'm not. I don't think I'll be alright ever again.

Her voice whispered into my ear softly, 'Doesn't matter to me, I finally got to talk to you.'

I shut my eyes and tried to clear my mind, "Yeah, I'll be OK. The last week has been tough is all." The last week was a joke. My whole life had never been OK, but I couldn't see it. Still, I would trade everything I owned for a chance just to have that life back. Even if it was a lie...

"With losing a leg and all, I can't even imagine what that's like." Strix's voice stung, but he was right. No-one else knew what I've been through, and as much as I wanted it, there was no one out there to help me deal with it. I laughed a bit. A thought came to mind, helping to keep my mind from continuing down that path. It wouldn't be good for anyone if I lost myself to those thoughts.

"So there's stuff even you don't know, Strix? I'd never have guessed!" I felt my mouth twist up into a smile as I turned my gaze over to him.

"There's a lot I haven't learned yet. With every new book a trader brings by I find a dozen things I have yet to study." He said with a smirk of his own before letting out a wide yawn, "I think I'm going to get some sleep. Everyone milling around here talking about stuff had kept me from getting much rest."

"Sure, Strix. Goodnight." So much for trying to keep my mind off of things.

It was only a span of a few minutes and Strix was snoring softly. A few minutes of being left to my own thoughts and I had counted all the rusted holes in the walls. In another ten, I had gingerly counted all the stitches in my flank, or what was left of it. My leg was gone just below my hip, barely anything left to wiggle. This had gotten really boring.

That was it, I had to get out of here, I have to find something to focus on; I rolled myself over the side of the bed onto my remaining legs. It felt a little funny as the removal of my leg left me unbalanced now. I thought about what I'd need and decided that I needed to make my way over to the table that had my stuff. As I stood there, I tried to think of how to do this now. Walking was just so... mundane. It can't be that hard with three legs, I just have to do the same thing that I...

I took two steps as I tried to repeat the process of walking when my leg was mangled and promptly lost my balance, falling to the floor with a plop. I stopped as Strix let out a grunt before turning over, snoring again shortly after. I know I should stay, but there is no way my mind will let me sleep, especially not after I had gotten up already. I pushed myself back up, steadying myself on my three legs as best as I could before trying again.

It was hard to get the hang of it, but I found myself getting into a hopping gait, my left, rear leg having to cover twice the distance now per stride. Next to my pack was my vest. It was quite dirty, but I put brushed it off and put it on anyway. I had to set it on the floor and step into the sleeves, then pull it up from there to keep from falling over. I slung my pouch over my left side and Lightfeathers' SMG over the other. I could still feel a slight tingling about me, the numbness from before was nearly gone. I was sure I would be fine, the zebra had said that I would. So I headed out the door and took to wing...

...Or at least I would have if my flight muscles would have let me. They burned as I tried to flex them. Well, I guess I wasn't getting home yet. The Talon Office isn't too far from the clinic, so a walk there wouldn't be too tough. I could head over there and give Lightfeathers his gun back and check back in with him. I knew Gavii would have already given my report, but mom would expect me to show up myself. I needed to show it to myself, if just to prove that I'm better than what she seemed to have made me out to be.

Going to the office might also fix the problem about owing money if Lightfeathers knew of a way to earn some caps. He does dictate a lot of the missions, and might even find one that I could do even without my leg. Finally with a good feeling about something, I headed off to the office. I was wrong about it being an easy walk, tough. My hop every two steps was both exhausting and slower than I thought it would be across the uneven terrain. I found myself gasping for breath by the time I made it to the front door. I spent a minute or so to catch my breath and to dust myself off, I didn't want to look like a mess in front of a non-commissioned officer.

I hopped my way into the old police building, looking around as it had pretty much cleared out for the night, the sound of excited chattering upstairs was the only noise I could make out. I made my way through the halls toward Lightfeathers' office, taking a deep breath before taking the handle in my talon and opening it. Lightfeathers had his beak buried in paperwork, only glancing up as I swung the door open.  He looked back down at his work momentarily before he looked up, quite surprised to see me.

I shut the door and hobbled over to his desk, Lightfeathers giving me a tired smile. "Hello, Prancer. I'm, uh... sorry to hear about your mother." He didn't sound all that sad about it, even though I thought that they had worked closely together for awhile. Mom always said he had a 'thing' for her, but I knew that wasn't true. Lightfeathers had his husband and Mom still loved... I need to drop this line of thought right now.

"I wanted to bring back your gun, it helped a lot, thank you." It really didn't, but there was no reason to be rude.

"No, Prancer, you should keep it. I can always get another. I don't have much call for a weapon anyways these days now that I'm covering your mother's paperwork, too." He shook his head and looked back down at the papers on his desk, scrawling out lines of writing on one of them.

"Oh, thanks." ...For nothing. I guess I can see how much Dr. Clipwing can shave off the bill for this hunk of junk. "By the way, I was wondering if there were any contracts I could pick up. I know I'm still in training for now, it's just that I need to pay Dr. Clipwing for the leg."

"Hmm? Ah, I didn't know you hadn't been told about the bounty on the bear." He stopped writing and looked up to me before shrugging. "The Talons had been given a contract by the local merchant caravans to eliminate the large 'Guai around Mt. Raindier. There was a bounty on it for 2000 caps, even. Your share for the killing of it will be more than enough to cover your expenses, I'm sure."

That's great and all, but there was still a problem, "But, I didn't kill it, my mom did..."

"And you would have inherited the right to claim it, then." That makes sense, I guess. "The catch is that you will have to claim it in person with proof of its death. Its head to be specific, the contract that the company had been offered was quite clear on that." That would be a trick all to itself. How was I supposed to haul the head of a beast like that anywhere!? It would take at LEAST a pair of griffons with sling type gear to even get it off of the ground.

I guess for the caps, I could get Strix... no, he's not going to be in any mood to help. Maybe Gavii can help? I shuddered at the thought of her talking the whole way there and back. Wait, where was I even supposed to take it? "Oh, where is it supposed to be delivered to? I've never been very far outside of 'Claw."

"Nor are you in any shape to go by yourself." Well that's pretty obvious. "however, I think I have an idea, Prancer. The traveling merchant you met may be able to help you out."

That was a much better idea than Gavii! "Really? How's that?

He finished writing on a paper and dropped it into a wire box on his desk marked 'out' before propping his head up with his talon. "Well... Him being a traveling merchant in the area, he would know the way to a main hub of local merchants, wouldn't he?" Lightfeathers asked rhetorically.

Why can't I just be like Strix and be smart? "Yeah, I suppose so." Well at least I'm not...

"...And THAT'S how the Talons were made!" Gavii exclaimed as she entered the front room from one of the back doors. She was leading Beer Can on... a tour? She stopped and gasped as her eyes spotted me, her wings flaring out as she bolted into Lightfeathers office. I didn't even have time to react before she was tightly squeezing me.

Lightfeathers pushed his seat back and got up, rolling his head around as a few soft pops came from his neck. "Hello, you two. Perfect timing! Mr. Can, May I speak to you for a moment in private, please? Prancer, would you mind waiting a moment?"

"Sure thing, dad! Prancy and I can wait in the hall as you do your business stuff!" Gavii yelled from just above my ear, not giving me a choice in the matter as she took off, dragging me out with her. I struggled against her, finally getting free only to fall to the floor and slide along it, stopping as I hit the doormat to the main entrance. I dusted myself off, AGAIN, and found my way to the chairs still in the waiting area. Gavii sat quietly next to me as we could still hear them. Was it eavesdropping if they are speaking clearly enough to hear across the hallway, or do you have to be doing it on purpose to count?

"Why thank ya kindly fer puttin' us up fer the night, Mr. Swan, ya didn't have ta go through tha trouble. But what're ya want'n ta talk 'bout?" I don't know why, but Beer Can sounded like he wasn't actually happy to be here, and in fact sounded more interested in whatever Lightfeathers wanted.

"Just call me Lightfeathers, and I need someone to help Prancer get to Mt. Raindier. I'm sure you know the way." This is what he needed to ask in private? Does he not think I could have asked him myself?

"And what'm ah goin' tah do 'bout helpin' a busted-up tripod? Carry 'im? Besides, ah have other hubs ah gotta reach before I go back ta Raindier. If yer wantin me ta take 'im, what's innit fer me?" Really? I saved you out in the forest! And you think he OWES you?

Lightfeathers grumbled something I couldn't make out before continuing, "...I want to help him get out of 'Claw, he needs to get out. I also need to make sure that there's someone that will make sure he actually makes it there."

"Eh, send 'im with one a' yer own. Ah still havn't heard what's mah end o' tha bargain." That's it, I'm going to go teach him a thing or two about loyalty. 'Tripod' or not, I could handle some old jerk! I moved to get up, only to have Gavii wrap her talons around me in a hug again.

"I'm going to miss you every moment you're away, Prancy." She mumbled into my neck. Wait, was she... crying?  My ears perked up as Lightfeathers continued.

"Well, what is it that you would want?" Lightfeathers sounded more annoyed than before. "I don't think I can spare any more caps or equipment than I already have."

"Ah'm sure ya could convince one of tha other Talon bases ta give me a discount on one a their mercs" Oh, so now I'M not good enough.

"I'm willing to put the word in to them to see if that can get Prancer set up as a contractor to the Vanhoover Talons, AND that if he gets it, he gives you a discount on your hire. He can do better service to the Talons outside of 'Claw, I'm sure of it." Wait, a contractor? But I don't have the qualifications to assign and manage mercenaries! That's something for a smart Griffin like Strix!

"Well now, that's a whole 'nuther story, ain't it? I can look after the little Prancer fellah and make sure 'e gets ta where 'e needs ta be, then!" I heard as he pushed out his chair.

"That's not a promise, I can't guarantee anything unless you get him there safely. If you help him get to Mt Raindier, I'll count it as a favor to me, OK?"  But, wait... Talons never give anything out for free, so why add that on?

"Well, ah'll have ya know, ah collect on mah favors ah give out!" Yeah, and I plan on making sure to collect on the one you owe me. Maybe if I knew he would pull something like this, I would have just left him in the forest. Then again, if I had, I would be dead right now. Maybe he counted that as returning the favor?

"I don't doubt that you do. Thank you for your time, Mr. Can." The door swung open down the hall, Beer Can trotted out with a smile on his face and disappeared down the hallway, heading toward the bunk room. Lightfeathers poked his head out and looked down for me, giving me a small smile before nodding for me to come over. "Prancer?"

I got up as Gavii released me and made my way back to his office, standing in front of his desk. "Yes, Sergeant?" I asked. I had almost not noticed that Gavii had gotten up to leave at that time.

"Mr. Can has agreed to lead you to Mt. Raindier. I'm going to give you a leave of absence to run this errand for the company. Consider yourself on 'light duty' for the time being and await further orders there. Your contact is claimable from the bazaar manager, she will have the caps for you upon presentation of the 'guai's head. Your cut is 25%. Any questions?"

That seemed simple enough. I wanted to ask him about the new position, but decided that he was already doing enough to try to help me. "I don't think so."

"Good. I expect you to be on your way tomorrow morning. You're dismissed, Prancer."  He smiled one last time before picking up his pen and going back to the stack of papers he had. What more could I say? I turned and left. I headed to the bunk room where I thought Gavii might have gone to. I was right, she was sitting in the same bunk I saw her in last time we talked, but she was alone. Had Beer Can gone to the Quartermaster's office? Oh well, it didn't matter. I stopped in the doorway and knocked like before.

She looked up at me and gave me a warm smile. "I'm glad to see you up. I know what I said back in the clinic, but I really was worried about you. I know we never really got to be good friends, but with Tarsy gone, you and Strix are the only two friends I've got." She said, "And now you'll be leaving as well. You think it'll be fun at the other base?"

"I don't know, I have to finish up the contract the company had on the bear my mom killed." I honestly didn't want to set up somewhere else if I didn't have to. 'Claw had always been my home, and even with nothing tying me here anymore, I didn't want to leave.

"I'm... sorry to hear about her." Gavii said solemnly "I bet she was the best mom."

I froze stiff at that. She never even knew how she really was, no one will. Just the mention of her being good was nearly enough to both make my blood boil and bring me to tears. "Anyways, I should get home. I have a lot of work it get to in the morning."

"Please, Prancer, make sure to be safe." She gave me a soft smile, her eyes tearing up. I nodded and turned to leave, stopping as Gavii grabbed me again for a moment. "I really don't have that much left, I can't lose you or Strix, too..." she said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

I'm not sure why, but it was something I felt I had to do. I turned and grabbed her up in a hug as best I could, feeling as she pressed her beak into my neck and sobbed softly. I don't know what I expected as she hugged me back, but after the last week, no, after EVERYTHING in my life, this felt good. Even if it was a little bittersweet, it was welcome.

"I have to go, Gavii. I'll be back in a few days, I promise." I slowly let go of her, letting her take a few steps back and wipe the tears from her face.  I turned and hobbled out, watching as Beer Can came back from the washroom up the hall, maybe he wasn't in Lieutenant Rackkam's office...

"Ah'll be seein' ya bright an' early, youngster!" Beer Can commented and beamed a smile as we passed each other. I did my best to smile back, but I still didn't know what to think about him overall. He seemed nice enough, but he always spoke differently to each pony and griffon he met. Once I had made a stop in the washroom myself and made sure I had all my gear, I left the office, giving my wings a tentative flap, feeling that they were still quite stiff. A bit less sore, but they were still not well enough to fly. Pushing myself to get to the bear was a terrible idea, I couldn't even fly at all still, and it's even been two days!

So I was forced to walk yet again, finding myself getting better at walking on three legs. I wasn't quite sure if I was happy about that or not, but at least I was still alive! Mom's work to save me wasn't in vain at least. As I hopped along, I was distracted by it enough not to notice Beer Can walking up to me.

"Hey, youngster. Forgot ta ask if ya don't mind that ah leave mah cart under yer house while ah spend tha night in tha bunkhouse, it's lookin' like rain ta'marra and if it's all the same ta ya, I don't much feel like haulin' it up ta town in tha mud."

"That's fine, just make sure not to leave any food in it, or the Yao'Guai will come looking for it." How'd he know where my house was? I supposed Gavii must have told him, or maybe Lightfeathers gave him a note or something? Whatever, it makes no difference to me how, it just makes things easier for tomorrow.

He was about to leave when he spoke up again, "Also, ah'm a might sorry to 'ave called ya a 'tripod', ah was just tryin' to make a deal with that Swan feller. Ah really didn't mean nuthin' by it!" He slowed his pace and waved a hoof over to me. "I'll just be gettin' tha cart, I'll see ya in tha mornin'." As his hoof beats faded into the distance, the quiet, evening air made me feel good. There was almost always a cool breeze that came down from the northwest this time of night. It made for a pleasant walk home, well, save for the terrible cramp my dramatic limp was giving me, but I couldn't do anything about that.

Reaching the base of my home, I was somewhat stumped as to how I was going to get up. Could I climb up, or could I try to squeeze enough out of my wings to get up? I had to try I supposed, flaring my wings quite painfully before trying to flap them. Bolts of pain lanced through my back as they moved, refusing to take even the slightest amount of pressure. I sighed and consigned myself to attempting to climb and grabbed hold of one of the stilts, trying my best to clamber up. After a few minutes, I wasn't making a lot of progress, but I was three meters up and getting somewhere. I figured I just needed to dig my claws into the wood and pull.

After a few more minutes, I felt myself growing tired quickly and needing a small break between every lift. I glanced down to see my progress, and I was greatly disappointed. I only made it another two meters! I was so frustrated I could scream if it wouldn't have threatened to cause me to fall. I was about to continue onwards when I was enveloped in a sickly, blue-green glow. It was the strangest feeling I think I ever had, I suddenly felt considerably lighter.

Getting back to scaling my house was now very simple, it only took me a few moments to lift myself and reach the front porch. As I rolled myself onto the platform I was met by the small, brown unicorn who was panting hard. I had to wonder for a moment what he was doing here, but I guess I kinda invited all of them, didn't I.

"Did you do the whole... glowy... thing to help me up?" I had heard from old Bookbeak that unicorns could do magic, but I hadn't really thought much about it. Magic was just something that ran old world weapons and machinery, right?

"Yeah." He didn't change his expression as he spoke. But at least now I knew he could speak.

"Thanks. Is that how you got up here? By magic as well?" I asked as I stood up.  I looked into the window behind him, watching as a shadow moved past it.

"No, I climbed up. Then I used magic to get Syzygy up here." he nodded his head back toward the house. "She's inside waiting to talk to you."

"Huh, OK." I realized I was being somewhat rude. "I saw you in Dr. Clipwing's office, but I don't believe we had really met." I said, offering my talon for a shake. I even managed to keep from falling over while I was on two legs. "I'm Prancer Thistledown."

He hesitated a moment before he let me take his hoof in a shake. "I'm Nameless," he said flatly. I was about to laugh for being an even worse name than Swan, but stopped as I realized that he seemed dead serious about it.

"Is your name, Nameless, or is it that you don't have a name?" I asked while I broke the talonshake. He gave me a slight shrug.

"I'm sure that I do, I just can't remember it. 'Til then I'm 'Nameless'." He explained.

"Oh, well them, nice to meet you, Nameless." This was getting quite awkward. With Beer Can talking too much and Nameless not talking enough, here's hoping this Syzygy mare will fill the gap left for 'just enough'. "Umm... why don't we go inside?"

'Nameless' nodded and headed into my house, using his magic to operate the door. It was actually interesting how little he seemed to care, but it boggled my mind how a pony could do something like control magic. When I followed him in, I found Syzygy sitting on the couch in the front room. She had half of her mane tightly braided into stings of beads. I hadn't noticed that her mane was braided earlier in the clinic, was it new?

Speaking of new things, this was the first time I had ever hosted guests. I had no idea what I should say, offer them food or something? I looked around and found that the walls were clean, and that mother's pictures were neatly dusted. Had they cleaned the place in the time it took for me to walk here?

"So, are either of you two hungry? I have some chili. Well, It's just CRAM, wild onions and beans, really." I had offered, forgetting that the chili was now nearly a week old if mom hadn't finished it off already. There might have been enough preservatives to have kept it well enough, though I doubted it.

"Thank you, but I am not very fond of meat." Syzygy replied.  She looked up as my stomach rebelled against me at the thought of food, growling the loudest I'd heard it in some time. I hadn't eaten in days and needed something before the journey.

"I'll see if we have something else." I said while heading to the kitchen. I peered into the refrigerator, expecting a pot overflowing with mold. Maybe some sort of mutated life that spawned in my cooking, come to take over the town. The reality was actually benign. Mother must have put a bottle of whiskey in there while she was drunk a few nights ago. It had fallen over without the cap on and poured its contents into the remains of my chili. Mom always said that alcohol kills germs, she said that's why she never got sick. By the look of the chili, neither did it!

That solved food for me, but what did I have for the ponies. Well, one pony and one zebra, though, are they really different? I'd have to ask Strix about it or something, cause they both look the same to me. Well, minus the stripes on Syzygy. I checked the cupboard, hoping there'd be more than the beans I found last time. Looking around, I found that there very well could be. Shoved in the back was our last can of beans and a can without a label. I'm sure it'll be exciting to open that and see what I can cook up!

"If you're hungry, I found something I can make for you! Would you like something to drink?" What did mom have left? I started naming off things as I read the labels. "Burboun... Gin... Vodka..." Maybe mom DID use up the last of her pay again...

"Anything without alcohol?" Syzygy asked.

I had to look hard, "Yeah, there's the water from the faucet, but don't have too much, it will make you sick." I spotted a clear container in the middle of my mothers impressive collection, the liquid inside looked like water. "And there's a jug mom had in here. It's not labeled, but it looks like water, too."

Nameless' ears perked up. "It's in a cabinet with liquor, looks like water? Probably moonshine." He looked at me with his same bored expression before getting to his hooves. "I would assume that Beer Can would have something in his cart, I'll be back in a moment." Nameless mumbled as he headed for the front door.

Was he really going to go get something to drink from the cart? that was under the house! I followed him out in time to see him roll off the side of the balcony. I tried to run to catch him, but I tripped from my three-legged gait and fell. I crawled over to the edge and peered over. I saw him sliding down one of the stilts, reaching the ground without so much as a thump. He then started rummaging around in the cart. A moment later his horn started glowing and several bottles were floating up to me. I didn't know what to say, so I just grabbed them and set them by the door.

His return trip was especially interesting, if not a little entertaining. He propped himself in between two poles, placing two hooves on each and shimmied himself up! When he got just below, he used his strength to propel himself high enough to bite onto the edge of the porch, hanging there as I gave a small laugh at the amazing feat. I reached down and grabbed a hold of his fetlock and helped pull him up. Well, only if trying to keep myself from being pulled off while he clambered back onto the balcony counts as help.

"How did you do that?" I asked as I grabbed up the water containers.

He shrugged and wiped the sweat off his brow. "I don't know."

"But... you just did it, how could you not know!? That doesn't even make any sense!" I said exasperatedly. "Well, whatever. We have some water, so let's just go back in for the night."

He nodded, collected the water bottles and we headed inside. once I had made it back to the front room, I was mortified to see that Syzygy was looking through mom's reports! She was going to kill me when she found out about it! I took a step forward and was about to yell for her to stop before holding myself back.  Mom's gone, she wouldn't be needing to read them any more. It still bothered me though, seeing her documents disturbed.

"I'm sorry, Syzygy, would you mind not looking through those? I, um, need to file those away." That was a terrible lie, but in truth, filing them away might help me feel a bit better.

She looked up in surprise, hoofing the report away from her. "My apologies, Prancer. I did not mean to offend."

"It's alright, I'll just go put them away." I scooped up the papers and tucked them into my vest to keep my talons free. I have to admit, stairs are evil for someone missing a leg. I was having to place both talons on the step ahead of me and hop to get my paw up to another. This see-saw motion was not only embarrassing, but tiring. At least the stairwell turned away from the front room and I didn't have to worry about my awkwardness in getting up the stairs being seen by my guests for too long. 

As I reached the top, my eyes darted to the open door of my room. My simple bed looked so inviting, and I did need to get some semblance of rest before the journey tomorrow. My frustrations from the stairs were magnified when I felt myself become apprehensive about opening Mom's door. She was dead, she wouldn't care if I went in her room! I knew this, but my mind kept telling me that if she found out, she was just going to hit me again. 

Steeling myself, I tuned the knob.

It was locked! She left her door locked, then fucking died! I had never so much as seen a key around the house, she had to have kept it with her all the time. How was I going to put these anywhere? I reached into my vest and threw the papers at her door with a grunt, following them as they slowly fluttered to the floor.

"Damn it, mom." I mumbled, slumping over as a feeling of being defeated washed over me. I wasn't able to fly, I wasn't able to walk, I wasn't able to even open a damned door! I pulled the spread of papers from the floor and just slipped them under the door. I don't even care about it anymore, I'll just figure it out later.

"Prancer, everything alright?" The uninterested voice of Nameless emanated from the hallway behind me. If it weren't for the fact that the raider attack happened just yesterday... no, just a few days ago, that I probably wouldn't have been startled enough to drop to the floor. How did he sneak up like that? I didn't even hear him come up the stairs!

I sighed and got back up, looking into his piercing, teal eyes. "Yeah, it's just that my mom left her door locked. You scared me half to death, though."

"So, that's why you're on the floor?" He asked with a puzzled expression.

I didn't really want to explain to him the week of hell I just had, so once again, I fell back on lying. "No, I just feel... lost. I'll be alright, though." It made me feel terrible, but it'll do for now.

I made sure the papers were all the way under the door and headed back down the stairs with Nameless. Even though it had only been a few minutes, Syzygy was already fast asleep on the couch. I was going to say something when my stomach interrupted me with another rumble.

"Yeah, it's food time. You don't have anything against CRAM, do you? I can just heat up that chili." I offered, motioning for him to head to the kitchen.

"I don't remember if I do or not, really." he said with a shrug. I simply nodded and limped my way to the fridge, pulling the pot out and setting it on the stove. It smelled strongly of mom's whiskey, but I think that somehow that made it smell much better than before. I started the gas and struck the flint, the cook stove lit on the first go, but gave only a weak flame. I guess it doesn't matter that the fuel was running low this last week, I'll only need to cook for tonight anyway. I fetched a ladle from one of the drawers and stirred the week old mixture up. Nameless looked over the stove with a frown and began to look around the room for something.

"Prancer, if I may, I have an idea." he said as he grabbed the empty can of beans, from when I first made the chili, out from the sink where I must have left it. He held it out in his magic, filling the room with his blue-green glow as he brought the can up in front of him. His horn flashed as the can was cut in half, several, neatly-spaced, round holes appeared around it's sides. He set the can on the counter top and looked over to the liquor cabinet, using his magic again to bring the jug of 'moonshine' to him. He poured only a sparse amount into the bottom half of the can and floated the jug away to the sink. 

He looked at the pot and enveloped it in his magic, floating it over and setting it atop the can. I waited for a moment, wondering why he had done that. He grunted and pointed his horn at the can, a small ZAP sounded and the can erupted in flames! He smiled, "That should do it." and he turned off the gas feeding to the stove. That was it. I didn't like unicorns much anymore. Magic is scary.

"Did you just cut stuff with your mind?" I asked slowly, feeling like I should take a step back. "Then light that stuff on fire?"

"Yeah, seems to be something I'm good at. Really precise things with my magic come easy. Big stuff, lifting, throwing, crushing, that's a lot harder." He explained rather matter-o-factly. "I don't remember any real spells other than telekinesis, spark, light, and cut."

"Wait, did you say unicorns can just crush things? By thinking about it?" I asked, sounding as much as the idiot I was.

"I'd assume so. There's probably a lot of them that are better at it than me." he said as he demonstrated on the top half of the can. It began to shake a bit before folding over itself, slowly being crumpled into a small, jagged ball of rusted tin.

I take it back, I didn't like unicorns at all. Magic is REALLY scary.

I focused on stirring my chili again. Nameless' alcohol stove was really effective, as the chili was already at a good simmer. I let it sit for a moment while I grabbed a couple of bowls and spoons for us. I managed to serve up the two portions for us, but then I realized that I wouldn’t be able to carry them to the table. At least not unless I was willing to bounce on my one paw all the way there. "Could you help me get these to the table, please? I, uh, can't walk over there with them..."

He nodded and floated them around me to the kitchen table. He also floated a bottle of water for each of us. I had to admit, that even though I didn't understand it or trust it at all, magic seemed useful. Maybe that's only because I would find it useful to have, being crippled and all. I sat down on one of the stools and did my best to get comfortable. My amputated leg wasn't hurting at all, but that didn't keep me from finding it awkward to sit on something. I twisted off the cap of my bottle and took a sip, which really just turned into drinking half of it in one go. I had forgotten that I probably hadn't had anything to drink in days, but even so, the water tasted better than even sleep sounded.

Nameless chuckled, showing the first genuine emotion I had seen from him all day. Or ever, for that matter. "So the IV drip the doctor gave you when you were out didn't help much?"

"I'm not sure?" Honestly, I have no idea what an 'eye-vee' is anyway, but if Dr. Clipwing gave me one, it had to be something that was supposed to have helped. I tried a bite of my whiskey chili, not sure what to expect. I was quite surprised to find it really tasty! I quickly ate the whole bowl of food. Finally feeling pleasantly stuffed, something I hadn't felt in awhile.

Nameless looked up at me, a look of puzzlement on his face. "That's right, griffons don't really chew." He nodded something as I pondered how to respond to that, finding it awkward as he seemed to be studying my neck? Furrowing his brow, he shrugged and shoveled a spoon full of the pungent dish into his muzzle.

I shook off the odd look and watched him finish up his bowl quickly. "So, how did you like the chili?"

"It was very good, thank you." he said, using his magic to levitate his water to his mouth. Thankfully he stopped staring at my throat, that was just creepy. "Sorry about the odd remark, I had just remembered that Griffin anatomy means you don't need to. I don't remember how I know, but whatever." He tipped his head back and drained the bottle down in mere moments, setting the empty bottle down without another thought. "...Gizzard stones and all that."

I was about to remark about how weird that was, but I ended up yawning instead. I actually yawned hard enough to pop my jaw. Finally, my body is tired enough to let me sleep.  Now if only I can get there before my mind drags me away again. "I think I need to get to bed. G'night, Nameless." Dang, that still sounded so weird to say, but as long as I'm traveling with them, I better get used to it I guess.

"Good night, Prancer." He called out as he left the kitchen, trotting out into the front room. I used my beak and placed my empty dishes into the sink being I made my way back to the stairwell. I looked up the steps with a sigh and limped my way up once more. It was going to be a long day tomorrow, and I need to make sure I'm ready for it. I turned to my room for the first time in awhile, dropped my pack and gun on the floor, and stumbled into bed.

"I'm sorry you didn't love me, mother." I spoke softly to my pillow, my body welcoming the softness beneath it. "I just wished you knew how wrong you were..."

---

I woke from my dreamless sleep to something clattering downstairs. My head was still groggy, but it only took me a moment to make some sense of it. I had slept in and Mom was already awake! I hurried out of bed, ignoring the protest my sore wings gave to flapping. I turned and was about to get down the stairs when I slipped. I fell over and slid down the stairs head first, making just about enough noise to wake H.Q. from here.

"Have you gone mad?" I heard someone ask. I knew that voice, exotic, yet familiar... but from where? Did mother have guests over? Well duh, it's not my imagination, the real question was why wasn't mom yelling at me yet? Maybe I lucked out and she was already out on patrol!

Reflexively, I covered my face with a wing. "No, I'm sorry, I'm alright, I just overslept. Tell mother I'll get right on my chores, and that she doesn’t have to hit me!" I tried to explain. I quickly remembered the gin bottle she threw the other night, and how I had forgotten to clean that as well. "I'm sorry I forgot to clean the broken glass last night! I'll get right on it!" When I didn't get a response, I peered around my wing and I was met by Syzygy's gaze, her face in a look of shock. Oh, right! She and that other pony had stayed overnight.

"Is that what your mother would have done?" She quickly looked down at the floor, "I am sorry, Mister Prancer, I should not have said that. Please pay it no mind."

I managed to get up with a slight groan, falling to the floor again as I expected both my rear legs to hold me up. This is going to take some getting use to, both my leg, and mother's absence. "I guess I was sort of hoping that the last couple days were a nightmare or something. Maybe things might have gotten back to normal." But I know now that normal was just a childish dream in the first place, so was it really better?

"I would not call... nevermind, it is not my place." She looked up and glanced over me. "are you alright?"

I stretched and finale managed to stand back up. "Yeah. Anyway, are you hungry? I don't think you had any dinner last night." I looked over to the kitchen, eyeing the two cans still on the counter that I didn't use. Maybe I can get Nameless to rig up that alcohol burner again.

"No, thank you, I will be fine." Syzygy smiled and walked over to what I assumed were her bags, biting down on them and swinging them onto her back. How ponies managed to do stuff without talons just weirded me out. Especially how Nameless does that... glowy, magic thing!

Now that I thought about him... "Where's Nameless?" I asked, looking about.

Syzygy nodded past the couch. I saw that Nameless was sleeping under one of the chairs, curled up tightly as to where he nearly blended in with the wooden floorboards. What a sneaky, little pony he was. I limped my way over to him, hoping that he wasn't going to wake up sore sleeping like that. I grabbed the chair and tilted it forward, doing my best to drag it quietly away from him. I grabbed the small blanket on the couch that I would always throw over mom and draped it over him.

"I am beginning to see what that Sergeant saw in you." Syzygy remarked, walking into the kitchen.

I turned and followed her, puzzled as to what she meant. "What do you mean? Sergeant Faust was always yelling at me."

"Not Faust, Lightfeathers. In the report, he had commended you for 'Exceptional Camaraderie and Honor' during selection and your training." She explained.

"I haven't finished training yet. I also hadn't heard of any commendation." I had explained.

"It was in the reports your mother had." She replied, "This 'Sergeant Lightfeathers' seemed to be impressed with you."

"I don't see why he would be. I passed selection because the other neophytes were disqualified. After that I wasn't able to save a friend of mine." Then there was the bear, but I didn't want to bring that up.

Syzygy was about to say something but she was interrupted by Nameless peeking into the kitchen. When the hell did he get up? His constant sneaking around was going to get old very quickly, of this I was certain. "There's somepony outside, I'm pretty sure it's Beer Can."

"How can you tell?" I asked as I made my way to the door.

"I heard him approaching through the gaps in the floor." He explained briefly.

Gaps? How could he hear through the spaces between the boards? You know what, that actually made sense. He was laying on it, after all. I went to the front door and opened it, making my way to the edge of the porch. I peered over the edge and sure enough, Beer Can was out there, checking on his cart. He was talking to himself about something but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Hello, Beer Can." I called out to him waving a talon as he looked up for the source of my voice.

"Well, hey there, Prancer!" He replied, "Ya'll ready to get goin'?"

"We should be in just a minute, then we'll be right down!" I said before heading back inside.

I found Nameless and Syzygy talking about Beer Can. Well, Syzygy was doing the talking, while Nameless was just doing the whole emotionless, studying gaze thing. I wonder if he's actually paying attention to her or just spacing out. "I cannot trust that stallion. I know that what he speaks is not a lie, but his truths do not mean what his words infer." 

That didn't make any sense at all! I looked to Nameless, maybe he would have an idea of what she meant, but he just nodded, not shifting the contemplative look on his face one bit. You know what, never mind then, I have stuff I needed in my room and those stairs weren't going to climb themselves. "I just need to grab some stuff and we'll be ready to go." I huffed out as I hobbled across the floor.

After hopping up those steps again, I swore to myself that I was going to rip them out and replace them with a ramp whenever I got back home. I finally reached my room and collected my pack and Lightfeathers' gun from the floor. I stopped for a moment to look at the submachinegun that wasn't nearly as useful as I had hoped it would be. I guess it was mine now seeing as he didn't take it back, wasn't it? Getting myself back to the current matters, I plodded off through the hallway again, stopping at the end and taking one last look back towards mother's door before descending the stairs as carefully I could.

Nameless and Syzygy were sitting on the couch when I returned to the front room. What I saw was a little astounding, Nameless was finishing the braids in Syzygy's mane. Not exactly something I would expect a stallion to be doing.

"Thank you, it is so hard to do that myself." she said. Herself? How the hell do you do that at all with hooves in the first place!? I grumbled to myself as I pushed the enigma that was pony customs to the back of my mind.

Nameless didn't respond with much more than a small smile and a nod, which I now expect as the standard answer he'll give to most statements. He then turned to his own gear, the sling that carried his holster and pouches, using his magic to buckle everything down. He looked up to Syzygy and I, "Ready to go." he spoke quietly.

