Once upon a time in the magical land of Equest... Oh who am I kidding, this place sucks!

Hot, it’s always so damn hot in this place. I know that the caps are good and all, but why do we always have to spend five days here, every year! The small town of Silver Shoe is located 30 days trot south of New Appleloosa, ten days trot north from White Saddle Shores and about three feet from the surface of the damn sun. There’s cloud cover all over Equestria, why the hell not here!

It’s a small town, but you would never guess it by the number of ponies that live here. It’s always so strange coming to a place so small with so many ponies, all slowly melting away under the intense heat. The only time it’s not hot, it’s raining that Goddess awful yellow rain, a mixture of water, radioactive fallout and salt. They chose to live like this? Why not choose to just set yourself on fire and pee yourself out. Did I mention I don't like heat? Or nasty pee rain?

I sat down in the only available shade that I could find, just beneath the awning of a rundown wares store called 'Peach's Sundries and Ammo'. Not the town’s only store mind you, but the only one in town that sells cold drinks. I still have no idea where Ms. Peach came across a self-powered fridge in the Wasteland, but I do know that everything that comes out of it will give you your doctor’s daily recommended dosage of rads.

I rested my back against the dilapidated wood wall and looked up at the sun-bleached sign with the half faded letters that read "Some of the deals, some of the time!" I scoffed, thinking of all the times Ms. Peach had never given me a deal on anything but an emergency 'cappendectomy' every time I walked through the door, it was her daily special apparently.

You would think the sad face of a 14 year old forlorn colt with no cutie mark would grant a bit of leeway in the prices. But not with Ms. Peach, you could flop into her store missing all 4 legs and on fire (something I wouldn't be surprised if it were a common occurrence in this town) and she would still charge you for the water, before she put you out. Probably tack on a city service tax while she’s at it, then prorate your medical bills.

I said that WE come here every year and by we I mean Boss's traders. A group of shaggy, dirty ponies scavenging the wastes for anything of value, selling and trading our way into a delicate balance of not starving to death and staying drunk enough to not care. There’s Boss, the de facto leader of the crew. He wasn't the biggest pony around but he was most definitely the last one you wanted on your tail for anything. He was also the oldest of us, a fact made all the more obvious by his now graying mane and tail. Even though vanity was a emotion rarely shown by the old buck, he would occasionally make mention of his resentment towards the slow color loss of his once blond locks and sage coat. Even with Shale and I telling him that the gray better complemented the nickle and Ivory of his 44 mags.

Ah, his pistols, both things of beauty and coveted desire to me, I knew them well. As the youngest in the group it was my job to do the mule's share of the work. Setting up camp, finding food, water, cleaning and repairing our ever rotating line of artillery. Our guns would always come and go but Boss's twin 44's always stayed. They were in excellent shape, all apart from "Lefty", the gun with broken grip that kept falling off. I've tried at least fifteen different times to fix them, but over and over again, one of the grip panels would keep falling off. Boss said that the damage was caused when he had to "Thump Lue over the damn head" when he tried to "Make off with the last bottle of whiskey".

Speaking of Lue (which I’m sure is short for lunatic judging by how he acts half the time). Nice buck but when he drinks, he claims he can see the future. Too bad the future to him are things that happened two weeks ago. A short, fat unicorn with delusions of grandeur to say the least. Despite that, he’s always at the Boss's side, watching his back for Raiders, Gangers and whatever else this hell hole decides to throw at him or by extension us. He’s always looking for the next big thing to make him famous, he once came into camp with a pine cone tied to a squirrel’s ass, taped to a stick, claiming to have created the future of melee weapons. Later that night, Shale and Boss ate the squirrel and I lost the pine cone. He cried for 2 days about it... tragic to say the least.

His coat is always covered in some form of filth, most of the time food, blood, poo and mud. Truth be told however, the few times I have seen him clean, he actually had a very nice white coat complimented by a dark blue mane. He could clean up to be a good looking guy, but what they say about the pretty ones always holds true. As Shale says "They have looks, but there's always a cost, usually that of several brain cells".

Shale, now there's a mare worth your time. Beauty and brains with a lethal since of business and fearsome level of accuracy, the latter something you could only experience first hoof, if only briefly. A surprising combination given her ability to turn heads with not only her looks, but her charm. It was a act the majority of the time, usually to falsely sweeten what ever deal we were working at the time, but one that was no less effective. Her blue on blue coat and mane were only over shadowed by her amber yellow eyes that could send a buck to his knees. A tactic she had used more than once to pilfer Lue's bags for food. I get it, she's cute and all, but she's our sister! Why would he even entertain such a thing! Then again, like most families these days, who is really family anyhow.

Boss had found her on a rock farm when she was young and ended up trading for her in exchange for half of a case of Med-X. Her father, ever the junkie, took the deal. As insidious as it was to trade your own kid for a short term high, in all actuality, it was probably the best thing he had ever done for her. A few years later Boss came back by the farm to trade and was chased off by her mother. Shale wasn't with him at the time or things may have gone differently. Come to find out later, Shale's mother had killed her father after finding out he traded his only daughter to fund his habit. Now that I think of it, Boss got Lue as a young colt too, I guess that makes Boss the closest thing to a father any of us have ever had.

Shale could have gone back at anytime, but I like to think that she found a better home with Boss than she ever would have had on that farm. She was about my age now when Boss picked her up, I was just a colt at the time by comparison, barely able to fend for myself according to boss, so I don't recall her joining. As far as I’m concerned she has always been with us and to me, she has always been my big sister. She and I always played together growing up and now, we both run overwatch for Boss when he is conducting business.

Every group of traders that want to make it more than five minutes in the wastes has a crew for protection. Most of the time it’s the strongest in the group who takes the job. Boss, however, has always had other ideas on how to run security for the group. Sure we could just huddle around him and keep a constant guard, but that would be obvious to anypony above raider intelligence. Keeping a distance allows us the element of surprise and the ability to pick off any would-be bandits, not to mention a wider field of view to spot threats. Then there's the biggest guy in the herd philosophy, yeah, Boss doesn't like that either, that's why he has always picked the most average of the group to keep a look out. Everypony knows the biggest guy in the group next to the head trader is the one to watch out for, but when your comrades are picked off long before you even get close... you gain a reputation not to be messed with.

