Fallout Equestria: Medicine & Mail

Chapter 3

“Makin’ it work.

That’s what we do ’round here.

If it don’t fit, work it ’til it does.”

Near death experiences have a way of putting your life into perspective.

My life has been one of loosely connected strings of consequences, things I could never have foreseen. Eventually somepony is going to use something you sold them to hurt somepony else. A trade here, a trade there, and a town left in shambles. None of which I should have felt any shame over. It’s the kind of thought a trader learns to get over rather quickly or leaves the business.

I think I had the pony pox that day when the lesson was taught.

For once, though, I had within reach a thread that I could unravel. I could prevent the senseless punishment that was about to take place. Vitia didn’t deserve it and I couldn’t take something like that from Willow again.

I knew all the angles and all the odds. I may have stood to lose everything, but I’d still control when I cashed out.

It was my hoof to throw and I went all in.

It had only been a few days since I left the Crags and found myself in the unfortunate employ of some local gun runners down south calling themselves the Quills. As the newest associate I was paired with another fresh guard and a couple seasoned griffin runners. The route we were given was a scrub path down near the badlands. It was a fair amount of danger and not a whole lot of profit returned, but work is work and I had to survive somehow.

I should have known something was off. Nopony comes this far south unless they’re in haunch deep with the raiders.

I snapped out of my short reverie and jumped at the staccato of suppressive fire against the wall I had crouched behind. Puffs of stucco were sent into the air and slowly drifted down in stifling clouds. A brief laughter sounded from beyond the veil followed by a punctuated whistle and more gunfire.

“Keep your head down and move, kiddo,” the grungy citron guard warned. He floated his carbine over the wall and fired as he darted past.

Clouds of dust kicked up behind us as we galloped along ruined building exteriors, crushing long forgotten bones under hoof as we trampled them to get to safety.

I looked behind me and saw the frenzied raiders with their makeshift pony hide armor and freakish bone masks. “We’ve got bigger problems,” I yelled back at the guard, “The griffins are gone but now we’ve got Corpse Eaters.”

I caught up to him when he spun around and motioned to the nearby building, “We should get indoors. Bottleneck some of these freaks,” he spat, and leveled a massive pistol at the crowd.

“We could just keep running,” I suggested. Two deafening shots fired off from the pistol, and my ears pinned back at the offending noise. “Or not.”

The door of the building opened with surprising ease despite its age and state of disrepair. Broken terminals and overturned chairs lined the wall. The lobby was empty save for the piles of bones, refuse, and half eaten corpses spilling from their cages.

Two more shots rang out from behind the entrance followed by screams and a gurgle. I galloped to the center of the room and looked about the open area. Most of the floor and doors had been covered in rubble from the collapsed roof.

The metallic stench of blood laced with the odor of sweat and sex assaulted my senses as I moved to the rear of the open floor. I slowly nudged open the door and ran to the end of the hallway. The door to the enclosure had been left ajar. Some poor mare was held aloft from the rafters by chained hooks cruelly shoved through the chunks of her back’s flesh. From the small light filtering through the broken roof, her hooves appeared mangled, likely shot off and cauterized.

I watched as her head drooped and swayed, her listless eyes staring at nothing. A bone masked raider continued to press into her body and ride her from behind.

It felt like my stomach twisted and knotted. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t bring myself to. The sheer feeling of disgust in the pit of my stomach turned into a cold fury that reached all the way up and around to my firing bit.

The raider slowly turned to look at me as my features twisted into a grim mask. I screamed into the bit and pulled the trigger.

His head liquefied as the wonderglue slug ripped through it, shattering on impact and releasing the buckshot load at close range.

I saw a second raider rise to his hooves and pivoted to aim my other barrel at him. The shot went wide of its intended mark and exploded against his front leg instead. Fine red mist sprayed against the floor and he teetered a moment before collapsing. His bone mask had fallen off while he was thrashing on the ground screaming unintelligible curses. The front stubs that were once his legs splatted blood everywhere as he swung them around wildly.

Good. I walked over to the hanging mare and cradled her head against my shoulder, barely registering the continued fighting outside as I whispered apologies to her while the stallion expired on the ground. She was gone already, but it didn’t matter. I apologized and asked for her forgiveness anyway.

I’m so sorry I couldn’t do anything for you. That you ended up this way. If the runners had never given guns to these raiders, maybe you’d have had a chance. Maybe you’d still be alive.

How many settlements had they raided, how many ponies had they murdered, how many could have been prevented had they not been well armed? I looked at the stallion bleeding out on the floor. I couldn’t see a pony anymore. They were monsters, plain and simple, and we were just as bad for enabling it.

“—ddo,” a gunshot rang through the small enclosure and the stallion ceased his flailing. “You okay there? Hey, look at me. Focus. There you go. What’s your name?”

I looked up at him and just stared. His lemony green coat and long pewter beard were a stark contrast against the dark red that had soaked his barding and legs.

“Bit Flip,” I stammered out as I turned and stared at the first stallion’s body. It had stopped twitching and blood rolled from the gaping neck wound that once held his head pooled around his legs. It mixed in with the mud and bits of flesh, seeping into the jagged cracks of the tiles.

Blood and semen ran down the legs of the dead mare and spread through the crimson pools, mirroring the ejaculate and blood running the flaccid, splotchy member of the dead stallion. The liquids created a mixture of pink that, with the sanguine picture of violence on the wall above them, saw my stomach wanting to empty itself violently.

“Hey. Hey, now, come on. Look at me. It’ll be alright.” He smiled. It wasn’t a very pleasant gesture. Kind, but it felt pained. “The name’s Luminous Beacon, or Lumi if y’like. First time ya ever killed somepony?”

I nodded.

“First time’s always the worst. It doesn’t get any easier as time goes on either.” He grimaced at the hanging mare and wrapped his magic around her. “C’mon, let’s get her off these hooks. This ain’t a proper way for a pony to go out.”

We didn’t have time to dig a grave for her outside, nor would it have been held to any amount of sanctity by passing raiders populating the southern badlands. Fire would have to do.

I pulled her body with me off to the side and gently lifted her on to the pile of flammable material Luminous had bundled. My ears drooped as he struck flint together against black powder. The pyre ignited and I whispered my apologies again into the blazing mass.

“The Wasteland takes back twice what it gives, kiddo,” he said sourly. “We couldn’t have stopped this. There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“It’s…not that.”

“Well, what is there to be sorry for then?”

“I’ve always held to the belief that trade is supposed to save the Wasteland, to make it better. Not enable monsters like this to do worse.” I sighed and shook the dust from my mane. “Are we really any better than raiders for supplying them?”

“Perhaps,” Luminous smiled widely, “You should meet some friends of mine. It sounds like you could use a stiff drink and some company.”

I nodded once more. “It’s not like we can go back to the Quills. They probably meant for us to die out here anyway.”

We traveled east between the sand dunes during the late afternoon sun. The roads out of the badlands weren’t safe even during daylight. Raiders, bandits, and other miscreants littered the highway looking for easy prey. The worst we had come across hiding in the dunes was a feral ghoul that managed to survive the harsh desert climate and natural predators only to fall to a burst of Luminous Beacon's carbine.

