Chapter 7 - Signed in Blood

Once again I found myself in front of the little shack. A place I had hoped to not have to see again. Shrugging, I made my way to the door. There was a familiar feeling under my paws as I walked, sand under them… Wait, I felt sand under both?

True to Luna, I had both hind legs again.

“At least I know this is a dream then,” I muttered to myself while I approached the door

Peering inside, I wondered what I’d see at the red table.

“Prancer! You’re just in time for supper!” I heard from the gloom. It was the voice of my father.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the dark room. Sitting at the table was Tarsus, my mom and Cutthroat. Dad was pulling something out of the oven.

“I made a roast for all of you! It was the least I could do after finally coming home again!” He cheered.

“You’re supposed to be dead.” I grumbled.

“And, isn’t that why I’m here?” he replied.

“But you’re not, so you shouldn’t be here.” I countered.

“Oh, don’t spoil this! Your friends are over to see us!” He said, Pointing to Tarsus and Cutthroat.

“Cutthroat’s not a friend, she wanted to rob me. Probably kill me too.” I said angrilly.

“And she wanted to make amends by helping out! Come on, can’t you accept an olive branch?” he chided, lifting the pan and plopping it down on the table with a splash of blood.

In the pan wasn’t quite the kind of roast I had imagined to be. It was me in the pan, and I had been grilled to perfection.

“Oh, where did I put the carving knife,” my dad asked with a pout. He looked to the little filly’s knife. “You wouldn’t mind if I borrow this, would you?” he asked while ripping the wicked blade from Cutthroat’s chest, right from where I had buried it in the filly’s ribs. Her reply was a few wet gurgles.

"Ah, thank you, darling!" Dad said as he began to cut a few servings from the roast, starting at the leg.

“Dad?” I asked, drawing Innuendo

He looked up at me with a knowing smile, “Yes, what is it?”

I pointed the weapon at him, the front sight lined up between his blue eyes. “I’m going to kill you.” I said as I gave the trigger a loving tease.

Innuendo howled, filling the room with a blinding flash.

---

As I woke up to the fleeting memory of the dream, I felt oddly relaxed, hardly bothered by the fading memory. Shaking the last clinging vestiges of sleep from myself, I got up and gathered my gear.

The stuff I had in my pack; my guns, grenade and vest, I set on the bed and I began transferring things to it. Innuendo’s holster was strapped in and I slipped the grenade into a pouch. Everything else I owned was either in my new bag or on my combat armor I left with Syzygy.

So with that, I was as read as I could get. I buckled down my vest, slung up my SMG and tossed my new rucksack over my back. I left my old bag behind, it wouldn’t be much help anymore. That hole in it would only rip further unless I sewed it up, and I didn't have the time for that.

The last thing before I left was the papers lying on the floor. After folding them up neatly, I slipped them into a vest pocket and walked out the door. Despite the feeling I had, I leapt from the balcony and took to wing.

Sometime in the early morning it had rained some more. The air through my feathers was blissfully refreshing. Though, that would leave plenty of mud for Beer Can to trudge through. The thought had me wearing a smile; He deserved it.

The happy feeling of karma having its way lasted until I got to the Talon HQ. It was muted quite a bit when I saw Syzygy coming out the door. Her fur was still matted from last night, and she was soaked from head to hoof, probably from after she woke up and headed here in the morning’s rain, since I had last left her with Nameless. A guilty conscience wasn't anything I wanted this early in the morning. One odd note though, the armor I had left with her was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello, Mister Prancer." She said as I landed.

"Oh, hi there Syzygy. What are you doing here?" I asked.

Syzygy blushed and stammered a little before she managed to gather her composure. "Oh, I had intended to leave your armor here for you. I cannot get to your home, so tall as it is. So I took it to the Lieutenant. He left me a collateral for it, so I placed that with an officer under your name." She explained with a sigh. "Your ways are difficult to understand. I do not think I will ever come to know them."

That was an understatement to be sure. Whatever she managed to do with that could be sorted out after I met with Sergeant Lightfeathers.

"Well anyways, how's Nameless doing?" I asked her.

"He is quite well. The doctor wanted to let him rest." she told me. "I will be making him some tea."

Right, her tea, "Oh, that should help." I said as sincerely as I could make myself sound, making a mental note not to drink any weird brews she might give me. After what happened in Mt. Raindier, there's no way I'd trust it.