Oh, that's right! "OK, just one more thing and I'll be set, too." I said, heading to the kitchen. I grabbed up the two cans of food and the refilled water bottles from the sink. I double checked for anything else, settling on also grabbed the jar of moonshine, as it might come in handy for another alcohol stove or something. Maybe Nameless might remember a few other tricks we could use it for as well. "Alright, that should do it."

"I am ready as well, Mister Prancer." Syzygy said, having already gathered her pack together earlier.

Nameless was already heading out the door, followed closely by Syzygy. I was about to follow as well, but an odd feeling hit me. I had to take one more look around the only home I have known my whole life. I hoped I wouldn't be away from it too long, and I know I'm going to miss it, but I know that I need to do this. Thinking about it, I'll probably miss the framed pictures the most. I would love to take the picture of mom and dad on their wedding day, but I just couldn't risk it being lost or damaged.

Outside, Nameless had already slipped down the side of the house and was lowering Syzygy down with his... weird magic. I flapped my wings, finding them much better after a night of non-medicated rest. My takeoff was not what I would have called graceful, lacking an essential leg to push off with, but fortunately, down is an easy direction to fly. I managed to keep from landing too hard as well, which was nice because I don't think my body would appreciate slamming into the ground again. Safe and sound is the only way I want to fly now, I don't want to lose another limb.

Beer Can was hooking himself up to his cart, pulling straps tight with his teeth and checking to make sure his goods were similarly strapped down while Nameless had just gotten Syzygy down safely as well. Looking over the group, we didn't compare to a wing of Talons, but I really thought we would do alright. We were only traveling to the next town after all and the southern road was well patrolled by the Talons of both 'Claw and Reindeer. There were the troubles of the past week somewhere down this road as well, but the occurrences of the past week were far from ordinary. At least... I really hoped they were.

"Alright, let's head out!" Beer Can said once he was satisfied with the rigging of his harness. 

---

After a good, long while of walking, Nameless found himself a place in front, or 'Taking point' was what the Talons would call it. Syzygy and I were just following along behind Beer Can, but I think it was more about wanting to watch Beer Can from a distance than to be keep near me. After what she said earlier about him, I knew she didn't trust him at all, but the question was still, why? What could have made her feel that he was that dishonest?

I turned to her to ask.

...Then nearly jumped out of my fur when Nameless was next to me, walking so closely that I could have gotten a talon around him. He looked at me with his blank expression, his eyes studying me as we walked side by side. "Prancer, there's been a question bothering me for awhile." he said.

I'm really going to have to talk to him about sneaking around me later. "What is it, Nameless?"

"When we arrived, I noticed that the name of your town has an apostrophe in it. An apostrophe denotes something that's been omitted from a word. What's the whole name of the town?" He asked.

Aha! Something I actually knew! ...Kinda. "Well, my teacher, Bookbeak, once told me about that. The sign at the entrance was the only sign for the town left standing after the war. Half of it was missing and CLAW was all the first Talons could read as they flew in to scout it. The whole name of the town was Edens Claw, but the Higher ups thought it just sounded better without the Eden part. In fact, the apostrophe was actually Strix's doing. After Bookbeak told us that story years ago, he went and added it, saying that 'the apocalypse was no excuse for bad grammar'."

Nameless nodded and canted his head to one side. "One more thing. I thought there might be more griffons in a griffon controlled town, although I've only seen a couple dozen or so."

"There's a lot more griffons around 'Claw. Though most of them are on long term contracts or on high risk patrols, with only a few going between here and Seaddle." I knew that from listening to mom all these years. I never meant to eavesdrop, but she always mumbled about those things when she was drinking. "So, now that you know about where I live, what about you? Where are you from?" I asked.

"I don't know. I can't remember anything past a couple weeks ago when Syzygy found me, almost dead from a head wound." he said, turning to watch ahead as we walked.

I finally turned back to Syzygy, "Is that really what happened? When you found Nameless, I mean."  It's not like getting killed when you are alone in the wilderness was uncommon in the wastes, but to lose all your memories? That's a new one. I'm really glad I didn't wake up in Doc Clipwing's and not know who I am. Well, that's not untrue, as I wouldn't have to be me anymore. No horrendous lie of a life, no dead mother. Just a blank slate like Nameless. Maybe I'd even have had the same blank look as he always wears around.

My thoughts were interrupted when Syzygy answered. "He was struck by a falling tree, felled by lightning." She said. Then a guilty look came over her face. "It is... my fault that it happened."

Umm... that doesn't seem right. "How could that be your fault, you just said the tree was hit by lightning."

"I did not make it fall, no, but it did fall because of me. Of this, I am sure." She explained, then sighed. "As you will learn to see, Mister Prancer, I am a cursed mare."

Beer Can scoffed at this, obviously listening in. "Thar ain't no such thing as curses! Ya damned zebras can't git that outta yer heads, can ya?!" I've never been one for superstitions, and I wanted to agree with Beer Can, but Syzygy did look like she was being completely honest.

"You would do well not to laugh at such things! Curses could be the end of you someday!" She nearly yelled up at him. Well, at least I knew not to try to sway her on it. Beer Can was only going to start a fight at this rate!

Beer Can came to a halt, "Lookie here, girl. Ah've seen a lotta things 'round here, an' there ain't one of 'em that was a curse!"

The best part of this was at least I got to stop for a moment! My remaining rear leg was starting to cramp up again. I had expected to last longer, seeing as I had walked for kilometers before without issue. I guess this was just another aspect of my injury that I'll have to get used to. I was probably a strange sight for the others though, walking with that damn hop in my step. Speaking of sight, Nameless had disappeared again and was nowhere to be seen. I rolled my eyes and figured that he'd just turn up behind me again when I wasn't looking. Though, I just kept feeling nervous about it when he didn't peek out of anywhere.

I turned and poked Syzygy in the side. "Hey, where's Nameless?"

"He is around somewhere. He does this a lot. The sneaking, the hiding, he must have been an interesting pony in the life he had before he lost his memory." She said, "I have been trying to help him find his memories, and not only for the reason that my curse was what caused him to lose them. I believe that should I balance my karma by helping enough ponies, my curse might be lifted."

"There ain't no such thing as curses!" Beer Can yelled again, stomping his hoof, Apparently fed up with the topic. He stood for a moment and composed himself again before he got moving again, the rest of us continuing with him in silence. In our conversations I hadn't even noticed how far we had gone, but the sign to the convenience store coming into view gave it away handily.

I realized that Beer Can was moving rather quickly now. Did curses bother him that much? Syzygy and I tried to catch up, she managed to hold a canter easily. but running wasn't something I could do right now. At least not yet. I flapped my wings a bit, somewhat surprised when I managed to claw my way into the air.

I was flying fairly well for my wings being sore still. Was it having lost the leg that helped? It felt like a morbid thought, but I guess I did end up with less ballast. Regardless, I was able to keep up until he slowed down again to his previous speed. Whereby I could land and continue walking, not so much gracefully, but at least safely.

At that point, we had reached the convenience store. I had another hollow feeling in my gut just looking at the rock where Tarsus had died, her blood was nowhere to be seen. The surrounding dust seemed to have swallowed it all. Is that all we are? patches in the dust to be consumed by the wasteland? Should we all be lost, would we be remembered?  Or are we just going to fade into the swirling dust, forgotten to even the land itself?

I had to shake myself out of my reverie. Beer Can had kept moving onward, so I took to wing again to catch up. I hadn't had a chance to see the road from the ground the last time I was here. So the flat and even texture was definitely quite the surprise. Beer Can was able to hold a fair trot even while pulling his cart. He was keeping up enough speed that I decided to keep flying; give my leg a rest. At least as far as my sore wings might carry me today.

The wilderness was oddly empty of any hostile wildlife. I has assumed that was because we were not only in Talon controlled territory, but now also in the giant yao'guai's former range. We managed to reach what looked like a path heading towards the hillside when Beer Can finally came to a merciful halt. My wings were most certainly done for the day. Curiously, though, he started unhitching himself from the cart. Why would he want to leave it? Didn't we need that to transport the bear's head?

"Now, Syzygy. Ah'm gonna have ta ask ya a favor." Beer Can said in a sheepish voice, clearly not happy about the favor to come.

Syzygy on the other talon, looked quite surprised at the remark, "And what would that be?"

"Would ya mind gettin' in tha harness with meh an' help drag this 'ere cart up tha hill?" He asked. "Ah'm not gonna be able ta do it alone."  So he waited until AFTER insulting her to ask? I know I'm not smart, but that was a pretty dumb move.

She scoffed, avoiding any eye contact. "I would... rather not."

"Well, ah guess we'll jus' not be able tah help 'Mister Prancer' with his errand, then." He said with a smile. She grimaced at that and finally relented with a sigh, stepping over to the cart while Beer Can turned and pulled out another harness from within it.

"Nameless, would you help me with this, please?" She asked in no particular direction. Come to think of it, I still hadn't seen him since he last asked me a question a couple of minutes ago. I looked around to find him. It was frustrating though, looking for a small, brown pony in a vast and equally brown wasteland. It wasn't until he stepped out from around a large rock that I saw him. He walked over to Syzygy and helped her buckle into the harness. His magic making short work of fitting the straps, only taking slightly more time than the apparently well-practiced Beer Can.

Once set, we started picking our way up to the cliff side. Nameless was sticking around for now, periodically moving things away from the cart's path. I tried to help with that, but I quickly realized I was better off staying out of the way. I wanted to rationalize it, thinking maybe I should be keeping watch for bad guys or something, but I only ended up just feeling pretty worthless.

Beer Can, though, had me quite impressed with his ability to pick a trail through the broken ground leading to the cave. That ingenuity, combined with Syzygy helping pull the cart and Nameless clearing, helped get us up to the cave in no time at all. Turns out it was faster than I had hoped.

"HOO WEE! Smells like sumthin' died 'round here!" He exclaimed with a chuckle, waving his hoof through the air. "Maybe yer curse killed somethin' up here as well!"

"That is not funny." Syzygy replied as she was unhitching herself.

Being back at this cave again was eerie. I didn't want to go back in there, not with what I knew I would find, and with just the thought of it, I felt myself beginning to shake. This was too much! Mother's body is just inside, and I can't look at her again.  What else was I to do, though? I had to get that Yao'guai's head to pay my bill to Dr. Clipwing, something that any honorable talon would do without a second thought. I took a deep breath and moved to head into the cave as Nameless reached out a hoof and stopped me.

"Prancer, let me clear it first." He said before pulled out his pistol, drawing it with his teeth. Could unicorns not shoot with the glowy, magic tricks or something? I mean, he could lift Syzygy into the air, but couldn't use his magic for a gun? Whatever, ponies are wired.

"Don't worry, I can handle myself." I replied. I think I was trying to reassure myself as much as him. This was something I had to do, as much as I didn't ever want to face my mother again, even if it was just her body.

He shook his head and kept his hoof against my chest, "I know your gun's empty, let me go." he said surprisingly clearly from around the bit of his pistol. Wait, it WAS empty, wasn't it? How could I have forgotten? WAIT, how did he know that?! 

"How...?" was the only word I could get out of my question.

"Chamber is locked shut. With an open bolt design like that, there's no round in there. Also, the magazine spring is rattling loosely, so no ammo in there, either." He said in his flat, matter-of-fact tone. "Not hard to figure out when you know what to look for."

I raised an eyebrow to that, "And how do you know how to look for stuff like that?"

"As I said before," He shrugged and put his hoof back down, "I don't remember."

What else could I say? I let him go in. I watched him disappear into the darkness of the cave. Without him to focus on, my mind had the urge to wander, but I couldn't afford to let it. I can't fall into a depressed line of thinking, I need to stay on task!  Let's see, what are the operational details mom would talk about for securing a site? She'd gone over it a million times when she was drunk, so why can't I remember it now?

It felt like ages had passed until I heard his voice come through the cave again.

"All clear!" his muffled yell called, helping me to relax for a moment. At least no wild beasts had decided to camp out here, I'm not so sure that I could even fight in my condition.  Well, technical I can't really fight at all, seeing as I've got no ammunition. 

I still didn't want to go in as I knew there was a nightmare waiting for me. Instead, I waited for Syzygy to enter, followed by Beer Can and his cart. I walked in slowly, even for my limp, my mind screaming for me to run. I don't know if I can handle this scene again, I didn't want it to be real. I wish I was just stuck in an actual nightmare... something I might even still wake up from. When I finally made my way inside, the dim light that Nameless was providing from his horn let me see that he was standing over my mother. Beer Can and Syzygy were standing next to him as well, staring in silence.

"Mister Prancer, your mother... she..." Syzygy tried to ask the question I knew was on all their minds. I couldn't take my eyes off of her expression.  That stupid grin was still on her face, just there to remind me of how fucked up my life really was, how IGNORANT I had been. Those days are over thought, as far gone as the light from her unmoving eyes.

"Yeah..." was all I could manage to get out.

"Did she just up'n do it? Y'know, after ya'll killed this ghoul bear?" Beer Can asked. I'm really sure he knew that she shot herself already, but why ask? Was he just trying to be that much of an asshole? "I thought ya said she was 'killed in action' or sum'in?"

"Yes, she did... I did..." I sighed, "It's a long story." I really hoped not to have to explain later, I just... I didn't know how. "She was really stressed, she started making things up. There was so much she was going through!" There is no reason they need to know anyway, and what's the harm in adding just one more lie to the story of my mother? It's not like there's a shortage of them in it already.

Syzygy walked over to me and put a hoof around my shoulders, "Shall we bury her? I mean, it is the right thing to do." Syzygy offered.  Honestly, I don't think that after what she did, that she would deserve such a kindness. Then again, any kindness from me was something she seemed to be against. Nameless still didn't say a damn thing, he just kept standing there, his ears swiveling around as he looked blankly ahead. Celestia bless him, I could honestly appreciate his silence for the first time since I met him yesterday.

I turned my attention to Syzygy, finally ripping my eyes from Mother. "I'd like to do that, Syzygy, I'd like to do something for her..." I muttered softly. "Beer Can, do you have a shovel?"

"Yep, it's in mah cart sumwhere." He answered.

I headed over to the cart at the entrance of the cave, barely being able to make out the shape of it. I really should have brought something along to light things up with, but then again, I didn't think of it because I'm not the smart one. After a minute or so of carefully digging around, I found the shovel and made my way out of the cave. Though in doing so, I discovered that using the shovel as a makeshift cane helped me along my way a bit.

The weather outside was starting to turn bad quicker than before as rain started to pour down softly around me. I was unfettered, hobbling to the side of the cave towards an open area of the pan-shaped approach to the cavern's mouth. It was there that I began digging, well, as best I could without four limbs. I had to do a balancing act between each bite of the shovel's blade, constantly shifting my body as I tried my best to get this hole dug. It felt impossible to do with only one leg while both talons were busy with the shovel, but I had to finish it. I paused for only second to try to figure out an easier way to dig until I felt something inside me. The emotions coming to the surface so rapidly got bad enough that couldn't help myself anymore.

"DAMN IT, MOM! This is all your fucking fault! I can't even fucking do this right because of you!" I screamed out, my words echoing through the mountains before the rain slowly drowned them out. I shook my head and got back to the digging, screaming with each shovel full of moist earth. "You called ME the failure!" The hole was coming along well now, but it wasn't like I cared anymore, I had to get this out. "IT ALL STARTED WITH YOU!" I reached the shovel back, miscalculating my footing, and slipped into the hole. I growled out in anger and continued digging. It was less dirt now that I was flinging out than muck, the now torrential rain turning the whole into a puddle faster than I could dig. "Now I have to DIG a Celestia-damned hole to pitch YOUR. DEAD. ASS. IN!"

I punctuated each word with another drive of the shovel, only stopping as I thought I heard something shuffle behind me. I slammed the shovel into the mud in rage, turning around to see my companions staring at me. They were carrying a bundle in a sheet that I could only assume was mom. The shocked looks on their faces finally letting me register what I had just been yelling. Even Nameless looked, well, almost perturbed.

"Ah think that'll do, Prancer." Beer Can said, his mane flopping across half his face from being soaked. "looks deep 'nough ta me."

Nopony else mentioned anything, just waiting for me to climb out of the hole before lowering my mother into it. Nameless took up the shovel in his telekinesis and pushed the dirt back over her, letting me watch as every sweep let the mud cover her. I came to realize I didn't know what I felt. Despite my outburst while digging, I didn't want to part with her. She toughened me up and taught me to be responsible, even if she went about it the wrong way, right?

I don't want her to be gone, but I know that the life I had is, and will never be back again. I need to get used to being alone, to living for myself once I get back from this trip. As I was lost in thought, Nameless finished covering her. I stared at her grave, not sure whether to find some way to mark it, or to just let her have the piece she was so desperately looking for. Regardless, now that mom was properly buried as best we could, I could focus on more important things.

I could hear the hoof steps of the others heading back into the cave, leaving me alone again. The rain seemed to be intensifying, and it felt good to let it wash the dirt from me somewhat. It felt almost like it might wash me away, too, but then again, I couldn't let it. I had to get back inside to some shelter, I have a responsibility to finish the job, even if it's something I don't want to do.

"Goodbye, mother." I muttered before I headed back into the cave.

Hobbling in slowly, I found Beer Can looking over his cart while Syzygy was looking over some of the furnishings in the cave. Nameless was busy staring at something on the wall of the cave, which was nice, considering he had stayed in sight at all. I didn't really pay them any more attention than that, just limping over to sit at one of the stools next to a table. There was a picture frame on it depicting a big bear standing next to a bunch of other animals and a yellow pony with a pink mane. I immediately thought back to the pictures I left back at home. What meaning were they supposed to have to me anymore?

"Hmmm..." Nameless seemed to have an idea, "What do you suppose carvings of butterflies mean?"  What did they mean? Probably the same as every other image from the old world. It's just there to remind us of what we've lost with the hell we brought upon ourselves.

"Oh, what did you find?" Syzygy asked, her ears perking up as she trot over to him.

"I don't know, carvings of bugs. Something tells me that they're butterflies. Not sure why." He replied, making me slap my face with my talon. Not only does he question what they mean, he doesn't even remember why! Why ask at all? Why not do what everyone else does and just think about it inside your own head.

"Like artwork?" She asked. Nameless just shrugged, so she continued, "Art implies culture. It would be strange for a simple beast to create art like that." Yeah, just as it would be strange for a culture to wipe itself out over something as simple as black rocks.

Beer Can butted into the conversation. "Wait, now. Whadda ya mean, 'culture'? Ya mean he might'a held tea parties with little, pink cups?" He chuckled, rummaging through a box he had pulled from the cart.

"No, culture shows a feeling of belonging and togetherness among the members of a society. If this is art, this bear used to be intelligent. It used to be someone." Syzygy replied.

"And? He's not anymore." Beer Can retorted. "Can't be too 'cultured' if'n the Talons got it out fer ya! Not brewin' up any tea now, izze?" he said with another chuckle, seemingly waiting for a reply that never came. 

Syzygy just turned with a huff and sat on the the stool by the table. She sat there for awhile before turning to me. "Prancer, did you know that the Talons were planning to kill a target that used to be someone?"

Well, duh. Someone had to take care of it, seeing as it had been jamming up the trade routes for months now. "Yeah, that was just part of my job." I explained. "Well, it wasn't about who it was, though. The Talons just had a contract to get rid of him."

"Even if it was not personal, all signs point to the bear having been someone before it became a ghoul." Her eyes and ears dropped down as she spoke. "It may have gone mad and not have known what it was doing."

"A ghoul? Like... undead? I asked. "I've never heard of a bear turning into a ghoul before, and the stories I hear are only of ponies becoming them."

"It very well may be somewhat like the way ponies do, yes." She rubbed her chin with her hoof. "Somepony or someone who who takes a lethal dose of magical radiation, yet not lucky enough to die, end up as monsters. I would not think that the process would discriminate race."

"Now hold on! Tha' ain't fair! Callin' them Monsters like that." Beer Can called out in a huff. "Look, plenty o' ghouls out there tha' ain't no diff'rent from anypony else!" He looked like he was going to get into a rant, though he was cut short as a burst of thunder rolled in outside. His demeanor immediately changed, leaning down toward the box he had pulled out. "Alrighty, we ain't goin' anywhere with this 'ere storm outside. I'm thinkin' that we all need ta git comfy until tha storm passes." 

I watched as he pulled a small, metallic cylinder from the box, a soft clicking coming from his muzzle before the end of it lit up, sending a wide beam of light out in front of him. He can't be serious. Staying HERE?! No, the rain isn't THAT bad! My fears were punctuated by another flash of lightning. This one so close to the cave that the thunder was a mere second behind it. The sound of the rain falling became a constant pounding on the rocks outside. He was right, it was that bad.

This was going to be a long night.





-----
40% to level 2...

Quest trait added: Tripod.
You lost a leg. -2 AGL whenever you need to perform an action on the ground. Sucks...
> Cards of Fate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

		Chapter 3 - Cards of Fate



I sat there for awhile, staring out into the pouring rain. The dull thrumming of the droplets hitting the rocks around our shelter felt deafening to me. I wanted to feel that I had been able to do something in the last couple days. Something that may help fix the problems I had never known I was going to have. I mean, I was getting on my way to making something work, right? I did manage to become a Talon, if however short my active tenure was.

No, I had to admit that I certainly was still getting somewhere, if only just getting back to normal. Well, whatever might pass for normal after all of this. With that in mind, I finally pulled my thoughts away from the cave's entrance.

I noted that mom's gun was still sitting on the cave floor near where we left it, I still could hear its report in my mind when she... No, I'm not going to think of that! I couldn't. She was inescapably... gone. I played with the thought to collect it, the weapon possibly being useful later, but I didn't want to touch the thing. At least not yet, I’d figured I could leave it there ‘til morning.

Everypony was getting settled in, except myself. I didn't think I could relax, not in here at least. Maybe not anywhere for a few days. All the same, I needed to get some rest while I could. Reflexively, I ruffled my feathers briskly to try to shake out as much water as I could. Now if only I could find something to shake these thoughts from my head.

I didn't have to worry for long at least. “Are ya done gittin’ me all wet?” Grumbled Beer Can.

I froze, I didn't even think to watch for anyone first. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I didn't mean to!”

He started mumbling a bit, "speakin’ ah wet, now, ah was sure ah'd packed more water..."

Water? Oh, Luna, I had forgotten. Nameless had stolen that water for Syzygy and I. It’s not like I had asked him to. I’d have been sure I could find some way to repay Beer Can. "I, umm..." I was about to explain, but I felt a pair of eyes on me. Nameless was staring at me with a weird look.

"What's tha' now, Prancer?" Beer Can asked.

I couldn't put a claw on why, but I just didn't seem able to tell him the real reason while Nameless was watching so intently. "I mean, I did say not to leave any supplies in there overnight."

"Right, 'cause tha yao'guai might get inta it, ah remember." I nodded, and he continued "Wha' ah don' get, though, is how a 'guai would dig through everythin', take sumthin' that specific, then order it up all neat an' tidy again."

"Maybe it could have been smarter than the average bear?" I offered. Nameless rolled his eyes at my feeble attempt. "You can share some of my supplies if you need." Oh, come on, think! what did I have? Can't offer my dirty water, that's what I refilled Beer Can's bottles with, he might recognize that. I really had to keep my food, so that left... "I have some moonshine, if there's anything you might need it for." Oh, I hoped he wouldn't be mad.

"Whaddya mean, 'need it fer'?" he asked. 

"I brought it for fuel, Nameless rigged up an alcohol stove the other day. It works really well!" That was actually a really neat trick he had, too. Scary, though. Wait, why was Beer Can looking at me like that? "Are you OK?" ...He really didn't look OK.

"Am ah OK?! Yer plannin' on burnin' moonshine?! On purpose?!" He said in an exacerbated tone. He was wheezing heavily and had to sit down, finding purchase for his rump in a comically over-sized rocking chair. His quick flop left the thing swaying wildly back and forth.

"Calm yourself, you are as dramatic as a foal!" Syzygy interjected, "What would you be doing instead, simply drink it?" she scoffed. "Mister Prancer's idea is actually useful."

“An' what would ya do if I did, curse meh?” he retorted sharply.

Syzygy shook her head, “No, I would assume that you would be doing a fair bit of cursing already should you drink it.”

The chair slowly came to a halt. Beer Can began to chuckle, which grew into a fit of roaring laughter. “HAW! HAW! Dit ya jus' make a joke?” He said before he fell into another laughing fit.

“Yes, I can be funny when I try to. You are just funny to watch you try.” She explained, an image of mock consternation etched into her face.

A few moments passed, only the sound of the downpour outside could be heard. The stare-down lasted until Syzygy lost her composure, her scowl slipping. All at once, we erupted in laughter. Even Nameless had a few quiet snickers.

Joking aside, I offered him the moonshine all the same. Beer Can took a hearty swig straight from the jar. He blinked a few times as he swallowed, followed by a deep, wheezing cough. “Well, ya got yerself sum dandy stuff there, don’t go burnin’ all of it, now!”

That did seem to get his mind off of the water for the time being. I faintly remembered something relevant from old Bookbeak: ‘The best leverage to move a bear with, is bait’. I had no idea how I had remembered that, though I was really glad it stuck, regardless. I’ll have to remember to visit him at the library and thank him once I get home. And maybe kick him for how terrible the coincidence of bear metaphors happened to be at the moment.

I busied myself with getting something to eat for the evening, fishing out one of the cans from my pack. I came up with the curious one without a label. Intrigued once again, I tore the top open with my talons to find it was… corn. I hated corn. Resigning myself to my fate, I choked down what I could from the can, filling my crop with the loathsome vegetable. Or was it a grain? It was probably both at the same time just to spite me.

There was some left in the can. The thought of finishing what remained made me want to retch. “Anyone care for some corn?” I offered to the room, holding the can aloft. I’d hoped someone might want it, I’d hate to waste it… or worse, have to finish it myself.

Syzygy was busy working on mashing up some weird looking plants, she looked up long enough to reply; “No, thank you, Mister Prancer.”

Beer Can had slumped over the jar of moonshine, snoring rather quietly; barely more than heavy breathing. Luckily he had remembered to cap the stuff first, it wouldn't do any good to anyone if he spilled it later in his sleep. Nameless nodded in my direction, surprising me somewhat when he grabbed the can from my grasp in his magic. Unicorns will be another thing to get used to.

“Thank you.” he mumbled, before munching away quietly.

With all that handled, I slipped off of the stool. I propped up my pack against a wall as a makeshift pillow and laid back, closing my eyes for a moment. Listening to the storm outside was relaxing, it was the dirge I needed to wash the day’s thoughts aside. Maybe, just maybe, with some luck I could get some sleep.

A minute later I Thought I heard the rain die down somewhat, so I got up to check. If the rain was letting up then we could get moving again. To heck with sleep, we could get away from this damn cave and get this errand done so that I can figure out what I'd be doing with my life. That 'contracting' thing for Lightfeathers or helping Strix with a library. Either way I'd be pushing papers and running books, right?

I hobbled my way to the cave entrance to see if the pause in the storm was going to last. I never made it, though. A noise from behind me caught my attention, a deep growl from the depths of Tartarus. I turned to see those milky-white, glowing eyes.

A familiar, petrifying fear took me, the same monster back from the dead! What was I going to do? My gun was not only empty, it was still next to my pack. Also, it didn't do all that much the last time anyway!

Oh! Mom’s gun was still on the cave floor! It already put him down once! I scrambled after it. landing hard in the dirt and rolling over, the implement of death in my talon, ready to do...

...Nothing, all I could do was stare blankly into those eyes. They bored into me, staring back into my own self. I saw in its eyes a strange thing... it was, sad? That made me feel all the more horrified. Syzygy had said this used to be someone, how could I have done this?

"How do I fix this?" I asked. The bear responded by pointing at mom's gun, clasped firmly in my claws. I looked to find it already pointed back at me, the huge barrel a most welcome sight. I squeezed the trigger just like Sergeant Faust had taught me… and I heard that muzzle blast just. One. Last. Time...


---


I awoke with a start, I hadn't even noticed that I dozed off. I turned to see if all was well, noting that my neck was quite sore, cans of food and bottled water didn't make for plush bedding. The bear was, thankfully, right where I had left it and still very dead. As I caught my breath, I noticed Nameless watching me. Did I wake him up?

"Oh, hey there, Nameless."

"Nightmare?" He asked in a hushed tone, more quiet than his normal at least. I assumed as to not wake the others.

"Yeah, I think it's from being here again. You guys said I was unconscious for over two days, but it really feels like I was just here yesterday."

"To your recollection, it was." He replied. I suppose it was. When I was leaving the cave, it was morning. I woke up in Dr. Clipwing's office in the afternoon, albeit after a couple days' coma, then we got here the next day.

I had a question that was bugging me since I had met him, "Why do you not talk much, Nameless? I heard that ponies are always talkative." He scoffed at that with a little smirk. Aha! He does have emotion!

"I'm never sure if I'd say something right." He said. I was sorta waiting for a little more information. Something going into more detail as to why he would feel that way.

“And why would you not be able to say something right? Did the tree hitting you hurt your brain a bit? I, uh... Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude.” Great, I had to just ask him if he was brain damaged.

He sighed, “It's alright. No, I don't think it did. I just can't recall important things. Typical customs and social norms. I never know if I'm going to come off as offensive." Wow, that's the most I've heard him say at a time.

My little chat was cut short by Beer Can stirring. “Wha?” he mumbled.

“Good morning, Beer Can!” I cheered. he didn't seem as enthusiastic about getting out of this cave as I was, probably because he didn't come close to death in here. As I clambered up to my paws, well, paw, I noticed something. Mom’s pistol wasn't laying where I thought it was. I almost wanted to just ignore it, let it just be gone, but I couldn't. “Hey, have you seen my mom’s gun? I thought it was over here last night?” I asked, pointing to the path of dirt along the cave floor.

“Yeah, ah grabbed it. Fer safe keepin’ o’ course.” He replied sheepishly. “That one-taloned cannon ‘o yer mum’s is safe in mah hooves!” He added with a triumphant air.

Well, I figured that I couldn't use the pistol anyway, the thing was probably way too big for me to handle. “So, what should we do with the bear? I mean, we need to take his head like my contract said…” I began.

“No, no, I cannot be witness to such a thing!” Syzygy said. She looked as though she was going to be sick. “Are you going to act so barbaric?”

“Oho, wha’s wrong? Ya said b’fore that ‘e’s just a monster nao! What’s wrong with cuttin’ ‘im up a bit, then?!” Beer Can retorted at Syzygy as she was fleeing from the cave.

“I can do it.” Nameless muttered, a glow flashing from his horn. A nearly bloodless gash appeared in the bear’s hide, just at its neck. The seemingly effortless cut leaving what was left of the bear’s cranium to roll over itself, allowing more gore to slosh out of the abyss that was once its skull. The Mt. Raindier merchants didn't need its brains, right? So, I let the pulped mass drain, that would certainly help make it weigh a bit less.

That finished, we busied ourselves with lifting the thing; Nameless and Beer Can at either side, and myself at the rear. All of us trying to lift the head into the cart while Nameless’ magic lessened the weight as best as he could. droplets of sweat could be seen forming on his forehead. he was right about only being good at delicate things, his magic could barely manage lifting any of its mass at all. Dear Celestia, this head was *heavy*!

I felt my leg tremble from the effort. I couldn't give up now, though! My forelegs were shaking under the weight of the skull of the thing, but I knew I couldn't give up! Talons didn't quit. An eternity of struggling later, the chin of the beast was resting on the edge of the cart. I felt a surge of excitement, and I pushed it over its nose, landing it in the cart solidly enough to let it sit for the moment.

While I was catching my breath, Beer Can turned towards me, no, he was just facing away from the cart, “Hrnngh!” he grunted, giving the head a swift buck, providing enough oomph to shove it neatly aboard.

The hard work done, we pulled another sheet that Beer Can had handy over the Giant Yau’Guai’s head. Syzygy found it decent to re-enter the cave, I figured, finally time to help us get the head to the contract. right?

Panting, he called out to the mouth of the cave, presumably to Syzygy. “I’m gonna have ta ask ya ta help meh ta pull tha cart again.” He said in a barely audible murmur over his gasps for breath.

“Fine.” Syzygy said as she simply stood next to the cart, “Would you help me once again into this, then?” she asked the cave. I had assumed that she meant Nameless, who’s magic I saw helping tether her into the cart. The unicorn in question, however, was nowhere to be seen already. The sneaky buck was gone as usual.

After we had the yau'guai's head secured into the cart, and Beer Can and Syzygy hooked up in the harness, we were off. Syzygy was obviously none too happy about being so close to Beer Can again, she didn't seem to like him at all. In an unexpected turn, I actually saw Nameless wandering off a second this time; into his constant watch for things ahead. At least, that's what I figured he was doing. Maybe he was more comfortable now, hiding less from the rest of us? Well, that was the best I could come up with, I had no experience with any...pony… like him.

We hadn't said much while leaving the cave itself, but Beer Can, as always, was the first to bring up idle conversation. "Say, Syzygy, what'r them almond pastries called? Ah can't rightly recall.”

"I do not know. I believe this is a pony thing, is it not?"

"Yea, ah s'pose so…” he replied dejectedly, “Oh! Ah just remembered, 'Bear claws'! Ah sure could go fer a couple a them."

Syzygy responded without a word, just a burning glare. I was going to ask them about what an almond was until they stopped dead in their tracks, both of them had a look of alarm on their face.

"Stop, Mister Prancer! The path has been washed out!" Syzygy said

Oh, that's right. I wasn't watching where I was going. I stopped moving and looked ahead to see that most of the hillside was a muddy smear. The Rainstorm from last night had certainly been bad, the path we took to get here was gone. All that was left was a sheer riverbed in appearance.

"Dang! How're we gonna git mah cart outta here now..." Beer Can grumbled. "It'll be at least a day tah git it out with mah salvage gear. We'll hav'ta take out all tha gear an' hook up mah come-along..."

"A come-a-what?” I asked, cutting him off.

"It's like a winch. Ya use a lever tah pull sum'in' with it." He pondered a moment. "Ya know, come tah think of it, we should'a done that from the git go. Could'a pulled tha bear right ta tha road with it."

I was so angry right about then that I could have scratched his eyes out. "We could have avoided this whole ordeal of getting the cart up here?!" We wouldn't have had to stay in the cave either, Nameless and I could have just grabbed the head and we'd be off, he wouldn't have bothered me about any of this.

“Yep, but we're here now. Not gonna git anywhere fussin' 'bout 'what ifs'. So le's git on with gittin' on!” He said with a chuckle.