A small respite from the desert heat greeted us as we neared the tiny building and overhang. Luminous took my canteen and walked to the pipes and well. A couple travelers across the way scooted deeper under the uneven shade of a desert pine and an aroma of mint leaf permeated the air.

I leaned against the building’s overhang and found my thoughts drifting to the days before I left the Crags.

After the incident I had quietly excused myself from the church and sought refuge in the mechanic’s guild. I had a few friends in there that were always willing to lend me a work bench. I needed to get away from everyone to process the last week. Besides, I couldn’t face Willow yet. Not like that, not after what I did.

Vitia was a whole different matter entirely. I was mortified to learn that I had tried to push everything on to her, even going so far as to strike the poor mare in a fit of drunken rage. I couldn’t figure out what to say to her because there really was nothing I could say to excuse myself for the things I had done. The only time we spoke at any length was before I left and I pushed her away. I told her that I didn’t trade everything away for her, I did it for me, but that was only part of the reason.

The merest mention of chems set my stomach in a spin and even the thought of my old friend alcohol managed to do nothing more than conjure up headaches. The best thing I could do to keep my mind off it was tinker with ammunition and maintain my shotguns.

Empty twenty gauge shell, wonderglue buckshot, replace, crimp, repeat.

I had overheard a few lingering merchants in the early morning bazaar talking of a new runner group starting to the south, just outside the badlands. The Quills they called themselves. Apparently they were manufacturing guns and distributing them.

The walls of my tiny world had come crumbling down and I had been ejected into the Wasteland proper. I had no home, no family save Willow and I almost lost that. There was no caravan anymore. I formed a haphazard plan; I needed to find that little piece of me in the Wasteland before it was too late and I lost myself entirely.

Empty twenty gauge shell, wonderglue buckshot, replace, crimp, repeat.

Most of my supply had been converted from scatter shot to makeshift slugs. I’d need something far more accurate at range if I planned on traveling south. Raiders were easy to scare off or hide from. It was the wildlife I worried about.

Empty twenty gauge shell, wonderglue buckshot, replace, crimp, repeat.

I sighed, going over the details once more.

Willow and I had a desperate need for a heart-to-heart before I could allow myself to set down the path. If only to let her know what I had intended. She deserved so much more than that, but it was all I had to give her then. I had figured Vitia would probably be a hoof and a half to manage, but she was pretty smitten with Willow, and I had hoped to push her in that direction. There was no reason for her to come with me anyway. She never stood to gain anything.

A cold splash shocked me to reality. Rivulets collected in muddy sand pools at my hooves. I shook the remaining water off my mane and put on a face of supreme annoyance, glaring up at Luminous. It only made his grin wider.

“C’mon, kiddo. We need to get moving before the dark hits and the bloater you’re sittin’ near gets active.”

I jumped to my hooves and looked around, squinting against the sunlight as I placed a hoof to my brow. Luminous pointed off to the side at the two travelers huddled together in the shade near the trees and stone outcropping.

A snakelike tendril inched along the ground as the cast shadow slowly lengthened in the late afternoon sun. I followed the vine back to its source. The two travelers were hardly ponies at this point. Decayed and rotting, their missing chunks were filled in with a mossy brown mess that mimicked the dirt and grime one normally accumulates while traveling the desert. I inhaled deeply and caught the cloying smell of mint hanging in the air followed by a hint of sickly sweet decay.

How could you miss something so trivial, Bit? I berated myself and breached my shotguns to check the round type.

Luminous shook his head and placed a hoof on my shoulder when I took aim at the mossy brown mess. A blue glow of magic wrapped itself around the bloater. Multiple tendrils shot out from under the plant and fell short as a loud pop echoed through the area. The bloater was yanked from its safely shaded haven and had expelled its gas sack in a last ditch effort to feed. Vines writhed, slowly retracted, and the pony disguise rapidly fell apart in the arid heat, shriveling away.

Luminous flipped the predator over in the sunlight and laughed. “It’s kind of depressing that mutated plant life is far more cunning and intelligent than the average raider.”

“I s’pose it would be, but where’d that put us?” I said, securing my canteen and equipment to my barding.

“Dunno, best not to think of those things. We should move though, still ’bout an hour’s worth of walking ahead of us through the flats.”

We stepped through the gates of Paint, the desert sun dipping behind the ridge as night crept across the sky. I turned around to look across the flats in the fading light and saw the first hints of nocturnal life crawling out of their burrows and scurry across the sands.

“I had heard about towns out in the flats but my carav—” I stopped and corrected myself, “My old caravan never brought us this far out into the desert. With the raiders during the day and balefire creatures at night there simply weren’t any safe routes to it.”

“If you were to believe the local legends, this place used to be a right oasis in the desert before the war. The bombs saw to that, it would seem.”

Townies went about their nightly business, some locking up shops and heading home, but most filtered into the bar at the edge of town. Luminous lead the way through, and we walked through a nearby alley and exited out behind the bar itself. He brought his hoof to a rusted doorframe and tapped out an uneven beat. The door clicked open and he pushed through it. I looked around apprehensively and followed. It snapped shut behind me and a maneless barstallion poked his head from around the corner and nodded off towards a set of stairs before disappearing.

What have you gotten yourself into, Bit? Clandestine meetings of the secretly alcoholic?

“Looks like she’s already waitin’ here for me,” Luminous said, walking to the stairs. “Want something to drink before we head down?”

“Beer and a—” I stopped myself. My stomach knotted and I felt nauseous. “No, just some Sunrise Sarsaparilla will be fine.”

“Not a drinker, I take it?”

“I—” my ears drooped and I looked at the floor. “Not anymore, no.”

“Well that’s okay. We’ve all got our reasons.” He shouted out to the barstallion, “Hey, Glasses. Need some Sky Bourbon, Red Velvet, and ’Sas downstairs.”

We quickly moved down the stairs. A couple spark generators hummed nearby on the wall and I felt slightly woozy, as if a mild headache had come on. Ugh, spark battery energy bleed off. They should probably move these generators outside.

A few tables sat in the middle of the room with some chairs lined up against the wall near a flickering terminal and an array of knobs. The metal floor was fairly rust free and only had slight wear. A report by an enthusiastic, high pitched mare played loudly over the radio.

—

Hey all you desert dwellers out there,

It’s your favorite pirate broadcast, The Signal! Bringin’ ya the latest dirt in the Marejave whether ya want it or not.

I got me a glass of Sky Bourbon and I’d suggest you do the same because a doozy of a rumor just came through my door!

Those of you out near the badlands may want to barricade your doors a bit tighter now; the Corpse Eaters have been gettin’ pretty rowdy lately. Reports even describe them packing heavier heat than usual.

Sources report that several towns out south have blipped off the radar in the past weeks and there’s a new group of runners goin’ by the Quills that started peddlin’ guns in the area.

Just a coincidence? Perhaps, but I’d wager caps that most of the Quills’ supply is going south so they get a blind eye turned their way!

Can you believe it? The nerve, supplying raiders with guns. As if we don’t have enough to worry about here in the desert.

No news is good news, so be good out there ponies because you never know who’s watching.

—

The broadcast turned off as I pulled a nearby chair over to a table and sat down. “Wow, bound to be trouble there now that The Signal is broadcasting what they’re up to. I’d feel bad for them if I didn’t know what they were doing.”

