Adventures Are No Fun.

by AxalKay

Pets.

Screech left her house. The neighbour's dog did not bark at her. Her neighbours didn't have any dogs. Luna's Home For Journing Children was built between a school and a hospital. No noisy dogs were allowed withing six hundred hooves.

The last three monts had been hard on Screech. She was getting used to flying with a prosthetic wing. Getting used to not having a family was much harder. She recived a letter from Carver every day which dulled the ache, but made her ache to hold Carver. She sent letters to her mama. Her mother was not allowed to write back.

"I am sure your new family is a perfect fit for you," assured Guilded Lilly. The pegasus who ran Luna's didn't even pretend to smile.

Screech hissed.

"Come again?"

"I have a family. Let me live with Mama. She didn't mean to cut off my wing. She was grief stricken."

"I am sorry," Gilded Lilly lied poorly. "You can see your mother as soon as she is let out of jail."

"She was sentenced to life."

"Was she?" The first genuine thing Guilded said to Screech. "That is a shame. Anyway. I am sure you will love your new family more than your old one."

Screech hissed so loudly her throat burned.
Guilded rolled her eyes. "Are you done? Our train leaves in twenty minutes. You do want to go to Dodge Junction don't you? Don't answer that. Just move it along."

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Screech had never been on a train before. She sat on a soft chair and covered her ears. Everthing seemed loud in the shaky metal box. She wondered how long the ride to Dodge Junction would take. She wondered where Dodge Junction was. She wondered why she was not enough for her papa. She wondered if her mama would be okay with out her.

A tall pink mare walked to the back of the train car. She smiled, thought better and crouched down. She lay on the train's floor infront of Screech who hissed at her. "Hello little darling." She spoke softly and quietly. "I am Cradle Berry."

Screech bared her fangs. Tears ran down her face. "Take me home! I want to go back to Canterlot!"

Cradle nodded. She looked to the train conductor. "Two tickets to Canterlot please."

The train conductor shook his head. "Going the other way."

Cradle looked back to Screech. "What do you want to do?"

"I am not getting off this train!"

Cradle nodded. "She is not getting off this train."

The train conductor shrugged.

Screech and Cradle were held in the Dodge Junction Sheriff's Office for three hours. Both girls refused to apologize and were eventually let go because they didn't break the law.

Screech followed Cradle to her home. She didn't have anywhere else to go. She could not fly to Canterlot with her prosthetic wing even if she did know the way. If she did get to Canterlot what would she do there? Sell the yovidaphone?

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Cradle's house was bigger than Screech expected. It was two floors and the first floor was not a business. The kitchen was big enough to house a kitchen table.

Three ponies sat around the kitchen table. One pony poked at the insides of the oven with a spatula.

"Meet the newest member of our family!" Cradle anounced with a grand wave of her hoof.

Screech hissed.

"Sorry. Meet the newest meber of our household."

Screech begrdingly refraind from hissing. She was introduced to every pony and sat betweeen Cradle and Periwinkle.

Beery, a dark blue stalion with a long green mane, said, "You were gone a while." His voice was quiet and soothing. It didn't carry the same edge as his mother's.

"The train was delayed," Cradle lied with a sweet smile.

"Well, you are right on time for lunch," Said Leaf. The small brown stalion gestured to a pot with his spatula. "I made steamed grape leaves stuffed with carrots and blackberries."

Cradle asked, "Doesn't that sound delicious?"

Screech shrugged. "I am used to eating hey and oats."

"We have traditonal fodder," assuerd Leaf. "I wanted your first meal in Dodge Junction to be unforgettable."

Periwinkle, a female earth pony with a dark pink coat and short purple mane, whispered, "Dad's cooking is always unforgettable. He set the stove on fire while trying to boil water. We never figured out how."

Funny, a light blue colt with a bright red muzzle and frizzled orange mane, stood on his chair. "Is it true bat ponies drink blood?"

Screech shrugged. "I don't know. I grew up in Canterlot. I don't drink blood."

