The Becoming

Breeze fell silent.

He was right.

What else was there to say? She nodded, and looked down at the floor.
"I wanted to help...." she sighed. "But my thtorieth... nopony really payth much attention to what each one hath to thay."

Trails put a hoof on Breeze's shoulder. "Humble beginnings for everypony, Octavia was just a two bit party entertainer once. Don't lose hope, and keep creating, that's all." He finished by giving her a was toothy smile. He rather liked the mare, though he couldn't exactly why. Not that it mattered, pleasant company was all too valuable a commodity.

Breeze thought. Octavia, huh?
Octavia was a great musician.

"..."

Breeze sipped her coffee. "What about you? Your thpecial talent ith camping, right? Or thomething of the thort... How did you find your talent?"

Trails' smile faltered a little at the question. Or rather, the memory it conjured.

"Not camping, survival. Though I did get it by an impromptu camping session." He began. "I was about 11 years old and my family's caravn was going through one of the rougher routes. The long run from the capital to what used to be Prance. We'd just come back from one of the 8 or so trading towns and were about a day away from friendship city. A group of slavers attacked and nearly wiped the lot of us out, took off with me when the fighting got too tough for them."

"I'd grown up hearing stories about slavers, how they'd snatch you up and you'd never see anyone you loved ever again. So naturally I was just a useless crying heap. They tossed me in a cage and left me there to whimper myself to sleep. In the middle of the night my Uncle H attacked their compound all on his own. He sprung me and the other slaves, fighting off at least two dozen heavily armed bucks the whole time. I tried to stay with him but he yelled at me to run, and dammit did you listen when H yelled."

"When the sun came up I had to stop, had to rest. I saw smoke on the horizon behind me. I went back to see what had happened. H lay there, his skull cracked by a railroad spike. I curled up next to him and fell asleep. I stayed at that abandoned camp for three days before the rest of my family finally found me, refusing to leave H's side. They buried him and we left when I fell asleep next to his grave that night, I didn't speak to anyone for a week I was so mad. They kept his armor for me though. And I still wear his dogtags." Trails paused his story to untuck the set of worn tags from his vest. "Like to think in someway I never left him behind, the way he did for me."

Breeze was silent for several minutes before speaking up.


"Ath a filly, I refuthed to talk to anypony. I would draw, and write all that entered my imagination inthtead of talk. I never thhowed any of it to anypony. I thaw all of it ath utheleth junk, jutht like my parentth did. All they wanted for me wath a career in healing. It wath a family tradithion.

"There wath thith zthebra named Atriark there, who I thtudied alongthide thinthe hith parenth altho owned a family clinic. He alwayth tried to get me to thay thomething. He almotht got me to thpeak theveral timeth. He wath incredibly good at catching me when I wathn't exthpecting him to be there, and took my drawingth out of my hooveth to thee them. He wath the firtht, pony or zthebra, to tell me that it wath good. It wath only a few dayth later that he left the thtable. I thtarted to cry, I thaw him ath my only friend. I... liked him. I thtill do, I think...

"After that I thtarted talking. I forthed mythelf to get over my fearth, and the firtht thing I did wath thhow theveral ponieth my thtorieth about thith pony I called thtarlight... I earned my cutie mark when thomepony matched my thketcheth of the pony to the thtorieth about her, and called it a 'wonderful work of art'.

"I'm thorry. I thhouldn't've athked about yourth."

"I'm glad you started talking." Trails said after a moment. "It's not often enough I get to meet nice ponies, especially ones I like." He smiled and went back to stoking the fire while he thought of more questions to ask. "Got any funny stories to tell? Like 'I can't believe I' kind of stuff?"

Breeze thought for a moment. "I can't believe I ...? N-no, I think the only one I have, you were there for. Do you have any?"

Breeze picked up the blanket from her corner and sipped more of her coffee.