However, that was less important, as time was running short and Lightfeathers was expecting me. "I've gotta go." I told her and stepped inside. She waved to me through the glass door and left, presumably for the clinic.

The HQ was a bit busier than when I was there last. Or maybe it was just me. The griffons at their desks gave me a tad more acknowledgement than yesterday. A few of them even said hello, and one knew my name. It was if I had magically become important overnight.

That wasn’t the strangest part. Bookbeak was in Lightfeathers’ office signing paperwork. Unsure whether I should interrupt, I knocked on the open doorway and waited.

"Ah, hello corporal." Lightfeathers announced as he saw me. He seemed very pleased to address me with my new rank. A rank I knew I didn't earn. Was that why everyone suddenly knew me?

Bookbeak turned around to see me with his one eye and merely nodded. At least he wasn't acting oddly. "We'll get to your contract in a few minutes, Prancer. For the moment I have some business with the major here."

"That's 'former major'." Bookbeak corrected, "I'm retired."

"And I wish it wasn't so." Lightfeathers said with a sigh.

"It's more important to teach the children in this town than to sit around pushing paperwork that will get them killed." Bookbeak said in an accusing tone. If I could see his face, I bet it would be scowling.

"And that's why you're signing over your school?" Countered Lightfeathers, his eyebrow raised. That took me by surprise. Why would Bookbeak do that?

That's it, either I was going crazy, or everyone else in ‘Claw was.

"Like I said, I'm retired." Bookbeak said, signing the last line. "Just a bit more so now." He added.

"Well, it's your right to your property." He said, scooping up the papers. "But, now that that's taken care of, I'll bring it to the captain upstairs." Lightfeathers said with a mocking salute before turning to me. "Prancer, would you come with me, please?" He asked as he stepped from his desk and opened a door behind him.

“Sure." I said simply and followed, I wasn't pleased at that last exchange, but I did have something that I had to do. The doorway led to a narrow stairwell barely big enough for two griffons to pass. It turned back on itself before coming to a steel door.

Through that was a large office space lined with desks and a large map of Equestria along one wall with hundreds of pins of assorted colors, notes and photographs stuck to it. About a dozen griffons were typing up reports or discussing something quietly between themselves.

Sergeant Lightfeathers gestured for me to sit at one of the unoccupied desks. "Welcome to the main office. This is where all the magic happens behind the scenes." He said with a smile. "Alright, Prancer. Would you like a scribe to help you with drafting your contract, or do you feel more comfortable writing it yourself?"

My dad's contract came to mind, I had it in my vest with the other papers. "I think I can get it myself." I told him. It wouldn't be hard at all to figure out how to write one with that as a template.

"Of course. This is an important step. I'll get you some paper and a pen and we can get started." He said while heading to some cabinets.

After Lightfeathers left, I reached into my pocket and grabbed the rolled up sheet. If I could just copy it for the most part, I could get this over quickly.

"Ah, I almost forgot..." Lightfeathers started to say, making me jump, I didn't see him come back. "What's that? Don't tell me you already wrote one." He said as he looked over the contract.

He looked at it for a few moments. His proud demeanor quickly grew somber. "This is your father's." He said as he sat down beside me, not saying a thing for several moments, just looking at me with a sad expression in his eyes. "You know, I've had something on my mind since yesterday. I wanted to be a father for you. If it would have been possible."

"What?" I replied dumbly. "I don't get it."

"What I mean is, I loved your mother, and I wanted to be there to take care of you. I just was never able to make that work." Lightfeathers admitted. "And I know you might need someone there for you."

"So that was what the notes were about on the reports." I said, pulling them from my pocket to emphasise my point.

Confusion crossed his face, I had pulled him off of his script. "I know you might not have seen it, but she was kind once. She laughed and smiled! She..."

"Kind?!" I cut him off. "I grew up thinking it was normal to be beaten and bruised!"

"But I.." He stammered.

"Or having feathers ripped out!" I growled.

"That's..." he tried to explain.

Rage boiled inside me, I forced it down enough to not draw attention, but that same hollow feeling came back. "Tell me, did you ever know what mood your mother was in by how hard she punched you?" I hissed, anger selecting my words for me.