At a young age, Shale and I spent most of our time target practicing instead of playing. Her trying to see how fast she could shoot 6 Sunrise Sarsaparilla bottles with her revolver and me trying to see how far I could hit an old bottle of Buck with a rifle. Neither one of us are particularly big for our age, in fact Shale is short for a mare. No surprise there, what with living in a place that the air alone can be enough to kill or severely alter your genes to the point of being an immortal ghoul. But what she lacks in stature, she makes up for in firepower, and make up for it does she ever! She’s always had first pick of weapons out of the pool, and she is always the first to nab up anything with decent rapid fire ability, even now, she is carrying our freshly acquired full-auto 10mm pistol... the same one I remember begging for just two days ago... I hate being the runt of the litter...

I’m the most out of place pony in the group, by that I mean I actually make an attempt to bathe. Sure Shale bathes... I think... Hey! A gentlebuck never spies on a mare bathing! But apart from that, I have always tried to keep clean. Well as clean as one can stay in a world that's always trying to kill you with things comprised mostly of squishy, gooey nasty liquids and hazardous chemicals that all smell like barf. Sure having a gray coat makes it easy to hide dirt and all, but why the hell was I "blessed" with sky blue hair?! If there are Goddesses, they have a sick sense of humor. Shale says most mares love light hair on a colt, but the only things it has ever attracted me are filth and bullets. I stick out like a sore hoof at the best of times, even when I’m not being picked on for being a blank flank. Seriously universe? Have you no compassion? Not only do I look like an idiot that screams, please, place all unwanted bullets here, I have to be talent-less? Then, as if that were not enough to satisfy its humor, I have wings... Great, paint me like a target and label me as the most hated race of pony... Awesome.

As if starting out as an orphan who is used as little more than a damn lock pick, I had to be set back even further into a social deficit with feathery appendages. Irony is cruel, but at least I can fly... kinda. Ok so I hate heights. Call it being relentlessly picked on for having wings, call it a natural or acquired phobia, either way, I fell better without being a flying bull's-eye. Granted it is not all that bad, sure a lot of other ponies are quick to cast judgement, but with Boss not far behind to clean up the mess of slurs and rude comments, I have had a far easier live than the few other Pegasi I had seen, even if I was talent-less.

Well, maybe not talent-less, devoid of a mark and wearing something that forever that changes how society perceives who you are as a pony however... I can shoot very well, Boss says I took to it like a duck to water and flew with it, whatever the hell that means. At any rate, marksmanship has always been something I enjoyed and the only thing that has really ever calmed me down. There is just something about the mechanics of accuracy that has always bowled me over, the flight of the bullet, the fact that its trajectory changes based on a myriad of variables. Wind, temperature, shot angle, distance all playing a role in getting the right hold to land a bullet exactly where you want it to go. I love it! So it’s no surprise that Boss put her and me on overwatch. A short mare and a young colt would never stand out in crowd and as such, we blend right in with the background. Give those two the firepower to stave off threats and the ability to use judicious marksmanship and blinding speed and you have a recipe for the perfect security system.

I have been with the Boss's crew for as long as I can remember, even from a young age I can remember him shoving me into all the hard to get to places to retrieve some P.O.S. thing that would, hopefully, bring a few caps our way. There was even a time when he actually considered lowering me into a dragon’s nest, just to snatch a few gems to sweeten one of his convoluted deals he was working on. All that being said, he does seem to care for our well-being and has never actually put me or the others in harm’s way haphazardly. He’s always got an angle that makes things safe, some backup plan to pull something out of his flank to keep us safe. He treats us like his kids most of the time, maybe not in the best ways but we have never felt alone or abandoned either. Speaking of abandonment, a while back I asked boss about my parents and just how I became the adoptive child of a vagabond trader who has way too many kids that are not his.

"Slavers I recon, found you in a bombed out Ironshod plant, didn't want to leave you there. Thought about trading you off a few times, but it’s nice to have somepony who can fit in those damn vents to open doors."

That was as close to an epic tale of coming to be as I have ever gotten out of him, I did appreciate the humor of trading me off... At least I hoped it was humor.

Slavers were a possibility but why wouldn't they take me with them. Were kids just not worth the hassle? Maybe my parents stowed me away in hopes that somepony would find me. There’s also the very real possibility that they just said, “Fuck it, I don't want to be a parent to a feathered up walking failure." and kicked my ass in an old munitions plant hoping it would blow up. Judging how my luck usually turns out, it wouldn't be too far out of the scope of reality.

I was broken from my reverie by the sight of Shale poking her head out of the alley of the two buildings she was lurking between to talk to a young buck. No surprise, she always attracts guys everywhere she goes, it’s the orange coat, and bucks go nuts for it in this part of the world. By the looks of things, she was being complemented and most likely the buck was trying to seduce her into bed. Again, not uncommon, but she has a job to do and should be doing it. Nevermind, if she’s going to chat up boys then I’ll just pull her shift, as always.

Across the way, Boss, as always, was conducting business with a shriveled up old bit mongering unicorn named Valentine. Val, as he called him, was doing his best job of convincing Boss that the dirty water Boss was trying to sell him was slightly more dirty than usual. Boss, on the other hoof, was trying to convince Val that the water was at or less than 10% cleaner than the last time he came to town. Seeing as I was the one to retrieve the water from... I could vouch for it being just as dirty as it has always been. Well maybe a bit more dirty this week seeing as I think Lue peed in one of the bottles to spite Val, he never really liked him.

I relaxed and set myself to watching the ongoing exchange of asking entirely too much for dirty water. Then followed by the inevitable haggling process to come to the same price it always comes to. I swear sometimes I think Boss just like to get up Val's ass for the fun of it. Can’t blame him, Val is a real prick when it comes to parting with anything more than his nasty breath and used toilet paper, which might I add, the old fart sells. Calls is "Reclaimed Flank Floss". What the actual fuck!

Lue seemed to be looking over a ball bat of sorts, no doubt thinking of strapping a badger or hornet's nest to it, nothing out of the normal there. But something seems off about this picture, the normal hustle and bustle of the town is all the same but my eyes are trying to tell my brain something. A detail maybe? Something I’m overlooking? I glance across the crowd to where Boss is conducting his daily routine of bartering and begin a visual grid search, something I had read about in one of my 200 year old magazines from Wartime Technologies.

