"I can't believe it is really you!" My mother said as she trotted around me looking me over. "Such stripes! They are not like any I have seen!" She said, running her hoof over my side. I had to admit, it felt great but it wasn't like anything anypony had done to me before. It was different, caring even in her touch and how she went about it. Normally I would get upset about such a thing, but for some reason with her, it felt completely normal. "Such a strong buck you have become over the years! I see you have a tribal Cutiemark as well!"

"Yeah! I got it for... well, finding my necklace... Or for finding Zuri, the lines are kind of hazy at this point. It's been a while." I said rubbing my neck.

"What does it mean?" She asked giving it a tap.

"It's a coyote print. I'm a tracker."

"A Coyote. Clever, quick on the hooves, a hunter!" She said with pride in her tone. I could tell that she was not just taking in my presence, she was taking pride in her creation. "We always knew that you would grow to do great things my little colt. Bearing the mark of the coyote is a great honor!"

"Mom... jeez!" I said blushing.

Zuri had found herself a place and made herself comfortable and had resided to watching the show. All the while she wore a smile, I couldn't help but wonder if she was thinking about her mother too. Perhaps if she would be as loving and caring as mine was being in this moment. I wanted her to have her moment like this, I wanted to be in her hooves and be watching this happen to her. I wanted it for her.

"Kit. Please... have a seat over here. I wish to speak with you." She said looking to Zuri as if she were an intruder. It was at that moment I realized that I had forgot to introduce the two of them! I felt terrible but I was so lost in our moment that I hadn't even noticed that Sunny had left to do her chores!

"OH! Mom! This is Zuri, she's my Special Somepony." I said running over to her. "Sorry, I kinda got sidetracked talking to you... First time meetings and all!"

"Ah... This is your lover! She is very pretty! How fitting a couple you make." She said while she trotted to us and lay on the ground. "Zuri... This means Beautiful. Kit, this means Gem. How very well, you two make a beautiful gem together!"

Well if that isn't parental approval I have no clue what is. We sat talking for easily a few hours, far in to the early morning hours. We talked about everything that had happened over the last years of my life, leaving not shortages of topics. From working for Camden and the traders to me meeting Zuri and our tearful goodbye, to being bitten by a taint mutated pony and bringing on my stripes to the horrors of Filly. I left no stone un-turned in my quest to help her better understand who I had become as a pony. I didn't want her deprived for another second of what all had happened in my life. Finally, I came to my favorite story, how Zuri and I meet on a secluded beach not too far from here.

"So the shack, it burned down?" She asked trying to hide her laughter.

"YEAH! She wouldn't let go of me so I could put it out! We lost ALL our food. If not for that Stable we would have been in a bad way!"

"Oh... It is just so good to hear how well you have done! I think back to that night... When we gave you away all the time. It is, the only dream that I have. But now, I can dream more about you! About how happy you are!" She said with knowing, tearful eyes. Damn it, reality hit home harder than it ever had before. No amount of sweet and kind stories would save this moment forever. In the end, there was still the job of breaking her and Zuri's mother out of here. There was also the matter of Sunny to deal with. But I still had a question that was eating away at my mind. Something that had not left me since the day I said goodbye.

"Zuri... I have to ask you something..." I said putting a hoof on her's. "I promise not to get mad, I wont leave you and I want hold it against you... I have to know, why did you leave me when we were young?" It was a sledgehammer of a blow. She recoiled in shock that I would ask something like that at a time like this, but it was the only thing that was holding my heart back from truly loving her to no end. I already knew that no matter the answer, I was going to be with her for the rest of my life, but I had to tie up just one last loose end.

"Joey! Here!? Now!?" She said panicking.

"Yeah, Zu... here... now. I made my promise to you, make just one to me. Be honest." I said as I wrapped a wing around her and pulled her closer to me. "It's ok... You can tell me." With a deep sigh I watched her gather her thoughts and let out a shaky breath. With her eyes closed, we both watched as she finally began to speak.

"It was long ago... I was very young, it was after The Abandonment happened. They began checking the bloodlines of families and eventually found mine. My grandmare had taken to a earth pony long before she had met my grandbuck according to their records. They stormed our home, they destroyed everything we had. They tried to force my grandmare to kill my mother, she refused and instead turned the blade on herself. I watched her die.

They then told my mother and father that they had to make a choice. Kill me and be given the life fitting Zebras who trotted in the light... Or abandon me and work the fields. They were given the night to consider. I never gave them the chance. I ran away. I was so scared, I didn't want to die, I didn't want them to have to choose! I wanted to help them some way, some how!

They came looking for me. They sent the Slavers after me. I was a sin that had not been atoned for. I was scared so I hid in the valley for so long... That is where they caught me. The night you found me... The buck you shot to save me. He was to return me to the elders. I was to be killed. He told me this. I was told if I escaped that I would be taken to a horrid place. A place where I would be worked to death, where fillies are killed for no reason! I now know this place as Filly, but back then I did not know. They said they would find me no matter what and not to look for help! They would kill them too!

That is when you saved me and we ran away. Joey, I wanted to stay! But I was just so scared! I knew the moment we met that I loved you and I didn't want you to get hurt too! I had to leave to... to protect you from me. I went back looking for you when I was older. You were the only pony to ever be so kind to me! You were so sweet and you worried for me, no pony or Zebra had done that for me! I wish to take it all back! I want the time back! I want to be with you more! I wished for you every night!" She said, hear voice shaking from the tears.

All this time... I had thought she was running from slavers, but she had been running from Zebras. She ran from this town to save her parents the pain, she ran for her life to save hers and she ran from me, to save mine. Why had she been so worried about this? She knows that I can weather just about any storm that comes our way and that I would never leave her. Call it the pain of being left like that, but I would not wish that pain on anypony, Zebra, Griffin or... anything! It just hurt too much to bear alone.

"Thank you..." I whispered as I leaned in close to give her a small peck on the cheek. I rested my forehead against her's and closed my eyes. "I'm here now. I'm not leaving."

"You are not angry?" She asked in a trembling voice.

"No Zu, I'm not. Please, just promise me you won't leave me again. That's all I ever wanted."

"I will not leave you. I want to be with you forever and ever!"

My mother looked on at the two star crossed lovers with knowing eyes. Had she not been in the same situation at one point? The things that happened back then were atrocities to say the very least. From every Zebra that spoke on it it sound more like a war story than a tale of sorrow. It was heavy, brooding tones that pulled at your heart and forced you to listen to them fully as though not doing so would be unspeakable rude. Part of me thought that she saw herself in me and that Zuri was my cursed love that I had found and made right again. But a bigger part of me knew that truly, deep down, she wanted this for herself. No amount of first meetings of your lost colt will equal to a lifetime of loneliness of a lost Special Somepony.

"Are you going to kiss her, or will she need to kiss you?" My mother said sweetly. I did as I was told and sealed our promise to one another with a kiss. I guess it was as close to a wedding as we were going to get here. Truthfully, I had felt the connection between Zuri and I since I first met her, it was like the further we were apart, the more it hurt, right up until the day we were back together.

"Oh how I miss moments like those... You father was sweet like you, so kind and gentle..." I looked back to my mother and saw a lifetime of pain in her eyes. "Zuri... Why is it that you call him 'Joey'?"

"Oh! It is his name! Joey Coyote! Or... Coyote Joe! Nopony knows his real name, Kit."

"Is that the name that was given to you by the Trader? Camden?" She asked.

"It is. He said it was because I was all over the place and ready to fight all the time... you know, like a baby kangaroo."

"Yes. This name is fitting for you, son!" She laughed. "But you will always be my Kity!" She said with a smile.

"MOM! I'm not a cat!" I shouted in protest but it was too late. Zuri was already working up pet names.

"Kity, kit! I like this name very much!" Zuri said, petting my mane like a house cat. I looked on blankly as the two of them then proceeded to tear into me with reckless abandon over the crude similarity. One thing was in the fore front of my mind, for the love of everything, Caliber must never know this pet name or I would be short a brother. We talked for what felt like hours, me asking questions about my heritage and family traditions that I was to hold on to, her asking about my little pack of tamed coyotes I had crewed over the years. It was all so nice to catch up but the longing I had for this to never end was all to palatable.

I wanted to have these moments, I wanted to com visit my mother and talk to her about the weather, to drop by unexpectedly to surprise her with good news or to just say hi. I wanted a family. I wanted that safety to be able to let my guard down for just a moment and just relax in the air, if only for a moment. It was a simple wish by pony standards, but it was such a tall order in the world we lived in. Why was it that a world like that used to exist, but now everything had to stay corrupted and foul? Why could it not just be normal again?

"Mom... Zuri still needs to have her moment in the sun with her mom... But we have been talking and... We want to get you all out of here. This is just not right! We know that things are not what they seem, but how is it that every Zebra here is staying so calm when they have the chance to run or speak out to the other elders? It seems like they would step in and intervene." I said frustrated. She looked around the hut and stepped down from her chair and began to dig through an old wooden crate beside her table. It was not long before she finally just lifted the box atop the table and began to go through the contents.

"Kit... I have something for you. You will need it if I am to show you why we do not run. Why we do not speak." She said as she pulled a black cloaked hood from the box that had been rolled up into a long cylinder. She then proceed to unroll it before us and inside displayed various items that had the clear hallmarks of keepsakes. Before me lay a large black cloak, two knives that held the resemblance of military issue but had been clearly produced resonantly and two leather leg bands that looked to have been crafted by hoof. She looked them over tearfully and pushed them across the table to me before setting back in her seat. "These were your fathers... Left overs from when he was in the Enclave. They were his father's as well. I made the leg braces myself for them. The cloak was a wedding gift from me. It seems only right that you have them now."

I was beside myself with joy and emotion. These were dad's!? I had guessed he was ex-Enclave but I never knew for sure until now. The leg braces were made of tough hide that had been beaten into shape painstakingly to fit the forelegs of a buck. Reinforced with a dark grey metal on the backsides, no doubt to black against attacks and latched in place with buckles. They were... beautiful! I reached for one of them and slid my hoof into place and felt them fall into the bends near perfectly. They were comfortable and so cool looking. Zuri helped me latch the buckles in place before I slid one of the blackened steel blades in place and did up the clasp. I took notice that the buckles had once been done in place two notices wider then they were now to fit my legs.

It was as close to my father as I had ever felt. They even had a relief for my Pipbuck's screen! Never had I felt more close to my father than in this moment right now. "Try it on, dear." My mother said, trotting to my side with the black cloak. Her and Zuri helped me into the thing that to me resembled a dress, but to them was something more of a traditional garment. The cloak nearly touched the floor from the weight that it carried. I had first thought it was just some kind of ceremonial vestment, but I could feel the tale-tale coldness of steel on my back and sides. This wasn't just some wedding gift, it was armor. Light and contoured, it felt more like sparing armor than anything and made my old vest look like raider gear.

"Ah... you look so much like your father. If not for the grey coat!" She said proudly. "It fits you nicely, no?" I could tell by the amount of pride she was taking in this that she had not only commissioned this work of art, but possible made it herself. I felt totally protected yet completely free to move and look around. It was nothing like my old vest, but it did lack holsters. I'm sure that is something Ditzy could manage... Hell, if she made this, maybe my mother could manage it. "Zuri, here... put this on dear." She said, passing her another black cloak. "If we are to go to this place, you will need to be hidden as well." She said, putting on her own black cloak that had been worn by time and dirt. "This was meant to be Kit's, wear it well."

"What do you want me to do if we are spotted?" I asked, looking myself over.

"Hide. They will come to me. I will tell them I am going to fetch water. When they leave, then you can follow." She said as she blew out the candles one by one. "We must stay hidden."

"Right. Zuri, you follow my mother. You could pass yourself off as a local. I will hang back and keep an eye out for trouble." I said trotting for the door.

"Yes! Do this. If you see something, try to get our attention. We will let you know when it is clear. We do not need to go fair."

The three of us stepped out into the cool night air. In the short time I had been there the temperature had falling so much that I was beginning to thank the heavens for the cloak I was given. I could nearly see my breath as I watched the two of them hold a casual conversation and trotted down the streets. I waited for them to get just far enough that they would not know I was behind them and gave chase. I darted quickly behind the row of huts and began jumping from shadow to shadow in pursuit. I would never admit it to either of them, not even if they asked... But I was actually having fun.

I had waited for something like this for quite sometime now. A lifetime of tracking and stalking had left my newly sedative state to feel like a prison than a vacation. I missed the chase, the bullets and the hunt. I guess there were just some things you could never take out of me, no matter how much zeeb you tried to cram in. We came to the end of the long row of house and I could clearly see the path ahead of them. In my haste I had over taken them both and found myself near the edge of a pathway that proceeded down hill.

I chanced a peak to see where they would be coming from and saw that the pathway was closed off by two lone guards. If they were doing anything, they were limiting access to this place. I hovered in place and began to backtrack to the first house with a gap between it to warn them. I had just made it in time to kick two pebbles in their path as they entered the road way. My mother looked back to me and gave a subtle wink and proceeded. Now I had to double back to the opening. For all she had said, she had not told me what to do if things went wrong.

What if they did not let them pass? Do we just go back home? What if they decide to take them into custody for being out of their shack after hours? What, do I just... kill them? What would I do with the bodies? I couldn't just hide them here, some Zebra somewhere would know they were missing. Then there was the second worry of if they got through, how the hell was I going to get out of this spot I was in? The road ahead was lit with torches, they would see me the moment I stepped out of my cover. I could always fly, but how long before I was seen flying? It was a full moon night, there was no chance I wouldn't be seen.

Zuri and my mom came to the guards and were stopped abruptly. Part of me was secretly hopping they would be sent back home and I could just go to this place myself. I hated seeing them in harms way like this, the whole point of Zuri being with me was so that I could protect her in the first place! But here I was putting her in front of two guards in the middle of the night in a place she was not welcome in if they found her out.

"Tuko hapa kwa maji." My mother said sternly. The guard did not seem amused by the act. She took a step forward but was met with a spear pointed at her. She recoiled back on her hind legs and took a step back. "Nini maana ya hii?" Oh what I wouldn't give to know Zebra speak... The one guard advanced towards her while the second began to approach Zuri. Every muscle in my body was screaming that this was going poorly and fast.

''Unataka maji? Tunakutaka!'' On of the guards said sternly. Zuri all but shrank into my mother as the two of them wore faces of horror. Ok, this is too much. I know that look, I know their look and I will be damned if I stand here and watch this happen. I took off for the sky above, looking for any guards that might spot me and hovered over to the gate way over their heads. I pulled out a knife and began sawing at the thick vines that held the old log in place. Not all the way through, just enough to weaken them. "Wasilisha!" They both shouted. Just a few more steps...

"Hapana!" They both shouted back.

I rose up in the air and waited for just the right moment. As soon as I saw a hoof cross in front of the log, I dropped like a stone, severing the vines and dropping the log atop the two would be perverts. I fell down with the log, pushing down as hard as I could to maximize the hit. It was... effective. The log hit one of them in the head enough to deal a fatal blow and the other hard enough in their back to make a sickening wet crunch under it's weight. I stepped down off the log in front of Zu and my mom, turned to look at the guards and the damage I caused before making eye contact with the now paralyzed buck.