Swan Lightfeathers bowed his head, "No." He replied, defeated.

"I think I'm done here." I grumbled as I got up to leave.

"Wait, Prancer." He called to me.

"What?!" I growled.

"You haven't drafted your contract." He reminded me.

Fortunately, I had left my dad's contract on the desk. "Just use that one." I told him. Thankfully, that helped me not look like a derp for forgetting it there.

"That's not a good idea. If your client requests, you'll be obligated to do whatever isn't prohibited by its dictation. Your contract is your moral code and boundaries!" He explained. It almost felt as if he was begging me. It was making me more angry.

"I don't care." I said bluntly.

"Ok, fine." He said with a heavy sigh. "I'll make this work. I know how stubborn a Thistledown can be. You should have met your aunt, Halia, before she died." With that, he took my dad's contract and taped over my father's first name and his signature. Then, after writing my name over the tape on the header, he ran it through a machine. In a few moments there was a copy of it. Well, without the signature, as Lightfeathers pointed out when he brought it back to me. "Anyways, please sign at the 'X' corporal." This time, he didn't look so happy while using my rank.

Now that I finally had it in front of me, I could see the exclusions listed. Nowhere in there prohibited assassination, a fancy word for murder. I knew all about that after studying the great war with the zebras. Nor did it exclude the death of children. Memories of Cutthroat came back to me.

Neglecting to mention children must have been an oversight, I figured. In any case, I wasn't about to object, it was my idea after all. So I scribbled my name on the line. Afterwards, I felt possibly the deepest sense of apprehension I had ever had.

It was too late to worry, so I would have to deal with whatever I had signed for later. My contract was handled at the very least, so I rolled it up and made my way back towards the stairs.

"Prancer, I... I just wanted to..." Lightfeathers began, but he seemed at a loss for words.

"Don't worry about it, sergeant," I told him, "I never needed a father anyway."

"But please, promise me that you'll ta..." he tried to say, but I had already shut the door behind me.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs and headed to the lobby with my contract in tow, I was stopped by a secretary in a very nice outfit of Talon colors.

"Prancer Thistledown?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's me." I responded.

"Here are your newest orders." She told me as she pressed a folder into my talon.

I was going to ask what she was talking about, but she had already left. There was no way I could have orders this soon, I had just signed my contract only a single minute ago! Shaking my head at the latest oddity of the day, I opened the folder, there wasn't anything more to do than review the docket she handed me.

When I read it, I nearly fell over. Somehow, Syzygy had bought out my services as a contractor. After a moment I realized how she managed that. 'Collateral' for my combat armor, Lt. Rakkham thought she was selling it. Then the money she thought she left in my name, it had to be mistaken as buying my service. She hired me by accident! And in advance!

Laughing quietly to myself, I returned the documents to their folder and headed towards the front door. This was about the best opportunity I could have asked for, even if it was paid for with my money. All I had to do was inform her about the ties that Nameless had with my dad and we will be headed right for him. I found my bait.

Now with that plan in place, I just had to talk to Syzygy. That meant going to the clinic, assuming that’s where she went. Hopefully Nameless wouldn't be holding a grudge against me either. Though, if our roles were reversed, I would hold onto it tighter than moms grip on a bottle of whiskey.

Interestingly, before I left the building, Beer Can sauntered in.

"Howdy there, Prancer! Fancy meetin' ya here. Ah was jus' 'bout tah see if'n ah could hire ya on fer a trip. Consid'rin tha favors ah did fer that Lightfeathers fella and gittin' yer leg, ah figger it'd be a quick snap tah git that done!"

"Sorry to tell you, I already have a client." I told him as I waved the dossier a bit. It felt like I was rubbing it in his face. Well, I kinda was. The princesses would have to forgive me, but I enjoyed it.

Beer Can seemed to get more than a little angry. "Well ain't that jus' like a Talon. Money first, loyalty later. Ah'll have ta have a word with that Lightfeathers." After that, he headed towards the sergeant's office. Not that I cared, I had something to do. So I stepped outside, and with a few good flaps, jumped into the air.

The midday sun, crippled as it was by the cloud cover, didn't manage to dry out the rain yet. That made for another refreshing flight while the cool, moist air ran through my fur and feathers.