I was just visually acclimating myself when I saw it, a dirty red pony wearing a hood. Who the hell would wear a hood in this heat!? That’s what it was, an idiot wearing a brown hooded cloak in the dead heat of the day. No wonder my brain took so long to process it, that level of stupidity would require more computing power that any brain could handle. I engaged my "squintnoculars" and focused on the hooded figure, was it just me or did he have an odd gate about him. I focused harder on him and sure enough, yep, he had an injury to his right hind leg, giving him a small but noticeable hitch to his walk.

My eyes that were telling me something was off before, were telling me something yet again. Did I know him? I would like to think that I would remember a pony with a lame leg who’s also presumably a moron. Damn it! I hate coming out of a perfectly good moment of personal reflection to have to solve a riddle! This is why Boss always drills "attention to detail" into our heads until it dribbles out of our noses. He also says a lot about staying focused and keeping alert, but I forget half of that when I’m made to wait and be alone with my thoughts.

Sitting just 30 feet away, I could make out that he was eyeing Boss's bags that were sat conveniently behind him. Lue, who usually watches the Boss's saddle bags, was completely enamored with the idea of a ball bat with nails in it. I glanced back to the buck in the hood and noticed him taking a step closer, he was still outside the five foot area I allowed before things start to get decidedly "loud" but still too close for comfort. I look back over to Shale who is just to the right of the buck and do my best to get her attention without alerting the would-be, possible bandit.

I need something, anything to get her attention, I would guess yelling would be out of the question. Shit, I hate this part of the job, I mean I have done it before but I never enjoy it. I readied my rifle, at this distance the 7.62 caliber hollow point round would make one hell of a mess. Through the cross hairs I could see him inching closer, favoring his hind leg as he did so. Soon he had advanced in front of the store front wall where Boss and Val were sitting, well within the kill zone. No doubt that if somepony was on the other side of that wall they would be playing a very deadly game of catch whether or not I hit him or not. Bullets, particularly those from a high powered rifle, have a nasty habit of slicing through hide, crushing bone and continuing through whatever is in there way until all the energy is expelled. I read that too. With that in mind, I slowly lowered my rifle to my side started to get up when...

A pale blue earth pony buck flew past my left side so fast that I thought that he had been launched by a cannon, followed by a door knob hitting me right in the mussel. dazed and seeing little red colts in my vision I desperately tried to gain composure, as Ms. Peach politely walked out of the shop, screaming at yet another shop patron in her, raspy, annoying voice, for not having enough money to waste her time.

I staggered to my hooves, only to have her bearing down, screaming at me.

"Don’t you have someplace to be? As in, not HERE!" she said with her usual charm.

"Yes mam, sorry mam!" I said weakly

OK, staggering back to my hooves a 2nd time now, still woozy from my great battle with the door knob, I snapped my attention back to there the red buck once stood. And he’s gone. Shit....this isn't good. I would venture a guess that I wouldn't be so lucky that he had been startled by the commotion and made a break for it would I? Maybe? I glanced back up to my frost blue mane drooping into my now slowly un-blurring vision and reminded myself that the world hates me and pushed the "lucky" thoughts from my mind. I gathered my bags and returned my rifle to its home, slung just over my back with the sling hitched under my right foreleg.

Stepping off of the front porch of Peaches, I took stock of the buck laying face first in the dusty street with is rump in the air. Two perfect horse shoe prints, one on each butt cheek, both up turned from Ms. Peach’s hind hooves.

The buck gave an anemic little "ow" as I trotted closer to his still prone form

"Tried to haggle?" I asked in a slightly squeaky voice, fighting back laughter.

"Ugh...beat it kid, my dealings are none of your business" he said to me through his teeth, no doubt fighting through pain to do so.

"Well, at any rate, at least you got a receipt in case you have to return that ass whooping, better hurry I think it’s starting to fade" I said though a broken laughter, gesturing to his hind quarters.

"Hey there even upturned! That’s good luck right?" I managed to giggle out before almost wetting myself from shear amusement.

"If you don't scram, your ass is going to be a receipt!" the blue buck said, spitting dust out of his mouth in my direction.

"OK, I know when my comedy isn't appreciated" I said as I turned.

I started my way towards Boss who was just getting back into the "art of the deal" as he calls it, making my way through the crowd. By the time I had reached him, Val had already taken his leave, heading back to the cave he crawled out of. I took stock of the situation at hand, trying to figure out the best avenue of approaching the situation. I looked to where the red buck had been standing just before taking a door knob to the face. On the ground there were the prints of many, many ponies… but there, near the wall were a set of tracks that were out of place. The tracks were normal, except for the right side. There was a distinct pattern of one hooves track covering half of the next track with a small distortion where his lame leg had fallen faster than the others, kicking up a bit of dirty over the track.

Those same tracks lead dangerously close to the Boss's bags, then turned left into the beaten, dusty street. From that point forward, the tracks dissipated into the countless other tracks from the towns ponies. I looked back to the tracks where he had been moments before and I could also see marks on the ground where his hood had been trailing behind him. I did my best to take in every little detail I could, just in case Boss were to question me had something gone missing. The realization hit me that nopony, not in the 3 years I had been working over watch, had ever taken anything from us without a major fight, but then again, no pony had ever gotten this close before either.

"Joey" Boss said in his deep voice "something wrong? Why did you abandon your post" he said, a little too authoritatively.

I looked up from the ground to see Lue, Shale and Boss all staring at me like I had just done a backflip. I tried to gather the words, to say something but confrontation had never been my strong suit. Just as I had gathered my thoughts and began working my mussel, Lue decided it was the perfect time to take a jab at me.

"What? Did you get lonely over there? Nopony want to talk to the blank flank?" Lue said in a foalish voice

"What! No, there was... cloak, there, just a second ago, got to close" I stammered.

Now everypony was looking at me with a look of pure amusement, even a few of the town’s ponies had taken notice of the excited, confused colt, everypony except Boss.

"Calm down Joey, what did you see?" Boss said with a fatherly tone that he knew would put me at ease.

"There was a red pony, in a cloak who got too close to you but I don't know if he took anything or not" I said, completely embarrassed for my incompetence.

"Just now? And what do you mean, you’re not sure if he took anything or not" Boss said, narrowing his eyes at the thought of somepony stealing from him. There are not a lot of things that make Boss angry, but stealing from him is a great way to start a war.