"Wakasema hapana... Asshole." I said as I gave his neck a stiff but very directed buck to break it. I didn't know much Zebra, but I knew that sentence well. I had learned it from listening to my nurses trying to speak something other than pony around me. I knew that Hapana mean no, but out side of that I knew very little. Zuri was beaming with joy and ran up to hug me.

"Oh! You have learned the Romani! That is great!" She said hugging me. Behind her, my mother was mortified. I nearly had to remind her that we were on a mission and not here to just kill two Zebras. I motioned for us to continue on our quest and darted for the shadows. The two of them trotted along in the light, but I thought it better to keep myself hidden. I really hope I made it look like an accident, I mean this place was old and worn down, surely a falling beam was not out of the ordinary.

"Do you think they will buy it?" I said in a hushed tone from my place in the darkness.

"Kit! You killed them!" My mother said sounding just a little too offended by my actions.

"They were going to do something bad to you, weren't they?"

"...Yes, but it happens! You don't kill them for it!" She scream whispered.

"Uh... yeah you do. I don't know about this place, but we have all as a race deemed rape an offence punishable by death." I said confident in my choice.

"Ugh... Is he always like this?" My mother said in frustration.

"Yes... Jo... I mean Kit does not like the rape. It makes him angry." Zuri said as we trotted to a large bush in the bend of the trail.

"We will need a new way back home. We can not be seen near there again!" My mother said as she pushed the bush aside and letting Zuri pass through, but she put a hoof up for me to wait. "Kit, please do not kill the guards. I know that you wish to protect us, but killing them? This is too much!" She said with a soft hoof to my face.

"Yes mom..." I said far too un-enthusiastically.

"No! No tone!" She said sternly as she bit my ear and pulled me along.

"ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" I protested but honestly... I saw her point. We might not have known one another long, but I was being lippy. What was wrong with killing rapist? They are vile, evil, scum of the earth ponies that have it coming to them! I was just paying that debt so no pony else had to.

I was... punished the entire was down the trail to the small opening of a cave. Having your ear chewed on by an angry full grown adult mare was bad enough, but over rocky, hilly terrain? That was just brutal! I was surprised when she finally let it go that I had any left at all. She then set to work with two stones and a torch that was hidden away in a bush. Before long she had a spark that ignited the char cloth on the end flooding the cave with light.

"This way. Kit, you first." She motioned, trying to pass me the torch. I hoofed through my Pipbuck and turned on the light function, bathing everything before me in a emerald green haze.

"It's ok, you keep it. I have a light." I said as I started the slow decent into the cave. This was defiantly not made by hoof in any way. The stones that blocked much of the pathway were massive and seemed to be from cave ins over time. The walls were jagged and asymmetrical like... well, a cave. I was trying to track where we were in conjunction to the place we had come from, but it was impossible. There were just too many twists and turns. That was when I remembered that my Pipbuck worked underground and I felt completely stupid for not looking at the mapping feature.

"There..." My mom said as she passed me and held the torch into what looked like a large room in the cavern. What I had considered to be nothing more than a large hollowed out area of the cave was something much bigger. It was something that somepony... or Zebra had build deep in the limestone below the town. I glanced at my pipbuck and saw that it was indeed just below the town square but how deep, I had no clue. "This is what keeps the tribe silent!" She said, pointing toward the center of the room.

I stepped closer to see what she was talking about, but I was stopped by the growing clicking sound coming form my leg. The closer I got, the louder it became. It wasn't until the light of my Pipbuck found what looked like a massive metal tube that had rusted into a giant red pillar that I knew what I was looking at.

"Is that... What I think it is?" I said stepping closer.

"Yes. What is that sound I am hearing?"

"That's my Pipbuck, it makes that noise when there is a LOT of radiation present... Maybe we should take a step back." I said, putting a hoof to her chest and guiding her away from the cancer tube.

"So you mean to tell me, that the reason everypony is being so quiet is because there is a mega spell launcher under their town!?" I had never actually seen one up close before, only told the stories of what they looked like and how powerful they were. But nothing compared to seeing one first hoof! It was massive! The size of a small building and nearly as round as one to boot! Judging by the resent looking repairs in contrast to the rusted, moldy surface, this thing was being made active once more. But more worrying wasn't that fact, it was the fact that despite retreating to the opening of the room, my Pipbuck was still clicking. It wasn't just operational, it was loaded and pointed right at the ceiling.

Regret for not just simply knocking those two bucks out was beginning to sink in now. I was becoming all too familiar with the term Irony as well. This was a weapon of mass destruction designed to kill ponies but was now being used to submit their own kind into slavery. At least after the bombs fell we had the chance to be free ponies, to carve out our own lives in the fallout. Here, they had no choice at all! No wonder all the Zebras were so submitting, it was because they were under the rule of a lunatic that rather see it all burn than to let it go.

"So this thing... it's aimed just bellow the whole tribe?" I said in disbelief.

"Yes. It is... how you say... a deterrent." My mother said, taking a set against the cave wall.

"Call me crazy, but this is just all the more reason to leave! How can you sleep knowing that there is a mega-spell aimed right at you!?"

"Kity... This is our home! We belong to this land, not the other way around. Some make seek out tribes to take home with, but we have been here for as long as any of us can remember. Our hearts are tied to this place." She said, drawing a little heart on the wall beside her with a hoof.

"Joey... The Damu are very... traditional. They believe that they were given to the land and they the land owns their soul. Without it, they are lost Zebras." Zuri said, taking a seat near my mother.

"So we are screwed then... that's what you mean?" I said, falling myself beside them.

"Kity, I want to be free. But I do not want to give up this place. It is my home... it is, your home now too!" She said leaning into me. I was surrounded by crazy mares... literally. Crazy, headstrong... loving mares who just wanted their home back. But how could something like that even happen? This place was crawling with guards that seemed to be on the side of the elders. We out numbered them sure, but how can you expect a bunch of tired, emaciated farmers to have the energy to fight? They had been so beaten down that no Zebra was even willing to stand up to run. Well, all apart from Sunny, she wanted the hell out of here, land or not!

"Mom... What if it was not permanent. What if they all left for just a little while?" I asked as they both leaned against me.

"That would be hard. But if they came back home and the land was theirs, they would be happy again."

"What if I told you... I might have an idea."

"Oh? You have a plan?" Zuri said, reaching over to me.

"Yeah... something... stupid."

We awoke to the sound of the trampling of guard's hoofsteps shaking the ground. Zuri and I had crept our way back to our hut undetected when Sunny failed to appear. I was just by luck's grace that we were not seen, at least I don't think we were. Panic began to set in as last night's events had still not left my mind. It was reckless for us to even try to go there, let alone leave two dead guards in our wake. I had found myself secretly wishing we had never gone, I wanted to run from here as fast as I could, but if they pinned my mother for the crime in anyway, I would never forgive myself. Besides the fact of wanting to liberated my own family, we still had Zuri's mother to track down. An act I was told that would be far easier than hat we had just endured.

Shouting and chanting in a language that I would not begin to understand began to replace the stomps as the shouting began to overwhelm my hearing. This was very not good... There was a good chance that the shouting and the protest I was hearing was for us! Even with the distance, it was as if they were right outside my door.

"Zu! Wake up!"

"Huh..." She grumbled as I shook her."What is it?"

"Do you hear that? What are they chanting? What are they doing?" I said panic'd.

"Huh? Oh, That's just the weekly changing of the guards. They do that everything." She said, giving a sleepy yawn.

Changing of the guards? So that sounds were a good thing? It sounded more like they were about to go on a witch hunt than to change guards. I breathed an easy sigh as I fell back into the bed and tried to relax myself back to sleep. We had been up nearly all night, running and sneaking around. Conservatively speaking we had slept for little more than three hours if that. Today was going to be rough for sure... We had a list of things that we needed to get accomplished and it looked like I was going to have the pleasure of doing so with a migraine.

"Babe... We have to get up..." I said rolling over behind her. "We have a lot to do today." Zuri grumbled and began snuggling up to her pillow. I could already see that the biggest fight of the day was not going to be the questioning of officials, mapping out the fence or even the possible finding of a meeting place for the Slaves... No... It was going to be getting this little magical ball of stripes to wake up and smell the dead roses. "Zuzu... ZUZU... It's Joey talking... Do you read me?" More protest from my favorite Zebra prompted me for more... intense measures.

I began by running a hoof down her side to her flank and started massaging gently, followed my a little soft nuzzling of her neck. I then traced a line to her belly and started tickling her her soft undercoat as I traced small circles down between her legs. A soft 'mmm' was my reward the further down I went. I then teased her by touching everything down there except the one spot I knew she wanted, working her into a full blown disaster as she tried to adjust herself so that I could reach her pleasure spot. Then, without warning, I dove in hoof first and began rubbing and messaging just slow enough to drive her mad.

She began thrusting herself into me over and over, that's the spot, no mistaking it. I held on to her as her back arched and her whole body began to rive in pleasure from my hoof. I loved watching her like this, it was a real turn on for me, something about how she would moan and over exaggerate what she was feeling made me feel... worth wild. Not to mention she was impossibly cute when she was getting close to the moment of truth. I had made a game of seeing how long I could keep her right on the verge of complete collapse when I myself began feeling the urge to... go a little further.

She was already dripping with sweat and grinding herself both into me and my hoof by the time my small problem was becoming a very pressing issue. I just couldn't help myself, now I was turned on and I was going to have to do something about it. I had originally just wanted to get her close and say 'Oh good! Your up too!' but now... I had shot myself in the crotch.

I began kissing the back of her neck while my hoof guided her back closer to me. I could feel her heat, I could feel how slippery everything had gotten in the short time I had been hard at work and I could feel her trembling in my hooves. I got into position and slid deep inside her, slowly to take in every moment of pleasure from that first thrust of many. Zuri let out a yelp of approval, I had never seen her like this before. Was it the lack of sleep? Maybe nearly getting caught last night had set the stage for world class sex, either way, I was loving it!

Usually she was the one to make the first move, but this time, I was in charge. I pulled her under me, I wanted to see her, to take in her whole beautiful exotic body as I braced my self on her flank from behind. I was loosing it, I felt wave after wave of her first orgasm wash over me, then a second, then a third! After all we had done together, it was taking me longer and longer to reach my own point of no return, but that just meant more time together, something I would never complain about. I leaned in and bit down on her ear, pulling her head back as I really began to bare down on her. Thrust after thrust, I bit harder.

This was wild, unadulterated sex. The kind you have when you can't take it anymore and you just need to get off. When you love the pony you are with and want them to feel just how much you are enjoying it. It felt like we were shaking the entire hut! The bed frame broke and we fell to the floor but we never stopped, not for a moment! With each orgasm she grew more and more violent... As did I the closer I got. This was one of the few times I was matching her ferocity and tenacity the longer we were at it.

Zuri had had enough, she rolled from under me and pushed me to the ground like a wild animal with a kill. I thought maybe I had hurt her, maybe I had gone on for too long. But the hunger in her eyes told a different story all together. Slightly frighting like being shot at, but exciting and adrenaline fueled... Like being shot at. She straddled over me and lined herself up with a look of the most evil intent I had ever seen a mare give. I watch in amazement that she had no plans of traveling down the same road we always had. No, she was going to take the new and interesting route.

I felt myself being pressed in just below her tail. It was a whole new world, tight and hot with new magical sensations that I had never felt before. I was amazed that she not only seemed to like it, but was actually drooling with greed as I felt her slide all the way down to the hilt in pleasure! I had joked about doing this to her, but wow would that have been a shock for both of us! For me both in how good it felt and how much she liked it and for her as I was beginning to see more and more that she wanted me to take the lead more often.

I couldn't help but moan out myself at just how awesome it felt to be somewhere new and pleasurable. This was amazing! I want to do this more often! Then I remembered, I was in charge here, not her! I rolled forward, threw her back to the floor and pushed her hind hooves up on my shoulders. You want that kind of sex? I'll give it to you. I watched as she pawed at my chest, trying to pull me in close, all the while listening to her pleads for me to go fast or harder... it was honestly hard to tell because she had gone full tribal and was speaking Zebra.

I felt myself getting close, the new experience and the sear tightness all worked together to push me near the edge quickly. I put both of my hooves on her's and pinned them to the floor and began thrusting harder and harder, each one hitting harder than the last. I could feel her getting close, I just had to last a little longer. I bit my lip, cheek, tongue... whatever my teeth could find to by myself time until finally, she was cumming. I fell forward and bit down on her neck as I met her halfway in our pursuit to kill one another through sex.

We were both shaking, trembling in the afterglow. Nose to nose, smiling and near laughter while I was still inside her. That was crazy, intense and beyond measure the best sex I had ever had! Even with my relatively small sample size, it was mind blowing. Judging by the look I was getting in return, I had done the same for her. No doubt about it, we were wide awake now. I felt myself fall out of her with a wet and very overly sensitive 'slick' sound and looked back to what was left of the bed. Yup, I'm cursed... Crazy good sex cursed!

"There is the buck I dreamed about!" Zuri said, still trying to shake off the heavy tribal inflection she had adopted.

"Oh? Is that what you have been wanting? A wild pegasus?"

"YES! I have dreamed of doing that with you! So good." She said, not even bothering to wipe the drool from her cheek.

"I want that..." A voice said from the door way. My bodies first reaction to run was stifled thank the goddesses, instead I flopped my head to the other side on Zuri's chest and saw Sunny standing in the door way.

Luna's tight ass I could smell her from here! How long had she been there just... chewing on her lip and making a mess on the ground underneath her? I was still ridding too much of a high and feeling very proud of myself to do more than give her a wink and nearly black out in exhaustion. I was in heaven... I didn't even want to try to free the Zebras anymore... I wanted to free the bed sheets and take a nap.

"Oh! Sunny! You should have come sooner! You could have joined us!" Zuri said sweetly. Yeah... She should have come sooner and she could have came too-.

"WHAT!?" I shrieked. Oh no! None of that! One Zebra was hard enough to contain without leveling a house! Never mind two of the that know one another and probably wouldn't let me stop after I came! "Zuri! No! Bad Zebra!" I shouted.

"What!? I know her. She would be fun to play with too, no?" She said confused as to why I would want to turn down a perfectly good threesome that would probably kill me in the end. "She could do that thing you like while I do the other thing you like... No?" Zuri said, biting her lip evilly.

"Zu... I love having... sex... with you! I don't need anypony or Zebra else." I said, dodging that landmine before it was to be layed.

"Yes! Me too! I do not wish to be with any pony or Zebra buck either! But we could both be together with a friend! I don't mind another mare. I just mind another buck!" She said sweetly. Ok, she makes a great argument... I never wanted to see her with another buck, nor did she by the sounds of it... but another mare? I think I would get into that... But I still wasn't comfortable being with a strange mare like that.

"Zu... I don't know..." I started.

"Kity... Do it for me?" She said, her eyes growing wide as saucers. Damn it... This is not fair! I'm tired, my weenier hurts and I'm being emotionally blackmailed. I took a deep breath and gave in. If I was with Zuri and loved her, that meant that I loved everything about her... even her kinks.

"Ok... For you. But not right now, I friggin' beat!" I said hoping for mercy.

"No. Not now. We can do this again later... But Sunny smells like she could use some help."

