> Cannerlands
>  by ChaotixSpark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> HAYS RECORDING PRLGE
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was definitely a first. It wasn't that she didn't respect the new Princess, it was more that she was too used to HER sending the letters for Twilight to come visit her. Maybe it was a rare moment where it showed how inexperienced in friendship she was compared to Princess Twilight Sparkle. Maybe old habits die hard? Princess Celestia chuckled in spite of herself. 

The sky was as clear as the sea and even more so than that. The sun was shining bright and happy, the exact perpendicular to Celestia's own mood. She could feel her own namesake trying to convince her to make jolly and be happy, but her intuition knew better than to trust it. Although it was one of those days where when you stepped outside, there was just a breath of smiles and joy. 

Luna kept on telling her she should stop being such a pessimist so hopefully all of this was a preface to this meeting with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Celestia then remembered it was Twilight who sent in the request for an audience with her... it's not that Twilight Sparkle never writes in to say hello, it's just that when she does write in, it's usually a friendship report or a distress beacon of peril and turmoil. The latter is the more common result. 

She sat patiently outside of Twilight's new throne room. She was told to wait which struck Celestia as odd. Wait? Twilight, I am the 1000 year old being of benevolence. Shouldn't I be... 

There goes that ego again. Celestia sighed to herself. Twilight was growing up faster than Celestia was comfortable with. It was only after prodding from her sister that Twilight was elevated to becoming a Princess. Celestia was unsure of the change at first, but clearly saw it as the right choice seeing Twilight learn and evolve faster than they could ever anticipate. It honestly frightened Celestia. She felt like she was going to lose her little student to experience and it would ultimately be the right to do.

"Princess Celestia? Are ya'll ready?" A familiar, homey country accent rang into the room. Princess Celestia left her thoughts and looked up from her fiddling of hooves. Celestia gulped and took a deep breath. It was one thing to have one on one with Twilight, it was a completely different thing when she invited the other elements- er her friends to join her. What was going on?

"Thank you Miss Applejack," Celestia responded with a wink. Applejack blushed. You never could tell what dem thousand year old alicorns were thinking.  Applejack led Celestia into the throne room slash map room. Map room? Celestia looked upon the giant table and it was one incredible detailed map of Equestria. It was all laid out, as if a giant hoof from the sky was able to sculpt it's direct experience onto a miniature table. As she looked upon each familiar land mark and even noticed there were some new additions that she was unaware of, there was one specific spot that struck her with concern. It was a spot at an edge of the map, beyond the Everfree Forest and the Zebra Highlands. The spot itself was a jet black transparent sphere as if someone inserted a true form of pure darkness matter and placed it in a single spot where not even color existed. The area around the spot was covered in dark purple miasma. 


But beyond the Zebra Highlands? Where is that exactly? She gambled a quick glance outside, hoping that the other ponies didn't catch her immediate concern of the situation. Celestia began to work out where the miasma was located in her mental map of Equestria; the sun was landing in that direction... the Everfree is in that direction... the Zebra Highlands is over there... no, that's preposterous. The only thing there was... the Cannerlands...

"Princess Celestia?" A cute little purple alicorn with a star on her butt waved her hoof in front of the white alicorn's face who also, coincidentally had a bigger star on her butt. "Are you okay your highness?" 

Princess Celestia shook herself from her stupor. "My apologies to you and your friends Princess Twilight. I was lost in my own thoughts for a brevity of time. You were saying?" It was then she noticed she must have spaced out for a longer length of time than she anticipated, everypony plus a baby dragon was all looking in her direction.

"Are ya'll sure ya'll are alright, Princess Celestia?" Applejack piped up.

"We only ask Princess because we are concerned for your health," Rarity added.

"You were kinda... uh... um... girls help me out..." Rainbow Dash could barely stutter out, trying hard to not offend Celestia.

Pinkie Pie burst in her usual fashion with confetti exploding everywhere, "Muttering to yourself in a prophetic manner that could only foresee the destruction of our Equestrian Society that may or may not have relevant importance!" Everypony looked at Pinkie PIe in shock and horror. Only Celestia kept a straight face. One, from years of practice, Pinkie Pie may sound crazy but she made much more sense than other royal officials who want a statue of themselves made because they offered to get you coffee. Two, because she was right. 

Celestia shook her head though in denial. "I do apologize. I simply did not get enough sleep last night. Please continue Twilight," She made a dismissive motion with her hoof. 

Twilight made a slight cough, as if that would speed along the awkward moment. "Anyways, Princess, we were talking about this dark patch of fog that appeared on our table..."

"Yes, the table..." Princess Celestia took a brief look at it and then back at Princess Twilight, "It is made with brillant craftsmanship, as if the land itself helped carve it for you," Twilight rubbed the back of her head and explained how the table came to being. Princess Celestia rubbed her chin, trying to fake the most genuine of interest. Hopefully Twilight could keep this tangent long enough for Princess Celestia to think of a way to get out of this conversation. Unfortunately, that reprieve only lasted so long. "But it's not the table that we're worried about, it's this dark fog that appeared so suddenly,"

"Well... um... Twilight... it didn't...." Fluttershy, resident yellow shy pegasus pony raised her hoof. Everypony looked in her direction. Rainbow Dash was the first to make comment.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Are you telling me that you saw this way before any of us?!" 

"Not the giant patch of dark fog... I-I m-mean not at first..." Fluttershy stood up in her seat and pointed at the dark fog, "I noticed it when I was cleaning the room with Angel, but it was so very very small that I didn't think it was important to bring up. But now it got bigger," when she said the word bigger, her eyes widened. She was adorable, "And I think it's still getting bigger as we speak." Everypony consumed this piece of information and sat on it. This piece of information was of particular use  to Princess Celestia. But she needed a time frame for specificity. 

"I'm sure it is nothing you and your friends cannot handle Twilight," Princess Celestia was on the verge of breaking down right then and there. A bigger threat than Tirek and Discord. A bigger threat than the anti dimensional mirror. A bigger threat than cake going extinct. But maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought? She could only hope. 

Celestia turned her attentions back to Twilight, who still looked unsure of herself, which caused a reaction from the other ponies who immediately turned their attention to her. "May I remind you whose friendship not only made a much more permanent friend of one that believed in tyranny through disharmony, but also vanquished a might foe, saving Equestria from what would have been absolute destruction?" 

"But... the splotch?" 

"I am sure your friendship will be able to withstand any challenge that blocks your path," Princess Celestia cut off the thought and added one of her trademarked smiles to put the icing on the cake. It seemed like the tension in the room has lessened. Mission accomplished. Now time to go home, grab an army, cry into Luna's embrace, and prepare for war. The good news was that they had some time. But to confirm her suspicions, "Fluttershy, how long has it been since you noticed the dark fog? A month maybe? A few weeks?"

"Um... yesterday?" 

Celestia's heart dropped. Her stomach twisted in fear. Celestia looked down for a brief moment before responding with a simple, "Oh. V-Very good to hear Fluttershy. A little bit sooner than I thought, but I am p-positive we are still fine," She sounded if she was trying to convince herself more than the others, the stammer in her voice being a dead giveaway. The other ponies looked between each other in worry. Twilight immediately flew to Celestia's side. 

"Princess? What's wrong?" She whispered. She knew her mentor better than anypony else. Celestia was more distraught than she let on, than her friends could probably see, she knew that much.

"Everything is fine Twilight. Please excuse me everypony. I have grown rather weary. We shall discuss this more tomorrow," Celestia swiftly stood up and trotted out of the room without another word to any pony. Twilight looked to her friends and they all nodded at her, giving her the go ahead to give chase.

A day? A single day? Something was on the horizon and it wasn't her sister's wonderful moon. She needed to scramble the Wonderbolts, get precautions in place. A war was coming. Celestia needed to alert Luna, warn her of the coming danger. It was a long time ago while Luna was imprisoned that the Cannerlands became an issue once, and Celestia was afraid she was not strong enough to handle it again. So many soldiers died that day when she could have easily ended such conflict by joining the fray sooner. Regret tugged at her heart strings as she trotted out of the castle, ready to take immediate lift off for Canterlot when a voice called out for her.

"Princess Celestia!" Celestia gritted her teeth, wishing Twilight didn't have wings to chase her further. Knowing she would at least have to tell her most faithful student, she reluctantly turned her head, Twilight immediately jumping into the question, "What's going on? What's with the purple fog on the table?" 

Celestia took a deep breath, focusing on her voice, trying to prevent it from coming out as stressed as Mayor Mare when re-elections came around, "A long time ago, there was a dragon named Maekrix. He invented a kind of magic that was able to create and destroy at will. Luckily, Maekrix was a benevolent being and spread happiness and joy throughout the land for many centuries. Unfortunately, dragons may age thousands of years, but the magic warped his body and mind into a state where he only lived until a young age of one thousand for a dragon. He knew his power would be used for greed, sooner than later bringing forth an apocalypse into the land. He could not destroy his new kind of magic, it would spread out into the land once his soul was no longer bound to this plane. He closed off his power into four tombs across his kingdom. He sealed the tombs with powerful magic and buried them under as best as he could. It was agreed upon an ancient council a long time ago that such power should never be brought to light ever again, lest we risk a new apocalypse being unleashed on the world. Luna and I was but fillies at the time, but I remember the fights that broke out among the races as we all strove towards harmony." Celestia took a moment to close her eyes and reflected on her past. Twilight was unsure if to comfort Celestia or to let her grieve her past. Celestia made short work of her reflection and then continued, her eyes still closed, "It was said that a darkness would envelop the land if a Trove would open. That a new era of destruction would spread across the world if somepony with enough drive was to open a tomb,"

"Princess, are you saying someone opened a..."

"Yes. Although we are not in any immediate danger, we must prepare for what comes next which could be anything." Celestia opened her eyes and nodded at Twilight, "I must go and warn my sister and spread word to the other kingdoms. We will discuss this tomorrow when the other leaders and I have solidified a plan." Without further word, Celestia ascended into the sky towards Canterlot. Twilight could only watch her as she felt helpless, awaiting the next day that would bring news of what to do next.


> Chapter 1: Crazy Train
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rocks. Rocks and sand. Rocks, sand, and dust. 

That was all I could see for miles beyond my passenger window. I leaned my head against it, hot breaths fogging it up. This plan to leave my mom was dumb. This  yellow train was dumb.  This window with enough dirt and dust to make a small dirt castle with it was dumb. 

I was on a train that was headed to the very edge of the world that I knew. We were passing through zebra territory, or more so it was in the zebra homeland. For any species to call this their territory must be dead by the point they finished the sentence. My mouth felt dry just imagining how dry it was really out there. Was that what the other side of the Border held for me? I knew that ponies said it was completely impossible to grow in the Cannerlands, but this was ridiculous. 

*SNORE* 

What's more ridiculous was this snoring. I was so tempted to stand up, trot on over to the 'slightly' overweight pony and shove that pillow that he's drooling all over down his over sized gullet. I mean, it totally had enough lubricant at this point. It would have been so easy.

It has only been one day and already I wanted to back down and pretend I never took a step out of my mom's house. I didn't know what was worse, this pony's snoring or my mother's high expectations. Ask me in a few minutes and I'll probably still say my mother's high expectations, but there will be one more duck taped pony than there was in the train car. 

I take a deep breath and run my dark watermelon green hoof through my slightly darker green mane. I look in the window and I see my reflection. My nose a little bit rounder than most mares I'd have to say, my light blue eyes seemed to have matched perfectly with my green coat and green mane. I knock my head on the window, closing my eyes and asking myself over and over in a crazy mantra, "Why are you doing this Kale? Why?" 

Okay Kale, get ahold of yourself. You can do this. Plant some kale in Cannerlands, prove some idiots wrong, get paid lots and lots of bits, and profit.

*SNORE*

FUCK! 

Alright, alright, let's reflect a little bit. That always calms you down Kales. Let's start over from the beginning, I feel that I might confuse someponies if I don't. 

I'm on my way to the Cannerlands, a place filled with bandits, outlaws, and other socially awkward ponies. Ponies usually find refuge on the other side of the Border, which was a huge wall built inside a giant mountain, built to keep any dangerous pony from getting into Equestria. And I bought a one way train ticket to the same destination. What in Celestia's pure golden sun was I thinking? 

First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Kale, yes just like the green plant that looks like green crap and tastes like heaven. I come from a family that I don't particularly enjoy being around. My brother is the super successful and is always a condescending to his family type of guy. My mom is a loving, respectful member of the community that is an overbearing parent that thinks I'm a robot supposed to bend to her every whim. Oh, you discovered a cure for death? Better also discover a cure for old age Kaley, we all know you can do better blah blah blah I am using you to make myself feel better as a parent blah blah blah. Seriously, I can't stand her shit half the time. She's so self righteous that it made me want to blog about it. And I hate blogging. Then there's my dad, the one who gave me this idea in the first place. 

I'll be the first to say, cliche. My father ran out on my family to go look for treasure in the Cannerlands. In the history books, it was said that there were little burials around the Cannerlands called Troves. Troves were supposed to contain lots of treasure beyond a pony's wildest dreams. And for a time, he was rather successful, or he was supposedly. I mean, he paid his child support on time like any other regular parent would, but then he stopped sending bits. At first my mom said it was only because dad was having a tough time with his adventures, but then he eventually stopped writing altogether. We waited for a good three weeks before my mother accepted the fact that he died. Later on as I grew up, the more believable story was that he disappeared in Las Haygas, found some tramp and got hitched. Look, I'm not saying I remember much of my father, but I see pictures of him sometimes and I gotta admit that even "I" would have made fun of him in high school. But that's neither here nor there, I'm following in his supposed hoofsteps to Cannerlands, although my plan is to do other things out in the Cannerlands. Other things that don't involve being an idiotic blood thirsty Trove Hunter. 

My mother was a famous veggie grower. Her name was... well, her name isn't important. A very famous farm pony who grew up on malsupported farming ground. She was able to grow on this ground and became well renowned for it. She was able to grow everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE. But I always felt like I had to follow her example, living to fill my mom's shadow. And I hated that. 

So, you can clearly see why I'd want to strike away from my mother. Make my own success, make my own story where ponies all over Equestria would buy my self help books. I would be swimming in bits by the time I come back home to my mother. And the first thing I was going to do to start my success is plant against the odds just like her. 

The Cannerlands. A place I've heard is the most wasteland of places in the world. If a wasteland could have a wasteland within it, that would describe the Cannerlands perfectly. Hardly any water, way too much sun, no pegasus ponies to interfere with strict weather schedules, and crazy murderous bandits and hunters who want to eat your flesh if the rumors about this place were true. The perfect impossible conditions. I'll just work some of my cutie mark magic and I'll be all set. Fool proof plan. 

Then, ponies from all over will hear of the forest that is growing in the Cannerlands. Everyone will tear down the Border to see my wonderful success. Every plant pony with a green hoof will come see my magic and they will all stare in awe at my wonderful talent. 

I thought I had a pretty good head start if I may say so myself. I was an earth pony which meant I was a born natural already. I had a plant based cutie mark, I'm sure that helps a huge deal. Plus, I have the most cutting edge shovels and spades and other various gardening equipment to help me out. I had to be confident and I could never lose faith. I could do this. It may be a little difficult, but I was going to do this. Even if it killed me... hopefully I didn't have to get to that point. 

I check my bags once more, tapping my hoof against the seat across from me from anxiety. I look once more at the sleeping pony across from my on the opposite side of the train. I couldn't help but envy him when it came right down to it. He probably had his own problems sure, but it was probably relatively simple to what I was trying to accomplish out here. He just looked so peaceful as he slumbered on without a care in the world. I find myself yawning and I realize I haven't slept for thirty six hours since I came to the decision to leave my mom's. 

I place my bag against the window sill, trying to adjust it and fluff it up to become a better pillow and I rest against it. I close my eyes and try to focus on sleeping. It took a long time to get myself relaxed, but I think the snoring pony across from me actually helped. His snoring was rhythmic, and soon I found myself drifting off to dreamland... well metaphorically anyways. 

I don't dream. I'm not sure if something is wrong with me or if Princess Luna just despises my soul, but I cannot dream for the life of me. I've tried so many things, experimented with so many different methods and nothing has worked. But here's the stranger thing, I am partially conscious when I sleep. Like, conscious to the point where if you're talking behind my back while I sleep, I can hear everything you say. But not conscious enough to wake up and chime.  You'd think my cutie mark talent would have something to do with this since I've never known anypony else could manage this, but apparently fate had other more boring decisions for me. Which I was fine with as long as I could get paid and become famous in the end as the most renowned farmer.

Not that I wanted to become a farmer, but you deal with the hand you're dealt.

I'm not sure how long it has been, but I wake up with a migraine while a booming voice summons me from the dead. I jerk up immediately, rubbing the back of my neck with both my hooves to try to comfort myself. What the shit?  "Attention. Bandits have taken a hold of the train. Please do not panic and say all prayers as peacefully as you can. Thank you. Attention..." I blink a few times, the message not quite sinking in. The message on the train audio com continued to loop a few more times and then was abruptly cut off.  Bandits were on the train? Say our prayers? Weren't they going to do something about it? And as if on cue, the door that led to the next train car that was closest to the other pony who was also gathering his sense, was yanked open off its hinges and thrown right past my head and out the window, showering me in glass and cutting me in several places. I immediately wince in pain and I fall to the ground, what the fuck?! I turn to the entrance way of a new pony who just trotted into the car. He was a red pony, wait, not necesarily red. He 'looked' from what I hope was highlights and not just a ton of fresh blood on him. He wore some sort of mask that cut off in places to make his face look incredibly uneven and unnatural. 

"PUT YOUR HOOVES UP AND I WON'T WHIP OUT MY DICK JR." On his back was an ax, except magnified by a ton and spikes sticking out of the blade itself. The slightly overweight pony finally came to his full sense and realized what was happening. He took one look at the pony and began to yell something fierce, causing my ears to instantly flop down while I close my eyes tightly in pain from the yelling and the migraine. Someponies were just born with annoying voice boxes I guess. But I didn't have to wait long for the yelling to stop, a kind of gushing sound replaced it almost immediately. I opened an eye to see what it was and to my horror, I saw the overweight pony now gutted with a giant axe looking thing. 

If it was ever asked what my response was to this, I certainly did not instantly wet myself nor did I begin to cry profusely. What I most certainly did however was get up from my seat and ran to the back door of train car as fast as my little hooves could take me. "I AM A SPAGHETTI MONSTER AND I WILL DEVOUR YOUR EYE HOLES!!!" The hockey mask wearing pony yelled out at me. I  glance over my shoulder right as I yank open the door to the next car. Thank the goddess I did so as I duck immediately and let a flying ax whizz above me into the next car. I don't even bother looking to the probably even more enraged manic pony who missed at getting a yummy desert.  I dive into the next car and slam the door behind me.

I pant hard in and out, feeling sweat roll down my back in buckets. I felt like I couldn't get in enough air, on the edge of suffocation as I began to take gulps of air into my body hoping to calm myself down, and then I look forward and see that the ax found its way into a very unfortunate pony who I couldn't tell what color he was due to the all the blood that painted him. It was right then and there that I threw up whatever I had for breakfast this morning. I reached into my saddle pack... or I would have, but I realized that I left it on the seat in the other room with the crazy maniac pony. 