"Yes, just now! I had eyes on him but just as I was lowering my rifle, the door to Peaches flew open and almost knocked me cold!" I said pointing a hoof towards the place I had been sitting.

"Ha, I told you that was a bad spot to set up post, I get the whole out in the open is the best place to hide thing but beside a door? That’s just stupid" Shale barked out at me in a laughing tone.

OK, I’ll admit, not the best place to set up, but I can’t help feeling a bit hurt by that statement, especially seeing as she was the one who taught me to hide in plain sight. Boss turn to Shale to regard her while she snorted back laughter, tensing his and gritting his teeth. It must be hard dealing with a bunch of kids when your the most serious guy in the group and the oldest.

"And you? Where were you? If he was standing right behind me, wouldn't that put him in your line of sight? What were you doing that was so important to take you away from the job at hoof?" Boss said as he slowly backed Shale to the same wall the red pony had been standing.

Shale, now on the defensive, bumped in the walk of the store front with her rump, letting out a resounding "eep" as she did so. Shale, now stammering herself, said

"I was just....I mean, somepony was talking to me and I lost focus...I d-didn't mean to let-" was as far as she got before Boss had stared the once laughing mare, into a tiny pile of fear, uncertainty and regret.

"You had a job to do, what if he took something, what if he was somepony who didn't particularly care for me too much? What then? I have enough scares in my back already without you helping somepony carve me up more!" Boss said with a graveness in his voice that spoke volumes for what would happen if Shale were say anything to push him over the edge. Honestly, I think a stiff breeze would set him off at this point.

“I, I’m sorry!” Shale said with tears beginning to bead up in the corners of her eyes. “I was distracted by a colt”

“As much as I appreciate your candor, now is not the time to be chatting up boys!” Boss said with a slightly less aggressive tone.

Boss turned back to me and took a few steps closer, lowering his head to meet my eyes as he did so. “You say you saw him right? You get a good look at him?”

I focused my gaze to his, making direct eye contact, something he had taught us all from an early age to invoke the buyers trust. It was a simple gesture, but a crucial one to give absolute certainty that I was doing my best to relay the events as best as I could remember them. If all of this seems forefront, it’s because it is, but when you are a 14 year old colt facing a 30 year old buck who could drive you into the ground for doing wrong, you make a note of going through the motions of honesty.

“Yes sir, young buck, maybe about 18, medium build, wearing a dark brown or black cloak. Red coat. I think he has a leg injury, he was favoring his right hind leg” I said with all the confidence I could muster.

“How close” Boss said, raising his head and looking around, presumably for the possible thief.

“Pretty close, too close for me to like. I saw him eyeing your bags and that's when I was readying to fire on him” I said

“And then Peach slammed a door in your face. Perfect. Why didn’t you shoot, sounds like you had a clean shot on him” Boss said

“ He was in front of the stores wall, the round could have passed through and hit somepony on the other side” I said with a small hitch in my voice. Damn it, I hate being on trial!

“I would have allowed that risk! These wares are all we have at the moment, you know that we spent our last few caps yesterday on bullets, why didn't you use them” Boss said accusingly

I pointed up to the sign above our heads that read “ Colts & Foals: baby wares and formula” looking at him with a desperate expression “ there could be a kid in there, or a mother, if it passed through and hit somepony who was pregnant, it would be three dead ponies”

Boss let out a breath that he had been holding and sighed. “...Ok, good point. I’m sorry. that’s good judgment on your part. more than I can say I would have had.” Boss said, still with a bit of agitation.

“There's more” I squeaked out as Boss began to turn away. “There’s his tracks, right over there!”
I said pointing to the fresh patch of sand near the store wall.

“What good does that do us? Look around, there's tracks everywhere!” Lue said with his usual attitude towards me. “So unless you're a dog and sniff him out, it’s useless! And the only trick I've seen you do is fetch!” Ok that pissed me off, I'm not a damn dog and I damn sure ain't a one trick pony! I was readying my comeback about his face being stupid and him being fat when Boss stopped me short. “Lue, nopony asked your opinion on this. In fact as far as I’m concerned you’re to blame! Had you not been ogling that stupid bat and been watching my back, like you are supposed to, you wouldn't have left joey to do your damn job for you. Hell, at least he tried to do something”

HMM...well I’m not pissed anymore, but I still feel like I did something wrong. I took the time to glance about the crowd that was now gathering around the latest show in town, everypony was looking at us. Faces of confusion, amusement and one shit paper selling unicorn with a look of “about time somepony took you down a notch” on his face. I looked back to Boss who was now educating Lue on the finer points of “attention to detail” and was waiting for my chance to jump in on the conversation when Shale did it for me.

“Um, Boss? Perhaps we should take this inside, take stock and see if the bandit took anything to be mad about before you start killing us all off?”

Boss, took a few seconds to take in the scene, mostly that he was now causing, and nodded , eyes still glancing around. I swear I think I saw a shade of red cross his muzzle at the sight of everypony looking at him.

“Yeah, might be a good idea. No use in getting too worked up if nothing is even missing. Either way you too are getting a crash course on paying the fuck attention tonight. So don’t think you’re off the hook if everything's still here!”

We gathered our belongings and headed towards the far side of town....it was about 100 feet away, so calling it the far side of town was a bit of a stretch to say the least. In fact this whole town only has 20 or so functioning businesses, one of them being the only hotel/liquor store/pay bathroom in town. Yep, ponies pay to poop where I sleep. Did I mention I hate this town?

Back in my room, erm, our room. An acrid stench hung in the air like a colony of tiny blood wings that ever so often would swoop down and assault our noses with the pungent aroma of stale, dry air, decaying wood, feces and whatever abomination the “chef” was cooking for dinner. I use the term chef as lightly as possible, the bucks a good guy and all but sometime I question whether or not he is using actual ingredients or just scooping out what everypony ate the night before from the outhouses out back. Heh, recycling poo into edible food, who would do such a stupid thing. By the smell of things dinner should be just this side of completely inedible, so it should be served in about an hour or two.

I trotted to the bed where I slept the night before, the sheets still neatly made from our morning routines, with what I believe was once a pillow but now was a sack of what I hoped wasn't dried semen filled cloth. Goddess only knows what happened in these rooms and honestly, I’m ok with the goddesses only knowing. I unslung my rifle and propped it against the headboard of my bed, sex mat, whatever. Dropping my saddle bags to the ground and ever so carefully, kicked the shit out of my bags under the stained mattress to free up as much room as I could. Sure the room had 4 beds but those 4 beds came at premium cost of space and when you're a trader, you need all the room you can manage.

