Chapter Two: Perspectives

"Don't even think about waving the white flag, they'll only strangle you with it"

Chains.

I've heard a lot of ponies compare addiction to slavery. They like to call it the “chains of addiction” or some shit like that, but the truth is that you can't even really compare the two.

Don't get me wrong; addiction sucks. I only really had trouble with dash at that point, but it doesn't matter what your poison is, it really fucks you up. Dash builds ponies up, making them feel better and faster, so it doesn't hurt, while it eats away at the lining of your gums and throat, and pumps a ponies heart nearly to exploding.

And believe me, it really fucks with foals.

But if you get lucky, or more likely if you run out of dash, it stops trying to kill you. Sure, your throat might burn like balefire, and your heart might stop, but once that's over it's over. You can always restart a stopped heart, but you can't put one back together after exploding.

Slavery is much worse.

With addiction, you always have that feeling; that nagging that tells you to get more, but you can always say no; you can always stop before something in you pops. You may not feel like it, but you do have a choice. When somepony else slaps a chain around your neck and beats you down with an electrified stick, though, there's not a fucking thing you can do about it. Sure you could fight back, but the pony on the other end of that chain is just a flick away from strangling you to death, or a flinch away from shooting Discord knows how many volts through all your fucking nerves.

And that's if you're lucky. They could always just tie you up and forget about you. They could always just stick you in a hole somewhere and let you starve to death, and rot where they left you.

Click

I knew all of this when Pops clicked the cold, heavy steel collar in place around my neck, but I didn't resist. Maybe that's what I needed, somepony else holding the chains. Somepony that could keep me in line; somepony to be accountable to.

I've said before that Trashcan had no self-control, but how much better was I really? Maybe this was a good thing for me. If I couldn't keep myself from doing something stupid, then it was only a matter of time before some other asshole decided he didn't like the way I was acting, and decided to fuck with me the same way I did with Trashcan.

I had stopped before I killed him, but not because I wanted to. He was already off of Lily, he was already on the ground, but I didn't stop when I could have. I held that electric stick thing down on him until he was shaking and writhing underhoof in pain. . . . .

And I wasn't going to stop until he was dead. It was just luck that he was still alive. Luck that the stick ran out of charge.

Luck that I hadn't jammed the fucking thing down his throat after it did run out of charge.

I doubt if some other fucker got a hold of me I'd be so lucky.

Pops looked at me flatly, not speaking. It was almost as if he was asking for some sort of explanation as a way out, but I kept silent. It was probably safer for me to stay in chains.

I simply nodded, leaving the chains there.

Trashcan was a dick, and he definitely deserved what I had done to him, that didn't change what had happened. I had to start smartening up, or else I wouldn't last very long.

Thank whatever shithead was in charge of Equestria now that I had proven myself useful to Pops already. I'm sure if I hadn't I would have been killed right there on the spot; it's what I probably would have done.

He tied the length of chain attached to the stiff metal collar to a part of the decrepit wall as he levitated away his shotgun. He turned back across the store, scowling momentarily before returning to his mattress.

I laid down on the ancient cracked tiles where I was; away from the campfire and Trashcan's twitching form. The wind from the door was cold, but I had been cold before. I watched the wide blue eye in the poster watching me as I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I woke up to the rough jerking of the chains connected to my collar.

That was it; new item on the shit list, right under bricks. Actually, I'm not entirely sure why chains weren't to begin with. It was a chain on the other end of the brick that hit me and used to try and strangle me afterwards. Just to learn how to write to make said list . . .

I tried to turn my head, but the stiff metal collar stood rigid. So I stood up instead, stretching out my sore legs. Broken pre-war tiles were a far cry from my usual bed of dirt and pebbles.

Thankfully it was Pops holding my chain. If it was Trashcan I would have been fucked. The guy wasn't exactly the nicest guy under good circumstances, I was sure being beaten and zapped half to death would not be good for his mood. Besides, I wasn't sure I could keep myself from killing him if he decided to take out his frustration on me.

