Chapter 11 - Near Miss
“The enemy always has the advantage of surprise.”

The feeling of my lips pressed against Silver’s was sublime. It felt like my hooves were floating off the ground. My wings were trying to force their way out, but were held in check by the armor. Silver pulled away briefly, her mouth opened in shock.

“Oh, um, uh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep…” I stammered. Had I just made a huge mistake?

Silver dove back in and resumed our kiss, even as I was mid-apology. Every sight and sound faded away and my mind, for once, was completely focused on one thing. It was probably the most amazing moment of my life so far.

The next few hours were a little bit of a blur to me. Since it was getting dark, we all headed back to Manny’s estate so that Leafy and he could hammer out the details of their agreement. Manny and Leafy went into Manny’s office to negotiate. The rest of us were asked to wait in a sitting room while they were working.

As soon as we were escorted to the sitting room, Silver and Flower sat down in one corner and were chatting animatedly. Every now and then I heard the two of them giggle. All I could think about was Silver. I know it was just one kiss, but the feeling was lingering with me. Graduating flight school, passing basic training, my first assignment; I thought those were the high points of my life. They paled in comparison to that one kiss.

“Dust?” a male voice and a brown hoof waving in front my face broke my reverie. I looked up and saw Brownie. “Dust? Are ya OK? You’ve been kinda zoned out fer a coupla hours now.”

I nodded. “Yeah Brownie, I’m OK. Just thinking,” I said wistfully.

“About what?” he asked with a sly smile on his face.

“About...um…” I started thinking of what lie I would tell, but then realized that it made no sense to lie to Brownie. “Silver, I’m thinking about Silver.”

“Well, duh,” he said tinged with sarcasm. “This isn’t your first kiss, is it?”

“What? No…” I responded shaking my head. “This is just the first time it felt like… this.”

Brownie snickered a little. “Ahh, young love,” he said with a giggle. “Dust. I’m happy fer ya.” Brownie smiled as he walked away.

A few moments later, Manny and Leafy trotted into the office. Neither was smiling, but they both looked relieved.

“So, did you two finally work something out?” I asked, hoping it was good news.

“Yeah, we did,” Leafy said with a sigh. “We will help Manny ship his produce around the region with our skywagon, with Autumn’s help of course. There will be a 60/40 split of the gross income, including my crops in the sale. The skywagon stays on my property and we decide on the shipping schedule jointly.” Leafy sighed when she was done.

“And I believe I owe you this,” Manny added, handing me a folded up piece of paper. After unfolding it, I realized it was Silver’s contract. “You may not have done what I had asked, but the result is acceptable.”

I turned towards Silver. “Here… I think you deserve to take care of this more than any of us here,” I said while handing the contract to Silver.

She took the paper from my hoof with tears in her eyes. “I never thought this day would come,” she said, her tears now streaming down her face. She held the unfolded piece of paper in front of her, almost as if she had never seen it before. Silver took the corner of the page in her mouth and tore the page in two. She stacked the two pieces on top of each other and then tore the paper again, and again, and again. She repeated tearing it until there were only tiny pieces of paper left and she threw them in the air. Then, while the paper was still falling like snow, she hugged me so hard I thought I was going to suffocate. I, of course, returned the favor.

“I hope you will clean up after yourself,” Manny said, a little aggravation coloring his tone. “It’s late. I need to retire. You all can stay in the guest rooms in the other wing.” Everypony else made their way to their rooms. I stayed behind to help Silver clean up her mess.

“So, how does it feel to be a free pony?” I asked, while struggling to pick up tiny pieces of paper with hooves. Celestia be damned. How useless hooves were at times!

“I don’t know how to put it,” she responded, growling at her confetti. “It’s been so long and I never thought this day would come. I feel like I have a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. I won’t have to look over my shoulder anymore, fearing someone is looking to bring me back. I won’t have to hide. I know I should be ecstatic, but I’m really just tired. I’ve been running for so long.” I knew what she meant. My secret has been weighing on me every day I’ve been down here. And it’s only gotten worse as I got closer to my friends.

“Well, then let’s clean this up and then get a good night’s rest,” I said with a smile.

It took us a few minutes to pick up all the paper pieces. After picking up the last one, I had a newfound appreciation for unicorns. It was so much harder to do some things with hooves. Finding a trash can, we dumped all the pieces into it and then made our way to the guest rooms. We found two rooms with open doors and were about to go our separate ways.

I stopped and looked at Silver. “Do you want to…” I said, trailing off at the end.

“Only if you want to…” she said, blushing slightly.

“Do you think it’s a good idea?” I asked, slightly uncomfortable.

A door creaked open just behind us. “Would you two just shut up and pick a room so the rest of us can get some sleep?” Flower grumbled into the hall, shielding her eyes from the light in the hallway.

