*A/N:  All feedback is good feedback.  Hint Hint*

“He’s just a kid, Boss!  You can’t honestly want him to join us!”

Malcolm stared on in confusion as the tall dark-skinned thug carried on his argument with his employer.  The ten-year-old boy had only just met the finely suited old man that was kicked back in a swivel chair, but he had enough sense to know the man was powerful.  After their meeting in the market, Malcolm had no choice but to accept the man’s offer to join his crew.

The old man took a draw on his cigar before scoffing, “Don’t be so stupid, Ben.  You ain’t much older than him.  Besides, I’ve seen this kid in action.  He can handle himself just fine if he has a gun.”  Boss winked in Malcolm’s direction, which only stirred up greater confusion in the young boy’s head.

The dark-skinned man, Ben, continued to object, “He’s barely ten!  You gonna let him throw his life away like this?”  The man was wholeheartedly against his employer’s decision.

Boss coughed, “Hell no!  You think I’m an idiot, Ben?  No, you’re gonna show him the ropes.  He’s your rookie, not mine.”  The old man reached into a drawer on his side of the mahogany desk and pulled out a small box.  On the top of the box was a picture of a pistol and some directions.

“Wait, you’re throwing him off on me?!  I didn’t sign up to be a babysitter, sir!”  Ben waved his hand in angry dismissal.

“Nope, but you signed up to do jobs.  And this is your new job.  Get this kid ready to hunt on his own feet and you’ll get a special bonus.”  Boss drew on his cigar and thumped the ashes.  He continued, “But if the kid dies, it’s coming outta your pay.”

Ben rolled his eyes and sighed, “You’re always bustin’ my balls, sir.”  He turned to Malcolm and snapped, “What’s your name fresh meat?”

The boy was caught off guard by the question directed at him.  He muttered, “Malcolm…”

The thug chuckled, “Well no shit, kid.  I meant your last name.”

Malcolm muttered slightly louder, “Rossano…”

Boss burst into a fit of coughing.  Once the fit passed, he wheezed, “Rossano?!  You’re joking me, right?  Knew a guy named Rossano once.  Good fella.  Got drafted a few months back, the poor bastard.”

“My parents were drafted a while back…”  The boy saw a connection between Boss’s comment and his current situation.

The old man scoffed, “No shit, eh?  Your dad wasn’t Vincent, was he?”

“Yeah…”

Ben’s eyes lit up at the mention of the name.  He cheered, “Holy shit, kid!  The great Vince is your dad?  How is the old dude?”

Malcolm sent an angry glare at the thug.  He groaned, “He’s dead.  I was told three days ago.”

Ben looked mortified by the news.  Boss shifted uncomfortably in his chair before sighing, “That sucks kid.  He was great man, one of a kind.  If you’re his seed, you shouldn’t have a problem pulling a trigger.”  He slid the box closer to Malcolm’s side of the desk.

The thug mumbled, “Sorry for your loss.  I take it the girl in the market was your sister?”

Malcolm ignored the question as his mind drifted back to the message he received a few days prior…

“Really?  The way he acted at the meeting, I never would’ve guessed.”

The purple unicorn’s voice suddenly snapped Malcolm from his dream.  As he stretched and yawned in his makeshift bedding, he noticed the pony and his sister carrying on a conversation seemingly about him.

Loralee looked over to see her brother slowly rise out of bed.  She cheered, “Good morning, sleepyhead!  Did you rest well?”

Malcolm groaned, “I guess.  What time is it?”  He tossed the blankets off of him and walked over to the small table the two girls were chatting at.

Twilight giggled, “Almost noon.  You were out all night.”  She slid a small bowl of fruits in front of the boy as he took a seat.

The boy yawned, “Really?  I haven’t had that much sleep since before I joined Boss…”  He realized the statement was brought on by the dream he’d just awoken from, but didn’t feel the need to clarify to the pony what he meant.

His sister asked, “Oh, did you dream about home last night?”  She’d had a similar dream the previous day at the café.

“Yeah.  I’ve been thinking back to a few things recently.”  The older sibling quickly scarfed his fruit down before returning his attention to the two other residents of the room.

Twilight waited patiently for the boy to finish his food before levitating a pen and paper from a nearby shelf onto the table.  She cleared her throat and said, “Since we didn’t get to do them yesterday, I thought we might do the questions now.  Is that okay?”  She smiled politely at the still-waking human.

He yawned, “Sure, I guess.  Shoot.”  He rubbed the gunk from his eyes and tried to clear the fog from his head.

Loralee butted in, “Just try not to ask anything too personal, okay?”

Twilight nodded in acceptance of the only condition to her questionnaire.  She giggled, “I’ll try not to.  Keep in mind that you don’t have to answer everything if you don’t want to.”  She waited for Malcolm to finish his last yawn before continuing.  She lowered her gaze to the paper on the table and asked, “What was it like before you came to Equestria?”

The human male groaned in annoyance, “Like I said back at that assembly yesterday, our home was hell.”

“Care to explain a little bit better?  What made it so bad?”  Twilight tried to sound patient, but her expression betrayed her ruse.

The boy rolled his eyes and decided it best to elaborate a bit.  “Take everything you know about this world and flip it around.  The people are jerks, food is scarce, and as far as trusting someone goes...forget about it.”  He waved a hand, dismissing the question.