Small wisps of smoke wavered above what was left of the fire, though the place was lit well enough through the missing section of wall, and most of the gear had been packed up already. There were plenty of empty cans and bottles strewn about, but the place was enough of a mess before we got here. Trashcan and Lily were already awake and scrounging the shelves for anything salvageable. Bit was still asleep on the stained mattress in the corner.

“Wake up,” Pops said flatly, flinging an empty can at Bit with his telekinesis. I was going to need to start waking up earlier if this was the general wake up call.

She flicked the can back at him, yawning as she stretched herself awake. She checked her spear and barding for a moment, but then stopped, staring dumbly at the iron leash around my neck.

“Pretty, in'it?” I rasped, tilting my head back to show it better.

“Shit,” She said turning to Pops, rubbing her eye with a hoof, “What'd I miss?”

Trashcan walked grabbed Lily's chain and started out the door. I was still confused why we weren't just going through that big hole in the wall, it was closer.

“Yeah, 'Can managed to piss him off,” Pops lifted his saddlebags up from next to the fire onto his back, “Long story short, Trashcan was being a dick, Brick was being a dumbass, we lost a good cattle prod, and now Brick's got some new jewelry.”

“Oh, by the way,” He tossed the chain to Bit, who caught it deftly with her magic, “Happy birthday.”

She nodded, yawing and motioning me towards the door with the end of the chain.

The chain pulled taught as I neared the door.

“If he does anything stupid,” Pops said, “Don't spare the spear.”

The chain slackened and I walked out the door.

Though the abandoned store was well lit, it was much brighter outside. Well, it seemed brighter at least, even behind all the cloud cover, so it took my eyes a few moments to adjust. It must have been the lack of dash. Not that I was shaking any more, or that it stung my eyes as bad as it had the day before, but I knew I would need a fix eventually. It had been four or five days without dash; not the longest I had been without dash, but I still felt a little shaky without it.

It just made things a lot easier.

The ground rose and fell in gentle hills, seemingly avoiding the battered and split asphalt road stretching into the north. The dirt and the scattered pebbles were only broken by the occasional dead brush or ruined wagon. What a wonder all this must have been, when all the grass was green. Just acres and acres of grassy hills. . . .

I guess ponies were assholes back then too, to have ruined all that. They were just assholes with more money, more weapons, and a world that they hadn't fucked up yet. Even Ponyville, just a speck on the western horizon now, was told in stories of being a beautiful a peaceful place to live. It’s ironic that the ones most responsible for screwing it up were born there.

The chain yanked at my neck, snapping me out of my thoughts. Probably a good thing; I was getting angry at ponies that were dead for hundreds of years. Bit led me to the front of the group, a few paces to the right of Lily. The chain pulled taut for a moment. That was probably the signal to start moving, so I started forward.

Lily mumbled something from beside me.

“Huh?” I asked hoarsely, trying not to cough over my own words.

“Thank. . . thank you,” He stammered quietly.

“What're friends for?” I joked smugly, but he still offered a weak smile. Well, that was great. I was chained up to a couple of raiders with a cannibal from the east, but at least the cannibal was my friend.

This was crazy. This was the wasteland

* * *

The hours whiled away as we diligently marched into the barren waste. Mostly barren, at least. It's amazing just how many shades of brown and gray you could see. Although there was the occasional sickly green found in the young tumbleweeds. The walk was more tiring than expected, though, as the small hills and dips did only so much to spare us from the buffeting sands that were picked up by the sporadic gusts of swirling wind. Lily mumbled something or other about weather patterns under his breath, but we kept our mouths shut; mostly to keep from breathing in dust.

My hooves were only a little sore, but it was more the chafing of the collar around my neck that was wearing me down. I kept my eyes in front, not wanting to be caught by surprise, but I could tell Bit was getting tired. Every now and again the chain would pull a little tighter and I would have to walk just a little bit slower.

It was only a matter of time before we were going to have to make camp. The sky had darkened a little since the morning, and it was getting colder. It didn't seem like we had trekked that far, but that was probably because of all the loose rocky soil and the uneven slopes. I understood that it was safer than traveling the road, but I would have traveled up the main road and hid in the shallow hills when trouble came by instead; it would have saved us a lot of time.

All this walking was making my legs sore, though, and my stomach panged a little in empty frustration.