"What is Canterlot like?" asked Berry.

Funny frowned. "I heard bat ponies drink blood. My-"

"That is nice dear," Cradle scolded with a smile. "Sit down and let Screech tell us about Canterolt."

Funny pouted and dramatically dropped back into his chair. "I was just trying to learn about bat ponies."

There was a moment of silence.

"Canterlot was far from perfect but it was home. There were a lot of friendly ponies. It could feel like too many at times. Despite be-"

"Sometimes I feel that way about Dodge," interrupted Funny. "Our city may not be as big as yours, but it is plenty big."

Screech nodded and continued. "Despite being a big city everthing felt cramped. Most streets were constantly packed. Some streets hardly ever saw any ponies at all. Every building on those streets were borded up before I was born. Ponies avoided walking down those streets no matter how long it added to their commutes as if stepping on a desolate street would bring ruin."

Leaf placed plates of what looked like green and orange slime on the table. Every pony stared at the plates.

"You don't have to eat it," said Leaf with audible dissapointment. "We can toss it in the compost. I can make hay cakes."

Screech looked confused and mortified. She could not grasp the concept of throwing away food.

"I don't think it is that bad," said Periwinkle. Every pony nodded in agreement.

Leaf asked, "Screech, Why is your cutimark a clock?"

Funny groaned.

"Just like time, I can fix anything." Screech licked the slime off her fork. She winced but continued eating.

"Really? I have a pocket watch in need of fixing."
Screech chuckled. "I don't know how to fix those."

Funny flung a forkfull of the slime at Screech. It spattered against her glasses.

Screech gave Funny a confued look. "Why did you do that?"

"Screech is an only child," reminded Periwinkle.

"I was trying to welcome her to the family," said Funny with a sly smile.

Screech, predictably, hissed.

Fuuny preteded to apologize and quicly changed the subject to himself.

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Periwinkle walked Screech around town. She pointed at buildings and addmitted she had no idea what was inside them. She rarely left the vinyard, and when she did it was not to inquire about factories and mills.

"You didn't enjoy sitting in on the auditions?"

"No. It was stalion after stalion doing the same dance."

"I was already boy crazy at your age. I guess I was an early bloomer. In two years dancing satalions will be the most important thing in the world."

Screech pointed her hoof at a bee. "What is that?"

"That is a bee. They help flowers grow. They also make honey and wax."

Screech snickered. "That is a bee? I thought they would be bigger. What is that?"

"That is a butterfly."

"Really. It looks different than the ones in picture books."

"There are dozens of spices of butterflies?"

"Dozens?"

"Yup."

"What is that?"

"That is a canary." Periwinkle caught Screeche's smile. "You're screwing with me?"

"I was joking. We have critters in canterlot. I could have gone to a pet store and bought a phenonix. If we could have afforded to keep a pet."

"Do you want a pet? We are only a few streets from an animal shelter."

"No. I don't want a stupid animal."

"Lets go to the shelter and see how you feel after meeting a few animals."

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Periwinkle stopped infront of a cottage. "This is it," she delcared. "Mrs. McVeigh's Animal Rest Up."

The cottage leaned to the left. The foundation was rotting. One of the windows was boarded shut from the inside. All of the grass around the house was long dead.

Sreech took one look at the house and said, "I smell rabies."

"Mrs. McVeigh's has fallen into disrepair,"
Periwinkle admitted. "All the more reason to help her by taking an animal." She walked toward the front door.

Screech dove around Periwinkle. She stood firm bolocking the path. "I smell rabies."

"Seriously? We have to warn Mrs. McVeigh!" Periwinkle tried to run around Screech. She made it two trots before she was pinned to the ground.

Screech hissed. "Don't run toward the house full of rabbid animals!"

"Get off me! Mrs. McVeigh needs us!"

A big dog heard the girls arguing. He limped toward them on his bloody infected legs. He spat mouthfulls of foam as he barked.