“Yeah, me too,” said the radio.

I jumped and spun to look at the radio only to find a terminal. Oh-goddess-I’m-going-crazy-again. There’s no radio here! My eyes glanced over at Luminous, who gave me the strangest stare and a smirk.

“With any luck, somepony will do something about it,” the radio said once more.

My chest heaved as my pulse quickened and I scanned the room wildly searching for the source.

Luminous frowned at me, no, he frowned in my direction. “Oh goodness, stop playing around. Look at her, you’re gonna give the poor filly a heart attack.”

A pressure in my head I wasn’t aware of faded, and my eyes snapped to the one place I suddenly realized I hadn’t been looking: in front of me. A mare with a shock of dark rose in her charcoal mane was standing there with her nose pressed to mine. She didn’t suddenly appear there—she was there the entire time, I realized. I just didn’t—or couldn’t—notice her until then.

“Boop,” said the smiling light amber unicorn. Her mane bounced lightly about her face and neck as she swayed on her hooves. “Hi there, I’m Errant Signal.” She turned and ran to Luminous, nearly tackling him. “Welcome back, spoil sport.”

Glasses tromped down the stairs with three bottles and some glasses, each step moaning in protest at the gargantuan pony. “Did she do the whole ‘boop’ thing again?” The room shook with his rough laughter. “Sorry ’bout that, Missy. Errant’s got something of a mean streak, but sh’ means well.”

The beige earth pony towered over me as he pulled the bottles out of a pouch and set them gently on the table.

I took a deep breath to collect myself. “Well it certainly surprised me. I’m Bit Flip. Luminous kind of saved my hide from raiders earlier.”

“We know,” Errant pointed to her Pipbuck and floated a radio out of Luminous’ saddle bag. “Encrypted arcano-tech comm radios. He told us before you got to town.”

“Well I couldn’t just leave her there. Besides, she sounded like she could use the company after the griffs turned on us.”

“Y’big softy!” Errant leaned over and squeezed Luminous. “So did you two pop any raiders on the way here?”

I felt the breath catch in my throat and briefly tasted bile. My eyes burned as I blinked away the tears. The memory of the bone masked raider replayed with crystal clarity.

“Errant, show a little tact. Not everypony likes to get up close and personal with their inner demons.”

“I don—Okay, yeah, I do.” She snorted a giggle and pulled up a seat at the table. “Sometimes you can hear them regret their choices and it’s so worth it.”

Glasses coughed and sat on a loudly creaking chair. “I’m sorry, you’ll have to forgive our little Errant. Sh’…Well, sh’ has a thing against raiders.”

Luminous got to his hooves and joined the two. “So, kiddo, how’d you get tangled up in the gun runner mess anyway? We’ve had our eyes on that operation for some time before I went in to check it out.”

“I got mixed up in some strange business over at the Old Fort. It was supposed to be a simple package delivery. Some doc there was doin’ weird research on ponies and had a bunch of ’em all caged up like raider bait.”

Errant’s eyes lit up at hearing that last bit and poked at her Pipbuck briefly. “Always wanted to run the rumor mill on Wing Haven. Nopony’s that nice in the Wasteland.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. Some of ’em looked dead. Push came to shove and I owed one of the caged ponies a pretty heavy debt and helped her break out.” I sighed into my glass. “Ended up getting kicked out of my caravan for it. Heard about the Quills on my way out and, well, you know the rest.”

“Wow, you’ve been through the wringer then.” Luminous glanced at the nearby terminal. “Well, I’m glad we got out of there before things got nasty.”

Errant fiddled with her Pipbuck and floated a tool from her bag, “Now that the Marejave has a general idea of what the Quills are up to, somepony really should do something about them.” She smiled and hooftapped a quick series of buttons. “I should broadcast about the possible activities of Wing Haven too. The sources will be anonymous, of course.”

Glasses nodded, his stern features taking on a kinder tone. “And by ‘somepony’ you mean us, of course.” The behemoth earth pony stood up. “I’ll go let Stems know that I might be gone a while again. The poor stallion always frets when I’m out on a job.”

“You’re more than welcome to tag along, y’know.” Luminous smiled at me, his eyes carrying a much harsher feel to them than before. “Puttin’ an end to the Quills’ distribution of weapons to raiders certainly seems like the sort of thing you might be interested in.”

I couldn’t disagree entirely with him and nodded. I had no idea what they planned on doing, but something had to be done.

Anything was better than sitting around.

“Luna run me through with jagged bits of moon,” I whistled. “That is one sexy battle saddle you’ve got there, Glasses.” I circled the large earth pony and stared at exposed gear boxes manipulating multiple ammunition types. A spark battery mounted behind two bulky grenade launchers hummed quietly.

“Our little engineer there rigged it together for me.” He motioned to Errant then nodded to each weapon in tune. “Ursa Major, forty millimeters of room clearing fun and Ursa Minor, twenty five millimeters of anti-personnel protection.”

I chuckled nervously. “Yeah, well, it makes me feel a little underdressed for the occasion with my piddly shotguns and stripped down battle harness.”

“It’s not the size that matters, it’s how y’use it, dearie,” Errant said in a singsong voice. “Ain’t that what Stems tells you, Glasses?”

“Shush you!” Glasses kicked a clump of dirt at Errant. “At least we don’t have any freaky fetishes like some ponies.”

“Hey now, a fetish would be using the whole bird.” Luminous nodded. “We just use the feathers.”

The four of us departed from Paint before the dawn had broken. Travel through the flats was uneventful save for the brief periods when Errant would excuse herself. Quiet moments later I’d hear a scream in the distance before she reappeared, mumbling something about reds and scum suckers.

The evening sun had started its slow descent as we reached a rocky outcropping overlooking the Quills’ supply depot. The four of us agreed that it would be best if we watched their movements until nightfall and make our move then.

A tiny clear triangle cut gem floated out of Luminous’ bag and hovered above between the trio. His horn flared up momentarily as he touched it to the diamond. A focused flood of light cast on the ground spilled minimal excess on our darkened surroundings. I sat in stunned silence as the three worked out a plan and listened to the precision details. These three could make the caravans shipments run on time.

“Alright, from where they let me wander, the guard quarters are over here,” Luminous scratched a floor plan in the dirt. “Once Errant cleared the door guards, Glasses, you’ll head in and do a little redecorating.”

“Sure thing.” Glasses applied pressure to a secondary set of saddle bits and I heard a spark battery hum to life as gears turned. The meaty thunk of grenades sliding into place echoed against the night sky.

“What’s the newbie doin’, Lumi?”

“Well, I wasn’t allowed into the traders den but she was. She’ll be leading us to where they keep their ledgers. We’ll be following in behind Glasses. She’s a fair shot and can keep her head down, so it’s not like we’ll be escorting her.”

So that’s why he brought me along. My heart sank a little. Should be used to it by now, Bit. It’s just business. It’s always just business.

“Plus I figure she’ll want a bit of payback for what the Quills are doing.” Luminous sketched out more of the map. “So, Bit Flip, it’s your show once we clear the check point. Mind leading us through the floor plan?”