The pony realized that the topic was annoying the boy, so she moved on to the next.  “Out of all the people you knew, how many of them were your friends?”

Loralee sighed, “I don’t think we could call anyone a friend.  I mean, Boss was nice to us, but-…”

“Ben and Boss.  They were my closest friends, besides Lora.  They were the only two thugs I would trust to cover my ass in a bad situation.”  Malcolm interrupted his sister in a nostalgic fit of memory.

Twilight cocked her head to the side and asked, “Would you mind telling me about them?”

The boy nodded and sighed, “They were the closest thing to family we had.  When I had to work late, Ben would always keep an eye out for Lora.  He was a dick, sure, but at least he was a trustworthy dick.  And Boss…he might as well be our dad.  He’s let me get away with a lot of screw-ups that other grunts would’ve been shot for.”  His sad expression met the pony’s eyes.

She said, “He sounds like a really rough boss.”

Malcolm felt the need to clarify, “He was an asshole.  He ran a gang that pretty much controlled over half the city.  He wasn’t above shooting a guy for stealing an apple.  At the same time, he wasn’t heartless.  I…I don’t feel like talking about him…”

Twilight was about to object to his sudden change of heart, but Loralee cheered, “Next question, Ms. Sparkle!”

Taking the hint, the unicorn moved her eyes down the paper to another question.  She smiled as she asked, “What are your parents like?”

In the instant, Loralee’s expression dropped into one of shattered depression.  Malcolm gritted his teeth and tried to focus his thoughts.  He turned his head to the side and muttered, “They’re dead.”

Twilight’s smile fell limp.  She gasped, “Oh…I’m…  I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

Loralee sighed, “I think we’re done with this, right?”

The unicorn looked down at her list and immediately realized that most of the questions revolved around the family of the siblings.  She nodded and rolled the paper up with her magic before scribbling a few notes down on a separate sheet.  She noticed the two humans lost in thought with sad expressions plastered on their faces.

She clapped her hooves as she remembered something mildly important.  She cheered, “One of my friends is throwing you two a welcome party this evening!”  She expected the two to lighten up at the news.  Instead, only Loralee’s expression shifted back to normal.

“For us?  That’s great!  What kind of party?”  The little girl clapped her hands in excitement, trying to lighten the mood for her brother.

Twilight giggled, “Just a normal get together.  Refreshments, cake, music, the whole package.”

“Isn’t that nice, Mac?”  Loralee gently shoved her brother, trying to snap him out of his reminiscent stupor.

Malcolm looked up at her for a few seconds then shrugged his shoulders.  He scoffed, “Meh.  I don’t feel like partying.  Too many people.”

His sister stared at him blankly.  She said, “You can’t be serious.  It would be rude to not go, brother.”

“And when have you ever known me for manners?”  The boy smirked slyly as his eyes focused on an entire shelf of books.  “What kind of books do you have here, Twilight?”

The sudden change of topic caught the pony off guard.  She stammered, “W-well, all kinds really.  History, science, fiction, romance.  What are you looking for?”

Malcolm sighed, “If me and Lora are gonna be here for a while, I wanna know all I can about the place.  Gimme a book that’ll tell me a little of everything.”  He started scanning the spines of the books with his eyes, looking for a decent title.

“I never thought you were a reader, Mac…”  Loralee quipped.

The boy grunted, “Only an idiot goes in without good info.  That’s Boss’s first rule of giving out jobs:  always ensure the employee is given the necessary details.”  His eyes suddenly locked onto a rather thick book with large golden print on the spine.

Twilight noticed him focus on the book and giggled, “If you’re looking for a little of everything, you’ve found the right book.  ‘An Abridged History of Equestria’ is the best book for basic information.  You’ll have to ignore the scribbles on the pages…I get a little absorbed in my own studies.”  The pony blushed as she remembered the countless notes she wrote in the tome.

“Awesome!” the boy cheered as he pulled the book from its resting spot.  He opened it to find a small picture of some gemstones and an alicorn silhouette in the background.

Loralee gently tugged at her brother’s shirt sleeve.  She moaned, “You can’t just sit inside and read a book all day!  Just come to the party and have a little fun!  I’m sure our host will be sad if you don’t show up!”  

Malcolm chuckled, “I’m sure she’ll get over it.  Besides, what could I possibly miss?  A few cups of punch and an overly-rich cake?”  He took a seat in front of the shelf and flipped to the front of the book.  He immediately started reading, wishing his sister would take the hint.

Twilight giggled, “I think Pinkie Pie will be fine with him not going to one party.  But we should get going.  All of my friends want to meet you!”  She placed a hoof on the girl’s shoulder and guided her from the library, leaving Malcolm alone with the book.

As soon as the door closed behind the two girls, he let out a relieved sigh.  He placed the book to his side and looked up at the roof of the building.  He shook his head and let his mind wander.

I can’t stand parties.  The last one I went to ended with Ben dying.  Not to mention Boss’s kid got seriously fucked up…  Dammit, time flies.  Two years already, eh?  Maybe I shouldn’t have let Lora go after all...  Nah, she’ll be fine with Twilight.  Whatever, I’ve got reading to do…

He lifted the book back onto his lap and wiped the single tear from his eye.  The memory of a fallen comrade is never easy to bear… Next Chapter: A Warm Welcome Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 6 Minutes