I take a look at the door behind me and stick my tongue out in frustration. Today was just not my day. It then began to vibrate rather suddenly and I scamper from it like a cornered mouse. The door doesn't put up much of a fight as it easily crumbles against the maniac ponies barrage. "I BET YOU TASTE OF VOMIT AND PIG INTESTINES!" The maniac pony screams some sort of nonsense. 

Okay, that's just plain rude. I take one good look at the ax planted in the face of the unlucky sap, whoever he was. I quickly dive for the axe and try to pull it free. After what seemed like an eternity as I could just feel the maniac pony was about to lunge for my throat, I finally pull it free with a horrifying squelch. I could just feel every single individual fur on my skin stand  straight up. I used a little too much strength to pull free the murder weapon as I feel my entire body began to shift backwards. I swing the ax to face the maniac pony when my slippery, bloody hooves lets the ax go straight into the maniac pony's face. I could only watch in horror and slight relief as the ax does exactly what it did to its first victim. 

I've never been more mollified and relieved all at once. It was an epic turmoil of emotions. I just killed something. I've never killed anything. Ever. I've let things die, sure, like plants and there was a pet goldfish I forgot to feed once. But I never ever tried to kill anything, let alone hurt it... I mean, there was one time, but that was by total accident. Something about it just seemed animalistic, unnatural even. I feel my mind rationalize it though, it was either him or me, and I didn't feel like dying today. And just as quick as guilt came, it subsided. I would only kill in self defense was my promise to myself. I take another look at the maniac pony to convince myself that I would probably have to do this again and I had to get used to the sight of a pony's innards becoming outwards. The musky stench of iron, the squishy gushy sounds that it made as the... the... fell out... I threw up again all over the corpse. 

I quickly turn away from the door. I couldn't take it anymore. I completely forgot about the bag and decided to move forward. I'd be able to get gardening equipment in the Cannerlands I'm sure. I mean what could they eat? Other ponies? My mind immediately reminded me of a prime example behind me and I decide to quickly add that there had to be some sane ponies in Cannerland that ate normal food, right? 

I then remembered there was another dead pony in here. The pony in front of me with the catcher's mitt for a head. Ugh, I need to stop describing these scenarios, I'm making myself sick every time I even think about it. I look up at the pale yellow ceiling of the train car as I step over the pony. I trip on something on his back and I decide I can at least look at the not gross part of his corpse. 

He had a backpack that tied around his neck. On the sides of the backpack were little pockets filled with sharp pointy golden sticks. They looked like they hurt. My inexperience in being able to defend myself by proactively hurting others was showing super hard. I slowly turn the corpse over, trying to limit all contact with the corpse as much as possible. The process takes a few minutes as I finally get the backpack off him. It wasn't stealing. The pony was already dead and I didn't kill him, so I'm not looting either I am scavenging.  Big difference... I hope.

I'm going to rot in Tartarus aren't I?

I check what's inside the back itself and I find myself a few things of interests. Some sort of head piece, a book, a rolled up piece of parchment, and a entire box filled with those sharp pointy My blood is still pumping and my mind tells me this is not the place to see what loot is inside the pack. I take out the head piece and I close my bag. I tie the bag around my neck and make sure its secure on my back so it doesn't bounce around too much.  

I take a quick look at the head piece. It was a piece of gray plastic. On one of the ends was a clear little lens. It looked like it was supposed to attach around one of my ears. I suppose the instructions was in the backpack. I would take a look later, but I mind as well put this doo-hickey on. It would make my backpack a little lighter and besides, it always love accessorizing. I lift it above my head and I snag the little piece onto my ear. As soon as it snags, it clasps onto my skin and pricks the tip of my ear. 

I wince in pain and grunt a little, not expecting this turn of events. Suddenly, a bunch of glowing letters appear in front of me. The glowing letters were barely legible and were incredibly fuzzy. I didn't get much time to look at it. 'HAYS' Was the only word I was able to make out that were right next to each other as the glowing letters disappeared. Then, a bunch of bars and flashing lights appeared before me. I didn't have any time to react as things began to pop up in my line of vision. In the bottom left corner of my eye was a red bar with a bold white number on top of it. The number was relatively like '50' or something. I saw a glowing circle in my upper right corner of my vision. It had a glowing yellow arrow which I assumed was me, because as I swayed, so did the arrow. 

I reached out my hooves to try and touch either of the two new shiny bars in my vision, but my hooves always reached past them. It was until I realized that these things were as if they were painted on my eyes. I found them pretty neat in all honesty. I could only assume this was some sort of tool that Trove Hunters used provided by that little hunk of plastic now occupying my left ear. I was about to move onto the next car when I a huge square showed up in the corner of my eye. It told me a bunch of information that I didn't quite understand. Fire rate? Accuracy? Damage? What rate of fire was it describing? Accuracy of what? And what was damaged? 

It was only after a mere moment that I noticed something glowing white on the corpse's hoof. It was a small bracelet with a small little tube attached to it. I pick it up, examining it. It was supposedly called a 'Pin-Point Poker'. I put it on my wrist and then a new glowing blue bar occupied the bottom right corner of my vision. It showed a pointy shape, much like the ones in my backpack's pocket, and two numbers with a slash in between the two. The one on the left of the slash said '6', the one on the right of the slash said '494'. From what I could gather, this was the amount of shots I had. I take one last look at my wrist and I see that a bright red 'AJ' is written on top of the little tube. "Well AJ, let's get moving, I don't want to be here when more bandits arrive, do you?" I ask the little tube. It said nothing in response. 
Dear fucking Celestia, I'm lonely. I could only mutter to myself, brief flashbacks of high school coming to haunt me once more. 

While I trotted to the next car, I began to fidget with my bracelet. I didn't really know how to use the little tube. The top of it had a little cross-hair tied to the top of one end with a hole. One I assumed whatever this weapon was, it shot something from the hole like a blow pipe I read about in Daring Doo. On the other side of the tube was a circular chamber. I shook it a few times and I could definitely feel something rattle ever so slightly. It was locked in tight, but there was definitely something loose in there. One last detail I noticed about the small tube was a little trigger-esque button  hanging off the bottom of the tube, brushing the fur of my fore hoof and the strap it was attached to. Something in my inner most brilliance told me to point and press. I'd have to find a bandit to test that out on.

I get to the next car and its surprisingly empty. I decide to just keep moving, not wanting to dawdle while I have all this adrenaline pumping. While I trot from car to car though, I take notice that the train hasn't stopped moving yet. I wonder if bandits had control of the train or if the train conductor was somehow still safe? It was then that a brief little message popped up on my screen in a little square. "Confirm the status of the train." with a little box next to it underneath my circle map. So you can keep track of my stuff huh? Alright, pretty neat I'd have to say. 

I think I'm prepared to kill another pony. I think to myself as I brace myself for the future fights.

Wow, what a turnaround huh? Give a pony a weapon and some fancy eyeball thingy and she becomes a mean killing machine! Maybe we're all killers on the inside? Waiting to bust out of our chests like some sort of spoiled back of the fridge food? I get deep sometimes. 

I finally get to a car where there seems to be some commotion. I hear voices in the next car as well as loud explosions. Did somepony bring bombs on the train?! I take a deep breath and I peak my head into the door. I am greeted with the backs of several blood stained backs that seem to be shooting a lot of explosions toward the end of the train. They seem to have barricaded themselves from whoever they were fighting with. "Scabjerker?! Is that you?! Give us some assistance! We goin' blow these arseholes sky high!" Scabjerker? That was definitely not me. I take a closer look at them and I immediately feel my gut do a flip. These were the bandits. They were all smeared in blood, their manes were tufts of fur, and they all smelled like they haven't ever touched water except maybe to drown someone in it. "DUCK SCABBERS!" I see all the bandits duck behind the barricade as I can barely see a black and white pony on the otherside of the room  aim a really large tube in my general direction. 

I immediately freak out  and back off into the car behind me and slam the door. A few seconds later, a giant explosion shakes the entire train and the door I'm leaning on falls backwards, a door frame no longer supporting it. I gulp and take a deep breath, looking to what seemed to have happened. I saw the car all those ponies were derail in front of me and begin to tumble and tumble for a few moments when it finally gave out and broke in half, spilling out a bunch of bloody corpses. I'm sure I would have thrown up, but I think my vomit reserves were running on low. Shame. 

I kinda just lay there for a while, the harsh dust barreling in from the outside. I wanted so badly to just lie down and die. This was a terrible fucking idea. I should have just stay in my mother's shadow. I should have just stayed at home. I'm in pain, I've seen more bloodshed than what I'm sure most Equestrian doctors have seen, I wanted out. I shut my eyes tightly and after a minute, I was hoping to find myself in my bed at home and this was all a bad dream. 

No such luck. I'm on a train, barreling for the Border, probably going to die today. The least I could do was something rather than nothing. I still had my weapon. I still had this vision thingy from that pony. He probably had an idea of what to do at this point, and I got him killed... NO! Focus! I can do this. Confidence. Confidence. Not the ideal start to my farming journey, but I gotta deal with the hand I'm dealt. And I have tools to deal with it. I can do this. 

I repeat this mantra for a good minute and then I went out on a limb and I aimed my little bracelet towards the wreckage that I could barely see the outline of. I flexed my fore-hoof downwards and felt a brief jolt followed by brief sound of something exploding. I blinked and I'd like to think I just found out how to use my weapon. As further proof, my little bar to the right with numbers changed as I took my shot. It was now '5/594' instead of '6'. I would have to figure out how to change that number back to a 6 but at least I got some sort of basic defense down. 

As I decided to back track to the train, the little message that told me to "Confirm the status of the train." had the box next to it fill with a green check. A new box appeared below, "Get to the Train Engine." That seemed like the appropriate next action. That should be where I could stop the train, or at least stop fueling it so we don' t end up like the train cars behind us. A plan was now in mind, I took a deep breath and trotted forward.

It was back in the room where the two freshly opened ponies were (ugh) that I found some new faces. I immediately recognized hockey masks covering their faces. They all turn to me and take out weapons of their own, pointing them at me. They begin to fire and I just duck behind the corner of the previous car. I sit down on my haunches and gasp for air, seeing bright beams of light whizz past my face. After a moment of mini explosions and lights stop, I peek out around the corner to see if they're still there. I immediately feel a searing pain in my forehoof. 

I duck back behind the corner of my car as the bandit ponies were still there, continuing their assault. I look down at my forehoof and I assess the damage. I felt my entire body go numb as I see a huge gash of red liquid fall out of my leg. That definitely wasn't there before. I gasp in pain and I see the red bar in my bottom left tick down to '20'. I reason that must be my well being, my health you could say. These weapons hurt like hell.

"Don't get hit by these things. Gotcha," I wheeze in and out. I wasn't going to go anywhere unless I took care of these three bandits. I bite down hard my lower lip where I taste a little blood from the pressure. Here goes fucking nothing. 

I turn the corner and I raise my undamaged forehoof with the bracelet weapon, taking aim and firing at a single bandit pony in the open. By some sort of miracle, the first shot hits and I see in red letters, "CRITICAL" pop up above the little pony's head. He lets out a grunt of pain and I see his own red bar above him. He was apparently labeled as a 'Bandit' by my vision thingy. He had but a sliver of red bar left and I feel my entire body spasm in glee as I just took my first shot. It was an... unorthodox response I gotta admit. But it felt good, so I decided to take another shot and he went down. As he went, I see him drop a few things and I almost run over to pick it up when I remember there was a few other ponies. I quickly look from side to side of the train car but I don't see a single eyelash of either of them. 

I limp out from my hiding place and I stagger over to the now three dead corpses in front of me. The pony I shot seemed to have dropped some more golden pointy sticks of pain I decided to call them. I could already tell that they probably went inside my weapon, but I couldn't figure out how. Putting them through the hole seemed incorrect, so I decided to just leave it be. My counter told me I had three shots left in my weapon, so I'm sure I could handle those two ponies ahead with my three shots.

As I continued my journey to the front of the train, I made sure my green saddle bags were left untouched. There were definitely touched as everything was spilled across the floor and unorganized like my younger years as a filly. I was going to spend a moment to clean it up, but I turned my attentions to the front of the train and realized I had slightly more important things to take care of. I left the green saddlebags for later after we could get the train to stop. After trotting a little longer, I realize I don't have much to go. I pass by a few more dead ponies, bandits and passenger alike. It seemed that the bandits faced a bunch of resistance and I missed the mass of it. Lucky me.  I see a door ahead and I noticed that there is a pole on each side of the door, one pole had a red velvet rope hanging off of it. I think I made it to the front of the train. 

"PEEL HIS SKIN OFF!!!"

"EAT HIS INTESTINES!"

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH YOU ASSHOLES!!!" I hear two gurgle like voices that sounded of bandits, and one normal sane voice. My eyes widen and I quickly bust the door open. As I do so, the bandits immediately take notice as well as the voice that I assumed belongs to the sane pony. The two bandits were the ones I saw not a few moments ago. One was wrestling with a shade of brown pony that had short orange mane and medium sized tail. The other bandit pony was right in front of me, giant axe in his mouth that was aimed in my direction. 

I'm pretty sure I make a sound that was similar to a mouse as I duck. The axe barely missing the top of mane as it crashed in the wall next to me. I waste not another second as I aim the tube right into his face. 'CRITICAL. CRITICAL." And down he went. The  bandit and the light brown pony was still wrestling. I took aim with my weapon, but then my mind went straight to, 'What if you don't hit the bandit?'

I won't. I'm confident in my ability. 

'Confident enough to gamble with something you just picked up today?' Damnit. Now I'm nowhere near confident. I only stood there helplessly as I watched the two ponies wrestle, and the bandit was clearly winning, having more experience in fighting it seemed. What do I do?! 

I look at the pack on my back and I pull a sharp pointy stick of pain from my pack and rush forward. I bite my lower lip and I don't try to think too hard about what I'm going to do. I tackle into the two ponies and I get on top of one of them. I quickly check if I'm ontop of my target. I see the hockey mask and I drive my bullet deep into one of his eyes. 

Squish.

That was the noise it made. That is what it felt like. 

'CRITICAL'

YES. I GET IT. 

"Damn. That was bad ass." The light brown pony commented, his face struck with awe. I wasn't quite sure how to take that. 

"Um. No, my name is Kale." I offer instead. The light brown let out a loud guffaw. I smile and I join him for a moment. We compose ourselves soon after and he then offers his hoof.

"Nice to meet ya Kale. Now c'mon! The Conductor will know how to sort this mess out! We gotta go find him," He turns to the door and I stand to stop him and tell him the news when I stumble over my wounded leg. I take another look at it and the blood flow seemed to have lessened, but it still looked incredibly terrible. "Shit. That looks bad," 

"Gee. Thanks." I grimace.

"Not to worry. I got a spare Insta-Health. One second," He pulls out a red vial with a pointy needle. I immediately blanch. I hated needles pointed in my direction. I blame my several past near death experiences within the last hour, but he was uninjured and way stronger than me, so I just sat there and accepted my fate.

Surprisingly, that didn't hurt at all. I began to feel strength crawling its way back into my body. I look down at my wound and wiped away some of the blood. The wound was no longer open and it was just a fading scar into the rest of my fur. The red bar in the bottom right corner of my vision was slowly ticking back up to full, "Thank Celestia. Thank you so much..." I leave a gap in my sentence for his name, but he shakes his head. 

"No time. We gotta go now. The Conductor will be able to fix all of this..." 

As he was about to leave the engine room, I reach out and grab a hold of his flank. He turns to me and blushes, "Um."

My eyes widen and I quickly let go. That got awkward, but I finally got his attention. "Don't." Was all I could say to him before he looked at me for further explanation. I always hated being the bearer of bad news. I sigh and I explain to him what happened to the other train cars. Even if the conductor did survive, he wouldn't be able to help us. I was expecting him to let go a sigh of relief, because by ancient gods above, they knew how much I despised my boss. But instead, I see his eyes immediately well up as fear creeped upon his face.

"Dad? Are... you... tell..." His face was struck with disbelief. He sat down and hid his face in his hooves. Oh shit. 

"Wheel?! Are you there?! Damnit! ANSWER!" A loud voice rang into the engine room as well as my ear as if he was right next to me. The light brown pony who was on the verge of a mental break down immediately stood up and trotted past me to the engine controls, "Damnit Wheel! If you don't answer, my boys will have no choice but to blast that train off the track! Tell me you're still alive damnit!" The light brown pony swore under his breath and looked at me.

"Hey! Is your HAYS device still working?"

"My what device?"

"That thing attached to your ear!" I look at him oddly and he trots up to me and jams his hoof against the side of my head, slightly disorientating me. He pressed something on the piece of plastic and I hear a little click of a button. 

"Sheriff Stallion! My dad's dead! How do we stop this thing?" 

"Celestia's sake. Do you know what the brake lever looks like?" The brown pony pulls some long metal stick off the ground and holds it out in front of us. 

"Yeah. A bandit broke it off." He says matter of fact. I suddenly feel the vomit making a surprise appearance in the back of my throat.

"Shit!" The train speaker as well as something right next to my ear sounds as if a pony was shouting something and breaking something all at once. After a moment, the Sheriff cleared his throat. "Son, you're going to want to grab a hold of something that firmly bolted down. We can set a manual brake from here, but ya'll are going downright as fast as the buccaneer blazes. You are going to crash. Remember what you were taught son and we'll see ya'll when ya get here," The Sheriff said as if he was discussing the weather.

We're going to crash? "We're going to crash?!!?" I yell. He simply nods at me and sighs. 

"Yep. You heard him. Grab something firmly bolted to the ground and relax when you feel your body lurch." He then proceeded to follow his own instruction. I look at him with disbelief and I look out the window. I could see a brief outline of a town in the distance as well as a huge mountain that spanned for what seemed like miles.

Looks like I made it to the Border. And I could die right here, right now. How embarrassing would that be? 

I look for something to hold on to when I see that what the light brown pony chose had enough room for one more. I snuggle my way next to him as he gives me a look. I shrug. "You're the expert. I've never been on a train," He nods and closes his eyes tightly, bracing himself for impact. I poke him and he raises an eyebrow and looks at me. "You never told me your name. You know it's rude to make a lady wait," 

He chuckles and I see a small smile creep across his face, "Grind. Grind Fullset, son of Wheel Fullset. At your service," I smile back at him and nod. He then goes back to his bracing himself position and I follow his lead and do the same. After a few moments, I hear a loud screeching sound followed by an even louder thunking sound. "Remember! Relax when you feel your stomach lurch!!!" He screams, but I can barely register. I can do nothing but tense up and wait the inevitable to happen.

I'm about to die. I'm about to die. I'm about to die. I'm about to die. I'm about to die. I'm about to die. I'm about to die. I'm about to die. I'm about to die. I'm about to...

My entire world became chaos within a second. I kept my eyes shut as I felt my entire body get tossed and flipped around. I could no longer feel Grind next to me as the sound of angels screaming and the earth breaking itself in half yelled into my ears, as if its sole purpose was to make me deaf. Somewhere in the middle of all this, my entire body was being showered in debris, punching me and knocking me from my position. I kept my eyes closed, wishing it all to just end.

And then my world became silent. 