"I told you, I'm spent. I'm too tired to hump." I said meekly.

"No. I do not mean that. Show her what your feathers can do. I wish to watch!" She said with those hungry eyes... Did she have a limit!? Like... AT ALL!? Dear Luna how sex hungry were Zebra!? I sighed and gave a head motion for Sunny to come inside as I rolled onto the floor and tried to catch my breath. By all accounts this was a dream come true for many bucks, but those bucks didn't ever have the chance to have sex with a Zebra and nearly be hospitalized from exhaustion.

Sunny left nothing to waste as she began to levitate with glee and excitement. She slammed the door, pushed a wooden box in front of it and ran to the both of us. She stood there, prancing in place, her hooves trying to beat four little holes into the floorboards as she waited for her turn.

"Damn... that bad?" I asked looking her up and down. She was smaller than Zuri, looking me nearly dead in the nostrils in terms of height but with a thinner, more athletic build, but still... She was so small compared to Zuri's muscular frame and poise. She began nodding furiously in excitement. Even standing below my line of site I could tell she was trembling in anticipation. How did this go from me being in charge to me being a sex toy?

"Y-yes! It has been... a very long time! Willfully." She said closing the gap. Damn it, don't bring that up now!? The last thing I want is to be doing this and thinking about THAT... "I believe Zuri said something about feathers?"

"Yeah... I might know something about feathers..." I said as I trotted around her. I wasted no time in dragging a wing tip right between her legs. She wasn't Zuri, she didn't get the teasing and the whole... I'm going to drive you insane... act. No, that was just for her. Sunny's hind legs nearly buckled from the very feeling of feathers on her sensitive tissue. I had to admit, it was quite the ego boost to know that my wings had that effect on a mare... Not to mention I was one of only a hoof full of pegasi in the Wasteland.

"Now... Show her the wings..."Zuri said as she stood, trotted up to Sunny and proceeded to kiss her on the lips. Oh! OH! It was going to be that kind of threesome... This was going to be interesting indeed!

TL;DR:

Zuri and Joey have sex, destroy their bed, try new sexual acts and end up inviting Sunny to join them against Joey's will.

The three of us Trotted into the town's square... Tribe's square... Whatever Zebra's called it. Zuri and I had been here for two days now and already this place was beginning to stink to high heaven. Knowing that there was a Megas Spell effectively aimed right at my hooves would make for quite the terrible night's sleep. It was just one more clock that was ticking along with so many others in my life. Between it, the time frame we were facing with the elders being there and the fact that at some point before I died I wanted to just wake up once and do nothing... it was doing nothing good for the new and exciting heart condition I had.

I didn't say it, I never would, but sex was actually getting to be labor intensive, at least with Zuri. Sunny on the other hoof, we she was as sensitive as a defective landmine! We never actually had sex, but the very touch of feathers on her were more than enough to send her straight to the moon. I had briefly entertained the idea that if her and Valkyrie were to ever meet, they would both have a very common interest that was rare in the Wasteland. Hell, knowing my luck, they would even end up a couple and Zuri would have to find somepony else to rope into threesomes.

Despite the mornings crazy amount of noise and commotion, things had calmed down quite a bit. There was not sign of tighten security, no signs of patrols... nothing. I breathed a easy breath that it was completely possible that we had gotten away with the crime of murder. Maybe it was even possible they had considered it to be an accident, I was pretty lucky like that after all. Maybe... Just maybe we could get out of here unscathed.

We trotted to the end of town near the entrance in search of the Zebra that had been so forthcoming with information earlier on. As luck would have it, she was still on duty at her little shack and was even talking to a couple of ponies who were... being asked to leave? That does not make any sense at all. How had we been allowed in but not them? I was the symbol of evil as far as I could tell, why had they turned them away? I was really looking forward to talking to them and asking them why they had come here in the middle of nowhere.

"Barika, yes?" I asked as we approached. "I was wondering if I could trouble you for a moment of your time."

"Yes? What is it then?" She said rather curtly. Wow, did she have other speeds, or was she forever stuck in bitch gear?

"We were wondering if we could meet some of the elders. We have several questions about how the tribe operates as a whole. It looks like you have quite the interesting dynamic here and we would like to model our own tribe very much so in the same manner." I said flatly, trying to put on my snottiest of tones to impress her.

"Your own tribe... You have a tribe?" She asked skeptically.

"Yes. We have found many Zebras and Zonies that wished to commune together. As such they have appointed me the one in charge of heritage and guidelines for tribe conduct. I believe that a moment of time with one of the elders would solidify my report back to the board of tribal affairs." Well, for on the spot that wasn't too bad. I tried to just regurgitate information I had retained from Shoari's report as best as I could remember.

"Yes, that would indeed give for a solid example of excellent tribal workings. I am sorry to say that the elders are otherwise engaged for the duration of their visit." That did it, now she was playing ball with me. He cool and cold demeanor had broken and gave way to sympathy. Now, how could I exploit this.

"That is... regrettable to hear..." I said putting on my most convincing crushed face.

"Well... Be that as it may. You are welcome to tour the grounds as you wish." She said, sliding over two golden parchments with best as I could describe hieroglyphics on them." These are right of access passes. They will allow you to pass through the halls and courts but the access is still limited. If you were to run into an elder who would hear your story, I would think that they would be forthcoming with information."

"Thank you... but is there anyway I could get three of those from you?" This was all going so well, but after our little morning in the shack, I really didn't want to let Sunny out of our sight. I was worried that I was growing feeling for her by sexual proxy, but I was still working that out in the back of my mind.

"Three? You mean one for the commoner?" She asked in repulsion. Ok, those feeling are real after all. It was taking all I had to hold back a stack of cuss words and snarls at the mere mention of Sunny being a commoner. She had more right to this land than any Zebra standing in the group right now.

"Yes well... Shoari here only speaks the dialect of Carnilian and neither of us can full grasp Romani. For my research to matter in the slightest it must hing on the accuracy of the testimony given. Sunny here speaks Roman very well so we have... procured her for the time being." I said with as much confidence as I could will fighting urges to buck a mare in the face.

"Very well. I too know the pains of trying to get credible information from the Romani tribe. I, being from the Tribe of Logos applaud accuracy above all else when dictation my notes." She said as she passed over two forms of identification to Sunny. "Here are your rights of passage and your duty leave papers. Keep them with you at all times and present them when asked for them. You all will also be required to wear these." She said as she dug around in her hut before passing over three necklaces with stones on them... Well, gems, but they were... raw looking? No where near as gleaming as mine. "These will allow you access to the privileged areas of the village. Without them, you might be killed on sight, but I suspect 'Sunny' will tell you this before entering."

"Thank you for your candor." I said flatly as I turned.

"Oh, Mr.Coyote... If you wish to purchase Sunny, you will need to file for her papers today if you wish to take her with you by the end of your stay." Wait... What the fuck did she... Did she just try to sell me a over sexed Zebra!?

"I be your pardon!? You mean I can just... Buy this mare?" I asked in shock. Well, this changed things a lot...

"Yes... As I suspect you will be wanting to bring active members back to your tribe to help with dialect. You did say you didn't speak the native tongue, correct?" She asked but I was still miles away... I can BUY Zebra's! I'll take 20! No... 30! I'll take em' all, just you wait and see!

"Yes, that is correct."

"Oh, were you not taught by your parents?" She asked me point blank. Well, that takes the shine right the hell off that buying Zebras thing.

"They didn't have the time..." I growled.

"Very well, if you would like to purchase Sunny, you may do so for her or any of the other commoners in the office of tribal affairs, level 2, room 19." Ok, now I was getting pissed and having a very hard time containing my anger.

"What makes you think I would buy her, specifically?" I asked as I turned.

"Just a hunch." She said as we began to trot away. "Oh... Ms. Sunny... You have something in your tail."

Sunny froze and began to tremble. Years of abuse from this place had taken it's toll the likes of which I had only seen in Filly. At the very mention of her name she locked up and lowered her head. She was completely indoctrinated with years of beatings and subservience to do such a thing on near demand like that. Well, I guess I will be purchasing at least two Zebras before I leave... as horrible as it sounded. I looked back to her tail and there in the black and white hairs were one of my feathers sticking out as plain as day. Thinking quickly, I brushed it out with a wingtip and gave my best go to hell look to Barika.

"Damn things get everywhere." I said as I picked it up and trotted off. Who the hell does she think she is!? I came into that conversation and began things so well! I played on her level and she was still being a massive cunt! At the very least we were given what we needed to pursue out plan further. As soon as we were out of sight of the guard shack, I took the feather I had pulled from her tail and slid it behind her ear and whispered in her ear. "Don't listen to them, you are far from being a 'commoner' in my book."

Sunny gave a small smile as a reward for the kind gesture. Zuri gave me a nuzzle in return, my guessing for being kind to her friend like that or for trying to be kind in general. I hated the thought of anypony I liked being below me or being told they were what amounts to property. Maybe that is why I hated Slavers so much and why, when I should be feeling some remorse for what happened to the guards, I felt nothing at all. My mother was quick to point out that I had done wrong, but even she was more worried with us getting caught than the fact that I had killed two Zebras.

"Thank you, Joey. You are too kind." Sunny said as we approached the steps to what I could only describe as a monument to stupidity and ignorance. The massive stone building was clearly set in place long before I had even been born with it's worn and eroded exterior. It had largely been since covered with large red banners on either side, no doubt something promoting pure blood lines or some nonsense. Sunny, put a hoof up to stop us in our tracks. At the very motion, I watched as two guards tensed up and began staring us down. No doubt because a 'commoner' just touched a visitor... This place was really starting to fester a grudge with me. "I will talk with the guards for you. They are Carnilian." She said as she trotted up to present our paper work.

Zuri and I put on our best faces as the guards looked past Sunny and began harshly judging us with accusing glances. Oh hell... I can't kill them here, there are Zebras everywhere! If I caused a scene here there would be zero chance of actually getting to a Tribal Affairs office and buying Sunny's and my mother's freedom. The two guards seemed to look us over for quite sometime before parting ways and allowing for a sizable gap between them for us to pass. As enjoyable as pulling teeth, I was feeling more judged here that I had at Tenpony. Thankfully I was too embarrassed to show my face there, but I was just going to have to try and ignore their glances here.

That's right you stupid guards, make way for the filth train, population two Zebras and a Zony. As we trotted passed them, I would hear them mumbling to one another just as they came into earshot. I just make out 'mwana wa giza' as one of them looked me dead in the eyes. What the hell does that mean!? Did he just call me a son of a bitch? I shot him a stern glance but I was not met with the reaction I had planned on. Rather than staring me down he was actually falling back from me. It's official, Zebras are weird! I hated this, I hated not being about to read anypony or be able to judge intent from their body language like I could others. So few of them wore their emotions on their coats and it was driving me crazy!

Zuri pulled herself in close to me as we ascended the stone steps and found our way to the door. Sunny lead the way through the great halls, all things considered this was a beautiful place on the inside. The walls were gleaming white and looked more like pearl than any ornate marble that I had ever seen. The vaulted ceilings seemed to stretch on and on to a dull golden painted ceiling with glass plates that let the sun rain in like a yellow waterfall of colors as it hit the blackened floor. This wasn't a tribal office, it was a damn temple. As much as I wanted to find flaw with their design or glamour in building such a place, I could only think of how this once beautiful place had stood for so much more than it did now.

"Breath taking, no?" Sunny said, clearly taking in my aw struck demeanor.

"It is..." I said as I trotted forward. Easy, Joey, do not get distracted now.

The plan, if you could call it that was an ever changing one due to the uncertain nature of this place. I wanted to know as much about them as possible, but I was particularly interested in their actions towards visitors. I wanted to know why we had been allowed to come forward when others were not. I wanted to know their version of the history of the place. The latter being the more probable for them to lie to me, I had instead decided to probe their security for any weaknesses I could find. Seeing as I knew little if anything about their new customs, I needed to find out as much possible before coming up with a more solid plan.

The whole, buy Sunny and my mother plan had been a resent development, but the burn it all down and let them rebuild thing was still my go to plan. Reckless, wild and unexpected for sure, but honestly I was put in this position, I was left with little option beyond it. But what I could not figure out was how on earth I was going to get all the slaves free. A full on charge for escape was nearly out of the question, they would be cut down as fast as they ran out without any opposition. I would need an army to slow the guards down just to give them a short window of escape.

Then there was the matter of Zuri's mother as well. I had already decided that she was going to have to come with us if this were to work at all. I could not even begin to enact a thing without her somewhere safe, Zuri would be too distracted otherwise. Then finally, there was the reformation of the slaves to my side of the argument. I know that the very mention of freedom to some seems like a no brainer, but these were hardcore indoctrinated slaves... You can't just talk that out of any creature in the Wasteland. My experience with intercepting escaped slaves was more then enough testament to that alone without speculation.

They often would be scared, running aloof through the wilds of blasted out Equestria with little if any supplies and no plan as to what to do. More than once when I have found them, they would hide or curl into a ball and just... cry. The knew that slaves that had escaped faced a harsh punishment that some would equate to worse than death. So the moment they saw me coming they would just... shut down. It was both heart breaking and infuriating at the same time. I wanted to help them, but they were so far gone that they could not even help themselves anymore, even with another pony doing all the work. Those were the ones that could remember what it was like to be free, the ones born slaves rarely sought freedom at all.

So talking these Zebras into following orders outside of their masters was going to be beyond a challenge. Just getting them all in one place at one time to talk to them into my ridiculous plan was near impossible. Just speaking to them in general was going to be complicated without what I was sure was going to be yet another license! I really, REALLY hated bureaucracy almost as much as I hated slavery. But this was just above and beyond.

We trotted the hallways through out the building, taking note of all the guards and the various rooms and corridors. It was reasonably laid out, but the sear amount of rooms meant that we would need to check all of them to find where one if any of the elders were hiding out. Great... I love a scavenger hunt. At least the wing we were currently in was fairly un-populated giving us the chance to speak somewhat freely.

"Sunny, any idea of how I could talk to some of the worker Zebras? Like, do they have a place where they all got together at one point or another?" I asked hoping for a clear solution.

"No... They are forbidden from amassing. We are each directed to work alone, sleep along and eat alone." She said sorrowfully.

"Interesting. The maintain obedience by separation..." I said trying to find any angle at all to work.

"Joey... Can I ask you something?" Sunny said between Zuri and I.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Would you... purchase me? I mean, if you did not know me? I would just like to know is all." She asked in a low voice. This prompted looks from both myself and Zuri of sadness. She really was this beat down that she was curious of her own monetary value to have just one thing she could call her's? After much visual assurance that I would not be killed for saying it or even just touching her outside of a bedroom setting, I took the chance and answered her.

"Yeah... I think I would. You are cute and I like your personality... But I have Zuri already, so you will just have to settle as a friend i'm afraid. But I would totally buy you." I said, wrapping a wing around her. It was as close to a hug as I could get... Was she drooling? What the hell, oh! Right... Feathers... I gotta be more careful about that. Sunny looked up at me apologetically in her shy little smile.

"Sorry... I am not used to a... gentle touch." She said falling back from us just a little... Oh for the love of Luna... nopony is that damn sensitive! That had to be an act, but even if it were, she was selling the hell out of it. Curiosity got the better of me, I reached a wing over to Zuri and gave her flank a stroke. Yelp was not even close to the noise she made the moment my feathers touched her. She nearly cleared Sunny with how high she jumped!