“I’ll try.” I pointed to the scrawled map and scratched out a rough path and added more rooms. “The main offices are here. Their ledgers for stocks and shipments were past the checkpoint. I had to sign for the shipment and it’s likely they just keep it in there under lock.”

Luminous nodded. “Alright, you heard her. We’ve got a tentative plan, but expect changes. With any luck, we’ll meet little resistance. It’s primarily griffins in there, so adjust accordingly.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got a bad case of the heebies right now, so let’s get this over with.” Errant tapped at her Pipbuck again. “Two reds at the gate that we can see, four or more just beyond that slightly to the left. Probably the guards you mentioned.”

I nudged the reload bit on my harness that opened the loading chambers of my shotguns and cringed. Each contained a wonderglue breaching round. I had hoped not to use these again, at least not on ponies. Not after last time.

Luminous looked over at Errant, and a sad sort of smile crossed his face. “You ready to go dancing in the dark?”

“Always.” Errant nearly grunted out as her horn flared. I shielded my eyes as a layer of shimmering white encased it followed by a brilliant second layer of glow. It receded to a dim light just as quickly as it had appeared.

She walked towards the pony and griffin guards at the gate and I felt myself panicking. “What is she doing? She can’t just walk in there!” I whispered frantically at Luminous.

“Oh, she’ll be fine. This sort of thing is her specialty, an extension of her talent you could say.” Luminous floated his pistol out of the holster and checked it. “Just like at the bar with you, they can’t see her. Or, more accurately, she’s the one signal their brain can’t figure out right now so it just filters her presence out.”

The lithe pony trotted silently across the sands. She floated her silenced pistol and long knife from their holsters as she circled behind the two guards. The barrel was placed just under the griffin’s beak angled up towards her brain and the knife point positioned against the pony’s throat.

I watched the spectacle with a morbid curiosity. Errant stood there for a moment longer, her head held high as she looked out into the night sky. A wild grin spread across her face as she telekinetically pulled the trigger. The griffin’s lower beak shattered as the bullet pierced through it from point blank range, ripping a hole through her head and leaving a gaping wound. The earth pony had barely registered the griffin falling before the knife was plunged into his neck and roughly yanked out the side. Blood sprayed out of the wound for the briefest of moments as he clutched at it before falling to the ground.

Errant stood over the bodies as we approached. Her eyes were closed and she shivered slightly in the warm desert air. Droplets of crimson had been sprayed across her amber coat and a look of bliss crossed her face. A mare’s scent briefly wafted through the air.

Luminous stepped over the nearest corpse and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, come on back to us, now,” he said gently. “You got it out of your system?”

Errant moaned softly and fidgeted, her tail swaying slightly in the breeze. “Nngh…Yeah, I think I’m good for now.” She opened her eyes and frowned. Her cheeks mimicked the rosy streaks of color in her mane and her breathing was heavy.

Luna hide me in her crags, did she just get off on that?

She must have caught my brief expression that bordered between disgust and terror. Her blush intensified and she tried to hide her face. “I’m…sorry if I scared ya there for a moment, Bit Flip. These urges just happen and I had hoped to satisfy them long before we got here so ya didn’t have to see that.”

“Ah, no, it’s…fine. We’re fine, everything’s fine,” I repeated Copper’s mantra, hoping to regain my calm, and inwardly chiding myself for that brief moment before I caught myself when I felt disturbed by her. “We’ve all got our ghosts, right?”

That explains the infrequent screams along the way. I could only hope that her victims had been deserving of it, but I had to push the thoughts away. There was a job to do, and I didn’t know enough about her to judge.

Errant laughed nervously and smiled. “Alright then, let’s get this show on the road.” She floated up a pair of keys from the nearest corpse and unlocked the gate. “After you, big guy.”

Glasses pushed through the gate and squared his stance as he took aim at the front doors. He bit down on one trigger and a muted fwoomp came from his gun followed by a concussive blast that nearly bowled me over.

I followed closely behind Luminous as the three ponies worked in unison to suppress the guards on duty. Glasses rushed in through the now shattered doors firing rounds from Ursa Minor into the guard’s quarters. The brave griffin that would come out from behind barricades would immediately get a two round tap to the breast from Luminous’ carbine or pistol. Errant had slipped behind the barricade further down the hall, the explosions making it impossible to hear her silenced pistol, but the flash still lit up the hallway as each body crumpled to the floor.

Most of the hallway leading from the guard’s barracks had collapsed in on itself trapping the few griffins and ponies left inside. We reached the checkpoint door in minimal time and ahead, Errant was having trouble with the lock. A litany of curses streamed from the mare.

I pushed my way to the front. “Hey, mind if I take a shot at it?”

“By all means, but don’t expect much. This lock’s a bitch.” She spat at the door and bucked it as she turned to make room.

“It’s not th’ cleanest method but it works when troublesome locks turn up.” I placed the barrel of my shotgun along the doorjamb and bit down on the firing piece. The blast echoed through the tiny hallway as the breaching round ripped through jamb, metal, and bolt.

“Shotgun surgeons are such cheaters,” Errant grumbled as she pushed past the door. “I have a horn! And magic! But no, she has to come and shoot the damn lock. Spoil sport.”

“Don’t feel too bad, the ledger room door is probably locked worse than this one,” I said as we rounded the corner.

“Or not.” Errant glared at me and motioned at the wooden door.

“Well maybe it’s a strong lock?” I shrugged. Had to open your mouth, didn’t you? The little pony in my head chided.

Glasses reared up and brought his hooves down on the dry rotted door. It slammed against the adjoining wall with a crunch and splinters showered from the frame as the hinges ripped off.

“So much for the lock,” he said with a smirk as the doorknob rattled and bounced down the hallway.

I trotted into the room behind Luminous. Errant was off to the side beating her hooves against a cabinet and swearing. The pinging sound of a lock against metal echoed across the room.

Sheesh, it’s not that bad. So the room didn’t have a lock, no reason to blow up over it.

“Well, shit.” Luminous walked to the back of the room and sighed. “All this way and we can’t even get to it.”

I picked my way across the mess on the floor. “What do you mean? This is the ledger room, it’s gotta be in here somewhere.”

“He means we can’t fucking get to it.” Errant kicked the cabinet again and pointed a hoof to a tiny patch of cloud on the desk. “Those bastard griffins are using stolen cloud tech.”

Cloud tech? I knew griffins could walk on clouds as a pegasus could, but I couldn’t fathom what they’d have brought a thin square of it down here for.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s cloud tech?”

“Over here, kiddo.” Luminous motioned to a recessed wall safe in the corner of the room with a mass of white fluffy clouds embedded into the front of it. “Enchanted cloud lock. Somehow they got their claws on an Enclave strong box to use for storage. Earth ponies and unicorns can’t even touch it without some magic that probably hasn’t existed in a long time.”

Huh, using enchanted cloud locks. I laughed at the idea. Will wonders never cease. How would one even pick that lock anyway?

“What’s so funny?” Glasses cocked his head and looked at me from the corner of the room.

“Oh, nothin’, I’ve just…It sounds so absurd. I’ve never seen anythin’ like that before. Enchantin’ bits of cloud cover to prevent theft, huh.”