*~LEVEL UP~*

Level 2

You feel slightly stronger and your face can endure more bullets. Yay. 
> HAYS RECORDING 001
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle grumbled as she stepped off the train. She was given explicit instruction to not go to the edge of the Zebra Highlands. It has been three days and the purple fog on her map has not shrunk, nor has it grown in all honesty. It seemed to be content just remaining the same size as Twilight watched it for the past 72 hours. Nothing she did could distract her from it. She was a Princess of Friendship. If something were to happen and she could have taken steps to stop it... no. Princess Celestia may think she knows what she's doing, but she wouldn't have the guilt hanging over her shoulder.

But before she could directly disobey her mentor, she needed advice. She took a slight detour to the Crystal Kingdom where her older brother and sister in law ruled with a loving heart. Twilight covered her eyes with her hoof, trying to block out the sun that was almost mocking Twilight. She grumbled further as she traveled to the Crystal Castle, a large blue crystal tower in the middle of town. Twilight was dressed in purple robes, covering her face in shadow. She didn't need distractions from crystal ponies recognizing her, she needed guidance from somepony who could understand. 

She knew the castle like the back of her hoof. She has only visited on days of utmost importance, yet each day she visited, it was of utmost importance to know the layout lest she get lost while the city was being terrorized. She looked outside a window and looked at the positioning of the sun. It was mid day, where Cadence would probably be was obvious. Her morning meeting just broke out, so Twilight headed to the lower sections of castle where the showers and hot springs lay in wait. Twilight opened the double crystal doors and was immediately greeted by two ponies that looked a lot like Aloe and Voe from Ponyville. 

"Welcome to Crystal Castle Spa. Do you have a reservation?" The both asked in unison. Twilight simply lowered her hood in response and watched the two crystal ponies eyes widen in the same practiced unison. Twilight brought a hoof up to her mouth, signaling them to keep her presence less known. The two crystal ponies nodded and silently closed the doors behind Twilight as she trotted towards Princess Cadence's private spa.

"And then he said no! Do you believe the audacity! The gall! The nerve! How?! How does a stallion just say no like that? No to me? His wife?! He needs to treat me with a lot more respect! Or by my aunt's name, his needs will never be sated he will find himself on the streets!!!..."

"Cadence? Are you there?"  

Cadence's eyes widened as wide as the moon. "Twilight?" She raised her head, raising a hoof to the massage pony to stop her work. Twilight pushed a curtain open and peeked her head in. 

"Am I interrupting something? Should I just go?" Twilight asked, her face as crimson as an apple. 

"No, no, I'm simply venting to my massage pony," Princess Cadence then turned her head to said massage pony and signaled him to take five. He graciously nodded and trotted off to do other spa like duties. 

"Is everything going okay with Shining?" Twilight asked, a little more concerned about her big sister's marriage. 

"Huh? Oh, yeah yeah. He just denied me the last slice of cake last night. It was a long day yesterday and I really wanted it," Cadence made a dismissive motion with her hoof and Twilight giggled a little. "Nothing but me being a little filly. Now Twilight, I assume it is very important for you to travel all the way to the Crystal Kingdom for a direct audience with me, what can I assist you with?" Her manner was regal and elegant, but her eyes were caring like an older sister always will be to her younger.

It was then Twilight explained the situation. The table, Celestia's stance, Luna's outrage to want to take action and mount a war, and Celestia's reasoning that they are in no real danger. Twilight was on the fence of both, naturally. They shouldn't do nothing, but they shouldn't cause panic in Equestria. Twilight's plan was to check the situation out and see if everything was okay before taking any further action.

Cadence nodded at several points and only offered rebuttals or quips when necessary. When Twilight was all said and done, Cadence sighed. "Do you not trust Princess Celestia?" 

Twilight bit her lip, not responding right away which surprised Cadence. "I... I... don't know. I love Princess Celestia. She has been a second mother to me." Twilight concluded, not wishing to say anymore on the subject. But Cadence let the unfinished thought hang, inclining her head, implying that Twilight to finish the thought. Twilight looked at Cadence for a full moment and then conceded. "But, no. I do not trust her. Anytime we sat and waited, nothing was accomplished,"

"But Twilight, Princess Celestia is an experienced ruler. Surely..."

"We defeated Nightmare Moon by going to the Everfree Forest,"

"True, but Celestia planned..."

"I had to outright accuse Chrysalis in front of everypony and convince everyone to be more objective in the situation,"

"That's hardly fair Twilight..."

"Sombra was not somepony we could just ignore and hope the curse was gone, was he?" Cadence could say nothing in response, "What about Tirek? Hiding got us nowhere. Celestia is wise, but not..." Twilight tapped her chin and sighed, halting the thought before it ever came to fruition. "I did not come here to insult Celestia behind her back. I love her and it pains me to betray her, because I know that is what I'm doing," Twilight stood up with tears in her eyes and Cadence could only watch her pace around the room. "I came because I have limited knowledge of the outside world. I've been to Saddle Arabia once under heavy guard. I plan on going alone and I'm not sure what to expect," She turned back to Cadence who simply listened intently. "I will go no matter what you say, but I'd like it if my sister could support me in this situation?"

"What do your friends think?"

"They support me one hundred percent. We have a fail safe if I don't return in a week or I don't contact them. Trust me Cadence, this was planned out," 

Cadence gave Twilight a hard look, as if trying to waver her decision. Twilight remained steadfast and if anything, the hard look just cemented Twilight's decision. Cadence grimaced and sighed. "Twilight, just answer me this," Twilight tilted her head and Cadence sighed once more, "Is your entire family hard headed?" Cadence giggled and Twilight give her a smirk.

They discussed what Twilight needed to know when it came to the Cannerlands. Twilight was given a weapon and its name. Guns were a powerful tool that could erase a pony's life from this world. When you use it, make sure you know who you're aiming at, Cadence warned. 

Twilight hugged Cadence and Cadence squeezed her as tight as she could back. "You are going to a very dangerous place Twilight. I know you can take care of yourself, just don't be too long and make all your friends worry,"

"Don't worry. I won't,"

> Chapter 2 Bordertown and Bullets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every fiber of my being was on fire. Literally and metaphorically.

Everything around me was a lit a dark blood crimson color. Iron around me was on fire and melting beyond my very eyes. Sparks flew in every other direction. I was laying down in the wreckage of what was a the engine control room for the train that just crashed outside the Bordertown Outskirts. I could only tell you the name of the town because that's what my little vision doo hickey called it on my circle map thingy. I think Grind called it a HAYS...

Grind! My mind jumped to the thought of the light brown pony. I had to traverse the wreckage to find him! 

He was right next to me, he shouldn't have gotten very far. Or at least logically he shouldn't have. I get up from my spot, shaking off metallic debris and dirt from my body. I feel the unbearable heat from the flames and I feel a little claustrophobic as if the entirety of the wreckage was going to collapse on me at a moment's notice. I look to where I think where the door was when the engine room wasn't completely destroyed and I make my way towards what I think the exit is.

It isn't a minute when I see Grind's body cut up and bruised like a vegetable at the farmer's market. I bend over and feel my entire body ache. It was at that point in time that I realized one very important thing about Grind. He has no cutie mark. I mean, I'm not inclusive about cutie marks or anything, but it just made me wonder what this pony was doing on the train with his dad? Was it 'Take your son to work' day? I shake the thought from my head and focus instead on the more pressing matter of getting out of the wreckage alive. 

I don't know where I was beginning to find my strength, but I had a huge burst of it. I was determined to get Grind and I through this. It would honestly be the most incredibly lame thing ever if we died from a heat stroke instead of bandits during a train hi jack. Could you imagine what they would say at our funerals? Today, we are gathered here to mourn the loss of the bad ass Kale and Grind who survived a bandit hi jack but died in the train accident soon after. No thank you. 

Grind was the first one to call me a bad ass and I liked the title. So no, I will not be dying today. I would like to be called a bad ass again, if you don't mind universe. 

I see a weak looking wall in front of me that was a harsh charcoal black and was still slightly on fire. I gather most of my strength and I buck that thing to as hard as I can. It budges, but it looks like I needed a few more attempts. I hack up some blood and I let go of a hard breath. I buck again. Not dying, like I said, I will repeat it as many times as I must if that's what it takes. The wall looked like it was close to collapsing. One more should do it. I buck with all of my might and the wall gives, making a fresh air window for me and Grind to escape through. 

I push him through the window first, panting hard. Boy, was this pony heavy or I was as weak as a lone piece of wood... Both. It was probably both. 

I follow after him and I immediately collapse onto my back. I look up into the sky and I pant, my chest expanding and collapsing. I never enjoyed fresh air this much before in my life. The sky above us had twinkling little lights and huge ass full moon tonight. It looked pretty. I never really took time to appreciate the night, usually because I love sleep, but now that I got the time to I'd have to say it is beautiful to say the least.

With more effort than I would like to admit, I sit up and I realize that we made it to Bordertown. We were at the 'gates' of the town, the gates being a just huge wooden sign that had big, splotchy yellow painted letters that said 'BORDER'. I look past the sign and I can only count four buildings at most, a few shacks outlying the past the buildings. They all looked shoddy in quality to say the least, or it could just be because it was dark and I'm spoiled brat who is way over her head...

Calm down Kales, you're alive. 

I sigh. You're totally right inner conscience. And I will enjoy this victory by sleeping, because a wave of exhaustion hit me like a pile of bricks as I lie down to take a brief nap. I was often told by many adults to never sleep on the ground. Fuck em.

I really couldn't tell how long it's been when I start hearing voices again. We get carried into a building and up some stairs. When I'm unconscious, different from a voluntary night of rest, my asleep hearing isn't as focused. I get tossed onto something and I barely have enough energy to listen to whatever the ponies around us were saying. I let my ears take a rest and I just try to get some decent sleep for once in my life. Another unknown amount of time passes by and I let myself back into whatever conversation I happened upon.

"She needs rest," A scruffy pony, who was called Sheriff Stallion earlier by another pony, I thnk Stanley, was arguing with him. 

"She's a Trove Hunter! She's the reason Grind's dad is dead!" Stanley was being a prick like he always was, or at least always was compared the length of this conversation. 

"Bandits were the reason Grind's dad was killed. Not her. She's just a kid Stanley,"

"And this kid will cause this entire town to get raided, scavenged, and killed," Stanley walked away without waiting for a response. Sheriff sighed. I assume he was looking at me for a long time. C'mon Kale! Wake up already! You can't be that tired! 

And then I remember what just happened in the past twenty four and I realize that maybe my body does need a little bit of a break. Unfortunately, my mind comprehends my requests at such a slow rate, that it received my first request and didn't even consider to process the second. My eyes snap open and I see that two lovely fans twirl above us at such an abhorrent rate that it begins to torture me. Unfortunately, I can barely move without feeling mind numbing pain shoot across my entire body. 

"Hey. You're awake," The Sheriff who was at the side of another bed, another bed with Grind laying down peacefully, stood up and trotted over to me. He was a old beige colored pony with a white  fluffy mustache draped over his top chin. He wore a cowpony hat like you would see in those pictures of your great great grandpa. His eyes were kind, genuine pools of blue as he asked, "How're you feeling?" I turn over the conversation I just overheard and I decide to just dive into it; I never was one for subtlety.

"Is it true that Trove Hunters are the reason for bandits attack the town?" I asked him straight out. He bit his lip.

"You heard all of that huh?" Sheriff scratched theback off his head. I nodded weakly.

"Ears are always open," I tap my left ear, tilting my head in his direction. The Sheriff sighed.

"It wasn't always. But somepony has been putting out a request to kill all Trove Hunters that are about to enter the Cannerlands from the Bordertown entrance," I inquire that he specifically said Bordertown entrance and he shrugs, "There are other entrances to the Cannerlands, but none of them are as safely secure as this one... or at least they weren't until these bandits started attacking the town on a regular basis." The Sheriff explained how the attacks started off small at first until entire caravans were being attack in the middle of the day.

"Well, in all honesty, I'm not a Trove Hunter," 

The Sheriff chuckled, "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and acts like a duck..." 

"I simply found this gear on some bandit's corpse," Hey, you could never prove if that pony was a bandit or not. I didn't see a mask and my HAYS didn't label his body, not that I noticed between all the throwing up and killing anyways.  "Do you know who's been putting out the request for dead Trove Hunters?"

The Sheriff just shook his head and sighed. "No. I've been interrogating bandits for months, but half the crap they all say is gibberish, the other half is insults." He looks out the window, as if he could see an answer in the distance. I try to look at what he's looking at but he turns to me what before I could angle my head correctly, "Whatever. You're a Trove Hunter now in the people's eyes. A hero. You saved little Grind from the wreckage. You could have just left him in the train to die,"

"He saved my life," I shrugged, regaining feeling in my hooves and my body in general. I slowly put my hooves on the ground and I feel my legs give out from underneath me. The Sheriff doesn't move to help me up, which I find totally acceptable, he does however ask me if I'm doing alright, "Just peachy keen," 

"Well, take as long as ya need. Don't pay Stanley any mind, no one really does these days. Once you fully rest up, I can give you a tour of the town," 

All four buildings of it? I think in my mind but I don't say it. 

The Sheriff tipped his hat in my direction, "Again, the ponies here see you as a hero. We need more ponies like you these days, times are tough." And without further ado, he trotted into down the hall and downstairs. I sighed, a hero huh? If only my mom back home could see me as that, maybe I wouldn't go to jail...

I shake the thought out of my head and I stretch out my entire body, making sure I was all limber up and that everything was working correctly.  The backpack was hanging off the bed frame of where I was sleeping. My weapon was on a night stand beside it, the weapon seemed to have been rotated in such a way that the button was sticking out slightly more than I remembered. Behind the weapon was a old lamp made of wood and gold plating. That seemed to have been the big design choice here. If it was in this town, it was wood with some sort of yellow back splash to it. The bed was wood with gold plating, the dresser that was on the opposite side of the wall of each bed had that design, as well as the night stands themselves. I wonder if the treasures from Cannerlands helped make this possible? 

I guess time would only tell. It was time to explore the town. That's when my I finally realize my vision thing was back up. My health bar was at full, but instead of '50', it increased up to '75'. Strange. The map in the top right corner was labeled, 'Bordertown Inn' as well as a little objective below it, 'Go take a tour with the Sheriff'.

Gee, a little micromanager aren't ya? I smirked in spite of myself.

I take a look at Grind who seemed to have kicked his sheets off his bed. I trot on over and I tuck him back in, making sure that he was covered. I smile at him and I couldn't help but say out loud to him, "We made it," I give him a nod after making sure he was all set and then I retrieved my stuff from the nightstand and the backpack. 

I trot down the hallway and I go down the stairs. The hallway was painted an ugly striped pink with roses running down the side. Typical hotel decor I guess.  I'm in the lobby at this point and there are several ponies that are just keeping themselves busy with menial tasks. I reach the bottom of the steps and everypony stops with the annoying daily routine and stare at me as if I'm a monster that's come to eat their souls. Most ponies were wearing a cowpony attire, as if the Western era was alive and kickin'. Not that I mind, was probably more tasteful than whatever I would pick out. 

I notice they are all still staring at me. C'mon Kale! They want you to say something Ms. Hero! 

I clear my throat and wave at everypony, "Hello?" Everypony then decides to drop what they're doing and swarm me. "Ack!" I let out a whimper as I suddenly feel very claustrophobic. It was the train car all over again, except instead of fiery wreckage, I was surrounded by adorable ponies and compliments.

"We heard you took out the entire bandit raid all by yourself!" 

"You crashed a train into a bandit caravan?! You are so bad ass! Can I get your autograph?!"

"We need more ponies like you! Can you become our Sheriff instead?!" 

Gah. What's with ponies and rumors? No matter where I go, there always seems to be the rumor bug on the mind. "Alright everyone, break it up, break it up!" I hear Stanley's voice among the crowd. And then I heard a explosion shot. Everypony immediately scrambled off me and backed off. I assumed Stanley was the one who used his weapon when I instead see a light green pony with deep jade eyes emerge from the sea of ponies. On her shoulder was a small iron like cannon that had a bright orange glow emanating from its barrel as well as sides of the cannon. Her mane reminded me of tooth paste, white and green that twirled into two natural looking ponytails, one falling down each side of her head. She tilted her head to the side when she approached, trotting with direction, with purpose. It was kind of intimidating actually. I was slightly taller than her, but her presence just made me want to shrink into a ball. 

"What are ya'll standing around for?! This inn ain't gonna tidy itself up!" Everypony slowly begins to shuffle around, still taking mental photographs of me as far as I could tell. The cannon on her shoulder extended out from her neck on some sort of metal extension and shot another explosion into the air, she turned her head and screamed, "I SAID GIT!" Everypony jumped and ran away from the scary mare. Honestly, I would too if I was in their position. Before she turned her attention to me, I saw a bronze headpiece attached to the side of her head, similar to my plastic one. Was she a Trove Hunter too? Her expression immediately brightened as she threw a hoof out, "Name's Cass. Sorry 'bout dat. My crew always love crowdin' around new Trove Hunters as they come to town. And since you'd be the last that's comin' for a while, you're all we gots for now." I tilt my head in confusion.

"Last Trove Hunter?"

"Sorry, what part of being a part of a train crash did you not understand?!" Cass and I look to Stanley, a deep shade of brown pony with tan hat. His mouth was covered by a red bandana as he was dressed to kill. His black robe like jacket and boots with golden spurs were definitely eye catchers. 

"Don't be an ass hole Stanley. You're just mad you weren't there to wreck some havoc with ole Six Splitter," Cass grinned at him slyly. 

"Wheel N' Deal is dead because of her. How can you be so chill?" I notice his dialect wasn't that of a stereotypical western pony and that just made me a little bit more intrigued that he wasn't sticking to the schtick of this place. 

"Bandits killed Wheel. We're all surprised he didn't die sooner from all those bandit camps he raided solo," Cass commented, defending me, although I could tell there was sadness and loathing in her voice when she looked at me for a brief moment. Stanley stood there for a silent moment and looked at me.

"If it means anyting, I'm not a Trove Hunter." I eek out. 

"Oh? And what are you then? A ballerina?" Stanley suggested. Cass hit Stanley, causing him to flinch. 

"No, I'm a farmer," I announce proudly. Stanley's eyes widened in disbelief. Even Cass raised an eyebrow, as if to say, 'You should have stayed with the ballerina answer,'. "I mean it. My mother is a famous farmer! I just happened to pick this stuff up off a dead bandit," I stand my ground and I try to look defiant. This only causes a chortle to squeak from Stanley which snowballed in a burst of laughter. I feel my cheeks go red from embarrassment and anger. 

"Y'know what? You ain't half bad, Green," He nicknames me on the spot and I feel that I'm going to kill him by the end of the day. Just a hunch. "Tell you what, meet me at the Sheriff's office and I'll help the old guy give you a tour and maybe you can convince the Sheriff of this insanity," He turns around, not even listening my attempts to make him stop. 

I puff my cheeks out and I pout. "Who the fuck does that guy think he is?" I ask, looking at Cass. But I also find her suppressing a laugh. "It can't be impossible to grow here, can it?"

"Yeah, but why would you? There's like..." Cass pauses to count, "A bajillion places better to farm than out here. Why would you farm here?" She asked sincerely. 