“Eeep,” Silver squeaked as she jumped a little.

“Sorry Flower, didn’t mean to wake you,” I said sheepishly.

“Uh-huh,” she said, closing the door behind her with a click.

I followed Flower into the room she picked.

The room was much like the rest of the manor. It was remarkably well kept, considering it was over one hundred years old and had survived a megaspell war. The most amazing part was the bed. It was the largest bed I had ever seen myself, easily large enough for two ponies. The frame was made mostly out of wood and had a post on every corner. A fabric canopy was supported over the top and ran down the sides. The bed itself was covered with clean, white sheets and a plush blanket over the top.

I whistled out loud. “Manny really knows how to play host,” I said, still in awe of the room. “I think this is the nicest room I have ever seen, much less stayed in.” I ran my hooves over the waiting bed. They sank into the blankets and mattress to a surprising depth. “Oh, I am so looking forward to sleep tonight.”

Silver giggled. “Are you more excited about that bed or me?” she asked with a sly smile on her face.

“B...b...both, of course!” I blurted out, surprised by her question. “I’m just looking forward to a nice, comfortable night’s rest where I don’t have to worry about anything happening for once. With the pony I care deeply for.” Silver blushed at the comment.

We both crawled into bed. I kept my armor on since anypony could walk in and I didn’t want to be caught with my wings out. Oddly enough, Silver kept her jacket on. She obviously wasn’t ready to broach the subject of the injuries I saw previously. I hoped she’d be ready to talk about it soon, but I learned from the last attempt and wouldn’t force it. Silver snuggled up next to me and I wrapped my legs around her.

She gave me a small kiss on the lips. “Good night, Dust,” she said with a big grin on her face.

“Good night, Silver,” I repeated with just as big a grin. I fell asleep quickly.

A sudden movement next to me roused me from my sleep.

“Silver, is everything alright?” I asked, still groggy from sleep. There was no response. “Silver?”

I shook her body and she did not rouse from her rest. Her body was still on my one leg, so I couldn’t shift my position too much, but I did the best I could to see what I could. Using my mouth, I toggled the switch for the Pipbuck’s light and the room was bathed in a soft, green glow. Looking at Silver, I saw her green mane was still draped over her head. However, part of it had turned red and the red portion was growing larger every second. Using my free hoof, I brushed the mane away and saw blood seeping from a small, round wound in her temple.

“Silver? Are you OK?” I asked in a panic. “Silver? Silver!” I shook her inert form and no response. I watched her sides and they were not rising and falling. “Silver?” I cried out.

“She isn’t going to answer you, Dusty,” a stallion’s voice hissed from the darkness.

“Who… who’s there?” I whimpered, still shocked by Silver’s death.

“Oh, Dusty, I am hurt you don’t remember your old friend,” the voice said with a small laugh at the end. A yellow face with a green mane entered the small area of light from my Pipbuck. “It’s me, Muddy, or is it Cloudy Skies? I can’t keep it straight anymore!” He laughed maniacally.

“Muddy! Why? Why did you kill Silver?” I yelled, now openly crying while still clutching the lifeless form of Silver.

“I’ve killed you three times already and I just can’t keep you down. I already warned you. Leave. Me. Alone. I can see that you aren’t going to keep up your end of the deal, so I am going to punish you as I promised,” he said with a nasty edge to his voice. “I already took care of your friends…” He broke off his statement with more laughter.

I bolted out of the room and across the hall. Bursting through the door of another bedroom, I quickly scanned the room. On the bed, under a now blood stained sheet, was a lump. I cautiously approached the bed and reached out for the sheet. There was only one lump so I figured this was One’s room. What had Muddy done?

I drew the sheet back, bracing myself for the horror I would see. One was lying there, a look of fear still on his face. His lifeless eyes bored into me, making me feel very uneasy. His mouth was stuck open, almost in a soundless scream. Then I saw it. The gash that ran from ear to ear on his neck. The bed beneath it was a dark scarlet.

I bolted from the room and collapsed on the floor, catching my breath. “Why, Muddy! Why?” I screamed out in anguish. I wanted to wrap my hooves around his throat, but couldn’t get the image of the bodies I had found already out of my head. My head was pounding and legs were trembling.

“Oh Dusty, why don’t you check on Brownie and Flower,” Muddy called out mockingly from my room.

“No… I don’t want to. I can’t!” I cried out between sobs.

“Oh c’mon Dusty! You wouldn’t want to miss all the fun!” he responded with a snicker.