“Yeah, well, it works.” Errant walked to the box and pressed her hoof through the damp mass of air. “All this way for nothing and we don’t have time to convince one of those griffs to open it.” She looked at her Pipbuck and grumbled.

“You could always blow open the hinges or just blow it out of the wall and take it with us,” I suggested.

Glasses nudged his firing bits and the gears clicked over. “Luminous could, but we’d probably lose the ledger in the process.”

What are you doing, Bit Flip? I hesitated. I didn’t want to open it, didn’t want to see for myself what these traders were up to even if I had seen it first hoof. I wanted to return to my caravan, back to the days before. But those days are gone and we don’t have time for this nonsense. Ponies that don’t deserve it are being hurt out there because of this.

I took a deep breath and sighed. “It’s…fine. I can open it.”

“What? No offense, kiddo, but y’ain’t got wings.” Luminous laughed and made for the door. “Next you’re gonna tell us you’ve grown a horn.”

I walked over to the cloud key and picked it up with my teeth. It tasted faintly of cotton candy and hot spices.

Silence. I could hear the overhead light buzzing slightly. The trio stood there and stared at me with a piece of cloud hanging from my mouth.

“Wuf? Ain’ ev’r seen a peg’sus before?”

“Well I’ll be.” Luminous grinned. “Looks like we’re back in business after all.”

“Ooh, quick, let’s get the ledger and get out of here!” Errant squealed a little and hopped on her hooves. “I’ve got news to make!”

Glasses grinned and walked out of the room, I could hear his battle saddle changing ammunition loadouts.

The trip out of the complex was uneventful. By the time we had reached the front gates, the guards were only then clearing away the first few layers of rubble blocking their passage.

I heard rather than felt the concussive report of what I assumed was a timed charge placed earlier in out venture.

“Was that really necessary?” I asked, cresting the first set of dunes away from the compound.

Glasses and Luminous looked at each other and shrugged.

“Probably not, but I reckon they deserved it,” the unicorn replied.

The moon hung high in the cloudless sky as we neared Paint’s main gates. Glasses had taken his leave and continued on through to the sleepy town as we hung about the entrance.

Errant scooted up next to me. “Hey, how come you don’t have any wings?” She poked me with a hoof.

Wow, this mare. She has zero tact. I kept walking along the midnight sands.

“Hey,” Errant poked at me again.

I tensed with each poke. Just ignore it. She’s messing with you.

“Heeeeeey,”she reached out to poke at me once more.

“What!” I fluffed out my wings and slapped her hoof.

“Wings!” She shouted and darted away, giggling wildly as she galloped through the gates into Paint.

I huffed and rubbed my nose with a wing tip before sliding them back under their sleeves. “Damn it. How old does she think she is? She’s not a filly anymore.”

“Oh don’t pay her any mind. She’s just trying to apologize for earlier and be friendly in her own little way.” Luminous beamed at me. “Still, wings. Don’t get too many pegasi down this way. Y’ain’t branded are you?”

“‘Branded?’”

“Guess you’re not a Dashite then, and you don’t look Cloudborn—too bulky for that. Earthborn then. Is that why you hide your wings?”

I glared at him. “That sounded dangerously close to a fat joke.”

“No, not at all.” He laughed. “I just meant one of your parents probably wasn’t a pegasus.”

I nodded. “My father’s an earth pony, he runs the caravan I used to be part of.”

“And your ma?”

I glanced at the ground and pawed at it. “She—”

“Oh,” he interrupted. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to. We all know what it feels like to lose someone close. Come on, let’s get inside before more balefire critters come crawlin’ out of their holes.”

“No, it’s, well, it’s nice to talk about it sometimes.” I followed Luminous through the alley ways of Paint. “She went off scouting along one of our routes when I was younger and ran into a huge raider herd trying to make a push for territory. They were unusually well armed and we—” I paused and took a deep breath, trying to push away the memory. “—She didn’t last the night.”

“I see,” he said sadly. “Raiders can be a right nasty bunch sometimes. One or two is fine but get them in herds and things can get really terrible.”

We made our way to a quiet, unassuming shack just past the bar. Dim light filtered through the holes in the papered windows. I heard a loud squeal of joy coming from inside and a mare rapidly talking.

Luminous walked through the door and poked his head out, motioning for me to come in. Errant was sitting on the floor with a couple helmets, piles of spare electronics and a broken robot surrounding her. She had a long wire sticking out from her PipBuck plugged into a similar looking device in her lap.

“What’s got you so excited?” Luminous looked over at her from a cabinet.

“This,” she shouted gleefully, floating the cuff-like device into the air. “I got it to turn on! I only had to replace the original arcane matrix with one I salvaged from this heap of junk—” She nudged the busted Protectapony, “—And splice it with a bit of my own PipBuck matrix and the arcane matrix from this ugly Ranger helmet.”

I looked at the device: it was missing bits and pieces; The leather padding of the cuff and steel clasp at the bottom had been replaced; Some of the casing had been cut away to fit what looked like mismatched replacement electronics.

“So…What is it? It doesn’t look like a PipBuck I’ve ever seen anypony wearin’.” I asked flatly.

“I haven’t a clue, but it used to look mostly normal before I started fixin’ it,” she admitted with a sheepish grin. “Found it a few years back and I’ve been trying to repair it this whole time. Lumi, help me test this out for me. You’re gonna love S.A.T.S.!”

Luminous paled a few shades. “Nuh-uh. Y’ain’t puttin’ that thing on me.” He quickly backed into the nearby bed. “I love ya dearly, Errant, but your projects scare me somethin’ fierce. It took you six tries to get Glasses’ saddle right.”

The device sparked as she poked it with a tool. “Yeah, but that’s because I’m not good with mechanical things. But this, this is something I can work with. Come on,” Errant pleaded as she floated the device out to me. The long cable dangled in the air between us. “Bit Flip, you’ll try it out right?”

I’m so going to regret this. I sighed. “Alright, fine. I feel bad enough for snapping at you a while ago.”

“Don’t do it, Bit!” Luminous yelled, but it was too late. Errant had already snapped the cuff around my left leg. “Oh, I hope you know what you’re doing. Her last experiment caused Glasses to lose his mane.”

What? I panicked. But I like my mane! I don't want to lose it! I reared back roughly, and the cord between the two devices went taut, then snapped. I yelped at a sudden electrical shock and fell to my haunches. The screen faded.

“See, now look what you did, Lumi, you’re scarin’ her.” Errant said crossly and reconnected the devices. “Well that’s strange color for a PipBuck. Oh well.”

My senses were a mess. I wanted to protest. Or perhaps scream. I wanted to do any number of things right then, most of which were unpleasantly related to bodily functions.

The repaired PipBuck booted up and floated countless lavender sigils across my view. Half-scrambled text scrolled around my sight before suddenly it corrected. A Stable-Tec logo flashed and then faded away, replaced by with a heads up display.

“This is crazy.” I slapped at the floating symbols in front of me. My hoof passed through or behind the text. “Is this what you—What is all this stuff?”

At the corner of my vision was a tiny scrolling compass pointing east. That can’t be right; I’m facing north right now. “Hey, Errant. I hate to burst your bubble, but I think this thing is still busted. The compass is the wrong way.”