"I look at it this way. If I could get an actual farm going here, I'd be the first who's ever done so. Then I could help expand out this way," I say, not really wanting to tell her of my get rich scheme. Though, I feel that she sees through the explanation and puts a hoof around my neck. 

"Darlin', I'm going to say this and please don't hate me, because I think you're really pretty," My eyes widen at the comment and I feel all the blood rush to my face.

"Y-You think I'm p-prett..."

"Don't change the subject," She waved her hoof in front of my face. She clears her throat and sighs looking downcast.  She raises her head and looks dead into my eyes, "That is shittiest get rich quick scheme that only the most desperate ponies come up with," I'm about to raise an argument when she raises a hoof to my lips. "Just... come up with a backup plan in case this doesn't work out, okay? I've seen too many ponies die to the impossible out here. Why die when you could make something more... out of yourself?" Her voice was stricken by grief. I feel my heart throb at her sentiment. How many farmers came through this town talkin' the same amount of smack I have? Hell, how many Trove Hunters said they were going to come through this town to open the Trove? 

"You don't even know how well I can farm..."

"No, but I do know that you saved a stallion's life on the train and I also know ponies who've been farming all their life to get their plans cut short by a pony bullet to the skull," She makes a motion with her hoof knocking against her own head. "I'm not telling you to stop trying, but don't put all your eggs in one basket hun," I look at her and she looks back at me, her fiery fierce green eyes were those of a fighter. Don't ask me how I know this, I just do, it's kind of look that you would see at the movies of a heroine who just saved the world. The same kind of look that was at the same time heroic, but also tragic. 

I gulp and nod at her, unable to speak against her gaze. 

"Good girl. Now git. Stanley is a jerk, but he means well. And I think the Sheriff will want to ponysonally thank you for what you did for Wheel's son," She smacks my flank with her tail and winks at me, trotting off and yelling and some other pony to work faster. I blink and I trot outside, the sun nearly blinding me. I look up the road and then to my map, noticing that everything on it is already labeled. 

"Hey, HAYS device, can you add an additional objective? I wanna look around. Anything you can suggest?" I speak to it, hopefully it works its magic. Instead, nothing changes in my vision. I sigh, some help you are. I trot up the road where the little town is just bustlin' with energy. Vendors were on the street, ponies were chatting it up, and donkeys and it looked like some sort of humped creatures were passin' through here as well. 

For this town only having four buildings, those buildings were humongous. There was the Cassket and Barrel's Inn, the Drownin' Despair Bar, the Sheriff's Office, and the 'GUN' Shop. It was such a strange name for a weapon that could kill somepony. 'I gun you to death!' Not quite catchy I find myself thinkin'. It was quite odd to see myself being able to kill a pony, but when I think back to when I killed those bandits on the train, I felt a surge of excitement pulse through my veins. I immediately ask if I would kill the ponies around me for fun and I immediately answer no. I'm not a monster... then why do I feel like one? 

My insides churn with guilt. Those bandits might have had families. Those bandits definitely had lives. And then I removed them from existence with a single movement of my hoof. I justify it but I don't feel right saying the words this time. Those bandits were going to kill me and Grind. Those bandits killed Grind's father. It didn't help that I added to the end of each sentence, "But it felt good," I say out loud. 

I try not to think too much more about is as I trot to the GUN store first. I first off needed to figure out how to work this thing. The outside of the store had a picture of several pipes, tubes, and barrels with huge red letters splashed in front, 'GUN'. I look at my weapon and figured it out from there. My HAYS device still told me I only had one bullet in my gun. I needed to figure out how to put more bullets in this thing. After all, I have '496' bullets left, I would love it if it became more accessible to me.  

I trotted through a set of double doors and the atmosphere immediately changed. The entire shop glowed all sorts of different kind of lights. The wall was practically covered in guns. Some small, some ridiculously huge. Some of them were glowing red and blue, some of them seemed polished, some of them didn't look any special. "Welcome to The Stockpile!" I hear a voice from the other side of them room behind a counter. 

"Hi?" I call out, trotting over to the counter. 

"Hold on," The voice calls back causing me to stop in my tracks. After a few moments of things sounding like they're breaking and hoof stomps, a pony appears out of nowhere from behind the counter. "Hiya! Sorry about that, was busy below decks workin' on something," He was a white unicorn with a electrifying purple mane that couldn't decide where it wanted to fall. He had square glasses and a stubby snout. He was wearing a black vest that was covered in dirt and some other sort of grime. I got a quick look at his cutie mark which had a giant box with a bunch of weapons sticking out of it. He smiled at me as I approached. 

"Yeah... I was wondering if you could help me out," I explain to him that I'm new to the area and that I found a gun on the ground, unsure of how to put more bullets into it and if I'm even using it correctly. 

"Hm. May I see the gun?" He asks, rubbing his chin with interest. I show him my wrist and he nods. "That's an AJ alright. Do you have a preference on what brand it is? Do you plan on Trove Hunting? Do you want armor penetrating rounds? Do you just plan on running from place to place? Want something that can impress? What's your carry limit? How big is your backpack? What kind of..." All of these questions was making my head tumble. 

I throw a hoof up which causes his questions to pause. "I only need to know how to put bullets back into it..."

"Reload." I raise an eyebrow at him, "It's called reloading. You really don't know anything about guns do ya?" I shake my head. 

"Well, I got some spare time," He says as he looks at a watch mounted to his forehoof. "Come into my office," He then does a little hop backwards and he disappears from sight. I look over the counter to see a hole in the ground as well as a ladder sticking out from the hole. I look back to the exit of the shop and I feel a little apprehensive. Well, this guy seems friendly enough, what the hay?

I descend after the pony below the GUN Shop. My eyes take a moment to adjust but when they do, I immediately notice tons of trash spread out around. Scraps of metal and rusty dumpsters seemed to have held up the 'upstairs'. It kinda made me fearful of leaving for it seemed that one false move in the store could cause you crashing down into this graveyard of robotics and technology. "Over here!" I hear the shopkeeper call after me down towards the path of trash. 

I trot forward, my mind becoming more and more unsure by the second. I get to the end of the path which leads to an opening and a large field. The opening was lit up by little neon blue mushrooms hanging from the ceiling and mounted on the walls.  The large field was cut off by barbed wire and a wooden fence. The wooden fence looked worse for wear, yet a permanent fixture in time. The shopkeeper was busy looking in a chest of some sort. "Um, mister Shopkeeper?"

"Please, call me Stock. Stockpile Scratch is my full name. Most ponies just call me Stock though," 

"Erm, Stock. I just need to learn how to reload this thing..."

"You aren't going to get very far Trove Hunting if you have no idea about the tools at your disposal." I groan. Why does everypony think I'm a Trove Hunter? Just because I have this gun? 

"Look, I'm not a real Trove Hunter. I'm just an ordinary pony looking to make a living out here..."

"By Trove Hunting." He finished for me.

"No! By farming!" Stock laughs at this. I bite my lip in frustration. Stock at this point has pulled something from his chest and went over to my right, where sat a giant locker and a work bench. He pulled something from the locker and slammed it into the thing he pulled out of the chest. It clicked which made my heart involuntarily flutter. 

"You can farm all you want with this bad baby," A spark lit up in his eyes and I looked around to see if there was some sort of light fixture I was missing. I groan. How could a gun help me farm? 

"Mister Stock..."

"Just call me Stock missy," His voice was getting a little more edgy and aggressive. I was a little unsure of his tone change but I continued.

"Stock. What if I just sell you the gun? I'm not a real Trove Hunter and..." I took off my bracelet holding my armanent and he takes it, tossing it to the side onto his work bench. He shoves the thing in his hooves into mine.

"Enough talkin' and more shootin'," He spat out at me. I blink as he points to the large field in front of us. There were several rock formations in the open field, all big enough for a pony to hide behind if they were to crouch behind it. "What you got in your hooves is an FS Brand Rifle. The more you shoot, the faster and more accurate it will become," I look over to him where he now is equipped with a remote and points it at the field. He presses a button and pony manikins pop up. He then trots over to me and I see a wide grin plastered across his face. He takes my hooves and places one below the small tube and another on a big button that sat between the handle and the thing I would later figure out is my magazine. "That button you're feeling is your trigger. Press it when you want to see you enemies go boom. A good tip is to hug the weapon when you want to live. Now get shooting!" 

I feel the weight of the gun in my hooves and I take aim at one of the ponikins. My HAYS labeled it as a Practice Dummy and I would have to see it was a fair description. I get into a comfortable position and press the button. The gun spasms wildly in my hooves and I almost lose grip, "Hug it tightly! Teach it you mean business!!!" I missed my first shot and I take a another one for a different ponikin that is a little bit closer. The gun spasm still, but a little less wildly than the first shot. The shot chipped at the ponikin's shoulder and I feel my body tense up and get all giddy. I take another shot, the gun now completely under my control. I finish off the first ponikin with a 'CRITICAL' hit but sniping its head clean off. I move onto the next one and that one goes down within a few shots, as well as the next. I begin to mow through more ponikins as more appear. By the time my HAYS system warned me that I was running low on bullets, I found a huge smile on my face. 

"That is a face of a true Trove Hunter," I hear him say and I immediately frown, "The FS Brand comes in a variety of different types and specializes in trading fire with an enemy, but what if you get jumped by a bandit who decided to flank your side?" He presses a button and a giant paper picture of a very bloody and dangerous looking pony with dark red eyes pops up in front of me. I drop my gun in fright when I hear a whistle to my right. Stock tosses me another gun, this one was pink and blue. When I caught it, I almost thought it was a joke, but the feeling of a familiar trigger, giant tube sticking out of, and weight told me otherwise. 

I take a quick aim and I hug the gun close to my body. I am greeted with a new feeling of power as the paper in front of me gets ripped into shreds and I get launched backwards a few steps. Wow. This thing felt awesome! More ponykins appeared before me, sticking out of the ground and attached to something making them move slowly towards me. I aim my gun and point it at the closest one and I blast it away, watching the bullets obliterate any evidence that something stood there to begin with. "That is a Power Package Brand Shotgun. PPBS for short. These things are jammed with bullets, explosives, and other things that makes your enemy run for cover before they get torn to shreds. PPB usually makes wonderful weapons for personal encounters. But," He presses another button and I see a giant robot appear from the rock ceiling, dropping in front of me and pointing a giant gun at me. I'm taken a back and I fire another shot without thinking. The bullets bounce off the robot leaving little dents off it but not shredding it to pieces like it did the other ponykins. 

"A pony jumps into a mech and is roaring to shut you down. But luckily, you're well equipped for the job," Stock tosses me another gun as I set down the PPBS. "This here is the R-Brand. This will shatter your enemy's expectations and replace them with brilliant awe." I take a few shots at the giant robot and I see it begin to stagger as holes appear all over its body. "The bullets plant themselves upon whatever it hits and separate in an explosion, shredding whatever armor they got. However, incredibly weak against most flesh and shields since the bullets they shoot aren't sharp enough to penetrate first." The mech starts to deteriorate and glow, then without warning, it exploded into a giant fireball. The entire display left me breathless. I put down the R-Brand and look expectantly to Stock. 

He gives me a warm smile that makes me feel a bit off about using these weapons. These were tools for killing ponies and Stock was talking about it as if it was a game to him. I shudder at the thought and realize I was excited looking at him for another way to kill a pony. I gulp and I feel myself lose circulation in my body as my heart stops beating for a brief moment. Stock takes no notice, or at least he doesn't make a comment. He tosses me a large, or rather a longer tube than the rest he has given me. "This is a TS Sniper Rifle. TS Brand is known for bringing the elements within its control as well as interesting bullet decals to the table," The TS Sniper hummed with blue energy. I could feel a strange warmth emanate from its very core. The ends of my fur went straight up and I feel like I knew what element this controlled immediately. I reach for the trigger and then I realize there isn't one. I point such a fact out to him.

"Ah, keen observation. It was my mistake at first, but I decided to make it into a lesson. Some weapons are designed for special apparatuses such as your bracelet." He gestured to my bracelet gun on the work bench. "That one in your hooves is designed for a backpack apparatus. There are three different kinds as far as I know, but this is such a crazy new concept that there will always be something new created every day. There's one created for your hooves as you saw and also there is rumored to be some created for your head," He shrugs at my disbelief, "Your guess is as good as mine. What are they supposed to use to shoot? Their ears?" We both chuckle at the thought. He replaces the gun in my hooves  and I quickly aim down at a nearby ponykin and I pull the now available trigger at my disposal. I was expecting a lightning bolt to pop out of the gun, but what instead happens is a small beam of light zipped out of the gun and enveloped the pony providing quite the light show. "TS Brand weaponry primarily comes in four elements. Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Electricity is a subset of fire. While TS Brand weapons are interesting and may not pack the biggest punch, you will be able to control the environment with gusto when it comes to these weapons.  Whenever you see a cursive TS on a gun, you know you're in for a treat," I turn to him and I give him the gun. "You already touched the AJ Brand. Guns that don't rely on fancy gizmos, just straight shooting until the end. You'll see the ponies here are mostly satisfied with the AJ brand, but if you strike out into the Cannerlands, almost anything is possible when there is no laws to constrict how dangerous a weapon can get." 

"All this is fine a good, but I still don't know how to reload my gun." I point out. 

"These guns are all pretty much universal in Cannerlands. Your HAYS device will be able to tell you how to reload your instrument of destruction when you're running low on ammunition," Not wanting to seem like an idiot, I simply nod. Crap, I was already low on ammunition and the HAYS device has not said anything nor moved an inch towards helping me reload. "Now, about my payment," I stop dead in my thoughts. 

"P-payment?"

"Oh sure. Those guns aren't free, and neither is any of that ammunition you used. Those guns were also in new mint condition." The pony then pulled out an abacus and started moving beads across at a rapid rate. "Each gun is now a fraction of the value it was originally worth. Of course I wouldn't expect you to pay it all up front, but I do expect..." 

I don't hear anything else he said. He set me up. I'd be able to pay him off any amount of bits he'd want, but I lost my knapsack in the train. Now I really wish I could go back and look for it in the train wreckage, but it's probably been looted and scavenged. "And what if I don't pay?" I ask, interrupting his long list of things he could charge me for. 

"Well... ah, right on time," Stock looks towards the entrance as do I. Standing right there is probably the biggest pony I have ever seen in my life. He was the size of two  full grown stallions, maybe two full grown stallions and a premature colt. He was a deep pale red color, clay like. His mane was a faded green mo-hawk. He was covered in grey, tattered robes; belts were barely keeping his wardrobe together.  But what caught my eye and captivated for a rather disrespectful amount of time was his eyes. They were not... well, they were pure white. Two small, very thin circles outlined what I assumed was the pupil. And then my HAYS did a peculiar thing, it threw up several images of ponies I have never seen before in my life as well as a huge devious looking gun in the background follow by old western print that said, 'Wolf River'. It was pretty intimidatin... no... it was bad ass. That was the more proper choice. Bad ass.

"I never did quite get your name miss," Stock looked at me with a powerful grin. 

"Kale," I say quietly. 

"Well Kale, meet Mister Wolf River. Wolf River is a lovely sir who helps me do menial tasks around the Cannerlands while I sit comfortably here in the safety of my shop. He was a Trove Hunter like you once, but he found it within his interests to help him out," I take a brief look at him as he does to me. I wasn't sure if he was blind or not, but he seemed to acknowledge my presence either way. He was a Trove Hunter like me? Or used to be? Did he get roped into this just like me? 

My mind was racing furiously and I quickly grab the FS Brand Rifle that Stock didn't pick up and point it at him, making sure there's still some ammunition in it. Thirteen shots. Boy, I hope that's enough to threaten somepony who knows way more about these guns than me. I see my HAYS device reacts alongside me and makes him an enemy instead of a friendly on my mini-map. But as soon as I point my gun at Stock, Wolf pulls a cement slab off his back as well a giant tube with a bunch of little tubes planted inside of it, it would later be describer to me as a gattling gun. "Ya see? Wolf River has loyalty to me, just like you will 'Kale'," Stock grinned happily. "And good luck with that gun, I have a shield to protect me from bullets," He uses my own gun bracelet and points it at himself. Without flinching, he presses the trigger and a bullet hits him in the chin. He moves his vest slightly to the side and a weird circular device glows as a space around his entire body blinks blue for a brief moment. 

"How many?" I asked, my lips suddenly feeling very dry. "How many ponies?"

"Oh, maybe a hooful. Six I think to be precise. You will be number seven Kale," 

"Six," Wolf River's was deep and reminded me of the word mahogany for whatever reason. He pulled something else from his back and threw it my way. It landed in front of me with a thud and a little jingle. "That is twenty five thousand bits. It's what he charges all of his 'customers'," He kept his gun pointed at me, but I saw that he got into a more comfortable position, no longer tense but wishing for this just to pass. Stock turns to Wolf River and narrows his eyes, a snarl forming on his once calm features. 

"How much do you owe him?"

"That," He points at the sack of bits in front of me. My heart sinks. He was probably trotting up to finally free himself of this dick bag's reign. Bandits were evil, well, were being past tense. This was evil. Bandits were just bad. This was evil. I trot forward and kick the sack a few inches towards Stock. 

"I will buy Wolf River's freedom," Wolf River's eyes widen at me as well as Stock's. "I have no intention of paying somepony worse than a bandit. This is slavery, and although I'm sure the Cannerlands is lawless, we're not in the Cannerlands," I snarl back at Stock. He quickly whips out some fancy gun with a red and blue design and points it at me before I could react. 

"I have a shield. You don't. You could have just trotted away and accepted the get out of jail free card. But now you lost me my best Trove Hunter. I hope you enjoy pony hel..." Before he could finish the sentence, the gattling gun barrel poked him in the head. 

"Five. You have five ponies now under your control," Wolf River didn't smile, but you could hear in his voice that he was enjoying this.

"I was going to let you off easy Kale. I don't get many Apps my way," He gestured to my bracelet, "I was going to let you off easily. Fifteen thousand at most..." 

"Stop. Fucking. Talking." Wolf River poked Stock's head harder with the gun. 

"And what about you big guy? That thing is mine. I made it especially for you, so it's mine," 

"You made it for me," Wolf River repeated, "Who else will buy it? The other pony my size?" Stock's face turned white...er. "I shall do you a service and keep it in my possession until you find a buyer," He then motioned for me to leave and I gladly take that as a cue to get out of here.

"Hey! That's my gun!" Stock was about to make a move to point the gun at me, but a lovely Wolf River's gun says otherwise. 

"I'm trading it for the apparatus. You said so yourself, its rare right? So it should be an even trade for something that is universal," I comment, looking him dead in the eyes and seeing his face drain of whatever color was left to something that was pure blanch. That was the most satisfying thing I've felt all day. I almost skip as I leave the shop.

I hear a gunshot just as I'm about to leave the shop and I immediately ready my gun, "Wolf?" I call out. It was after a heart wrenching moment that I see the pale red head peek its head out from behind the counter. 

"I gave Mister Scratch something to think about," He commented scruffly as he trotted past me. I looked at the entrance to the basement unsure while I stowed my rifle in my backpack. I follow Wolf River out into the road when I realize that he is nowhere to be seen. Instead, I am greeted with a very unhappy looking Stanley. 