"Joy! No! Not here!" She said snickering. I could already smell the both of them. Ah... That's not just a Sunny thing, that's a Zebra thing. I guess having wings here was an asset rather than a determent, now if only the rest of the Wasteland would learn that... I greedily began to think that my father had possible had this power as well and that was the true reason they outlaw pony/Zebra couples. Maybe we were just better at it.

We came to the end of the long hallway and found ourselves at a large door way. Just beyond the beaten and warn wooden doors, I could hear the commotion of several voices laughing and carrying on in a dignified manner. I took a moment to look ourselves over for any stray feathers and smudges. Sunny was as clean as fresh laundry if not for her... aroma she was still exuding. Zuri on the other hoof still had crumbs on her lip from the untimely demise of her breakfast. I brushed them off with a hoof and took a deep breath.

"Ok... This is it. Remember, stay calm and follow my lead. I want to press a few button and see if anything lights up."

"Joey, are you sure this is the best way?" Sunny said as she shy'd away.

"Yes... If I can piss somepony... Zebra off just right, maybe I can get them to drop something important. Remember, we are traders looking for diplomatic advice for our own tribe. Maybe they will talk about slaves, maybe not. Either way, keep your head down and mouth shut if you get pissy." I said as I pushed the door open. The room was lit from above from glass ceilings much the same way the rest of the building was. We were standing in a ball room filled with Zebras, but it felt more like a hornet's net. Much of the echoing talk faded out as we trotted in, falling to dull murmurings. Even with the hussed tone I was picking up a few of them saying the word Zony back and forth. Well, at least some of them speak pony...

"Hello. How may I assist you?" A buck asked in a very proper tone. I was taken aback, not by the fact that he was speaking so properly, no... I was shocked by his total absence of stripes! What was a pony doing here!? This place just keeps getting weirder!

"Uh... Yeah... Sorry it's just-"

"I can understand the shock. Many are not used to seeing ponies here, it takes... some getting used to. I thought that you being half pony yourself, you would see this." He said as he shuffled through some parchment. "Welcome to the Mgahawa... Table for three?"

"Sure... But, I have to ask... Why are you here? I mean, how does a pony end up in Zebraca?"

"I imagine the same way anypony does... Curiosity and a drive to find a land that is not irradiated. All of my travels landed me here. Now, is there anything else." He said curtly.

"Yeah actually... I'm trying to find a Zebra to speak with about Tribal affairs... maybe ones involving workers?" I asked skeptically. His demeanor hardened the moment I said the word workers. There it is! Everypony has a tell.

"Workers?" He scoffed. "I think you mean slaves." He said near spitting the last word out.

"You mean they are not considered workers here?"

"Please... As if any of them get paid. Surely even you can see that nopony wants to be here. You would have to be blind to think otherwise! But I can see that you are here under the absence of master Red Eye... I believe you will want to sit Withwalezi Wa Imani." He said as he ripped a few pieces of parchment from his little table and began trotting towards the back right corner of the room. By far and a large margin he was possible the rudest pony I had spoke with... possible ever.

On a normal day this would have resulted in me pissing him off as much as possible to make him lose his mind. But this was actually great news. His animosity betrayed his anger towards the situation and the current rulings of this place. Ponies have that never say die spirit to them like that. Even the slaves in Filly would speak out against their masters of left alone long enough. But some of these Zebras here were just... broken. If just one of them held on to that flicker of anger for what happened, then maybe, just maybe I could convince some of them to help with the plan.

He lead us throughout the entirety of the crowded restaurant before finally slowing us our seats. He displayed the menus across the tables and pulled the seats out with his magic for us. I had to admit, he had a lovely way of keeping cool under pressure. He had gone from unruly to subservient in just a few meters. The Zebras setting across from us wore a host of emotions. Some seemed to not notice us at all, a few were eager to speak and were showing enthusiasm... But one of them... One of them looked like he was ready to murder me if I starred for too long.

I leaned over to Zuri and pulled her ear down close to me and whispered in her ear. "Excuse yourself to the bathroom. Take the buck with you. Tell him what's going on and see what you can get out of him. See if the slaves have a place they meet up at." I said as quietly as I could. Zuri gave me a frightened glance but nodded in approval. "Excuse me... waiter. Please escort my college to the washroom and ensure that she is returned safely. If she isn't... Well, I will leave it to your imagination." I said sternly While rotating my wrist to show a dagger I had concealed in the band of my Pipbuck.

Though, honestly... I doubt the Pipbuck was needed. As soon as the knife got close to my leg, it stuck to it nearly like glue. This magnetic leg thing was really starting to piss me off. I looked back to the rest of the table, same looks, but Mr. Grumpy was looking a little less 'ima kill you'. Possibly because I was being rude to the waiter or that I was treating my Zebras poorly as they had.

"My my... A Zony in our little tribe." He said, looking me over. I gave him a accusing glare in return to show I was not about to be intimidated. "And a pegasi too. My, you must be quite the catch for Red Eye. How is it that you found yourself on Zebra duty?" His tone was cold, cool and very collected. All my suspicions came crashing home that this buck, he was an original Tribal Elder for Damu. The rest must be the visiting elders.

"Quite... Though I would imagine that I would be serving a false profit under him. Sure he has salves, but nothing like this place! Such obedience! I must say that I am very impressed. This must have taken several generations to breed into your stock." I said, hoping I was going to find some common ground on a bed of lies.

"Slaves? These are not slaves at all. They are our workers." He pulled back in repulsion that I would say such a thing. I looked around the table at all the Zebras that were now staring at me quizzically over my outburst. There we go, just stare at the Zony.

"Well, tomato, tamoto. But I could never serve him. He has drive and ambition, but it is a dead end road that whole... Slaver business. Ponies have a spark about them, something you just can't kill off no matter how hard you try. Eventually it leads to an inevitable end." I said, using my mag-leg to move the utensils on the table slightly to line them up.

"An end... What end would that be?" He said, leaning in across the table.

"Honestly? Revolution. You can only push Equines so far before then begin to push back. No, to keep that beat down you have to really break them... Take something from them that they could never get back. You have to take their hope and destroy it, leave a mark far deeper than any whip could. You have to control their lives." I said as I sat back in my chair and began playing with a fork. "But that is Red Eye's problem. I have a Tribe to build of my own."

"My... Are we not versed in the manners of the pony and as it would seem... the Zebra condition." He said, following my action to a T.

"It helps in my previous line of work." I said, noticing that I now had every Zebras attention.

"And that would be what exactly?"

"Oh, I was a therapist. I helped ponies and Zebras get over tragic events like being held captive or being forced to work for the likes of Red Eye. It is important that they learn to rotate back to the world they came from if they wish to survive. Many would just ball up and cry themselves to death given the chance. I was the one that... Free'd them from those mental bonds." I said greedily.

Every Zebra at the table now had their eyes trained squarely on me. If I had wanted to push some buttons before, I was now pulling levers and pissing on the control board. At least for one of them. I take it back, Zebras had loads of tells, you just had to get them chatting first.

"Well now, is that why you have found yourself here in our little tribe? Are you looking for lost little Zebras that need a ear to bend?" He said as he began to drink from his cup. Oh he was good... REALLY good.

"No, I find myself in this scorching land for something other then simple work. I'm looking to develop my own tribe back north. I have found several Zebras and Zonies in this land and I fancy the idea of encroaching on Equestria proper. There is no reason that given enough time that Zebras and Zonies could form tribes strong enough to take what is left of the land and make fair use of it. After all, we did win, didn't we?" I was putting on my best show as Zuri returned with a very shaken looking waiter. What had she done to him back there? He looked like she tried to flush him down the toilet or something. His amusing state was exactly what I was looking for to break the tension.

"Please... Mr?" A Zebra spoke.

"Coyote. Mr. Coyote." I replied politely.

"Mr.Coyote... You say that you are interested in propagating Equestria?" He said skeptically. The other Zebras at the table seemed to lean in closer at the very mention of long since forgotten resources that were seeming free for the taking.

"Well, yes actually. The land is barren, but still rich with resources. After all, we fought a war over it. So why is it that we have not claimed our spoils?"

"Please, forgive Fisi for his outburst. He is very passionate about his tribes core values, but I can see that you are rather open minded. After all, you are here. Could you tell me, what is it exactly you wish from us?"

"Sorry, but I didn't catch your name." I said, taking a sip of water.

"Mhasibu."

"Mhasibu... I only require some time to observe and document the processes of the tribe. Many of the Zebras that I have found and nearly all of the Zonies are completely out of touch with their heritage. Many do not, or do not wish to speak of the tribes that have come from out of fear or rejection. I feel that with core values, and a sense of who they are, they can become stronger than ever before. After all, shunning their ways would be the quickest step to recovery." I was swimming! I gave my every ounce of charisma I had as I did my best to fabricate a story on the fly and hope for them best.

"Well, I see no issue with this at all. Having a forward operating location would afford us a safe location for trade." Mhasibu said looking around. The crowd was mostly in favor of the idea, all save for one very pouty looking Zebra who moments ago looked to have been planning my own demise. "Please, you will inform us if you need anything at all. We can make such arrangements... Pending a meeting for you to fully explain your plan of course."

"Actually, there is one thing that I will be needing... I'm short supplied on help and teachers. I have access to medical and food, but I will need diligent teachers to follow out my orders precisely."

"We can arrange this." Another buck said speaking up. "We have well trained teachers right here, I am sure that appointing a few to your ranks will be easily done." He spoke in a deep tone befitting an actually elder.

"Oh, that will not be needed. I believe I have found two already. I am still looking for a third at them moment, but have a few 'workers' to check with later today." I said a matter of factly.

"Workers? You plan to use workers?"

"Yes. If they are taught by anyzebra that seems to be in a position of dominance, it well undermine the very thing I am trying to accomplish. They need to be strong willed. The teachers must be of equal status as the students for them to learn in a manner fitting a Zebra. I want them to be a true tribe, not a horde of mindless drones." Thank you shale for your book collection and that book on pack mentality!

"Very well. I will speak to tribal affairs myself and give you the free pass to procure three workers for your project. I will be honest Mr.Coyote... When you sat at this table, I thought that you were lost in your place, perhaps even coming to beg for money to fund a cause. It is rare that we hear from anyone that their motives are actually of progressive intent, let alone a Zony."

"I prefer to do things myself. If I am the only one that needs worrying, then I need not and worry. Also, I do not suppose there is a book detailing the history of the Damu tribe's government, is there? For all of my knowledge, I'm afraid I find myself lacking in literature befitting my goals."

"Yes, I believe the repository would have such a book." One of them said. Even with all the friendly and not so friendly banter, I had not learned any of their names. It was not for lack of trying, but rather lack of caring. I wanted to probe them as little as possible in order avoid the very same for myself. I had gotten in, got what I needed and gotten right back out again. Save for one Zebra, everything was going perfectly.

"Very well. I will be stopping by there a little later this afternoon before I head out." I said as I stood and motioned for the girls to do the same. "Thank you for your time and your assistance."

I could feel eyes staring a little softer having spoken with what I was hoping to be a few tribal officials in public. If anything it would have given us a green light around the town as we search for Zuri's mother. Things could have not gone better, if anything they had done perfectly! I had to give it to caliber, when I had pitched my idea of coming here to him, he was the one that told me to 'fake it until you make it'. I was just lucky that I was able to talk my way out of it this time. Had that one buck kept on, I was dangerously close to loosing my cool. He knew something, something he wanted me to know but refused to say it in front of the others.

If Fisi was one of the consuls, then he would have access to the history of this place first hoof. As much as part of me wanted to probe him further, I knew that the clock was ticking if we wanted to liberate the mares and get out of here. We were going to need all the head start we could get once the curtain dropped and the other tribe elders left. And I wanted to be as far from here as possible when it did. This was going to leave us precious little time to find her and leave.

We left the banquet hall behind us and made for the exit. There was only one thing left to do before we could move forward and it was something Zuri had been putting off. We rounded the corner and exited the building, trotted between the guards and found ourselves in the open street. It must be a shift change as we were smack dab in the middle of several tired and skinny Zebras.

"Joy, this went well?" Zuri asked.

"Better than expected. But we have to move fast." I said as I trotted behind a shack and was promptly attacked by a small mare from behind.

"You remembered. Thank you!" Sunny said from atop my back.

"Sunny... GAH! Sunny, you can't ride on my back here! We have to keep a low profile."

"Sorry. I am happy!" She said beaming.

"I know... Sunny, Do you have any idea where we could find Zuri's mother? We have to get to her. That buck was far too interested in me and I don't want to give him the chance to make good on any unfinished business."

"I am sorry. But I do not." Sunny said, giving Zuri a hug. "I am not near here were I live. I know that she lives on the same side of town as your hut. But that is all."

"That's more than enough." I said as I began to trot in that direction. "I mean... I found one run away Zebra, I could find another. It is my special talent after all." I said giving a wink. I was still riding a high from the impromptu meeting and my confidence, though shaky, was riding high with me. "What can you tell me about her?"

"She is older. OH! She had green eyes and a short mane and tale. She was injured long ago and trots with a limp." Sunny said.

"Well now... I guess we have a hunt on our hooves." I said as I started for our side of town.

"Are you sure... I mean we came all this way." I asked as we trotted through the maze of homes. Zuri's mother, Adia, had proven harder to locate than my enthusiasm had lead me to believe. Even with a limp, she was still hard to track down. Literally! They ALL had a limp! Had it not been for the chance encounter with a mare who knew her... well, we would still be going door to door! Even still, Zuri was acting uncommonly shy in comparison to her usual shyness. She was staying further back from us, letting us approach the doors first before looking for herself. She even insisted that I speak with her first, claiming it to be a Zebra tradition that the suitor speak to the mare's mother first...

Sunny was all too eager to point out that not only was this a complete lie, but it was actually tradition that she introduce me first. This earned her a swift swipe to the legs and sent her into a pile of refuse behind one of the huts. Sunny was sweet and very endearing in her qualities, but she really needed to learn to keep her mouth shut around Zuri. I had never met a mare who could swing a mood with such ease as her.

"Yes... I am sure. Please, I will not ask anything else of you again. Please speak to her first so that she knows I am safe." Zuri said as we came to the edge of her mother's hut... I hoped.

"Ok, but I'm only doing this to break the ice. I know you had a hard time with this back at the market, but you are giving her good news... not bad." I said as I motioned for her and Sunny to stand in the small alley way behind the shack. "Three taps... remember?" I asked. They both nodded and made good with hiding in a bush. Oh how I hope that is not the same bush she uses every morning... first meetings were awkward enough without your estranged daughter smelling of piss.

I trotted to the door and took a deep breath. I was nervous. Very nervous! I mean, what was I going to say anyways? "Hi! You don't know me, but I know you and I know your daughter! Every inch of her to be specific! Can we talk?" Yeah, I could see it now... I would be hung for killing a mare with words and profanity. Well, no going back now, time to make a complete ass of myself! I knocked on the door and was greeted with a week and fractured voice of a mare speaking Carnilian. I was impressed with myself that I was beginning to pick up on the subtle dialects between them so quickly... To bad I have no idea what she said.