It was nice, settling my mind a bit after my meeting with Lightfeathers. In no time at all, I was already at the clinic. It was too bad, if I wasn't busy, I might have gone for another minute or two of flying. With my leg lightened from the quartermaster and not wearing armor like the night before, I felt ready to soar. If only there was time.

Testing my wings would have to wait, I landed and reached for the door. I reflected somewhat, my flying had improved quite a lot during this last week, I felt rather proud of myself.

When I entered I saw Syzygy sitting next to Nameless. She had moved one of the chairs over to his bed and had found a towel or two since I saw her last, looking much dryer. Nameless was sleeping at the moment and Syzygy had been talking to Bookbeak. Was he following me? He was here before me, so I couldn't be too sure.

"Hello Bookbeak, I didn't know you'd be here." I said.

"Yes, I stopped by to pick up some antifungal medication for Strix, the seed pod has still been bothersome." He told me.

"But I pulled that out of him. Is there some of it still in him?" I asked, the mental image worrying me.

"Yes, that you did, and had you not been there he'd surely have died. But infections are nothing to be trifled with.” He said glumly. “Sadly, the doctor only has Amoxicillin in stock."

"A-mocks-a-what?" I asked, stumbling over the weird name.

"It's an antibiotic, not quite what he needs. I've been looking for another option." He explained.

"And this stripe here has been tryin' to fill his head with nonsense!" Dr. Clipping interjected as he came in from the back room.

"It is no such thing.” Syzygy countered. “Just because you cannot understand that some herbs have subtle effects is no reason to doubt."

"Oh, I understand that perfectly. I just don't trust some plant called an ‘Andilay Root’. It sounds like something a bunch of weird, colorful witches that live in a big, white tower might be using." The doctor explained.

"that is nothing like..." she began to say, but she stopped herself and took a breath, regaining her composure. "No, I do not see reason in arguing over it. You will know someday that you should trust me." And with that, she turned to me. "Mister Prancer, your day was productive, was it not?"

"Yes, it certainly was." I told her, happily obliging her change of topic. "As it turns out, I'll be able to help you with Nameless and getting his memories back!"

"Is this true?!" She asked. "Do you not have duties here with your Talons?"

"Actually, that's why I'll be accompanying you. You're my first client." And as I told her that, I produced my contract and passed it to her.

Syzygy didn't say a word, but Bookbeak looked at me suspiciously. "Prancer, I don't take you for a liar, but I don't quite understand." He said.

"Oh, I have that here," I replied and let him see my dossier containing my orders.

He quickly opened them and began reading, his suspicion quickly changed to surprise. "It's all here, but I don't see how you managed this."

"Luck." I said simply.

"Fine, and do you have any leads to aid your client?" He asked.

"Yeah, I know that there's something between Nameless and my dad." I explained.

Bookbeak was surprised. "How might you have come to that conclusion?"

"More luck." I said with a coy grin.

Bookbeak shook his head. "Prancer, I don't like your plan. Not if simple luck has been your driving element."

"And how a dead bird is going to point you in the right direction. No offense, Prancer." Clipwing added.

Syzygy stepped in between them. "I will not have your bickering! Mister Prancer has saved my life twice now. I trust in him!" She yelled, making Nameless shift a bit in his sleep.

Bookbeak looked at her only a moment before returning his attention to me. "Well, do you know where to start looking, Prancer? Because I do." Bookbeak said with a stern gaze. "That means you're going to Redmaned, or even further north. Luck won't be enough to rely on, not there."

"Mister Prancer is an august stallion.” Syzygy said, her Equestrian seeming to falter in her frustration. “We will go to the Redmaned and find his father!" My better judgement made a rare appearance and warned me not to correct her that griffons don't have stallions.

Bookbeak and Syzygy stood there for a good few moments just staring each other down. That is, until Bookbeak relented.

"Fine," he said with a sigh that made a whistle through his mangled beak. "But there's three conditions." He said with authority. "I'm going with you. You will all do exactly as I say. And we will not spend more than a day digging around, even if your friend doesn't find what he needs, we're done."

"Thank you!" Syzygy exclaimed as she gave the old griffon a hug.

Bookbeak chuckled and patted Syzygy's withers with his scarred talon. "Well, it's best if we move soon. When is the earliest you can move out of here?" He asked, his grumpy tone gone as soon as it came.