"There you are. Where have you been?!" Stanley was stomping his hoof as I trotted towards him. 

"Oh, I was..." Before I could get any words out, he grabs me by the hoof and yanks me towards the Sheriff's office. 

"We've been waiting all morning for you, kid! And stay out of that GUN shop. Sheriff suspects he is an ex-slaver with a nasty way to manipulate ponies."  Stanley says as he pulls me along. "If you ask me, I think he's just plain creepy,"

You have no idea. 

*~LEVEL UP~* 

Level 3.

Action Skill Unlocked. Every Trove Hunter isn't just slick with a gun. We all have skills that make us unique. Yours is "Rage of Mind". You become at peace with your inner turmoil, if not for only a few moments. You accuracy and movement speed increases significantly while "Rage of Mind" is active. Every kill adds additional time based off of level and adds a stack of "iPromise". For each stack of "iPromise", your fire rate and critical damage is increased by a fraction. At 10 (+ your level) stacks of "iPromise": "Rage of Mind" cancels out, your health and shields refill to max, and is immediately off cool down.

> HAYS RECORDING 002
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

His helmet was on tight but not too tight. He adjusted his glasses and sniffled. "Mister Stallion. Mister..." A voice started to call his name over the audio comms above everypony in the very large yet somehow still stuffy room. The white walls were faded, some spots paint was chipping. Banners of ponies, changelings and gryphons on the front lines sacrificing their life for the sun was strung across the walls. The floor was an equally depressing tone, stained with mixes of yellow and brown that was not what you thought but still unknown to you. 

He quickly got up from his seat and trotted towards the front desk. "Mister B-Butt St-Stallion will you p-please..." The office worker mare was on the verge of tears, as well as her co-workers as they read the name on the sign up list. Everypony looked in his direction beginning to chuckle and laugh as he went red with embarrassment. "Kid, Sergeant Haystacks is waiting for you in his office." The mare pointed to a door that was to the side of the front desk, barely able to contain herself. 

Yes. We get it. My name is Butt Stallion. Enough already. Geesh. 

He trotted into the office and closed the door softly behind him. Sergeant Haystacks was not a pony despite his namesake. He was actually a gryphon. A gryphon who raised the finest Trove Hunters in Cannerlands. He trained adventurers and heroes to spread the good and the plentiful across Cannerlands. How he got there was questionably ethical but in the end one thing was certain, he was one of the most powerful individuals in Cannerlands, and gaining his protection was not only a privilege but a tool that most ponies took advantage of in the lawless wasteland.

"Let's see... Mister Butt Stallion..." The gryphon had a gray coat with light brown feathers. His eyes were downcast a majority of the time as Butt trotted into the room and took a seat in one of the two chairs that was placed at an angle of Haystack's desk. The gryphon muttered under his breath, "This isn't going to take long," Barely loud enough for Butt to hear. Barely. Butt Stallion took a moment to look around the office. It was a small blue box, much like he was. The walls was decorated with plaques and medals, though Butt could barely tell if they were for anything of importance or if they were just bought at a medal crafting shop. On the desk however was something of note, it looked like blueprints for a weapon of some sort, an apparatus if you will. "So. Mister Butt. Why do you want to become a part of Alliance?" 

"Well sir..." Butt Stallion paused for a moment, his eyes scanning something unknown to Haystacks. "I need protection." Haystack's eyes widened in surprise, before Haystacks could even answer, Butt Stallion continued, "I need protection from those savages out there. Protection that you could give. That you could teach. I need power to help me become stronger, to help other ponies, my mother and myself included," Haystacks blinked and pulled out a scroll that seemed like a script. 

"That's fine and dandy soldier, but what can you bring to Alliance that I couldn't get from any one of those 'savages' you say out there?" Haystack's eyes narrowed at Butt.

"What are those blue prints for? A new kind of weapon? Something to make ponies even more deadly?" Butt Stallion's eyes went straight to Haystack's desk. Haystacks immediately rolled it up and put it under his desk, he wasn't supposed to allow anypony to take anything longer than a glance at it and yet this pony already knew it was something of worth. 

"I think it's time for you to leave,"

"I think it's time for you to ask yourself a question. Who else asked about the blue print?" Butt Stallion slammed both his hooves onto the desk, propping himself up to reach Haystacks height. Haystacks straightened his back, attempting to match Butt's gaze. "The next question after that should be, 'Who scanned that blueprint the instant they saw it was important?" Haystacks began to feel his spine slowly turning into jelly, "Then the question immediately to be followed up with that is, 'Is this pony a spy? Will my officials be pleased by my efforts? Does he know that Sergeant isn't actually my name, but my rank? That there's one above it?"

Haystacks had enough as he pulled a revolver from his desk and fired it at Butt Stallion. Butt Stallion removed his helmet and threw it at Haystacks, slightly disorientating him, causing his first few shots to miss. Upon Butt Stallion's head was a horn, thus showing him to be a unicorn and not an earth pony.  His horn flashed for a brief second and two copies of him appeared before Haystacks. He pointed his gun at all three before taking a shot at the one in the middle. "Wrong." The middle one mocked as it fell to the floor before disappearing completely. Haystacks fired another shot at the one on the left, "Wrong again. Tut tut." Haystacks fired the rest of his clip into remaining Butt Stallion and it went down, blood oozing out of its head. Haystacks panted heavily and grinned. 

"Victory is mine you cocky sonuva..."

"Bang." Haystack's heart stopped beating for a brief moment as Butt Stallion appeared at his side with his hoof raised, pretending it was a gun. The dead Butt Stallion on the floor slowly evaporated into magical dust,"If I was truly a spy, you would be dead and the blue prints would be mine. Your superiors won't like this," And without another word, Butt Stallion left the office. He left the door open as he began to count down in his head. The office mare from earlier was the first to attempt to stop him, a rifle raised at his head shouting vulgarities at him to stop.  "You going to kill me? Or help your leader before he bleeds out?" The mare bit her lip and dashed past him to check if Haystacks was alright. Butt Stallion was halfway through the room before  he was eventually stopped by a claw on his shoulder. "Looks like I misjudged you Haystacks," 

Haystack's eyes begun to look hopeful. "You are a horrible, pitiful, shitty, awful, inadequate excuse for a leader..." Haystack's spine was now that similar of a snail without his shell as he was forced to look up at Butt Stallion's gaze. "But, you show promise and a will to learn. Acceptable. After a few changes to this place, maybe The Alliance will finally presented the way it deserves?" Haystacks nodded, begging profusely to keep his position here. The numerous other ponies in the room who were here to join Alliance were forced to watch, not risking to make another move lest they become the target of the mysterious pale blue unicorn. "First, get rid of the workers at the front desk. They're weak. I don't care if you kill them or fire them or both, I don't want to see anyone weak in here, understood?" Butt Stallion glared at Haystacks with an implication he didn't need to be told twice. 

Butt Stallion didn't know Haystack's superiors. He did know a simple illusion spell to make birds freak their shit. He didn't know that the mare had a family to feed. He did know that he wouldn't care if he did know. He didn't know shit about The Alliance. He did know where the first of four Troves was. And he knew The Alliance had the firepower to get it open for him

> Chapter 3 New Opportunity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seemed like a simple enough job. One that could get me paid a lot of bits. One that would give me enough bits to buy myself some decent farming equipment, maybe prove all of these ponies wrong that I could actually be successful here. One that would leave enough bits left over for more bullets for my newly acquired FS Brand Rifle, my HAYS device aptly named it the "Quick Aim-Bot" and also highlighted the weapon a pungent violet. When I commented it out loud, Stanley chimed in that I got a high quality armament on my hooves, and also pointed out that a farmer acquiring such a thing was rare while chuckling to himself. I asked what equipment would be considered lower quality and he actually gave me a complete detailed list. 

"White is common grade stuff usually sold by mass producing factories. Green and blue are usually weapons that are give modifications to improve its performance while purple and orange are top of the line stuff that are usually acquired through rewards, payment, or other means," Stanley made quotation marks with his hooves when he said 'other'. 

I was sitting in a creaky wooden chair that allowed me to lean back into it, yet something told me this was not a part of its original design and that it was simply from wear that caused it to get like this. This could describe the Sheriff's office in a single sentence. The entire place looked as if it has been scraping by for a while. The doors creaked something awful if opened too wide, the cell doors were rusty to the point of being dangerous to touch, the wall paper was peeling to the point of the wall itself was on the verge of crumbling, and the dust would fall from the ceiling every time somepony trotted around on the second floor. And yet, no matter all the flaws in this place, it added some character that I had give it respect. If someone was to say something about cleaning or fixing this place up, I feel it would be ultimately ignored by those who used this room. It fulfilled its purpose and that's all it needed to be used for.

Even the quality of parchment they used was of some sort of quality where writing on it would rip it ever so slightly where you would be left with perforations of letters you wrote by the time you were done. Or maybe the ponies here just had a heavy hoof? Either way, fancy Sheriff's office or not, they had a job for me. I have proven myself a worthy candidate, having survived a bandit attack to a train, to end the local bandit menace on this side of the border once and for all. In all honesty, I kinda looked forward to it. I had a new gun, a new gun that I wanted to try out, a new way to remove life from this world. My stomach still queased but I constantly told myself those bandits were causing more harm than good to the ponies here. The only one who probably deserved to be hassled was Stockpile. Probably would second think my decision of Stock was constantly raided by bandits, but apparently he has a big reputation in this town for helping ponies in need.

The Sheriff told me of this when I was about to bring up his manipulation of ponies to do his work for him. Everything being painted in gold, the inn as well as his own GUN shop were funded by one pony, him. He created more jobs in this town than what would ever exist without his presence. And I hated it. It made me want to curl up into a ball and cry... no. It made me want to go out and kill some bandits. If I couldn't stop someone who was abusing ponies without serious consequences, then I would go out kill ponies with serious benefits. Just the thought of holding the FS in my hooves and shooting it quelled my inner rage against Stock.  

Still, something inside of my deep most core told me that I would take down Stock once and for all. Not today, but in the future, he was going to get what was coming to him. When I thought of Stock, I also thought of Wolf River. Where did he go? Who was he even? He was the biggest stallion I ever met, and if it wasn't for his help, I would still be stuck at Stock's place. I asked Sheriff and Stanley if they met a pony with Wolf's description. Sheriff said he only saw him occasionally carry giant crates out of the GUN shop. Stanley made a little comment about missing the days of being a full time Trove Hunter, letting on that he helped the town more often than Trove Hunting these days. I couldn't help but like Stanley a little bit more for the fact. "Aw, you're a softie after all," I teased. He gave me a look that would kill me and rip me in half if it could, but I simply teased him further sticking out my tongue. 

The Sheriff offered a map of the local area. The bandits who attacked the train were believed to be a part of a bigger group called the Wound Lickers. Licks for short because no pony want to imagine what the group's name stood for everytime they said it. The Licks were north of the town, hanging out in some place called 'Bottom Drop Alley'. "Place filled with looters and thieves. Usually the place you go right before you head to the Border," Stanley explained. He dropped by there himself to get himself properly equipped for before Trove Hunting. It then struck me that Stanley has been on the other side of the Border and was able to get back in. I inquired further and he looked at the Sheriff who jumped in and explained. 

Apparently, rules aren't as strict as Canterlot Guards led me to believe. Any bandit can enter and leave the Border, but you had better luck to travel through Cannerlands and search for treasure than go hoof to hoof with a zebra warlock. 

I also inquired what the other side of the Border was like, and Stanley simply shrugged it off, explaining it was like any other society. There was rules. There were good ponies and bad ponies. His answer kinda made me feel like he was ignoring me to sound cool, but it made me think about how he described it with as little information he gave me. 

The Sheriff told me that the HAYS would scan the map and tell me how to get to the Licks hideout. Stanley has been scooping out the place for the past month, confirming that it was the place. Wheel was supposed to clear the place out when he got back from guarding the last train, but now that was impossible for obvious reasons. Stanley was too busy helping the Sheriff keep the town in check to take out the Licks once and for all. The Licks supposedly had a bunch of explosives within their hideout to help destroy their said hideout. Wheel was able to look at the area itself as well and said that a big enough explosion could cause a chain reaction throughout the cave to bury anypony inside it in a rocky tomb. I grimaced and asked if that was necessary. Stanley and Sheriff looked at me with a raised eyebrow, asking if I was up to the task. 

I mean, shooting ponies who were shooting me is one thing. But what about ponies that never asked to be a bandit in the first place? What about ponies who were kidnapped or prisoners being held within? Did Stanley even get to look inside the place they thought was their hideout? 

The Sheriff answered this immediately with, "It's up to you. It is an easier job taking collateral damage. You have not been here long enough to know that the Licks has been huge problem with our communication with the zebras as well. We have been unable to trade without assistance from Stock..." I tuned out everything else and I immediately nodded and accepted the job. I was going to first look for any prisoners inside Wound Licker's hideout, and when it was all clear, I was going to wipe them off the map.

"Also, if you run into a pony by the name of Fat Stab, kill him. The Wound Lickers have no announced leader, but he plans all the raids and the attacks on civilian caravans. Destroying their base of operations will help tremendously in stamping them out, but to truly stamp out every last cinder so another fire doesn't threaten to light up the cactus so to say, killing Fat Stab would guarantee that," 

Kill Fat Stab. Rescue any prisoners. And destroy an entire base of operations by myself. Eek. The more I thought about this, the more this sounded like a suicide mission than a simple job. 

"Oh, you won't be alone though," The Sheriff said, as if to read my mind. "Wheel was one of our best Trove Hunters that helped this town get on its hooves. And just like his father, Grind is just as passionate about adventure. He will want to come too." 

"What? But he's just a kid!" 

They both look at me and simultaneously say, "So are you," Oh yeah. Whoops. 

"Besides, age means little out here. If you can hold a gun, you are old enough to not be a waste of space," Stanley further commented. 

"Alright. It's settled. Take your time on getting prepared for your journey, but the sooner we kill those bandits, the sooner we can all sleep soundly at night. The Bar is ironically a good place to buy supplies. There are also some vendors in the home area of Bordertown who sell unique things, and telling them that you're going to take care of our bandit problem, they will probably help you out in some way," The Sheriff suggested, "Also, you're probably low on ammo for your gun since the fight on the train,"

"Nah, I'm good..." I look at my display from my HAYS device and I notice a huge change has taken place. Instead of six bullets out of four hundred something, I only saw the '13' bullets in my gun followed by a large zero. I quickly remove my pack from my neck and I pull out the bullets for the bracelet gun I had. The box of bullets and side pockets of bullets were still in my bag as I left it. What the hay?!

"Yeah, these bullets are AJ branded," Stanley said upon closer inspection. "You bought the wrong bullets didn't you?"

"I thought bullets were all the same!" Who the fuck makes different bullets?! Would it not be simpler for every gun to have the same bullet? C'mon!

"Luckily, Stock allows you to swap bullets free of charge. Stanley? Could you go show her where the GUN shop is? I gotta go do my hourly sweep of the perimeter," The Sheriff was putting on his duster as he talked and was already half way to the door as he finished he instruction.

"She already knows where it's at. I found her when she was leaving the store,"  Wait. Your expecting me to go alone Stanley? What about what you said about him being a slaver! 

"Alrighty then. Good luck then Kale," Sheriff was about to step out the door. I had to come up with something fast!

"Isn't Stock a slaver? Aren't you guys afraid he might kidnap me?!" I blurt out. The Sheriff whips his head to look at me and I realize that probably the most pathetic thing for a Trove Hunter to say. Especially one that is armed and just took out a train filled with bandits. But the point is now lingering in the air, much like the musky aroma of piss that just seemed to emanate from the walls. The Sheriff said, burying his face in his hoof.

"Stanley. Stop spreading rumors about Mister Scratch. None of them are true,"

"Dust, I'm telling you..." Stanley sounded genuinely hurt as he tried to defend himself but the Sheriff, Dust, cut him off. 

"No. I don't want to hear another word. Mister Scratch is a family friend and you can still be considered an outsider. This is your final warning, or maybe I'll stop overlooking your drunken brawls at the bar. You help the Trove Hunter do some real work, clear? " And with that, the Sheriff slammed the door, leaving a very awkward understanding that Stanley was going to escort me to the GUN shop just to comfort me. 

So, it seemed there was a slight difficulty in telling the Sheriff that Stock was a corrupted piece of crap that deserved to be ran out of this town. I questioned if the Sheriff wouldn't listen to somepony who has been here, helping him defend the town, what good would it be if I tried to jump having just gotten here? Maybe he would if I killed this Stab guy and stomped out the threat of bandits for good. It was a long shot, but it was the only lead I got. I looked at Stanley as we trotted and I felt shitty about the entire thing. He was right about Stock, and it made me think that Stock only knew bits and pieces of the whole story... yet I couldn't tell him what I knew. 

I was unsure if he was going to run to the Sheriff straight away with what I told him and that would just cause the Sheriff to not trust me when it came to Stock. No. I played politics when I was under my mother's care. I know how this goes. I need to be respected for something big first before I can call out senior management. And killing Stab was that big thing I needed. Plus, it eliminated a need for Stock to still be here, allowing easier trade with the zebras. 

When they finally arrived at the shop, Stanley sighed, "Just go in and trade in your bullets. Dust... I mean Sheriff is probably right. It was just rumors anyways. I'm probably just jealous since Cass has a crush on him," He sighed in defeat. I blink. No! I need somepony to help me take him down! I don't need you giving up now. Besides, I wasn't going in there again. He had a shield and a shop full of guns that he could probably just kill me with, I needed backup just in case. 

"I didn't bring anything up Stanley..." I whispered quietly underneath my breath. Stanley's ears perked up, his eyes widening as I began to speak, "But you're not wrong. When I was here earlier, he was trying something with some customer when I trotted in on it. He offered me a gun to shut me up and to make me forget anything I just saw," I fib. Okay, I panicked really. It would just seem like I'm taking his side if I say I was effected or something. I needed Stanley to believe me as well help me out. My earlier assumption proving true, he immediately turned tail.

"We gotta tell the Sheriff then! You can back me up and then he's gotta believe me!" He exclaimed. I quickly bite his tail, pulling my head back, hoping I'm not causing too much of a scene.

"Hang on!" I say through clenched teeth. He pauses and looks back at me as I release his tail. "There's no point on making it a difficult decision on him kicking him out when the town still relies on him for trade," I point out. He pursed his lips and rubbed his chin. "After Grind and I take out this home base for bandits, your trade with the zebras should resume, right?" Stanley nodded, "It's then we can take down Stock and kick him out of this place. Then, and only then would it be easier to prove that Stock is extorting ponies for his own gain,"

Stanley's eyes widened and he nodded, adjusting his bandana, "Yeah, that makes sense," 

I smile and feel my heart flutter. We had a plan, all we had to do was do it now. It was nice to know that I had somepony on my side to help take down Stock. I didn't know where Wolf River was and he didn't seem like he necessarily cared about me or Stock once he left the GUN shop. Not that I could blame him. He probably helped Stock way more than he wanted and probably just wanted to rid himself from the situation once and for all. That was fine, I had Stanley now to aid me. 

Even though I knew I wasn't alone, it didn't make the job ahead of me any less daunting. Including the part where I had to get more bullets from Stock. With the knowledge Stanley now knew was true, it was courtesy to escort me inside to make sure I knew what I was doing. Quotation marks, quotation marks. 