The room, albeit small, didn’t feel that way until you looked down and saw the absurd amount of lack of walking room between the beds. Two large windows, one on each of the exterior walls, allowed for the sun to continue its assault on my coat every morning. The light that shone through, casting shadows across the room was impeded only by the dust that hung in the air. A few old paintings of times since lost, adorn the other two walls, once vibrant and full of color, now replaced with the sickly colors that come from years of mistreatment and sun bleaching. The ceiling, once I presume to have been white, was now stained from centuries of water damage and pop marked with bullet holes, some of which, coming from the outside in.

I lay back on my bed, gazing at a bullet hole directly above me and allowed the unsettling thought of dying in my sleep from a falling bullet really sink in. what a way to go, sleeping one second, shot dead the next from a stray bullet. I have often thought about the fighting in the places where we travel to, Hoofington, Fillydelphia, Manehattan. All places that have battles going on at a near constant rhythm, tens of hundreds of ponies firing wildly, wasting precious bullets, sending them into the dirt, building and possible bystanders without care. Why do I think about these things! Other colts my age are out trying to get lucky with their first mare or looting wares stores for liquor, but not me! That would be too simple, I had to be picked up by a trader with a personal security complex. Better than dead I guess.

Boss was the last to enter the room, he then turned and promptly locked the door, at least what was left of the door. He walked to his bed, dropping his saddle bags on the torn sheets, the bed let out a groan of protest under the weight of the overloaded, tan sacks.
“Ok, let’s take stock, if nothing is missing then we will move on to taking inventory and paying yalls shares,” Boss said as he began opening the tired, worn bags and began rifling through their contents. Laying out items of value in neat, organized piles across the beds. Ammo, water, medical supplies, odds and ends we had pilfered or traded for the last few weeks all laid with care across the small room.

Shale produced a clipboard and began going down the list of items, cross checking them with Boss's sales sheet, pausing only to count a few round of ammo's or to double check her work. I had made the argument to acquire a pipbuck to do the sorting for us multiple times, but Boss's still prefers to do things by hoof. Claiming “Why would I use tech from ponies who brought the world to the state that it’s in now.” to say he has trust issues is not that bold of a statement.

Shale completed her rounds and began reading back the stock of our goods.

“Ok that's 480 rounds of ammo, 7 bottles of water, 4 clean, 3 dirty, 3 knives, 2 packs of med-x, one ¾ full, 9 bottles of rad-x, 2 10mm semi-auto pistols, 3 magazines for said pistol's...” Shale droned on for the next 3 or 4 mins, listing countless medical supplies and foodstuffs. Finally when she had reached the end of her grand speech, she held the clipboard in the air and with a grand, squeaky singsong voice proclaimed “and twwwwwwwwwwwo golden horn riiiiings!”

Boss's looked up from his continued search of the now empty bags, only to raise an eyebrow. Even Lue looked up to Shale with a look of “Seriously?” plastered across his face, well that and most of the Buck Cake he was eviscerating at the time. I let out a half hearted chuckle at the grand gesture, taking in the scene before me. It’s nice to see a bit of humor, it’s so rare and fleeting on the trail. Boss, who continued his assault on the old bags was growing increasingly agitated as he turned the bags upside down to give them a firm shake. Realizing that everything was now lying before him, he sat down hard and began looking over the pile of plunder, searching desperately for....something?

The room was alight with giggles and jokes being cracked at Shales failure of an attempt at singing and Lue’s decidedly disgusting appearance when Boss, who had been quiet for the duration, finally spoke. In a low, hushed and almost bewildered tone “It’s gone...of all the things, it's gone”

the room fell silent at those very words, yet everyone still worn a small smile, thinking that whatever it was, it couldn't have been anything of value. Shale was the first to speak in her light, happy voice “What’s gone, I double checked everything on the list, it’s all here”. Boss rolled back on his haunches, looking at the ceiling. “Something, that wasn’t on the list, something I have had a long time. Something that was entrusted to me by a dying stallion a long time ago”. Shale, now at full attention, shuffled closer to the now confused looking stallion. “What’s gone? If it was so important why was it not on the list?” Shale spoke in stern yet soft tones, being careful not to anger Boss. None of us had ever seen him like this before, sure he was a powder keg at times but he was always so sure about things. So seeing him completely out of place was new for all of us and was a situation that none of us knew how to handle.

“Something that will mean a lot to somepony someday, something I didn’t put on the list to keep anypony from knowing I had it” Boss said almost cryptically, still refusing any information to any of us. What the hell could be so important that Boss, the tradiest of traders wouldn't even sell? Hell he thought about selling me once if I recall, so what could have the old stallion in such a fit to the point of looking completely disconnected with reality. Finally having enough of my own reverie for a change, I piped up.

“Boss, what is it that's so important that you've now become a damn invalid.”

Boss said nothing, just giving me a softer than usual look that said, one thing and one thing only “I promised”. Boss can be the most stubborn pony on the planet, so it goes without saying that when he's told a secret, or in this case, entrusted with something, nothing short of all the whiskey in the wasteland would get him to give so much as a hint. “Ok” I said with a sigh “How do we get it back?” There was a long pause that hung in the air like stagnant water, almost suffocating with its tension. “One of us has to go and get it, obviously,” Lue, finally breaking the silence said. “One of us? Don't you mean all of us?” Shale said feeling a might bit far flung by Lue's assertion that he would be going at this alone. “Yeah shouldn't we go as a group, safety in numbers and all that?” I said with the hopes that Boss wouldn't actually be entertaining the thought of sending at least one of us on a one pony trek to receive the mystery item solo.

“Wait, what about New Appleloosa, that's our next stop and we have that load of radaway to deliver still. To Absolutely Everything. She even paid in advance,” Shale said.

Lue, licking the last of the crumbs from his mouth, shared a look with Shale. “Yeah and I don’t think you three could carry that load on your own, it would take y'all 2 weeks to make it without me.” Lue said, closing his eyes and putting a hoof on his puffed out chest. I won’t admit to many good traits that Lue has, but being a stout buck with a strong back is one of them. We usually just pile all the crap we find on his back to sort later, making him carry 2 ponies worth of load doing so. But hey, cost of brain cells and all that. He never complained either, so it just became a habit for him to always carry the bulk of our goods on the long trips between towns.