Grudgingly, I stood up and slowly made my way to Brownie’s and Flower’s room. I paused at the door, trying to steady my breathing and nerves. The door pushed open with a creak. I extended my leg to illuminate the bed. My stomach revolted at the sight. Brownie and Flower were tied to opposite posts on the bed. Their mouths had been gagged with the pillowcases. Their bodies were covered with various knife wounds. None of the wounds were in a vital area. They were meant to inflict pain and not to kill. The fur on their faces was tear stained. Each of them had a round bullet wound to the side of their temple. Muddy made them watch each other get tortured and then made one of them watch as the other died. The sick fuck!

I cried out in rage. I ran back into the hallway, drawing my shotgun along the way. Bashing the door out of my way, I charged into my room, following the sound of Muddy’s laughter. “Muddy, I will kill you,” I mumbled out while still biting on the firing bit.

I felt the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against the back of my head. “I don’t think so,” Muddy said with a cold finality.

BANG!

I shot upright in bed with a gasp. My brow was covered with a cold sweat and I could feel my heart racing. Each heartbeat made my head pound.

“Dust, what’s wrong?” Silver asked, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

My mind twisted over itself trying to make sense of what it had just seen. I could not form a coherent thought. “You. One. Brownie and Flower. Dead. Muddy,” I blurted out between ragged breaths. Hugging Silver, I squeezed hard. She hugged me back as I started crying.

It took the better part of an hour for me to calm down enough to tell Silver about my nightmare. Even when I was able to put words to thoughts, I couldn’t explain things clearly. But Silver was patient and didn’t interrupt. She simply held me while I processed everything.

“Dust. Shhhhh… it’s OK. We’re all OK. Muddy didn’t hurt any of us,” Silver said softly while caressing my head.

“I can’t lose all of you… especially you Silver… I just can’t,” I muttered between sobs.

“I won’t leave you Dust, I won’t leave you,” she said gently.

I fell asleep again with her cradling my head and comforting me.

A knock on the door startled me awake. My eyes were still sore from the night before and my head was still throbbing. Silver had cradled my head in her legs all night and she fell asleep like that. I carefully extricated myself from her embrace without waking her up and quietly walked to the door.

Opening it as quietly as possible, I saw Brownie standing out in the hallway. “Dust, I couldn’t help but to hear ya last night. Are ya OK?” Brownie asked, clearly concerned about my well being.

Exiting into the hallway, I quietly closed the door behind me. “Yeah Brownie, I’m OK. I had another nightmare. This is the second one since Muddy threatened to kill us all if we followed him,” I said, yawning.

“Sorry ta hear that Dust. Jus’ remember, even if the worst does happen, it’s not yer fault. We all came along voluntarily,” he said, patting my back.

“I know, Brownie. I just hope we can all get through this with a minimum of injury,” I said ruefully. Brownie tried to say something but I extended a hoof in a gesture to stop. “But I realize that I have to be prepared for a casualty of some sort,” I said, cutting him off.

“Eeyup,” he said with a knowing nod.

I sneaked back into the bedroom and laid down next to Silver. A route had to be planned to Whinnycrest from Manny’s since we were taken off our original route. I looked at my Pipbuck and saw that the Data screen was up again and another one of the encrypted data files was decoded. It was replaced with the title “Perseverance”. I didn’t even bother to open this one. I did not need some stupid history lesson about the traitor. Turning the dial, I switched to the map and started planning a route.

“Good morning, Dust. Feeling better?” Silver said, looking at me and yawning.

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I was good. Last night kicked the crap out of me. But thank you for, well, everything,” I said placing my hoof in hers.

“Don’t mention it. Besides, what are special someponies for?” Silver said, grinning.

“Heh, yeah,” I laughed, involuntarily.

“What’s so funny?” Silver asked, her features saddening.

“Nothing bad. It’s just that I never thought I’d have a special somepony. I never thought I’d find that special mare,” I said, squeezing Silver’s hoof.

“Well, you found her,” she added, smiling once again.

“Yes I did,” I confirmed and nuzzled with Silver.

As nice as the bed was, we did have to get out and get to work. Fortunately, the rest of the estate were early risers, so we didn’t have to risk waking anyone. Manny offered all of us breakfast before sending us off. It was really nice having some fresh produce for a change. I will say that the aeroponically grown produce did taste phenomenal. This would be great for the Enclave.

After we had all finished eating, Manny and Leafy thanked us for forcing the confrontation. There was still a little bitterness that it was forced under the barrel of a gun, but I think they both realized it was necessary. Autumn and Hard were happy as anything. They could barely keep their hooves off each other all morning. After loading up on some fresh supplies provided at no cost by Manny (he said it was still in gratitude for the business arrangement, and I made sure there was no contract to sign), we thanked Manny for his hospitality, said goodbye to everyone, and left the estate.

My perusal of the map agreed with Brownie’s experience with the Wasteland. We had another day and a half of travel to get to Whinnycrest. Fortunately, we would be passing through a small settlement called Fetlock Flats on the way. At least we would have another night in a bed, although I don’t think it would stand up to Manny’s accommodations.