Oddly enough, it wasn't as awkward nor bullet flying as I thought it was going to be. Stanley and Stock greeted each other as if they were old friends. At first, I thought I was the one being duped as Stanley gave Stock a high hoof as he explained that I needed an exchange for bullets. Then, Stanley inquired as how Stock was able to keep profit by being so generous with his wares. Stock responded by asking how Stanley was able to stay out of jail if he kept getting into fights with the locals. Stanley laughed and stated he was more surprised by how Stock got away with all of his extortion tactics. Stock winked and asked how Stanley's family in Manehattan was faring. Stanley casually pointed a rather fancy looking pistol at Stock's head. My eyes widened. The side of the pistol had two colorful letters, 'RD' engraved in the barrel of the gun. Stock laughed and pulled out something twice his size, threatening to blow up us up along with the entire front of his shop. They stood there, their gazes locked for what seemed like an eternity. 

It wasn't until I jumped in, pulling out my gun and pointing it at Stock. Stock whipped his head and turned towards me. "Stay out of this Kale..." Stock's smile was gone and was replaced with a warning look

"We're only here for bullets. We're not here to take you down... yet. So enjoy your stay while we work on that, but today, we're only here for bullets," My teeth began to grind as I said it, my rage visible on my face, through the throbbing veins in my temple. Stanley still had his smile up and tilted his head.

"You're out numbered Stock," This caused the GUN merchant to laugh like a hyena and then finally address the comment with one of his own.

"If you only knew," And with that, he swapped my AJ bullets for FS bullets and we both left before Stock decided to actually use that giant gun of his. 

I let out a heavy breath. My heart was pumping while Stanley casually dusted himself off. "Sorry, I should have warned you. We get into it every time we meet," Stanley offered his body for support. I gladly leaned against it, smelling heavy apple cider, smoke, and whiskey on him. After a brief moment of reprieve, without warning took my gun from me, nodded, and reloaded it in front of me. 

I took back the gun from him, thanking him for doing me multiple big favors. He simply shook his head and smiled at me. "Kale, right?" He put out a hoof and gave me a hoof shake, "Come back alive. Let's take down this asshole," I nod at him and then we part ways. I could only think of how long he has been at war with Stock on his own.

It was time to do my part. But first, I had to go wake up mister sleepy head at the Inn.

---

"Has he been out all this time?" I asked Cass when we reached upstairs. 

"Yeah. I wouldn't disturb him. He's been through a lot..." Her voice trails off as I trot up to his bed and I nudge him with my hoof. I see his chest expand and deflate, in and out. He was definitely alive. Much to Cass's dismay, I got onto his bed and began to bounce up and down. 

"Wake. Up! We're. Going. To. Kill. Bandits!" I yell each word with every bounce, disturbing his slumber as I made his bed my own personal trampoline. His eyes slowly fluttered open and I tilt my head, making a face at him. "Morning sleepy head. I was able to get a new gun, learn how to reload, and..." It was in the middle of my little lazy implication speech that my stomach decided to groan loudly, yelling at me to eat some food. I immediately jump off the bed and I feel my entire body go weak. When was the last time I ate? 

I think back to dinner before I ducked out of my mom's house. That was more than four days ago! I groan outwardly this time, and I fall onto the bed next to Grind's, tangling the covers in a shockwave of exhaustion. "We're going to kill bandits? How? You going to eat 'em?" Grind grinned at me, Cass chuckling. Oh har har. 

"Ok. First we're going to eat a ton of food. Then I'll tell you my plan," I announce. My mind was now focused on one task. "Hey, Miss Cass..."

"Please don't make me feel old, sweetie. And I'm already on it," She pushed a tuft of mane out of her face and headed downstairs. While Cass got food and in between the hunger pangs, I told Grind of the job the Sheriff had for me. I left out the whole Stock slaver part, there was no need to complicate things are put Grind in any danger or worry him. He had enough to think about with his dad already. 

"So, we're going to march right into Bottom Drop Alley and raid an entire bandit camp by ourselves?" Grind asked, his tone wavering. 

"The Sheriff already volunteered you," I cut off any hesitation he may have,  "And I got used to the idea of already having someone coming with me. No getting out of it now," I back him into a corner but he throws up a hoof, dismissing my cowardly concerns.

"I'll be glad to come. I always thought of marching in there by myself and wiping house with them, but my dad didn't want me being a Trove Hunter... so I was forced to learn the railroad." I was unsure of how going out of your way to kill bandits and being a Trove Hunter were even related, but I decided to let Grind keep his moment. "I'd have to go home, buy some ammo and food," 

I nod and tell him how the Sheriff said that the town ponies will probably want to throw in their two cents to help out as well, since we're going to kill a pretty large bandit problem of theirs. Grind shrugged, "I live here, so I'm just doing what's good for the ponies here anyways" Well sorry I'm not the hero type, is what I wanted to say, but a huge hole in my stomach prevented me from half of my usual sass. 

I decided to take a look inside my pack while Cass was getting food for us. There was the scroll, the book, my new box of FS ammo, and my new FS rifle that I simply adored. I felt hot all over thinking of all the bandits this thing was going to kill. Which I justified in my head over and over was okay to enjoy because probably enjoyed it along with raping, pillaging, and vandalizing things, which I assumed they did because they were bandits and bandits did bad things. The rifle itself was red in color with yellow stripes going down the barrel of the gun. A cursive FS in golden plating labeled both sides of the handle. It had an ammo cartridge that went into the left side of the gun, right into the barrel. Oh, so many ponies were going to die tomorrow... bandits. They didn't deserve to be called ponies anymore. They were monsters. I wasn't. 

The box contained several cartridges of pre loaded bullets. I was told that you would usually have to put the bullets in manually, but Stock would do so for all of his customers, or have his slaves do it was probably the reality. 

I take out the book and my HAYS device labeled it as 'Highly Amplified Yodel Sound device Manual'. I quickly flip it open and begin reading how to actually operate this thing. Most of it was self explanatory. It used my current vitals to assess how my body's well being was. It helped display any additional combat information that I while on the battle field. When I was off of it, it served as a map and guide throughout the waste land. The manual itself had some interesting tid bits as well about who made it and why. 

It was created by a Trove Hunter for Trove Hunting by some guy named... Butt Stallion. I'm serious. That's what his name was. Butt Stallion. Can I say it again? I'm going to say it again. "The guy who created the HAYS device, his name was Butt Stallion," I comment out loud, placing the book down for a brief moment. Grind looked sideways at me and I showed him the book. He laughed, followed by a choking sound. "You ok?" I ask, concerned about him.

"Yeah, fine. Just a little sore," Grind cleared his throat, a wide smile still on his face. I smile back at him and also just for myself. It was nice having somepony to talk to that wasn't the wall. I read a few more pages on HAYS device maintenance if it ever stopped working in mid combat and how to quickly fix it. I keep the knowledge tucked away in the back of my mind while I put the book back in my pack. I took out the scroll and Grind takes interest in it as well. "What cha got there?"

I shrug and remove the gooey red wax seal that kept it neatly rolled. "I dunno. Found all this stuff off some dead bandit. Going to figure out what it is same time you are," I tell him. He nods and decides to take it literally, trotting over to my bed and sitting next to me, leaning into my side. He felt warm like a nice comfortable blanket, probably due to him sleeping all day. Lazy butt. 

I unravel the scroll and I begin to read, "Dear Yams," I look at Grind and he makes a face similar to mine. ("Like the sweet potato?") I shush him as I continue on, "Attached is a HAYS device as well as HAYS memory disc. Listen to it ASAP. I will be waiting in New Equestria for you. Love ya," And at the bottom of the scroll was a little lens that was taped to the page. The HAYS device had a little lens that magnified everything stored on it. This little lens doubled as a speaker that you could talk into it. It was how you were able to record messages, send them, and talk to other ponies with transmissions in the air. It also projected my health and inventory right to my eyeballs. This same lens on the device itself was also how it absorbed information, and when you wanted to give somepony a hardcopy, you simply recorded your message and the HAYS device would create a small little disc that was attachable to your lens. When attached to your lens, it would scan all the information and copy it onto your HAYS device for you to keep as long as your device functioned. Grind stared curiously at the disc though and I explained it all to him. By the end of the explanation, his mouth made a little oh shape and his face clearly told how fascinated with subject he was. 

I had to admit, it was pretty cool too. But something nagged at the corner of my mind. There was all this wonderful and terrible technology out here in the Cannerlands, why wouldn't Celestia have any of this? She was a goddess having spanned over at least 2000 years of experience. Surely she has been to this part of region right? I would think that the Princess would keep tabs on everywhere, especially places of incredible danger for her subjects. But then I thought of the Trove, maybe she knows of that as well and steers clear, probably knowing it was some fool's pipe dream and advised her subjects to do the same? I shift my hooves underneath me to get into a slightly more comfortable position. Grind angles his body where I could lean into him more easily. I look up at him, then at the disc.

"So... are you going to play it?" He asks. I bite my lip nervously. I stole this off of what I think was a bandit. If I just looted some pony that was on an important mission, how would I look? But how guilty would I look if I don't play it at all? Mind as well be more truthful than more of a monster. My conscience prods me with a moral stick.

I stick it onto my small lens and let it record the information. An empty white rectangle appeared at the bottom of my vision and filled up rapidly. Food arrived as the HAYS device made a small noise to notify me that it had finished downloading whatever was on the disc. I removed the disc from the lens and put it down on the letter. 

"Oh? Whatcha got there?" Cass eyed the little memory disc. My throat went dry. I didn't have an answer for Grind was going to ask, and I definitely didn't have one now.

"Oh, Kale here got a message off of some pony that looked like he looted another pony," And Grind comes to my rescue. "We're going to give it a listen, wanna join?" I give Grind a look.

"It's my message, and I will do the inviting," I give Grind a playful shove. He winces but smiles at me to reassure me he's fine. Right, he's probably still sore all over his body. Cass looks at me with puppy dog eyes and shimmering eyes, "Yes, you can stay. Only because of the cute thing earlier," I comment. Seriously, no one has called me any kind of attractive in my life time. I've mostly been bullied by my mother and customers at my mother's restaurant. 

Cass gave a giddy, filly like squeal and jumped onto the bed onto my other side. My stomach growled once more and the two ponies gave me worrying look. "After the message, it's definitely time to eat,"

The HAYS manual said that it could project an image from the lens in front of the user as well as produce audio by voice command. I had to look up the exact phrase, but each voice command required a press of a button followed by the specific phrase into the lens in my HAYS device that was already by my mouth. Since it was on my right ear, the lens was on the end of the piece near my mouth on my right side. I had to makes a face which caused Cass to snicker. "You can just talk normally dear," 

Oh.

"Play projection recently downloaded," I say as clearly as I could. My HAYS device made a little pinging noise and a miniature dark purple pegasus  appeared about three feet from my face. When he spoke, it was oddly deep for what I would think a pony could ever sound like.

---

"Yammy. I know we've had our differences, but you're one of the only ponies I can trust. I need your help for one last job in Cannerlands. I've taken a contract to kill a terrible pony who is corrupting it more than it already is. And his reach is growing farther and longer than anypony could even fathom. His strength lies in his connections, and soon, I fear he may even have spies in Equestria already. We need to stop this menace before it becomes too late. Meet me in New Equestria, we'll talk more there. I love you Yammy. I heard you've... well... you've moved on. And if you can't find me in New Equestria, then assume I'm dead. But this pony needs to be stopped. My friends will welcome you here with open arms if..."

"Night! Alliance Mechs inbound!" 

"Yammy! New Equestria! Bring that quick trigger..." 

An explosion cut him off as a dark robotic voice that would haunt me for days to come spoke out over the recording. "DIE PONY SCUM." The recording ended with the pony making a quick motion, pulling out what looked like a very big gun.

---

Grind looked determined to march t New Equestria just as the message finished. A dangerous pony that had contacts everwhere that was corrupting Cannerlands? No thanks. I'll stick to my farm plan. Cass to my left sighed and looked at us both, "Don't listen to that recording. Throw that disc away. Nothing is waiting for you in New Equestria. Not anymore," 

Cass got up and started trotting to the stairs. Grind looked troubled but seemed to know what the deal was already. I didn't so I jumped to the question, "Not anymore? What does that mean?"  Cass bit her lip and hovered in the doorway headed downstairs, tears in her eyes as I see she was reliving some personal memory. 

"New Equestria is in ruins. Don't go there," She sniffled as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She cleared her throat and waved for us to follow, "Now c'mon, enough bad memories for tonight. Time for dinner. I made steak for our two heroes," 

"Yummy! Steak!" Grind exclaimed with glee, jumping off the bed and following Cass. 

I suddenly felt my stomach lurch as if I was getting into another train accident. Steak? Like from a cow? Like, from my old neighbor Sally who was nice and often baked me cookies? That kind of steak? 

The thought... cow... steak... I felt queasy and I looked for the closest waste basket to throw up in.

> HAYS RECORDING 003
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What are we doing with our lives? Seriously Celestia. Can you even look me in the eye and say we're doing things for the best of Equestria anymore? Or are just doing things that benefit you? I..." Twilight paused, looking over her shoulder in her little booth. The entire room smelled of cigar smoke, something Twilight wish she never learned the existence of.  It was a foul odor that stuck with you long after you leave. She hated it.

She was in a 'restaurant' that served only meat entrees to an Equestrian based society, whom of which primary diet consisted of plants. Plants! Not cow and chicken, raised to slaughter for consumption. Twilight was seething since she set hoof in Bottom Drop Alley. It was a small little town located in a cavern that seemed to have been created by a natural earth quake. The only reliable light source was the crack in the earth above them. At night, they would light anything they could find on fire in this forsaken place. 

With nothing to eat, she was forced to order the least repulsive thing on the menu, a basket of fried potato strips. When they finally arrived, Twilight could just see the heart attack in front of her. Nothing was pure here. Everything was corrupted to the point that she thought she was transported to another planet separate from her own. "You should really try the bacon burger. That's good stuff," A voice from behind her came and sat down across from her. Twilight was able to find a 'companion' of sorts who was on his way to place called Bordertown. She hoped it was much more respectable than this dump. 

The lights were dim in this restaurant and each booth had an optional patchwork curtain that you could pull to hide your booth from sight. Twilight's mind shuddered, trying not to think about what that was trying to imply for their customers. "Hey, you okay Twilight?"

"No! I am not okay!" Twilight fidgeted with the little metal rod attached to her head, hanging from her ear. Her companion told her that it was a HAYS device, designed to keep in touch with the sane ponies around and guide your way through the wasteland. Twilight should have denied the device, but she needed to know more about the Cannerlands. From the pure disgust and filth she has seen out here, there has to be something she can do to help these poor ponies live better lives. 

"Hey," Her companion got out of his seat and sat next to Twilight, wrapping an arm around her, trying soothe her and stop her from violently shaking. "Everything will be alright. There's nothing much a lone unicorn can do..."

"A lone unicorn could stop enslaving other ponies..." She bit back scathingly. Her companion bit his lip.

"I only five ponies under my hoof right now. Ponies who are coming to the Cannerlands for vile purposes already. I'm trying to fight the good fight here..."

"There's a right way to do it, and a wrong way to do it Stock," Twilight turned to her companion and looked him dead in the eyes. He felt his spine go rigid. That stare, something was magical about this unicorn, and no duh not that kind of magic. Stock felt... not like a scumbag around her. And it felt nice. Twilight sighed, taking a fry a tossing it into her mouth. It was too salty. It was too greasy. It felt just right in this kind of place.

"And what do you suggest we do?" Stock seperated from Twilight, giving her some room to look at him. "Be heroes? Invade the Wound Lickers headquarters at the edge of town?" Twilight tried to hold herself steady. Wound Lickers. She witnessed a horrible event where dark alicorn magic consumed her heart for just a moment. Three crudely dressed ponies in barbs and padding were antagonizing a mother and daughter. Hoping that was the extent, Twilight was dead wrong. That was foreplay for what was going to happen next, if Twilight didn't step in.

This entire town was scared of the Wound Lickers. And no pony could do anything against them. Twilight was told of a time when they tried to fight back. Most of them got captured, raped, tortured, killed, and then put on display in front of the hideout. She could run in and probably cast a spell, wiping the place out, but that would kill whatever innocent pony was in there left. She was an alicorn with incredible power, but she wasn't invincible. "It's better than doing nothing..." Twilight fought back feebly. 

"And what? Die? No Twilight. Every war is won strategically. If an entire town can't kill those ponies, what makes you think two ponies will make a difference?" Stock wiped his eyes and adjusted his mane. "Trust me Twilight, it would be a suicide mission with just two ponies," 

Twilight felt her stomach twist. Stock was right. She has never felt more helpless in her life. What chance did two ponies have against an army of bloodthirsty cannibals? 

> Chapter 4: Tactical Insertion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am a monster. No scathing sarcasm, no self pity, no jokes. I am a monster. I enjoy killing ponies and I like steak. Grind was digging into his delicious steak like it was the first meal he has seen in days. He took no mind as I took my begrudgingly first bite of the meal. I would be much less appalled if I despised my meal. It is the only thing available to eat at the table and I know my mind would simply say, 'What else am I going to eat? The table cloth?' 

Which, I would like to add was the fanciest table cloth I have ever seen in my adult pony life. It a pure silky white. The moment my hooves touched it, I was half tempted to pull it off the table and rush it to my bed room to snuggle with. The three of us, Cass, Grind, and I were sitting a round table that could fit four ponies around it. This table, along with the other vacant tables that surrounded us looked as if they belonged in a five star restaurant. Each table had a single candle that melted into a glass tube that was capable of recycling the candle it just used. It was actually quite an ingenious concept, but when I had to guess that candles were difficult to import when bandits were constantly raiding your trade routes, you had to start using things a smarter way. 

This dining hall was off of the main lobby through some double doors, and when I first took the room in, it was quite breath taking. The floors looked as if they were always neatly polished, a speaker stood in each corner of the room, three ceiling fans helped keep the room as comfortable as it could, and a well sized stage that could hold a full band and singer. 

I fidgeted in my red plush seat and I bite my lip in anticipation of my next bite of steak. Instead of diving my head in for my next bite of meat, I decided to look up at the stage thoughtfully and ask Cass something that came to mind, "Hey Cass, how often do you have parties here?" I try to sound as interested as I could. I was honestly really curious, but I hope no one saw my attempt at trying to divert any attention to me not eating my meal. 

Cass shrugged, tipping a sip of water from her clear as crystal flask on the table. "It's been a long time. Why do you ask sugar plum? Consider yourself a party pony?" Cass asks keeping her head propped up using her hooves. 

I shrug. "I just noticed the stage up there and I assumed you'd move the tables for more room to dance," I point out. "Just wondered if you had a lot of parties here," 

Cass sighed and looked to side, getting that look as she had another flash back to a time in the past, "We did. But then more ponies came through concerned about chasing adventure in the Cannerlands," She looked to the side and I noticed Grind stopped digging into his food like a monster, tidying up the best he could with the table cloth, and trying to comfort Cass. Cass barely acknowledged him and continued, "Soon, we had more reasons to mourn than reasons to celebrate. It's been a while since we all have had good news," Cass looked frustrated with herself as well as the world. But a more prominent feature was how tired she looked. Tired of continuing on when she thought about it. Her shoulders slumped over and her eyes were baggy from what I could tell were sleepless nights. The more I looked, the more I saw that she was a beautiful confident mare during the day, but at night she was shriveling up to something pathetic. 