The chain wrapped around Lily's neck pulled taught and pulled him to the ground, causing him to teeter forward momentarily before plowing face first into the ground. I looked back to see Trashcan sitting on his rump, digging through his floating saddlebags with his magic. He pulled out a chunk of radroach jerky triumphantly and popped it in his mouth.

We all slowed, giving me a much needed chance to stretch my sore limbs. Pops shot a disapproving glare towards Trashcan.

“Wumph?” He managed to say between mouthfuls of roach meat, “I waph hungy.”

Bit rolled her eyes as Pops scanned the surrounding hills for somewhere to set up camp.

“There,” He motioned with his horn, pointing at a small nook set between to short, rocky swells, “It's harder to see from the road, and it's less windy.”

My collar tugged me forward, and I started forward without hesitation. I didn't want to end up being choked again; that is not a fun experience. Besides, some shelter from the sand would have been a nice break. The wind noticeable calmer there, and the swirling pillars of sand only blew marginal puffs of dust and rocks into the depression.

Weather was always strange in the wasteland. Some days it was smoldering hot with air so heavy you could barely move, other days it would be so cold and windy it felt like icy claws were trying to rend your fur from your flesh. Of course it was pretty much guaranteed to be cloudy; the fucking pegasus saw to that.

I was never quite sure why, but then there were too many assholes out there for there to be logical reasons for all of them. Questioning their motives would get me nowhere.

The small nook was calmer, though, even if he ground there was rougher. We could just fit the five of us in the small space nestled between three dark boulders. Between the lower location and the jutted rocks, I could tell that it would be hard to notice any intruders come nightfall, especially with these winds. As long as we didn't keep a fire, though, it would be awful hard to find this little place.

Unfortunately, that meant that we would have to sleep out in the cold.

“This looks 'bout good,” Pops said, pulling out a roughly cut wool sheet from his bag and throwing it on the ground, “Eat what ya' can. No fire tonight. Tomorrow we get up early and try and catch 'em off guard.”

That sounded like a good enough plan for me. I wasn't sure how good of an idea it was for only the five of us to go after a caravan by ourselves, but since we were going to anyway, an ambush did seem like the best idea.

Bit pulled out some sort of meat on a stick and Pops sat down and nosed through a can of something under his blanket. Trashcan pulled out another chunk of radroach and chewed as he started to drift off to sleep. I swear, I had never seen a pony manage to snore and eat at the same time before. Of course, I had not eaten anything yet, and didn't have any pack of my own, so I just sat there and looked around dumbly.

“Hm,” Bit managed, gulping down her meal, “What about Brick?”

Pops looked me over for a moment before replying, “Just tie him to that rock over there.”

So much for eating today.

Before I could even move the end of my chain coiled into a knot around a small boulder behind me, locking two links together with a small padlock.

Well, things could be worse. Not much worse, granted, but they could be. I trotted over to my rock and leaned up against it, trying to get some rest through the growing grumbling noises emanating from my stomach.

* * *

My chains rattled loosely on the back of my neck, twitching me out of my light sleep. I squinted one eye open, but the darkness of the clouded night sky was all that I could see. It was still night. Fuck them if they thought I was going into a fight hungry and tired. This brick needed his beauty sleep.

My chains rattled again as a grinding noise grew beneath me. My eyes snapped open in sudden realization as the boulder I had rested my head on groaned and lurched over, dropping me solidly on the rocky surface underneath.

Rocks. They are great for throwing, good for walking, decent for sleeping, but not so much for landing on.

I rubbed the back of my head with my hoof, trying to blink out the bright lights flashing in front of my eyes. Hopefully the lump that fall left on the back of my head wouldn't get any bigger.

Between the blur and the darkness I could just barely make out the glint of Lily's sharpened grin reflecting in his yellowed eyes. How was it that he managed to keep his teeth whiter than his eyes?

“Stupid unicorns are lazy,” He half whispered, vanishing from view, “Should not attach chain to rock that can roll. . .”

Not questioning this run of good luck I rolled over and pressed myself up. I facehoofed. It was as simple as rolling the rock over. Huh. You know, I wasn't exactly the smartest of ponies normally, but there were times where I was just flat out stupid. Either that or blind.