She nodded, and poked a few more buttons on her PipBuck. After a Calibrating message faded, the compass faced north, and a tiny marker blipped under the E. “Huh,” she said, “There's no record of that in here at all. No idea what it is. Maybe an artifact from slapping together three different firmwares. ”

“Okay,” she said, looking at me, “I’m going to take control of it for a moment, Bit. The sub-matrices still need work. Sorry to tie you down like this, but I need help with it and somepony is a scaredypony.” She glared at Luminous, sleeping in the corner.

The PipBuck crashed and rebooted numerous times. I still felt nauseous every time it happened, but it was becoming easier to handle. With each successful reboot more information flooded the screen. I marveled at the compass once more and inquired about the tiny lavender markers moving across it.

“Oh, that’s the E.F.S., ah, Eyes Forward Sparkle. It’s, hmm, well it basically lets you know if somepony or something is friendly or not. In this case, lavender bar means you’re good, but if it’s red, it probably wants to eat your face off.”

I looked around and as the compass spun in turn, I noticed a dozen overlapping red bars that I assumed were wildlife outside town. Stable ponies had it too easy.

“Okay, next up is S.A.T.S. Trigger that and we’ll get on with tweaking it.”

I gave her my best I’m-not-a-Stable-pony look.

“Right, sorry. Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell. It’s built in to the device. Most ponies think it stops time around them but that’s not correct. It actually just speeds up and heightens your perception to such a level that it feels like it for a little while.”

Errant tried to explain how to trigger it but I was completely baffled. Magic was simply something I couldn’t grasp. I looked up from the device and tensed as I noticed an oversized helmet was flying at me. Suddenly the world slowed to a crawl. Her explanation made more sense now as I realized that triggering it was just a matter of wanting it to happen.

My view panned around the room as the targeting spell focused in on various furniture objects, empty cases, and a sizable rock in the corner. Each item had a percentage floating above it. Without warning a searing pain ripped through my head and my vision skewed. Time had suddenly sped back up; the PipBuck crashed and I realized I was on the floor staring at the ceiling. I groaned and barely registered Errant apologizing profusely.

I sat up and wobbled a bit. I felt my mane flop around loosely against my neck. Well at least I still have that.

“I’m so sorry, Bit,” Errant tapped wildly at her device. “It looks like the targeting matrix was corrupted from the spell matrix mergers. I don’t think it’s possible to salvage so I’ll just disable it on the PipBuck.”

“That’s okay. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t designed to target furniture and rocks.”

“Wait, what?” She gaped at me and laughed. “No wonder it crashed. It normally targets living things.”

She gave me a warm smile. “You’ll find this next part really useful as a trader: Inventory. Pretty straight forward, all managed from this screen. It shows you the condition of your items, sorts your bags and pouches for you, and manages ammunition types. It even identifies items based on value.”

Oh, you’re kidding me. “No wonder I could never get a good deal out of you Stable ponies. That’s cheating on a whole different level,” I whined.

Suddenly I realized the change of tone in her voice. “Wait…Your?”

“Mmhm. Think of it as an apology for earlier. Plus I fitted a broadcaster into it. I was going to give you a comm radio similar to Lumi and Glasses in case you come across any interesting information for The Signal out there, but this works so much better.”

I was floored. Not only had I been the one that wronged her and prejudged based only on what I saw, but I had snapped at her too. “No, I don’t deserve all this, Errant. I should be the one apologizing for acting the way I did.” I sighed. “We all have our problems, I know this, but I still…I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Really. My lust is just something I’ve had to deal with forever and I’m glad Lumi is as understanding as he is.” Errant smiled at the dozing unicorn on the cot. “Like you said, we all have our ghosts. I’m sure you have good reason to hide your wings and we won’t tell anyone.”

“I, well, thank you.” I smiled back at the strange mare. “Promise I won’t tell anyone about The Signal. Or your urges.”

The hours rolled by as she went over the numerous other functions of the device. We shared Wasteland stories with each other late into the night before I crawled into a spare cot and fell asleep.

Luminous woke me in the early morning hours. The sun was just rising over the valley and filtered through the paper lined windows. The smell of radhog bacon and cooked cactus pads hit me like a hammer forged from deliciousness. Errant was sitting at their table poking absentmindedly at her food.

“Hey, chow’s ready if you want,” Luminous offered.

I looked at the two of them and felt nostalgic. It reminded me of my home with the caravan at night when everypony would return and we’d all have a meal. I wanted to cry, to ask them to take me into their group, to be part of something. But I couldn’t. I respected what they did but ultimately I didn’t agree with it. Sometimes ponies and people must die for the greater good, this I realized, but the things I witnessed at the Quills’ runner facility felt wrong to me.

The few glances through the ledger told me enough of their operations to realize that most of the griffins and ponies there had very little idea what was going on. They were simply guilty by association.

“I’d love some,” I said while rolling out of the cot. I tried to ignore the various hunger warnings the PipBuck flashed at me. This is going to take some getting used to.

The three of us sat around the table eating our meal. After the last couple weeks, this felt nice, right even, but I knew deep down that I had to move on.

“I want to thank you two for taking me in like you did—”

“—But you can’t stay,” Luminous finished for me. “Right?”

I looked down at the plate. “Yeah. You two have given me a fair bit to mull over, but I’ve got to find my own path in this world.”

Errant looked up and smiled. “That’s okay, we’ll still always be in touch. Where ever you go, there ain’t a place in the Marejave The Signal can’t reach.”

We finished our breakfast in silence. I felt awful for ruining the mood. Errant floated away the dishes into a nearby container.

“So, where are ya headed then?” She inquired.

“I’ve got some ponies in Cancy that I need to check in with, then I planned on heading up to 144. Maybe see if I can find some information on possible trade routes.”

“I’ll come with ya then for a short while. The flats can be dangerous this time of year,” Luminous said knowingly. “The Hell Hounds migrate a fair bit north depending on the conditions sometimes.”

“You don’t—” I started.

“None of that now,” Luminous interrupted. “I’d be glad to tag along for a while and see you to your destination.” Both he and Errant smiled.

Errant walked us to the gates of Paint, our saddle bags full of provisions. Passing townies stared in our direction before scurrying off.

She pulled us both into an embrace and asked us to stay safe out there. No news is good news I heard her whisper before breaking off and walking back in the direction of their home.

A thick cloud of black smoke off to the southwest rolled into the mid-morning sky.

“Just another beautiful day in the Marejave,” Luminous remarked offhandedly.

We walked past the gates and made towards Cancy. There were only a couple red markers on the compass.

“I may not be the most perceptive pony in the Wasteland, but most ponies aren’t this kind,” I asked. “How come you’re tagging along, when you don’t stand to gain anything?”

“Not everything has to be gains and losses, Bit Flip. Errant took a liking to you and that’s a rare thing.” Luminous smiled. “Rarer still that you didn’t shun her after learning about her little problem. I’m sure you saw the way those ponies in town stared. They weren’t looking at us; they were watching her.”

I wanted to kick myself. Luminous had reminded me of Doc’s lecture. I placed a hoof to my grey eye in thought.

There are still good ponies out there after all.