Sad fact of the matter is that if Lue went it would take us too long to make it to New Appleloosa to make the shipment in time. We would have to wait 3 weeks for the shop keep to finish her runs and meet with her then. Shale could go, but that would leave us almost outgunned if something were to happen on the trail. She, after all, is the most versed in automatic weapons and her speed with them is, as far as I have seen, unmatched. Boss would never leave us to take to the Trail on our own, not to mention he also carries a substantial weight of the goods himself. And I highly doubt he would send a 14 year old colt to go...

“Joey could go, I mean, he is the only one of us that got a good look at him.” Shale said.
My jaw hit the floor so hard I think I lost a tooth. Me!? I can’t even...how could she throw me under the wagon like this!

“What...me?! You want me to go after him?” I said in pure shock. Boss, finally lifting his head, let out a resounding “NO”. “Boss, think about it, if any of us go, we won’t make the shipment, if I go, who's going to keep a look out for you and Lue on the way to New Appleloosa. But if Joey goes, we will make the shipment and there's a ok chance he will pull it off”. Gee thanks Shale, throw me under the wagon and give me slim odds of making it out alive. Boss, looking up to meet the hopeful face of Shale “No, he’s just a colt and he can’t go...not for this, there has to be some other way”.

“Boss...Camden... Joey saw him, not only saw him, described him, pointed out his limp and found his tracks. If anyone has a chance at finding this guy, it’s him. He wouldn’t even have to get close, he could just pick him off with his rifle and retrieve...whatever it is he took.” Shale said

I can’t believe I’m saying this but Shale actually makes a good point. With me out of the group, they wouldn't be any more hindered than if I was there. Being the smallest, I rarely carried much, my job was more to watch for threats and watch over the exchanges at a distance. Honestly they could do the work. Still doesn't change the fact that, I don’t wanna! What the hell, they are all conspiring against me! They’re going to send a colt to his death, for a stupid...whateverthefuck because he made a promise!? And did Shale just break out Boss's real name!?

“Wait wait wait, don't I get a say in this? What the hell could be so worth sending me to my doom over?” I said. At this point everyone but me and Boss had decided to send me packing after somepony who took something that we aren't even allowed to know what it is, to a place that I’m sure I don't know, to kill him for something I have no idea if he took or not. And as much as I hate to admit it, it wasn’t a horrible idea looking at it from the outside in. but on the inside it felt like I was being led to my slaughter for a middle aged buck desire to keep a secret. Infuriating to say the very least, but still something inside me still wanted to go. Some part of me that felt, wronged by making a mistake, almost like feeling...robbed... heh, kind of cathartic actually but still total shit but at least it feels good.

“I’ll go” I managed to meek out...did I just say that, did those words really just leave my mouth? Damn you mouth, I give you food, slightly rad ridden water, and I even try to brush your teeth! Thou hath betrayed me!

“Joey, I know you have to feel bad for what happened today, but that’s no reason to put yourself in harm’s way” Boss said

“It’s not that, Shale and Lue are right, you guys will have to take the delivery in yourself, I won’t be missed on the trail. I think I can pick up
his tracks by circling the town a few times. From there I can give you guys an idea of what direction he went and that I’ll be going.” I said with way more confidence than I actually had. Chances are I wouldn't even find his tracks and even if I did, at what point would they fade out and leave me alone. Hell I would be alone the whole way anyhow, so what would it matter, I could handle myself well enough.

“Even if you don’t know what it is you are looking for? How the hell are you going to find it?” Lue said, a touch cross that nopony was jumping on the “send Lue, he's our hero” band wagon.

“It’s a small black box, inside there's something I don't want anypony finding or even knowing about. If you do this, you have to swear to me, you won’t open it Joey, you have to swear” Boss said with a sense of almost pleading in his voice. I could tell he wasn't the least bit thrilled about the plan, but what other choice did we have. Hell I wasn't even thrilled with the plan but if this...box means that much to Boss, then that’s all I need to know. Call me a softy but he took me in when nopony else could, he raised me, trained me and got me to where I am today. Call it a life debt, call it being melodramatic, but this is the exact kind of thing that gets to me. So in a way I feel like I might owe him this.

“If it means that much to you to not tell us, that's all I need to know. I’ll get it back or-”

“Or we will never see you again” Lue said, clearly still unhappy about his missed chance at glory.

“I don’t want to think about that now. So none of that talk. Joey, are you sure. I mean, do you think you could track him?” Boss said with a touch of hope coated in a thin layer of doubt.

“....Yes, I think I can. I’ll need some supplies though and I’ll need to get out and search the area for tracks,” I said.

“Ok, then we will help you look” Shale said, already tugging on her bags

“No, best I go at it alone for the moment, One pony is hard enough to track let alone doing it with three others who might ruin any fresh prints” I said as I retrieved my bag from under my bed. “There’s a better than good chance that he booked it straight out of town at a run, that means I have to go back to where it happened and try and find tracks there that lead out of town” I said as I emptied my bags out across my bed, best to travel light I guess.

“And what if you don’t find them there?” Shale asked.

“If not there, then I will have to search the outskirts of the town for tracks, working my way out until I find a fresh set. Just feel lucky that there weren't any wagons in town today, if he had hopped one of those....” I said trailing off as I sorted my meager stash of books, rad-x and ammo aside.

“What all will you need? I mean, if you find a set of, fresh prints I think you said? How did you learn about all of this?” Boss said

I stopped, held up two books for him to see. One book with green binding that read “A hunter's guide to tracking game” and another with worn brown leather that read “Roamani tribal battlefield tracking and evasion”. The first book I found in a burned out library 4 years ago, the latter I traded for from a trader outside of Manehattan. The book looked to be worn but from what I could tell all the pages were in excellent shape, barely yellowed with time. The only problem was that the wording in the book was strange, I had guessed it was originally a zebra book that had been translated at one time or another. Not to mention it seemed that many lines of dialog had be omitted in the translation if that was the case.

“What the hell is “rowmany”. Lue asked with an over pronunciation of the word

“I don’t know, but I have used some of the things in this book before to track Yao Guai along the trails so we don’t run into them.” I said taking stock of all my provisions.