“This way,” His head popped from over the ridge, “Popsicle forgets to feed me sometimes. Sometimes have to go get food for myself.”

I tread cautiously, taking time to make sure each step was on solid ground. There was no way I was going to fuck up a chance at getting away from these assholes. Maybe next time I would keep myself out of trouble, or at least try to stay out of situations that would definitely get me killed.

Lily, though, was not quite as subtle. His hooves scrambled once or twice as he scaled the rock's rugged surface, spraying me in the face with a bit of sand that had collected there. I spat out the sand, about to spit out some wasteland appropriate word, but could only roll my eyes at his apologetic glance.

Getting above the small depression, I could see the darkened world more clearly. Dull lights showed themselves in the distance in the direction we had been walking the night before. That had to be the caravan we had been hunting. They didn't look like too much, but I doubted that Lily and I could take them by ourselves. At the very least, they seemed to have somepony watching the road.

“Over here,” Lily whispered, twitching his head to the side, “I think . . . I think I can smell food.”

Hopefully that wouldn't mean other ponies.

He tilted his head to the side, raising his nose in the air. The pupils of his eyes shrunk smaller than they had been before as the whites of his eyes darkened into a yellow that nearly blended in with the night tinted soil of the gentle hills.

Before I could do anything, he lowered his head and sprinted off into the darkness at an eerily quiet canter. I broke off behind him, trying in vain to catch up. I nearly caught him as he suddenly stopped and raised his head to sniff the air. I sucked in the crisp night air, glad for the chance to catch my breath. . .

. . .when he sprang into another run, leaving me little time to react. Not thinking, I pounded my hooves against the loose rocky ground, trying to focus my now burning pants into some semblance of a regular rhythm. He dodged quickly to the side, and then to the other, leaping and diving, his body twisting at awkward angles as he sped through the darkness I struggled not to lose him as I followed his dark silhouette through the night.

He stopped suddenly again, but unable to stop myself I bowled into him. He stood firm and I face planted on the small of his back, just narrowly avoiding one of the rail spikes crudely jutting out from his barding. Rolling onto the ground, I lingered there in an effort to sooth my scorched lungs and burning throat, wheezing as I struggled to choke down air through my damaged throat.

Lily stood rigid still, as though if his life depended on him standing as still as a stone. For all I knew at the moment, it did.

“Is the little pony alright?” He whispered, not moving.

“Uhh,” I groaned between gasps, trying not to make too much noise, “Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”

I stood, quivering, as my muscles were still sore from smacking into Lily. For as gaunt as he looked, he was far more solid than any other pony I had known. He must have been all bone under that barding.

“Are those bloatsprites?” I rubbed the back of my head with a hoof. How was he able to see anything in this darkness? Not talking, he simply nodded as he inched closer. What I assumed was closer, at least. My eyes were still spinning from the impact.

Suddenly, he lept into the air, snatching a bloatsprite raggedly out of the air with his teeth. He growled as he shook it roughly from side to side, sending wet snapping and popping sounds out as it swelled up in his mouth.

An ominous buzzing filled the air as he slowed down to a standstill. I could see his eyes widen as they lightened back to their normal, only slightly yellowed state.

“I assume this isn't good.”

Lily nodded his head slowly looking guilty. Just barely through the darkness I could see eight of the warped and bloated creature’s silhouettes in the shadows.

“Fuck.”

In one smooth moment, Lily spat out the over inflated creature onto the ground as he spun into the air to snap his jaws at another one. Following his lead, I lept into the air and flashed my forehooves out towards the nearest one. I overestimated the distance, though, and my hoof swung high over the creature and sent me roughly to the ground behind it as it zipped by.

I looked up just in time to see three small thorns fly out of at me. I reacted as quickly as I could, but two of them struck a gap in my shoulder as I twisted away. For a second there, a strange buzzing feeling rushed to my head and blurred around behind my eyes, but it passed as I seemed to shake myself out right.

Spinning into action I leaned back, letting one of the creatures fly close in for a sting before I lashed out hard with a forehoof, smashing the creature hard into the ground with a spray of goupy green ichor. I flung it off my hoof as it started to swell like the other one did.