"Halo, naweza kusema nawe?" I some how remembered what Zuri had told me say. Oh dear Luna... What if she set me up and I just said 'Hi, I fucked your daughter!'. A long pause accompanied by light steps followed the gibberish i'm sure I butchered. Great... no response and she is coming to kill me. I knew this was a damn trap! Zuri's social skills suck! The door opened and... my heart sank. I had not gotten a good look at her in the market, but Zuri must have. She was so thin I could count her ribs! Her hind leg wore week old bandages still stained with blood turned dark from lack of proper care. Her eyes were barely open, I couldn't tell it was from lack of sleep or if I had just woken her up. She was... pitiful.

"Ndio?" She started but froze mid sentence as she began to look me over quizzically. It was as if she were trying to place me somewhere in her memory but just could not put a hoof on it.

"Please tell me you know how to speak pony?" I asked with a sheepish smile.

"Y-yes. I know how to speak pony." She said with a weary voice.

"Hi, you don't know me... but I think I saw you at the market the other day? We nearly ran into one another?"

"Oh! Yes... I am sorry. I was not paying... attention." Ok... she was a little rusty with ponish, but hey! This is a good start!

"Listen... May I come in, I need to speak with you. It won't take long, I promise." I said with a soft smile. I was pulling out all the charisma stops this week, I was doing everything but using flirty eyes with her to put her at ease.

"I am... very tired."

"I know... Hunny I know. But this is important... I know you don't know me... but trust me, you want to." I near pleaded with her. After several tense moments, she reluctantly allowed me in. If my mother's home was sparse, her's was barren. If it were not for the box in the corner and what looked like a mattress on the floor, she did not seem to have any worldly possessions at all. I was getting a small taste of what Zuri saw in the market the other day, I was no longer questioning her screaming into my chest. She sat on the floor and looked at me with that same quizzical look she had at the door way and offered me a seat in front of her.

"You know me from somewhere... don't you? Somewhere other than the market." I asked.

"Yes... but I can not remember. It was long ago. You will have changed much. I know I sound crazy." Her words were wild and exotic. Nothing like my mothers or Zuri's. I had always used Zu's accent as a gauge on Zebra dialect, but her's... Her's was more... Tribal.

"I'm going to be completely honest with you... But you have to be completely honest with me and promise not to cause a fuss. Promise?" I said offering a hoof to her. She looked at it as if she had no idea what to do. " Shake hooves on it?" She raised her hoof and began shaking it... Whatever... close enough, I shook mine as well so I would not make her feel uncomfortable. I took a deep breath and sent a prayer to the universe that they would for once not be cruel and let my luck continue a little longer.

"My name is Coyote Joe... But you might know the name Kit." Her eyes grew wide as she began looking me over more thoroughly. "Now... stay calm... I was one of the Kutelekezwa, The Abandoned. My mother is Kamaria and I have come to speak to you about your daughter." For a brief moment I saw the most magical thing happen. The once nearly dead looking Zebra lit up like a new monitor and gave just the smallest sign of hope. I knew it, I new they had not abandon all hope, there was still something there.

"Z... Zuri? You know Zuri!?" She started in excitement.

"Yeah... you could say that. I have known her for a long time actually." I said rubbing my neck. Ok, there's that awkward feeling I was waiting for.

"You know my Zuri! My Zuzu!?" She said as she lunged forward and grabbed me.

"Whoa! You call her that too? I thought I was the only one. It's funny, because she call's me Joy for some reason." I said blushing.

"Is she well!? Is she safe?" She was rambling. Had she not seen her when we were in the market at all?

"Wait... you didn't notice her? She was..." Nevermind, now was as good as ever. I can't sit here and watch her tear herself apart with worry any longer. "Well... She is very well. As far as safe..." I stomped my hoof three times and listened to the bushes outside scrape the side of the hut. "Well, safe is relative."

The door cracked open and Adia froze in shock. We both seemed to hold our breath when the rump of a mare came into view. Ok, not the best way to meet your mother for the first time in years... But it was a start I guess. Sunny then came into full view with a mouth full of tail as she drug in a shaking and eyes covered Zuri through the door.

"Zuri... please help!" Sunny stammered. I got up from the floor and hovered over top of Zuri. With all four of my hooves I picked her up and brought her to face her mother on the floor. Her eyes were still covered, but Adia was putting on quite the show of her own. Beside herself, in total awe of what was happening right before her eyes, she was trying her best to hold in her own tears. I had seen that look, it was the same one Zuri had in the market. I motioned for Sunny to close the door and stand watch.

"Zuri... she is waiting..." I whispered to her as I let a wing drape over her. Slowly, the shaking and terrified Zebra opened her eyes and saw her mother nearly nose to nose with her. The two stood in silence for a moment before raising a hoof to one another.

"Is it you?" Adia asked placing her hoof on Zuri's cheek.

"Yes. It is." Zuri said as I watched on in pure happiness. So that is what that looks like. Cute.

"I have dreamed of you. What you looked like now! You are so... grown!" Adia said as she reached for her.

"Mama!" She squeaked as she lunged forward and wrapped her in a hug. The two began to cry and Sunny and I watched on with our own tears of joy beginning to bead. I had returned so many lost foals in my life, but none had ever been this heart felt for me.

Something never get old. I know I complain about my job in life, but who doesn't. It's little moments like this that many take for granted. Seeing a mother reunited with a foal or a long lost friend being brought back from the hell that is filly... it's just unmatched. Through all of my complaining about lost ponies in the Waste, I never got tired of seeing a happy mother hug her foal, no matter the age like it were the first time they had ever met. It was pure, nearly heartbreaking to see with my own eyes, but it never got old.

Ten years ago I found Zuri and I got my Cutiemark, now here I sit having delivered yet other foal from the clutches of the Wasteland, just as my mark had told me to do all those years ago. Sure it took me a while, sure I wish I had not let her leave... but would have things gone this way had I not done that? Would we be sitting here? The universe unfolds as it should and even though I want every one of those years back, I would not trade it for this moment right here. She gave me a chance, I gave her love. She gave me hope and I gave her my life to find her. She gave me her trust and now I was giving her a family.

We watched on as the two of them got reacquainted for sometime. I could tell by the sun that it was approaching noon by the time the two began to calm down and remember that there were other ponies in the room with them as well. Elation gave way to pink cheeks of embarrassment as they saw us looking on with smiles at their outward display of emotion.

"Oh... Joey... is it? Please, you and your mare, please, join us! We have much to talk about." Adia said motioning us over. Awkward!

"Eh... Sunny here is not my mare... She's sweet, lovely actually. But my heart belongs to another." I said as I trotted over and gave Zuri a nuzzle.

"She is not... OH! You and-and you?" She asked in shock. It wasn't a bad kind of shock, but she was very surprised.

"Yes. He is my Buck." Zuri said with glee.

"We met not long after... well, we met. it was completely by chance and kind of a long story." I said with a laugh.

"Please! I want to know! I have many questions!"

"Well, we don't have long... we are leaving soon." I said as I watched her heart break right before my eyes. I nearly blurted it out before Zuri corrected me.

"He mean all of we. You too. You, me, him, her and Joy's mama too." Zuri said excitedly.

"But... how?" Adia said with worry.

"Oh, that part was easy... do you know that you can buy Zebras? There is more to it that that... but suffice to say we want to make sure that you and my mother... and Sunny are safe before we go into get the rest of the Zebras out of here."

"Wait... All of the tribe? But how-" She started.

"That is something we will talk about later. For now, we only have a little time before we have to go to Tribal Affairs to get your papers and leave."

"Yes. I will listen." She said as she lay down on the floor.

So, we had our moment. I told her about how I found Zuri and Zuri told her about how I had saved her. It was a bit over embellished but I didn't stop her. Adia was less than thrilled about Zuri leaving me ontop of a mountain, but she did seem to understand why she had done it at least. From there we swapped stories about what had happened in the last ten years of our lives. My stories were funny, telling all about mine and Caliber's antics in the Wasteland, even where I was bitten by a shark pony and got stripes. Adia said I was something of an oddity having my stripes come in so late, but admitted to not understanding it. Zuri's stories... well they hurt. They were all sad and lonely stories of her just barely getting by. I felt guilty every time I tried to lighten the mood. She ended with us meeting on the beach as if it were right out of a book.

"We have been together ever since. I just won't let her out of my sight." I said with a chuckle.

"It would seem that you have found your soul mate." Adia said as she stood and trotted over to the box in the corner. She soon returned with a small bundle of cloth and placed it before us. The cloth had seen some hard times with its ragged edges and small holes through out. But through them I could just make out the glint of gold that was shinning brightly through the cracks.

"Zuzu... This is yours now. I have carried it for so long now, it is time for you to take it from me." She said as she undid the cloth and relieved a necklace very much so similar to mine with a purple stone in the middle. "This belongs to you. I am sorry that you never got a chance to be given it until now."

Zuri looked on in awe as she gently picked it up and turned the pendant over in her hooves. I have one of those, it was given to me when I first got my Cutiemark and made it back to town. It was my birthright, my one connection to my parents and the one thing I had protected all of these years. Zuri's eyes began to water as her mother helped her do the clasp around her neck and adjust the pendant to sit perfectly on her chest. She had been denied this moment for so long and it was something I had taken for granted.

I guess I was more worried about getting a Cutiemark than a necklace because I had not value for it. I had not history behind it nor did I even knew what it had said at the time other than my name. Guilt was one of the emotions I was dealing with more than anything in this moment, I was happy for her, but I was feeling guilt for not making this a priority for her. Even though I tried to tell myself that I had no emotional significant towards such a simple act due to my upbringing, I still felt... Guilty.

"Oh how I wish I could have the years back!" Adia said mournfully.

"Hey... don't do that. You are hear now... you both are. You both did what you had to do but soon it will be over." I said, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

"You are very much like your father, you know." She said as she leaned into my leg.

"You knew him?"

"Yes. He was a very loving buck. Very intimidating, but I had never known any to care as he." She said giving me a knowing smile.

"So it's true... He fought for your freedom?"

"Yes... It was a hopeless cause. But he wanted to try, he wanted us all to try. He would say 'We deserve better.' and 'I will fight until I am the last one standing.'. Your mother loved him dearly, we all did." She said giving my bag a nudge. "Do you have a necklace too?"

"Yeah... I do." I said as I dug through my bag before pulling it from the dusty refuse. In my haste I pulled my journal out into the floor with it in all it's foalish glory. Why did I keep that damn thing, I was a buck now, it was very unprofessional.

"OH, what is this?" Adia said with a cheeky grin.

"This is his journal. I remember this!" Zuri said as she greedily scooped it up and began hoofing through the pages. "Oh! This must be where I feel asleep! And here is a picture he drew of me... I was again, asleep!" Zuri giggled as she showed her mother all my prepubescent scribbling. Before I could snatch it away, she found my note I had written late on night on the trail above Silver Shoe with all my dates scribbled in it. I had never shown anypony that page and I never wanted to, it was despite, hopeless romanticism... Then again, here I am now.

"Joy... You never showed me this..." Zu said as she kept flipping the pages.

"Because it's embarrassing." I said as I tried my best to hide my face in my hooves.

"Do you mean these things... Do you truly mean these things?" Adia asked, giving me a nudge.

"Yes... All of them..." I was mortified. My marefriend's mother was reading all my deep thoughts about her daughter. Just kill me now. Quick or slow, I really don't care.

Adia guided me back up to my hooves and offered to help me put my necklace on. Fare be it from me to ask how Zebras could manipulate such small parts with their hooves the way they did, I had always just put my head through the giant hole the chain made. But nevertheless, she was quick about it and stepped back to admire her work with a smile. Did all mother's posses that power? Or was it just a Zebra mother thing? It was just such an approving smile.

"Well... Zuri? How do you feel about Joy?" She asked. Ok, that's shocking... I was about to get the truth for sure now. I looked to her with a 'gotcha now' smile and tried to hold in my enthusiasm.

"I... love him. He is the one that makes me not scared anymore. Without him, I would be lost. I know that I am happy when he is near but sad when he is gone. I want to be with him forever. I trust him with my heart." She said with a smile. Ouch, right to the ego. Oh! Hello guilt! I had no clue you would be back so soo-

"Joey? How do you feel about Zuri?" She asked, holding a knife. Ok... things are getting scary in little Zeeberville. Why did she have a knife? Was she smiling because she was happy or because she was about to kill me?

"I-I... Why do you have a knife?" Shit... Didn't mean to say that... did not mean to say that at all!

"Oh! Do not worry. It is tradition! I am not going to harm you." She said lovingly... or quite possible psychotically... The lines were really starting to blur.

"Well... I waited ten years to be with you. I tracked you all over the Wasteland and I dreamed about you almost every night. I was heart broken when you left, but from the moment I saw you on the beach, it was like you never left at all. I guess you were always with me... in here." I said point at my heart. "Now that I'm with you, I never want to be apart from you again. I can't stand the thought of something happening to you and I know I would do anything to be with you. I love you. You are my special some Zebra." Well that went corny fast. I was great with words... just not expressing my feelings.

"Then it is done. Two lovers, bonded at the heart strings forever more." She said as she used the tip of the knife to pluck the stone from my necklace and then Zuri's. I was about to loose my mind until I watched her place Zuri's stone in my necklace and mine in her's. Oh... ok, now the knife made since! "Please, your hooves." She said as she invited us to hold our hooves out in front of her. With a quick slice of the blade, she cut lightly into our skins in one swift blow. Before I could recoil in horror, she then placed our legs together at the fetlock, scar on top of scar. "Allow the blood to flow into you both so that you may be one forever. When one feels pain, the other will bare it too. When one is sad, you both will cry and when one is lost, no other love shall replace it."

I was confused, shocked and above all, moved. Was this a Zebra marriage? Had Zuri and I just gotten married? I felt a warm sensation like no other flowing through my arm and into my chest. It was as if I was being filled with light, touching every part of me that hurt and washing it away under a soothing glow. I was left to wonder if all the things she had said were just for the moment, or if she was being serious, because I had never felt like this before.

"What is this..." I said slack jawed.

"It is the bonding. You two shall live on within one another. It is what the ponies call, marriage. But to us... it is much more. The Damu mate for life." She said as she replaced her knife in the box from where it came and closed it up tight. "It is the same blade that bonded me to my mate and your father to your mother."

I wasn't feeling the sting of the cut anymore. I was feeling the sting of heartache and longing. The knife that had just severed my fetlock and bonded me to my mate for life had been the same one that had bonded the couple that ushered me into this world. It was as close as I was going to get to my parents... It was as close to my family I had ever been. I looked to Zuri who was feeling the same thing I was, I could tell just by looking at her.

I was feeling such a great resposiblity on my shoulders. I had no family, but now, I had the chance to make one. I had to be the leader and pull us all forward through this together, safe and unharmed. As much as this land meant nothing to me before, now it was beginning to hold value. If not though me, then through every Zebra here that wanted more than just to slave their lives away. But one thing still remained, I had to get them out of here first. I had to get them back to Site 103 where they would be safe behind the walls in the stable before I could do any of that.