“Okay, I’m going to need food for the next 2 days, water, ammo, medical bandages and.....I need a tablet and pencil” I said still looking across my bed at my battered belongings.

Boss who had been quiet this whole time finally joined in on the questioning. “Why would you need a paper and pencil?”

“Oh you know, take notes, sketch out prints....leave a final will and testament, draw when I get bored” I said sardonically.

“We only have a few rounds for your 308, Seven to be exact and by my count you have 13. I don't know if 20 rounds will be enough to get you by,” Shale said with a grimace.

“I’ll stop by Peach's on my way out of town and see if I can trade for a few more rounds before I head out.” I said glancing out the dirty window. “Looks like the sun starting to go down. Might be best if I get started now before the tracks get marred by somepony else.”

Well... always good to see Peach can come through for me, and by that I mean not having a single damn thing I needed. Neither did any of the other stores in town, not one single round of 308 in this whole place! No luck on medical bandages either and I would really love to have more than half a roll seeing as I’m going off on my own. I couldn't even find clean water, instead resorting to dipping into our personal supplies to fill my needs. Did I mention I hate this town? Boss seemed ok with it at least, then again, sending a young pony on a quest to retrieve a mystery box with little to no gear will grant you leeway in bartering.

Five times, I have walked five laps in the evening heat looking for tracks for that lame bastard and nothing! I’m easily 600 yards away from town!! Hell maybe I would get lucky and not find anything, sure there would be the failure to deal with but at least I could go to bed. Stupid box, what the hell could be in it that’s so damn important for all of this, what in the hell would make Boss so twisted out of shape that he would be willing to do this? Too many questions, and oh look at that, somepony pooped here, like right here....where I’m standing. Awesome. I stepped out of the dried pony pile, fell back on my haunches, looked straight up with the meanest look I could make, proclaiming “grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”.

After my impromptu tantrum, I lowered my head and pulled out my little notebook. Sure it had cartoon rabbits on it and huge margins but hey, it’s all the town had. At least they had pencils, I couldn't imagine if I had to use crayons… that would really complete my terrifying appearance. I would be the scourge of the wasteland, an immature bounty hunter maybe, taking notes in my happy bunny time notebook. Raiders would run in fear, bucks and mares would flee at the very sight of me...and my happy bunny time note book. I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation, albeit a small, quiet laugh.

Sun's setting, its light casting shadows from the mountains in the distance. Is it just me or are the shadows moving. Of course they’re moving, the sun sets, thereby it moves, there by shadows move....but not horizontally. Squinting my eyes I can just barely make out, something, a pony maybe? Are they...THEIR RUNNING!

I pulled my rifle to my shoulder, adopted a prone position and sighted down the scope. Yes, that’s a pony alright, steadying myself I grabbed the gnarls on the scopes zoom knob and rolled it up to 10x magnification. I struggled to find the running pony again, where the hell was he! THERE!

Through the scope I could just make out the cloak flapping in the wind and the faint red of his coat beneath. I took the trigger in my mouth slowly working my muzzle to a comfortable position and leaned my head into the stock feeling that familiar cheek weld I had so many times before. There he is, not a full run but defiantly moving quick, the hitch in his gate forcing him to raise rump into the air with every gallop. 450 yards, I’m sure of it, I had just trotted from there. I raised the scopes radical to his back and just on his neck to allow for the windage and drop. I began tracking with my crosshairs, slowly depressing the trigger of my rifle. That’s it, just keep doing what you're doing, just keep up that steady pace!

Slowly I let out a breath while putting more and more pressure on the trigger. “Boom”. The dust swirled around the muzzle of my rifle, blocking my vision for a brief moment. Wait, what the hell, why is he just standing there. Just off to his right side I saw that tall puff a dust in the evening light, the shot went wide? No no no, I never miss! I loaded another round into the chamber, using my fetlock to work the bolt and made ready to fire again. Through my scope I could see what I think was a smile on his face as he broke back into a gallop fading out of sight into a ravine.

What the hell just happened, I mouthed to myself as I grabbed my rifle up and took off after him. I never miss, I have shot bloodwings at that distance! Approaching where he had just been standing, in the failing light I could see the same tracks I had seen before. Following them I could clearly make out the depression in the earth where he had diverted his path to drop out of sight. DAMNIT! Where is he! I stood at the edge of the ridge looking out towards the mountains and where his tracks faded into the distance.

Behind me I could hear faint hoof falls, did he double back? I turned readying my rifle for a fight when I saw Lue and Shale running up to me with Boss in hot pursuit. They must have heard the shot and figured I had been killed, no doubt to collect my belongings and leave me near the pile of poo I had just been standing in.

“Did...did you ...” Lue said seconds before falling on his face. Lue’s strong, but endurance? Nope!

“We heard the shot, did you get him?” Shale asked, also winded.

“I missed.” I said weakly

“How did you miss? I’ve seen you shoot” Shale said with a look of bewilderment

“I think...my sight is off. Ugh… it must have been jarred loose when Peach flung the door in my face. The door might have hit the rifle, I don’t know” I said, staring at my rifle as if it had just let me down for the first time in my life...mostly because it had.

“I’ll have to re-zero it in before I head out after him” I said looking off to the distance at an old, half buried container.

“Damn, and for a moment this was going to be so easy” Lue said, slowly recovering from the ground. “You should get a move on while you still have a chance. One question, why didn’t you just, I don’t know, fucking use your wings” Lue said annoyed, gesturing to my sides.

“You know how I feel about flying, I hate heights!” I said with as much malice as I actually meant. Truth is, I love flying, just not at night, above 10 feet off the ground or with my rifle. The last thing I would want to do is drop it and oh, I don’t know, knock the sight off. Ironic now that I think about it.

“Need to fix my scope, Shale, can you give me a hoof?” I said, in a tired, slightly annoyed voice.

I propped the rifle on a rock, taking aim at a hunk of metal from a container in the distance, estimating it to be 125 yards away, aimed at a bolt and “boom”. The bullet impacted low and right of its mark. Thank Celestia, for a second there I thought I sucked, turns out I just suck slightly, I could live with that. Holding the rifle steady, I had Shale move the turrets until the cross hair just rested on the spot where the bullet impacted. I had used this trick many times in the past when I would sight in a new rifle to be traded, I even gained a small reputation among some ponies in Manehattan for being a crack gunsmith for it. That reputation was shattered when I took up reloading and over primed a charge for a bucks rifle, at his request might I add. The rifle blow up in his hooves.