The one that I swung at earlier darted in at me from behind, bouncing off a loose piece of metal stitched into my barding. Not thinking, I spun around onto my forehooves and lashed out behind me with my back legs. The lack of resistance nearly sent me sprawling, but one of my hooves connected solidly and I was rewarded with the sickening squishing sound of a bloatsprite under my hoof.

I saw Lily crouch low under the flying stinger of one darting creature as another flew at him. Pressing himself nearly to the ground, he flung himself high into the air, twisting almost unnaturally as he caught one creature hard with his forehoof and another with his rear leg before landing nimbly on all fours. Another one of the creatures came at him, but he moved fluidly with his landing to spin in a smooth arc to catch it in his mouth, giving it a rough shake and spraying the area around with green fluid.

Holy shit. I needed to learn how to do that.

Of course, when I was watching that little display I hadn't noticed the bloatsprite that had been inching closer to me. It suddenly flew at the side of my head and lodged its stinger in my ear. I screamed as bouts of stabbing pain erupted through my head. I jerked my head from side to side, but the creature was stuck. I rolled onto the ground and scraped my hooves down through my mane and over my ear frantically trying to remove the creature. The creature caught on my hoof and was yanked gracelessly into the air, but it tore away the tip of my ear as it went, dripping a small stream of blood into my eye.

Not waiting to wipe the blood out of my eye or scratch the itching sore on the left side of my face, I rolled over and sprang up on all fours, searching for the creature. I popped up right in front of it, as it lingered just in front of my good eye. Almost mockingly, it gulped down the bloody corner of my ear.

Oh.

It.

Was.

ON.

I dove at it, swinging both my forehooves at it wildly, but it matched my pace as it buzzed backwards. In frustration I lunged at it with both hooves, but it flew up as I flung myself haphazardly at the empty air. I wrenched my leg to the side, spinning me as I plummeted towards the rocky ground. My rear hoof connected with the bloatsprite's stupid, ugly face the moment I collided with the ground.

I slid to a stop, thankful for my barding. I closed my eyes, letting myself catch my breath as I'm sure Lily dispatched the rest of the bloatsprites. At least the buzzing had stopped. For what seemed an eternity, I just lay there, letting the burning in the side of my face subside.

“Is the little pony alright?”

I opened my eyes to see Lily's yellowed eyes. The pupils weren't quite as small as they were before, so I guessed he was sane enough at the moment.

“Fucking bloatsprite,” I said hoarsely, closing my eyes again. “Fucking ate my ear.”

* * *

After about an hour, my face felt much better. Even the sting had shrunk and had stopped itching. According to Lily, most ponies fared poorly against the poison of a bloatsprite's sting, getting slowed down with each sting until they swarmed in and ate the pony alive. As far as I was concerned, it was just a damned nuisance. The little brawl hadn't left me with any real injury, just a missing section of ear and wounded pride.

I had learned one thing, though; how to cook bloatsprite. Bloatsprite poison was weak, but there was a lot of it jammed in there, and when they died it flooded their entire bloodstream, causing them to inflate. Lily showed me that this weird goupy mix of bloatsprite blood and poison was flammable. By dropping a single match in one of the small corpse’s mouth, he instantly roasted it.

Of course, cooking the creature like that wasn't the most flavorful way to prepare bloatsprite, but food was food, and I was hungry.

I popped a chunk in my mouth, working it over. I was surprised by the gratifying crunch that accompanied the stale flavor. Crunch. I popped another in my mouth. They may have tasted like grit, but it was almost fun to eat them. Hell, if they were salted and seasoned, they wouldn't even be half bad.

Lily looked up at the sky, which had changed from its pitch black hue to a lighter blue gray glow in the eastern sky.

“It's almost morning,” Lily said, looking back at me.

“Yeah?” I rasped between charred chunks of bloatsprite.

“Should get back to camp, now,” He said, standing up, “Can't leave them.”

What? I almost choked on the crispy morsel in my mouth.

“Are you fucking with me?” I nearly shouted. Not that I could actually shout.