The first few hours of travel passed without incident. Silver and I ended up trotting next to each other the entire way. I couldn’t resist the urge to keep looking at her and trying it not to make it obvious to the others. Of course, it was Flower who told me I was wrong.

“Hey, Dust! If cameras were still a thing, I’d say to take one since it’ll last longer,” she said with a snicker. Both Silver and I turned bright red.

One trotted up next to me and cleared his throat. “Mister Dust, I don’t mean to be a pain, but can I ask you some questions?” he asked hesitantly. “Alone?”

“Sure thing, One. Silver, excuse me,” I said, brushing her cheek before walking away. One and I slowed our pace, leaving some space between us and the rest of our group. “What can I do for you, One?”

“Mister Dust, I don’t know how to say this right. I don’t like being out here with you guys,” he said, his gaze shifting uncomfortably.

“One, what do you mean? Did one of us do something to annoy you?” I asked, hurt by the implication that we may have done something to mistreat him.

“No… no… it’s not that. You ponies aren’t the problem. It’s, like, everything else,” he said. He started and stopped several times, having trouble picking out the right words. “When I was living with Daddy, Two, and Three, it was just us. Now Daddy wasn’t always nice to us, but nothing bad happened until the end,” he said, starting to sob at the end.

“And now, One?” I asked, trying to draw him away from the thoughts of his father.

“I don’t know, Dust. It’s just that, like, everypony else is, like, um, mean to each other. I mean, look at what has happened to us in the few days since I left. The ponies at Dirtpatch wanted to shoot me on sight, the ghouls in New Flankfurt, Muddy trying to kill you, Manny trying to kill Leafy, Leafy wanting to do the same to Manny, I don’t know if I can make it out here,” he uttered. “How do you do it, Dust? How do you face it every day?”

“One, there is no easy answer for that,” I started. Of course, he didn’t know that I had only been dealing with this for really a year and I had a light at the end of the tunnel. I knew I would be going back up above the cloud cover one day, regardless of what Muddy and Midnight implied. “All I can say for sure is that you find some good friends and surround yourself with them, and you can face all the rest together.”

“Dust, do you think we will always be friends? Me, you, Flower, Silver, and Brownie?” he said between light sobs.

“Yeah… yeah, I think so, One,” I said. I hated lying to the stallion, but what was I going to say? That we wouldn’t be friends forever? That would devastate the poor stallion. Of course, I couldn’t tell the poor pony that I wouldn’t be around forever, and that it would be ending sooner rather than later.

“And you won’t leave me like Daddy, Two, and Three did?” he added, openly sobbing now.

I placed a hoof around his shoulder. “One, I can’t speak for the others, but I will tell you that I will do everything in my power to be your friend for as long as possible,” I stated. One gave me a weak smile in return. Now I felt shitty.

About another hour later, Fetlock Flats first appeared on the horizon merely as a speck. As we drew closer, I saw that it followed the typical Wasteland motif: rusted corrugated metal, withered wood, and pieces of scrap thrown together to make functional, if not aesthetically pleasing, buildings. I did have to give the Wasteland one thing. The lack of variety of building materials notwithstanding, each settlement had its own unique look unlike in the Enclave where every cloud building looked like every other cloud building.

We approached the gate as the sky started to darken. We made our way to the gate slowly and cautiously. Nothing freaked out small settlements like a group of well-armed and armored ponies approaching. I stopped at the gate and looked up at the guard tower. “Pardon me, is anypony up there?” I called out.

A light brown head with a black mane appeared over the railing on the tower. “Yesh, I’m here,” he slurred, punctuated by hiccups. He took a swig from a bottle he held in his left hoof.

“Can we enter your town, please?” I asked, straining to maintain eye contact.

“I dun, dun, dunno. I’m shup, shup, shup… I need to protect the town,” he struggled to respond.

“It’s been a long day and we just need a place to grab a bite to eat and someplace to stay. Can you please let us in?” I pleaded.

“Ummmm, no? The sheriff told meeee, if I shcrew thish up, um, whadidhe shay again?” he said, while tapping his forehead.

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake, just open the damn door,” Flower yelled out in frustration.

“I’ma, I’ma, I’ma… what do you ponies want again?” he asked. He disappeared behind the railing with a thud. “Ouch.”

“Is anypony else up there?” I yelled, hoping somepony else responded.

“Nope, jush me,” he said, not yet returning to view.

I turned to the rest of the group. “Alright, we need to get somepony else here to talk to. This pony is too drunk to deal with. Flower keep an eye on the guard, please?” I said, drawing my shotgun. “Everypony else, get ready to jump.”