An idea came to mind. One I didn't like. “No. There's another way down.” Yeah, the way I dragged myself along a few days before. I didn't want to retrace even more of my worst night ever.

Nameless peeked back around into view. How he manages to hide in plain sight, I was sure I’d never know. "I don't see a way around the landslide. This entire side of the hill is gone." His ever-present nature was starting to creep me out.

"Not a way around it," I explained, "another way back to the road. Towards where you found me, I think." Or somewhere near there, I imagined. Thankfully, I don't remember much of that night.

No, it's not a lie. It's all a joke, it's all a fucking joke! None of this matters!

Well, I only remembered what I wished I could forget...

I shook myself from the twisted reverie. “If we can use the come-a-whatsit to lower the cart slowly, that should get us there in no time.”

Beer Can's eyes brightened up at that, “Well, what'r ya waitin' fer? Let's go!” he exclaimed. Turning sharply, he nearly ran Syzygy over. If it weren't for her being strapped in next to him, he may very well have done so!

“Oh, you are such a brute! When we reach the road, I am getting far away from you!” she exclaimed.

Beer Can waved a hoof, “An' here ah thought we were growin' close, seein’ as we’ve already gotten hitched!” he said sarcastically. “Well, lead on, Prancer. We gotta git ta Raindier before nightfall!”

I followed what was left of the path back to the cave. Looking back to the east, to the direction I had crawled to the road. I knew the heavy rain would have washed away my paw prints, but I found the path blindly once before, it shouldn't be impossible to do it again, right? I was sure I had to have turned east just at the mouth of the cave. That made sense, at least to me.

Then I saw it, a small game trail that might be the path I had found on accident that night “It’s this way, be careful!” I said, trying to pick my way up the hill. I had to admit, the path was a lot shorter than I thought it was before. I suppose a crippling injury has its own way of making distances feel longer. I looked out over the crest of the hill, the road before me once again.

“Ahh, wha’ta wonderful sight,” said Beer Can, staring off to the stretch of transportation marvels of yesteryear.  “Prancer, fetch the come-a-long fer meh and wait fer the binary rainbow and I to git tha cart turned ‘round.” His racist one-liner eliciting a grumble from Syzygy

“Umm, OK.” I muttered as I dug around the Bear’s head for the tool. “Why are you going backwards?” I asked.

“Tha’s so we can slow down tha descent of tha cart. Ya see, tha come-a-long there don’t ‘xactly let things down smoothly.” Beer Can said rather matter-of-factly, pulling the poor zebra around with him again. “Now hook it up ta on’a them stumps there an’ gimme tha lead end,” he paused for a moment, “An’ ah don’ mean yer leg.” He added with a chuckle.

If it weren't for Syzygy being strapped in next to him, I might have entertained the thought of letting the come-along ‘slip’. Which would have been a rather poor idea anyway, considering I still hadn't gotten to Mt. Raindier. I needed the cargo in the cart and it would be a rather mean thing to do anyway. So I did as I was instructed and then began pulling the lever, letting the slack out almost a dozen centimeters at a time. With the first pull, Syzygy let out a little squeak of surprise. If this weren't a job I was busy focusing on, I might have thought it cute, even.

Progress was made in slow, monotonous and tiring increments. Beer Can and Syzygy were doing their best to slow the drop with each pull of the lever, essentially braking the cart with their hooves. I had to ponder whether that was painful to them. A hoof was a lot tougher than a paw or talon, but was it that tough? I had hoped so, though in either case we were almost done, about ten meters to go...

A snapping sound caught my attention behind me. I turned my head in time to see the roots of the tree stump I was anchored to give way. I was trying to come up with a plan, but the come-a-long began to drag me down with it, my talons firmly grasped around the handle in surprise. Just before I began tumbling, I saw Nameless throw what little weight he had shoulder-first into the tree stump, pushing its trajectory just enough to roll past me, rather than over.

Having narrowly avoided what may have led to another mangled limb with the help of my companion, I had to wonder what’s wrong between this cliff side and me. This was the second time that I fell down the same hill. If for some reason I have to climb up here a third time on the ground, I swear to Celestia I’ll just slide down on my own and save the universe the trouble of setting up some terrible coincidence. Right before I came to a halt, I realized that this was a strange train of thought to be having whilst rolling down a slope.

“Are you alright, Mister Prancer?!” Syzygy called to me as I reached a full stop at the bottom. She was laying on her haunches, but seemed to be alright, herself.

“Uuugh… I had hoped not to do that again” I groaned, dragging myself up to all threes again. “Yeah, I’m OK.” I added with a slight nod.

“Well, ya mus’ta learn’d sumthin’, not ‘nuff ta keep from it again, but ya took it a heck ova lot better than tha firs’ time!” He added with a chuckle. I was starting to believe that he actively tried to be unhelpful. “We aught git movin’, gotta be in town ‘fore dark.”

I was about to ask if Syzygy was really OK when I felt a couple of pebbles gently roll over my talon. Looking towards where they came from, I saw nameless carefully picking his way down the hill. I smiled warmly at his approach. “Thanks, you saved my tail from that tree stump up there. I really owe you.” I offered. My response was, rather predictably, a simple nod.

“We should continue onwards.” Syzygy said.

With hardly more than a few additional grumbles from Beer Can, we began making our way along the road. Nobody seemed too interested in talking at the moment, leaving the only noises on the trail the hoof beats and the creak of the cart’s axle. The return of the relative silence apart from that was not a welcome thing to me. I had to come up with something. All I had was hearsay from my friends at home. “So, Beer Can, Have you been seeing much trouble around lately? Talon reports have mentioned a lot of weird bandits around lately.” Thank you, Strix, for that gem.

Beer Can shook his head. “Nah, not bandits er nuthin’. Jus’ a couple ah raiders tha’ Nameless thar shot up last week.” I looked to see where Nameless was, for his normal nod of acknowledgement or something, but he was gone again. “Ah found ‘im an’ the zebra at tha li’l shop we passed yesterday af’er the dust settled.” That explained the shootout that Sergeant Faust mentioned. ”He took a bullet o’ his own an’ ah had ta take ‘im back ta Mt. Raindier with meh. Seems like ah hav’a real knack ta pick up youngin’s tha’ need some help.” Beer Can turned to Syzygy  “So, what’s a zebra doin’ ‘round these parts anyhow?” He asked with a sarcastic look on his face, as if he didn't expect an answer to the question

“I was placed into exile” she replied, much to my own surprise. I would have expected her to ignore the question, given their less than stellar relationship so far.

“‘cause yer ‘cursed’, I assume?” He retorted.

She nodded, “Yes, my tribe had removed me because of my curse. Accidents always seem to happen around me.”

Beer Can scoffed. “Now tha’s ju…”

“No,” Syzygy interrupted, “it is not coincidence. It was far too common to be simple fate, I am a harbinger of bad luck.” Her prompt response led me to believe she already had this conversation with other ponies before. She looked as though she was close to tears

Beer Can gave a heavy sigh, “Ah’ll have ta keep tha’ in mind, then.” he said, resigning himself to her explanation. I seriously doubted that he believed her, but that wasn't going to make a difference. Instead of trying to pry deeper, he allowed us to continue in silence. Certainly a more peaceful quiet, now that I had something else to focus on. How many accidents does it take for zebras to turn against one of their own? Does it require them to be fatal? More mysteries of the wasteland.

After some time, Nameless appeared in the road ahead. He looked uncomfortable sitting out in the open waiting for us, obvious by how he was shifting about and attempting to watch every direction at once. When we caught up to him, he cleared his throat and spoke with a whisper, “It looks like there's some foals sitting next to the road before us.”

We all came to a stop. “Are they alright?” Syzygy asked.

“Ah su'pose they are, seein' as they are out on their own.” Beer Can replied

Syzygy turned to him sharply, “That is not what I meant!” she yelled. She still wasn't enjoying his company, that was certain.

Nameless shook his head. “Something's wrong though, they felt off...”

“Well what 'bout jus' goin' 'round 'em?” Beer Can offered. “Ah don' wan' any more trouble with curses an' bad feelings...” he explained with a roll of his eyes.

Syzygy shook her head, “No, I can not simply allow them to sit out here,” she explained, “We have to help somehow. Mister Prancer, can you fly up to them and ask what they are doing?”

“Sure, I guess.” I responded, flapping my wings a bit and I took to the air. Heading up the road a ways to look for these children.They weren't too hard to find, really. They were sitting off to the side of the road like Nameless said. I flew down and landed a ways away from them and hobbled slowly towards the kids.

“What are you guys doing out here?” I asked.

A red filly stepped forward, “Nuthin' a Talon needs ta know anything about!” she said harshly.

“Careful, Cutthroat, you're gonna get us killed. Talons are supposed to shoot us on sight around here!” said a pink colt from behind her.

“What? Why would I shoot you?” I asked. Nameless was right, this all felt wrong. I looked more closely at the three children. Their outfits were made of cobbled together bits of scrap, and a few bones, too. Their manes and coats were mangy, and they likely hadn't seen a bar of soap in their entire lives it seemed.

It dawned on me. These kids were raiders! How could I have been so stupid? I had just walked up and started a conversation with raiders on a whim! All my life I was told that they were just plain dumb, and here I am chatting idly with them because they were just foals! I tried my best to keep my composure, they didn't seem to want a fight, so I would be OK if that kept up.

Well, until a blue colt's eyes registered something. He was about to say what would likely ruin yet another day for me when he was interrupted by Beer Can shouting from down the road. “C'mon, Prancer! What're ya blabbin' ta the kids fer?!” I had a bad feeling of my own about this now.

Cutthroat's muzzle turned up into a smile, “Jackpot!” she said with glee. “You two handle the birdie, imma get the salespony!” and she trotted off past me, drawing a nasty looking knife.

This couldn't be happening. “Are you really trying to try and rob us?” I asked. I can't believe this, these were just children!

“Well, yeah... Momma beats us if we don't bring anything good home.” said the blue colt. “So, please, just let us take something and we'll go!” his eyes were tearing up. A pang of guilt shot through me, he just wanted to make his mother happy, too. Sure, this wasn't the right way of doing things...

Well, I was feeling a bit guilty until the pink one started laughing. “Ha ha ha! Momma?! She been dead almost a year!” He exclaimed, giving the blue foal a shove.

“Celestia fucking damn it, Brawny! The dumb bird was gonna fall for it!” He yelled, kicking Brawny over onto his pink rump.

Anger seethed from within me. I stepped forward and slapped the offending foal, my claws leaving a few scratches on his cheek. “You little shit! Are all foals so disappointing?! How can you make anything of yourself without any respect or dignity?!” I yelled, surprising myself at how I sounded like mom for a moment. I was about to continue with my rant when I heard Syzygy scream. “Nameless,” I called out to the wastes in general, hoping that his apparent omnipresence wouldn't fail me, “watch the kids, I'm stopping Cutthroat!” He had better been around to cover, I didn't have the time, I had to help Syzygy!

I flew back to the cart where I saw something odd. Syzygy wasn’t in trouble as I had feared, she was yelling at Beer Can, who was holding a weird looking gun in his mouth. “You can not do this! She is only a filly!”

I landed a few paces from Cutthroat.I felt my anger fade as I addressed the three there, “She's just a raider, not a foal. I'm supposed to kill her myself, even.” I gave Syzygy a mournful glance. There's no way I would be able to just kill somepony like that. Just because I was ordered to. It felt wrong. I turned to Cutthroat, “Just go. Collect your friends and stop raiding.”

“Or what, birdie?” she sneered at me.

“...or my friend gets to shoot you, and you stop raiding anyway.” Beer Can punctuated my point by tonguing some switch to let his energy weapon begin to charge with a rather audible hum. “So leave, stop raiding. Otherwise you will die the next time I see you.” That hollow feeling returned as I finished speaking. Would I really end up killing her? Could I? No, I was sure I’d never see her again, not with how rough a life they must have out here. Odds were that the next Talon that saw them would just shoot her as a matter of policy.

At least she understood that she wasn't winning this round. She left with quite a bit of grumbling, but left none the less, waving to the colts Nameless was holding at gunpoint. I swore I would never doubt him again. Afterwards, we continued on our way.


---


Syzygy spoke up once Cutthroat's group was out of earshot. “Were you really going to shoot her, Beer Can? Those children were still blank flanks!”

He laughed, “Nah, this here's 'Celestia's Scorcher' Ahm told. It's sum pre-war prototype gun that uses solar energy ta charge its capacitors. Ah figger it was ta give Equestria a source o' unlimit'd ammo.”

I couldn't help myself, my beak had dropped open. Stupefied that such a weapon could ever exist. “But... but... a super gun... what? how?” I took a moment to compose myself. “That doesn't explain why you didn't shoot.”

He laughed even harder, “Tha's 'cuz tha darned thang never did work! Ya'd think if'n ya had sum sort of one ov’a kind gun, ya might want ta make it tough enough ta not break!”

Oh, I bet the big 'guai would have been a breeze to handle with a gun like that. Then mom would still be alive and my life would still be normal! “Beer Can, do you think you'll be able to fix it?” I asked eagerly. Oh, I hoped he said yes. That would really help with the next huge monster the Talons had to deal with! Assuming Lieutenant Rackkam could refit it with a talon grip instead of a pony bit.

He shook his head, “Nope, it's a one ov’a kind gun that needs one ov’a kind parts. Been lookin' fer years tah find sumthin' close enuff ta rig it up fer the heck of it. Tha solar panel’s ar’ fine, but tha proprietary focusin’ bits ar’ toast. Ah can fix 'bout anythin', ah jus' need parts ta do it with.” He pointed up the cloudy sky for a moment, “Though, we ain't particularly blessed with tha ammo fer it; hardly gits a trickle anyhow.”

Now that was just depressing. My short-lived dream of banishing evil in single shots crushed before my very eyes. At least I had a new goal in mind; find a super gun! Something powerful enough to end a fight in mere moments, or maybe scary enough to end it without a shot fired! Oh, mom had one, I’ll have to get her gun back from him.

There was another question I had in mind now, remembering an earlier statement, “Hey, um, what’s a ‘blank flank’?” I asked the group in general.

“That is a pony who does not have a cutie mark yet, or a zebra without a glyph mark.” Syzygy responded.

great, an answer that leads to a question, “OK, and what’s a cutie mark… glyph?”

“Tha’s a physical rep’sentation of wha’ yer talents are in a picture on yer butt.” Beer Can added with his own flair. “Ah know ya ain’t a pony, but ah’d a’thought ya might’a been told tha’ sometime b’fore.”

“No, I didn't learn all that much about ponies while I was little.” I explained, trying my best not to check out their rumps. I couldn't help myself, though, I had to look for their marks. They couldn't be telling the truth, this was too silly! This was absurd! This was… actually true. Plain to see was an image on each of their hindquarters. A garbage bin filled with gold coins on Beer Can and three swirls in a line on Syzygy. This reinforced a notion about ponies I was told while growing up, one of the few things I was told about them; ponies are weird. Oh well, it was time to move on, we had a job to do. Afterall, the town was just up ahead of us.

A few moments of catching sight of our goal, Beer Can flagged me over to him. “Now Prancer,” he began as I got close, “Ya gotta remember tha’ Talons ‘ave a rep’tation ta live up ta!”

I nodded. All Talons have to present themselves well, it’s what griffons are taught before they can even fly!

“Good, ah don’ have ta tell ya that ya aught’ta look tough then?” he asked in what I had hoped was a rhetorical tone.

I wasn't sure what he meant by that. We were just here to finish up the contract and leave, right? “What are you talking about?”

“Ya gotta look dashing! Gotta keep up tha’ ‘stone-cold killer’ look ya had earlier! ‘Ere, I got a eyepatch in mah cart sumwhere…” He said, turning ‘round to begin searching.

“I don’t need an eyepatch…” I started to explain.

“C’mon, ‘Prancy’, ya’ll look like a pirate ‘er sumthin’! ‘Sides, ya don’t need ta need it! Well, ah got a knife in’ere too, jus’ in case!” He cackled.

I decided to ignore him for the rest of the walk, we were pretty much there anyway. The sight I had before me as I passed the gate was interesting. There were so many little ponies around! All of them bustling about their daily lives, chatting, joking, working and the occasional verse of song.

This place was nothing like home. Where a griffon would get a job done first, these ponies looked like they all went out of their way to waste time while they had work to do…  Along my walk across the merchant town, I caught sight of ponies conversing about very silly topics while still carrying baggage or even halfway between stacking heavy crates, leaning on boxes precariously perched in a pile.

I had also noticed something interesting, and rather fortunate. There were very few unicorns like Nameless, and I hadn’t seen a pegasus yet. I would certainly hate for some unicorn to get bothered mid-spell and turn me into an orange or something. Or a pegasus dropping flowerpots, anvils, hay carts or pianos on my head when they should be moving them somewhere.

There wasn't much need to search far to reach my goal, the bazaar, it was in the liveliest area of town. Ponies were walking from kiosk to kiosk, table to table, looking for wares, goods or services. All of them were shorter than myself, giving me a clear view to a stand with a sign over it, red letters painted on it with the word ‘manajer’. Advertising both the position, and illiteracy, of the pony in question.

I checked behind me to see if Beer Can and Syzygy were still coming. While they were indeed following along, their pace had slowed sharply as Beer Can was chatting to everypony around him just like anyone else here… Except Syzygy, she just looked around nervously, all the ponies were watching her very closely.

I even saw Nameless chatting with another pony, which felt rather out of place. A lime green one with a chunk of meat for a cutie mark. This cutie mark thing still felt alien, but I might as well keep track, right? The pony was smiling. It wasn't a happy one, it was some kind of smile that twisted my gizzard. Nameless didn't seem interested in the conversation at all either, less even than he might normally seem to.

I approached the two of them, I suppose to get a better look at this weird pony, or at least to hear what they were talking about.

“...I don’t suppose this is part of your usual tricks, eh?” Dang, I missed part of that. The pony saw me as I was approaching, “You’re working with a Talon now, Razor?” He asked Nameless.

“So it would seem.” was his monotone reply

“It would also seem like it’s time for me to go,” he said while walking past me. I could smell what passed for his cologne on him as he left, it smelled like something from Dr. Clipwing’s cupboards, after it was set on fire, and then put out with sewage. I couldn't tell what made me feel more sick. His grin, or his stench.

“Who was that?” I asked once Nameless and I were alone.

Nameless shrugged, “He appeared to be an acquaintance of mine. I don’t remember him.”

I had to chuckle a bit. “That’s not surprising, You haven’t been able to remember anything.”

He nodded, leaving me to look around the busy crowd. Some ponies were taking a moment or two to stare at me, I could almost feel each eyeball every time they looked at the stump that used to be my right hind leg. All of these ponies around were making me nervous, I’d never been in a crowd. I looked back to see if Beer Can had almost caught up to me…

Instead of the roadway, I was met with the face of another griffon. Definitely another Talon, too. Crowded streets were getting very old, very quickly

“What’s an initiate doing wanderin’ around here? What’s yer name and company and what’re ya doing here? I don’t recognize you!” he grilled me with a harsh, gravelly tone before prodding me with a clawtip. “Get Talkin’!”

I saluted smartly, “Initiate Thistledown from the ‘Claw branch! I’m here to finish a contract.” I hoped that covered all of his questions, there was so many in a row I forgot what half of them were!

The Talon looked puzzled, “Thistledown? Now why does that sound familiar? And what contract would you…” his face turned to suspicion, ”No, there’s only one contract out that you’d be here for. How did an initiate kill the giant yao'guai? accidentally hit it from the rifle range?!”

“I… I didn't kill it…” I began. It hurt to say, but I didn't think it was wise to lie to a superior. “My M…”

He interrupted me before I could finish. “Sorry for your loss, then. You have to be from ‘Claw, only some backward camp like that would still allow for a contract to be inherited.”

Some time during our exchange, Beer Can and Syzygy finally caught up with us. Spotting them, I turned to the Talon officer, “Sir, I really must be going, I…” I began to explain.

“Don’t ‘Sir’ me, you aren't in my company. It’s Ravenplume, Percival Ravenplume.”

I wasn't sure if I had heard that right, “Ravenplume?” That couldn't have been right, “Did you have family in ‘Claw?”

He cocked an eyebrow at me, seeming annoyed at even the mention of family.  “Yeah, my sister, did she send you with a message or something?”

“N-no… she’s dead.”  Blunt really was the only way to be with someone as ornery as him.

He gave a little chortle.  “Eh, figures. That dumb bird never did have any sense in her skull. Heh, shows when you figure her only friend she really had; some drunken cunt that beat her kid! In any case, thanks for letting me know, initiate, that’ll save me the Hearth’s Warming card. See ya ‘round.”

Why would he say that about someone? And who was he talking about? Wait, ‘only friend she had...’, did he mean mom? I know that they were friends. That wasn't what my mom was really like! She was tough and harsh, yeah, but even she couldn't have handled the stress. All of the long patrols, the loss of friends, Even Celestia herself abdicated the throne when the ponies’ big war got too much for her, didn't she? That was what my history books said while I was growing up at least.

But Celestia didn’t try to have anyone killed, least of all her own child… Was mom really that bad?

I doesn't matter anymore, Celestia’s dead too by now I assumed.

“What’cha doin’ standin’ ‘round wastin’ time fer, Prancer?” Beer Can asked, snapping me back to the real world. Back to the matter at claw… wait just a moment! He was nagging me about wasting time? Syzygy seemed to catch the hypocrisy of the matter as well, facehoofing hard.

“I was talking to a local Talon. Anyway, let’s just get this contract finished up, OK?” I turned to continue to the ‘manajer’s’ stall and finally get back to my life.

“Well, sure, ah thought tha’s whut we’re doin’ here.” came his reply, accompanied by the soft squeaking of his cart’s wheels.

“Yeah, let’s get going then…” I heard the cart stop, its creaking I heard along the road suddenly absent. I turned once again to Beer Can, talking to yet another pony. Right after he mentioned wasting time? I could feel my face twitch. “OK, I give up,” I called to him with an exaggerated sweep of a talon, “you just take your time and socialize, I’ll be waiting over at the manager’s place!”

I left in a huff, taking flight right then and there. In my haste I managed to pull something in my hind leg on takeoff. This was bound to give me an even worse limp for the rest of the day. Oh well, such was the price of illustrating a point.

The flight was rather brief, reinforcing my belief that ponies really ought to just get the job done first, THEN talk. I really had no clue what I was going to prove, though. Beer Can had already shown how mule-headed he could be. There wasn't much to do but wait. That and watch the crowd go by.

The latter of my available pastimes was far from interesting. In fact, ponies just might be one of the most irritating things I've had to deal with this week. Having nothing left to do but watch the things go about their daily procrastination was going to drive me insane. No wonder Percival was so testy.

Perhaps I should have asked if Strix and Gavii could have helped fly the thing here. I could already hear them in my head, how they would ramble on about some smarty-pants thing or random bits, respectively. That would have been preferable, compared to Beer Can. Oh, but then I’d have to deal with them seeing mom… Oh, why wasn't anything simple anymore?

I glanced over to check on Beer Can’s progress. Only about 20 meters left to go… and talking to another pony, dang it! Whatever, he’s almost here. This is the last thing left to do before I can just go home anyway.

Syzygy caught my gaze and seemed to understand. She began pulling the cart, along with Beer Can, who amazingly kept up with his conversation.

“So ah’ll see ya’ll in a bit, then!” he finally called out to his friend

I wandered over to the zebra and whispered a quick “thank you” to her.

“It was my pleasure, Mister Prancer. In fact, I thank you for the excuse to drag this oaf for a change!” she replied with a smile.

“Alrighty,” Beer Can snorted, “Ah s’pose we’re ready tah offload tha cargo!”

I nodded and addressed the manager, I mean, ‘manajer’. A slim, bright blue thing with a well-kempt, yellow mane. “Excuse me, miss, I’m here to collect on a contract on behalf of the Edens Claw Talons.”

“I’m a stallion.” was ‘her’ reply, in a decidedly unfeminine voice.

Well, too bad for her, him, whatever, I was out of patience today already. “Sorry, sir, although I am here to fulfill the contract for slaying the giant yao’guai.” Oh my gosh, I can do this. I sound awesome! “We have the head as requested and we’ll be on our way after payment.” I finished the sentence with a grotesque unveiling of the head in question. Seeing it in the light of day was downright horrific, but the smell was worse. Fortunately, I was in no mood to care, so I continued. “One giant ghoul bear! 2000 caps!”

Syzygy was about to keel over, and if it weren't for the harness, she may very well have. The effect was marvelous on the ‘manajer’, however. The bag containing my payment was practically thrown to me. “Ugh, what do we do with it now?” he groaned.

Beer Can chuckled a bit, unfazed by the sight or stench, “Ah don’t care wha ya do with yer dead bear. S’long as ya paid tha lad his due, ya do what ya please!” Beer Can explained while removing Syzygy and himself from the cart. “Imma leave it here fer ya.”

“But, but, but that’s ridiculous! We can’t leave it in the marketplace!” He gasped.

“Hey, Prancer.” He called to me, “What were yer instructions fer tha job?”

“Show proof of the bear’s slaying by presenting the bazaar manager the head of the beast.” I recalled what Lightfeathers had instructed me.

“An’ tha’s what ‘e needed ta do, right?” Beer Can asked the ‘manajer’, who nodded. “Then tha’s a done deal!” he exclaimed as he hopped onto his cart, “Honest trade!” He bellowed, punctuating it by giving the head a swift buck out of his cart.

Woo! Go Beer Can!

“Well, now tha’ tha’s set’led, we oughtta slip inna m’ store a minute” He said before grabbing the cart’s harness in his teeth.

What? More sidetracking? Fine. “Oh, alright, how long will it take to get there?” I grumbled.

“Jus’ a m’ment ‘r two.” He replied, mumbling around the leather straps.

“Really? with how long it took to cross the market, I doubt that.”

“Yep! Ah promise!”

“Well it had better be, I’m tired of…” the rest of my rant died when I saw him pull his cart to the store directly behind the ‘manajer’s’ stall and got to work at unbuckling Syzygy from the rigging. I felt like such a dweeb. Doubly so when I realized what the name of his store was, ‘Honest Trade Consignments’. The jerk used my job as a PR stunt!

Beer Can quickly finished freeing the zebra and opened the door to the shop. He promptly announced our entry. “Hiya, there, Mack! Ah’m back early! Brought mah friends, too!”

Rather dejectedly, I followed him into the store, instantly being scrutinized by an excited, little, black filly. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Dad! You have a Talon? That’s so cool! Wait, aren't they expensive? How did you manage to negotiate that?”

“Heh, he was twenny-five percent off! Ha haw!” Beer can said, ruffling the young pony's fuzzy, cream mane.

“I see what you did there, and that’s not nice at all!” Chastised the girl before addressing me, offering her hoof. “Hiya, I’m Macchiato!”

Hesitating a moment, I took her hoof and shook it gently, “I’m Prancer, Prancer Thistledown.”

Syzygy was entering just behind me, “Hello, Macchiato, it is a pleasure to see you once more.” She said, immediately pounced on by the enthusiastic girl.

“I’m so glad to see you guys safe! Did your friend remember anything yet?” she asked, turning to Nameless in the corner. Wait, I didn’t see him come in. Whatever, that was just his thing…

“Sadly, no. He has not recovered any memories.” Answered Syzygy.

“Really? it’s been like, forever!” She pouted, flopping to the floor.

“Two and one half weeks.” corrected Syzygy

“I know! FOREEEVEEEER!” Macchiato wailed, flailing her hooves in the air for dramatic effect.

Syzygy wasn’t effected in the least. “Relax, child, it will only take something familiar to him and he will begin to remember.”

“Aww, fine.” She said after standing again, “I really wanted to get to know him, though. I can’t ask about him if he doesn’t know.” She trotted over to my friend and tapped his forehead with a hoof. “Get those thinky bits working, OK?” she explained. Nameless just nodded absently.

“Tha’s all fine an dandy, but how’s we get some R&R while tha job’s done?” Beer Can offered.

“What’s that? More sidetracking?” I grumbled.

Beer Can shrugged. “Well, why not? Ain’t like we’ll make it back ta ‘Claw ‘fore nightfall. Gittin’ dark a’ready anyhow.” 

He was right. “Fine, what’s the plan.”

“Well, ah ran ‘cross one ov mah friends on tha way through town.” I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic, he practically talked to half the ponies in the market. “Mah poker group iz meetin’ up t’night, so ah figger tha’ we all could head over.” He said with an eager grin.

Syzygy stood on her rear hooves alone, crossing her forelegs. “Oh, may I object to this? I have had enough of your sort of entertainment for the time being.”

Beer Can gave no outward reaction to her bipedal display, “Fine, ya can stay here with Mack fer the night.”

The filly swelled with such glee that I thought she might explode. “Really?! I get to have a sleepover?!” She lunged at Beer Can, throwing both forehooves around him in an elated blur. “Thanks, daddy! This is so cool!”

“Yeh, how ‘bout ‘cha brew ‘er up sum coffee? I bet’cha will have ‘er up all night with yer girl talk.” He said in what was likely an attempt to get her attention away from him.

“Or possibly some tea?” Syzygy said.

Beer Can waved a hoof, “Well, whichever it is, ya’ll have fun.”

I wasn’t sure about this, “Are you sure you’ll be OK here?”

“Certainly, I will be perfectly fine staying… right here. Right here with Macchiato.” She said with a faint smile. A smile I didn’t trust. I could tell that there was something that she was hiding from me.

Before I could act upon my suspicion, Beer Can began to nearly shoved us out of his shop, “Time ta go, everypo… erm… everyone!” I found myself worrying about Syzygy. I couldn’t quite put my claw on it, but I had a bad feeling.

Out on the street, most of the ponies had already packed up and headed home for the night. The sun was indeed setting as Beer Can had implied; a few rays of light slipped through the cloud cover at the right angle to shine across the marketplace.

“Ah hate this time ah tha day. Always so derned bright.” Beer Can muttered

“Beer Can, are you sure Syzygy will be alright?” I asked.

He chortled at that. “I bet she’ll be fine. Raindier is mighty tolerant o’ stripes. And she's weird, but she seems ah good sort. Ah bet she’s havin’ ah grand time, she really does like kids or sumthin’.”

“like those little raiders we saw earlier?” I spat back.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “Ah bet she’s kickin’ ‘erself fer not understandin’ tha diff’rence, though. Ya ain’t no kid iffin’ ya‘re playin’ at a big game like tha’. Blank-flank ‘r no.” Beer Can stopped walking. “Speakin’ o’ games, we’re here!” he announced, pointing a hoof at a shabby storefront.

“Still, I hope they’re OK, myself” I replied.

Beer Can didn’t say any more on the subject, he just trotted up to the door and opened it wide. A set of bells ringing as he did so. “After you, gentle sirs.” Nameless slipped silently inside, looking around. I hobbled up after, entering the shop of Beer Can’s friend. Before we could reach very far we were met with the nasally voice of a stallion in a back room. “We’re closed, ya’ll need to come back tomorrow!”

“Aw c’mon now!” Beer Can called back from behind me, “Is jus’ me an’ a coupl’ah friends!”

“You’re back in town early and you’re late to show up. That’s just like you. Well, get on in already!” Beckoned the voice.

Following his lead, Nameless and I headed into the back areas with Beer Can. There was cheering once he entered, until I stepped through the curtain that posed as a door. Three stallions were all alternately staring between Beer Can and myself.

“You brought a Talon in with you?!” One of them asked. Not the one who we first heard as we got here, though.

Beer Can held a hoof in front of him in protest. “he’s not a local, alright? ‘e’s from ‘Claw. That an’ he’s with me, so there ain’t gonna be nothin’ wrong!”

“I don’t care, I bet they talk between the different companies about stuff like this, how to keep squeezin’ the merchants trying to earn a fair living!” He quickly got to his hooves and stormed out, “He’s just here to learn all about your secrets, just like the rest!” he yelled back before pulling open the front door roughly enough to send the bells on it scattered across the main entry.

“Don’t mind him, son.” the nasally voiced host told me, “He’s just angry about one wing of Talon mercs trying to offer a ‘security deal’ on their protection racket in exchange for a discount at his store. By the way, the name’s Full House. I also believe a chair has just opened up.”

“Prancer Thistledown.” I introduced myself as I sat down between Full House and the other stallion, “So, what happened?”

“Hmm? To Shoestring?” Full House raised an eyebrow, “He ended the contract with the Talons and they left, three days later he was burglarized. He claimed it was the Talons extorting him, but everypony knew it was just average thieves that were able to put two, and two, and two together and realize that the security was gone.”

“So why does he blame the Talons?” I still didn’t really get it.

House shifted forward in his chair, “Oh, that’s simple, it’s easier for him to blame something else than to admit that his own stubborn streak led to it all.” He waved his hoof at Shoestring’s prior exit dismissively. “The mercs offered to lower their rates in exchange for giving them supplies at a discount, which they were buying from him anyway.”

This was all starting to make my head hurt. “But, why would the mercs offer a lower rate to buy stuff cheaper?”

“Oh, not this rant again.” Beer Can groaned, settling into a chair on our host’s right.

House gave Beer Can a quick bop and continued anyway. “Because it’s mutually beneficial, but the griffons would be getting a great deal overall. They would be getting less money per paycheck, but it would have been more net profit for them after spending much less on the same goods as before. Those goods, if priced nearly at cost to the mercs, wouldn’t have been a loss to the merchant because they would essentially be purchased before they ever arrived, guaranteeing that he made some money, and he was ordering them anyway for the Talons.”

Being a merchant was starting to sound a whole lot tougher than being a Talon ever would be. “I’m still not really following. Why didn’t the Talons just have the stuff taken out of their paychecks?

“Because the threat of not buying his stuff is another bargaining chip they would have had, they wouldn’t be able to take all of his money he was paying them somewhere else then. Anyways, enough about that anyway. You thirsty?” he asked as he stood up to retrieve something, I felt myself nearly gasp when I saw he had a metal leg; heavy-looking and archano-robotic in nature. The leg gave a quiet whine with each step as he returned to the table with a cardboard, six pack carrier held firmly in his teeth. He set them down gently and waved a hoof over them, “Help yourselves, everypony!” Before fetching a couple more of the containers, whirring the whole way again.

I waited for the ponies to grab their own before collecting a brown, glass bottle for myself. “Thanks.” I said, pulling the cap free with a talon. The contents smelled bitter, but in a good way, like roasted dandelion roots. I took a sip and then checked the label, which read ‘Buckweiser’. I was so very pleased at the taste, bubbly and much less bitter than I had thought, but still nice.

”Don’ worry ‘bout it, Shoestring brought the drinks over tonight. If he forgot to take ‘em with ‘im when he left, that’s his problem!” He laughed.