“Those assholes dosed me up with dash, shoved me in a pit, and made me kill a little colt.” Not that I was much bigger at the time. “Fuck, Lily, they put both of us in chains.”

Lily went silent, shaking his head and staring at the ground.

“No,” He said, turning and walking back towards the camp. “I have to go back.”

At first, I didn't follow him. He was crazy. Why would anypony want to be chained up to a bunch of fuck-holes like them? But then Lily was always crazy, and he could handle himself. . . Fuck, could he handle himself? Could I handle myself? Dammit, I couldn't just leave well enough alone.

I stood and followed Lily back to the camp. The wind had died down, and the trip back seemed shorter. When we got down into the small depression, we made sure to fasten our chains back to where they had tied us up, though I did hesitate before he rolled the boulder over onto the loop still knotted in my chains.

Leaning back against the rock, I drifted back to sleep.

I needed my rest; I had a fight in the morning.

* * *

"Time to get up."

I could feel the pull of the chain on my collar loosen as they jangled, untying somewhere behind my rock. For as aggressive as she was on the battlefield, Bit was much less violent when she woke other ponies up. I stood up groggily, blinking my blurred eyes and taking the opportunity to stretch my bruised and sore limbs.

"Get your ass up, 'Can," Pops barked, shooting a small rock towards Trashcan's sleeping form with his telekinesis. The pebble missed, but the dust and flakes of stone that flaked off the short wall above Trashcan made his point, and prompted Trashcan to shoot up suddenly from his grungy sheets.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," Trashcan said, rubbing his eyes with a hoof. He wadded up his blanket and shoved it in his saddle pack. Almost as an afterthought, he stopped short at Lily's chain to jerk him awake by his chain.

Shit rolls downhill, I guess.

Most of the supplies had already been packed away, as Pops wanted the camp to be hard to notice, so it took very little time to put everything away. Before we set out, Pops levitated out cans of beans for us all. The centuries old metal would have been hard to manage, but it turned out that Bit's spear doubled as a can opener. Needless to say, the years had not been kind to these beans, which had turned to little more than tasteless brown and red goop. I had no idea what the red in it was, but judging by the harsh and stale flavor it was probably some sort of salt.

My chain tightened as Bit grasped it with her magic, motioning me over to the top of one of the hills we were nestled beneath. Getting up to the top, I was surprised to see a wagon crawling its way over the dilapidated highway. I immediately dove behind a nearby rock, accidentally pulling Bit face first into the side of the hill. Shit. I was going to pay for that later. Her dead weight pulled at me, telling me that she hadn't quite gotten back on her feet but I stayed behind the stone, not wanting to be found by the caravan. They must have woken up earlier than we had; these guys were well organized and in a hurry.

Pops crawled up next me, staying low himself.

"Good," He said in a soft whisper, "Good. They won't be expecting an assault from behind; at least while they're on the move."

He levitated out some sort of long barreled rifle from his saddlepacks. Good Luna, this thing was massive; altogether it was almost as long as I was. I never knew much about guns, but that thing had to be dangerous. Seven hells, it'd be deadly to hit somepony with it, let alone shoot them.

"Trashcan, Bit. Take Lily and Brick down there. When I fire the first shot, have them chase these fuckers down," He said, peering down a strange glass-tipped tube on top of the weapon.

Bit nodded in understanding, grunting as she picked herself up off the ground, pulling me around the side of the short hill.

"Wait," Trashcan faltered to a stop lower down on the slope, "How do we know Brick won't make a run for it?"

"We don't," He said, his tone low as he pulled back the handle protruding from the side of the gun, which sounded with an ominous click. "It's a good thing I brought my sniper."

* * *

Bit led us up around the side of the hill. We had hurried as fast as we could move without falling. As it was, we more slid than ran, which made it difficult to go unnoticed by the wagon. Luckily we made it down the slopes unscathed, for the most part; Trashcan had a pebble or something caught in his horseshoe.

Bit and I crept up behind a rocky outcrop near the side of the road, as Trashcan led Lily behind one further back. I crouched low as the dilapidated buggy passed, struggling over the road's various cracks and potholes with its wheels stripped of their rubber.