“You two get back to the inn, I need to have a word with Joey” Boss said as I sat and began tracing out the hoof falls of the bastard I was about to chase after.

“Joey, I need to have a word with you” Boss said, watching the other two trot back to town. Leaning close to me and sitting beside me as I lay on my belly, working the pencil in my mouth to sketch out the prints. Boss took a few easy breaths and “I know you have never had any parents, but I would like to think of you as one of my own. I have had you for a long time Joey and I know I’m not the easiest buck to be around but I want you to know that I have always thought of you, Lue and Shale as my kids.” Boss said, again looking back to Lue and Shale.

The pencil fell from my mouth, he had never said anything like this to any of us before. Sure when he starts drinking I would get the occasional “I love ya kiddo” out of him but it was always light hearted. I looked up to the tired eyes of the buck who had not sired me, but raised me nonetheless. There was something there, something different about how he was looking out across the plains. Like he was trying to hold in a fart or something, his face was almost pained in the way he wore the expression.

“Lue’s grown and Shale's at the age where boys are her focus now, I figure it won’t be long until it’s just me again. The last few years of my life have been the best ones I have ever had and more than any buck could hope for I guess.” Boss said looking out towards where the lame buck had made off with our goods.

Ok, now why do my eyes sting. I looked away to hide a small sniff and to wipe the tear from my eye. Boss had never really shown any emotion towards any of us other than trying to keep us from getting killed or doing something stupid. In his own way he would show love for us by keeping us alive and teaching us how to survive. So for him to open up like this, to me of all ponies was way out of left field and...it felt good?

“When I was a little colt, no bigger than you are now, I lost both of my parents to raiders. I hid in the bushes that first year, kept my head down, stayed out of sight, made my way to Manehattan hoping for a safe place to start a life. Somewhere along the way I met a trader who took me in.” Boss said still fixing his eyes to the north west.

“Then one day, when I was about 17 he died. The doctors tried everything they could but it was no use, the taint got him. it was the saddest I had ever been that first year, I barely made it by. then one day you came along, so did Lue and Shale. Life has a way of throwing you curve balls like that “ Boss said. Is it just me or is this the most emotion I have seen out of him...ever. I think he might actually say it, he might for the first time say that he loves me, he has never done that to any of us! This is huge, like balefire bomb huge! I leaned in closer to him waiting for the moment to happen, tears beginning to bead in my vision.

And just as I thought I was on the verge of a serious “father son moment” Boss decided he was done sharing his life with me.

“I’m sorry Joey, I didn’t mean to get all emotional” he said as he drew in a deep breath and stood.

“No no, it’s ok, I get it and, I have always looked up to you as a father. You took me in, you raised me, trained me, taught me to always do the right thing” I said, reaching a hoof for his shoulder. Damn it you old bastard, don't you die on me now! Somewhere deep in my mind a little gray pony was pounding his head on a rock in frustration. “You finding me was the best thing that could have happened to me And for that I can’t repay you, but I will always be here, I won’t abandon you” I said as I reached for a hug.

“Uh Huh, whatever you say kid” he said with a small smile. FUCK YOU UNIVERSE! I was so close! Granted we had all wondered at one time or another if the old man would ever open up to us, tell us how much he cared. But that's just not his style. Boss always had a way with words, just like cooking steak, you had to add just the right amount of salt.

Boss reached under his chest and unbuckled the straps holding his twin holstered 44 magnums to his back. He then pulled them from his back, sat down and folded them neatly and held them to me with outstretched hooves.

“Here, my dad gave them to me, now I’m giving them to you in return. I have carried these bad boys for years, they have stopped raiders, gangers, scavengers, bears and all manner of sorts.” Boss said as he helped a very shocked and gaping me up to my hooves. I have never seen him without those guns! And now he’s just...giving them to me?!

“Camden... Boss, you can’t...these are yours!” I said in disbelief. On one hoof I couldn’t believe this was happening, almost like a dream come to life and on the other I was still pissed at the missed opportunity for him to express himself to me. It was always, “Yes Boss” or “I’m on it Boss” or “Where do you want the whiskey Boss”, the last always followed by “In mah mouth boy!” He loved that joke, told it every chance he got. I guess him emoting all over the place on a probable last goodbye was to much too ask for.

“Yes you do, I have taught you everything I know, I guess it’s all those books you read, I don’t know, but somehow you turned out ok.” Boss said as he finished adjusting the holsters to fit between my wings, pulling the buckles tighter that I might have liked. But man what a great fit! Even if the great fit was loose on the back. I couldn’t see myself, where the hell is a mirror when you need one! But I could venture that I looked badass!

I returned the stupid looking notebook back to my saddlebags and slung my rifle over my shoulder and turned back to Boss.

“I’ll get it back...whatever it is... and I’ll meet you in New Appleloosa in a few days. I'll wait fr you there.” I said with a confidence I now absolutely had, a confidence that I could feel burning in my heart.

“OK, don't die.” Boss said as he turned a walked away.

“Wow, way to kill the moment” I said under my breath.

What was with him. One minute I feel like he's about to hug me and the next he's back to being the old hard ass I have seen for years. Granted some emotion is better than non but com'on! We were so close! He almost told me he loved me it felt like and now the best goodbye I was going to get was “don't die”. Only boss could say those words to a 14 year old going out into the wastelands after something of his.

I turned to look out at the mountains where the tracks led. I hate to say this but if I flew I could make the mountains by dark, I could keep a low altitude and follow the tracks. And with that thought and a burning desire to catch my foe, I spread my wings and pushed off the ground.

In the distance behind me I could hear Boss's final parting words echoing off the canyon walls.

“DON'T FUCKING SCRATCH THOSE PISTOLS OR IT WILL BE YOUR ASS THAT GETS HUNTED DOWN” Boss bellowed.

“LOVE YOU TOO!” I squeaked back at him as I glided down the slope and headed towards the mountains.

Author's Notes:

Hi, Rocco here...

Please excuse the grammar for this chapter, I got kinda carried away with writing and never came back to fix this! I am currently in the process of reworking this chapter as you are reading this. All events, names and places will remain the same, but some punctuation and sentence structuring will be changing. So it you have already read this chapter, fear not for the rework will not contain anything new in the way of details!

Thank you for your understanding, I hope you enjoy the show!