Title:           Hunting Hope 6
Author:          EgomaniacalMonkeyMan
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/HSxG86v8
First Edit:      Tuesday 28th of May 2013 01:09:09 AM CDT
Last Edit:       Tuesday 28th of May 2013 01:09:09 AM CDT

>Hope awoke with a grumble in her stomach and a parched throat.
Not a good start to the day.
>She pushed off the single ratty blanket she had found, coughing in the sudden billowing of fresh dust.
What she wouldn't give for a shower, or even a bath.
>A giant bubble bath, so warm and fluffy and safe...
>A cough racked her young frame, breaking Hope from her daydream.
She couldn't stay here.
She had to push forward, not only in the desperate hope of escaping her perusers, but now in the far more immediate plea for life-giving water.
>Hope stumbled down the creaking stairs, into the ground floor of an abandoned salt saloon.
>Anything liquid would have been finished off long ago, but perhaps there might be something that would shield her from the murderous sun.
>However, rummaging around the counter and cellar of the tiny saloon only uncovered a small square of salt and a handful of nails.
>Hope tucked the salt into her tunic. It wouldn't help her now, but it could come in handy later.
>Salt was, after all, a fairly valuable substance, and desert crystals such as these, even small ones, were worth at least a meal or two.
If she got the opportunity to spend it, that is.
>The only place she might have a chance to hide, no matter how unsavory and dangerous the prospect, was under the ratty docks of Baltimare.
 
>Hope decided to check one last house before heading out. Even though she was in a hurry to move on, she needed... aha!
>A broad hat, durable and rich brown, with a velvet inner trim hung on a hat rack.
Odd that it should be left behind, Hope thought to herself, looking around warily.
>She snatched up the hat and turned to the door, the base of her hooves tingling with the uneasy feeling of being watched.
>Pushing through the door, Hope donned the hat and quickly left the rusted frontier, breaking into a gangly jog, then a full-on galloping sprint as she strove to leave the sun behind.
>Back in the ruined town, a yellow apple-pony with a dirty blond mane, accompanied by a similarly-sized buffalo, frantically scoured the buildings as if looking for something.
>Their conversation was drowned by the wind, but as Hope bounded away a gust of wind seemed to carry one word, "hat".
It must've been a trick of the wind, thought Hope.
>Meanwhile, now far out of sight behind her, an entire herd of Buffalo and one pony tore the town apart in frantic searching.
>One of the behemoths, a wild-eyed buffalo named Crazy Bill, swore that he'd seen a mint-green creature galloping away with the hat on her head.
>Braeburn himself didn't know what to believe.
The hat, not forthcoming, must have blown away in a freak gust of wind.
>But Braeburn silently hoped that Bill was right.
Fitting that the hat that had shielded him through the hardest days of his life should find a new owner in their time of need.
>Eventually the tribespony and buffaloes settled down, ready to pay their respects to the fallen town before continuing on their endless stampede across the plains.
>Oblivious to their hatless plight, Hope thundered on, fuelled by her hope, fear, and growing frustration with a world that didn't seem to want her.
 
 
In another version of this instalment, I had Brae and the buffalo princess bump into Hope in town.
After trying a couple different versions, it became clear that the interaction would just muddy up the story and distract from Hope's arc with the mane 6, so I cut it.
Next, a question: would you guys prefer updates in this brief episodic format, or something longer? I feel more comfortable with short chapters like these, but if they're too maddeningly short to read I could make them in longer chunks. Course, it'll take longer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(alt continuing from line 20)
Only to smack into something solid, musky, and fuzzy.
Hope fell backwards, whipping her head around to see what she had bumped into as she hit the ground with a *thud*.
"Who are you?" two voices cried out at once.
"And what are you doing with my hat?" Hollered the masculine one indignantly.
Hope scrambled to her feet wordlessly, ears twitching in every direction as she tried to get a good idea of her surroundings without looking away from the two figures in front of her.
With the rising sun directly behind them, the two silhouettes were impossible to identify.
Hope backed up,  slowly.
The clack of her hooves echoed off the wall directly behind her. She was cornered.
"She's scared, you dolt!" spoke the second voice, coming from the larger of the two, yet with a rich feminine voice. "Apologize and introduce yourself."
The smaller figure bowed his head abashedly.
 
As Hope stared, the edge of the sun finally passed the frame of the door, and she could finally clearly see the ponies who had met her, so strangely, in the wild ruins.
Or pony, as Hope could now clearly see that the larger figure wasn't equine at all, but instead appeared to be a small buffalo, clearly not yet full grown but already taller than the very reasonably sized pony standing next to her.