Trails laughed loudly and nodded. "Oh I've got more than my fair share. Once I tried to convince a mare I was a descendant of Big Macintosh. Another time I spent three weeks speaking only in rhyme when I first learned Zebrican. The there's when I picked a fight with this giant gryphon because he spilled my drink. Heh I ended the night by going home with his girl, so I guess it wasn't all bad."

Breeze cracked a bit of a smile. "Big Macintothh? Really? That'th way too hard to believe. Did it work?"

"I'm guessing no, I never asked her really." Trails shrugged. "I stopped caring when she took me back to her place. I think it was more because I had the balls to try and make her think I was than anything."

"And the big gryphon? Probably wathn't tho bad. I mean, you thometimeth work with Kethtrel."

Breeze frowned, and put her coffee down. She seemed incredibly distracted and fairly upset now.

"Let me tell you something about big gryphons" Trails started, "they're the last ones you need to worry about. I've only met two that didn't have the problem of thinking they're a meaner dog than they were. Kes is one of those two. I'd honestly be more scared of an earth pony half my size than a gryphon twice it. Scrawny ponies fight till they're burger, like you showed everypony yesterday."

"I thhouldn't've tried to go further. I jutht embarathed mythelf by getting beaten in the very nextht fight," Breeze sighed. "I'm glad I made it in, though. I got to prove to mythelf that I AM thtrong. That I do have the thkillth nethethary to make it through a fight or two. Or five."
Breeze adjusted her position, seeming uncomfortable. Her bruises were still quite bothersome.
"Left quite a mark on me, though," she said, half-joking. She felt her mouth with her hoof. Those missing front teeth were going to make talking really embarrassing to anypony she knew who hadn't already seen it.

"There were a bunch of bucks waiting to go up against you that you could've kicked the teeth in. Vice just wanted to save them the embarrassment, though you did make an admirer out of him for it." Trails laughed and gently patted her on the back. "Seriously, he's taken one hell of a shine to you, don't surprised if he starts 'talking' to you."

Breeze gave him a confused look, but was smiling a bit now. "What do you mean, 'talking' to me?" she asked. "And how would I have beaten tho many more ponieth, even if they were tho weak? I wath getting exthauthted."

"You may have been exhausted, but you pack one hell of a punch and roll with it better than most I've seen." Trails said smiling. "And by 'talking' I mean 'barking up your tree' if you get my meaning."

Breeze raised an eyebrow, smirking now. "You mean he'th going to flirt with me?"

Breeze wasn't quite sure how she felt about that, but it certainly boosted her confidence. If ponies wanted her like that, then she certainly had done well at something.

"Yes, that and other things." Trails nodded. "I've never seen him take a real shine to anypony before, so I can't speak for how he'll try and pick you up. Something tells me his gonna try. Namely him wanting to know if you and I were, you know."

Breeze looked at Trails strangely before bursting into laughter. "You and me? Hahaha.... You've.... g-....."
Breeze's laughter died away, but she was still smiling.
"...I mean, you have thomepony you like, and you're way older than me! Bethideth, I thtill want to try my hoof at getting thomepony I want."

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean 'way older' 'somepony I like'?" Trails laughed. "You saying I'm not good enough for you? Some would take offense to that, me I see it as a challenge."

"You're thixth yearth older than me," Breeze told him. "And don't you have thomepony you like already?"
Breeze fidgeted. She had seen him dancing with Zestari that once. She had heard a bit about their breakup. This was going to get awkward and upsetting fast if she wasn't careful.

"You make it sound like I'm a fucking retiree. I'm not that old." Trails laughed. "It's not that crazy, is it? There was a mare I liked, but we've been off for a while now."

Breeze fidgeted some more. "I know," she sighed. "I know who, too..."

Trails raised an eyebrow at Breeze. The laugh in his faltered a little bit while he tried to play it all off. "Who, Princess Luna?"

Breeze gave him a half glare. "Don't play it off ath if you don't know what I'm talking about. I jutht didn't want to thay her name and bring about painful memorieth, okay? In a way, it'th funny, actually, don't athk why. Jutht.... I'm thorry for bringing it up. You know, you're eathy to read, at leatht thometimeth."