"I wish to leave as soon as Nameless is awake. I am certain he will be willing to go immediately." She said with a nod.

"Well, no time like the present." Clipwing announced. "Hey, sleepyhead, it's time to wake up!" He shouted.

Nameless awoke with a start, his horn flashing. Without thinking, I already had a Talon on Innuendo. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have tried anything too rash. "Doctor, nobody told you not to startle our friend, did they?" I asked redundantly. Not that I had known in particular either, it just felt like the right joke to make to relieve some of the tension in the room.

"Nope, I was not made aware of that." He said, a startled expression on his face. A thin cut at his neck began bleeding slowly, as if he just barely nicked himself with a scalpel. Immediately, I regretted making fun of the matter. "I'm gonna get myself a quick bandage, you guys just go ahead and do what you need to." He said as he stepped into the back again.

"I'm sorry." Nameless said drowsily.

"Oh, he will be just fine." Bookbeak said. He approached nameless and began undoing his bandages. "Here, let's get these off of you."

As the wrapping came off, I almost expected to see the face I saw before, with the skin peeled back and bleeding. It was a silly thought, he had to have healed up.

Nameless, once he was free of the wrappings looked, well, good! The right side of his muzzle was a mess of faint scars, like a cracked pane of glass, but you'd never tell that he almost died the night before last!

"Nameless, are you ready to head out?" I asked him. A nod was all I got."Good, because we have a plan to help your memory." I told him, though I still had second thoughts about his amnesia.

"I am intending to leave at our earliest opportunity. That is good for you, yes?" Syzygy asked. Again, he simply nodded.

"Well, I will meet all of you at the north side of town." Bookbeak announced as he left. "I have some things to prepare and medicine to deliver."

With a shrug, I left the clinic as well and headed off. There wasn't anything left for me to do to get ready, I already bought what would be enough for a few days. That and there wasn't anything left at my house. So I figured a head start wouldn't hurt.

Instead of flying, I kept to the ground. There was no way to tell if I'd need my wings well rested. That and my companions couldn't fly to keep up. Another mark of good fortune, I wouldn’t be likely to get my prosthetic gummed up following the road.

Not that I got too far. Beer Can and Macchiato were just on their way to the street.

"Well howdy thar Prancer! Yeah already git'n tah yer big adventure yet?" Beer Can asked. If the sour face was any indication, his talk with Lightfeathers didn't go well.

"What? He gets to go on an adventure?" the filly pouted and crossed her hooves. "I wanted to go on one."

"Oh, we already are, Mack!" He said with a forced grin, likely trying to appease the little girl.

"No, I wanna go on an adventure with dragons an' smoky mountains an' rainbows!" She exclaimed.

By this time, Syzygy and Nameless were walking down the ramp on the clinic. So much for my head start.

"Look daddy! Everypony's here!" the little one shouted before leaping from the cart. "Syzygy! Are you going on an adventure too?!" Before she could react, the poor zebra was ferociously glomped by the silly filly. Syzygy didn't stand a chance. Macchiato was ruthless in her hugging.

"Oof!" She said, bemused, "I am travelling to help find Nameless's memories."

"Oh, I'm so jealous!" The filly whined before turning her attention to our other companion. "Hey, Nameless, what happened to your face? They try to bonk your head up to fix your noodle?"

Nameless smiled and shook his head. "I was injured saving Syzygy."

A look of fierce envy crossed her face, well, as fierce as a young filly could get. "What? You already had an adventure with damsels in distress and bad guys?"

Nameless shrugged. "I guess you could call it that."

She bounced her way back to Beer Can. "Daddy, can we please go on an adventure?!"

He pondered the thought a minute before a smirk crept over his face. "Ya know, ah s'pose we aught'a have an adventure."

"Well, that's just great. Beer Can, what are you after?" I asked him, knowing that the only thing I could trust from him was that he's untrustworthy.

He smiled in the same way he had back at the poker game when he got my cyber-hoof from Full House. "Oh, nut'n much. Jus' tha' there's a lotta good salvage af'er a Talon goes on a 'adventure'."

There wasn't much sense in trying to dissuade him, I figured, "fine, we're meeting Bookbeak at the end of town before we go. We're not waiting if you aren't there." Even if he was a slimy huckster, he wouldn't bother me as long as caps weren't on the line.