I fired one shot into the air away from the settlement. After reholstering the shotgun, I turned my attention back to the tower. “What the fuck wash that?” the drunken voice cried out. I heard some scuffling and the upper half of the pony reappeared behind the railing. He was fumbling with his rifle, trying to aim it at us. I tensed, readying myself to jump out of the way of return fire.

The guardpony rested the stock of the rifle on the railing. He reached down towards his left hoof and bit down on the top of the bottle. “What the? Why dinn’t my gun fire?” he asked as he looked at the bottle. Reaching over with his other hoof to inspect the bottle more closely, he knocked the rifle off the railing and it clattered to the ground in front of me. “Awww, my whis, whish, whisk… my drink!” he cried out. He leaned over the railing. “Um, would ya mind toshin’ that back up here?” I looked at Brownie stifling a giggle. If this weren’t so aggravating, I probably would be laughing harder.

The guardpony fell back onto his haunches with a thump. “Oh man, I saved up for a month for the Wild Peg, Poog, Pig…. that bottle,” he moaned. He thumped his hooves down and seemed surprised by the sound of the bottle hitting the wooden railing. WIth a quizzical look on his face he looked at his hoof. “My whishkey!” he cried out in glee and finished the rest of the bottle.

“Scrub, the fuck is going on up there? What was that gunfire?” an authoritative female voice shouted from the other side of the door.

“Nothing, shur, shar, sheriff,” he called back now leaning over the railing.

“Luna be damned, Scrub, are you drunk on duty again?” the mare yelled out in frustration.

“No, sheriff, I’m jush…” he started to say as he slumped over and started snoring softly.

“For crying out loud, third time this month,” the sheriff muttered.

“Excuse me, sheriff? Can you please let us into town? We need to find somewhere to stay tonight,” I yelled out through the door.

“Hold on a second,” the sheriff said. I heard hoofsteps climbing up a set of steps and soon saw a blue face with a golden mane peer over the railing next to Scrub. And I wish I knew what was up with Wasteland pony sheriffs and their stetsons. “Before, I let you all in, who are you and where are you headed?”

“My name is Dust Cloud, and these are my friends, Wilted Flower, Brown Root, Silver Lining, and One,” I said while gesturing to each of my friends. After introducing One, I saw a confused look appear on the sheriff’s face. “It’s a long story. And we are heading to Whinnycrest.”

“Sheriff Seven Stars, nice to meet you,” she introduced herself. “No one heads to Whinnycrest. Not since it was overrun by ghouls. What business do you have there, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“We are headed for the stable that is allegedly there. We’re looking for an acquaintance of mine who I have good reason to think is heading there. Maybe you’ve seen him; a yellow pegasus with a green mane?” I answered. I didn’t see any reason to hide our goal. Besides, we could probably get some good information from her, this being the settlement nearest Whinnycrest.

“Never heard of any stable at Whinnycrest and what the hell you looking for a featherbrain for?” the sheriff asked with a sour tone and a grimace. Featherbrain? Damn dirtponies. I almost forgot pegasi are not generally accepted down here. “You know what, nevermind. I probably don’t want to know. He didn’t come through here, so unfortunately, I got nothing to tell you. But sure, you can come in for the night. Start any trouble, though, and I’ll kick you out on your flank so fast…”

“We understand, Sheriff,” I said nodding.

“Deputy Brick, please open the gate for these ponies. Then take Scrub’s place till he sleeps it off,” she said to a pony behind the door. She turned and I heard the sound of hoofsteps down the stairs. While that was happening, a scraping noise emanated from the door. The hinges of the doors squealed as they protested being opened.

We thanked a small brick red earth pony with a gray mane who was waiting on the other side. He simply nodded back at us as we heard the door closed behind us. Taking another look back, I saw another pony that looked exactly like the first. “Dust Cloud, that’s Deputy Brick and Deputy Mortar,” the sheriff said as she reached ground level. “I have to head back to the Sheriff’s Office with Deputy Mortar anyway, so we’ll show you to the inn.”

We trotted through Fetlock Flats and got an impromptu tour. The general store was closed since it was near dark, but Sheriff Seven Stars assured me they would reopen at dawn. We saw the small cafe, closed now since the owner was also the wife of the barkeeper and served the food at the bar at night. We approached a small building marked with a star. “And here’s my office. Deputy, will you continue on to the inn with these ponies,” she asked her underling. Deputy Mortar responded with a tip of his hat which fell off his head and landed at Brownie’s hooves.

Brownie reached down to get it for him. When he had it gripped in his mouth, a red flash lit up the darkening town. “What the fuck?” I exclaimed as I around for the source of the unusual light. Deputy Mortar was aglow with a red energy that seemed to be burning from within. His brick red flesh was turning a bright pink and his entire body disintegrated into a glowing pink ash and collected at a pile at Brownie’s hooves.