Full House dealt out a set of cards, “Game’s five card draw; Buy-in is two hundred caps. We don’t play any sissy stuff here. Jokers wild, wrap arounds, dogs and cats count and hopping straights are valid.”

Oh, Celestia, what did I get myself into? “Umm, what does any of that mean?” I asked.

The other pony at the table leaned over to me, “Don’t worry about it, just try to put colors and numbers together and follow along. You’ll be fine, he just likes to talk big.” and after that he placed a bag of caps onto the table. “The name’s Maple Crisp, great to meet ‘cha, Prancer!”

I pulled open my pack to grab my caps. Five hundred of them were mine anyway, right? I also only needed another two hundred to pay Doctor Clipwing. So, I opened the pouch and began counting. Beer Can seemed to already have his counted out, as evident by his neat bag like Maple Crisp had.

Thankfully, having talons to grab stuff had easily allowed me to cover my lack of preparedness, and my caps were set up in short order.

“What’s yer ante, House?” Beer Can asked.

“Five to start.” He replied, and all the ponies chipped in. I mirrored them, trying to make sense of the game.

I checked my cards, four of them were printed in red with a heart in the corner. The other black. They all had a set of numbers on them, except one of the red, which had a picture of a pink unicorn mare with wings… Oh, wait, an alicorn. My mouth felt dry, I was so nervous. I took another drink of my beer and thought up something to say to break the tension. “So, Beer Can, I didn’t think you were a father.”

“Hmm? Mah daughter? She’s ‘dopted. Ah found ‘er awhile ago, her parents were dead so ah snatched her up an’ gave her a roof ta live under.” Beer Can paused a moment to address Full House, “Check.”

Huh? Check what? “Oh, I see. Did you know who her parents were?”

“Check,” Maple said, “What about you, Prancer, check?”

“Umm, sure. Check...” I still didn’t know what we were checking… “Did you see Macchiato’s parents?”

“Mhmm, coupla Steel Ranger scribes. No power armor fer those types, they’s tha thinky ones that sit ‘round readin’ books. Bandits didn’t give ‘em a chance.” Beer Can ended his story with tossing down a few cards, “Gimme three, House.”

House dealt him three new cards, giving me a bit more understanding of the game. Maple Crisp was next, trading two cards.

“And for you, Prancer?” Full House asked.

Well, the black card wasn’t doing me any good, so I slipped it to House. “One, please.”

“Oho! Talons are polite nowadays, eh?” He laughed. The new card he slid to me was another one with a picture. This one a white, unicorn stallion with a blue mane. It was another card with a heart in the corner. All my cards were the same kind, hopefully that meant something good!

House didn’t discard anything. “I’ll stay pat, Beer Can, you raise?” He asked.

“Yep, ah raise fitty.” He replied, pushing forward a hoof-ful of caps.

“Trying to bluff early? I call.” and Maple pushed in an equal amount.

“Naw, ah’d never!” he claimed. “Prancer, ya call?”

I didn’t get this game at all… “Yeah.” And I scooted fifty caps of my own into the pot.

“Fine, I call too.” Full House said, adding his own caps. “let’s show ‘em.”

“Two pairs.” Beer Can said, showing two nines, two threes and a card with a picture on it. I knew the pony on that one, Princess Celestia.

Maple Crisp laughed, “I knew you were bluffing, ya always try that too soon! Three of a kind.” His cards were two sevens, a five, an eight and a card showing someone with the head of a pony and a body made of… other stuff. “Jokers are wild for this game, right?” He asked smugly.

Full House nodded and turned to me, “What have you got?

I set down my cards, “I don’t know, they’re all the same, or something…”

“Heh, a flush. How’s that for beginner’s luck?” House replied, throwing his hooves up.

“Ah bet’cha stacked tha deck…” Beer Can mumbled, “Imma be watchin’ ya tonight.” He added with a point of his hoof.

I managed to figure out the basics over the next few deals; what check, call, raise, and especially fold, all meant. I figure I should have done the last one a few more times than I did, having lost most everything I had just won.

Maple Crisp had had it worse than me, though, and he stepped away from the table. “I don’t think I’ll be stickin’ in. I’ll cash out while I still have caps on the table” he said.

“Suit yourself, and feel free to another beer if you’re hanging out.” Full House explained.

“Thanks, I’ll stick around and talk to our silent friend here,” Turning to Nameless, ”I’m mightly sorry, I thought you were a ponnequin you were so quiet. What was your name?”

Nameless looked up, “I don’t remember it. I lost my memory some time ago.”

“What, like amnesia?” Maple asked

Nameless nodded, “I’ve simply been going by ‘Nameless’. It’s not perfect, but I’d not feel comfortable with just taking a name that isn’t mine in the meantime.” I blinked, dumbfounded at the relative novel-like response. I hadn’t heard that much out of him since this morning. Nameless stood up and slipped himself into Maple’s empty chair. “So, may I join?” Nameless asked, managing to speak a whole paragraph!

“Sure, if ya got the buy-in that is.” Full House said, waving a hoof over the table. “Plenty of beer left, too!”

Nameless fished out a small pouch of tools and his pistol with his magic, placing them neatly on the table. “Will these do as collateral?”

Full House’s jaw dropped. “What kinda work are you in? What do you have a silenced gun for?” He asked. I hadn’t even known it was silenced. I probably should have figured that out from the can-shaped object on the end if it yesterday, had I not been distracted.

“I don’t care for noise.” Nameless said plainly.

“Uh-huh, and the lockpicks?” House asked with a tilt of his head.

“I always lose my keys.” He deadpanned.

“Nameless?” Beer Can began.

“Hmm?” he replied.

“Ya scare meh.” I couldn’t disagree with Beer Can there. That little pony has unnerved me a few times already.

“I suppose it’ll do,” Full house said, counting out two hundred caps and pushing them towards Nameless as best he could, setting the gear off to the side. “I assume you recall the game tonight?”

Nameless nodded, levitating all the caps and sorting them neatly into stacks before anteing up five of them in the pot. Dang, he really needs a new schtick other than his constant nodding.

After the rest of us ante’d up, House dealt out some more cards. My set of cards were, I assumed by the look of them, quite terrible. I had a few cards with pictures, a royal guard, a bat-winged pony and a pony that looked like he was made of gems or crystals. When it came time to draw more cards I almost gave up the bat pony before I noticed they all had the same letter. They were three Jacks! I discarded just my other two instead, a four and a nine. I was a tad disheartened to see that I got a nine and a four back in turn. All I managed was to trade colors, but I at least had my three of a kind.

“I got nothing but an ace,” Full House declared, showing us the card in question, a beautifully colored picture of one of the ministry mares I’d seen from my history lessons, Rarity, before grabbing four new cards in place of the others. The replacements weren’t any better judging from the sour look on his face afterwards.

“Hmm, ah raise twenny.” said Beer Can, nudging the caps into the pot.

“Fold.” was Nameless’s turn. He set his cards neatly on the table.

“Call.” I said, matching Beer Can’s twenty.

“And call. Let’s show.” House set, displaying a pair of aces. Rarity now joined by Twilight.

“Three threes, Mister!” Beer Can cheered, “What’cha got, Prancy?”

Oh, using Gavii’s pet name that she called me, are you? “Three Jacks, that beats you, right?”

Beer Can just grumbled, so I took the pot. The rest of the game was a lot less fortunate for me, I ended up losing a lot of it again. Nameless, on the other claw, happened to know exactly what to do with each deal. He either folded or just won the pot from there on. It was rather frustrating.

Things were just as tough for Beer Can and Full House, they were getting twitchy. House seemed all too desperate to win back what he was losing, and not doing a very good job at it. Beer Can seemed to be keeping more or less even, though.

Finally it came down to what I was sure to be the last deal. I had terrible cards, an eight, a seven, a two and two threes.

“Ah raise thirty.” Was Beer Can’s play.

“Call.” said Nameless, matching the wager.

“Call.” I said, I had really hoped I could get some good cards with the draw. I placed my own thirty caps into the pot.

Beer Can discarded two, Nameless stayed put, and I discarded everything but my threes, praying to at least get another to match them. Sadly, the replacements were just a unhelpful. Full House took one card.

“Check.” Beer Can said, passing the bet to Nameless.

Nameless shoved a pile of caps into the pot. “I raise one hundred.” he muttered with nary a hitch nor a warble in his flat tone.

“You bluff worse than Beer Can!” House called out.

“Ah don’ think ‘e’s bluffin’ ya…” Beer Can offered.

Everypony besides Nameless was getting tense. I didn’t have anything good, just a nearly random jumble of cards. I met Nameless’s gaze, and his eyes softened for a brief moment. It was almost like he was telling me something… did he know I hadn’t a chance? He must have, he’s been doing so well all night! 

“I fold.” I muttered. Defeated, but I was sure it was the right choice. 

Sweat was forming On House’s forehead. He seemed to really be struggling now to keep up with Nameless’s empty gaze. Making a noble, but futile effort to find some sort of meaning in his face. Nameless may as well have been made of stone, his poker face unflinching. “I Call!” Full House nearly yelled as he shoved in his remaining caps, splashing the pot.

Nameless set down his cards. The first character on the cards I recognized easily from the old books, Nightmare Moon. Followed by a tall, bug-like mare with fillament wings and a twisted horn; A dark unicorn in regal clothes with a mane of shadows; A smaller bug-like pony; and a zebra wearing a large assortment of gold bangles and earrings.

“BWA HA!” Beer Can cheered, “Royal Flush in spades! Ah told’ja he don’t bluff!” 

This caught Maple Crisp’s attention, he almost jumped to the table to see. “It’s not really a royal flush if you have a wild card in it.” He corrected, pointing at the zebra pictured there.

Beer Can deflated, “Oh, fine. A straight flush!”

Regardless of the right terminology, Nameless won the last of Full House's chips. "Well, that's it for the game, then." he said dejectedly. "I hope ya'll are happy, I'm completely bust thanks to yer quiet friend here!"

"May I purchase my gear back, please?" Nameless asked.

"What? Oh, sweet Luna." He moaned before snorting out, "That’ll help, but I'll be lucky to scrape the caps together to keep my shop open the rest of the month."

Beer Can seemed to have an idea "Ah su'pose ah could take yer Cyber-leg in lieu of tha caps ah'm owed. tha' aughtta leave ya sum'in' tah work with." he said with a smug grin

The card shark was quite visibly angry at the notion of giving up his Cyber-hoof. "Yer tryin' to charge me a hoof and a leg?! Literally?! No, this wasn't some cheap toy either, it's worth loads of caps."

"Oh, hush now, ain't like we're takin' a fresh one! An' no, it ain't worth 'loads'. Ya 'ave been kickin' 'round on that leg fer decades now, it ain't hardly worth diddly. Yer lucky ahm off’rin ya a deal at all! 'Sides, with all those caps ya always brag 'bout winnin', ya'll be affordin' a better one in no time!" explained Beer Can.

"Gonna be a year or two before I find another leg." He grumbled, but he finally relented and removed the hoof. It looked like it was pretty difficult to do, unmounting it with your mouth. All the same, it was in Beer Can’s hooves now. I could see that he was really excited about getting a hold of this leg. It was kinda scary, really, how crazy happy he was getting over a pony’s hoof!

“I suppose you boys would like to cash out, too.” House said with a sigh as he counted out the caps for us. “Here’s 327 for you, squinty, and your gear back” he said, Hoofing his pistol, lock picks and stack of caps to Nameless, “132 to the catbird,” as he pushed a much smaller stack to me, which I scooped up back into the bag whence it came earlier. “And you, Beer Can, can get the hell out!” He yelled to our friend.

“Aw, all angry ‘bout tha “House always wins” bein’ a load’a fert’lizer?” Beer Can jested to no positive effect, as per usual for his jokes. House glared at my friend. “Heh, ah’ll be seein’ ya the us’al time next week, then?” he asked with a hearty chuckle. Full House growled and chased him off by throwing empty Buckwieser bottles, Beer Can’s cackles echoing back into the room as he cantered away.

Nameless was just strapping his pistol’s holster back onto his sling harness when I looked back. “Ready to go? We should catch up with Beer Can.” I said. Nameless’ response was just his typical nod. “Thank you for the hospitality, Mr. House.” I told the old card shark before following out where Beer Can had passed a moment ago.

Beer Can was already out in the street, chortling as he danced about. “Heh, did’ja’ll see his face! Ah’ve been tryin’ ta stick it ta him like tha’ fer months!” He danced around a bit more before heading back towards his shop. “Ah gotta drop off this ‘ere leg.” He added while he crossed the street, tossing the fake limb into his cart. I assumed we did pretty well for ourselves. A cybernetic limb and several hundred caps was quite a haul I was sure, although I wasn’t the one to have made the caps… or earned the leg…

Ya know what, I don’t think I like poker. Nope, not at all.

"Well, this calls fer a celebration! Ah know tha perfect place!" Beer Can exclaimed as he returned, trotting past us briskly.	Beer Can led us away down the street and through an alley to another open square. He stopped before a small building that looked as though it couldn't have been much more than a couple of rooms. All the same, it was quite obviously a bar. I’ve had to drag mom to the clinic to rest after she spent some time at one a few times. I still felt bad about that, I couldn’t fly to our house while carrying her, and the clinic was the only building with a ramp. Just another way I wasn’t strong enough, I supposed.

As we approached the place that Beer Can had been talking about, we were stopped by two big ponies at the door. At least I thought they might be big ponies, or bigger than average maybe. It was hard to form a reference for which ones are "big" when I hadn't even seen one as tall as I was yet.

"Evenin', gentlecolts!" Beer Can said to the bouncers, who nodded and let the old trader pass.

Things soured when Nameless got to the doorway. "Yo, you ain't allowed here no more!" one yelled at him, "you been blacklisted months ago!" The other explained.

"Oh? Why is that?" Asked Nameless.

"Don't play dumb,” One started,  “you know what happened at the card tables!" The other retorted.

I hobbled up to the bouncers, "Is there something wrong?"

They looked me over for a moment, "No,” One said flatly, “not with you,” the other finished. “We don't want any trouble with the Talons.” The first one elaborated. This way of talking had better not be their ‘thing’... “Problems happen when Talons are bothered.” Said the other, cementing my fears.

“So, what is wrong?” I demanded.

“This little guy,” the second one began, “he ain't allowed in.” Stated the first one. “not after the damages from the last time he was hustlin' poker!" 

Oh, so this must have been another one of those things he didn’t remember. No wonder he wiped the table with Full House. "But he's with me." I offered.

“Sorry,” One said, “Don’t care.” The other finished. “When he shows up, trouble follows” said... one of them, I honestly couldn’t tell which, maybe both?

These ponies’ way of speaking was driving me nuts! Why couldn’t just one or the other talk! OK, now what would someone smarter think of to say? I guess I had to stall until I could figure something out. “Are you sure it was his fault? Maybe it was all coincidence? You can’t be sure it’ll happen again. Besides, I’ll be keeping a close eye on him.” I said, maybe that’ll buy some time.

They were silent for almost a minute, exchanging glances between themselves and periodically looking at Nameless and I. It was starting to get really creepy, but finally one sighed and nodded to the other.

"Fine, on the condition that HE," the bouncer punctuated with a hoof jabbed towards Nameless, "Doesn't even get so much as his STINK on a playing card. Lastly, you will have to hand us over your firearms."

"Why's that? It's not loaded." I said plainly. “And what happened to your bounce-back-and-forth talk?!”

The bouncers looked befuddled, "What do you mean it's not loaded? What good is an empty gun?!" apparently ignoring my calling them out on their stupid game. At least they weren’t finishing each other’s sentences anymore.

"Not sure, I just didn't need any more ammo for it since my last contract." I reached for the magazine of my SMG and removed it, then showing them it was, indeed, empty. I still hadn't remembered to get any after my encounter with the bear.

The bouncers turned away from us and whispered between themselves. Their discussion must have become heated, as they raised their voices just enough for me to make out the last word of one of them.

"Look, he's either some badass or a complete nutjob. either way, I'm not dealing with pissing that off." He turned back around to address me, "Fine, keep it. Just tuck it out of sight or somethin'!" and with that he stepped aside and let us in. I stuffed my gun in my pack and then realized the bouncers must have missed Nameless' pistol. I looked back at my friend, and couldn't find his gun. Not the gun, the holster, not even one bullet. I was just about to tie my bags shut when I saw his weapon neatly stored next to my own. In my bag...

"How did you?" I stammered. Nameless didn't reply, he just shrugged.

I didn't think I would ever come to understand him, he really was kinda freaky. I shook the mystery aside in my head and walked into the bar, at least he didn’t have his gun to shoot me in the back with! Though, that was little comfort when dealing with a pony that cut off a head this morning. With his mind.

The lights were very dim for some reason, or maybe all bars were like that? Regardless, I could barely see Beer Can waving us over to a table he had sat down at. He already had a round of drinks waiting for us.

"C'mon over! These here ain't goin' ta drink themselves... Well, ah might up'n drink 'em, but that's diff'rent!" He said.

"Who were those ponies at the door?" I asked as I sat down.

"Them's tha Breaks. Biggest dern pones in town." He explained. "Twins even! Funny how tha' works. Anyway, le's celebrate!" Well, that at least told me something, I’m just taller than ponies. One mystery solved!

"OK. What's this stuff?" I asked, investigating the beverage before me . It wasn't anything like the bottles of Buckwieser like we had earlier. These were small glasses of brown liquid. They smelled a lot like the bourbon that mom liked.

"It's 'Roughshod', sweet corn whiskey. One of mah very fav'rites!" He said before grabbing his glass in his mouth and taking a swig. Actually, he drank the whole glass in one gulp! I was rather impressed, I figured that might be a little tougher for someone... I mean, somepony, to do.

Well, I thought that until I saw Nameless easily sipping at his glass thanks to his magic. Unicorns cheat. I might have a better ability to hold stuff than most ponies, but I still have to actually hold them! Also, more corn? Why would I want more corn?!

All the same, I didn’t want to be rude. I grabbed hold of my glass and took a quick sip. It was bitter like the Buckwieser, but it burned! Oh, Celestia did it burn! It felt like it was eating away at my gizzard; it didn’t taste like corn at all, either. At least when it reached my stomach it felt only pleasantly warm, as if it cooled during its trip down. When I was able to breathe again, I managed a weak cough. Now knowing what I was facing, I drank the rest of it down.

"HA! I knew ya'd like it!" Beer Can exclaimed, waving a server over "lemme git ya another round! My treat!"

He didn't let me protest, and another drink was poured into my glass. Beer Can had the waitress pony leave the bottle for us. It was almost completely full, I couldn't believe that we'd be able to drink the whole thing. Not with how that stuff burned.

Beer Can scooted over to Nameless, "So, bud, how'd ya win so much at tha tables?"

Nameless took a swig before answering. "It was easy after I figured out the patterns." followed by another swig, emptying the glass.

"Whaddya mean? Like countin' cards?" Beer Can asked bemusedly.

Nameless turned back to Beer Can, but his expression was still featureless. "Well, no. four ponies playing five card draw meant that about half the cards were used each time, so they'd have to be reshuffled with every deal. Counting cards wouldn't work. I realised that the players hardly kept the lower cards, they usually discarded them quickly. This left them much less worn than the higher cards they kept in their hooves, which had many creases, folds, and an occasional tear. After watching for awhile I found that I could tell what card was what. So after that I knew what to bet on." He explained.

"Have ah ever told ya that ya scare me sometimes?" Beer Can replied flatly.

I had to giggle a bit, I never had friends I could spend time with before. Not while I was in 'Claw, not until I joined the Talons. I really didn't regret it anymore, not after this!

Beer Can brought me back to reality. "Prancer, ya jus' gonna stare at tha walls, or ya gonna have some drinks with us?

I smiled, "Sure, I'll drink!" And drink I did. A few minutes in, my head started feeling fuzzy. Not like whenever my mom used to hit me for prying into her affairs, more like a faint feeling of elation. No wonder mom drank this kind of stuff all the time! I love corn!

Nameless poured us all another round using his telekinesis. I wished I could do that, it would make life so much easier. I could clean the house without lifting a claw! No sooner than I had picked up my glass again was a mare looking at me. Glossy-eyed and wearing something really frilly that covered everything but her rump.

"Hey, you. You... you're cute, you wanna come have some 'fun' with me? have a party?" she said with a hiccup and a giggle.

The question caught me off guard, causing me to stammer. "I, umm... I dunno, I'm kinda busy."

"Wha... what? Too busy for me? ME?! Fine..." She huffed and staggered off, muttering something about 'colt cuddlers'.

Beer Can lost it, "Wha ha ha ha! Ya crack me up, Prancer! Ya can't git laid even on accident!" He said, falling out of his chair.

I ignored Beer Can, I didn't quite get what he meant anyway. I really was kinda busy, though, I was spending time with my new friends! Doing... stuff. Oh, I had another drink poured for me? When did I finish the last one? I was still holding the empty glass. It was getting hard to remember things.

I exchanged glasses and took a swig. This stuff didn't burn so much anymore; still didn’t taste like corn, though. Also strange how everything felt fuzzy and out of focus. Like I was seeing everything through a hazy sheet of plastic.


---


I found myself in the middle of a conversation, I think I lost track of time. I didn't remember what had happened a moment before. I had just been talking to that mare, now I was looking at Nameless. I think he had just said something. Did he ask me a question? Why was my head on the table?

"Wha, what was that?" I slurred out.

"Hmm? I didn't say anything." He said. Believable, given his silent nature. Though, I could have sworn he did. “You were talking about your mother, then crying.”

“Oh.” Anger boiled up in me. “Fuck her! I… I wissh sshe wazzn’t so ded so I could kill her mysself!” I roared. After that I reached for my glass. There were a few there in front of me, but I couldn't find the full one...


---


I think I lost some more time, what happened? How do I keep going blank?

"You get that fucking smile off of your face!" Someone said in a very angry tone.

Oh! That's me yelling?! Why am I yelling? I saw a pony in front of me. He did have a disturbing grin. I recognized that kind of smile, it looked just like mom's, just before she...

"Or what, the crippled birdie is going to limp all over me?" He taunted, and struck me with a hoof right in my face. I couldn't feel it. I don't know if I was that numb or if he was that weak.

I laughed, "My mother hit harder than you!" I bellowed, right before I lunged at him.

I couldn't believe what I was doing, I leapt upon him. He screamed. I could feel him flailing underneath me. I had no idea why, but I had to get that smile off! I had to get rid of it! I had to...


---


I was back at the table. More time lost. What's worse was that the room felt like it was in a downward spiral. I set my talon on the edge of the table to steady myself. That's when I saw it, my claws were covered in drying blood.

"What happened?" I asked my friends at the table with me.

"Wha'da'ya mean, 'what happened'?” Exclaimed Beer Can, his face shocked. “Ya damn near tore a pony's face off is what happen'd! Yer lucky tha bouncers are 'fraid of ya! Otherwise they'd prolly up'n thrown ya out ‘stead of ‘im!"

"Actually,” Nameless interjected, “I don't think they're afraid of him so much as that they saw the horny mare talking to the stallion we just met. She seemed like she was claiming that Prancer insulted her or something, maybe she was looking for some pity?" 

"An' how in tha hay did ya know that?" Demanded Beer Can.

"I read her lips." Nameless replied.

Beer Can looked flabbergasted. "OK, son, now ya REALLY scare meh! First, forgettin’ tha’ ya are some sort’ah card wiz, then ya finally start talkin’ after a few drinks, now ya say ya can read what a pony’s sayin’ by watchin’ their face?"

I felt sick, I hurt somepony. I also couldn't stop the room from wobbling senselessly. I just had to... something... It was hard to think, I couldn't keep track of... stuff...

The floor felt like it shifted from under me, where did it go? I think I hit the table. Then I fell.  Hey! I found the floor. It happened to feel really comfortable, actually. I figured I’d just take a nap...


---


My world was dark, I couldn't see anything. I felt like I was floating. I think I opened my eyes, it really seemed like I did. Images started to form. Fleeting glimpses of things unrecognizable. I walked forward, feeling all four legs again, though my formerly amputated rear leg seemed very stiff for some reason. At least I had it back.

I could finally make out where I was, I was walking down a road I knew, but it wasn't one where I had ever been. It was a strange sensation, I knew where I was. I looked around, and found what I was sure to be there.

I found myself in front of the shack again. I could hear voices inside. I didn't want to go back in there, but I couldn't help myself. I hobbled up to the doorway and peered inside. Mom and Tarsus were there, sitting at the red table... drinking tea? Oh, the table was blue, wasn't it? No matter, it's red now. I found myself sitting at one of the chairs sitting beside it, a cup of tea already before me. I had no clue what the two of them were talking about, and their voices were wrong, like someone or somepony was speaking through them.

"Lookie here, ya owe me fer gettin' yer autodoc fixed up, so ah'm a'collectin' on tha favor." my mother said with Beer Can's voice. More red dripping onto the table from her gaping skull.

Tarsus turned to her with an angry look, "This isn't right, it's not safe. There's no guarantee it'll fit anyways, this cyber-interface might not be implanted right, it hasn’t been tested on a griffon!" She retorted in an unfamiliar voice. “Besides, I didn’t ask you to fix the Auto-Doc anyways!

Mom, or Beer Can I guess, shrugged. "Meh, them’s semantics. Quit yer worrying, Deadpan, Ah took tha meashur'ments an' made tha a'justments mahself! Ain't nothing goin' wrong!"

Tarsus, shook her head and kept speaking in the other voice. "Look, we can't do it, the safety protocols won't let a procedure start with that high of a toxicity level. How much did he drink?!"

Beer Can mom prodded Tarsus, pressing out gore from her chest. "So tern 'em off! Ya don't think yer good enough a doc ta fix 'im up? I can find a nuther doc 'round 'ere somewhere, won't be as good as you, though."

I felt terrible, this weird nightmare was getting too much. I vomited. It felt like boiling tar was flowing from my gizzard.

The stranger playing Tarsus batted Mom Can’s talon away. "Fine! I'll do it! Just because anypony else would kill him, you sick, sadistic mongrel! Help me shut him inside, then clean up his mess. And I swear I'm charging you double. And triple if you keep talking!"


---


I woke up in a strange room. It smelled like grease, bare metal and some other industrial-type things I couldn't identify. I found myself slumped over a fairly large bed. I could have sworn I had a weird dream, but I couldn't remember any of it. Didn't matter now, I had to get moving and figure out what happened since last night.

I regretted that thought. Sitting up was a bad idea. The room immediately began to spin violently and my head developed a throbbing ache. I reached for something to hold onto, I had to stop the building from spinning! I ended up on the floor, how did I get there? Did I fall? I had to have.

I dragged myself up off the floor and tried to look around. There were lockers and storage bins everywhere. I found a stairway down, it led to a small room, in what I assume was the back of the building, with a few kitchen appliances scattered about. I walked up to the refrigerator and peered inside, cringing as every step sounded like a bombshell going off around me.

I swear I will never drink another corn based liquid ever again. Fucking tricky vegetable, getting me to like it, then making me feel like I've been sucker punched by mom again. I guess it isn't so bad though, it’s not like this wasn't just any other Tuesday morning for me. First things first, my throat felt dry and I needed something to drink, badly. I'd be able to pay for it later, drink now. I was shocked to find it cold inside. That's what theses things do? There's a working refrigerator in the wasteland?! Simply standing with my head in the device was feeling so good!

I snatched up a... 'Sparkle-cola'. I've never had one of those, but I have always been curious, seeing as there were always advertisements everywhere in ‘Claw but absolutely zero stocked vending machines. I yanked the cap off with a twist of a talon and took a swig... It was ice cold, and delicious! Elated and feeling a bit better from the sugary, carrot goodness, if only a little. I stepped aside and kicked the door of the fridge shut with a... crunch? That was weird. Looking back at the refrigerator, it had a hoof shaped dent in the door. How did I do that? I quickly realized how, I had a… Oh, dear Celestia...

"HEY! Yew be careful with that, now!" I heard Beer Can shout to me.

Then I fainted.




-----
Quest completed: Burdens to "bear"

Level up!

+ 5 Speech
+ 5 Unarmed

Perk added: Good as Gelded
Let's face it, you have no clue how to talk to a lady. So, in hanging with the guys, you've learned how to hit 'em where it hurts, thus dealing an extra 1d10 damage to any male character as well as opening unique dialogue options.
Prancer might be straight, but really, it's not doing him any good...
> Sins of Our Mothers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	 Chapter 4 - Sins of Our Mothers 



I came to a bit later. Beer Can was looking at me from above. I felt the weight of what had had me so agitated still there. Full House’s former leg was bolted into me! I wiggled my hips in an attempt to right myself, but the room was still unstable. All this managed to accomplish was to pull the tender skin of my stump taut against the steel of the implants. The alien sensation reminded me of how it looked before, pathetically mangled and beyond any use. I felt the frothy cola try to back its way out from my gizzard as I heaved somewhat.

"What did you do to my leg?!" I snarled. I think I might have done Sergeant Faust proud with the amount of growl I managed, too.

"Oh, come now, Prancer, ya lent me a hoof outside ah 'Claw a week back. Ah'm jus' retern'n tha favor!" he jested.

"That's not funny!"  If I wasn’t afraid it’d kill him, I’d have given him a good kick with this hunk of junk.

“Nao, ah promised that Lightfeathers fellah ah’d look after yah! Yah can’t be much ova Talon with three legs now!”

I wanted to shoot him for that. He was seriously lucky I didn’t have a bullet to do it with, I had still not picked up any more 10mm. Although I did have Nameless’ suppressed 9mm, right? But how would I fire it with a pony bit instead of a talon grip? Upon inspiration, I pulled my pack around, having apparently slept with it slung over my whithers. My SMG was nestled neatly within, but the pistol was not. Just as it mysteriously found its way in, it had found a way out all the same. Oh well, it’s not like I was going to really shoot him anyway. Not with my head throbbing like my beak was shoved into my skull backwards. Oh, and the nausea, can’t forget that. I’m not going to drink again… stupid corn...

Retrieving my own weapon, I pulled open the bolt sharply with a neat clack. A snarky line came to mind, filling me with glee, “I won’t be much of a Talon without ammo, either. Do you have any to spare?” I asked, proud of being able to turn his tasteless jest back on him. A start to the payback I owed him.

“Well, that ah do,” He mumbled, turning to his shelves to gather up a couple boxes and a spare magazine, “Here, no need ta pull out yer caps, ah’m sure ya will pay me back fer these in no time.”

I shrugged, gathering the ammunition and its feeding devices and began loading cartridges into the mags. I was rather dismayed that neither of the boxes were actually full, leaving enough to fill my first magazine, but less than half it seemed of the new one. Oh well, it was something, and more than I had for it before, or ever, so I supposed that I was going to be fine. Also, I had managed to not need to shoot anypony in the last couple days anyway, right? With any luck I would be able to keep that up! “And you still have my mom’s gun, right? May I have that back, please?”

“Oh, yeah, ah have tha’ too…” he mumbled, “But ya don’t really need tha’, right? It’s a might big fer ya an’ all. Ah could jus’ leave it here on one of tha store shelves a while…”

C’mon, I’m not that dumb. “You’re not going to sell my mom’s gun, give it back.” Besides, it's the closest thing to a super gun I had yet!

“Fine, ‘ere it is. I ain’t got any more thirty cal fer it, though.” he resigned, and set the gun on the counter. Unbeknownst to me, he even saved the holster before we buried my mom. This lead me to believe there were other items he was sure to have 'recovered' before she was laid to rest, but I certainly did not want to know.

I drew the pistol and looked it over closely for the first time. I imagined It had at one time in its life been a large, bolt-action hunting rifle of some sort. I could see that there was a fair bit of etched filigree along the side of it, though it was hard to make that out with how tarnished it was. The trigger guard appeared to be made of gold, since it wasn’t touched by a patina and still shiny. Inside that was a simple inscription, ‘Innuendo’.

I wasn’t too sure what that meant. I had assumed it was just the name of the cannon, like how Beer Can’s broken gun had a name. I figured I should check the action, so I opened the bolt of the shortened rifle. This happened to eject the spent cartridge of the last shot fired from the weapon, the sound of the metal bouncing off of the floor sparked something in my mind…

”I just can't do it anymore…” 

Those faintly-remembered last words. The look on her face flooded back to me…

...finally happy.

I felt the ringing I had in my ears from that night come back, I was transfixed, the memory of that night... How loud the weapon was, the chill of the night air, even the feel of the dusty cave floor...

“Ya jus’ gonn’ stare at some ol’ brass all day?” Said Beer Can, snapping me back to reality

“What, no!” I said, quickly collecting the casing, “So, let’s get everypony up and get to it, right? You’ve got trading to get back to and Syzygy has her plan to help Nameless.” I stuffed the empty shell into a pocket and buckled the holster and pistol down in some handy straps of my vest

Beer Can shrugged “Well, Nameless ain’t here, but Mack aughta know where our zebra went.”

"What do you mean? I thought Syzygy was staying here." I asked, utterly confused.

"Well, she ain't been 'ere since we got back." He said

That gave me some terribly bad feelings. I didn’t waste time, I stomped through the building looking around for Macchiato's room. One false turn led be to the bathroom, but the door after that was a winner. I found the black filly sleeping heavily on a rather plush cot, her fluffy, cream mane and tail billowing out around her blankets.

I gently shook her. “Macchiato, where’s Syzygy?”

“Hnmm… Syzygy? Don’ wan’ anny moor tea… tastes funny...” was her sleepy reply.

Beer Can had sidled up beside me. “Wha’s tha’? Summin’ ‘bout tea?” he asked.

“Yucky tea, made me sleepy.” She mumbled before rolling over, “Imma make ‘sspresso in a few…” she paused to yawn loudly, “...minutes.” and she was snoring almost immediately.

Beer Can was growling. “Tha’ damned stripe drugged mah employee… erm… mah daughter?!” 

Sad as it was to say, this wasn’t getting me anywhere. “Where’s Nameless? He’ll probably know something, he always sees what’s going on!” I asked.

Beer Can hung his head, “Prolly not, Prancer. Not this time. Ah dropped 'im off at tha bordello down tha street ta rest up ‘fore ah, umm… brought ‘cha home.”

He was really pushing it. “I don’t care! Where?!” I yelled. Mack didn’t seem fazed in the least. Maybe Syzygy used the same anesthesia potion like she sold to Dr. Clipwing. Having known how easily that stuff knocks you out, I felt free to vent. “Our friend is missing, you cut up my leg and bolted a brick to it, and all you’re worried about is your daughter getting the best sleep she’s had in months?!” I paused to breathe.

“Ah…” he started.

“Where. Is. Nameless?!” I cut him off.

“Five doors down ta tha right.” he explained. His face drained of most its usual yellow color.