"Are you going to kiss her?" Sunny asked from about four inches away. Wow, I though Zuri was sneaky, Sunny was the definition of it! The two of us kissed and our wrist parted. To my amazement, there was no blood, just a scar beneath my coat that was jet black with fur and raised from the healing. At first I thought it was my healing powers, but then I saw that Zuri had one too, just like mine. We were marked as each others, for life.

When I came here I had expected adventure, fighting and maybe even the odd sneaky mission. But there had been far too little sneaking and far more two faced conversation for my liking. I was... confused. On one hoof there was a massive nuke pointed at every Zebra's hooves at this very moment, but on the other there was nearly any sign of opposition whatsoever! The whole place was just one big suck hole of sad and boredom. Even with our trip to the cave, I had thought more than two lives would have been lost that night. This whole place was throwing me so far off my game! What angle were they playing, just... enslave the masses, kill their kids and act natural? If that were the case, Caliber would have a strong argument for his signature move from here on out.

This was all besides the fact that I was growing more and more uncomfortable in my own skin. Granted, being here felt... right? Like I was grounded and had a firm footing for one of the first times in my life, but at the same time I was dealing greatly with the slow dying of my own hatred for my stripes. I still wanted to just be me, plain old boring Joey. The lonely coyote that hunted slavers and found kids when they went missing. If my name meant anything to me, then the book I read would lead me to believe that I had something called a 'prey drive' and was starting to feel hungry again.

I hadn't fired a shot in anger or grievance in nearly a month and it was really starting to show. Was I really that pony? The one that hunted down slavers and never even spoke to them before giving them a dirt nap? Had I really been that corrupted my entire life as to never give anypony with a bounty or a time card from Filly a chance at redemption? Everypony that Dj-Pon3 would talk about so highly of on the air seemed to be that way, they would at least give them the chance to explain themselves if they were not being shot at.

Was that really who I was? Yes... YES it is and damn it, I need something to hunt! Don't get me wrong the sex and family reunions were soul candy for sure, but this whole bedded down life was beginning to really wear on me and it had only been two days. Here I thought I was the cool, calm and collected type, but I was actually starting to miss my rifle. As much as I was telling myself that there was nothing here but a fucked up society of Zebras that call slaves workers, I had been told more than once that they were not what they seemed. I had to find out for myself, I had to find the chink in their armor if I were to free the land back to all the slaves eventually.

I wanted answers to the questions that were nagging at me. What state was their government in? Who exactly was this tribal leader they had told me about? Why do the slaves not run when they can, I mean, you can't keep track of that many slaves with out Filly levels of fencing. I wanted to know more about this place, I wanted to know why I should hate it without being told to. But every time I came around them with the girls with me, they would stiffen up, some would even start trotting the other way entirely! It was subtle, enough so that I wouldn't think about it until later, but it was there.

Were they trying to avoid me because they could not hold their tongue and suppress their anger for 'filth' being near them? Did they do it to avoid questioning? But somewhere deep down I wondered if it was because I was never alone. If I were not flanked by a local Zebra, perhaps they would come out to play, maybe talk a little or slip up in front of the other elders. Nothing like pissing off somepony to find out exactly how they felt about you. I needed to know, even worse, I WANTED to know, but beyond it all, I wanted to hunt.

So I hugged Zuri, sunny and my newly acquired mare-in-law and started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Zuri asked.

"To do something stupid. Something fool hearty."

"Joey, no!" Oh, she was breaking out my real name. She didn't like that at all.

"Look, I have to go pay... something... for your mother's, Sunny's and my mother's freedom, right? I don't even know what that something is. Could be bottle caps, could be beaver pelts... At this point I have no clue. But what I do know is that anytime I am in the streets with Zebras near me, they all act different. I want to know why." I said as I gathered my things.

"He is a curious one, no? He seeks out the answers he does not know the questions to!" Adia said with a giggle.

"What now?" I grumbled in my frustration.

"Slaves are traded for services. Three slaves, three favors to the tribe. You will not need to pay right away, but you will one day pay."

"That sounds like a terrible way of doing business... What's to stop me running off and not paying?"

"Oh silly. They will hunt you. You are not the only tracker to come from this land or from beyond." She said matter of factly.

"Great... hunted by Zebras... I hope they like the cold because that is where we are heading."

"Oh no, not just the Zebra... The Red Eye as well!"

Zuri scoffed, as did I. He had been hunting me for years now with no luck. His lackies were as good as being hunted by blind turtles as good as they were. Even Zuri didn't seem to pay them much of a worry, I guess when you have beaten them at their own game long enough, you stop paying attention to them.

"Red Eye? He's been hunting me for as long as I can remember... All the way back when Zu and I had first met. They are not as big of a deal as someponies make them out to be."

"No, not the Red Eye pony..." I froze in my tracks. There are TWO Red Eyes!? What the hell?

"Beg your pardon?"

"No, the Red Eye you know is a pony. The Red Eye I speak of is a... How do you say... Wolf. Yes, a big wolf."

"So this tribe has a megaspell, well behaved slaves and a damn trained tracking wolf. Awesome."

"No, I do not believe that the wolf is damned. I believe they captured it."

"Whatever. Tell me about the big bad wolf I should be scared of." I said, leaning against the door.

"The Red Eye is a vile beast. Trained to hunt down its prey with out mercy. The slaves, they try to run, but the wolf brings them back. I try to run once. It carried me back. Told me that I would be killed the next time. Its bite never heals, it reminds you to follow orders." She said politely. She was every bit as weird as her daughter in how she spoke and the tones she chose.

"Ok... I'm a Coyote, I'll bite. How did they get a freaking wolf, train it to hunt slaves and keep it bedded down in this damn heat?"

"Oh, he has always been here. He is a pet of the Tribe's Leader. Kijivu is what he call's it. It obeys his every command because he speaks the same words as his master."

"So it speaks too... This is really starting to sound like those dogs from Hoofington. Wait, let me guess... it live underground and tunnels everywhere it goes?" I said sarcastically.

"YES! You have heard the stories, no?" She said in excitement.

"No... just a very, very, VERY unlucky guess. Sand Dogs..."

Great... Just great... Normally I wouldn't be worried about Sand Dogs, but I had never got along with the Diamond Dogs of Hoofington very well. Call it me being what equates to a feral to them, a mutt as they call it. They could always smell it on me I guess, but that being said, I had always just thought they were assholes. Turns out they are just incredibly perceptive with a great sense of smell... and they are assholes. But having three Zebras in tow with me meant a very long walk back to the Site, something I was already dreading without some tunneling pain in the ass wolf thing coming after us along the way.

"You will want to chose your tasks for the tribe wisely. Perhaps help some of the slaves some how or even offer to stand watch at the gate."

"So let me get this straight... I can just do some small tasks and... poof... I get three Zebras."

"A task is only as small as the meaning behind it. What may be small to you, may be life changing to others."

"Alright I guess... I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'll try to be kind about it." I said as I nosed the door open.

"Do not create debts that you can not pay, Joy." Adia said rather sweetly considering the darker meaning. "They tend to follow you to the grave."

"Yeah-yeah... I can do that too... Never play cards with a pony named Doc. Never eat a place called Arbu and never sleep with a mare whose more mentally disturbed that you are." I said half joking and half worried that I was in fact guilty of the last two. Say what you will, but their stew is not half bad if you try not to think about it. "Is it safe enough for you three to go to my mother's house? I like the idea of you all being near by and her place is nearest to the tribal office."

"Yes, it will be safe there." Adia said as she gathered her things.

Red eye'd wolves, bombs... weird Zebra magic... This was all just beginning to get weird if it were not for the fresh hoof tracks I was staring at. I had paid close attention for any... one that might be near by while we were having our little moment in the shack and I had heard nothing. But the tracks in the sand were telling a different story. Some Zebra had crept up to the door and had been listening in to everything. They started at the back alley way, paused and shifted around and lead back into town.

"Now who do you belong to..." I mumbled to myself. After hearing Adia's story, they could belong to anyone of the slaves that had tried to escape at some point. The more I thought about it, there were more than a few that had the same bandages on their hind legs as she wore. As everything in my life, one track leads to another, one more question with even less answers. Just once I want to just... turn around and boom! There's the buck I'm hunting. No games, not tracking... just bam! Gotcha!

I followed the tracks and took note that this particular set seemed to have a hitched gate to them. Something indicative of a hind leg injury, or even hobbling of some sort. I had seen tracks like these with Adia and way back when I was younger and tracking that red buck into a canyon. The further I followed them, the more that something began eating at the back of my mind. I was nearing town and I began taking in all the other Zebras that had the same strange gate as the tracks I was following. One Zebra who had just trotted to a stool and sat down seemed to be nursing his hind leg greatly.

Trotting carefully, I decided to break what I was sure to be a rule of some sort and have a chat with him. He was very tired looking, I suspect from working the fields with a leg injury of some sort, but never the less, he looked exhausted. What were the chances that he might speak ponish at all? I was banking on his age that he might have some remnants of it kicking around in his head from back when they all knew ponies as friends. I pulled up a stool next to him at the little hut he was sitting at and took in his accusing glare.

"Let me guess... you have no idea what I'm saying, do you?" I said in exasperation.

"I know little." He said sternly.

"What's wrong with your leg?" I asked, point blank. I was already feeling the pain of being shot down when he answered.

"My leg is hurt." Blank stares work on ponies, but I figured I would need to actually say 'no shit...' for him to understand mine.

"I gathered... How did it get hurt?"

"Why do you want to know, filth." Oh that's rich, he smells like something dead and I'M the filth.

"Because I might have something in this bag that could help it. You never know! Us Zonies are a CREEPY bunch!" I said as sarcastically as I dared. He regarded me for a moment before narrowing his eyes and speaking softly.

"I was bitten by the Red Eye. Like many others. I tried to escape, but I was found and dragged back." He spat the last word as though it were my fault.

"Ok, no need to spray it. May I see." I asked, offering a hoof to his leg. He reluctantly raised it and I rested it in my lap. The blood soaked bandages had began to turn black with old clotted blood and neglect. Carefully, I undid the bandages to better see his wound and... Oh my Luna... I could actually see bone exposed. My shocked terror at the very sight was more than enough to put me right back in that operating room in the Site.

"It is the mark the beast leaves. It will never heal, no matter the brew." He said, trying to pull it away but I insisted to take a closer look. I held my breath at began giving it my best field medicine once over. Torn flesh, still bleeding lightly. The hide around the wound had lost it's hair due to prolonged swelling as well. The bone was still yellowish colored, but there was no sign of infection. Nope, this was a cause of missing flesh syndrome, something that would never heal without a healing potion or some Zebra Equivalent.

"Do you not have a healing... Brew? Spell? Maybe a potion?" I asked as I kept looking it over.

"No! They are forbidden! We are not allowed to make brews!" He said matter of factly.

"Ok, that leaves me no choice..." I said digging in my bag for a healing potion. One I had found one, I was quickly reminded of the fact that my leg was still a fridge magnet by the needle of a used med-x first jabbing into my leg from the attraction. Well, at this point it was becoming more annoying than anything. I popped the cork on the vial and began pouring it directly into his wound, as if it were magic the hide began to grow back together and the bone was being covered with muscle. I gave him the other half and coached him to drink it, I wasn't going to be needing it anytime soon, might as well go to some Zebra to make his life a little more bearable.

"Do many of you run?" I asked quietly.

I finished up with a roll of medicated bandages and tied a piece of string around it to keep it in place. The injury he had would not keep him from working if he were a slave, but it would be excruciating nonetheless. A painful reminder of how you do not disobey direct orders not to run and try to escape. Just another thing to add to the 'this place is going to burn' file in my head. But at least his wound would heal, I couldn't say as much for the others.

"Yes. Many try. Many are brought back. Some try again. They don't come back." He said, trying to mimic my hushed tone, but failing. "Will it heal?" He asked with just a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Ok, change the bandage tomorrow morning and try to favor your leg for the next day if you can. Should be fine in that amount of time." I said as I hopped down off the stool. The older buck wore a pained expression as if he were dealing with some complex emotions but had no clue how to express them. I watched as he carefully reached his leg down to the ground and winced, but suddenly realized that he was not nearly in as much pain as he was before we met. "Ok, have a good one!" I said as I turned and trotted off.

"Thank you..." He spat out, half remorseful and half over joyed.

"Don't mention it. Just remember, not all Zonies are bad. Some are just like you." I said as I trotted off.

What an odd buck. I could only imagine that what I had just done was save his life by a few more days, but at the same time, it felt kinda good to help some Zebra out like that. Odder still, his hooves were the same size and shape as the ones I had been following. That being said, I would admit that the size and shape were rather... normal, so there was no telling if it was him that had stopped by the shack or not. Either way, one good deed... maybe.

I pointed myself towards the largest building in town, hoping that I could get in in time to see the tribal affairs officer and get this debt thing settled out. I was doing my best to take in the glaces I was getting around me. Everywhere I looked slaves shuffled from one place to another. Before they would just glance at me, but now, now they were straight up staring. They weren't as accusing as the but at the hut, but they were defiantly whispering something to one another.

Part of me rejoiced that I had been right in that the girls being near had altered their perception of me. But a larger part was worried about what they were saying. They had the best poker faces I had ever seen for what it was worth. Their eyes seemed... softer. Something akin to happiness but not so much so that they would express it. But Deception being the hardest thing on this world to detect accurately, it was all suspect speculation at best. I did however notice that they were trotting oddly closer to me the further I went.

I like having a small bubble around me, a little spear of safety they I could feel confident in. But they were beginning to crowd me out the further I went. I didn't like it, I was waiting to feel something sharp dig into my skin at every moment. I know all too well about mob murdering, I had seen it first hoof more than once. Everypony surrounds the pony they hate, they crowd them out and boom... Knife to the throat and its all over. I was on edge, waiting to sprint towards the sky and make a break for it when some Zebra leaned into me and guided me off the main street and into an alleyway.

As bad as I wanted to fly off and give this place the hoof, I was too curious as to why I had not been killed yet. We trotted behind the tribal office into a dead end alley littered with refuse and vile smelling matter that I really didn't want to think about. The two Zebras who had lead me here wore their cloaks low and near their noses to conceal themselves better. They trotted in front of me and turned to face me, I on the other hoof tensed up and readied myself for a quick grab at one of my knifes. I was scared... but I had been waiting for a moment like this and I would be lying if I said I wasn't just a little excited.

"You two know I can't fly right? If you plan to attacking, you had better be quick about it." I said as I trotted side to side, eyeing them up and down. Mares, half a head shorter than me. Both sporting injuries on their hind legs as well. They didn't look like fighters, they were too... thin? Weak looking? But I had been deceived more than once by an opponent.

"We are not going to attack you. Please... Remove your bags." One of them said in an older voice.

"Oh, so a robbery then. Well, you can have these bags as soon as you can get to me." I said, sprawling my wings out.

"We are not going to rob you." The other said softly. Ok... not the voice I expected from under that cloak. It was firm but light like a teenage mare.

"Well you two are no fun at all... I'm leaving." I said as I turned to... well... leave.

"No! Please... My we see?" The same voice said again.

"See what?" I said stomping a hoof. "What is wrong with being direct and clear in a request, eh? Can't Zebras just come out with it and ask something clearly!?"

"We wish to see your flank."

"YOU DON'T BEAT AROUND THE BUSH, NOW DO YOU!?" I shouted.