"Yay, adventure time!" Macchiato cheered. "Let's find your friend, then travel off to distant places! The fun's never gonna end!" She added a she bounced around.

"Alrighty, Mack, le's settle down nao..." Beer Can said, trying to get the filly under control. He didn't seem to be having any luck with that, though.

"Oh, did she have herself too much coffee?" Syzygy asked.

"Well, yea. Ah just don' have tha heart ta stop 'er. Her brews r'tha best in Equestria ah reckon." Beer Can admitted sheepishly.

There I had it, I got joined with a sleazy merchant and an over caffeinated child... I can only hope they change their mind about it all soon.

"Whatever the case, we have to get going. We might already be late." I told them, returning to my walk to meet Bookbeak.

Not once did I look back behind me, I had hoped that they might find better things to do. Unfortunately, I could hear them quite plainly as they followed along. That distraction aside, I couldn't find Bookbeak anywhere at the north side. It wasn't more than a kilometer from the clinic, so it didn't take that long to walk there. We must have been early.

"C'mon Prancer, where's where's your friend?!" Macchiato asked impatiently.

"I said we were meeting here, we must be early." I told her.

"He's not that scary guy behind you, is he?" She asked.

Sure enough, there he was, padding along quietly in some Talon armor that likely hadn't seen the sunlight in twenty years. Being snuck up on was already getting really old. "Oh yes, that's him." I told her. "Ready, Bookbeak?"

Bookbeak nodded. "It took me a little longer than I remember to fit my old bones into my gear, but I think I've managed." He said with a chuckle. His jovial look only lasted that few moments, he became serious in a flash. "We need to head out immediately, it'll be dark by the time we can make camp if we're moving by... hoof." He said with a small hesitation. Though I know he meant the ponies and zebra, I couldn't help but feel my prosthetic twitch.

Macchiato cheered and jumped aboard Beer Can's cart. "Onwards me lads, we set sail to adventure!~" She announced. Somehow she had found the eyepatch Beer Can had mentioned days ago and slipped it on quickly, then fished out a wooden sword and waved it about.

"Aye aye, cap'n!" Bookbeak replied with a hearty laugh. "Oh, Prancer, children are wondrous things, aren't they?" He asked me. A short grunt was all I gave him. How wondrous could they be? It was certainly a wonder as to how she could think this is a game.

It was definitely the time for a change of topic. "So, why exactly do you want to come along, Bookbeak?"

"To start my retirement with a bit of a vacation, perhaps?" He said with a sly grin.

"That is not quite the answer," Syzygy chimed in. "You care for Mister Prancer, do you not?"

"He is, after all, one of my students. Someone has to keep him out of trouble." He said smugly.

That's when Macchiato leapt between the three of us. "Ooh! I'm good at staying out of trouble! Like, look both ways before crossing the street! And don't talk to strangers!" She cheered.

This was going to be another long trip, I was sure of it.

Bookbeak chuckled. "The latter of those is not an absolute; how could you make new friends without talking to a stranger?" He asked.

The little filly tilted her head a moment before laughing. "You talk funny!"

"What Mister Bookbeak means is that you can not make new friends without meeting ponies you do not know." Syzygy explained. Easy for her to say. I realize I hadn’t met a lot so far, but most ponies I had met were killers and swindlers. That's hardly who I would want as a friend. Though, that's exactly who I had for company.

"Well, ah'd hate ta break up such a life lesson," Beer Can interrupted, "but wher'd ya'll say we were headed now?"

"Redmaned." I answered.

"Oh, Tartarus take meh, that's almost bad as Detrot." He groaned.

Bookbeak laughed, "Oh, you hadn't Seen the worst of Detrot. You should have been there around when I was Prancer's age!" Well, at least that told me, whatever I was going to face on the way to find my father, it could be worse.

Somehow, that was actually reassuring.

--------

Quest completed: Signed in Blood.

70% to next level!

Yeah, Prancer got some story development and stuff, but that’s not enough for a full level yet. He’ll have to settle down and get something done before he earns another.

Author's Notes:

Burned Feathers is already two years old! The time does fly, doesn't it?

As always, special thanks go out to all of the FoE writers out there, to Gamma Deekay (Who has stuck with me this long, wow!) and of course to you, the reader!