I had turned to leave, but I had another thing in mind. I addressed Beer Can in the calmest voice I could manage with my heart pounding in my chest at the moment. “Oh, one last thing about the leg…” The extra ammo wasn't quite payment enough for making me less of a griffon than I already was.

“Yeah?” He asked.

I quickly spun round and spelled out my point very thoroughly, a swift right hook that left nothing to be confused about my position on the matter. The thump of my talon across his muzzle was, in my opinion, an elegant punctuation. “Don’t you ever touch me again!”

It would have been perfect had I floored him, he only staggered back, but it would do. Finally satisfied, I proceeded outside to look for Nameless. Even if he didn’t see what happened last night, he might have some clues I didn’t, and would probably be able to figure it out faster than me anyway. 

Walking on the new leg was weird. It felt like my leg was asleep, but as long as I didn’t try to think about it, it did its job. However, ignoring it was the hard part. Every step I took with it was a heavy clop preceded by a whirr. This meant that every few steps I took threatened to throw me face first into the street. 

My headache wasn’t helped by the leg at all, either. My lumbering gait was jarring, making my skull throb painfully for every measurement of progress. Nothing felt in focus, but that at least was a blessing, I didn’t want to watch any of the ponies in town muck about anyway.

I finally reached the bordello and, no thanks to Full House’s leg, barely managed to keep from punching my beak through the door as I made it up the steps. I shoved my way inside, hearing a set of bells on the door heralding a new sensation of agony to my morning. Standing behind the front desk was a dressed up mare, a look of shock on her face.

“I’m looking for a small unicorn. Brown.” I blurted out sharply.

“Oh, ah… we don’t have any girls here like that.” she stammered.

“No, a friend of mine. Was here last night.” I didn’t have time for pleasant chat.

“Wh-what is the name?” she asked, quickly fumbling at her registry book.

“He doesn’t have one. He's quiet, kinda blends in. Where is he?” I explained

“Up stairs... up… Ah! Second on the left… I think? Don’t hurt me!” She squealed out and took cover behind her desk.

I gave up on talking to her. I was certain that it wouldn’t take much looking around, even if she was wrong. Nameless had a habit of just finding me instead anyway. The gentle whirr of the cyber-hoof changed to a whine as I climbed each step of the stairs. The noise served to aggravate again the effects of my drinking the night before.

I finally managed to reach the proscribed door. I took a deep breath, steeling myself and running the line I was going to tell him over in my head. I opened the door.

“Nameless, we need to get go… ing…” I began, the line I was going to say gone forever. To my dismay, what I saw made me pray to the goddesses that they would mercifully bleach my eyeballs!

Nameless was indeed there. Asleep, cuddled tightly between two other ponies, a mare and a stallion. The three of them flopped together in lewd positions.

I shook the surprise from my mind and trotted up to the bed, finally getting some semblance of control over my new leg. I plucked my friend from the pile by his horn and pulled him from the scattered sheets. Much to the discomfort of his sleeping partners.

“Ow, no more spankings…” the other stallion begged drowsily.

“Shut up!” I snapped at him. My head hurt too much to even think of what the three of them were doing last night.

Nameless blinked a few times and looked at me. He was about to say something I thought. I cut him off. “Syzygy is missing, it’s time to go.”

He immediately resumed his hard expression and nodded. His horn glowed briefly and his harness wrapped itself around him, buckling together under his magic. I figured he knew the gravity of the situation, or maybe it was just that he was always so serious. Either way, I didn’t care, my head was killing me and our friend was gone. I left the room and made my way down the stairs, sure that he would be right behind me.

“Wait… please!” The hostess called from the desk, “He… he hasn’t paid for the night…”

I rolled my eyes, but I waited for Nameless to slip past me and even up his debt. Fair is fair, anyway. For whatever he was doing last night… Nameless didn’t say anything, but he did pour out an exorbitant amount of caps to the young mare. What in Tartarus’s name was he into?! Never mind, I didn’t want to know.

I just shook my head and slowly made my way out the door to the street. As soon as I stepped outside, Nameless was there beside me.

“Nameless, did you see Syzygy doing anything weird last night?” I asked him. He shook his head. I sighed and began to walk back to ‘Honest Trades’. I took a roundabout path through the market, thinking out loud along the way. “She was acting strange last night.”

“Certainly, I will be perfectly fine staying… right here. Right here with Macchiato.” 

I continued on rambling my thoughts aloud. “I think she left on her own, she didn’t seem like she was wanting to stay in town. Damn it, Nameless, we should have just stayed there with her!” It would have been better anyway. No hangover, no Cyber-hoof. I wandered over to a stand selling grilled meats on a stick. I tossed the proprietor a few caps for something to munch on absently. The greasy food was heavenly to the taste, though. Taste?! I remembered something about that…

“Hnmm… Don’ wan’ anny moor tea… tastes funny...” 

“That’s what Macchiato was complaining about… tea…” I mumbled. nibbling on my snack a little more, trying to recall. My already tortured head felt like it was in a vice.

“Or possibly some tea?” 

“Oh, double damn it, Syzygy! But why would she poison a little girl?!” I asked Nameless. I ignored his confused look. “She was getting along with her so well!”

”...she really does like kids or sumthin’.”

“like those little raiders we saw earlier?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. I had figured it out. Spitting out the now bare, half chewed stick left from my quick meal, I grabbed Nameless and practically shouted at him. “Syzygy is going after the raider kids! We have to find her!”. I couldn’t tell if it was was the shocking revelation or the volume, but his eyes suddenly turned wild. He almost seemed scared.

I took off running, skipping the trip back to ‘Honest Trades’. There was no time and I didn’t want to talk to Beer Can anyway. The pounding in my head was terrible, and the impact of my new hoof was a jabbing pain with each stride, but I couldn’t worry about that yet. Syzygy was hours ahead of me and I had to catch up as best I could, I wasn’t losing another friend. Never again!

I made my way to the gate of the town, ponies dodging out of the way at my approach. Well, mostly. Some were a little slower, but I bowled my way through whomever was left in my path. A guardspony stepped in my way, attempting to halt me from leaving town. I had no intention of doing so. I gave my wings as hard of a flap as I could and threw my weight into him. No pony was going to stop me! I hit him squarely with my shoulder and he folded under me faster than a bad dealing of cards. Pushing off of his chest, I got back to all fours and continued galloping off to where we saw the little raiders.

Running again held its own new angles. The new leg held me up well despite it all, though its motors were screaming at me with how much work they were doing, and my thigh had gone numb. All the same I covered the distance to where we saw the raider foals very quickly.

I stopped and began to search for any sign of them. I couldn’t find much trace of where they might have gone, a few hoofprints here, a rock or two pushed over there…

And then Nameless scared me half to death, jumping out from behind me. “Look, blood.” he said, nodding towards a decently sized boulder. I had no idea he had been keeping pace with me. I tried to fly up to it, but the weight of the new leg was pulling me down, I couldn’t truly get airborne. I ended up dragging the tip of my hoof along in my haste to see what Nameless found.

There certainly was blood, a lot of it, and it belonged to the foals I was looking for. They were all laying in the dust, puddles of red under each of them. I had almost given up hope when I heard the red filly, Cutthroat, cough weakly. She was slumped over Syzygy’s bag. She had to know where she went!

“You! You’re alive! Where’s the zebra I was with yesterday?” I demanded.

“Gone. Some slavers got her.” She mumbled. Gore dripping from her lips.

“How could that have happened?" I asked with more than a little desperation in my voice.

“Heh… s-stupid… bird. W-we were gonna sell ‘er for a heap of caps. Some stinky, green pony wanted ta take her… seemed good, sh-she didn’t have that much m-money on her, an’ just some dead p-plants in her bag…” She stopped to let loose a terribly wet sounding cough, “Th-that’s when he shot the three of us and took her…”

“You were selling her?!” I felt a twitch or two in my face. I grabbed her by the throat. My talons digging cruelly into her neck. I didn’t care. “Where is he taking her? WHERE?!” I yelled.

She could only manage a gurgle, her eyes having gone wide.

I felt my other talon move almost on its own, delivering a punch across her muzzle. “WHERE?!” I repeated.

She regained what composure she could, “Ssslave camp, stupid.” she wheezed, a smile forming on her lips. “They’re raping her by now. I bet… s-she has a nice fuck hole...” She managed to croak while she tried to pull her knife from its sheath with a hoof.

I snatched the vicious blade from her, even though I was sure she couldn’t have had the dexterity to grab it with her hooves anyway. I didn’t want to let her even think that I might allow her to get away with saying that! The frustrations of the worst week of my life burbled to the surface. I suddenly just stopped… feeling…

“YOU DAMNED, FUCKING, FETID, CUNT NUGGET! I’LL END YOU!” I screamed, and the familiar hollow sensation of my gut returned, this time all but filling me. I felt a rush of heat flood my face, my vision blurring into a red haze. Then I heard the sound of thick tendons popping, some forced gurgles, and a meaty thud…

Once my vision cleared, I found my self staring into the dull, lifeless eyes of the filly. Her head was cracked open upon the boulder, faint bruises had only begun to form around her neck, matching the grasp of where my left talon had been. I wished I could throw up, I felt myself retching, but there wasn’t enough in my crop to expel. I had thrown a child head-first into a rock… right after I had stabbed her with her own knife.

“Hmm... You warned her.” Nameless offered while picking up Syzygy's bag.

It was little comfort. Right as he was, I had made good on a threat I never wanted to issue. “Let’s just go. We can probably find out where the slavers are from ‘Claw HQ. I still need to head back anyway.” 

I turned back North without a second glance to either Nameless or the kids. I didn’t want to hurt anypony, even if it was my job to, as was apparently the case here. The children had said that themselves, that it was supposed to be part of my job as a Talon to shoot raiders on sight. A policy of the whole company, it seemed.

My walk back to ‘Claw was a heavy one. I was certain that there was something wrong with me. No one went around killing children, even if they were raiders or bandits or something. “Nameless,” I began, “Is there still good and evil in the world?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”  was his deadpan reply.

"Ummm, what do you mean?" I asked, I needed something to appease myself here. Hoping that there was something to hold on to.

Without a single inflection, he continued, "There's no way to stick rigidly to every particular value, everything is hazy. Though, I keep getting the feeling that morality is nothing more than a few shades of grey. It's strange."

I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Is your memory coming back or something? That sounded like something you've heard before."

He shook his head. "Things are blurred, I'm not sure what I remember."

I decided to move on from that thought. "Well, we've got to get back." I said before getting into a trot, confident that Nameless would be right behind me.

Unfortunately, I was starting to get feeling back into my thigh. It burned. I struggled to ignore it, but it got more intense with each step. As soon as the cliffside was in view, I could barely keep from dragging the cyber-hoof. It hurt too much to even feel its weight pulling at my side. I had to give my legs a rest.

I looked over my shoulder and saw my friend behind me where I expected him for once. "Nameless, could you carry this thing? I have to fly a bit, it's too heavy."

He nodded, so I began removing it. With an opposable claw, it was much easier for me than it was for Full House. There was a cup or something covering where it joined the rest of me. That was a simple latch and it slid down the hydraulic struts of the cybernetic. Under that was a couple of pins held in with springs or something. I pressed those aside and it slid off under its own weight. I let out a sigh of relief. Without that thing holding me down, I felt freed. It was just so heavy! As soon as Nameless had it in his magic I took off. Oh, it felt so good to be without that anchor!

From the air, I could see the cave entrance where this mess all started. I couldn't see Mom's grave from here, but I had hoped that she was finally at peace. It was weird, even after all that happened, I still missed her. If only I could have had another chance to make her happy. Maybe it could have changed everything.

The tall signpost for the convenience store peeked around the bend ahead, just as my wings began to get tired. I looked around underneath me to find Nameless, but he was for all intents and purposes, invisible as usual. A sneaky pony like him might be easier to track down on the ground, but I didn't want to give up on the chance to get that much closer to home this easily.

I found a bit of a compromise, instead of just landing, I allowed myself to glide, eking out a little more distance. I was still holding good speed, but that would only last a short time. Wind drag will always take its toll. Still, it gave me several hundred meters worth of distance. The sign for the store was almost in throwing range when I was forced to touch down for lack of air speed.

After I was back on the ground, I hobbled my way towards the store. I figured it might be a good place to wait for Nameless. It was very quiet. A stark contrast to what happened four days ago here. I pulled my 10mm sub up and checked it, tapping the magazine home and making sure the bolt was cocked before I got too close. I had hoped that there was no need for shooting, but this last week had shown me that I couldn’t assume anything.

The door was broken and all but fallen over, the grenade that Swan threw had blown it off of one of its hinges. I scooted up to it slowly. Once I reached the door frame, I heard a shuffling from inside. My pulse raced. There was something in there!

“Nameless, is that you?” I asked, squinting into the dark.

Something jumped out at me! I quickly drew my SMG from its sling, but I lost my balance on only my two left legs and fell to my side. My assailant was on top of me in seconds. I grabbed at it, trying to get it off of me. My talons dug into it, and I punched blindly at it in my grip. It stopped moving.

I panted heavily, my claws shaking. I finally looked over at my assailant…

...it was a roach.

I had almost wet myself over a radroach. Oh, was I elated that no-one had seen my embarrassing display. I could hear more shuffling inside. More roaches. Angry at the first roach making me look so silly, I limped through the door and found a half dozen of the critters. The first two skittered up to me, waving their antennae around. I pounded them with my talons. At the sudden violence, the others rushed me. A swipe of my talon ended the third. I snatched the fourth by its head, which quickly bit me. For its effort I bludgeoned the fifth with him and threw him at the last. They writhed on the floor for a minute, taking their sweet time in dying, which I left them to do on their own.

My victory wasn't anything grand, but it sure made me feel a lot better. I played with the thought of collecting a couple of them to cook up, but ended up dismissing it. Bugs tasted like rubbery mud and I didn’t have anything to cover that up. So I looked around for anything else there might be, though whatever wasn’t looted long ago, had been blown to bits by the grenade blasts.

Discouraged, I left the store. It was no sooner that I left the building that I saw something move on my right. My nerves already frazzled from earlier, I swiped at it with a talon, only to find my claws stopped in a pale green glow.

“You have got to stop doing that to me.” I said, having figured out who’s face I’d come close to ripping.

Nameless shrugged. “Sorry,” he replied, letting my claw go from his magic, “looking for something?”

“Just looking if there was anything useful.” I said, skipping the story of my bug squishing. “Hey, I think I’m ready for my hoof back, my leg is feeling a lot better.”

Nameless nodded and lifted the cyber-hoof to me. Surprisingly, he even slipped it on for me. As soon as it snapped home, it gave me a shock all the way up my spine, making me inhale sharply.

“Hnng. Thanks, Nameless.” I grunted. “Let’s get going.”

I turned and began to walk, being wary of the fit of my hoof. It seemed to be solid, so I stepped it up to a trot. I knew I had nearly two kilometers to go before I reached home. My head was finally feeling clear enough to see straight, I’d likely be able to reach home before nigh…

“Prancer,” Nameless interrupted my thoughts, “There’s a patrol overhead. Talons.”

I stopped and glanced upwards, seeing two griffons circling around. One descended as soon as I halted. I soon recognized her, and I had wished I had kept moving.

“PRAAAANCYYYYYYY!!!” Gavii announced, literally screaming towards me. “I am so, so, so, so, so happy to see you on your way back home!” she exclaimed as she landed, and she bounded her way over to hug me so tightly that I expected my ribs to be ground to dust. She broke the hug only to begin dragging me along back to ‘Claw. “I missed you SOOO much! I wanna talk about your trip, and don’t spare any details, not the teeny, tiniest one.” She pulled my head against her forehead. “I want you to tell me EVERYTHING!!” she demanded, smiling brighter than she should given the nature of my trip.

“Oh, I…” I tried to tell her I was busy, 

My apparent salvation came in the form of her compatriot, a lanky blue-feathered griffon bearing many scars. “Initiate Lightfeathers, it’s time to move on, we can’t be late for our patrol.” He said calmly.

My jovial friend deflated somewhat. “AWWW… But, Jayjay!”

“No. And I told you not to call me that.” Said the other griffon .

Gavii pouted. “Hmph! No fun, Corporal Jay. Prancy is just coming home from a super-duper important mission and I really really missed him!”

“And you can see him afterwards, I’m sure.”  He cocked an impatient eyebrow, not even sparing a look at me.

“But…”  Gavii released her grip on me slowly.

“Now, Gavii.” The corporal ordered.

“Fine.” she huffed. “I’ll see you later Prancy!” Gavii added, her smile back again already.

Once they had departed back on their patrol, I was left to continue on back home. Now it would be almost nightfall by the time I got there. I trotted to try and make up as much time as I could. The lights of ‘Claw were in sight, I was almost done with this nonsense! I took to wing in my excitement. I barely got my hoof off of the ground, the tip of it dragging occasionally and pulling me down, forcing me to gallop before getting airborne again for a few moments.

I couldn’t have taken much more than ten minutes to get home, and I couldn’t be happier! Finally done! I had already begun planning what I was going to do. I was going to cook up a huge meal with the spare caps I’d have leftover after my debts were paid, and then I’d sleep for a week!  Well, that’s what I would do if Syzygy wasn’t in trouble.

Dr. Clipwing's office was the closest from this side of town, so I headed there first. The ramp up to the building was rather convenient while my wings were tired. Well, my everything was tired, actually. Inside, I saw a white griffon sweeping up the floor. Oh, it was Cora! He gave me a sour look, but I ignored it. Maybe he was still hurt about not being selected for the Talons. It wasn't my fault he didn't get picked. Though I’d just as soon let him have my position anyway. All the same, I had business to get to.

"Is the doctor in?" I asked him.

Cora pointed to one of the hospital beds. laying upon it was indeed Dr. Clipwing. I thought that to be strange, or was he hurt?

“Doctor?” I asked.

Dr. Clipwing sat up with a snort, “Wha? Sumthin’ up? Somebody needin’ a stitch? If’n yer not bleedin’ out I’ll see you in tha morning, I’m gettin’ a nap in.”

“No, I was here to pay you what I owe for the leg.” I explained.

“Well, why didn’t cha say so?” He groaned out while getting off the bed. “Cora, why don’t ya call it a night for now? I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Cora quickly set the broom aside and left. He was certainly a lot less vocal than the last time I had seen him. I got straight to the point of my visit, pulling the pouch of caps from my bag and began counting out the 200 I owed.

"Annoying kid, that one, but he's got a mind for medicine," The doctor mused, “Anyhow, where’d ya get tha leg?”  Clipwing asked, throwing off the counting of my caps.

“Huh, oh. I got it in a game of poker.” I said.

"Oh, I never really figured you for playin' cards." He mused.

"I'm not, Nameless there won most of the caps." I informed him, pointing to my friend.

“Alright, well, lemme get a look at this thing.” He said, and he started pulling at my cyber-hoof. “Hmmm, implants look good, but cha must have been runnin’ on this thing too hard. Keep that up an’ tha whole gol darn bone’ll be beat to pulp unless you let it heal.”

“How long will that take?” I asked hesitantly.

“‘Bout a week, but you Talon types aren’t much fer followin’ directions, so just drink this down an’ see me in the mornin’ now.” He said, handing me a small bottle of purple liquid.

I had seen a bottle like that once before, it was a potion like Strix was given after I pulled the seed pod out of him. I took it from him and popped the cap, drinking it down. In seconds, I felt a rush through me. Everywhere it spread, the aches disappeared. My leg lost its numbness, left with only a dull throb. It didn’t even hurt anymore, I could only just feel the swelling it had leftover pressing against the connection points attached to me.

In short, I felt refreshed. “So, how much does that bring me to now, doctor?”

The doctor smiled. “Oh, what the hay, just the 200 still!”

“Really? Thanks!” I beamed, the first good news I had heard yet today!

“Aww, it’s just that you mercs are always coming back. Don’t worry, I’ll be seeing you again soon!” He told me. That wasn’t so reassuring.

“Oh, alright…” and I was about to start counting out my caps again, but Nameless had set them up in neat stacks when I wasn't looking. I quickly counted the amount of caps in the first stack, ten, and there were twenty such stacks. “You could have told me you were going to play banker, Nameless.” I said with a smile. “I’ll see you around, Dr. Clipwing, take care!”

“Mhmm, I’ll see you around, Prancer.” he said in almost a predatory tone. It almost gave me a shiver, but I ignored it.

Slipping out of the clinic, I had one more stop to make before I went off to rescue Syzygy; Talon HQ. After that potion, I felt so good, I took to wing. Even with the heavy weight of my new leg on me, I managed to stay airborne almost half the way there. I might have made it if I pushed, but I still had a long night. I still had to get my friend back, after all!

This late in the night, most griffons were either asleep or out on patrol. Thankfully, Gavii was in the latter, she’d be busy for some time. I think she was given mom’s old schedule, or maybe Ravenplume’s? Oh well, they worked closely enough that they must have been the same, I assumed. Corporal Jay held the other slot, so maybe he had taken my mom’s slot since she was the superior? I shook those thoughts aside, they didn’t matter. I stepped up my pace, HQ wasn’t too much further.

I reached the front door and stepped inside.  It was surreal to walk in here again.  The last forty eight hours was a whirlwind that my head was still reeling around. Noise from down the hall grabbed my attention, and upon tracking it to Lightfeather’s office, what I saw was quite out of the ordinary. Lightfeathers was nowhere to be seen, but Sergeant Faust was talking to a small finch of a griffon… No, the finch was yelling at Faust!

“You monster!” The little griff cried, “You killed my daughter!”

“What are you talking about, she was killed in action.”  Faust was on the defensive, and wholly uncomfortable with being that way.

“She was in training!” The finch prodded at Faust’s chest feathers with his talon. I took a step back. I know I’m new to it, but this is one time I’m not going to get myself into a fight I can’t win.

Faust shook his head. “Yes, and the wasteland is a dangerous place, Tarsus will be remembered.”

What? That tiny thing was her father! But she was huge! I was baffled by the thought, and more so happy I didn’t jump between them.

“Remembered?!” Tarsus’s father let out a growl that put the one I made this morning to shame. “I want her back! How could you have made the call to advance?!  To put her in that kind of situation was just plain stupid and irresponsible!”

“I made a judgment call.” Faust pushed back with his voice. “I weighed the chance that any of us could be hurt in an offensive move, against the chance that we all got shot in the back if we retreated. I’m sorry, but I would have made that call again if I had to.”

The teensy griffon didn’t respond to that, at least not in a normal sense, he dove into a forward flip and headbutted the sergeant, dropping him to the floor. Now I was forced to step in.  I ran forward, not content to just let someone get hurt. It was a shortsighted move on my part because before I could react, the finch caught me by the throat. His grip was so tight that I coughed up a gizzard stone between gasping breaths.

“And who, by Celestia, do you think YOU are?!” He bellowed, looking over me slowly as a sense of realization came over him. “Wait, I think I know you…” His voice wavered and he let go of me.

“I...I’m P-prancer Thistledown, Initiate.” I croaked.

“Yes, you are…” He whimpered, was he about to cry? “I’m sorry, I’m told my daughter fancied you. And… I heard about you elsewhere, I…” He didn’t finish, tears formed in his eyes.

This was awkward. Even though I’ve felt as bad as he is right now hundreds of times before, I have no idea how to deal with a situation like this. I’ve been trained for combat, dealt with my own shortcomings, and been beaten by a mother who I showed nothing but love to. I didn’t know what else to do, so I hugged him. His return of the hug was nearly as strong as his talons, and it told me without a doubt where Tarsus got that trait from.

“I miss her, too.” I said, hoping I could console him a little, if I could. “You should have seen her, she was amazing. I wish I could have helped more, she…” I felt tears of my own coming.

He broke the hug and looked into my eyes, “You were there?”

I nodded, “She covered us, and she died in my claws, I couldn’t save her, I…” I wasn’t able to finish the sentence, but it didn’t matter, we both cried there in each other’s talons. I never really got the chance to know her, but I think that was only one of the many mistakes I’ve made in my life here in ‘Claw.

“Prancer, Mr. Stonepaw? What’s the matter?” Lightfeathers said as he entered his office, bringing both Tarsus’s father and myself back to our surroundings. He looked to the floor with a sigh, quickly making his way around his desk. “What the hell happened in here? I step out for five minutes…”

“I… we were talking about Tarsus, sir.” I said with a sniff, straightening myself up to be more presentable. “I’m sorry.”

“No, that’s fine,” Lightfeathers said, wearing a look of heavy regret on his face. “Just tell me what happened to the Gunnery Sergeant.”

“He was talking about her, too.” Stonepaw answered. “He didn’t take my words very well. I didn’t mean for it to get that heated, but it’s been a tough week for everyone at home.”

“No one blames you.”  I offered the last bit of consolation I could as I tried to regain my composure. I wish I had more time to talk with him about Tarsus, maybe learn a bit more about her, but I had someone I could still save needing my help. “Sergeant, I need to speak with you soon. If you don’t have that time now, I can come back in a half hour or so.”

“Sure, I’ve got the time now.” He turned to Mr. Stonepaw with a pleading look.  “Maybe we should pick this up tomorrow, let everyone here cool off a bit, alright?”

“Yeah, sure.”  Tarsus’s father gave a small nod and quick flap of his wings, effortlessly pulling himself into the air as he turned and took off out of the office. Neither of us deserved to lose what we had, but I can’t help but be convinced that his loss was the greater one.

“Here, get under his other side.”  Lightfeathers uttered with a light groan, pulling the unconscious griffon up off the floor. “Oh, and you really don’t have to ‘sir’ me, Prancer, I’m not an officer. C’mon, talk to me while we get Faust to a cot, alright?”

“OK, Sir… Sergeant…” I stammered as I did as he asked. We lifted Sergeant Faust and headed out the door, turning towards the barracks. “I turned in the contract…” I managed with a grunt, struggling to hold my half up as much as I was.

“So I had heard, your friend left the head in the town square for all to see.” He smiled in reaction to my confusion. “Oh, don’t look so surprised, the companies are always talking amongst each other!”

Well, that solidified Shoestring’s theory somewhat. “I have the fifteen hundred for the company…” I gasped for more air while we turned the next corner to the barracks. “But I need leave to save a friend…she was captured...” That was all I got out before panting for breath. We entered the bunk house and plopped Faust onto the cot I had used a few days before.

“Where was she taken?” Lightfeathers asked, wiping his brow while regulating his own breathes.

“A slave camp near here…” I paused to breathe. Damn, Faust was HEAVY!  I’ve got a new found respect for him if anything, but also a bit disappointed that he went down so fast. Even if he was against Tarsus’s father. “That’s all I know.”

“Mhmm… Well I cannot authorize you to go there, we’re watching the slave camps North of here and we just can’t afford an incident.”  He shook his head with a frown.  “Sorry, but it’s too much of a risk.”

“But they have her NOW!” I exclaimed. “Please! I can’t lose another friend, not again! I have to go!”

“Initiate, I understand you’ve had an unfortunate week, but that is an order.” Lightfeathers barked. “You are NOT authorized to pursue this op!”

Swan’s suddenly harsh demeanor caught me off guard, and my fervor deflated. “She needs help, there has to be something…”  I might as well have spoken at a whisper with that tone.

He sighed, “Look, Talons are looking into the matter as we speak. You are due to start as a contractor, I suggest that you go home and get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow about your future.”

“I…” I raised a talon but found it smacked down.

“That is all!” He cut me off, raising his talons to the door.  “Goodnight, Initiate.”

There was no more to say that I could see. I couldn’t disobey an order, could I? I headed back through the hall to the offices, unsurprised to see Nameless in the waiting room. He was sitting on one of the benches, reading an issue of ‘Guns and Bullets’. I gave Nameless a brief nod as I headed for the exit, and he followed without a word. I walked home in silence, there wasn’t anything to talk about on the way there. Even when I reached my home, I simply flapped my hardest to get to the balcony. A week ago it might have seemed like a surprising feat, but I couldn’t find it in me to care that I managed to get up that high with the heavy load on my leg.

I opened the door. I smelled a familiar stench of rot. I grabbed my SMG, fearing that some phantom of the giant bear had followed me! My heart pounded. I carefully reached for the lightswitch. The room filled with an incandescent glow. I looked around, and I found the source.

...The dead rat I had intended to cook up a week ago.

I grabbed the foul carcass and threw it from the balcony as hard as I could. The corpse could feed the scavengers, insects, or whatever cared about that dead thing! It could rot in a hole for the rest of time and it wouldn’t matter to me!

Nameless, my now silent again companion, was just making it to the top of the struts that the building was perched on. I reached out with a talon to help him up, which he quickly took. Once he was up, I took a moment to just look out towards the mountains, unsure if Syzygy was out there somewhere alive still. With a sigh, I decided not to think about her state of health for the moment.

Stepping back inside again, the smell had mostly drifted out the door, much to my elation. I sat myself on one of the stools in the kitchen and looked around. The building in which I had spent so many days felt… wrong. I could almost feel in my gut what was out of place now. Looking over my shoulder, I could see the framed pictures, the one’s I had so dutifully cleaned thousands of evenings. The damned things a mockery of my life; of the family I thought I’d had.

From my seat at the table, I could see into the cupboards I had left open. I could see the bottles that mom had there before, bourbon... gin... vodka… The kind of things she drank after a hard day. The only thing missing was the moonshine. While I suspected that Beer Can still had that particular one, I walked over and grabbed the vodka. The bourbon caught my eye, but I had learned my lesson from the night before. Teasingly, I tried a sip straight from the bottle. It took longer to burn than the whiskey did, and it was so more soothing of a warmth than corn liquors! I took one more hearty swig before I capped the bottle and stuck it in my pack. I thought back on the day for options, plans, something! Maybe earlier?

Then I had it! Mom’s reports! “Nameless, those tools you had at the poker game, House called them lockpicks, right?” I asked.

He nodded, “Mhmm.” Pulled them from the pouch of his bandoleer, he showed them to me and waited for my confirmation.

“Perfect!” I exclaimed! leading him upstairs to where mom’s door was, I jiggled at the handle to find that it was indeed still locked as always. “Can you open this with them? I have to get to some of my mom’s things.”

He shrugged and pulled out the tools from the leather sleeve. Carefully, he studied each one as if there was writing on them in very fine print. A few moments later, he blinked like he looked at something painfully bright. With out another moment, he inserted a couple tools into the keyhole and wiggled them around in the lock. Well, I’m sure it was more than that, but that’s what it looked like to me. A few minutes went by before the silence was punctured by the odd clicking sound from the lock. He gave the smallest of smirks as he swung the door open.

There, right in front of me, was the report that I had slid under the door. I quickly grabbed it and looked it over.

Insufficient members available for short-range patrols. Yau’guai remain a major source of antagonism to local trade. Recommend additional recruits for patrols to allow longer-range hunting ops by veterans.

One extra wing of recruits deemed necessary for objective. Any skill level.


	Staff Sergeant Swan Lightfeathers


First page was garbage. It at least gave some light to the last week, but it didn’t help me at the moment. The next one must have been more recent, it didn’t have the stains of booze on it like the first one.

Initiate Prancer Lightfeathers, your son, has been found of exceptional character. Having shown a compassion for his brothers in arms beyond that of a typical Talon, let alone a neophyte. We are proud to inform you that his loyalty and honor to his comrades proves his determination to the company and his wingmates. We will hereby accept his application and induct your son into the ranks of the Talons, ‘Claw Battalion, Vanhoover Regiment. 


	Staff Sergeant Swan Lightfeathers


There was a post script, written in with a quill.

P.S. I knew your son could do it, sweetie. He has your drive. He doesn’t let anything break him.

I really didn’t understand that last part, it was strange. That seemed awfully peculiar. Regardless, it didn’t help me either. The last page was written entirely in quill, very sloppy Talon work as well. The page was also very crumpled.

To the drunk slut to whom it might possibly concern, should she still have a conscience,

The op is greenlighted. The player has been assigned in secret. Just because I DARED to love you, you've stuck me in the position to consign him to it. Like I said in the office, I never want to see you again! I pray to Celestia that you rot your damned guts out with that swill you keep on with.


Unfortunately yours,
Swan Lightfeathers


I sat for a moment, trying to understand that last one… What op? What player? And more shocking than anything… They were together?! I wobbled across the room, finding purchase on her bed. I finally understood it all.

"I send you on a mission like this, using all my bribes and favors, just to get you killed, to be rid of you before you disgrace me any further, and I can't even sit back and let it happen!"

Mom did want me dead. What in Tartarus’s name was wrong with her?! She sends me off to stare at a giant fucking bear! Just to get me killed, no less! Gah, it makes me so mad to think that she didn't even believe I could do the job. She is so damn lucky she’s already dead or I’d fucking kill her all over again!

“Prancer?” Nameless interjected into my reverie.

“Yeah? what’s up?” I answered, feeling my talons tightening around the papers.

“Get what you need?” He asked, seeming to have a colder tone about his voice.  He sounded like I did when mom was angry, treading lightly around a short fuse.

“No, there wasn't anything in these,” I said, highlighting my point with a shake of the papers. I folded them up and stuck them into my pack, grabbing the vodka for another drink. It started doing its wonders, the world felt a little more fuzzy, less likely to try and get me killed tomorrow. Surprisingly, it also took the edge off my anger, dulling it slightly.

“What about that footlocker?” He said, pointing at a box in the corner of the room.

“Oh, why not? Could be something useful.” I resigned. Not like anything could make it all worse, I thought. Nameless tried to open it, but it too was locked. Without a second glance to me, he produced his picks once more and got to work. The container must not have been nearly as secure as the door, as it took only a few moments to pop it open. I hopped on over, curious myself as to what laid in wait for us.

It was a suit of talon armor. Fairly worn, but it looked serviceable. I pulled it from the trunk. It was quite a bit heavier than my vest, but it had to be a lot sturdier for it.

“Well, I guess that's all the answers we’ll get here.” I muttered, drawing one last drink from the bottle before tucking it away in my pack again. I carried the armor with me downstairs with me as well. Setting the armor on the couch, I was about to sit down on the couch when I heard a knock on the door. I wandered over and answered it, not expecting what waited on the other side.

“Prancy!” An excited Gavii exclaimed once the door was open. Dang, I had forgotten that she wanted to see me. “I just got off patrol and I wanted to see you first to see how you were after your trip!” She said in voice too happy for the world we both occupied.

“Not too good, actually,” I started to explain. Gavii’s cheerful demeanor started to drop as she listened to me.  “My friend has been kidnapped by slavers and your dad won’t let me rescue her.”

“Then you have to do something!”  Gavii gasped, “Sitting here when you could help? That’s not the Prancy I know! He’d be going to save everypony in Equestria if he could! That’s the kind of griffon he is!”