"Well, you may want to get this place ready for another party," Grind patted Cass's back with a trying-too-hard smile, "Because Kale and I are going to end the Wound Lickers once and for all tomorrow. Right Kale?" He looks at me and I wait for Cass to look at me to give my response.

"Yep. Grind and I are going to kill Fat Stab. You're welcome to come along if you wanna see that bastard die," The venom in my voice was fake of course. I had no idea who Fat Stab was. And I'm sure Cass knew too. Geez. Grind and I were going to take on a miniature army. We were able to fight four bandits on the train. Did the Sheriff really think we could take out an entire hide out? I tried to push the thoughts out of my head while in the presence of Cass, though I'm sure she could see right through me.

"Yeah," She smiled and nodded at me. This entire conversation felt fake. Grind was the only one who seemed to either honestly believe we were going to finally end this bandit problem or he was incredible at self denial. We were going to die tomorrow and it was too late to change that. I already told the Sheriff I would do it, and if anything, I am a mare of my word to at least attempt. And hey, if we're lucky, I might accidentally kill Fat Stab in the process of my suicide mission. 

It's not like I had anything else better to do or anything else to fall back on. Not a bit to my name to even attempt to start farming. All I have is a gun, a bunch of bullets, a manual for a communication device, and letter to go help a city I have no ties to.

The rest of the dinner was ate in silence. I'm sure Grind realized what Cass's true expectations were and didn't try to reassure her anymore. 
---

"You don't have to come," I tell Grind when we're picking up supplies the next morning. My entire body ached still from the train accident, and it didn't help that I only went half way through my meal before silently telling myself that was enough of eating Mr. Robinson who was my old cow school teacher. So I was still hungry, my body still yelled at my every time I moved the wrong way, and I'm going to take a stab, pun, at killing Fat Stab who is probably heavily guarded by serial killers. 

I almost forgot why I was doing this in the first place. Even if I don't kill Fat Stab, I can rescue whoever is down there. And then I demolish their home base with their own explosives. It made me kind of curious how the Sheriff knew where the explosive room was but I just wrote it off as tons of preparation. They were probably going to attempt this when they had more Trove Hunters from the train, but when it failed to produce they had to rely on whoever was left. Me and Grind.

Then after the bandits were outta the way, I could focus on the payback against Stock. A silent voice in the back of my mind cried out that maybe I should just leave the entire Stock situation be and let Stanley handle it himself. I had no stake in it really, Stock tried to enslave me but he failed with Wolf River's assistance, so no harm...

My stomach twisted at just the thought of walking away. This world has already made me realize that I'm a monster, I'm not going to let it make me any worse. What Stock was doing was wrong. What those bandits were doing were wrong. I can't go back to Equestria and the only way to make a living here was to move forward. The Sheriff offered a job and it paid a lot of bits was the bottom line. I was doing it for my own reasons, but then my mind went to my gut and my gut said, "I'd like to eat something that didn't have a heart beat right before,".

Money was the real reason I was doing this. Everything else was equally important, but maybe one point off of money. This became more apparent as Grind had to buy all of our supplies, kind of defeating my entire, 'You don't have to come,' offer. But at the same time, he was just a kid, like me sure but it was clear that his dad didn't want him to risk his life for danger. So he decided to try and teach his kid how to become a train conductor or something. 

The fact that Grind never really brought up his father was strange. Maybe he's still mourning or maybe their relationship was strained. The whole thought behind trying to teach his kid how to be a train conductor and to not score 'CRITICAL' hits kinda backed my assumptions. 

Either way, Grind was doing most of the shopping for us. He would frequently take looks at me and then back at filling out the list of what we needed. The way this shop worked was odd. The bar tender would give you a list and you would fill out what you needed. If the entirety of Cannerlands was like this, I would be okay with the change. Whoever had the time to walk through a giant building and pick up food off the shelves, wasting hours of your precious life? 

While Grind continued to fill out the list of supplies we needed, I swiveled in my chair and leaned against the bar. For the middle of the day, this place was pretty busy. Something else that surprised me was that the majority of the customers here were families. It looked more like a restaurant than a western pony saloon. I was half expecting to see giant muscle ponies in the corner hoof wrestling, a few ponies with goatees playing black jack, and an old stallion playing the piano to try and lighten up the mood as best as he could. Instead, the direct opposite of that, foals and fillies running around while stay at home moms chatted it up. It made me think though that this town must be pretty well off if not everypony needed to work in this town to trade whatever with Stock. And that made me start thinking what Bordertown's main export of good was. What was this city's main source of income? What made it boom? Surely not Stock by himself, right? Right? 

My stomach continued doing funny things in my body as I began to notice little things on all the furniture. The tables, the chairs, the stools at the bar, the end of the bar railing, the ceiling fans, the vacant piano in the corner, the stairs, the railing lining the stairs, and practically one of the filly's pacifiers had small little intials 'S.S.' I didn't have to ask what that stood for because deep in my heart I already knew. 

Even if I did take down Fat Slab and his merry little bandit cave, is Stock going to remain in control of this town? Am I fighting a doomed battle? If I somehow survive this encounter with the bandits, I'm positive Stanley and I would get destroyed if we threatened Stock's life in any way, shape, or form. 

"...and the total would be..." I hear Grind whisper to himself and I look over his shoulder. A few gallons of pure water, two weeks of food, and three medical kits. I blink. I quickly calculate the total in my head and I'm sure I swallow a fly for the length of time that my mouth hangs open in shock.

"Grind?" I poke him in the shoulder. He looks over at me with frustrated look.

"What Kale?! I'm in the middle of doing math... damnit! I lost my place!" Grind yelled angrily and I snort which gets an even angrier look from Grind. 

"Why do we need all of this stuff? How far is Bottom Drop Alley?" I ask him, a little concerned about his supplies. I was beginning to question this little mission the Sheriff put me on if we needed two weeks of food for this trip to Bottom Drop Alley.

Instead, Grind gave me a more baffling answer, "I dunno. I'm just trying to be prepared," My mind shut down, trying to avoid any logic and reason, for that would just give me short of an aneurism. I calmly swiveled in my seat and I flagged down the bartender. 

"Sir, how far is Bottom Drop Alley from here?" I ask, my voice literally on the edge of pleading.

The bartender was pale pony. He didn't necessarily have a color, if I had to give him one, it would be gray. He looked decrepit in a non offensive way and too old to be living. Seriously. He was kind though, the kind of kind that was only possible through years of experience. He scratched the back of his head and closed his eyes, trying to remember something that was probably forgotten. "One day, two days tops if you're trying to avoid bandits on the main road," 

I thank him for the information and right before he turned away from us, I decided to shoot for another question. "Anyway you can give us an order for two ponies a trip to Bottom Drop Alley and back?"

---

That was way easier than trusting Grind to try and shop for groceries. A few days of cold cuts and bread. A gallon of water to be shared between the two of us. A medical kit and a few insta-heals in case things go south for whatever reason. And a 'Power Cell', something used to power something or whatever. The Power Cell confused me on its purpose. It was a small cylinder that could fit in my hoof. It was apparently a new thing that came from beyond the Border. I assumed it was another technological advancement that friendship and kindness and fru fru girly princess morality didn't constrain. It was also common that this Power Cell could help with defusing certain devices or something. The bartender offered it to Grind as a gift for the news of his late dad. 

Grind shrugged it off and made the first comment that I've heard him say about him, "He was a good pony. My friend and I are going to avenge him," Making me wince at his wording. I didn't want to avenge his dad, I just wanted to stop Stock from monopolizing trade in Bordertown, and also the money. Of course Grind didn't know that but still, I didn't want Grind to think I was the justice vengeful type. 

We left the Grocery Saloon with saddle bags filled with supplies and an angry look from Grind. "It was my money!"

"And you were going to spend it... no, waste it on things that would go bad within a few days," I scold him. Was this kid seriously going to help me on this mission? 

"So? I have the bits. Dad left a bunch of money for me in case he bit the dust when I'm still a kid. So I have plenty of bits," Grind told me matter of factly as if he won the argument. I rub my forehead and I try to ignore him for a moment. 

I sigh outloud, loud enough for him to hear me, and I turn to him trying to put the best smile I could fake. "The important thing is that we now have a map of how to get to Bottom Drop Alley. I suggest we get a move on before it gets dark,"

"You don't get to tell me what to do! You're not my mom!" Grind said with such arrogance that I wanted to throttle him. Where have I seen this kind of behavior before? Oh yeah. My brother.

My brother, Swedish Veggie, went to college and my parents and I didn't hear from him for a few years. He comes back with a college degree, a trophy wife, and tons of bits to help out around the house. I was younger still at the time so I don't remember the details. I just remember he got into a huge argument with my parents and left while leaving not a single bit or his hot trophy wife. Seriously, that trophy wife was drop dead gorgeous, beautiful and sophisticated enough to make me question my choice to remain a virgin for life. 

It seemed scary to have sex, all that moaning and panting. I remember the first time I saw a couple ponies... do it. They were sweating harder than in gym class when we had to run the mile. No thank you.

I groan, my blood pressure increasing almost giving me a heart attack on the spot. "Okay, then when do you think we should leave? Tomorrow? Next week?" 

"Well, we have to say good bye to everyone here so they can gives us a hero's farewel... HEY!" I cut him off as I saw an entire dreamy good bye in his eyes. I did not have time for this. I grab his saddle bags and I program my HAYS device to Bottom Drop Alley. I feel Grind yanking on my tail, but I pull him with ease. What is with this stallion? Guess first impressions aren't everything.  Now that badass compliment didn't mean a whole lot coming from him.

I look at the town one last time and I do feel a little conflicted. I didn't really get to explore around as much as I wanted to. Usually when I come across a new town, the first thing I do is talk to the locals and see what is up. But the Sheriff didn't give me that tour like he promised. Of course he's probably busy with all of the bandit activity, hence the job probably. Still, I almost wanted to take Grind up on his offer. The sooner we can drive Stock away from this place and allow trade to regulate again the better. 

---

So when bandits aren't attacking trains or trade routes, terrorizing cities, or even each other, they are actually the most normal ponies I've ever seen... except for them being caked in blood while doing everyday activities. 

"How many do you see?" Grind whispered to me. I looked back at him and told him to shush.

My HAYS device labeled the path to Bottom Drop Alley as the Staircase. Probably because it seemed like we were constantly moving in a downward slope into the earth itself. It made me feel claustrophobic, like after the train crashed, but luckily there was no roof so I could look up and still see the sky through the giant orange rock sky crack. 

It has been maybe a few hours since we left Bordertown when we decided that maybe we should take a break. Grind went to go relieve himself or something while I dug into a makeshift sandwich for myself. Man I miss Kale. I miss the chewy texture. The crunch you could get if you cook it just right. The salty balance with enough herbs and spices. That was the first thing I was going to farm. Some nice batches of kale.  

I find myself sitting on an brightly orange colored rock while I eat my sandwich. The Staircase looked like it was going to end in a canyon at the very end. The walls and rocks were a dusty bright redish orange color mixture. It always made me wonder why they changes color. Too much sun made it orange? That didn't sound like a thing, but what did I know about rock biology? I find my silly observations cut short when Grind tripped back into our little rest spot telling me of the bandit camp down the way. 

I think back to the bartender and couldn't help but think that this path wasn't always traveling so deep, but overtime it become steeper from rain or a lot of trotting through, because I did not see a way around these guys. I was almost tempted to ask Grind for advice, but he probably had no clue and would have said something terribly stupid. 

'That's not fair Kale. He saved your life on the train,' I'm sure whatever I grabbed onto would have kept me safe. If anything, I saved his life when I took out those two bandits. 'What happens next if Grind didn't get in contact with the Sheriff to prevent him from blowing your train off the track?' 

I bite my tongue to prevent any further inner monologue. He saved my life and I saved his, fact is I'm stuck with this guy until the job is done and I can find a nice plot of land in Cannerlands to start my farm project.

I peek from my boulder and I take another look at the enemies below us. We were on a cliff side with some boulders for cover. To our right was a slope down that would meet in the opening where the bandits were at. My HAYS device labeled most of them as 'Bandit', a few as 'Psycho', and one scary looking pony that had a spikey mask on that was labeled as a 'Bruiser'. The Bruiser didn't have any axes on him, but instead also had a gun of some sort. It looked like an AJ brand from the typical steel and brown coloring it had that I recognized from Stock's shop. Although he was naked safe for the spikey mask and gun slung over his shoulder, he seemed the most threatening. I try to look for another way around them and I ain't seeing much. We could try to sneak our way past, but if we got caught, we would have no cover and get covered in holes by the time we got past them. We have to fight.

"Alright Grind, what brand of gun do you have?" I ask him, ready to start a tactical plan.

"Gun? Didn't you buy me one?" He tilted his head, genuinely confused. 

"No," I narrow my eyes at him, hoping he was pulling my leg.

"I'm thirteen years old! Why would I have a gun?" He tells me. Thirteen. He is definitely not my age, Sheriff. I'm not sure if I should be complimented because I look young in his eyes or insulted that he thinks I'm this immature. I'm seventeen. Still a kid, almost an adult. I... don't know how to react. We could always go back to Stock and buy a gun, but that would be awkward followed by him probably going to go through a more awkward attempt to recruit him or something. I look again at the gun the Bruiser was holding. He probably had ammo on him or somewhere in the camp site. 

"Ok," I say through my teeth, barely containing my annoyance. "I'm going to shoot that big guy with the spikey mask. When he goes down, I'm going to cover you as you grab his gun," I tell him my plan. He nods as if this was an everyday task. I think a little bit more as I look at the crowd of bandits. I count maybe eight in sight. I'm not too familiar with reloading my gun yet, but I can manage with whatever was in my clip. "You do know how to shoot a gun right?"

Grind nodded. "Hug close to my body to make bandits go boom," He recites. I grimace as I immediately knew where he got that from. It made me wonder if I really knew the story behind Stock.  It didn't seem Stock tried to make him a slave in anyway. This just made me more confused if Stock or Stanley was the bad guy here. Stock did try to enslave me against my will... but he did so much for the town. 

I push that out of my mind. I would have more time to think about that later. I needed to concentrate on my aim. I motion Grind to get in position to run down and I pull the FS rifle from my pack. 

I began to tremble as if I felt a cold breeze. It was incredibly hot for being inside a canyon, but goosebumps formed all over my body. I checked my clip inside the gun to make sure it was full, before remembering my HAYS device told me that already. I take position over the boulder and I push all doubt from my mind. I'm a monster, I'm a bad pony, I've hurt a lot of ponies for my own selfish needs, but we need to get through this Staircase.

I pull the trigger.

Grind dashed off as I pulled the trigger. Either he had confidence in me or he got spooked by my gun. Either way, I had to focus to make sure a vacant gun was available by the time he got to the Bruiser. I take single shots at the Bruiser, trying to steady myself as it slowly began to warm up to me, allowing me to prove myself to it.

The Bruiser and Psychos took immediate notice first as the Bandits took a moment to realize what was going on. The Bruiser took notice of Grind, but then look up and saw me taking shots at him. He was about to duck behind a rock when a few of my bullets meet their target. He stumbles and tries to fire a half hearted attempt at me. I quickly dodge back behind my rock and let the blast of lead hit the rock. I peek back up and I notice that Grind was being blocked off by a Psycho. I take down the Psycho and I finish the Bruiser off. I fire a few more shots at some Psychos to make them back off of Grind. 

Grind acquires his weapon and quickly dives behind some rocks as the Bandits have now collected themselves and pulled out little pistols of their own. They head further down the trail and peek out from behind their rocks to take shots at us. The Psychos then begin to rush Grind with axes out. Crap!

I quickly reload as fast I could and I take aim at the closest Psycho. Grind takes the kill though as the blast from his gun almost sends him reeling and the Psycho down in a single shot. I switch targets to two remaining Psychos. I land a 'CRIT' on one, and the other goes down in a few shots.

I trot over to Grind and he turns to me quickly with the gun loaded. "Gah!" I immediately push the gun away and he blushes in embarrassment.

"Sorry, thought you were a bandit... man what a rush! You're really good with that gun," He says. I nod and I try to look where the remaining Bandits are. 

"Move up, I'll cover ya," I tell him and I move to a position to take shots at the Bandits position. I actually manage to kill one behind some rocks before the remaining two Bandits recollect themselves behind some rocks. 

The FS Rifle felt warm in my hooves. I felt one with the gun as if it was just another limb that was attached to my body. I assume this is what Stock meant when he said to hug it close to your body, but I definitely didn't expect to feel this serene when I took each shot. 

When I see Grind make it half way to the Bandits, I trot behind him with my rifle slightly stick out of my pack just in case they peek again. Grind manages to take out the a Bandit and the other Bandit makes a run for it. Grind was about to take another shot when I stop him. "Trying to get more kills than me?" Grind gives me a disapproving look.

I feel my insides torn in half. This guy is thirteen years old and he is treating this like a game. I wonder who taught him that? A certain Stockpile Pony comes to mind. Yeah, he was definitely a bad guy. "C'mon. Let's see if those other bandits dropped anything we can use,"

---

Turns out, they did not. We found more bullets for Grind's new AJ Shotgun and a HAYS disc on the Brusier's body but that was it. The pistols the Bandits dropped were poor quality and nearly fell apart in my hooves. The HAYS device didn't even classify it as a gun, so we left it to degrade in the wasteland. I download the disc onto my HAYS device as we take another break from the fight.

I offer Grind a our canteen of water and gulps at it greedily. I sigh as he hooves it back. I am about to take a sip when I realize that we still have to trot back, and with Grind's not so gracious greedy gulps, we are going to need every single drop. I stow it for now and I finish my sandwich from earlier. 

Once the disc loaded, I played it for Grind and I to listen to.

"Please. Any Trove Hunters, anypony, zebra, griffin... damnit... please goddesses, help us all. The Scab Lickers are tormenting our town. If there's anypony... anybody who can help us... please... please... oh goddess... they're rounding us up again..." The recording cuts off and feel my blood boil. The voice was of a young stallion, tormented and full of fear. Rounding them up? For what? My mind could only assume the worst as I immediately stood up.

"Hah! Sucks for that guy, amirite?" Grind stands up with me and offers me a high hoof.

"Do you ever shut up?" If looks could kill, Grind would be another 'CRIT'. But the suddenness of my comment catches him off guard and before he could even answer, I trot further down the path where the Bandit ran off to. 

---

Okay, so maybe allowing the Bandit to run ahead wasn't the smartest idea. 

We were pinned into a corner with our cover slowly being decimated by bullets. "Looks like we got a live one!" I could hear one of Bruisers shout to his comrades. Luckily there weren't any Psychos to bum rush us with an ax, but being surrounded by gunfire wasn't keeping my hopes high. 

I bit my lip hard as I felt a nice comforting warmth go through my entire body. One of the insta-heals was doing its work as a lovely bullet found its way through my hoof. My vision flashed red and I felt my entire body work against my brain, wanting to curl up on the floor in pain. Grind ended a Psycho's life as well as removed his face with his gun as he pulled me to some cover. There were maybe ten, twenty even. It was hard to tell through all the bullets.