Flower was the first to react. “Sniper! Take cover!” she shouted out as she dove for cover behind the corner of a nearby building. All the ponies in the area were fleeing as I looked for a defensive position. The closest place I could find was the sheriff’s office. I dove for the doorway and tucked and rolled into the office itself. Afterwards, I scurried to hide behind the wall next to the door.

The sheriff had already taken up a position on the other side of the door. “What the fuck is going on?” she yelled at me through her teeth clenched on the firing bit of her revolver. “You ponies just arrived to town and now we are dealing with a sniper that has already killed my deputy! Why do I think those two events are related?” A few stray energy rounds streaked past us through the open door of the office. The sizzle as they impacted the rear wall was accompanied by the smell of burning wood. “If we survive this, you have a lot of questions to answer.”

Slightly peeking around the edge of the door frame, I noticed that all of my friends had found cover positions from the incoming fire. “Flower! Can you get a bead on the sniper?” I yelled.

“What do ya think I’ve been tryin’ ta do? Every time I stick my head out, I get shot at,” she screamed back through her clenched teeth.

“Alright. I’m going to give you a distraction. I need you to find the source of the fire,” I called out while holstering my weapon.

“What do you think you’re doing, Dust?” the sheriff asked.

“I’m gonna draw the sniper’s fire by giving him a clear target. Hopefully, he’s not that good of a shot,” I said with a nervous laugh.

Taking another quick look around the edge of the door, I picked out several spots that would provide me with cover from incoming fire. “Flower, get ready!” I shouted, steeled myself, and took a deep breath.

When I finally felt ready, I bolted out of the door to the sheriff’s office and headed for a cart that was off to my left. I had made it a half dozen steps and was starting to feel confident when the first shot passed right behind my head. After diving and rolling behind the cart, I braced myself against it and caught my breath.

“Flower, please tell me you got a read on the sniper’s position,” I yelled out across the street.

“Nope, Dust. Sorry. I need more time!” she hollered back.

Well, fuck. Looking across the street, I tried to find my next point of cover. There was a small alleyway between two of the shacks that made up the town, so I decided to aim for that. “Get ready, Flower!” I screamed. With a leap, I started galloping across the street. “This was a bad idea! This was a bad idea! This was a bad idea!” I repeated over and over again as I crossed the street as quickly as possible. Halfway across, I tripped in a rut in the ground and stumbled. I managed to keep my footing and resumed my gallop. However, the stumble proved to be a lifesaver. An energy round passed right in front of my face. I could feel the heat of the energy as it passed within a few inches of my snout. The close call motivated me to squeeze a little more speed out of my hooves as I skidded to a halt inside the small alleyway.

I was panting heavily at this point. “Please… tell… me… you… got… it….” I squeezed out between my rapid breathing.

“Nope, sorry…. He’s not in town, though! Only one more place to check. Just one more time, Dust!” Flower yelled back.

“Celestia! Luna! What did I do wrong?” I screamed out in frustration. “OK, Flower, one more time. Get ready!”

I thought about going back to the cart, but I didn’t want to be so predictable. Scanning the city around me, I found my last point of cover. Unfortunately, it was going to be the longest sprint yet. My target was a rusted old skywagon that was sitting outside the general store. It was going to be a fifty or sixty yard dash. Taking a few deep breaths, I prepared for, hopefully, my last run.

I took off. A few steps into the open I slipped on some loose dirt. I fell face-first onto the ground and did a somersault. When my back slammed into the ground, stars filled my vision and the pain started to burn from several point on my body. The wind was knocked out of me and I struggled to catch my breath. All of that was cleared from my thoughts when the dirt in front of me puffed up after an energy round impact. I stumbled to my feet and tried to run. My right, front leg refused to cooperate and I was reduced to a fast limp. On one of my steps on the injured leg, my knee buckled and I stumbled again. This time I did not fall to the ground, but I felt an intense heat pass right over my head. Shortly afterwards, it was followed by the smell of burning hair.

I couldn’t stop running. I had to get to cover, unless I wanted to end up like Deputy Mortar. The sniper wasn’t taking any more chances. I don’t know how much ammo he had, but he was burning through it Energy rounds were pelting the ground in front me, passing by my face, and impacting objects behind me. I was so distracted avoiding rounds by zig-zagging across the settlement, I nearly missed my cover. After performing a quick u-turn, I slid up next to the skywagon.

“Flower, please tell me you got him this time!” I yelled back in her direction.

“Yes, ah did! He’s in the mountains out there,” she shouted back. “And now,” she said more quietly to herself. The booming report of her sniper rifle sounded and echoed against the buildings. “Luna be damned, I missed!” An eerie silence filled the town. “Dust, ah think it’s safe fer now. I think I got him, but it was a glancing shot. He dropped into cover and I haven't seem him yet.”