The smell from Cancy was always worst during the peak of afternoon. We passed through the checkpoint with only minor incident. A drunken, dashed-out pony had tried to get grabby with me as I passed, but a nearby well-armed guardpony wrapped him in a telekinetic field and apologized for the interruption.

Something was off. I looked around, and there were considerably less addicts strewn about. The town still reeked of brahmin shit, of course, but the number of dash-heads was significantly fewer now. I shrugged off the thought and continued towards the comical gift shop.

“You know, I don’t often come this far east of Paint, but every time I pass by this thing it still amazes me,” Luminous remarked, looking up at the green and purple dragon. “It’s just so ugly. You’d think they would have painted it or something by now.”

I laughed. “I’m glad I’m not the only pony who thinks so.”

I pushed past the door to the shop and immediately froze. A sea of identical pink faces and the sounds of racking weapon slides halted me.

Luminous swore. His weapons sliding into their holsters echoed loudly in the awkward silence.

I looked at the corner of my vision and saw six red bars with a single lavender bar.

“Oh! Hey, it’s Bit,” a chipper voice rang out as the familiar pony descended the stairs. “It’s alright, she’s fine.”

Every red bar in my field of vision instantly turned lavender as weapons were holstered. That’s definitely going to take some getting used to.

“So what brings you to this neck of the sands, Bit?” Needles asked as he sat in a nearby chair.

“Just stopping by to visit Hammer,” I replied. “I like what you’ve done with the place. Cancy looks less like a cess pool even if it still smells like one.”

“My backers sent more resources this way,” he laughed. It sounded dry, hollow. “They’re looking to make a push out from the coast. Bring their chems out here. Turn Cancy into a central distribution point for the Marejave.”

He’s changed. This is not the Needles I knew. “Uh huh,” I replied flatly. My skin crawled at Needles’ off behavior. “So I take it Hammer is here then?”

I made my way towards the stairs behind the counter and a large earth pony moved to block my path. “You need to move. Right now.” The stallion glanced over at Needles.

“It’s fine, let ’em on through.”

Luminous and I rounded the counter and made our way down the stairs.

“You know these scumfucks?” Luminous’ voice was barely above a whisper. I could hear the angry tone in it.

“I…Yeah. Needles used to be in my old caravan before he left and got in bad with some group from the coast,” I admitted. “He was never this bad though. Something has changed recently.”

I looked out across the workshop as we reached the bottom. One of the workbenches was overturned, parts scattered across the floor. The shelf of carefully organized memory orbs had been destroyed, many of them rested on the floor shattered beyond repair.

“Hammer,” I called out. “What happened here?”

The old ghoul limped out from around the corner. Bone was jutting out from his rear left hock, fresh bruises oozed along his side, and cuts adorned his normally leathery hide. He trailed a few small glowing drips of water behind him.

“Hello, Bit Flip,” he wheezed out. “Needles’ boys upstairs may have gotten a little too enthusiastic.”

“Oh Hammer,” I whispered, rushing to his side. “Look at what they did to you. Why, what happened?” I helped him to his quarters. “I thought you and Needles had an agreement.”

“It’s that group he’s got backing him now. He’s been dipping into some new samples they brought, Rage and something I’ve never seen before,” he rasped out. “Usually he would just hit the Dash a few times, but this stuff is changing him. He’s become increasingly paranoid and aggressive. Excessively violent in some cases.”

“Going to go up there and give that jerkass a piece of my mind.” I wanted to throw Needles from the top floor of the dragon. “He should know better.”

“No. No, it’s fine, child. It wouldn’t change his mind. Not now anyway,” Hammer grimaced and motioned around the room with a hoof. “He wanted me to duplicate the new drug they found in some Stable for distribution. I’ve already refused him twice.”

“I should stay. Talk some sense into him.” I was livid. “He wouldn’t dare lay a hoof on me.” Talk nothing, I’m going to right beat some sense into that idiot.

“Stop, you stubborn filly. It’s fine. I will heal and persist as I always have.” Hammer grinned at me. “It’ll take more than his lunks to beat me down. Besides, I haven’t lasted these last ninety odd years by mistake.”

“But—”

“Go on now, before Needles takes to dipping into his stash tonight.”

It wasn’t a suggestion. Hammer wrapped the two of us in his magic field and scooted us from his room. I felt a scowl creep along my face as I walked up the stairs and made for the entrance.

“Hey, where you goin’, Bit,” Needles called out from behind me. “We ain’t done yet.”

I felt a hoof land on my flank and bucked as hard as possible. I wheeled around as the lavender bars in the room changed to red once more. “Don’t you touch me, Needles! You best change your ways, and soon, before your shit catches up to you.” I spat at him.

“Hah! Piss off then, cunt.” He looked up at me and laughed. His eyes had a maddened look to them. “I’m about to be one o’ the richest stallions in the Marejave and there ain’t shit nopony can do about it. Not some caravan trash messenger filly, not nopony.”

We were escorted out of Cancy and politely informed by the foreign guards that we would be shot on sight if we returned.

The late afternoon sun had begun its slow descent over the valley as we walked in silence along the route to 144. Needles’ words bit deep. I was forced to sit on the sidelines once more and watch as the Wasteland took its toll on a friend.

Ooh, Bit, you’re so damned slow sometimes!

“Hey, Luminous. Can I ask a favor of you?”

“What’s that?” They were the first words he spoke in the hours during our silent travel since Cancy.

“Would it be—” I paused, unsure if I should continue. “Would it be possible to hire you three to get Hammer out of there and give him shelter in Paint? I know he’s a ghoul, but he’s the best mechanic this side of the divide. Made my harness, actually. I’m sure Glasses would appreciate that.” I was rambling, trying to convince Luminous of Hammer’s worth.

“I don’t mind. And he wouldn’t be the only one in town. Hell, Errant would probably offer to do it for free. She gave you a broadcaster after all. But are you sure you want to go down this route?” He stopped and turned to face me. “You’ve seen the kind of work we do, and I know you didn’t stay because you don’t agree with it entirely.”

I sighed. “No, I’m not sure, but Needles was right. I’m just some caravan trash messenger filly and I don’t even really have that anymore. I don’t want Needles to die. He’s a good pony underneath it all, and I’ve seen it. But sometimes you have to let the desert take back what’s hers.”

“There’s no shame in asking for help, kiddo,” Luminous smiled. It felt like a genuine and happy offer. “And you’re not trash. You care and that’s far more than what most ponies in the Wasteland can say about themselves.”

He floated his radio out of a saddlebag and flipped it on.

“Errant? We’ve got a rumor you might be interested in.”

We reached 144 as the sun dipped low behind the valley. The vermillion hues of the sky painted the surrounding sands and ramshackle buildings an ominous shade. The gate guards waved us in between the caravan wagons and trailers filtering it for the night.

“We should probably get some lodging for the night,” I mentioned, Luminous lockstep beside me.

“That sounds swell. Not particularly fond of sleepin’ out under the stars.” Luminous nodded. “Least of all not in towns outside of Paint.”

As I lead the way through the makeshift buildings of 144 I spotted the local Curiosity huddled against an overturned train car and waved. I’m not sure if he saw me, or if he was waving at nopony in particular.

Gotta remember to drop off another snack for the colt ’fore I leave again.