"Please! Remain calm! You do not want them to hear us. We wish to see your mark." The older voice said.

"You two random mares, want to see my Cutiemark..." Well, I had been asked stranger things in my life, but this was a little more on the creepy side of things.

"Yes." They both said. Oh hell, what could it hurt. They didn't look like a threat, they were slaves for sure... might as well see where this dark road goes. I removed my bags and stepped forward towards them.

"It is true. Kamaria was telling the truth." The younger mare said.

"Yes. See, I told you she was speaking of the one. He is here!" The older mare said.

"Ok, lots of questions. How do you know my mother, why is my butt so interesting, why would she be lying and why am I being called 'the one'?"

"It is you that she had for seen. It was in her dreams. She spoke of a stallion that would one day come for her and take her away. She said that she saw our land returned to us one day by the hoof of a strong buck! You are the son of Malaika Mweusi, The"

"Dark Angel, I heard the story. What is this to you?" I asked, closing the distance.

"You are not alone. There are more of us, more of us that will fight with you!" The young mare said, letting her cloak fall back. Her one eye that was facing me was yellowed but still wore the color of baby blue, her other was missing entirely. I was heart broken to hear a voice so sweet and see that somepony had attacked it like that at one point. "We wish to be free!" She pleaded.

"Look. What you are talking about, the things you are say can get you killed. Even if I were planning such a thing, what makes you think I would want anyone's help?"

"We can help you, Coyote. We can talk to the others for you. There are many others that need the chance to fight." The older mare said, removing her hood as well. Her eyes were both there, same shade of baby blue but so tired looking I could hardly believe she was awake and talking to me.

"I understand what it is like to want to win something back. Really, I do. It lead me here, nearly killed me more than once doing too. But this is not a time or place for Zebra's that are on their last legs. I promise you that what you are talking about is not just as easy as a quick fight. This is a war, not everyone will make it back out of it." I said, trying by best to dissuade them.

"PLEASE... Please... We beg you to listen." The young one pleaded.

"Listen to what? Pleads of a lamb willingly leading themselves to slaughter?"

"No... Please... just listen. That is all we ask. If there is to be a war, we wish to have the chance to fight."

Against my better judgement, I was open to the idea of any and all help, but not this. They were barely standing, barely breathing in fact! Just by hearing them out I was in a way giving them hope for something I wasn't even sure was obtainable. Hope can be both the best and worst things to many, but to them I would wager it being the latter. But even still, I was lost in Zebrica with little if any plan to help them, I had bounced around and gotten my overall objectives met, I was by all accounts ready to head home! But I couldn't shake that feeling like there was still unfinished business here, something left untied that needed to be set right. What choice did I have but to listen to them?

"Ok... Fine. You have five minutes to tell me why I should let you be part of this slaughter." I said sitting beside a wall near the corner.

"We were not always like this. We were once a proud and strong tribe! Fierce fighters, strong leaders and an unshakable will! My family hails from a long line of warriors, as do many! No warring tribe dared to cross spears with the Damu for fear of oblivion. We were strong once. We wish to be strong again. Strong within one another. Strong with ponies." The older mare said with conviction.

"Yeah well, ya'll don't look too strong these days." I said unconvinced.

"Sometimes things we believe to be unshakable, are more fragile than we would like to believe, Coyote." The young mare began by pulling out a few trinkets from her cloak. She lay before me a shabby looking doll fashioned from straw and twine and a little hoof carved wooden boat. "Sometimes to destroy something unshakable, you must kill it entirely. For us it was our hope, our future. Our little ones. When you take something so precious away from a Zebra... There is no getting it back. We were devastated, broken beyond all measure, inflicted with a cut so deep that it would not heal. We lost the lights in our lives."

"Forgive me, but... If you are so broken, why are you here? Why are you in the alleyway right now risking it all just to talk to me?" I asked. There words were carrying more weight than I had imagined they could given my renewed vigor to get out of here.

"We want it back, we want hope! We know that nothing we do will bring back our little ones, but we need to be free again! We have suffered our great loss, but we have no where left to go! We wish to die, but not in the fields, not like this. We were once a proud tribe, we will never be this again, we lost that the day we lost our babies. It took something from us that made us weak! We want it back!" She said, drawing a circle around the little toys in the sand.

All this time I thought they were being forced into slavery because they were afraid to die, but here they were telling me that they actually wanted to die! No wonder they were so subservient and so tame. They weren't scared, they were completely and utterly broken on the inside! When the new leader came to power, he didn't just enslave the tribe, he broke their backs and stripped away the one thing that would ever cause them to rise up in opposition. He took away their rage. He took away the very thing they fought so hard for.

Shoari's audio guides had said that the Damu tribe were very proud of their pure blood line. But what if that didn't mean their pedigree, their actual blood line, but their heritage. What if the Damu were proud of who they were, how strong they were and how hard they fought? Clean bloodlines from an origin were what I had thought were valued and in ways, they were... by their new leader... But they were speaking more like it was the actual spirit of the Damu that mattered to them.

"I have to ask you something... It is very important that you answer me very clearly and directly." I said leaning in close. "To the Damu, what is more important... Blood or Family? Lineage or heritage?"

"To us, family is the most important thing above all. It matters not of where your are from, who you are or what you are... Your spirit is the measure of who your are." The older mare said.

"So ponies and Zebras... There is no bad blood there?"

"No. We wish not to fight with ponies. We have done this before, it is not the way to peace." The younger mare said.

"Then I have my answer. If you want peace, then you should best prepare for war. If you want to help, I will only ask that you do so quietly. Many lives are counting on you keeping this quiet. Even more that we pull this off." I said as I stood to gather my bags.

"Our suffering in silence is at an end. We will find our courage on the tips of our spears." They both said together.

"You said that the leader taking your little ones from you is what broke the tribe, right?" I asked as I did up my clasps.

"Yes. It will be hard for us to should the burden of sorrow in battle, but will will find a way. We will cast it away." The older mare said.

"No, don't. Fight for them. Use that pain and aim it at his head. Take all your pain and use it to fuel you. Let it fill you up and push you passed the breaking point of anger."

"What are you saying?" The younger mare asked.

"Seek revenge."

"Then we shall. We must leave, we have much to do." The older mare said as the two of them seem to fade into the shadows around me. Oh what I wouldn't give to have that mystical power, why couldn't I get the cool sneaky Zebra genes?

I trotted back to the front of the building where the guards were standing by the large door way. Now came the part I was dreading, I had to spend the next hour looking over my shoulder for any Zebras that might of overheard our little conversation about rebellion in the back alley way. That was going to be hard considering just how much they had given me to think about. Not so much to answer all my questions, but more than enough to help me understand this place. I was already seeing that I was going to be coming back here very soon, something I was not too fond of at all. But it was going to have to happen if I wanted to make this work out.

The two guards paid me little attention as I trotted through the doors of the Tribal Hall, only taking in my leg braces wearing empty holsters as per their rules. They didn't need to know I had stowed them away, as far as they were concerned I was just here on business. I would never get over the grandeur of the inside of this place, polished floors and walls, glass ceiling tiles that were just beyond the draped silk that flowed like a red river to either wall. Regal was the word that came to mind as I trotted through the halls, regal and foreboding as though to denote another force they were oppressing over the others beyond these walls.

Every Zebra I came within sight of had their own emotion to exude towards me. Some cared very little, paying me less than a glance to accept my presence, others would nod their heads and more than a few narrowed their eyes in discuss. Even here, in the land of stripes and funny talk I was being shunned by many. One curious buck who looked like he had no clue as to how to even begin to say hello looked up and down the hall before bowing his head and mumbling something in Zebra. I think I even caught him giving a slight knell to the gesture. Very odd considering the last five Zebras I passed looked like they wanted to fornicate with my very soul. He then ran off.

I would like to think of myself as rather sharp, quick to read body language and fairly perceptive under pressure... But this place had my brain short circuiting as I tried to get beyond skin deep without saying a word. I could just barely perceive threats and greetings, let alone harsh judgement from wonder. I was gathering that there was an underlying force that ran everything here, but that force was rather loose or even fractured. I didn't have much to go on, just a few chance encounters, but I had seen more than a few looks similar to the ones I saw in that alley when they found out who I was.

To think that a few, if not more, were holding onto the idea that possibly things could go back to the way they were, even here in the upper reaches of their own government lead to wishful thinking. Maybe I could just kill the leader, take the head off the snake, claim the thrown and set things right. Could it be that easy? Everything else here had been already. After all, isn't that how the current leader came to power? Small army, rash ideas and cruel treatment? There was a war that had been fought sure, but what if the head of the snake were to be lopped off over night?

It was hopeless hope to say the least. There would no doubt be more than a few that would be ready to step forward, groomed, indoctrinated future leaders of Damu. I knew there was no way out of this without the leader dying, but how many more would have to take a dirt nap to make their freedom more than just a whisper in the wind? I was going from a desire to seek revenge to mass genocide of a like minded group of Zebras. This was beginning to smell less like revolution an more like... NO. This was a cancer and it had to go! Every Zebra involved in any way was a threat to their future. I might go out of this a villain, but if that was what it took to give their lives back then that was fine with me.

After wondering the halls for far too long, I found my way to the tribal office and let myself in. I had been expecting a waiting room, perhaps even a lobby. I had not expected to open the door on two Zebra's going full rut on top of a desk. They didn't even notice me! They were so involved in one another that even when I tried to clear my throat they just kept slapping away! Was this what it was like when Zuri and I got together? Did we block the world out like this too? Oh Luna the sounds, it was like hooves being stomped into soft mud over and over again.

After far longer than I though to be polite, I spoke up.

"AHEM!" I said as loud as I could. The two scrambled for the floor as though the roof were fire. "Don't bother now, not like I haven't been standing here for nearly five minutes now.

"You! What do you want!?" The one Zebra shouted as he hurried his mare out the door.

"I was sent here by the elders to file the necessary paperwork for worker procurement. But your story sound WAY more interesting!" I said as I leaned into his desk.

"That is none of your business!" He shouted back.

"Oh, I think it might be. Are you allowed to bang on company time? Now what would your superiors say?" Gotcha! This is too perfect. Here I was worried about all these favors and what not and would you just look at this opportunity that just popped up!?

"Do not speak of this! It will end me!" He pleaded.

"Oh, you want me to keep quiet? I don't know... I had such a good talk with them earlier... They even allowed me rights to three workers. I would hate to ruin that deal with them by keeping secrets." I said as I sat down across from him.

"What is it that you want?" He spat as he narrowed his eyes.

"Three slaves, no favors. No payment. Free and clear."

"They are not slaves! They are-"

"Yeah-yeah, workers... Cut the shit. Deal, or do I have a talk with the elders. I'm here on a mission to study tribal affairs to model my own tribe after. It would be a shame that your name be the one to ruin it." He starred daggers into for far longer than I though was fair considering how fair I was being.

"One worker."

"Three."

"One and I give you this blade. I have seen you eyeing it. You like?" He said, pushing a dagger resting on a stand across to me. Truthfully, I had not even noticed it. It was rather pretty, but no dice...

"Three, and I don't use it to see to it that you never get caught bucking on the job again." I said as I reach my leg under the table.

"Is this a threat? You will hang!" He near shouted.

"Oh no, it's a money back guarantee!" I said as I used my magnet leg to throw the knife from the stand from under the table and began spinning it. "Around and around it goes, where it stops? How about this Zebra's no-nos!?" Oh this magnet thing is way too cool! I might have to keep it! With a flick of the heel, I sent it flying towards the wall beside him, had he not dodged, it would have found purchase.

"OK! OK! Two! I can't do three! They will ask questions! Two is pushing it!" Oh wow, he can speak pony pretty good for a Zebra that's shitting himself. Maybe that's the trick. Just freak them out and they all speak pony.

"Fine. Two it is. But this favor shit better not be something stupid that will get me killed or I will come back here." I said as I passed him the papers he needed from me.

"Are you sure these are the mares you wish to take? Two of them are old and the other is a maid." He said, looking the papers over.

"Just file the papers, stripes. They are going to be teachers, not day laborers."

"Teachers... They are going to teach?"

"Yeah... That's what teachers do, stripes."

"Very well." He said stamping the pages and placing them in a folder before hoofing it back at me. "Your favor is in the paper work. You have 3 full moons to complete the task, less we send the dogs."

"Ah... here I was thinking it was this 'Red Eye' Thing." I said looking them over to ensure I was not being screwed.

"Yes. The dog has red eyes."

"Oh, well, nothing like continuity. Is this all I need? Are we good to go now?" I said as I flipped to the last page, the favor. Retrieve one hundred and fifty healing potion... WHAT!? "What the hell do you need with that many healing potions!?" I near shouted.

"Now that IS none of your business! Bring them to me directly and I will see to it that you are compensated fairly." He said as he pushed me out of his office, closed the door and locked it. Well, I guess that was all I was allowed to know. Oh I was going to bring them back, but he was never going to get the chance to get near them!

I will admit that even with the mumbo-jumbo talk of this Red Eye dog thing, I was a little nervous about it. 150 healing potions was a massive order to say the least, never mind the fact that i don't think I had ever seen that many in my life. Even still, I think I know somepony that could make that many happen in the little time I had to pull it off. But that was for future Joey to worry about, chances were that I would never even have to make good on that order before this place crumbled like the house of cards it was.

I now had a list of threats that needed eliminated, the papers needed for the freedom of my family and friends and a few insiders. I had made great progress, all things considered. This had been more like a vacation business trip than an actual adventure, but I'm sure that was quickly approaching by the looks of things. I needed to back to the site. I was going to need to take stock of all my resources and see what I had at hoof... Granted than meant I was going to have to clear the rest of that Goddess awful cavern before I could, and who knows what all was down there! They had only scratched the surface of the complex, there could be horrors far worse further in.

I trotted through the front doors of the halls and out into the waiting hooves of my mother, my mother in law, Zu and Sunny. I was over joyed as always to see them, but them being here could not have been a good sign.

"What are you all doing here? I told you to wait." I whispered.

"We just couldn't wait to get going! Very excited to see the outside world and all!" Sunny said in the worst display of lying any Zebra had ever shown me.

"Y-Yes... It is best that we leave as soon as we can! Very long trot! VERY LONG!" Adia stumbled around her words while I watched beads of sweat begin to form. I looked to my mother who was very calm, but decidedly worried.

"Joey, we must go. It is not safe here for us any longer." She whispered. I did my best to hold my composure as I took lead of the group. Crap... Our cover was blown, wasn't it?

"Very well. Lets blow this joint." I said as I trailed in behind them and steered them towards the gate. I wanted them all in my line of sight just in case things were to kick off before we cleared the gates. Brarika stood at her post, seeming ready to stamp papers with all the force needed to get her rocks off, filing papers in her one mare shack like a true bureaucrat that she was.

"Ah, Coyote. Enjoy your stay?" She asked rather pleasantly.

"You are in a good mood today, you get to murder somepony for not filling out a form properly?" I said as I placed the papers on her desk.

"Cute... I see we have made a few acquisitions of our own." She said taking in my little group of mares. "My, you are going to be very busy..." Oh that is just sick...

"Just stamp the papers, we have a long journey ahead of us."

"Very well, everything seems to be in order here... Please... hold out your hoof."