“Look, it’s not like I don’t want to help.” I tried to say, hoping she’d understand.  “Just, orders are orders.  I’m not authorized to save her.”

“Sure you can! We can go right now!” She cheered, pulling me into an uncomfortable hug. “It’s shift change on patrols, and if we go now, they’ll be none the wiser!”

“What? And ignore a direct order… from your dad no less?” I asked in an exacerbated tone.

“Oh silly, he didn't say we couldn't go, he just said the Talon’s can’t pay us to go!”  She let me go and hopped off the couch with a flap of her wings. “Strix told me a while back he read about some prewar volunteer police force called the neighborhood watch, and I think it’s highly overdue for a patrol, don’t you?”

This is true. Sergeant Lightfeathers couldn't reprimand me for doing this in my spare time. Nameless could probably do his freaky thing to find clues even in the dark, and every second I stayed here, Syzygy could be getting further away. I stood up, taking a long look at the armor on the table in front of me. Slowly I reached down and picked it up. This was something I had to do.

“Come on, Prancy!  We've got no time to lose!”  Gavii shouted jubilantly as she hopped to the door, throwing it open before zipping out into the evening air.

...wait, did she say ‘we’? ...Oh crap.



--------

Quest Completed: Innocence was Bliss

Level up!

+6 Unarmed
+2 Melee
+2 Survival

Perk gained: Trying Ten Times Harder.
Your determination to overcome limitations has paid off! Flight has improved by one rank!
Good job, Prancer, you might look like less of a wuss if you keep this up!

Trait gained: Cyber-pony.
You've gotten some metal bits to replace a loss. This adds 1d10 points of damage to unarmed attacks.
Don’t get your hopes up, Prancer, it doesn't stack with Griffon Claws!

> A Web of Chains
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Chapter 5 - A Web of Chains



That was that, I was left holding the armor I’d found upstairs. Gavii had flown off and left my door open. Not only was she waiting on me, but Syzygy needed me to hurry. Even so, I would rather wear something a little more sturdy than just my vest for this. With the armor in my grasp, I got to work at transferring my gear to it. I moved my spare 10mm magazine to one of its pouches, fastened Innuendo's holster to it, and felt around the pockets of my vest for anything else. The only other thing I’d had in my vest, was the spent .30 caliber casing from mom. I left it on the table.

The armor was well worked in, all of the buckles had a bright, polished sheen where the straps rubbed. They all opened easily when tugged on, which was something to be said. Most of the armor I’d seen others wear around here had one thing wrong or another. Mom however, had taken great care to keep this in shape. At the left shoulder I saw a pouch with a radio in it. It didn't work when I turned the knob, but it didn't look broken. The battery must have been dead.

I decided to move some things from my pack, I didn't want so much stuff bouncing around in there if things got too serious. The Talon reports I recovered earlier got set down on the table. I didn't want to lose those again. Other than that, It was just my can of food, the vodka and water bottles. All except the booze took up residence in a side pouch of the armor. One of the water bottles caused a crinkling noise from it’s pocket when I shoved it in. When I looked, I found something else already there. Some old, rolled up paper.

I opened it and read it. I only made it halfway through before the words on it really hit me and I had to re-read it to make sure I wasn't seeing things. It stated that it was a contract to “Adler Thistledown”! This old parchment had been my dad's contract?! Was this his old armor? More mysteries that would have to wait for later. The contract I left on the table as well. Back to preparations, the last thing I had to sort was my bag of caps. I wasn't sure where to put those, so I left those in the liquor cabinet. Money shouldn't be an issue for a quick rescue, but the weight of it might. Also, Mom always mentioned that the sound of caps jingling gave away far too many trespassers and bandits.

All that was left was to buckle myself into it. I found the fit a tad snug, but it was overall comfortable. Once finished getting settled, I nodded to Nameless and headed out the door. Spreading my wings and taking a quick step off of the balcony left me rather surprised, the weight of the armor compared to my vest pulled me down a lot faster than I was expecting.

The landing was quite hard, and sent a jolt through my legs; all except my new hoof, that just hurt sharply at the connecting implants. It took me a little time to get over the shiver it gave me. Nameless had already slipped himself down the struts of my house by the time I was ready to move again.

“Wow! I give that flop a 10 outa 10!”  Gavii had flown down beside me, "You OK there, Prancy?"

"Yeah, This stuff's just a little heavy." I said, "I don't think I'll be able to fly."

"Oh, well at least you'll be able to keep your friend company, then!" She said with a smile.

"Sure." I remarked. Company until he does his disappearing act again. "So, Gavii, how do you think we can find this place?" I asked.

"Easy-peasy! It's along one of my patrol routes! I know how to get there super-duper quick!" She explained cheerily.

That didn't sound good at all "So, how are we going to get there without being spotted if it's on a normal route?"

"I have no idea!" she blurted out, her smile not fading in the slightest. I couldn't help but slap my face with a talon after that.

"Ugh. Well let's just hurry there." I said, resigning myself to the good chance of being found out.

"Okie-dokie-lokie! Follow me!" and with that, she took off.

She set a brisk pace ahead of us, but I could keep up on foot despite the weight I felt on my shoulders. Even that was a minor inconvenience compared to the weight that pressed on my thoughts. I was certain that we might already be doomed. With getting caught running a rescue that I was ordered not to being all but guaranteed, I'd be kicked out of the Talons for sure. It didn’t matter and I would have to deal with that later, though. Syzygy needed my help, and I would not lose another friend!

The rocks and blackened shrubs whipped by me in my race to keep up with Gavii. Sometimes I could get a glimpse of Nameless, him having to focus more on speed than stealth. It felt like we were running for an hour before Gavii finally landed again. Before I had the hoof, that would have winded me; instead, I was just panting a tad. Maybe there was something useful about this cyber-leg business after all.

"Yay, we're almost there!" she called out with a happy smile, pointing to a dim glow over the hills in front of us.

"Shhh! We don't want to be found, then!" I said sharply. 

"Yes, we need to be quiet." Nameless added.

Gavii pouted. "Aww, but this is so fun!"

I continued on ahead of her, as the lights of the slavers' compound were visible from where we were already. My attempt to be stealthy was very stressful, my cyber-hoof's whining sounded as loud as thunder to my ears. For only a moment, I’d considered removing it for now. Then again, if I do, I won’t be nearly as mobile when the fighting starts. That and if that fridge in Mt. Reindeer was any indication, it might be a useful weapon if it came down to it.

A few minutes later of worry about how much noise I was making, I was met with an odd sensation. My hoof was stuck. I quickly turned to see what was wrong, and in the dark I could barely make it out. A sleeping pony in armor had their hooves curled tightly around it, holding it down. I hadn't spotted the camouflaged hole he was tucked in and had very nearly just stepped on his head. He had to have been a lookout or something. It was very fortunate that he had taken a nap instead!

"Hmmm... gimme some sugar, babe..." the strange pony mumbled sleepily.

"I'm not that kinda bird!" I hissed and gave him a kick. He let go of the leg with a few more mumbled words as he groggily woke up. I’d turned to get hold of him and grabbed his helmet. I had attempted to use it as leverage to twist his head as sharply as I could. It was either him or us, and trying to snap his spine as I had countless times hunting small critters would be the best way to end this quickly. The straps to his helmet weren't fastened, so I was left holding the thing in my talons. We both stared at it awhile, both of us bemused at what had happened. I turned it over and hit him over the head with it. Hard.

He hadn't even groaned, he’d just flopped back over onto me. So with his threat out of the way for now, I let him slump back into his napping hole and patted him down to see what weapons he might have. He had a pony pistol in a holster that I stowed in my pack. I couldn't use it with my beak, but it was better than leaving it for the pony to use later if he came to.

Checking further, it felt like he had a couple onions in his pocket. I pulled them out and found that they were a few apple shaped grenades, just like I had been shown in training. Those I placed in a pouch of my new armor that seemed to be set up just for them. While they appeared like they might be useful, it was too bad I didn't have a chance to actually be trained with them. That day we had more pressing concerns, like being too busy with Tarsus...

“You’re so silly.”  Gavii chuckled from behind me, knocking aside that memory. "I thought that a helmet was supposed to protect your head, not beat it up!"

"This isn't really the time for jokes!" I said in a harsh whisper. My mind was still reeling from the feelings that Tarsus’s loss still haunted me with.

Nameless, to my surprise, snickered at the current situation. "A helmet might have helped me a couple weeks ago."

"Well, we got one now! Maybe you should wear just in case you're ever gonna get bonked again.” She said with a smile. “OH! We could paint it in pretty colors, with stencils! And stickers!” She gasped out louder than a roaring Yaou gui. “AND GLITTER!”

“Shhh!” I shushed her and grabbed her beak. “Did you forget about trying to be sneaky?”

She nodded. Oh, goddesses, how I wished I could have gone alone! How could this get any worse?

“He’s right, we got lucky with the first guard,” Nameless said before he flashed a faint smile and pointed to his forehead, “Besides, it won’t fit anyway; not with how horny I always am.”

That’s how. Just my luck, he remembers that he must have had a sense of humor. “Let’s just get going, please.” Oh, if he could go back to being quiet until after this was over, I'd let him talk all he wanted later.

He nodded while Gavii continued to smile. We crept closer to the building as silently as we could. My hoof made its distinct whirring while Gavii kept chirping excitedly every now and again. Nameless's steps were perfectly quiet while he led the way, occasionally stopping to look around quickly.

We made it to the building in what seemed a decent time. Though I didn’t have a frame of reference, I just had a hunch. Nameless directed us to a large window on the side of the storage facility. His horn flashed for a brief moment and the locking latch fell right off, allowing us to open it freely. It really wasn't fair, that latch was on the inside!

Unicorns and their cheating aside, Nameless nodded to Gavii and pointed to me. She squeaked and grabbed hold of me, lifting me up to the window. It took me a moment to figure out what was going on, but I scurried in through the opening when I was close enough.

I landed hard on the other side, on my face no less. I was just reaching for my 10mm when Gavii fell on top of me. Her rifle bouncing off of my beak with a painfully loud ‘clack’. Nameless's entrance was vastly more graceful, stepping off of the two of us in a gentle pirouette without the faintest hint of a clop from his hooves. I swear, he uses magic to do that too. It can't be natural.

Shaking the thought from my head, I lifted myself up from the floor. Gavii rolled off of me with a happy murr. She must have enjoyed flopping on me. What a jerk. Before I could find my bearings in this hall, I could see Nameless blinking his eyes and shaking his head. It was almost like there was something in there that he couldn't get out.

Before I could ask what was wrong, he turned to me, "She's this way, hurry." he said, pointing to our right. I had caught a strain in his voice that was out of the ordinary for him. I had suspected that he might be remembering something, or maybe he had to sneeze. I was hard to tell, and impossible to know for sure. We would have to see how he was doing later. If he did have an idea what was going on here, that could only be good, right?

It was a strange scene inside this building. The lights flickered, as if they were hesitant to show what was down the hall. There were eerie noises coming from some of the storage units. I could tell that numerous ponies had been locked inside them. There was sobbing, cursing and yelling. Cries to end their suffering already... I tried to block it out. Maybe I could get Nameless to pick them or cut the locks, but that would have to wait until we found Syzygy. 

With the fear of failure ramping up, I thought about how Mom might have handled this kind of situation. A quick swig of vodka helped steel myself, readying me to head further. Moving slowly, my talon gripped tightly to my SMG of its own volition, the gentle touch of the booze’s warmth couldn’t keep all of my apprehensions at bay. Something was certainly very wrong.

The hallway turned towards an office. That's when I smelled it again, the putrid cologne. The green pony was here. The one from Mt. Riendier. The one who shot the kids and stole my friend.

Thoughts of vengeance flooded my mind. Not only for Syzygy, either. Raiders or not, the kids; Cutthroat, Brawny and the blue colt whose name I never heard, didn't deserve to die to such cowardice. I was going to kill that pony.

I was going to enjoy killing that pony.

Whatever revulsion I should have felt for wanting to kill another living, thinking being was irrelevant to me. He needed to die, simple as that. The door was just ahead. It was all coming to a close. I tried to pump myself up a bit, after all, I faced the bear, right? How could one pony be so bad in comparison? 

All the same, I couldn't help but notice my heart was racing. Nameless behind me was still acting strange. He looked confused. despite it all, he gave me a nod when he caught my eye. Gavii was nearly vibrating, her smile she still had felt so out of place. This was for real, after all!

"Frag and clear? Oh, please tell me we get to use grenades! They're like party poppers!" She whispered excitedly.

"No!" I hissed, "Our friend is in there! Well… she probably is. We’re not risking it."

"OK, got it! Can't start the party with a bang." She said with a giggle.

I shook my head. She was going to kill us all someday and think it was funny. Why did everything have to go so wrong for me?

"Are we all ready?" I grumbled out. In response, I got an even bigger grin from Gavii than she had been wearing. Nameless however, was just looking straight at the door.

With how long we’d taken already, that was going to have to be a good enough answer. I grabbed the doorknob and wrenched it fiercely, throwing it wide. Without a second thought, I stormed inside. Somewhere between rushing into the room and seeing the green pony's face a claw's reach from me, I remembered something important.

I never learned anything about room clearing.

My 10mm may as well have been made out of lead. Without really knowing how to wield it, my talons felt sluggish. Not having it pointed at the doorway prior had cost me a precious sliver of a second. The green pony had a gun in his mouth, and it was already aimed at me.

It fired.

The impact didn't hurt, not at first anyway. What really seemed odd, was that my hearing became filled with a terrible ringing. The pain flooded in only after some part of my brain caught up and realized I’d been shot. It had gotten hard to breathe, and I started to feel weak. The wind had been knocked out of me and with a single step, I stumbled. The floor rose up to catch me, and I hit it hard.

Clutching at my side when I flopped over, I could feel something sharp and wet. Images of Tarsus's last moments came to mind.

Gavii's shriek was almost loud enough to worsen the ringing in my ears. "PRANCY! No, no, NO!"

"Guns down, all of you! And no magic, Razor." The green pony said, his words slurred from talking around the pistol. "Otherwise I waste the stripe and nopony gets the bounty!"

“Okie-dokie-lokie! You win!” Gavii chirped as she dropped her service rifle to the floor. Nameless facehoofed at that, but set his pistol down as well. Me? I decided that it would be best if just lay here in excruciating pain and try to make sure my insides don’t fall out.

The pony had turned away from me, his pistol now pointed at Syzygy. She was tied up in the corner across from me, not moving. "You always thought you were so fuckin' smart, Razor. Maybe you are, but I won this time!"  He gave out a muffled laugh from around his gun.

Nameless shook his head again. His expression made him look like something in his head was stuck, so he was trying to shake it loose. "T-bone..." He muttered with little more than a whisper.

"Don't you try any fancy talk, old nag. I ain't buyin' any of it. You just take your mercs ya wrangled up an' get lost!" he yelled.

“They’re not here as mercenaries. They’re my friends.” Nameless explained. This pony knew him, and that would explain why Nameless looked damned confused... or was it ‘Razor’ now?

The nasty pony smiled as best he could. Well if you could call a gut-twisting, soulless smirk a smile. “HA! Ya don’t have friends, Razor. Ya wouldn’t even let me be your partner, always sayin’ ya work alone!” He then pointed his gun at Gavii, “You! Get your ‘friend’ up and out of here, I don’t need him dyin’ on my floor, but leave his gun!” 

Gavii hurried over to me as ordered, a look of worry stitched on her face. She unslung my SMG and set it aside, where it was soon kicked away by T-bone towards the back of the room. Gavii began to quickly check me over, "Are you OK, Prancy? Where are you bleeding? Why do you smell funny?"

That was a puzzling question, 'smell funny'? A familiar odor caught my nostrils. Why did everything smell like alcohol? Looking around myself, I found that I wasn’t bleeding at all. something was leaking in my bag. Reaching in, I found it, the broken bottle of vodka. The bag had a hole going through it on each side,  right to my chest. Well, not quite, the bullet was lodged into the material of my armor. Nice as it was to not be bleeding, but that damn pony took my friend, killed the foals and SHOT MY VODKA! That was it! “I’ll be fine.” I growled, this pony was gonna get it!

“Don’t call me that, T-bone.” Nameless continued in the conversation, drawing the green pony’s… Erm, ‘T-bone’s’ attention away from us again.

“Don’t call you what? Your name?” T-bone asked.

“That’s not my name. If it was, it isn’t anymore. I don’t have one now.” Nameless explained with a shake of his head.

It was an interesting exchange, but I had more important things in mind. Well, probably not, but it mattered more to me. After a bit of help from Gavii, I was back onto all fours. He had his back to me, maybe he thought Gavii and I weren’t a threat anymore? I wound up to swing with the closest weapon available, the broken bottle I was already holding, and leaped at him.

“What, ya goin’ nutty in your old… ARGH!” He didn’t manage to finish his insult. Having a griffon tackle you to the floor would likely stop anyone’s train of thought. Even better, thanks to silly mouth bits for ponies to hold a weapon, he dropped his pistol with a pained groan. This gave me an opportunity to stab at him with the sharp glass without the chance of another bullet coming my way. He might have begun screaming as soon as I jabbed him wherever I could, except Nameless took the opening I made, his horn flashed quickly. With a brief, pale green light, T-bone’s throat was slit wide open. He gurgled, dying in a manner I found as pleasing as I’d hoped it would be. T-bone gave a last few weak gasps before his eyes stared blankly at the puddle of his own blood underneath him. Just for satisfaction’s sake, I stabbed him a couple more times until what was left of the bottle broke, leaving shards in his hide.

Syzygy began to stir. I abandoned the broken bottle top and hurried over to her, grabbing my gun along the way, "Syzygy, are you alright?"

She looked up at me. "Mister Prancer!" Her appearance made me cringe. Half of her body was matted with dirt, the fur looked mangy. Clumps of hair were missing from her side, like they were rubbed away. While most of her braids were undone, the mane was mostly intact. She must have been dragged for some time by her hooves. I started to work at loosening the ropes still tied tightly around her fetlocks. "Are the children safe?!" she asked, her eyes pleading despite her resolute tone.

"Dead." was simply my reply. As blunt as it was, she needed to hear it. Though, I didn't want to mention that I helped Cutthroat along. Even if she was already gone by T-bone's hoof, I still felt bad about what I did to her.

I had told her only one word, but it was enough to break what little hope she had left in her eyes. She began to cry. "I have done it again! Why have the stars cursed me so?!"

"Well, we can figure that out later, right now we gotta go!" I urged, fumbling to undo her bindings.

She wriggled, keeping me from freeing her. "NO! I am better off dead! Leave me!" She sobbed.

There was a couple of loud crashes from outside the room. Someone else was really moving around in the building. We barely managed to handle one asshole. There’s no way we’d win if there were even a few more.

"Prancy, there's a group on the way ta join the party!~" Gavii sang nervously as she hovered by the door.

That was not what I needed to hear right now. "Nameless,” I called. “help me with the ropes!" I would have to ask him a lot of questions later, like who in the name of Equestria he really was. I’m not certain he’d even have any idea himself, but right now we needed to escape.

The now familiar glow of his magic enveloped the knots, and they simply fell apart in my claws. A quick reminder that I would have to be very cautious when I grilled him about his past. Well, whatever he remembered anyway. Or was he lying about the amnesia? Regardless, there were angry ponies on the way. 

"Do we have an exit?!" I asked everyone.

"Oh! there's a back door!" Gavii squawked.

"No good. It's locked and I can't pick it in time." Nameless mumbled.

"How in the Princess's names do you know that?!" I barked, heading quickly to said door.

Before I could get my talon on the handle, I heard a strange noise, like a pop and a hiss at the same time. Turning my head, I could see Nameless, his silenced pistol held with his magic. There was a very dead pony slumped in the doorway to the office we held, one of her eye sockets a ruined hole. Well, that was handled neatly.

I turned my attention back to the door. It was indeed locked. "Oh, sweet Luna..." I muttered, “can’t you cut it?!” I squawked at Nameless

“Not without being able to see the mechanism, and exterior doors are too thick to hack through with my magic.” Nameless answered.

Remembering what my hoof could do to a refrigerator door, I quickly gave the thing a buck with my cybernetic. It didn’t budge. However, my hoof started to make an awkward grinding noise and it left a stabbing pain in my thigh for my troubles.

That left us one choice, we were going to have to fight our way out! hoping that I could manage, I went to collect our zebra. Syzygy choked back a sniffle while I helped her to her hooves. Nameless slipped through the office door without us. I wasn't worried, he had some weird skills to him. Gavii retrieved her rifle and followed. That left me at the rear helping Syzygy trudge along. The rope burns above each of her hooves were slowly bleeding. If only I were stronger, I might have been able to carry her. Holding her up would have to do.

We caught up at the corner to the long hallway. Nameless was primed and ready to turn the corner. Gavii had taken up a spot just behind him with her rifle at the ready and her talon placed on his back. That I had assumed was some signal that I hadn’t learned. As soon as Syzygy and I reached Gavii, I set Syzygy down and readied my weapon correctly this time. Then mimicked Gavii by placing my own talon on her back. It seemed to be correct as she gave a tap to Nameless. He turned the corner...

Then was met by automatic fire.

His head snapped to the side, face outlined with a red mist. He dropped without a sound, making only two steps, his head landing on the floor with a wet thud. Gavii turned and pounded on her trigger, firing as many bullets as she could at our assailants. I dove to help Nameless and to get my eyes on our targets. Unfortunately, they’d already had a barricade of sorts set up down the hall, keeping them mostly hidden. It was built out of a table and a few filing cabinets, explaining most of the loud crashes we’d heard. All the same, I grabbed Nameless by the legs and swung my hips in front of me, making my cybernetics groan. At the same time, I tried to kick against the floor to get us back to cover.

It would have worked, but my new hoof made one last grinding noise and refused to obey me. Regardless, I had to get us to safety! Kicking only with my remaining leg, I slowly scooted the two of us back under Gavii's suppressive fire. It was a miracle that we didn't take another bullet, or seven. That was most likely a result of Gavii's support, oh I could have just hugged her for that! Once back behind the corner, I took a look at how he was doing. The answer was not good. Nameless was bleeding badly the whole way, and he didn’t look like he’d last too long in this condition.

"No!" Syzygy squealed at the sight of his ruined face, the right side of which was a bloodied mess from his nose to his ear. She wrapped her hooves around Nameless and pulled him aside. She grabbed her bag from Nameless's shoulder. "I can fix this, by the four stars I can fix this!" She screamed and ripped her bag open from his shoulder, yanking out jars and dried plants with furious haste.

That bit about stars had made little sense to me, and none of the herbs she was working with looked familiar at all, but I had a lot of more pressing things to deal with. With Nameless in Syzygy’s hooves, I hobbled back to the corner. Gavii's face was etched with concern for what seemed the first time in her life. It was so out of place, it almost made me wish for at least the hint of a smile, even if it was a terrible time for it.

"I need something bigger, Prancy.” She didn't even look at me as she spoke, simply looking down and inspecting her rifle. “I'm almost out of daddy's special bullets!"

I knew what would help. While I didn't quite know how to use them, Gavii did. Reaching into my pouches, I pulled a frag grenade from my gear, and offered it to her.  If we were lucky, this might just save all our asses.

Then again, I haven’t had the best luck lately.

"Here, let's make an impression!" I said, feeling like I might as well make a joke to lift her up again. Weird, I didn't think I still had a sense of humor after this last week.

She hastily took the grenade and pulled the pin. I turned around the corner cautiously, gun first this time, and fired a long burst to cover her.

"Frag OOOOUUT!~" She declared in a sharp falsetto. As soon as I saw the metal sphere take flight, I remembered something else important. Combat did have a funny way of always bringing things to mind that I needed to remember. This time, it was the realization that there were other innocent ponies in those storage units.

It was too late. We needed the firepower to survive and I couldn't put the pin back anyhow. I could only hope that the sheet metal doors would be enough to protect them. My magazine ran dry before the grenade reached its target. Quickly, I ducked as best I could back around the corner. Just in time for the grenade to go off, the blast shaking the walls around us and fragments of the thing bouncing back around everywhere. They stung wherever they hit, but not badly.

It made me worried about our friends, if the shards of the grenade had hurt them. After all, neither of them were wearing a vest. "How's Nameless?!" I bellowed the question at Syzygy while exchanging my empty magazine for the second one. With little care, I tossed the empty one into my pack.

"He will live! I will have the bleeding stopped!" She shouted back, she was applying a wrap to his face over some concoction that smelled like rotten cabbage, right before devolving into a string of mumbles, "This is all my fault. All my fault. I am so sorry..."

There was no time for that, it was time to go. I gave my second magazine a slap and yanked the bolt back again. Gavii had just turned the corner, her rifle barking sharply at any target she found. She was always faster than me, doubly so since I was back to three legs from the motor stopping. Or was that three and a half? Thoughts aside, I made it over the crumpled forms of a few slavers to the now busted barricade only a moment after her. There was a pony that stepped out of a doorway past the obstacle. He was pulling a rifle from his back. I pointed my SMG at him. The hooded front sight was centered on him. I pulled the trigger.

I heard a click.

There wasn't time to check what happened to the 10mm, I just needed another gun. So I pulled Innuendo with my left talon as quickly as I could. He had just gotten his rifle into a hoof, the bit in his mouth, but he hadn’t yet leveled it at me. Thanks to the ease of the talon type grips of my weapons, I had my second weapon ready in time. I found the front sight in my vision and squeezed the trigger.

Innuendo howled. The round penetrated the buck easily. The bullet slipped deep into his chest and splattered a line of gore to the floor. He gasped as he had never experienced something like this before. His eyes went almost as wide as the hole that my cannon plowed into him, in fact, it threatened to rip him in half. The pony crumpled, dripping on the floor, completely spent.

Unfortunately, the recoil caught up with me. The heavy gun barrel kicked up and slapped my face. It hurt, but pain wasn't important anymore. You treated it just like the target after you line up the front sight. It was something that had to be left in the corner of your mind to die after you put it there. Speaking of corners. Out of the corner of my eye, a pony had been trapped in the wreckage of one of the doors blown in by the grenade. He caught sight of Gavii and I and let out a whimper.

With the current hostiles dealt with, I hobbled up to help him.  He must have thought we were going to kill him, because he started screaming. Kicking frantically, he wrenched himself free from the mess and managed to run down the hall. He made it as far as jumping over the slavers’ cover, where I could hear that he was met with gunfire. Lots of it. Enough to nearly shred the poor thing. The bastards were dug in further down the hall and waiting. We were trapped.

Gavii pushed me into the blasted storage unit I was next to. Cover was definitely a must to give us refuge from the bad guys’ inevitable push back. From what I could tell, Syzygy was still safe back around the corner with Nameless. We’d gotten in way over our heads here, but with how many were already dead in this hallway alone… I felt we could win this!

I finally had a chance to check my SMG. Removing the magazine showed me that the locking tab on it was damaged. With the way it was bent, it would never seat right in my weapon until it was fixed. Beer Can had almost gotten me killed by being a greedy bastard, and to top it all off, he’d given me bad equipment! The only weapons I had available were a single shot left in Innuendo, a frag grenade, and a pistol with a grip I couldn’t use. There was not going to be enough time to transfer the ammo into my good magazine either. With this, the thought of winning slipped away faster than I thought possible. Things just couldn’t have been worse; I was doomed.

That’s when I heard an explosion from the office. The slaver ponies must have blown the door to get to us! That meant the door would have been a total waste of time at the very least. Oh! That would be a much easier venue of escape, though! Just after that, I realized that if they were coming in behind us, we’d have to go back and help Syzygy and Nameless.

“Gavii, we gotta go back!” I told her and stumbled best I could back around the corner, not waiting for a reply. The slavers behind the barricade didn’t seem to have any interest in trying to shoot at us. Maybe they really were content to wait us out? Or were they waiting for the team that blew up the door to force us toward them? In any case, not getting shot again was a good change of pace.

Syzygy was just finishing with hastily tying up some rough bandages around Nameless's face. "Whht wzzz 'hat nuish, Msstr Prnshhr?" She asked, still tugging the rags tight with her teeth.

"Somepony blew up the back door, I'm gonna check it out." I answered. Turning over my shoulder, I called out to Gavii "Cover the hall! Nopony gets to our friends!"

My only real option to take on some slavers was my remaining frag. I pulled it from the pouch and got ready to pull the pin. With having seen Gavii do it, I figured that’s all it took to get it going. hopefully it really was as easy as that. With a quick breath, I glanced through the door. There was... nopony in there? All I could see was my reflection in a mirror, but I didn't remember one being in here before. A light went off in my head with why it couldn't be a mirror.

I don't have blue eyes...

"Hello, Prancer.” The other griffon said in a smooth, deep voice. “How's your mother?"

The grenade slipped from my talons, the pin still in place. I could not believe what, well, who was in front of me. He was supposed to be dead. I had dusted the pictures of him almost every day for years. Heard the stories about him.  No… he couldn’t be here!

He was supposed to be dead.

"You're supposed to be dead!"  Was all I could eek out when I found the will to speak. It was my father. I hadn't even known his name until I found his contract earlier today. This wasn't fair! He was supposed to be dead! I simply repeated the words aloud that were burning in my mind.

"Now, now. How is that any way to greet me after all these years." he chided

"I wasn't ever supposed to see you again, anyway!" I countered. 

My father was going to say something, he had a smirk on his face. It was cut short by gunfire in the hall. Syzygy trotted into the room, the slumped form of Nameless across her back. She was followed closely by Gavii, who took a position at the doorway to watch the hall. "Party's over, Prancy. Everypony's getting bored, I think." She advised.

Syzygy came to a sudden stop at the sight of my father. “Who is this?” she asked, “Is he friendly?!”

Gavii’s terribly short attention span had run out for watching the hall at the mention of someone new. “A FRIEND?! Who’s your friend? Oh, he looks familiar!” she chirped, running over to meet him. “What’s your name? I’m Gavii! Are you related to Prancer? You look like him!” 

"We must leave, Mister Prancer. Are there slavers in our path?" Syzygy asked quickly, a little less apprehensive.

"No, I don't think so." I replied, "Just maybe this griffon." I added, glaring at my estranged parent.

"Oh, not to worry, I am most certainly not going to be in your way." He said, turning for the ruined door to the outside, "After all, there are much bigger things we need to worry about. You should get back home; see to your mother." And he slipped outside.

"Wait!" I called, stumbling after him. Though, when I looked outside, he was gone.

Gavii peeped up, "That's your daddy, wasn't it?" She asked, sounding like she was expecting a prize for a correct guess.

A shake of my head was my only answer to that one, I didn't know what to say. Sure, he was my father, the resemblance between the two of us was just too obvious, but he wasn't my dad. What was still going through my head was what I had known my whole childhood. My dad is dead.

That’s just what it was going to be. Dad’s still dead, mom is gone, just going to go home and get things back to how it’s supposed to be. It was a reassuring thought, that things could still be normal! The problem was getting enough inspiration I’d need to come up with a plan! Think, think, THINK! What to do? Nameless is unconscious, Syzygy can’t fly, I can’t carry a load… Oh! I had it!

“Gavii, can you fly while carrying Nameless?” I asked quickly.

“Sure!” She answered, then fired at a slaver in the hall, “He doesn’t look too heavy!”

“OK, So you take him.” I pointed a talon to his bloodied form before thinking of something else.  “And Syzygy, here, take my armor!” I said while unbuckling the straps as fast as I could. I pulled the water and can of food from its pouches, as well as Innuendo and my 10mm, and set them on the floor. Thinking quickly, I dumped what remained in my pocket of my broken bottle out in the doorway to the hall. I put the armor onto Syzygy and strapped it up as quickly as possible. When I was satisfied it was on, I then gave her the pistol I took from the guard outside. “Now run, Syzygy, We’re right behind you!”

Syzygy hesitated, the fear obvious on her face. “Mister Prancer, I…”

“Just go!” I yelled, cutting her off with a slap to her rump. She whinnied and left, though still with some reservation in her eyes. “Gavii, we’re getting out!” I called while scooping up my grenade from where I dropped it and hobbled back to collect my weapons and other gear. With those tucked into my pack and thrown over my shoulder, I pulled Gavii along out the ruined door. A pang of guilt reminded me that it meant abandoning the captured ponies. Even though I knew trying to save them as well was suicide, it didn’t keep me from feeling like crap about it, though. We’d come for Syzygy, and we’d gotten her out. Our mission was done.

We took to wing with the shouts of our pursuers close behind. Their pained screams told me that the glass I had left behind must have earned us a few seconds. Precious moments that allowed us to be out of range of their assorted firearms before they had a chance to shoot. We were home free! Just a few hundred meters and we could settle down for a bit. For now, we were just catching up with Syzygy. Her outline easy enough to see, my armor she was wearing painted a black blob over her stripes against the dead landscape.

With a wave of a talon, I motioned for Gavii to land. We should be much safer by now. The night air had grown very cold, dawn couldn't be too far away. With the daylight coming, slavers wouldn't dare venture this far south towards Talon controlled territory.

Syzygy’s face was flushed when I finally saw her up close again, “Are… we… safe… Mister… Pran...cer?” she asked, her breathing ragged.

“Yes.” I took a moment to remember my recent streak of luck.  “Well... safer.” I reformed my answer and tried to reassure her. “Gavii, how is Nameless?”

“Still sleepin’!” She replied cheerily.

“Oh, is the bandage holding? Let me see!” Syzygy said, hurrying to him and cradled his head. Nameless’s face was still bandaged tightly, a bit of blood and Syzygy’s medicine staining the white cloth. She said she’d stopped the bleeding, so I had to trust that she knew what she was doing. I hoped that Nameless would at least be stable enough to make it to some real help.

“Gavii, please take Nameless to the clinic.” I asked of her.

“Sure thing, Prancy! We can rebuild him, we have the technology!” She chirped in her normally happy tone again. Strange to think that I had missed that tone once she was serious for a moment. She spread her wings and immediately took off with him. “Don’t you worry! I’ll go get him all neat and patched up and better than brand new!”

“I must go with them. It was my fault he was hurt so badly.” Syzygy was almost begging. “I have to see that he is alright!”

While her ‘good intentions’ got her captured, she can’t blame herself for his injuries. We went in knowing that it might be a fight to get out. This whole curse thing she believed in? It seemed more like she needed a reason to feel bad for the misfortune that is already all around the wastes. I placed a talon on her shoulder. There was no way she’d be able to run all the way there with her fetlocks as they were.

“You should take it easy, here, how about some food?” I asked, pulling the can from my pack, “There’s some water here, too.” I added, though it was the local groundwater. At least it was wet, and a little wouldn't get her sick.