I stepped through the frame of the caravan barracks and nodded to the pony behind a badly worn desk.

“Oh, hey Bit. Back again with your caravan?”

“Ah, no. They’re still up in the west end. My friend and I are just passin’ through for the night on business.” I smiled at the stallion. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to have any rooms open still, would you?”

“You know the rules Bit,” The stallion shifted nervously and stared at the desk surface. “I gotta see your Token first.”

“Oh, come on Keys,” I insisted. “I was just here not too long ago. Besides, I left most of my belongings with the caravan. That damn slave driver Parcel woke me up out of shift to rush deliver this package to Fleshgrove.”

Keys perked up at the mention of the prosthetic-hoofed mailmare. “P-Parcel sent you this way?”

“Yep. Can you believe it? Of all the damn places. Fleshgrove.” I faked a shudder. “I’m sure she’d hate to hear about the package getting lost because a certain somepony had to sleep under the stars tonight.”

The dusty gray stallion blanched. “Let me…Let me see what I can round up. Come back in an hour, yeah?”

“Sure thing, Keys.” I grinned. “Hey, tell ya what. Want me to put in a good word with her for you? She could definitely use the company.”

Keys blushed deeply before running off, metal jingling against his barding.

Luminous whistled. “You’re a real piece of work.”

“What?” I pouted and gave him a look. “I certainly didn’t want to sleep out in the Gutters tonight, did you?”

“Oh no, I know that kind of look.” He held up a hoof in mock defense and laughed. “Y’ain’t ’bout to go cryin’ on me. Errant tries to pull that on me all the time and she’s not even good at it.”

“Fine,” I smiled at him. “Let’s go get a drink then while Keys is rustlin’ us up a room.”

We picked out way across the broken ground towards Tab’s bar. Raucous laughter and the pungent smell of alcohol filled the night air the closer we got. A fair number of caravanners were filtering into the bar from their trading areas.

“If’n it ain’t muh best cust—” Tab began, looking my direction as the doorbell jingled. “You.”

“Me.” I grinned. “Nice to see you too, Tab.” I had to almost shout over the din of drunken patrons.

He grumbled and sighed. “Let me guess, beer and a ’sas.”

“Just the ’sas actually, and a bottle of Red Velvet for my friend here,” I motioned to Luminous. “And I know you’ve got some.”

Luminous and I pulled up a seat at the bar as Tab walked off towards the backroom fussing up a storm.

“Y’know, It’s a real shame you won’t consider joinin’ us. We could really use a pony like you around Paint, even if for the few traders that are crazy enough to make the journey.”

“I’ve…thought about it a lot since we left, honestly. It’s not that I don’t want to,” I frowned at Luminous. “Paint’s a wonderful place. For the short time I was there it felt like home, but the more I think about it, the more I feel I’ll regret it if I don’t take this chance to find my path in the world.”

Tab interrupted us and clinked down a couple bottles on the counter. “Twenty caps this time, courier. Red Velvet ain’t easy to come by. An’ don’chu try none o’yer fancy trader shit here again, I already told muh wife about the Pens.”

“The stallion over in the Stands?”

He frowned deeply. “Yep.”

“Cow in the Crags?” I watched as his brow furrowed and he slowly nodded his head.

“You gonna pay up or am I gonna have to toss you out on your rump?” Tab’s frown slowly changed to a scowl.

“Yeah, yeah. Oh! How ’bout the filly in Fleshgrove?”

Tab yelled in frustration as he threw his hooves up. “Fine, y’goddess damned rat! Take yer shitty drinks for free. Put me out o’ business why don’t ye!” He stomped off to the other side of the bar.

Luminous uncorked his bottle and grinned. “Yup, you’re a piece of work, alright. You’d fit in just fine.”

“Bit Flip!” A familiar voice called out from the side of the room. “You’re he—what the hell is that on your leg? Did you get hurt? Is that some sort of hobo prosthetic?”

My stomach clenched. I felt an inferno rise from within and my face flushed with anger. I turned to Vitia. “You…” I whispered. “You were supposed to stay with Willow. Why are you here? Why now?” My voice had pitched higher and cut through the bar room chatter as the drinkers became curious onlookers.

The small unicorn barstallion hopped on the bar counter, “None o’ that now, Bit. You take yer lover’s spat outside now, y’hear?”

“Fuck you, Tab. Stay out of this.”

“No, fuck you, courier. Ain’t gonna come into my bar and start shoutin’ nonsense at my patrons.”

I saw his tiny horn glow for a short moment as he floated a sawed off shotgun from behind the bar. It never made it to the counter. A familiar pistol and carbine had been levitated to his head and halted the weapon’s ascent.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Luminous countered. “Now why don’t everypony just calm down and you two take it outside?”

The three of us walked outside in uncomfortable silence. The full moon cast an eerie shadow across the landscape.

“Wh—”

Vitia held up a hoof. “No.”

“What do you mean ‘no?’ You were happy! Willow was happy! What could have ever given you cause to leave?”

“I have my reasons.”

I sputtered and choked on a reply.

“Yes, Bit, I was happy. More happy than I’ve ever been, and likely far more happy than I deserve.”

“…Then why? You could have given Willow everything I selfishly denied her as a filly.”

“I love Willow dearly, but I have things I must see to first. And one of them is you, Bit. I’m sorry. Because of me—” she paused and looked up at the sky for a moment. “Because of me, you lost everything.”

“But—”

Frustration lined her face as she stamped her hooves. “No, Bit. And before you say something silly like you ‘didn’t do it for me,’ let me finish.”

I felt my rear legs give out and fell to my haunches. This is too much.

“You take on everything yourself, and won’t let anyone else help. You pushed everyone away—do you know how much that hurt Willow?” Vitia’s tone softened, “I won’t let you suffer the Wastelands alone. I owe you that much, probably significantly more than that, but this is all I can do. I’m going to help you.”

A wetness formed at the corner of my eyes. I tried to blink away the tears but it wasn’t working. I felt elated that Vitia would chase me down like this but also extremely disappointed that she would throw away her life with Willow to do so. I don’t deserve any of this.

“But you don’t stand to gain anything by doing this!” I shouted. “Hell, you could lose it all.”

“Life’s not always about gains and losses, Bit.” Vitia kneeled down and embraced me. “Do I really need a reason to help out a friend who has lost her way?”

“She’s got y’there, kiddo.” Luminous happily chimed in from the side. “I’ll leave you two alone for now and go look for Keys. It looks like we’ll be needing another bunk.”

——

Party Status:

Bit Flip: Overall healthy with minor cuts. Stress levels slightly elevated. Stable mental state.

Level Up (14)

Perk: Shotgun Surgeon

When using shotguns, regardless of ammunition used, you ignore an additional 10 points of target’s damage threshold.

Vitia: Excellent overall physical condition. Moderate stress levels. Moderate hormone levels.

Level Up (12)

Perk: Black Widow

In combat, you do 20% damage against male opponents. Out of combat, you’ll sometimes have access to unique dialogue options when dealing with the opposite sex.

Luminous Beacon: Great overall health. Stress levels low. Blood alcohol level slightly elevated.

Level Up (15)

Notable Possessions:

Errant’s “Repaired” PipBuck