My friend got seventy bathbombs for Christmas. SEVENTY!

To propheciesandbluecookies- Storm and Lou are equally bad influences on each other, I enjoy writing them so much XD And thank you! ^_^

To Covid-20- That's where she gets the 'ya'll' from :P I filtered in everything else ^_^

To 8Ball3- Gotta love the Party Ponies! XP


Louisa had only heard of Texas on Huxley's map. From what she understood of it, it was full of cowboys running around shooting each other. Then again, that might have just been Raijin telling her stories. Austin let her sit on his back. Storm was also sitting on his back, but draped over him, having a nap. She lay in front of Louisa, who kept a firm hold on her, worried she would slip off.

Thinking of her friends made her chest tighten. Austin looked over his shoulder, brow creasing.

"Why so blue?" He asked.

"I'm cold." Louisa frowned.

"Nah, I mean- why the long face? What's up?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Ah, ya poor mite. You demigods, ya'll ain't got it easy, have ya? I've met tonnes of you little blighters over the years. Quite rare to meet the same demigod twice, ya know?" Anger sparked somewhere between her lungs, fists clenching.

"That sucks."

"Ya'll can say that again." He nodded. "I met some a while back. Oh, what were their names?" He sighed, tapping a finger on his chin. "Three of 'em. Big lad, mega grumpy. Pretty wee lass with the reddest hair I ever did saw. 'N' that funny squirt of boy. Thought his face was broken, always smilin'."

"Huxley, Ruby 'n' Raijin."

"Ah, you know 'em then?" Austin grinned. He looked back at her again, smile fading at the look on her face. "Oh. It got 'em too, did it?" She nodded, biting her lip. "Ah, miss, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to upset ya'll." She sniffed, dragging her sleeve across her face. The material was rough and sharp with its fine layer of frozen snow, scratching at her skin. "They were good 'uns. Bit strange, always squabblin'. But good 'uns."

"It was my fault."

"Aw, miss, no. I don't-" She interrupted him, began to tell him what had happened. She cried as she spoke, tears burning hot and then freezing on her cheeks. Breathing became a hopscotch of hiccups and wheezes. She curled her fingers into Storm's blanket, glaring at them to stop shaking.

She told him about Arnie too. She got as far as seeing him disappear under Ma Gasket's grip, words hitting a dam in her throat. She heaved a sob, pressing her hands to her eyes so hard, she could only see blue and purple splodges.

Austin didn't say anything when she was done, facing forward, letting her cry in peace. Storm woke up, ears twitching. She raised her head, only able to move enough to rub her chin on Louisa's knee.

"I lost a buddy o' mine." By this point, her crying had settled to the hitched breathing, sniffly phase. She looked up, seeing him smile sadly at her. "Mad as a hatter, he was, but gods dammit, he was the best friend I ever had."

"Wh- what happened?"

"Went explorin', we did. Thought we'd find treasure or somethin', ya know? Bit of an adventure. I… won't go into details, ya only little. But one second, he was there. The next, he was gone. Some sort of giant got him."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Austin sighed, "me too. Darwin, his name was, but we all called him Cannon. He was, uh, always the first ta do somethin' stupid. Jumped straight in like he was shot out a cannon. Ah, he was fun." His smile turned wistful and he looked forward again. "I'll see him again one day." He nodded. "When I get to that big ol' rodeo in the sky."

"Rodeo?"

"Ya'd better not be tellin' me you don't know what a rodeo is."

"No, no. I'm not. But, for, uh… Storm doesn't know."

I don't. Storm agreed. Sorry.

"My gods, what they been teachin' ya'll?"

We're good at stealing apples.

"Don't tell him that."

Too late.


Austin did a thing. Louisa wasn't sure what it was, exactly, or how he did it. But he told her and Storm to hold on and then he ran. The world blurred around them, the glaring white of snow and ice melting into blackness of shadows, blues and reds and greens, then yellows and oranges, and then back to normalcy.

"Ugh." Louisa heaved.

Don't be sick on me! Storm whinnied, wriggling to get down. Louisa swallowed, closing her eyes as her head span. Her stomach was somewhere back on that snowy road.