“All you ponies! My office, now!” Sheriff Silver Star ordered through heaving breaths. Her eyes were wide with anger. “Somepony has some explaining to do!” she grumbled through grinding teeth. "Except you Flower! Keep an eye on that sniper!"

“I’ve dealt with raiders! Radscorpions! Even the occasional manticore! But never, and I mean NEVER have I had to deal with a sniper attack. And then you ponies come into town and now my deputy is dead, the ponies in town are scared shitless, and my office is a mess,” she screamed while pacing her office. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t just toss you out of this town on your flanks, right now?”

“Sheriff. To be completely honest with you, I don’t know why the sniper attacked your town,” I said flatly. “If I knew what was going on, I’d tell you. Is it possible Mortar had enemies?”

“Hell no. Unless you think raiders have trained snipers now. Tell me more about this pony you are chasing. Any way he is responsible?” the sheriff asked.

The sheriff was right. This was not the work of raiders. “His name is Muddy Waters,” I said with a deep sigh. “He and I had been friends for a few years. We worked together in Coltington before he tried to kill me, three times, for no apparent reason.” I saw no need to involve the sheriff in the details. “The scavenging company we work for has tasked us with his arrest.”

“And could he be responsible?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Do I think he could do something like that? Yeah, seeing as how he has tried to kill me multiple times already. But I can’t imagine why he’d take out the deputy and not me,” I replied, scratching my head.

“But you wern’t near the deputy, Dust,” Brownie interjected. “I was closest.”

“Yeah, Mister Dust. Deputy Mortar dropped his hat. Brownie bent over to pick it up and that’s when the deputy went all pink,” One said looking at me quizzically.

The thoughts in my head stopped immediately. My mind flashed back to the roof in New Flankfurt. “I will kill you and your friends… starting with the big one,” I heard in my mind. It was Muddy’s threat.

“If it was him, he wasn’t aiming for the deputy. He was aiming for Brownie,” I mumbled, my voice trailing off at the end. The realization of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks. I involuntarily dropped to my flank and the sounds in the room faded away. Assuming it was Muddy, he was now actively hunting us down. My friends were now in real danger, and it was all my fault. I had to find a way to get them out of danger and end this.

A brown hoof waving in front of my face drew my attention out of my internal debate. “Dust? Dust! Are ya still with us?” Brownie was saying while staring at me uncomfortably close to my face.

With a shake of my head, I cleared my mind. “Yeah, sorry, just thinking.” I surveyed the room and saw my friends there. If there was any chance that Muddy was the one responsible for the attack, I had to take care of it.

“Sheriff, we’ll go investigate the sniper,” I said flatly. Everypony in the room turned their head simultaneously to look at me. The sheriff looked relieved. Brownie looked concerned. One had the same confused look on his face as he always did. And Silver…

“No! You are not going to go risk yourself again!” Silver screamed out stamping at the ground. “Assuming it is Muddy, and we are not sure that it is, he always gets the upper hoof on you! He has almost killed you several times already. Who’s to say it won’t happen this time! You can’t risk yourself again! There has to be some other way!” she yelled as she broke down into crying.

“Silver, this is something we have to do. If it is Muddy, then I am responsible for what happened here tonight. If it isn’t Muddy, then the town is better off with a group of prepared ponies taking care of this and not some random settlers,” I tried to explain. Silver bolted from the room, still crying.

“We’ll leave later in the morning tomorrow and take care of it,” I said to the ponies left in the room. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” I said and left the sheriff’s office.

Silver hadn’t made it very far as she was sitting on a small bench just outside the sheriff’s office. She was still crying. I walked over to her and placed my hoof back around her shoulder, “Silver, this really isn’t safe. Can we at least move somewhere not in the direct line of fire in case the sniper gets any ideas?” She weakly nodded and I walked her to the town’s bar.

The small bar smelled of sweat and stale beer. It was dimly lit and the floor had a slightly sticky film on it. I found a small booth off in one corner and led Silver to it.

“I’ll be right back,” I said giving her hoof a small squeeze.

I made my way over to the bar. The bartender was a amber colored unicorn stallion with a deep brown mane. He was busy cleaning some glasses in his magical field. Why did it seem like all bartenders were unicorns?

“So, you’s the one whose scarin’ away my customers,” he grumbled as I approached.

“Not exactly a fair assessment, barkeep,” I shot back defensively. “The sniper might have been trying to take out the deputy. In either case, can I get a couple drinks? Can I get a Sparkle Cola and a shot of Wild Pegasus, please?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” he grumbled as he prepared the drinks. I hoofed over the requisite number of caps, with a nice tip, and the barkeep was helpful enough to levitate the drinks to our table.