"I don't see why that is needed- OW!" I felt warm steal meet hoof as she nicked my hide and dripped a drop of blood into a vile. "HEY! What the hell?" I said as I pulled it back.

"Blood is needed to bind the contractual favor Mr. Coyote. Without it, the favor can not be completed or even filed at the end of the week." Oh what I wouldn't give to have Caliber's sneaky ass here right now... He could easily swipe the paper and vile, probably give this mare a solid dicking and get me out of this contract stuff. "Here are your release papers, you will need these if you are questioned by any of the trackers. They are your rights to ownership. Now, is there anything else?"

I turned and trotted out of the office. Why say goodbye, I was going to have to come back here after all. Outside, things were becoming louder back in town. My best guess was that it was shift change and they were over joyed to be getting a moment to relax between sleep and being worked to death. I watched as Zebras trotted around in a mass, talking loudly. That was new. Just as I was about to turn from this place and make tracks, I watched two cloaked mares run from behind the post where Barika was holding up. Now what were they up to...

Hot... I hate heat. But this was a small price to pay for the freedom of my family, both new and old. No sooner than we had cleared the hear shot of the guards, my mother filled me in on the details. Fisi, the buck that had more than his fair share of stern glares and knife-edged comments, had tried to sneak into the hut with all of them in it. My hopes were than he was just eves dropping in to see what we were up to, but I knew that was not the case. No sooner than he showed himself and made his intentions clear, my mother had killed him.

Weak as she appeared, Zuri said that she was very swift on her hooves and he had not seen my old knife come flying in from a swift hoof kick. She had landed the blade right between his eyes, dropping him on the spot. The four of them then stashed his body under the hut and made tracks for the halls. I wanted to say it was a brash and terrible decision, but if he had been the one listening, then he already knew too much. He could have blown the whole deal for us.

Even still, it was more than enough to make my pull my cards in close to my chest and take a new route through the woods. Rather than just take a direct route straight to the desert, I flew each of them about 400 meters into the brush where we would find a new path. If they had trackers, it would buy us some time while they tried to figure out just where our tracks stopped and started back up again. Zuri, my mom and Sunny all seemed to enjoy the short flight, my mother in law was a completely different story. She HATED hights! Maybe more that I had as a colt even, residing herself to cling to my underbelly for dear life.

It was a tense few hours as we carefully worked our way through the brush, being careful to not disturb the under brush or make any noise. We took a long winding route that lead us diagonally away from the entrance to the humid forest where the pathway spilled out into the endless sands beyond. It was exactly the opposite of what I thought to be logical, any sane pony would have ran parallel or even angled into the entrance. But this route would make them believe that we were heading another direction to the mountains in the west. If they bought it, they would have all the time in the would trying to find our tracks in the rocks up there.

Once we reached the desert I deployed my trick once more, leaving them to be hidden under a fallen log as I carried them one by one into the desert. This time I flew them further, about a mile by my guess. If my mother in law hated hights, then she despised high velocity flying even more! She pretty mush screamed into my chest for the entire flight and then buried herself in the sand when we landed. If felt like everything was taking ages to get done and I was nearly exhausted from the massive amount of work it was requiring. By the time we were all together once more, it was nearing dusk.

While the heat finally fading was a gift, the cold that was going to follow was going to be even more dangerous. I pointed my nose towards the beacon on my Pip-Buck and began the long trot back, trying to take the valleys in the sands whenever I could. By the time the sun rises tomorrow, our tracks will be gone with the winds of morning and any hope they have of tracking us with them. But for now, tired as we were, we had to keep moving.

"Joey... How far did you say it was to this place?" Adia asked.

"At this rate... Two days." I said as I was still struggling to cope with not being able to fly us all there in a few hours.

"Son, we may not have enough water." My mother said as she searched her bags. "I fear we may have made a mistake."

"Don't talk like that. We will make it, I have faith. If it comes to it, you all can have my ration of water. I can manage without more than most."

"No. I will not allow this." My mom said in a... was that a motherly tone? I had never heard one before.

"Mom... I'm in my twenties, not my seventies. I'll be fine." I said as I lead us up another dune.

"Are you calling me old?" She growled.

"N-No... I'm just saying it can handle it. That all. I promise!" Wow, mom was kind of scary. I crested the dune and... Was that a campfire I smelled? I looked off in the distance and sure enough, there was a glowing fire about a mile away. I looked behind us for a few moments and scanned for movement, nothing. We were not being followed and whoever this was did not care to be seen at all. What were the chances they had some water to spare? By my best guess they would be Slavers and here I was fresh out of firearms. Great.

"I will have you know I had you when I was only 16!" She hissed under her breath.

"I told you, I'm not... Wait, WHAT? You were a teenager!?" I shouted.

"Yes! Your father and I were both very young! I am only 40!"

"Mom, for the last time, I didn't-"

"What is that?" Sunny said as she squinted.

"Campfire. Somepony is out there." I said, relieved to have something else to talk about.

"Slavers?" Zu asked.

"I don't know... But I plan to find out."

"Joey, no. YOU are not going over there alone!" My mother said, putting a hoof on my back. "You keep insisting on doing these things alone, Zuri told me. If you are going over there, we are going too."

Great, just great. This could have all been so simple, fly in, kill them, snatch their supplies and leave... but NOOOOO, we had to do things like a family... Less than 8 hours out of the killing fields and they wanted to do Wastlander stuff. How could this possibly go wrong.

"No. No-no-no-no! We just got you out of there and here you are wanting to find a new hell to trot into! Absolutely not."

"I know you find this hard to believe, but your mother in law and I know a thing or two about fighting too. We were not always as old and broke down as you make us out to be." She said, messing up my mane.

"Joy, maybe you should let us come. Five is more than one." Zu said, taking a stand with the rest of the mares.

"Fine, lets go get shot. TOGETHER! As a family..." I grumbled as I trotted forward and down the dunes.

Honestly, I gave them an easy out and they dove head first into the fire like a couple of rabid dogs... Just like the rest of the ponies I love. Sure part of me was happy to see them so eager to fight, it was reassuring to know they could handle themselves, but this was way to early to be taking on Slavers or whatever was out there. I would have loved the luxury to of fielded them a little first, feel them out and see what their strengths were first.

It's just how I did things, play my cards close to my chest and rely more on avoidance than head on attacks. They always see the pony approaching from the front, but rarely do they see the one right over head. Surprise attacks, shooting them from a great distance, laying traps... It was my bread and butter. But this ambushing ponies in the night crap was for the birds! Despite the obvious joke there, I hated it. You can see anything, traps are always out there and chances are there is one pony off in the distance watching you sneak up on them. I would know, I was always the pony watching.

After what felt like an hour, we found ourselves a few dunes away from the fire. I could only make out one figure in the dim fire light near a cart that was just out of sight of the fire's light. A trader maybe? If it was a trader, where was his support? His sentries? I had been scanning the dunes this whole time and seen no pony what-so-ever in the outlying areas, then again, it was dark as hell and I was using the moon light. This was bad. The only option I had was to just trot us all up to his camp and say high. If it was a trap, we were screwed. If it really was a trader, then if they had look outs, then would could already be screwed. Chances were than if we had already been made then we would have been shot already.

We crept closer over the dunes, each one giving more detail than the last. I could already tell it was a buck, he was pretty dirty but appeared to be grey or white colored and he was for sure drunk. I take it back, my previous thoughts of just flying over and killing him was starting to make me feel bad. We started down the last dune before we fell into the small depression he was sitting in.

"Ok, listen. We might only have one shot at this, but I think he is drunk. Chances are he is just a trader and we can just barter for some supplies, but if it's a trap we are going to be sitting ducks! So just hang back and be ready for anything. Sunny, you watch behind us. Zu, you and your mom take the side of the camp and wait. Me and my mom will go up to him first."

"Uh, Joey?" Sunny started.

"Hold on, now is everypony... Zebra clear on what needs to happen?"

"Joey..."Zu started.

"Just a yes or no."

"Joey! Something is behind you!" Adia whispered.

A cold chill fell over me. I knew it, it's a trap! Thinking quickly, I unsnapped my knives and spun, ready for anything.

"I wouldn't do that... What would Dj-Pon3 say if you killed your own sister?" Shale said from the darkness.

My heart sank, I was ready to throw some cold steel into the dark void that was my sister! Damn... Once again, got excited for nothing!

"Shale? Quick, what's my favorite-"

"308..." She said, cutting me off in her lack luster tone as she approached me. "Ah, I see you found... your... moms?"

"Yes... And a few extras! Who is over there? By the fire?"

"Oh, that would be your 'older brother'."

"Older? How would he know that? He doesn't even know his birthday!"

"Don't ask me, he says he just 'knows'... He pulled the cart this far, got tired and started drinking. He's been talking to himself for the last hour. So I came here to get some sleep." She said, trying to take in the Zebras I was sitting in the middle of.

"Hey, I will introduce you all in a few... wanna have some fun with him?"

"Yes. Anything to shut him up." Shale said coming in close to us.

"Shale, this is Sunny, she's a friend. Adia My mother in law. And Kamaria... My mother."

"Pleased to meet you all. I can't wait to see what you all look like."

"Oh, we are Zebras." Adia said happily.

"So... what's the plan?" Shale asked.

"Happy you asked. Sunny, you and shale..."

With our terrible idea in place. I took my place right behind Caliber with Zuri, Adia and Kamaria stood off by the wagon and were waiting for their que to enter and Shale and Sunny trotted down the bank. This was never going to work, but if it did I would never let him live it down. Surprisingly enough, the hardest part of all of this was keeping Zu quiet. She wouldn't stop snickering, partly because we were playing a joke and mostly because Caliber was rambling into a empty whiskey bottle like it was a radio.

"Hello! This is lonely soldier! My location is... hoty, sandy, itch place! Do you read me? I'm real goo soldier! Best ever!" He rambled. What was he on? Wild Pegasus AND Med-x?

"Cal! Cal! Look who I found!" Shale shouted as her and Sunny entered the campsite. "Ok... I know this is going to be hard to believe but-"

"I know what that is! That is a *hick* ZEBRA! A stripy mc.stripy butt!" He said happy with himself.

"Cal... This is Joey. They did something to him! Turned him into a mare!" Shale said, selling it like day old fish to the drunk.

"*Gasp* No! Joey! Brother! What have they done to you!?" He said as he rose to run to them, but fell face first into the sand.

"Hi..." Sunny squeaked in her cutest voice.

"Comear! Comear! Show me, what have they done to you!" He cried through the dirt. Sunny and Shale trotted closed and helped him to his hooves. "Brother... My baby brother! They made you so small! Look at your little belly! Look at your cute little nose! They even changed your pretty purple eyes to green! Those monsters!" He slurred.

"Cal... It was horrible! They used their freaky Zebra magic on me! They took my pretty wings! They made me a mare!"

Caliber took a long, loud breath. "They took your ding dong! NOOOOOO! How will you sexuality your Zuzu!? Wait! did they give her a ding dong?" He screamed as he wrapped his hooves around who he thought was me. Zuri was now holding my mouth closed because I was crying and I was having to hold her's too. This was going too well. "Joey! I'm so sorry! Joey... wow, you smell great! You are soft too, perfect hugging size." He said as he snuggled up closer to Sunny.

"O-Ok Cal... Joey has had a long day." Shale said, trying to pull them apart.

"YOUR COAT! It's so soft now. Shale! Can Jojo sleep in the bed with us? We can snuggle him now!" Cal begged.

"No! Absolutely not!" Ok, that was their que. Adia and Kamaria stepped out of the shadows and approached menacingly.

"There you are! We will teach you to run from us! We will teach your friends too! Prepare to loose your stallion hood!" Kamaria yelled.

"Shale! Zeebers! Do something! I don't wanna loose my weenie!" Caliber screamed. Oh this was too good, this had to be his worst fear given his track record.

"It's ok, Cal. You will like being a mare." Sunny said, giving him a gentle rub on his backside.

"WAIT!" He shouted as he spun on Shale and Sunny. "If I'm a mare, can we still do things? Like together?" Ok, that's enough. This went from funny to creepy too fast! I crept up behind Caliber and in my deepest voice, yelled in his ear.

"You want to bang your brother, don't you Caliber?"

I couldn't see it, but I knew his face turned white the moment he heard me. Shale and Sunny were fighting back tears from trying to hold in their laughter. I had my hoof on his back rubbing it gently as I blew in his ear to let him know I had heard everything. Aida and Kamaria both snickered to themselves as Caliber turned slowly to face me.

"J-Joey? Two Joeys?" He asked.

"No, Cal... Just one Joey."

"But... Zebras?"

"Yeah, Cal... Zebras..."

He stood there for a moment while his rusty and crusty gears started turning in his head. Soon there was a revelation, but not the one I had expected. I felt warm, wet splatters hit my hooves accompanied by the sound of falling water on sand.

"I pee'd." He said sadly.

"I can see that! Come here you big moron!" I shouted as I wrapped him in a hug and began pointing out them impostors. "Cal, meet Adia, Sunny and my mother... Kamaria! We got them all out!" They all gave a light hearted wave and sweet words of welcome to the still urinating buck.

"Hello. Joey, does this mean we can't have sex now?" Caliber stammered.

"No Cal... Just... Please never say that again."

"I wouldn't mind." Sunny said from behind us. "He smells like oranges!"

"Huh, never thought of having a threesome before." Shale said a little too quizzically.

"Oh! It is great fun! I can teach you." Kamaria shouted in excitement.

"Ok! Every pony, Zebra and alcoholic on the cart, this just got too weird for me."

No! Hell no! Hell to the fucking no! Every creature on the nope express, one way ticket to never going to fucking happen, flight time of never! I pushed them all onto the cart and began to shut the door but had a thought that I felt I needed to act on before I shut the back gate.

"Zu! You are riding with me." I shouted.

"But I want to watch! I enjoy this!" She pleaded.

"No! There will be nothing to watch, because if I hear any thing sexy happening, so help me I will crash us all into the damn ocean!" I said as I pulled her from the flying fuck box and nudged her towards the front of the cart. She helped me, reluctantly, into my straps and climbed on my back. I gave the cart a swift kick to get all of their attention and gave my pre flight announcement.

"Listen up. Thank you for flying Coyote airlines. I would like to remind you that there is absolutely no sex allowed in the cart. If you feel the urge to have sex during the flight, feel free to throw yourself out the back door. Those caught attempting to get pregnant will be forced to walk the rest of the journey to where we are going! Am I understood?" The entire cart gave a lack lust 'yes' as I began to hover. Adia, having no clue as to what was about to happen, predictably freaked out and began screaming at me.

"Joey! Are we going to be flying!?"

"Yes."

"I don't like this!"

"Do you want to die in the desert?"

"No."

"Then we have to fly." I said as I shot towards the sky and pointed my nose towards the beacon my my map.

"I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS!" She screamed.

Well, there wasn't going to be any sex happening now, unless one of them was into fear fucking. All things considered, that went better than I had expected. Cal and Shale bringing the cart half way seemingly knowing that I was going to spot them was pure brilliance! Even with all the joy in the world and jokes played, I still had a lot to worry about. I still had to get the rest of them, but for now, I had my family. Something I never thought I would have! It was a gift, but a hollow one knowing there were so many others out there missing theirs.