“No, I am not hungry, I want to accompany them!” She said defiantly, a grumble from her stomach betrayed her words, though. “Ummm, I may be only a little hungry, Mister Prancer…” She corrected sheepishly.

Nodding, I opened the can with a claw. It was beans, that shouldn't be too disagreeable for her I figured. Without any delay, I offered the can to her first. She grabbed it in her hooves and greedily munched it down. There was hardly a mouthful left when she passed it back to me. It wasn't something I was going to let myself get upset about. This had all been a hell of an ordeal, and half a can of beans was a small price to pay to make sure we were all alright.

I	 brought the can to my beak and tapped on it. I swallowed the last of the beans and got ready to move on. The empty can was unceremoniously pitched in a random direction, and we began walking back towards ‘Claw. My cyber-hoof, while seemingly dead, still made for a clumsy peg leg at least. 

“Mister Prancer?” Syzygy began.

“Yeah? What’s up?” I asked in reply

She bowed her head sheepishly, “I am grateful for rescue, yet I find there is something I must ask.”  She squinted and looked puzzled. “Why did you come for me? You could have been shot or taken as well.”

“I did get shot, but that’s not going to stop me from keeping my friends safe. I lost one already, and counting you, I've almost lost three more.” I explained.

“Excuse me?!” She asked bemusedly, “You were shot?”

“Well, I was shot. I’m OK, though.” I said, trying to keep her calm.

She stopped in her tracks and nearly jumped on me to look me over. “What? You are certain?”

“Yep! No curse could get through the armor I put on you.” I told her while pushing her away. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

Syzygy took a moment to ponder the meaning of that. The moment that she realized what she believed that to mean, she immediately tried to pull my dad’s armor off of herself. “Please, please, please, Mister Prancer, you must take it back!”

“Shh! Calm down! We’re almost back into town, we’re safe! I’m fine!” I said, hoping that she’d believe me. We were still a little ways out from ‘Claw, and just past my best hunting areas. We’d now moved well into the areas frequented by geckos, reptilian pests that could pose quite a problem for us.

“You should still not have come for me.” She took a deep breath, finally leaving the armor alone where it was. “You and Nameless were both hurt, the two of you could have been killed.”

“Don’t you say that, I won’t lose another friend!” I countered, “Anyways, if you’re ready, we should go. Gavii probably has Nameless in the clinic by now.”

“So, would that not mean that he is safe? May we rest some time longer?” She asked, flopping to her rump. The look of exhaustion to her face made it clear that it was much less of a question than she posed. Even while seated, her weakened hooves shook just to keep her upright even. Geckos be damned, she couldn't go any further for now.

“Sure.” I replied. Protecting her was going to be key until she could get her hooves steadily under herself again. 

Syzygy gave me a small smile before helping herself to the water in the pouch of my gear that she was wearing. It gave me a closer look at her abused fetlocks. The bleeding had stopped sometime since we found her, but they were terribly bruised. It must have been luck alone that kept her legs from being broken. It made me question exactly how cursed she could really be. Oh, but she said that others were hurt around her, so maybe she’s safe from it? The attempt to figure it out made my head hurt.

Never mind, it was a silly thing to think about anyway.

At least with the free moment that we had, I could take the time to put the ammunition I had into the one good magazine of mine. There was no way I could trust my life to that garbage that Beer Can pawned off on me. The quartermaster might have use of the spring and small parts in it if he couldn't fix it, or I could just beat Beer Can over the head with it. The latter sounded much more satisfying, although much less practical.

Looking over my gear one more time, My SMG, Innuendo and my grenade; the weapons that I had accrued seemed so small and useless given the things I had faced. It was scary to think about that. What would have been a considerable force in my mind a week ago, now left me with a sense of helplessness. This meager amount of firepower had not quite been enough to face even a few ponies in a real fight, at least with how little skill I had with them.

Innuendo alone had the force to drop the bear, albeit with a good shot, but that wasn't much use against softer bad guys. It was too slow and difficult to use against a group. I didn't need a super gun for ponies, just a lot of bullets. There wasn't much use to being able to kill one or two ponies outright with hardly a second thought with so many of them around. That meant I had to get many more magazines or possibly another weapon; even though I already had two, plus the grenade. More grenades would be helpful, too. Those were really useful when things got bad, even though I needed guidance on how to actually use the things. Asking Gavii how to handle them might be a good idea. Then again, I’d have to actually listen to Gavii...

Something was off still. The sudden realization that I wanted to be better able to kill ponies scared me. I shouldn't want to kill them at all, right? It was necessary sometimes here in the wastes, but I shouldn't want to hurt anyone, should I?

Syzygy must have seen on my face that something was bothering me. She got up and lightly rested a hoof on my shoulder. The scabs around her fetlock flaked onto my feathers and I could only give out a sigh. 

“Are you well, Mister Prancer?” she asked. “You appear bothered, is there something I can do?”

“No, I’m fine,” I lied, “Just... concerned with a few things I can finish up when I get home. It’ll sort itself out, I’m sure!” While brushing her hoof off of me gently, I looked her in the eye. “Are you ready to get going again? The sun will be up soon.” I said with a grin, hoping to hide the fact that we weren't out of danger yet.

She nodded. Her face was looking quite terrible, but there wasn't much other choice but to push on. I’m sure she knew that, even without my explanation why. We took enough time to rest already. If we stayed here, the slavers might spot us in the early morning light. Although, that would be unlikely given that we’d been in Talon territory for a while now. The geckos around here might find us before dawn, however. They’re not dangerous alone, especially the silver ones that were most common, but they tended to group together. Moving on back home was the only option if we wanted to play it safe.

Syzygy dragged herself to her hooves and began to slowly plod along with an awkward limp. She didn't have any way to keep off of an injured leg in the first place, and they were all pretty banged up. It appeared that she was just alternating from whichever leg hurt the worst at the moment. I really regretted not being strong enough to carry her.

The going was at a snail’s pace, but it felt much slower than that. With as long as we were taking, my fears were getting the best of me. I could have sworn that I could hear rustling from behind every bush; and from under each large rock. The lack of sleep wasn't helping either. The world felt blurry, made all the worse by the coming dawn. A light fog had settled in and it looked like it might rain. However, the town was so close now. I could already see the rooftops of the tallest structures just over the hills.

That was when I heard something from behind us. Something I was sure wasn't my imagination.

Turning my head to look, I found a gecko sauntering onto the roadway. It wasn't silver like I’d hoped, it was gold. Much bigger than their cousins, they were a threat all on their lonesome. Wouldn't you know, it was just my luck that it was looking right at us. It gave out a sharp hiss and reared up as tall as it could stand.

Flying away was out of the question. Leaving Syzygy behind would kill her, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. Nor could either of us simply run. We had three working limbs between ourselves, and little strength to even use them. Well, I had already faced death too many times today for this to scare me.  Funny though, I think it was the fact I was too tired that made me not give two bits about running anyway. It was just pissing me off and I was sick of it.

My SMG was already in my grasp while I pivoted on my locked up hoof. After pushing Syzygy aside, I raised its sights level to the stupid, shiny lizard and flicked off the safety. As soon as I caught a glance of the front sight I gave the trigger a loving caress. The morning stillness was shattered by the gun’s short burst.

The beast stumbled as it charged, though it kept coming. It closed the gap between us startlingly fast. His jaws snapped at me with shrill screeches all the while. He lunged at me and bit down at the closest thing he could reach. Unfortunately for him, that happened to be the barrel of my 10mm. To make the best of it, I decided to pull the trigger again. Why not? I wouldn't be able to miss.

Its mouth erupted into a gory fountain, spattering my face with squishy bits of him. The damnable lizard gurgled what I could assume was a scream before wrenching its head aside. The force pulled my gun out of my talon. Unfortunately for me, I was still looped in my gun’s sling. It pulled me off of my legs and I ended up on my back.

There I was, left staring up at my reptilian adversary. The beast was wild-eyed and screeching as best it could with the back of its throat shot out. At the rate it was bleeding, I assumed it would only take a minute for it to keel over and die. Problem was, it was ready to kill me back in only a few seconds. 

Putting him down first was the only option I had. If I didn't, Syzygy’s life would be on the line as well. Thanks to its sling, my SMG simply had to be nearby, I reached out with my left talon to grab at it blindly. I knew the gun was there, all I had to do was get a hold of it. Mr. gecko was less than obligatory, however, and came down upon me. His maw was a disturbing blend of predatory nature, newly broken teeth and blood. By chance, I managed to catch him by the neck with the claws of my right talon. It took all of my strength to hold him back. I wasn't sure if I was winning until I felt my claw tips open fresh wounds under my grasp. More blood joined the cascade of his face onto me. He had to be down to mere seconds. Seconds that could still lead us either way.

Finally, my grasping left talon found purchase on the grip of my 10mm. Unfortunately, the weight of the creature had me pinned. In an attempt to shift him, I kicked at him with my hind paw. I managed to land a blow to his genital slit. If his shriek was any indication the creature turned out to be a male after all. Unfortunately, he was just made angrier. He began furiously swiping his own claws at me. Dirt and small rocks were getting thrown about by his thrashing, and all I could do was try to tuck my head down to keep him from gouging my eyes out. The last thing I would want is to need an eyepatch or something!

Even so, the gecko was pulling at my plumage and scratching the sides of my head. What made it worse is that I was stuck there trying to strangle it as best I could. All the while, I attempted to get an angle on my gun that I could shoot the damn thing without blowing off any of my own limbs in the process.

Another shot rang out into the dawn, but it wasn't mine. The beast gurgled and coiled up. Now that it was the one off balance, I shoved it off of me. Before it could attack again, I rolled back into a standing position with my gun ready. Something in the creature’s gurgles stayed my trigger, saving what precious bullets I might still have. The way it was laying there gasping without even a rattle or whimper, just a wet burble, I could tell that it was finally succumbing to its wounds. He was drowning in his own blood. It wasn't clear if he bled out or suffocated first, but he only took another few moments before going still.

Good riddance.

With all of the excitement over, I became aware of Syzygy, she was crying.

“Are you OK?”  She spoke out between her pained sobs.  She lowered her gaze to the pistol I had left with her earlier. She must have set it down or dropped it when she fired. “I am sorry, Mister Prancer, I could not discern how to fire this weapon fast enough.” her bottom lip wavered a bit and held back a sniffle, “It was not me that killed him, was it?”

“No, I did. You saved me, though. I don’t know if I could have gotten him alone.” I told her as my racing heart started to slow a bit. “thanks!”

“I do not wish to kill!”  She snapped through her sadness. “I can not bear to see others hurt because of me, not even the beasts around here. Please, Mister Prancer, let us get back to your town and see to Nameless. I wish to continue on with my penance.” She said glumly. She turned and began walking again, leaving the pistol, which I picked up myself. No sense in leaving it.

The last, short stretch back to ‘Claw was back to an uneasy silence. In an attempt to relieve myself from monotony, I reflected on this night’s events. The rescue she didn't want, the monster she didn't want killed. Syzygy really had her priorities messed up. Killing wasn't a good thing, but it was a necessary thing. A griffon needs to eat, ponies need to defend themselves, and sometimes it’s unavoidable. Bugs can be overlooked as you walk by, everyone does it.

The last thing she told me was odd too. The bit about killing might be a dead end, but I had to ask, “Syzygy, what do you mean by ‘penance’?”  I looked at her and waited for a response. After a moment, she looked to the sky without halting and inhaled sharply.

“The stars gave me a sign before I left for exile, that I may be able to break my curse.” She spoke with great reverence to the subject. “I must undo a great wrong that had been inflicted by the misfortunes that follow me. My fellow zebras were unwilling to take my aid. If I nursed them back to health, they would flee. It is possible that Nameless is the key. He is appreciative of my help, and maybe a pony is good enough for the stars.”

I just nodded. There was nothing I could think of to say to that. In addition, I had a new understanding of Beer Can’s mistrust of the little, striped weirdos. Letting out a little sigh, I had to let that go for now. Since we had just now entered town, we had to get ourselves back in shape before we could do anything.

“First we should get you somewhere you can rest.” I spoke through my weariness. The exhaustion was catching up fast, and my body cried out for sleep. How mom used to do this night after night, I may never know. “The clinic shouldn't be too bad a place. It’s close to the road, just a bit past my house and there’s some comfy chairs to recline in right after you see Nameless.”

She smiled. It was a nice thing to see after all the doom and gloom. It made me feel like there was still some meaning to my life, like it wasn't all a lie, or a joke.

That good feeling lasted all the way there, even though I wasn't sure what to expect in the clinic. To finally be able to see how Nameless was holding up. The half of his cheek missing was all I could remember of the incident. It was very fortunate that Syzygy had stopped the bleeding back in the compound, otherwise he would never have made the trip back. There just couldn't have been much blood for him to afford to lose in his little body. When we walked in, we found that Gavii was there still. She gave me a big smile when I walked up next to her at the bed Nameless was laying on. Syzygy approached the bed from the other side and checked Nameless over.

“Good, he is alright.” she finally said after looking around the bandages. Without another word, she wobbled over to the waiting area and flopped across several chairs.

Gavii giggled, “Aww, she’s all plum tuckered out.” She said in her usual upbeat tone. Ignoring her silliness, I nudged her shoulder.

“Thanks for helping me, Gavii.” I told her outright. “I wouldn't have been able to save Syzygy without you, or get Nameless back here in time.” She’d really saved our tails out there, and for that I was thankful. To that, she smiled and gave me a tight hug.

“I couldn't let you go alone. I miss you when you’re gone, and I’m afraid that you’ll get hurt. Or worse. I can’t lose another friend.” She paused and made sure I was looking at her. “Promise me you’ll take care of yourself if you’re on some sort of super spy mission or something again.”

What else could I do? I could see tears forming in her eyes. 

“I promise.” I told her, sure that I could keep it. There wouldn't be much chance of getting in trouble around town. There was a long pause, she opened her beak to say something…

...and I kissed her.

It was kinda awkward, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time. Granted I’d never had any experience with anyone, but I had to start somewhere, right? She was surprised at first to find my beak slipped into hers, though a moment's time found her pressing back and murring happily. An eternity passed in only a few seconds, although I was content to spend every bit of that time. Eventually, Gavii broke the kiss.

She giggled again, "OK, Prancy-wancy, I believe you," she admitted with a playful jab to my chest. Right to the spot I got shot in.

"OW! Careful, I took a bullet there!” I grimaced from the pain. “Remember?" I rubbed at my side and winced again.

“Heh, sorry, Prancy.” She spoke with a deep blush and took off. “Anyway, I gotta go!”

“Oh, Isn’t it fortunate we don’t need dentists?” A voice said from the back of the clinic. The figure approached, revealing that it was Cora. The upstart albino glared at me.

“The heck are you talking about?” I asked.

“Heh, simple. After a sickeningly sweet display like that, I thought I had a cavity forming.” He explained. Dr. Clipwing said that Cora was becoming a competent nurse, though he failed to mention that he was still a smarmy fuck. The colorless jerk continued on with his spiel, “Fortunately, all there needed to be done was apply a clean bandage. The zebra paste your friend put together is helping him heal up nicely, there might not even be too much scarring. Even his bones seem to have mended a bit. Anyways, it’s time for me to head off, Dr. Clipwing will be here in an hour or so, depending on his hangover.” And with that, he sauntered out the door.

That was fine with me. Having to rely on a sniveling wretch like him stuck in my craw. Regardless, I had some business with our patient to deal with in the time being. Once he came to, I’d hopefully get to know him a lot better. Too many things were out of place with him for me to let it go.

Fortunately, he seemed to be waking up already. Though I needed sleep badly, dozens of questions still buzzed in my head. How could I trust a pony didn't know himself, but the bad guys we fought did? Was he lying? Was he just a bad guy himself? Pulling Innuendo from its holster, I didn't want to take another risk tonight, I stuck the barrel under Nameless’s chin and waited.

I was going to get some answers.




--------

Quest Completed: Earning Your Stripes

Level up!

+6 Small guns
+2 Melee
+1 Explosives
+1 Speech

Perk added: Quick Draw
The time required to equip, unholster or swap weapons is reduced by 50%.
There ya go, Prancer, ya figured out how to perform a Manehatten Reload. Big deal...
> A New Link
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6 - A New Link

So there I was standing, gun drawn on the pony I had considered a friend. The exhaustion of the night’s misadventure dulled what that should really mean to me; in fact, I felt rather numb. 

There’d been a few moments that I had to myself before Nameless awoke. It gave me time to think. To think of the scene I had before me; Nameless, myself, and a gun.

I pondered about the weapon I held in my claw at the moment.

Innuendo

She was a memento of my mother. The pistol was heavy, its caliber of obscene size. It was a cannon, that much was blatantly obvious. An old rifle that was lovingly carved into a weapon that could theoretically be used in a single talon, despite my earlier experience. She had been somewhat like a starter pistol, the sound of her gunshot marked the beginning of when my life completely fell apart, the shot that ended my mother. Her name was Innuendo, and from what I’ve seen so far, she always got her point across.

Currently, I had her gently tickling Nameless’s throat. Like a lover teasing him back awake. He would certainly awake to a surprise this morning.

His muzzle and one of his eyes had been covered in a bandage that put pressure on his face, all the better to keep him from bleeding again. Sadly, the bandages would be unneeded if he turned out to be somepony I didn’t think he should be, if he wasn’t who I could trust. If he wasn’t a friend after all, then a single flick of the trigger would see to that.

His eye opened slowly, blinking away what fuzziness there might be in his vision. The eye didn’t seem to be able to focus, it was staring blindly past me. All the better, he had to know that I was calling the shots right now.

“Did you sleep well, Nameless?” I cooed to him gently. It was interesting, him being in such a position of submission, the pony that seemed so able before. The glint of recognition in his pale eye, the change in his posture; he was mine. “I have some questions for you.” I told him calmly. It felt good to be in control for once.

Nameless relaxed, taking his time and going back to his usual silence. So, I figured he was just waiting for the questions I had. That or waiting for a chance to use some magic. Though he had to know, if he so much as flickered his horn, I’d end him. Messily. 

It’s not that I wanted to, I shouldn’t want to, deep down I really wanted to find out that I could trust him. He had traveled with us so calmly and had been there for anything he could help with, in fact, he may have saved my life...

...The problem was that I couldn’t trust anyone anymore. Well, maybe a few griffons; Gavii, Strix too, and probably Bookbeak... but no pony; there was Syzygy, I could probably trust her as well, but that was it. My list of… what was the word… ‘confidants’; it was slim/

“Who are you, really? That pony called you ‘Razor’.” I asked him.

He cleared his throat and slowly began to speak. “I am Nameless. ‘Razor’ may have been my name, but it is meaningless now. I am not that pony.”

He said that line before to T-bone, I think he was trying to stall. Too bad for him I was going to stress the subject, with a thrust of Innuendo, I pressed him further,. “He knew you! You were working with him before!” I hissed. It was a strange way to ask, like I was accusing him as much as I was questioning. Whatever. I didn’t care.

“I do not believe so. T-bone said that I did not want to be his partner. Considering it all, especially how it ended, I’m certain it was for the best.” he explained. That was indeed what T-bone had said. But that wasn’t just it.

“There’s more to it than that! What was this talk of a bounty?” was my next question. It was part of the scene that never got an answer. Nameless was taking even longer for this question. He blinked again and wrinkled up the right side of his face. He must have been trying to figure out where he was, so I grilled him a little harder. “Answer the question!” I urged, just shy of giving him a good smack.

“That I do not know, it seems that Syzygy is valuable.” he said.

“To whom?!” I asked, I needed to know more about that. The answer was somewhere in there. If Nameless didn’t actually know, he could figure something out!

His eye kept darting around, it was apparent that the gears in his head were spinning at full speed. “To the slavers, at least. I don’t know why. There could have been somepony there to pick her up. I do not recall what transpired after T-bone’s demise.” He said. That was probably true, it was all that he actually saw while we were there.

So, who could have been there for the pick-up? Not T-bone, he wanted the bounty, he was selling. Not Nameless, T-bone accused him of going after the same bounty. There were plenty of guards, but that wasn’t until things went sour. Gavii and I obviously wouldn’t have.

There was only one other. His face came to my mind, haunting me! Why couldn’t he just stay dead?! “Oh, why? Why would it be him?!” I wailed, letting my gun slip from his neck and I fell to the floor. Things just got worse! “Syzygy thinks that she’s the cursed one! This joke just isn’t funny!” I howled. Things always got worse! 

That was it. If this is what life was going to be, I didn’t want any more of it. Tossing my gun back into my bag, I left the Clinic and took to wing. Nameless was getting me nowhere and Syzygy needed to rest anyway. The only thing I had in mind was to just go home. It wasn’t far, so it didn’t take too much effort to get there quickly.

When I landed on the front step, I nearly threw the door off the hinges when I ripped it open. If I’d been stronger than I was, I just might have. With my current ability, I only pulled the hinges out a little on their screws. That aside, it didn’t help me feel any better. This was so frustrating, this was just… it was just fucked. There wasn’t any other way to say it. If I was playing cards, my life would have dealt me a shit flush. 

My right hip was cramping after dragging that dead hoof along, so I unbolted it and tossed it to a corner of the room, The clatter was actually quite satisfying. Then, I limped along to the liquor cabinet. If everything was going to burn me, I might as well throw enough alcohol on things to help it along!

As soon as I opened it, the bag of caps greeted me again. Oh! Every turn had some damn obligation, a new responsibility! That was enough! Talon life wasn’t for me, not with how it was just stacked against me. It took all that I had, and all it gave me were scars and heartache in return. Least of all was this damn leg Beer Can had bolted onto me!

The bag of money was tossed aside. Somewhere in the front room, I heard it hit the coffee table, but it wasn’t anything I cared about at the moment. Behind where the bag had laid was my goal, a pair of bottles half filled with booze. Their labels read that the only ones left were the bourbon and gin. I learned my lesson on whiskeys already at Mt. Raindier, after the trip with Beer Can, but gin always smelled so foul, like nasty roots left to spoil. Both of them is what I eventually ended up with, as I hadn’t much choice anyway. The bourbon was opened first, sure that I’d prefer the taste, and drank from the bottle. It was indeed heavenly; a warm, if sharp, bitterness with a wonderful flavor of smoked woods, like what would feed a barbeque.

After the first drink, there was a second, and a third, then a fourth. The alcohol quickly came to my head, soothing me of such nasty things as worry or doubt. The whole house felt satisfyingly warm, but from my inside out. It was exactly what I needed.

With another sip, I sat myself down on the couch and began to ponder what should be done. The documents I’d found were still on the table where I left them. Reminders of how my life was a setup, like how Mom said that it was a joke. Was I the punchline? Roughly, I shoved them to the floor with a snarl. How could everything go wrong for me? Why did I have to suffer when I’ve been the one to work so hard?!

My next drink I went to take was cut short by the fact that the bottle was empty. The fucking thing was no more help, so I threw it. The sound of it smashing on the wall echoed in my mind sharply. Fuck the broken glass, it could be cleaned up later. The room quickly became out of focus, I couldn’t find the gin. Sleeplessness and alcohol combined took its toll. My eyes shut, the world slipped away into nothingness. No dreams. No bad jokes. Just fading to merciful black.

---

Some time later, I awoke with the sunlight peeking through the gaps of my home, shining into my eyes. The room slowly returned to me in an indeterminable amount of time. My head felt foggy and my stomach churned. It was tolerable, unlike my morning at Mt. Raindier. That was something else. Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I found that I had fallen to the floor some time while I snoozed. In front of me was the report of my acceptance to the Talons, Sergeant Lightfeathers’ postscript there in front of me.

Reaching out to set it back on the table, I found my talon was covered in dried blood. Flecks of it were already peeling off. It scared me for a moment. Why was there so much blood everywhere? A few panicked seconds went by before I recalled the gecko. At least it wasn’t my blood, or worse, my friends’ blood this time.

Lightfeathers’ letter still stuck in my mind. Why did he think that nothing could break me? I’ve been broken! I’ve been shot! I’m an amputee for Luna’s sake! Whatever, I just needed to get my life back. That was my goal all along, right? That meant finishing my job.

Standing up again took several tries, I had forgotten that I had removed my leg. It was startling to say the least when I realized I was a tripod again. Though I decided to leave it off for the moment. Even if I was getting used to wearing it, there wasn’t much use to bolting my leg back on again. It wasn’t working when I was wearing it last anyway.

Instead, I just gathered up my leg and the bag of caps, setting them on the couch for later. Then I wobbled to the sink to try to clean myself up before I flew over to the HQ. The blood washing down the drain of the sink made me wonder. How many liters of the stuff was spilled in the last week alone? How much could I have stopped? How much had I caused?

I quickly shook that last thought from my mind and finished up.

The next thing I did was to sit back at the table and pour out the money from my bag. To finish my job, I had to turn in the Talons’ share of the contract, 1500 caps. Counting it was going to be a chore; I couldn’t remember how much I had spent so far. That meant I was stuck counting them from zero.

It was going to take forever, but there wasn’t any other way around it. I began sorting the caps into stacks of ten, then into rows of ten stacks, and into ranks of ten stacks. With every cap I counted, each stack set aside, I felt a deeper resentment for Talon life. All the running, the shooting, the killing. After this was done, I was gonna quit if they weren’t so likely to let me go already. What use was a three-legged griffon anyway?

My caps left over after the 1500 were counted out were rather meagre, 227. Enough to keep me fed quite a while, if I was lucky enough to not get in trouble. Not that I was before, but less trouble would be a blessing.

The morning had all but burned away, and I had wasted enough time. To spare a few moments, I grabbed the Talon vest I’d left before and poured the remainder of my money into one of its pockets. It was thrown into my pack with the bag of money, my cyber-hoof and Innuendo. My 10mm was quickly slung over a shoulder. checking the magazine of my SMG, there were four bullets left. Practically nothing as far as the good it would be.

That would have to do, time was short and I wasn’t planning on keeping it much longer anyway. Without the Talon armor I had left with Syzygy, flying wouldn’t be too hard, so I took to wing. Other than the aftereffects of last night’s bourbon keeping a straight line out of the question, the flight was mostly uneventful. With all of the intense exercise I had given my wings lately, the flight hadn’t even bothered me much.

There was one oddity along the way, though. I saw a cart that looked remarkably like Beer Can’s as I was heading along. It might have been him, he was on a trading route before we left for Mt. Raindier. This I assumed was just him getting back to business as usual, much as I intended.


My landing at the Talon HQ hadn’t been all that graceful, I had barely managed to keep from driving my beak into the concrete floor. At least there wasn’t too many griffons there to notice my stumbling approach. Quickly collecting my composure, I opened the door and hobbled inside. 


The office was mostly the same as I had seen it the several times before. A talonful of griffons mulling about with their usual tasks; running paperwork or sorting documents. Only a few turned their attentions to my entrance and fewer still even acknowledged me. It was a wonderful change from the silliness of ponies wasting their time.

All that aside, my goal was Lightfeather’s office. He was seated at his desk when I reached the door, he quickly waved me inside before I even had the time to knock. With such an invitation, I headed in. He bore a beaming smile and waited patiently for what I had to say.

“Sir… I mean, Sergeant,” I stammered sheepishly, remembering his spiel yesterday about officers. “I wanted to bring the payment due to the Talons, we hadn’t gone over that last time I was here.”

“Ah, yes! We were busy tending to the Gunnery Sergeant as I recall. You said you have the amount due?” He asked.

“Yes, here it is,” I said while producing the bag of caps I had counted out for him. I set that in front of him and continued. “Also, I… I don’t intend to stay with the Talons.” I said hesitantly.

Slowly, his smile faded, “What do you mean? You can’t simply quit.”

I shook my head, “But that’s exactly what I was going to do, I just can’t be a Talon.” I replied. To punctuate it, I set down my 10mm; or rather, Swan’s 10mm, I was done with it and giving it back. Next to it I laid down Innuendo. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but in the comics I had read years back, an agent turned in their guns when they quit. Or maybe that was a pony thing, I tried to prepare myself for embarrassment.

Lightfeather’s response was, in a word, strange. His face turned to a pained expression like I had stabbed him. That was an expression that I understood intimately now. He drew the hand cannon from its holster and carefully looked it over. With a sigh, he traced a clawtip along its engraving down to the gold trigger guard.

Finally, after a minute or two, he replaced the pistol and… almost began to cry? Oh, he was! One lonesome tear fell across his beak, but he didn’t lose his composure for a second.

“I… empathize with what you have gone through, but you cannot quit.” He finally said, a stern face taking hold of him. “Your contract is waiting to be drafted, and there’s already a patron lined up who has paid for your services. You may have the rest of the day off to prepare for your next duties as a contractor. Then we go over the specifics and send you off with your contract’s holder.” He nudged my weapons back to me, “I’m sorry…” For what he was apologizing for, I wasn’t too sure, though I had a few ideas.

With an exasperated sigh, I collected my guns and turned to leave his office. Before I could even take a single step, he cut me short by clearing his throat and adding something to his speech. “By the way, Prancer. Initiates are not permitted to be contractors, so congratulations on your promotion, Corporal Thistledown.”

I didn’t acknowledge him with even a single word in response, I just scoffed at him and moved on. I wasn’t sure how many ranks he just promoted me past, but it must have taken many more favors. Also, it seemed I had misjudged what a contractor was, wouldn’t it be “Contractee” if you were the one under contract?

Whatever the case, there was one more stop I had to make before I left the HQ, and if I’m going to be under contract there was more I’d need there. I turned to the right and hobbled to the quartermaster’s office. Stepping in, I found him snoozing in his chair.

“Leutenant Rackkam!” I called to him in my annoyance. My hangover was slowly fading, but it didn’t much improve my mood yet.  Might as well get this over promptly.

He woke with a sharp snort, “Huh, ung. Wha? Ya needin’ something?”  He groggily cast his glance to me before he rubbed his tired eyes. “Oh, Thistledown. How can I help ya?”

I produced my prosthetic hoof and presented it to him. “My cyber-leg broke. Is there anything you can do?” I asked.

He grabbed it and inspected it with a, “Hmmm…” Moments later, he grabbed a screwdriver and pried at its knee and ankle joints. Almost as soon as he began, the hinges slumped freely. He looked up at me with a grin. “There ya go! The gears jus’ got bound up is all! Take it a bit easier on ‘er and you’ll be fine!”

There were no words to explain how stupefied I was, I bet only Celestia would know the extent of it. Nameless and I almost died because a gear slipped or something?! That was ridiculous! “Is there any way to keep that from happening?”

“Oh, sure there is!” He declared, quickly turning his screwdriver to other parts of the leg. He pried off the shell covering the joints and pistons, sprayed some sort of grease in there and tightened the plates holding the bearings in. “That’ll do it. Less weight, tighter bits and lubed up. If’n ya want ta leave the steel sheeting here with me, that’ll be 20 caps. Otherwise I’ll have ta charge ya a mite bit more and get to fixin’ it tomorrow. ”

I fished out my vest from my pack and pulled out a talon full of caps and counted out his due. “Go ahead and keep the sheeting, then. I don’t think I’ll need it.” I couldn’t afford to wait for it, anyway. Remembering another thing, I grabbed the pistol I had liberated from last night. I removed the magazine and stripped the last couple rounds out of it and opened the chamber. “Also, how much is this worth?”

Leiutenant Rackkam picked it up and checked the action a few times and played with the safety and trigger. “Well, this thing’s ‘bout to fall apart, 25 caps?”

“Sure.” I replied with a nod. That would give me five back, and it would at least get that out of my pack.

Picking up my leg, I found that it was a lot lighter now without the extra steel on it.  Also, it gave it a very skeletal look, like bare bones made of metal. While plugging the limb back onto its housing, I remembered about the sharp pain of it activating just before it up my spine to the base of my head, marking the leg’s readiness for use with a gasp from me.

It didn’t sting as badly as before. Curiousity got to me, after all I had put the leg through, how much was left in it? I had to ask the question, “So, how much power does this thing have?”

“Well,” he responded, “I’m not sure. It’s run off of sparkle batteries instead of power gems, so it’s likely a lot more than the average leg.” He disappeared a moment under his desk and returned with a battery of sorts. “But, if’n ya want to be sure, I got this spare I’d recharged awhile ago, 30 caps.”

“Fine.” I said with a sigh, I couldn’t afford to run out of power. It could be the death of me if I got caught without enough energy. I could only imagine myself stuck, trapped in some dark room without the ability to fight back simply because I was out of juice; just waiting for some monsters to find me. It was a scary thought. 

I tried my best to get that line of thinking from my mind. I’d need some better way to defend myself. “Lieutenant, I also need some more ammo. 10mm and a couple magazines for my gun, my spare one is bent up.” I said, flopping the broken mag on the countertop.  “Also, a bunch of whatever this uses.” I added, drawing “Innuendo” to show him.

“Oh, yer momma’s gun! Yeah, I can fix ya up for all that! ‘nd yer little cap gun too!” he said, busying himself with tins and boxes lined up on his shelf. Containers of every shape and size. Plastic jars labeled as containing powder, boxes of casings and primers. A bit of searching later came up with a whole box of 10mm, two new magazines for my SMG (one filled already!) and… only three cartridges for Innuendo... Dang it...

“That’ll be another 52 caps. I’ll take your broke mag and give you a discount on the rest. That’s the best you’ll get in this world!”

What choice did I have, I had no reason to distrust another Talon. Ponies only wanted what they could take, so I placed another 87 caps next to the first stack on the counter for some gun food I’d hope I’d never need. Finally, I nodded my acknowledgment to him and set off for something to eat.  My stomach growled angrily. I might be almost a hundred caps lighter, but I still needed food of my own. 

After trying my best to make my ‘thank yous’ sound genuine under the circumstances, I made my way to the front doors. I kept my head down, ignoring the front desk and Lightfeathers on my way out. If I had the rest of the day to myself, I was going to make the best of it. It was time to get supplies, especially something to eat. I had never cared for anything in particular, so I just felt like a regular grocery trip, plus what I might need for a brief journey..

A quick flight to the store for some groceries wouldn’t take much time. In fact, I had a tailwind to ride on. It was just a few flaps of my wings from the HQ to get there. Stepping inside, I saw a familiar face with a bright smile on her beak.

“Hi there, Mina.” I declared to the elderly clerk, “I was needing the usual things, please.”

She looked at me in a way I hadn’t seen before, A particularly happy face that was unlike what she had had before. She looked particularly excited. It kinda bothered me. “Prancer, I never thought you’d be so direct!” She was practically beaming. “Was it some time as a Talon that helped?”

Yeah, time as a Talon indeed, a good dose of hell… “Please, may I have my goods, Mina?”

“Sure thing, sweety-bird!” She cooed, placing a few cans and bottles into a paper sack.

“Ummm, may I have some extra bottles of water, and a new rucksack? My last one has a bullet hole in it…” I added sheepishly.