My wound was still fresh, but it no longer felt like a pony was driving a knife through it. My HAYS device told me my health was full despite the gash. I assume it meant I was just being a big baby now and I could move anytime I wanted to. The hoof felt weak to walk on, but this rock I hiding behind didn't have much left for this earth. "Move!" I scream at Grind as we dash to a bunch of smaller rocks. 

"We're so close to town!" Grind cried out in despair. 

'Yeah, a town full of bandits we're trying to kill.' But I keep the comment to myself. We were fighting right by a giant gorge which had a rickety bridge hanging over it. The bridge led to a pair of giant cement walls that were wedged right into the mountain side. In the center of the cement walls was a big pair of wooden doors that I assume was supposed to keep us Trove Hunter types out. I peek out and I the FS spasms wildly in my hooves, giving me the cold shoulder after not using it for a while. I take a few more shots and they find their way into a Bandit's head. 'CRIT'

I motion Grind to move forward and try to buy us some breathing room. He hops over our little rock and shoots a Bruiser in the body. The Bruiser staggers and I'm a little shocked as he stands back up to continue shooting. Grind was already moving to another target, expecting him to be downed from his blast. I end the Bruiser before he gets the chance as Grind continues to move forward.

My HAYS device told me to reload, so I did. I slap the cartridge out of my gun and replace it with another. I drop a few more Bandits and I call over to Grind to warn him about the Bruisers to his left. He quickly turns and blasts a Bruiser that was about to jump him. Unfortunately, I'm unable to cover his back as his friend pops up and shoots Grind a few times. My stomach sinks and I quickly take off to get to Grind's side. My HAYS device told me that he was down and where he was located. He was behind some rocks and two Bandits. 

I'm halfway to Grind who was on the other side of the canyon. A Bandit comes up from behind and takes a few shots at me. Crap! My mind panics, if I go down as well, then we were dead. I feel my entire back side light up in heat, my body telling me I am feeling excruciating pain but my mind pushing me forward.

I dive behind a wall and the two Bandits that were covering Grind began to converge on me. I quickly pop some shots at the Bandit that surprised me and I see him go down. I pant heavily and I reach into my pack for another insta-heal to jam into my flank. I slam the cartridge out of my gun and jam another one in. My HAYS device let me know I was running low on cartridges. Oh dear Celestia, help me in my time of need.

I quickly peek from cover and take down one of the Bandits, his friend ducking behind cover. I take the moment to rush forward and jump over the cover to slam my rifle into his face. He was low on health and decide to just finish him with a buck to the face. He goes down as his entire body goes limp. I can feel my heart churn shame into my blood, but my blood was pumping too fast to care. With every kill, I gained focus to just end the conflict. 

It was then that Grind's downed signal disappeared and I froze in place. "Grind?!" I scream panicked. "He was just a kid damnit!" I make a futile attempt at making the Bruiser feel bad. Behind me, I didn't notice another Bandit taking this opportunity to show me how a bullet in my back felt. 

I collapse into a pile of fur and hooves and I gasp, trying to turn to face my target. I was dead. We didn't even come close to Fat Stab. Maybe this what was going to always happen anyways? Maybe death was...

"Don't you give up on me now!" A voice calls out and I'm still struggling to fire at the Bandit. I feel my body being lifted and my HAYS device was letting me know that Grind was giving my assistance. But that's impossible, he was dead. "I'm not dead. Now stop muttering and let's kill this bastard who just shot you,"  

I feel myself get lifted to my hooves and strength slowly ebbing into my muscles. My health bumped up to a meager sliver and I immediately jam an insta-heal into me. I fight every urge to jam another one. My HAYS device was letting me know that I was pretty much good to go. I also fight the urge to see where I was shot exactly. That's not important, I gotta end the threat in front of us first.

I see the Bandit take one look at us and then took off for the bridge. "Can I shoot him this time?" Grind asks as the Bandit gets on the bridge. Every brain cell in my head wanted to scream yes. That asshole shot me. He deserves it. He's just going to make your life harder. 

"No." I tell him. He drops his gun, his mouth hanging open at me in disbelief. "He's not shooting at us and I'd rather save our ammo for ponies who are immediately threatening my life," 

"The frigging asshat just shot you! And you're letting him go?!" 

"We did just murder all of his friends, co-workers, or whatever they were," I point out.

"So when we get to Fat Stab and he runs, we're just going to let him go?" Grind spoke angrily.

"No. We're going to murder Fat Stab. But I'd rather have one less pony life on my conscience, wouldn't you?" I give him a look and I stow my gun while I loot the corpses for anything useful. I know he doesn't mind or at least he doesn't show it. Maybe this is all a part of his vengeful conquest for his father? Unfortunately for him, it's not a part of my mission. Rescue any prisoners in the Bandit Hideout and destroy said Hideout. Kill Fat Stab if we so happen to run into him. Any life along the way wasn't 'necessary' unless it endangered our immediate well being.

Right before he turns to help me, I hear another gun shot and I turn around. He took a rifle from one of the Bruiser's bodies and shot the Bandit squarely in the head. 'CRIT'. It was my turn to stare at him in disbelief as the Bandit feel into the gorge below. "...Well that's going to get ya killed someday soon..." I heard Grind say under his breath. He trots past me and begins to gather the loot spread around. 

I sit down dumbfounded as he casually gathers up the guns. "Hey Kale, we have an FS Pistol. Your favorite brand," He calls out cheerily as if he didn't do what he just did. My mind races on how I should react. I couldn't find anything tangible to say, so I decide to just drop the issue. Just let Grind kill whoever, he deserves to feel like he does. You don't have to like it. You just have to tolerate it until this entire thing is over. 

---

Turns out Grind was right. It was my favorite brand. I tested out all of the other guns, mostly just AJ rifles and pistols, a rare shotgun here and there. There was also a PP pistol that shot red and blue lit up bullets. Apart from the bullets being different colored when shot through the gun, it didn't appear like much as was special about it. Grind tells me we can sell the rest of the guns to a merchant or Stock for some extra bits. They pay good money for guns and equipment apparently. 

But back to my lovely FS Pistol. It was... cute. Yes, I just called a weapon that could remove a pony's life in a bloody scathe, cute but hear me out. It was an adorable little thing that had an optional mount to be put on a hoof apparatus. The second option I had was to shoot it from my mouth, which after some practice, I actually became a decent shot. I would probably have to find an apparatus to use it appropriately though. Unlike its rifle counterpart, this one was a shiny yellow color with the top of the gun being coated in pink. I smile a little looking it, it was just... cute. Shut up. I know you're laughing at me.

The pistol kind of had a hard recoil in my mouth, making me see stars the first time I used it. Luckily the trigger was much softer than the one designed for hooves and designed in a way where my tongue could almost accidentally press the trigger if I was to just glide past it. And once it fired its first shot it became as light as a feather in my mouth, every shot barely giving me any whiplash. The best part about this was I would be able to walk and shoot with this gun.

I smile at my find and Grind pulls a random AJ rifle from the pile to add to his weaponry. We stow the rest equally between us to sell and buy whatever at the next shop we find. 

We cross the rickety bridge with a little effort, almost scared that it would collapse beneath us. We finally make it to the front door of the town. A lovely little sign presumably written in blood greeted us, 'TROVE HUNTERS. BUCK OFF AND KILL YERSELFS. UR NOT WULCOME!' 

"I'm not a Trove Hunter," I comment at the sign. "I'm a farmer,"

"Yeah, neither am I actually. I'm just here to protect Bordertown," Grind grinned at me and I grind back. Looks like we're not Trove Hunters. The sign doesn't apply to us. We enter Bottom Drop Alley, home of the Scab Lickers. 

---

I didn't realize it has grown so late as we entered the town. The little city came to life, torches and camp fires lining the main road. Each side of the main road had shoddy looking buildings made of metallic scraps and such that looked like they were stolen off the side of trains. All of them were different colors too, some were red, some were blue, some were green, but all of them had a layer of rust that made it look a certain age. I wonder how long this little town has existed and how long Fat Stab ruled it with his hoof?

We decide to take comfort inside a restaurant while we planned our next move. The ponies here were definitely tormented. They moved with a sort of nervous jitter as if one wrong step and they would find themselves in a fate worse than death. Like an over bearing parent would punish their kid for messing up on something so trivial. Yeah, I've been there guys. Luckily, we're here to end that. I couldn't help but feel psyched up to kill some bandits with Grind. These monsters deserved it. I kept telling myself that they deserved it and I know that they do, but I also know that they have emotions and lives just like me, which kept making me feel incredibly guilty as we tore through a small village population on our way here. 

"Hey, you okay Kale?" Grind took notice of my doubt and reached a hoof over to comfort me. "I know you feel bad for them, but we have to kill them. They put this on themselves," Grind motioned his head towards the doors. I knew he meant the Bandits, but I needed him to clarify it. "The bandits of course. These bastards killed my father, innocent ponies who never hurt no pony, and even some zebras. Zebras hardly trust us ponies so far from Equestria, now these Bandits ruined any chance of us having a normal relationship with them," He laments while playing with his gun. I blink a little, surprised at his logic. It made sense.

I try to distract myself with the restaurant itself. Bowling pins hung from the wall as a means to decorate the place. Little wooden tables that were made from those things that was used to spool giant rope or cables or something littered the floor. We were luckily in one of the few booths. The restaurant was empty save for us of course. And for the menu, it didn't seem like the citizens of this town was the primary customer. 

The booth itself was worn down, the colors on the seat and backrests were faded to an almost white color. Holes that were picked at from years of no self control kids covered the seat. The table itself was chipped and scratched, as if a pair of knives danced did a waltz on it. I look back at Grind who was reading the menu carefully. I took one look at the options and decided to stick to bread and whatever meat Bordertown carried. I can't imagine that the Bandits had 'refined' tastes.

I look at Grind and I imagine what his child hood could have been. Was his dad always a Trove Hunter? It seemed like he was born out here, or at least brought here at an early age. Everything seemed so normal to him. Again, listening to colt bands and hating school was my thirteenth year on this earth. He seems so intent on the menu like we didn't just kill a bunch of ponies and were planning to add a bunch more to Tartarus pits. He looks up at me and sees that I'm looking at him while being deep in thought. "Thirteen huh?" I raise an eyebrow at him, still a little shocked at his age.

"Why, how old are you?"

"Seventeen," I say nonchalantly.

"Ever kissed a pony before?" He says, scooting a little closer to me in the booth we're in. Geez, we're jumping straight to that are we? 

"No. I'm asexual, thank you very much." I won't lie, I was a little aroused, but still all that sweat freaked me out. And he was a little attractive... and also the age of a school kid. Yeah, that turned me off immediately. When I was thirteen, I was in school, delivering Equestria Daily newspapers to ponies in Canterlot, and listening to Neigh Sync. He was killing ponies and hitting on somepony four years older than him. Ugh. I hate the Cannerlands.

"Oh. Huh. Sorry," Grind gave me some space and scooted back to his side of the booth. At least he wasn't a sleaze. I wasn't above kicking him in the shins, or somewhere else that would probably have a serious complications in his growth. 

Our waitress trots on by, a yellow mare with orange curls wearing a dress that was similar to the wallpaper at Cass's Inn. "H-hi there strangers. How can I-I he-help you fine folks?" 

"Yeah, I'd like your biggest bucket of Heart Attack Chicken," Grind ordered. I noticed our waitress was on the edge of losing it. She constantly checked the door as if to make sure somepony important was to trot through. She looked at me expectantly though, half distracted by the entrance of her restaurant.

"Where's Scab Lickers' Hideout?" I ask. Again, never one for subtlety. The waitress stepped backwards as if I just slapped her and insulted her family. "We're here to take up the job offer to end the Scab Lickers." I fib. That HAYS disc was probably sent out to several Trove Hunters in the area. The fact this pony looked as if the end of her world could walk through that door makes me feel no one was even close to successful at taking down the Scab Lickers. 

How in over our heads were Grind and I?

"I... end of town... big skull...." She whispered. I nod and Grind shot me a look. 

"We still get the Heart Attack Chicken right? Uncle Stanley said they were the best things here," Grind said, his mouth practically a waterfall at this point dripping onto the table. Disgusting.

It was then that the waitress pony grabbed at Grind's chest, with uncontrollable excitement. "Stanley? Deadshot Stanley?! Did he send you wonderful ponies?" She asked, her eyes pleading for a certain answer. Grind gives me a look and I nod at our waitress. "Thank goodness! I was losing hope that he died somewhere off in Wastes! Tell me, did he mention me at all?" She pushed some of her mane out of the way. Eek. Just a bunch of sex talk today. Grind didn't quite get it and shook his head before I could answer. She gave a little pouty face and I try to get her attention.

"He was more concerned about making sure this little town is safe. Do you perhaps know a place where we can crash for the night while we get our game plan set up?" Her gaze brightens and she nods vehemently. 

"Yes! We have rooms upstairs. Any friend of Stanley's that can drive these bandits out once and for all, is any friend of mine!" Gee, what a specific condition to be your friend. I bite my tongue, trying not to let my frankness slip. "Let me get your free bucket of Heart Attack Chicken on da house!" She smiles, her eyes twinkling at us. Something told me we were trotting into a trap of some sort. She was being openly receptive and we had no idea who was on Scab Lickers side. I look over at Grind to voice my concern but he was still looking at his menu, drooling over that picture of Heart Attack Chicken. Hopefully we didn't wake up in Fat Stab's hooves.

---

"Well I assumed you two were a couple," Our waitress opened a door to what was probably the biggest room we thought was in this restaurant, heck the town. The walls were a red velvet kind of color. The bed was in the middle of the room and a small little lantern hung above the wall illuminating the room just enough to see in front of you. Grind looks at me with a happy grin and I quickly turn to the waitress. 

"I'd rather have sex with you than have sex with him," I announce, making both the waitress and Grind look at each other with a mix of jealousy, envy, shock, and awe. I'd assume that mares would have way less sweaty sex. Mares are much more mature that stallions after all.

"Um. Wellifyouneedanythinghere'sthekeytolockyourdoortomakesureyouguyshavesomeprivacyokgoodluckbye." I've never seen a pony make a quicker escape in my entire life, and I don't think I ever will. Our waitress throws a silver key onto the bed and shuts the door behind her, leaving awkward glances between Grind and I. There was only one bed in here, if you could call a mattress with a giant red stain on a rusty rickety riled up bed frame a bed. 

A few moments later, our waitress came back to drop off some sheets without as much as a word to either of us. Probably still embarrassed about my earlier statement. I let out a laugh which draws an odd look from Grind. I don't even bother telling him the punch line, he'd probably think I'm even stupider for the reason. Oh this place. I was going to end up being a Psycho at the end of all of this, whatever this was, I was sure of it.

I keep the silver key in my saddle bags, but not before making sure it did actually lock the door. Can never be too careful. Grind turned around and opened a small door that a little bird could fit through behind him. It turned out to actually be a window, letting out a nice breeze into the room. I really hope the bed sheet covered up the red stain.

"So, if you promise to stay on your side and not try to..." I trail off hoping he got the message, "Then we can share the bed." The bed was definitely big enough. I began to shed off my saddle bags and I run a hoof through my mane. Ugh, today has been... definitely a day. 

"Nah, nah, you can go ahead and take the bed," He was still deep crimson color from our conversation before. 

"Dude, if it was about the sex comment, I was joking. Still asexual," I grin at him, hoping he could take the bait and laugh along with me. He shook his head.

"No, no, it wasn't about the... sex... comment," He blushed a little deeper. "I can just sleep on the floor. You probably need the room on the bed anyways..."

"Stop being stupid," I look at him plainly. He looks back up at me as he fidgets with his hooves. "We can both stay on the bed. We need to be well rested for tomorrow. I can only imagine we are going to have a bunch of..."

"My dick is doing weird things whenever I imagine myself cuddling up with you," He finally comes out with it, his voice lowering as he continues to get more embarrassed, "I just don't want it poking you..." Oh, I'm sure that is the least of my concerns, Grind. I bury my face in my hooves. I am not getting paid enough for this. Five hundred bits is a lot of money, but I would have to tell Sheriff that I needed a little more money for a convenience fee or something. This was... not happening.

"Just... face the other way." I end up telling him. I really couldn't have him sleeping on the creaky wooden floor boards. That wasn't going to be comfortable at all. He needed to be well rested for our funeral tomorrow, as well as Fat Stab's. Something shot up in my heart, maybe we had a chance? Maybe we can actually take down this Bandit Hideout. Maybe. Grind did pull off that miracle earlier...

"Hey, how in Celestia's sparkly mane did you live earlier? I could have sworn I saw you die," He disappeared off of my HAYS device. I needed to figure out what the heck happened.

"Whose Celestia?" He asks with a tilt of his head. 

"Just answer the question," 

He shrugs and pulls out his shotgun, pretending he was back on the edge of death, "The Bruiser was rubbing his kill on me in my face. I aimed the shotgun and wiped the smile off, as well as most of his head as well," He grins at me and I couldn't help but flinch at the thought of half of a pony's head being blown off. "A rush of adrenaline just surged through me and I jumped back on my hooves to help you out," He shrugged again. 

Huh. Must have been a second wind. I can't imagine us getting that lucky that often, so better not test that theory out more than we need to. "Look, I'm exhausted. Just do whatever you need to on your side of the bed, and make sure nothing splashes on me," I shiver. Those lessons in school also made sex look scary and quite messy. 

"Splashes on you?" Grind gave me that adorable look of innocence. 

"Just... nevermind. Let's just go to sleep," 

"No! C'mon! Tell me! What do you mean 'splashes'?" 

"Forget I said anything!" I felt the blood fill my face as my entire body gets hot despite the cool breeze entering the room. 

"C'mon!" He continued to plead like a little kid. We set the bed up, and thankfully the leopard print bed spread covered the red stain perfectly. He continued to plead when I turned the flame down in the lantern.

"I'm going to bed. Good night," I yawn out. 

"I'll poke you with my dick,"

"Good. Night." 

---

"I... am actually terrified of tomorrow. This would be impossible for anypony, my dad included... I don't want to die like my dad. I don't want to die period. I don't know why I thought coming along with you was smart. It isn't. I... the train was the place where my dad could live. And not be a Trove Hunter. Every night he would cry after he took down a bandit camp and helped the our zebra communication. I never understood why he cried. But I think it has something to do with your reason why you wouldn't let me kill that bandit today. But I don't want to die. I don't want you to end up like my dad." A pause, followed by some sobs. "But something, somebody, maybe your friend Celestia you mentioned earlier... I know I can follow you and you will help keep me safe. I think... I know you can take down this bandit hideout. I know you can kill Fat Stab and his ponies. I know all of this. I believe that you can do this. That you will lead us to victory or something heroic like that. Just like Daring Doo does..." Grind's voice trails off and I hear more sobbing. I try to still my ears. This was private despite him telling me this. He had no idea I just listened to him pour his heart out. Whether he actually wanted to tell me this or not, I couldn't say. It was something that I learned the hard way when a I stayed over at a friend's house and she confessed her love for me. 

The most awkward slumber party ever.