To my surprise, Silver took the shot of Wild Pegasus and took the whole shot in one gulp. She even slammed the empty shot glass down on the table and finished with a gasp. I stood there with my mouth agape. Silver saw me and gave me a mean look. “What?” she snapped at me.

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head back to my senses. “Just didn’t expect you to do that.”

“Dust, let’s not beat around the bush here,” she said with an exasperated sigh. “Why are you so hung up on getting Muddy, even if it means you risk getting yourself killed?”

“Silver, this is not about me,” I said shaking my head. “I am doing this to protect you and everypony else. Muddy has threatened to kill you all and I doubt that he will just stop if we stop. We are a threat to him and whatever plans he has for the future. I know too much, and by extension, so do you all.”

“I don’t know, Dust,” she said leaning into my shoulder. “But we could find somewhere to settle down. The ponies there could help protect us.”

“I wish it were that easy, Silver. I really do,” I said leaning into her in return. “I don’t want anypony getting hurt because of me, and if we don’t get Muddy now, he will hurt somepony.”

“What if it isn’t Muddy?” she asked.

“Well, then it’s no different than any other day down here,” I said shrugging. “If it wasn’t the sniper, it would be raiders, radhogs, bloatsprites, you name it. At least this time, I’m not trying to do it alone.”

“I’m still scared, Dust,” she mumbled.

“So am I, Silver,” I said while gripping her tighter.

We ordered a small meal of canned vegetables for dinner. After gulping down the food in short order, we spent a while in the bar just holding each other. After a while, we both decided getting some sleep would be a good idea. Especially since we had a long walk the next day. Passing by the sheriff's office, I noticed another pony had taken up a sniping position on the roof and was watching the mountains. We worked our way back to the Inn to find that Brownie had already negotiated rooms for the five of us.

“And you tell that friend of yours that I don’t know how he talked me into a free room, but not to try it again,” the innkeeper grumbled. I couldn’t help but to giggle a little bit.

The room, after spending the night at Manny’s, wasn’t anything spectacular. At least it was a lumpy mattress on a rusted bed frame, and not just a pile of straw in the corner. Silver and I wasted no time crawling into bed and cuddled next to each other. It wasn’t the best I’d been in, but it definitely beat a bedroll on the ground somewhere. The warmth of her body next to mine was relaxing. After a brief moment, I felt Silver’s breathing slow as she fell asleep.

Very carefully, I extricated myself from the bed we were sharing. Quietly, I made my way to the corner of the room where we had stashed our saddlebags and threw mine over my back. I felt bad lying to Silver, but there was no way I was going to risk my friends’ lives again. Taking care of the sniper, assuming it was Muddy, was a job I had to take care of alone.

Slowly closing the door with a soft click, I left the inn. Knowing it was rather unlikely, I still checked with the general store to see if I could pick us a few extra healing supplies. Without Brownie and Flower, if anything went wrong, I’d be on my own. My assumption was correct and the store seemed closed for the night, but I saw a light on inside. Peering in through the window, I saw a pony stocking shelves. I knocked on the door and convinced the pony to let me in. We haggled on some medical supplies to bolster my stock. I was rather proud of the price I was able to negotiate, especially the value I got for some of the fresh produce we got from Manny.

Having accomplished everything I wanted before leaving, I simply made my way to the gate. Hopefully, my friends wouldn’t miss me until the morning and wouldn’t try to come look for me. As I drew near the gate, I simply nodded at Deputy Brick and he opened the gate for me. The baleful look he gave me filled me with guilt. All I could do was turn my head away in shame. I stepped through the gate and I heard it slam behind me and the lock slide back into position. Looking towards the mountain range the sniper had taken his shots from, I turned to head in that direction.

I felt horrible lying to my friends, but I needed to do this alone. I couldn’t risk anypony else on this, and Muddy had made it very clear to me that my friends would be killed first to teach me a lesson. At least if somepony died, it would just be me. But if Muddy was as sadistic as I thought he was, he would just hurt me badly and not outright kill me. He wanted me to suffer for some reason.

A pony clearing his voice behind me made me jump a little. I turned toward the source of the sound. Several ponies emerged from the darkness near the wall surrounding the town. As they drew closer, I made out the forms of Brownie, Flower, One, and Silver.

Silver glared at me with death in her eyes. “And just where do you think you’re going?”

Oh, shit.

Level Up!

Skills: Barter, 15

Perk Obtained: Fleet of Foot: Those pegasus instincts must still be kicking in. Gain +1 to agility when your enemy is using a long range rifle.

Author's Notes:

I have to say, this was the hardest chapter for me to write so far. But, here it is! I hope you all enjoy it!