She smiled. She smiled in such a warm way and even giggled while she turned and began sorting out my order. Even though it was a happy smile, It reminded me of mom, prompting a shudder from me.

I wondered how things came to this. Still, I couldn’t be sure if I could have done things better. Regardless, it was only a few minutes until Mina returned. She had the new Bag for me and was busy placing the rest of my order in there for me.

“Here you are Prancer, don’t you worry about paying for the bag. The old thing’s been sitting around here for a while now,” she told me. “The rest will run you just 41 caps, sweetie-bird.”

“Thank you, Mina.” I said while rummaging in my old bag.  I grunted, trying to get to the pocket of my vest while it was in there, but it had shifted around during my flight here. “Ah, here you are!” I said, and counted out her payment when I had finally managed to get to it. “I’ll see you next time!” I said while grabbing my purchase and turning to leave.

“Well, you stay out of trouble now!” she said with another smile.

“I’ll try.” I replied with a grin and a forced laugh. She probably didn’t buy it, but there wasn’t really anymore to say.

As I left the store, I noticed a very pleasant smell in the new bag. Reaching in to grab it found that it was some waxed paper wrapped around something. When I pulled it out, I saw that it was a small brahman steak that could only have been left in there as a treat, as it wasn’t part of the usual order. Mina always did try to spoil me.

Regardless, my stomach growled and my mouth watered, so I immediately dug into it. It was uncooked and beautifully marinaded. Just the thing to make my belly gurgle its appreciation. After all, it was the first thing I’d eaten all day, and yesterday wasn’t much either for meals. Actually, I hadn’t been eating much at all with this Talon business at claw. Starving myself like this couldn’t be good for me in the least, but I’d have to deal with that in time. For the time being, the quick meal did help raise my mood quite a bit. 

I figured that I couldn’t just wander aimlessly for the rest of the day, even though I wanted to. I had to come up with a plan, though there wasn’t much I had to go on. A few slavers, Nameless, and my dad. There had to be a key to all this among them, but even if I found it, I couldn’t figure out where the lock even was!

Well, if I were to come up with an idea of how to sort this out at all, I had to go see Bookbeak. He would be the one to know how to line up the dots, or at least where to even begin looking for an answer. It had been years since I had last talked to him, though. The old bird might not remember me by now, but he was still my best shot. In any case, the day was drawing short, it was beginning to rain, and I had to get going.

After all my errands so far, my head was clear from the last night’s drinking.  With as routine as the flight was, it didn’t take too much effort to focus on anyway. Bookbeak’s library was where it had always sat in the center of town. He was, in his words, one of the first griffs to have arrived in ‘Claw, so his home was very close to the HQ building. Funny, because mom was one of the first posted here too, and our house wasn’t close at all.  My guess was that she was just different, or that she wanted it that way.

In any case, he wasn’t far from the store either. Once there and shaking the water from me a bit, I knocked on the door. It wasn’t long until I was answered. The griffon that met me was most definitely not Bookbeak. He was very young, little more than a ball of fluffy down. A common sight at his place, just one of his students staying late I assumed.

“Hello, how may I help you today, mister?” He asked in a voice that I found hard to not find cute. Though the way he said it seemed like he was reciting a script more than anything.

Well, if the kid was playing at formalities, I had might as well go along with it. “I’d like to see Bookbeak, please.”

The little fuzzball squinted his eyes and crunched up his beak, likely trying to remember the next lines he had been rehearsing. “Have you, umm… registered a, uh… a prior... “

“Registered a prior appointment?” An elderly griffon offered as he came to the doorway. The twisted and scarred, one-eyed visage marked him as only one person, Bookbeak himself.

The young one nodded and looked down at the floor. Disappointed at failing the recital of his speech. At this the old griffon merely chuckled and ruffled the little one’s plumage with a mangled talon. “You did well, Thank you!” he said with a soft look in his eye. “Now, back to your studies.”

Once the kid had wandered away, I looked to Bookbeak.  It was weird how such a terrifying face, one that had seen innumerable horrors, could look so kindly upon anyone. Doubly so when you saw the broken and empty socket; I couldn't recall him ever wearing an eye-patch, either.

“What a treat!  I haven’t seen you by my place in quite some time, Prancer!” He spoke in an upbeat tone.  “Are you here for more lessons?”

“No, I’m here for some help.” I told him, shaking my head. “I need to know more about my dad.”

He set his crippled talon on my shoulder, “Surely you could recount all the stories yourself by now.”

“That’s not it,” I countered, brushing him away, “They’re not true, at least not all of them.” I paused to think about what telling him would mean.  If everyone else believe my dad dead, what would happen if they found out he wasn’t?

Screw it.  I needed to know.  “Just last night, I met him.”  I spoke as directly to him as I could.

Bookbeak furrowed his brow, “How can you be sure that it was him?”

“I have all of his pictures, I know exactly what he looks like,” I explained, “Besides, he knew my name and asked about my mom!”

He sighed, “Then I suppose I have something to tell you. Come, sit down.” He said, gesturing to the corner with the few desks that I had spent many days as a student. 

He grabbed a stool and sat himself in front of the blackboard. Looking down, the young griffon I met earlier was sitting in the seat I had been accustomed to in my younger years, so I had taken the one next to it. With a sour face, I briefly recalled that I had taken Strix’s seat. It probably didn’t matter, but it still felt weird, like I was taking his spot…

Bookbeak didn’t seem to notice either my trespass of the seat or the fledgling in the room, who was studying . “I’ll start where the story changes. Your father was indeed a powerful warrior who fought valiantly, but the tale of his death wasn’t particularly truthful, no…”

“So, what happened? Why did he leave the Talons?” I asked eagerly.

“Patience, I’m getting to that.” Chided Bookbeak, “The exact reason for his desertion has never been documented. It is known that his disappearance coincided with a new threat outside of Seaddle. An organized group of slavers and bandits engaged Talon patrols and forced a withdrawal. Official records assume that he was killed in action during the retreat from the area.”

“What happened in Seaddle after that?” I asked.

“As you know, our Talon company was there to keep down the raiders.” He took a breath and sighed heavily, “Now Seaddle will likely be crawling with them for years.” he finished saying with another heavy sigh. Without being there I couldn’t know for sure.

“And what about the slavers, where are they? They couldn’t be in Seaddle.”

“Hmm, no, but they might have been holed up in Redmaned. There was a large company working with the M.A.S, or was it the M.o.P.?. No matter. It would be a likely location, well protected at the very least.”

This was all dandy, knowing where they might have been, but where were they now? “Bookbeak, if they were there, what’s to say that they haven’t left?”

He nodded, “Apart from being a well defended location with a means to discreetly bring in supplies through the mountains? Not much else I would imagine. If anything, I’d bet there’s a small group holding the area.”

“Then that’s where I’ll have to go!” I exclaimed as I stood up.

“Prancer, no, it’s far too dangerous to go alone!” He cautioned.

“I won’t be,” I explained, “My contract is going to be written up soon, I just have to figure out a way to get whoever I have to go there!”

Bookbeaks expression turned stern, “Your job is to keep your contract holder out of danger, not lead them right into it!”

I looked him right in his remaining eye and smiled. “Then whoever it is, I just have to find some leverage to get that bear to want to go on his own…” With that, I turned to leave. “Thank you Bookbeak.”

“Prancer!” He called to me, “This isn’t something you can just put bait out for! This is a pony we’re talking about!”

Stopping at the door, I turned to him. “I’ll figure something out.” I told him with another smile. 

With that, I took my exit into the rain and shut the door behind me. With all that I learned, with whatever was actually useful, I stepped off his doorstep and flew into the downpour that things had become. It didn’t feel far at all, even with the weather, with my thoughts drawn to other things; even with the weight of the knowledge I carried now. Where to start looking, and the thoughts of what my dad might be up to. They were almost secondary with where my thoughts were going.

Things were seeming to come together, thanks to another clue. Soon I’d be able to really know who I was, and put the last couple weeks... no, the last few years, behind me. Everything could come to focus if I could get myself to where I was thinking.

Once back home, I quickly realized what a mess I had made of the place. The documents I had left strewn about, the broken glass and whatever else I hadn’t noticed yet. First thing I did, was grab a towel from the kitchen and dry some of the rainwater out of my fur and feathers. It wouldn’t do me much good to start cleaning up the place while I was still soggy.

Getting back to cleaning was rather nice, I felt a bit more normal. Just doing my usual routine again was something I didn’t know I would have missed. The place was about as dirty as if mom was still here. The glass, the smell, the ruffled upholstery. Oh well…

It didn’t take me much time to get everything done. I swept up the glass, sorted the paperwork, and I was just about halfway through dusting the picture frames when I got to the wedding picture again. Anger bubbled up in me. Grabbing the picture frame, I was about to toss it across the room. I held myself back, seeing as it would have ruined the point of cleaning. Instead, I simply set it back on the mantle face down, and continued on.

After the cleaning was sorted, I flopped down onto the couch.

“What a day.” I mumbled to the empty house. There wasn’t any response, not that I was expecting one, but it still felt weird. The bottle of gin was still on the table, I picked it up and took a sip without really thinking about it. The taste of juniper flooded my beak and I coughed weakly.

Blech, I was tired of so much alcohol being in my life these last few weeks. Immediately I got up and took the bottle to the sink, and without thinking one more quick mouthful, I poured it down the drain… except for the last sip which, after some consideration I had decided not to waste it, I quickly swallowed it. Then I dropped the empty bottle into the refuse bin under the counter. It made a few clinking noises with the other bottles already in there.

With all that out of the way, I headed upstairs to go to bed. Looking in my old room, I stopped and looked at it.  I don’t know why, per se, but I laughed and walked past it. I decided to sleep in the master bedroom tonight, as it was mine now anyway.  On top of that,I’ll need some good rest tonight.

Sleep came easily while laying on a comfortable bed, and while sober no less. My mind could at least rest easy with knowing what I’ll have to do to get what little I had left of my life back.

It would soon all be mine.



--------

Quest Completed: Prepped for Takeoff!

Level up!

+4 Barter
+6 Speech

Perk added: Educated
You receive 3 additional skill points per level you achieve!

Yeah, all that time studying with the old guy paid off… Too bad it took you so damn long to remember.

> Signed in Blood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7 - Signed in Blood

Once again I found myself in front of the little shack. A place I had hoped to not have to see again. Shrugging, I made my way to the door. There was a familiar feeling under my paws as I walked, sand under them… Wait, I felt sand under both?

True to Luna, I had both hind legs again.

“At least I know this is a dream then,” I muttered to myself while I approached the door

Peering inside, I wondered what I’d see at the red table.

“Prancer! You’re just in time for supper!” I heard from the gloom. It was the voice of my father.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the dark room. Sitting at the table was Tarsus, my mom and Cutthroat. Dad was pulling something out of the oven.

“I made a roast for all of you! It was the least I could do after finally coming home again!” He cheered.

“You’re supposed to be dead.” I grumbled.

“And, isn’t that why I’m here?” he replied.

“But you’re not, so you shouldn’t be here.” I countered.

“Oh, don’t spoil this! Your friends are over to see us!” He said, Pointing to Tarsus and Cutthroat.

“Cutthroat’s not a friend, she wanted to rob me. Probably kill me too.” I said angrilly.

“And she wanted to make amends by helping out! Come on, can’t you accept an olive branch?” he chided, lifting the pan and plopping it down on the table with a splash of blood.

In the pan wasn’t quite the kind of roast I had imagined to be. It was me in the pan, and I had been grilled to perfection.

“Oh, where did I put the carving knife,” my dad asked with a pout. He looked to the little filly’s knife. “You wouldn’t mind if I borrow this, would you?” he asked while ripping the wicked blade from Cutthroat’s chest, right from where I had buried it in the filly’s ribs. Her reply was a few wet gurgles.

"Ah, thank you, darling!" Dad said as he began to cut a few servings from the roast, starting at the leg.

“Dad?” I asked, drawing Innuendo

He looked up at me with a knowing smile, “Yes, what is it?”

I pointed the weapon at him, the front sight lined up between his blue eyes. “I’m going to kill you.” I said as I gave the trigger a loving tease.

Innuendo howled, filling the room with a blinding flash.

---


As I woke up to the fleeting memory of the dream, I felt oddly relaxed, hardly bothered by the fading memory. Shaking the last clinging vestiges of sleep from myself, I got up and gathered my gear. 

The stuff I had in my pack; my guns, grenade and vest, I set on the bed and I began transferring things to it. Innuendo’s holster was strapped in and I slipped the grenade into a pouch. Everything else I owned was either in my new bag or on my combat armor I left with Syzygy.

So with that, I was as read as I could get. I buckled down my vest, slung up my SMG and tossed my new rucksack over my back. I left my old bag behind, it wouldn’t be much help anymore. That hole in it would only rip further unless I sewed it up, and I didn't have the time for that.

The last thing before I left was the papers lying on the floor. After folding them up neatly, I slipped them into a vest pocket and walked out the door. Despite the feeling I had, I leapt from the balcony and took to wing.

Sometime in the early morning it had rained some more. The air through my feathers was blissfully refreshing. Though, that would leave plenty of mud for Beer Can to trudge through. The thought had me wearing a smile; He deserved it.

The happy feeling of karma having its way lasted until I got to the Talon HQ. It was muted quite a bit when I saw Syzygy coming out the door. Her fur was still matted from last night, and she was soaked from head to hoof, probably from after she woke up and headed here in the morning’s rain, since I had last left her with Nameless. A guilty conscience wasn't anything I wanted this early in the morning. One odd note though, the armor I had left with her was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello, Mister Prancer." She said as I landed.

"Oh, hi there Syzygy. What are you doing here?" I asked.

Syzygy blushed and stammered a little before she managed to gather her composure. "Oh, I had intended to leave your armor here for you. I cannot get to your home, so tall as it is. So I took it to the Lieutenant. He left me a collateral for it, so I placed that with an officer under your name." She explained with a sigh. "Your ways are difficult to understand. I do not think I will ever come to know them."

That was an understatement to be sure. Whatever she managed to do with that could be sorted out after I met with Sergeant Lightfeathers.

"Well anyways, how's Nameless doing?" I asked her.

"He is quite well. The doctor wanted to let him rest." she told me. "I will be making him some tea."

Right, her tea, "Oh, that should help." I said as sincerely as I could make myself sound, making a mental note not to drink any weird brews she might give me. After what happened in Mt. Raindier, there's no way I'd trust it.

However, that was less important, as time was running short and Lightfeathers was expecting me. "I've gotta go." I told her and stepped inside. She waved to me through the glass door and left, presumably for the clinic.

The HQ was a bit busier than when I was there last. Or maybe it was just me. The griffons at their desks gave me a tad more acknowledgement than yesterday. A few of them even said hello, and one knew my name. It was if I had magically become important overnight.

That wasn’t the strangest part. Bookbeak was in Lightfeathers’ office signing paperwork. Unsure whether I should interrupt, I knocked on the open doorway and waited.

"Ah, hello corporal." Lightfeathers announced as he saw me. He seemed very pleased to address me with my new rank. A rank I knew I didn't earn. Was that why everyone suddenly knew me? 

Bookbeak turned around to see me with his one eye and merely nodded. At least he wasn't acting oddly. "We'll get to your contract in a few minutes, Prancer. For the moment I have some business with the major here."

"That's 'former major'."  Bookbeak corrected, "I'm retired."

"And I wish it wasn't so." Lightfeathers said with a sigh.

"It's more important to teach the children in this town than to sit around pushing paperwork that will get them killed." Bookbeak said in an accusing tone. If I could see his face, I bet it would be scowling.

"And that's why you're signing over your school?" Countered Lightfeathers, his eyebrow raised. That took me by surprise. Why would Bookbeak do that? 

That's it, either I was going crazy, or everyone else in ‘Claw was.

"Like I said, I'm retired." Bookbeak said, signing the last line. "Just a bit more so now." He added. 

"Well, it's your right to your property." He said, scooping up the papers. "But, now that that's taken care of, I'll bring it to the captain upstairs." Lightfeathers said with a mocking salute before turning to me. "Prancer, would you come with me, please?" He asked as he stepped from his desk and opened a door behind him.

“Sure." I said simply and followed, I wasn't pleased at that last exchange, but I did have something that I had to do. The doorway led to a narrow stairwell barely big enough for two griffons to pass. It turned back on itself before coming to a steel door.

Through that was a large office space lined with desks and a large map of Equestria along one wall with hundreds of pins of assorted colors, notes and photographs stuck to it. About a dozen griffons were typing up reports or discussing something quietly between themselves.

Sergeant Lightfeathers gestured for me to sit at one of the unoccupied desks. "Welcome to the main office. This is where all the magic happens behind the scenes." He said with a smile. "Alright, Prancer. Would you like a scribe to help you with drafting your contract, or do you feel more comfortable writing it yourself?"

My dad's contract came to mind, I had it in my vest with the other papers. "I think I can get it myself." I told him. It wouldn't be hard at all to figure out how to write one with that as a template.

"Of course. This is an important step. I'll get you some paper and a pen and we can get started." He said while heading to some cabinets.

After Lightfeathers left, I reached into my pocket and grabbed the rolled up sheet. If I could just copy it for the most part, I could get this over quickly.

"Ah, I almost forgot..." Lightfeathers started to say, making me jump, I didn't see him come back. "What's that? Don't tell me you already wrote one." He said as he looked over the contract.

He looked at it for a few moments. His proud demeanor quickly grew somber. "This is your father's." He said as he sat down beside me, not saying a thing for several moments, just looking at me with a sad expression in his eyes. "You know, I've had something on my mind since yesterday. I wanted to be a father for you. If it would have been possible."

"What?" I replied dumbly. "I don't get it."

"What I mean is, I loved your mother, and I wanted to be there to take care of you. I just was never able to make that work." Lightfeathers admitted. "And I know you might need someone there for you."

"So that was what the notes were about on the reports." I said, pulling them from my pocket to emphasise my point.

Confusion crossed his face, I had pulled him off of his script. "I know you might not have seen it, but she was kind once. She laughed and smiled! She..."

"Kind?!" I cut him off. "I grew up thinking it was normal to be beaten and bruised!"

"But I.." He stammered.

"Or having feathers ripped out!" I growled.

"That's..." he tried to explain.

Rage boiled inside me, I forced it down enough to not draw attention, but that same hollow feeling came back. "Tell me, did you ever know what mood your mother was in by how hard she punched you?" I hissed, anger selecting my words for me.

Swan Lightfeathers bowed his head, "No." He replied, defeated.

"I think I'm done here." I grumbled as I got up to leave.

"Wait, Prancer." He called to me.

"What?!" I growled.

"You haven't drafted your contract." He reminded me.

Fortunately, I had left my dad's contract on the desk. "Just use that one." I told him. Thankfully, that helped me not look like a derp for forgetting it there.

"That's not a good idea. If your client requests, you'll be obligated to do whatever isn't prohibited by its dictation. Your contract is your moral code and boundaries!" He explained. It almost felt as if he was begging me. It was making me more angry.

"I don't care." I said bluntly. 

"Ok, fine." He said with a heavy sigh. "I'll make this work. I know how stubborn a Thistledown can be. You should have met your aunt, Halia, before she died." With that, he took my dad's contract and taped over my father's first name and his signature. Then, after writing my name over the tape on the header, he ran it through a machine. In a few moments there was a copy of it. Well, without the signature, as Lightfeathers pointed out when he brought it back to me. "Anyways, please sign at the 'X' corporal." This time, he didn't look so happy while using my rank.

Now that I finally had it in front of me, I could see the exclusions listed. Nowhere in there prohibited assassination, a fancy word for murder. I knew all about that after studying the great war with the zebras. Nor did it exclude the death of children. Memories of Cutthroat came back to me.

Neglecting to mention children must have been an oversight, I figured. In any case, I wasn't about to object, it was my idea after all. So I scribbled my name on the line. Afterwards, I felt possibly the deepest sense of apprehension I had ever had.

It was too late to worry, so I would have to deal with whatever I had signed for later. My contract was handled at the very least, so I rolled it up and made my way back towards the stairs.

"Prancer, I... I just wanted to..." Lightfeathers began, but he seemed at a loss for words.

"Don't worry about it, sergeant," I told him, "I never needed a father anyway."

"But please, promise me that you'll ta..." he tried to say, but I had already shut the door behind me.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs and headed to the lobby with my contract in tow, I was stopped by a secretary in a very nice outfit of Talon colors.

"Prancer Thistledown?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's me." I responded.

"Here are your newest orders." She told me as she pressed a folder into my talon.

I was going to ask what she was talking about, but she had already left. There was no way I could have orders this soon, I had just signed my contract only a single minute ago! Shaking my head at the latest oddity of the day, I opened the folder, there wasn't anything more to do than review the docket she handed me.

When I read it, I nearly fell over. Somehow, Syzygy had bought out my services as a contractor. After a moment I realized how she managed that. 'Collateral' for my combat armor, Lt. Rakkham thought she was selling it. Then the money she thought she left in my name, it had to be mistaken as buying my service. She hired me by accident! And in advance!

Laughing quietly to myself, I returned the documents to their folder and headed towards the front door. This was about the best opportunity I could have asked for, even if it was paid for with my money. All I had to do was inform her about the ties that Nameless had with my dad and we will be headed right for him. I found my bait.

Now with that plan in place, I just had to talk to Syzygy. That meant going to the clinic, assuming that’s where she went. Hopefully Nameless wouldn't be holding a grudge against me either. Though, if our roles were reversed, I would hold onto it tighter than moms grip on a bottle of whiskey.

Interestingly, before I left the building, Beer Can sauntered in.

"Howdy there, Prancer! Fancy meetin' ya here. Ah was jus' 'bout tah see if'n ah could hire ya on fer a trip. Consid'rin tha favors ah did fer that Lightfeathers fella and gittin' yer leg, ah figger it'd be a quick snap tah git that done!"

"Sorry to tell you, I already have a client." I told him as I waved the dossier a bit. It felt like I was rubbing it in his face. Well, I kinda was. The princesses would have to forgive me, but I enjoyed it.

Beer Can seemed to get more than a little angry. "Well ain't that jus' like a Talon. Money first, loyalty later. Ah'll have ta have a word with that Lightfeathers." After that, he headed towards the sergeant's office. Not that I cared, I had something to do. So I stepped outside, and with a few good flaps, jumped into the air.

The midday sun, crippled as it was by the cloud cover, didn't manage to dry out the rain yet. That made for another refreshing flight while the cool, moist air ran through my fur and feathers.

It was nice, settling my mind a bit after my meeting with Lightfeathers. In no time at all, I was already at the clinic. It was too bad, if I wasn't busy, I might have gone for another minute or two of flying. With my leg lightened from the quartermaster and not wearing armor like the night before, I felt ready to soar. If only there was time.

Testing my wings would have to wait, I landed and reached for the door. I reflected somewhat, my flying had improved quite a lot during this last week, I felt rather proud of myself.

When I entered I saw Syzygy sitting next to Nameless. She had moved one of the chairs over to his bed and had found a towel or two since I saw her last, looking much dryer. Nameless was sleeping at the moment and Syzygy had been talking to Bookbeak. Was he following me? He was here before me, so I couldn't be too sure.

"Hello Bookbeak, I didn't know you'd be here." I said.

"Yes, I stopped by to pick up some antifungal medication for Strix, the seed pod has still been bothersome." He told me.

"But I pulled that out of him. Is there some of it still in him?" I asked, the mental image worrying me.

"Yes, that you did, and had you not been there he'd surely have died. But infections are nothing to be trifled with.” He said glumly. “Sadly, the doctor only has Amoxicillin in stock."

"A-mocks-a-what?" I asked, stumbling over the weird name. 

"It's an antibiotic, not quite what he needs. I've been looking for another option." He explained. 

"And this stripe here has been tryin' to fill his head with nonsense!" Dr. Clipping interjected as he came in from the back room.

"It is no such thing.” Syzygy countered. “Just because you cannot understand that some herbs have subtle effects is no reason to doubt."

"Oh, I understand that perfectly. I just don't trust some plant called an ‘Andilay Root’. It sounds like something a bunch of weird, colorful witches that live in a big, white tower might be using." The doctor explained.

"that is nothing like..." she began to say, but she stopped herself and took a breath, regaining her composure. "No, I do not see reason in arguing over it. You will know someday that you should trust me." And with that, she turned to me. "Mister Prancer, your day was productive, was it not?"

"Yes, it certainly was." I told her, happily obliging her change of topic. "As it turns out, I'll be able to help you with Nameless and getting his memories back!"

"Is this true?!" She asked. "Do you not have duties here with your Talons?"

"Actually, that's why I'll be accompanying you. You're my first client." And as I told her that, I produced my contract and passed it to her.

Syzygy didn't say a word, but Bookbeak looked at me suspiciously. "Prancer, I don't take you for a liar, but I don't quite understand." He said.

"Oh, I have that here," I replied and let him see my dossier containing my orders. 

He quickly opened them and began reading, his suspicion quickly changed to surprise. "It's all here, but I don't see how you managed this."

"Luck." I said simply.

"Fine, and do you have any leads to aid your client?" He asked.

"Yeah, I know that there's something between Nameless and my dad." I explained.

Bookbeak was surprised. "How might you have come to that conclusion?"

"More luck." I said with a coy grin.

Bookbeak shook his head. "Prancer, I don't like your plan. Not if simple luck has been your driving element."

"And how a dead bird is going to point you in the right direction. No offense, Prancer." Clipwing added.

Syzygy stepped in between them. "I will not have your bickering! Mister Prancer has saved my life twice now. I trust in him!" She yelled, making Nameless shift a bit in his sleep.

Bookbeak looked at her only a moment before returning his attention to me. "Well, do you know where to start looking, Prancer? Because I do." Bookbeak said with a stern gaze. "That means you're going to Redmaned, or even further north. Luck won't be enough to rely on, not there."

"Mister Prancer is an august stallion.” Syzygy said, her Equestrian seeming to falter in her frustration. “We will go to the Redmaned and find his father!" My better judgement made a rare appearance and warned me not to correct her that griffons don't have stallions.

Bookbeak and Syzygy stood there for a good few moments just staring each other down. That is, until Bookbeak relented.

"Fine," he said with a sigh that made a whistle through his mangled beak. "But there's three conditions." He said with authority. "I'm going with you. You will all do exactly as I say. And we will not spend more than a day digging around, even if your friend doesn't find what he needs, we're done."

"Thank you!" Syzygy exclaimed as she gave the old griffon a hug.

Bookbeak chuckled and patted Syzygy's withers with his scarred talon. "Well, it's best if we move soon. When is the earliest you can move out of here?" He asked, his grumpy tone gone as soon as it came.

"I wish to leave as soon as Nameless is awake. I am certain he will be willing to go immediately." She said with a nod.

"Well, no time like the present." Clipwing announced. "Hey, sleepyhead, it's time to wake up!" He shouted.

Nameless awoke with a start, his horn flashing. Without thinking, I already had a Talon on Innuendo. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have tried anything too rash. "Doctor, nobody told you not to startle our friend, did they?" I asked redundantly. Not that I had known in particular either, it just felt like the right joke to make to relieve some of the tension in the room.

"Nope, I was not made aware of that." He said, a startled expression on his face. A thin cut at his neck began bleeding slowly, as if he just barely nicked himself with a scalpel. Immediately, I regretted making fun of the matter. "I'm gonna get myself a quick bandage, you guys just go ahead and do what you need to." He said as he stepped into the back again. 

"I'm sorry." Nameless said drowsily.

"Oh, he will be just fine." Bookbeak said. He approached nameless and began undoing his bandages. "Here, let's get these off of you."

As the wrapping came off, I almost expected to see the face I saw before, with the skin peeled back and bleeding. It was a silly thought, he had to have healed up.

Nameless, once he was free of the wrappings looked, well, good! The right side of his muzzle was a mess of faint scars, like a cracked pane of glass, but you'd never tell that he almost died the night before last!

"Nameless, are you ready to head out?" I asked him. A nod was all I got."Good, because we have a plan to help your memory." I told him, though I still had second thoughts about his amnesia.

"I am intending to leave at our earliest opportunity. That is good for you, yes?" Syzygy asked. Again, he simply nodded.

"Well, I will meet all of you at the north side of town." Bookbeak announced as he left. "I have some things to prepare and medicine to deliver."

With a shrug, I left the clinic as well and headed off. There wasn't anything left for me to do to get ready, I already bought what would be enough for a few days. That and there wasn't anything left at my house. So I figured a head start wouldn't hurt.

Instead of flying, I kept to the ground. There was no way to tell if I'd need my wings well rested. That and my companions couldn't fly to keep up. Another mark of good fortune, I wouldn’t be likely to get my prosthetic gummed up following the road.

Not that I got too far. Beer Can and Macchiato were just on their way to the street.

"Well howdy thar Prancer! Yeah already git'n tah yer big adventure yet?" Beer Can asked. If the sour face was any indication, his talk with Lightfeathers didn't go well.

"What? He gets to go on an adventure?" the filly pouted and crossed her hooves. "I wanted to go on one."

"Oh, we already are, Mack!" He said with a forced grin, likely trying to appease the little girl.

"No, I wanna go on an adventure with dragons an' smoky mountains an' rainbows!" She exclaimed.

By this time, Syzygy and Nameless were walking down the ramp on the clinic. So much for my head start.

"Look daddy! Everypony's here!" the little one shouted before leaping from the cart. "Syzygy! Are you going on an adventure too?!" Before she could react, the poor zebra was ferociously glomped by the silly filly. Syzygy didn't stand a chance. Macchiato was ruthless in her hugging.

"Oof!" She said, bemused, "I am travelling to help find Nameless's memories." 

"Oh, I'm so jealous!" The filly whined before turning her attention to our other companion. "Hey, Nameless, what happened to your face? They try to bonk your head up to fix your noodle?"

Nameless smiled and shook his head. "I was injured saving Syzygy."

A look of fierce envy crossed her face, well, as fierce as a young filly could get. "What? You already had an adventure with damsels in distress and bad guys?"

Nameless shrugged. "I guess you could call it that."

She bounced her way back to Beer Can. "Daddy, can we please go on an adventure?!"

He pondered the thought a minute before a smirk crept over his face. "Ya know, ah s'pose we aught'a have an adventure."

"Well, that's just great. Beer Can, what are you after?" I asked him, knowing that the only thing I could trust from him was that he's untrustworthy.

He smiled in the same way he had back at the poker game when he got my cyber-hoof from Full House. "Oh, nut'n much. Jus' tha' there's a lotta good salvage af'er a Talon goes on a 'adventure'."

There wasn't much sense in trying to dissuade him, I figured, "fine, we're meeting Bookbeak at the end of town before we go. We're not waiting if you aren't there." Even if he was a slimy huckster, he wouldn't bother me as long as caps weren't on the line. 

"Yay, adventure time!" Macchiato cheered. "Let's find your friend, then travel off to distant places! The fun's never gonna end!" She added a she bounced around.

"Alrighty, Mack, le's settle down nao..." Beer Can said, trying to get the filly under control. He didn't seem to be having any luck with that, though.

"Oh, did she have herself too much coffee?" Syzygy asked.

"Well, yea. Ah just don' have tha heart ta stop 'er. Her brews r'tha best in Equestria ah reckon." Beer Can admitted sheepishly.

There I had it, I got joined with a sleazy merchant and an over caffeinated child... I can only hope they change their mind about it all soon.

"Whatever the case, we have to get going. We might already be late." I told them, returning to my walk to meet Bookbeak.

Not once did I look back behind me, I had hoped that they might find better things to do. Unfortunately, I could hear them quite plainly as they followed along. That distraction aside, I couldn't find Bookbeak anywhere at the north side. It wasn't more than a kilometer from the clinic, so it didn't take that long to walk there. We must have been early.

"C'mon Prancer, where's where's your friend?!" Macchiato asked impatiently.

"I said we were meeting here, we must be early." I told her.

"He's not that scary guy behind you, is he?" She asked.

Sure enough, there he was, padding along quietly in some Talon armor that  likely hadn't seen the sunlight in twenty years. Being snuck up on was already getting really old. "Oh yes, that's him." I told her. "Ready, Bookbeak?"

Bookbeak nodded. "It took me a little longer than I remember to fit my old bones into my gear, but I think I've managed."  He said with a chuckle. His jovial look only lasted that few moments, he became serious in a flash. "We need to head out immediately, it'll be dark by the time we can make camp if we're moving by... hoof." He said with a small hesitation. Though I know he meant the ponies and zebra, I couldn't help but feel my prosthetic twitch.

Macchiato cheered and jumped aboard Beer Can's cart. "Onwards me lads, we set sail to adventure!~" She announced. Somehow she had found the eyepatch Beer Can had mentioned days ago and slipped it on quickly, then fished out a wooden sword and waved it about.

"Aye aye, cap'n!" Bookbeak replied with a hearty laugh. "Oh, Prancer, children are wondrous things, aren't they?" He asked me. A short grunt was all I gave him. How wondrous could they be? It was certainly a wonder as to how she could think this is a game. 

It was definitely the time for a change of topic. "So, why exactly do you want to come along, Bookbeak?"

"To start my retirement with a bit of a vacation, perhaps?" He said with a sly grin.

"That is not quite the answer," Syzygy chimed in. "You care for Mister Prancer, do you not?"

"He is, after all, one of my students. Someone has to keep him out of trouble." He said smugly.

That's when Macchiato leapt between the three of us. "Ooh! I'm good at staying out of trouble! Like, look both ways before crossing the street! And don't talk to strangers!" She cheered.

This was going to be another long trip, I was sure of it.

Bookbeak chuckled. "The latter of those is not an absolute; how could you make new friends without talking to a stranger?" He asked.

The little filly tilted her head a moment before laughing. "You talk funny!"

"What Mister Bookbeak means is that you can not make new friends without meeting ponies you do not know." Syzygy explained. Easy for her to say. I realize I hadn’t met a lot so far, but most ponies I had met were killers and swindlers. That's hardly who I would want as a friend. Though, that's exactly who I had for company.

"Well, ah'd hate ta break up such a life lesson," Beer Can interrupted, "but wher'd ya'll say we were headed now?"

"Redmaned." I answered.

"Oh, Tartarus take meh, that's almost bad as Detrot." He groaned.

Bookbeak laughed, "Oh, you hadn't Seen the worst of Detrot. You should have been there around when I was Prancer's age!" Well, at least that told me, whatever I was going to face on the way to find my father, it could be worse. 

Somehow, that was actually reassuring.


--------

Quest completed: Signed in Blood.

70% to next level!

Yeah, Prancer got some story development and stuff, but that’s not enough for a full level yet. He’ll have to settle down and get something done before he earns another.