Periwinkle screamed and covered her eyes. Screech hissed so loudly she roared. The dog was undeterred.

Screech dove toward the dog. She beheaded the rabid dog with the edge of the unnatrually sharp wing that was bred into her.

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Periwinkle watched ponies in hazmat suits raid Mrs. McVeigh's from across the street.

Screech sat a few trots from Periwinkle and stared at her. She was wating for her to say something. After nearly an hour Screech whispered, "I know I am disgusting."

Periwinkle whispered, "You saved me. You are not disgusting. You are a hero."

"You don't think I am disgusting?"

"No."

"Mama would always tell me I was disguting when I killed things."

Periwinkle stammped her hooves on the grond. "You are not disgusting!" Her voice echoed off the stiff humid air.

Screech slowly inched closer to Periwinkle. She slowly opend her mouth and very gently bit her.
Periwinkle didn't ask about the bite. She knew they were bonding and didn't want to ruin the moment.

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"I smell rabies." Screech took off. She sniffed at a ground burrow no more than ten trots from the road. She stuck her head into the burrow and pulled out a babby raccoon. She handed him to Periwinkle. "I am going to track the rabid raccoons," she said as if it were easy. She flew over a fence and landed in a stranger's yard.

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Screech dropped five dead raccoons onto the kitchen table. She beamed with pride and waited for praise.

The stalion from The Center for Disease Control smiled. "This epidemic has been spreading for weeks. We can end this before anypony else gets hurt. Thank Celestia Screech is here."

Screech hissed. "My family has served Princess Luna for thousands of years. My entire foal hood I preyed to a statue of Nightmare Moon. I am not thanking Celestia for anthing! Her sun burns my eyes. Her gifted unicorns tormented me. Her family is immortal."

Cradle chewed on her hoof. "This sounds dangerous. What if Screech gets hurt?"

Screech smiled proudly. "I will not get hurt. I come from a long line of bat ponies who protected equestria from dragons under command of Princess Luna. We have been fighting nasty dragons for thouthands of years. Among the other bat ponies my father was quite large. My mother came from a long line of rodeo ponies. My great great great- etcetera- grandmother bought the best genetic materail she could to breed generation afrer generation of the biggest, strongest, fatest and best rodeo ponies in equestria. Her ultimate goal was to kill Celestia. My grand mother was thought to be perfect. She broke dozens of rodeo records. My mother surpassed her in every way. When my great great great- etcetera- grand mother made my mother marry my father she predicted I would kill Clestia when Nightmare Moon returned. My mother had trouble conceving, probably do to the muti generational genetic experiment, so I was born a few years too late. If I was a little older Celestia would be dead."

"You are proud of that!" asked Funny.

"Yes. I was bread to kill alicorns and dragons. You were born by chance and may or may not grow berries."

Funny frowned and stared daggers.

"Why didn't your extended family take you in?" Asked Periwinkle. She quickly added, "Not that I don't like having you here."

Screech casually stated, "My father's family is dead. Fighting dragons is dangerous. My mother's family is in jail, in hiding or dead. The plan to assinate Celestia did not go well. I don't have any family left."

The CDC stalion assured, "Screech will not be killing anything else. She will be in body armour. She will be protected by the animal control and the local law enforcement. She will only be using her nose to find rabbid animals. We will take care of the rest."

Cradle hugged Screech so tightly it hurt them both. "Our little Screech is going to save the whole dang town," she squealed.

Funny asked, "Is there anthing I can do to save the town?"

Cradle said, "You can finfish your chores."

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After capturing two coyotes, three cats, six stray dogs, four skunks and one colt Screech could no longer smell rabies in Dodge Junction. Her first day in Dodge, Chief Black Kettle awarded Screech a certificate for heroic behavior. (They planned a ceramony later in the month. She recived the certificate early so the local paper could have a good picture for Sunday's headline.)

Comments

[lindango]

What a meaningful and humane article. Thank you for sharing with us. Now let's try to play the game with me. Play game penalty shooters 2 free.