"You OK?" Austin asked, a gleam of a laugh in his tone. She simply groaned in response.

Austin carefully knelt, tucking his horse legs neatly beneath him. Storm kicked and clambered off, wobbling away. Louisa let herself fall sideways, relishing in the solid ground. The solid, not-snowy ground. She opened her eyes to a crisp blue sky, with white-grey clouds. It was cold here, but warmer than where they had been.

Her leg was still tucked over Austin's back. It fell away as he shifted and rose, turning to peer down at her. His hoof pawed the ground. "Are you OK?" She managed a sickly smile. "We're back in Texas now. You ever been to Texas?" She shook her head, pretty sure that she hadn't. Austin smiled. "Well, ya'll in for a treat." He straightened, looking around and taking a deep breath of home. "Where are they?" He mused. "Where they at?"

By the shifts and mannerisms in his equine body, Louisa could tell her was anxious to find his friends. But he smiled patiently at her, waiting for her to recover.

Storm staggered over, bleary-eyed.

I don't want to do that again.

"Same." Louisa mumbled, leaning on the filly to get up. Austin's smile turned apologetic.

"'M sorry. Got us here quick though, didn't I?"

"How'd ya do that?"

"Centaurs can move fast when we wanna."

I don't wanna. Storm huffed. Austin placated her with a scratch behind the ears. Louisa stared at her- apples and ear scratches. Her pegasus was far too easily bought.

She definitely didn't recognise where she was. Maybe a farm. There was a barn, a field away, on her left. Trees. The fields rippled with plastic sheets. There was a house, two-storey, pale blue, white trim, wraparound porch. On her right, a large paddock, the earth long trodden down. She saw a path leading away from the farm, gravel and dirt, disappearing into a ring of trees around the land.

"Were they here?"

"Mm?"

"Your friends. Were they here?"

"If I do recall, we were headin' on past this joint. Uh…" Austin looked forward, then behind him, left and right, tottering in a circle. "Not sure which way though." He admitted sheepishly. Louisa made a face at him, turning to consider the path again. It was well-trodden, a path in constant use. She moved closer to it, brushing dirt from her sleeve. Austin and Storm came up either side of her, peering down at the path. "Uuhhh… what are you lookin' at?"

"Those are horse prints." Louisa pointed. "Went that way."

"Mm." Austin said. "We didn't really come this far up." Storm leaned down, sniffing the tracks. She withdrew, snorting in disgust, shaking her head.

Ew!

"What?"

Stinky!

"Monsters?"

Poo!

"Poo?"

"Ah." Austin shifted. He had gone grey. "I know where we are. We need ta go."

"Wh-?" Louisa began. Austin didn't wait, grabbing her by the back of her jacket and slinging her over his back. He took off at a canter, in the opposite direction of the tracks. Storm galloped alongside him. "Hey!" Louisa protested, grabbing him around the middle, holding on for dear life. "What is it?!"

"Bad! We're leavin'!"

"But what about-?"

"They ain't here! I hope they ain't here! Gods, please don't let them be here." He muttered. Confusion crashed through Louisa. She looked over at Storm, but she was more focused on keeping up with Austin, staring straight ahead.

They were feet from the edge of the property, a gunshot ringing out in the air behind them. Storm cried out, disappearing from view. Louisa screamed, launching herself from Austin's back. She rolled upon hitting the dirt, fists clenching over her head as she came up, slamming them down onto the path.

The ground heaved, cracking and bulging, splintering at lightning speeds, racing back the way they had come. A second gunshot rang out, almost lost to the ravenous rumbling, hitting the ground to her left. A startled yell, she saw the earth launch someone fifteen, twenty feet up.

The rumbling faded away. There wasn't another shot.

"Storm?" Louisa turned, trying to catch her breath. "Storm!" The pegasus lay on her side, wheezing and coughing. Her legs kicked listlessly. Louisa could see her ribs, splattered with blood, the liquid crimson pooling underneath her. Storm coughed again, gobbets of blood coming up. "No!"


Shisui of the Body Flicker drew Lou and Arnie! If you go on Deviantart and type in Louisa e Arnie, it'll show up! *I AM VERY HAPPY* Obrigado, Shisui! ^_^