As far as I could tell, there were only two guards; each seated on the top with their rifles mounted atop the wagon's makeshift barricade. Whatever there was in the wagon had to be important or expensive, as far as I had seen before, merchants usually traveled light, often taking only one guard, maybe two if the area was dangerous. On better traveled roads they traveled in caravans together for protection, but since Ponyville was sacked, trade slowed down a lot. Not only where there two guards armored, but so where the ponies pulling the cart, who were likely armed themselves.

"Shit," Bit spat in a harsh whisper, "They got more firepower than we thought. . ."

She looked back towards where Lily was hiding.

"Trashcan!" She whisper shouted, "Trashcan! I got an idea. Throw me Lily's chain!"

There was no answer. She jerked and ducked low as a loud pop erupted from the passing wagon.

"Trashcan," She spat again, "Gimme' that damned chain or I'll fucking take it from you!"

The end of the chain flew over the edge of the rock, and soon became enveloped in her bright yellow magic field.

Three bullets erupted in a strange hiss from the roadside, ricocheting off the side of the rock. Well, so much for waiting for the signal. I lept over the cover and charged at the moving wagon, which jolted into action as soon as it saw me coming. I could hear the pounding of hooves behind me, and ducked to the side, lowering my head to make myself a harder target.

More gunfire sounded as Lily pulled up beside me. All of a sudden I felt my chain yank back and start into a pull. I looked back to see Bit posing behind us, her horn sparking with strain as she held onto both me and Lily's chains . . .

Bright green and yellow sparks flew out from beneath her hooves, leaving trails of smoldering asphalt and a spray of charred pebbles behind her. I snapped my head forward, setting my eyes on the wagon guards, whose eyes were wide with shock.

Blam!

A plume of blood splashed out from the chest of one of the guard ponies, shoving him clear off the side of the wagon, which shuddered as it barreled over his body. The other one snapped back into action and started to open fire.

I leaned into my sprint and redoubled my effort, slamming my hooves to pull us forward. Lily's tongue lagged out the side of his mouth as he crouched low and met my long stride. As we overtook the side of the wagon I lost sight of the second guard . . . but I could hear his scream rend the air as Bit's spear flashed past my shoulder.

My collar let up all of a suddenly, lurching me forward as the weight on my neck let up. Free of any weight I pounded my legs and rocketed up around the side of the wagon, whipping my mane behind me and filling my ears with a roaring gale.

As I came around the side a thundering BANG blinded me as a hot lance pierced my shoulder, sending spikes of pain shot through my side, but I kept running. One of the pony's pulling the wagon glared at me over a heavy revolver set in his mouth.

BANG BANG

Two more shots ripped by me, the shaking air leaving me nearly breathless, but neither shot hit their mark. A jolt shook the wagon, lifting the pulling-buck off his hooves for a moment, throwing off the next shot he had lined up. Not wasting any time, I pressed the advantage and flung myself at him.

I shoved off towards him as hard as I could, but my wounded shoulder gave out, sending me barreling into his legs. The wet and muffled crunching of bones filled my ears as he slammed into the other pony pulling the wagon. A solid blow landed on my face as I clung for my life to his harness.

My head slammed against the pavement for a moment, but then began to spin as I was looking up into the sky. Shocked and disoriented I let go, bouncing and rolling off onto the hard soil. I strained to press my legs up beneath me, favoring my right leg as it burned with the effort. The world spun around me and my dull temples as I searched around, looking for the wagon and the ponies trying to shoot me. How the hell did I manage to lose a wagon?

Wait, there it was. Just behind a boulder, the smoldering wreckage of the vehicle lifted the limp form of a pony into the air. I limped towards the wreckage to make sure all the guards were dead. I could have sworn there were two ponies pulling it . . .

A massive force hit me from behind, shoving me down onto the ground, scraping gravel against the side of my face. My eyes blurred a strange green and pulled my head back, yanking at my mane, and slammed me face first into the ground, numbing my already torn up cheek. My head lifted back again, but this time I rolled to the side, throwing the weight on my back beneath me.

A set of armored legs gripped me at my hips and another set wrapped around my throat, but they could not press through my collar. I lifted my left foreleg and brought my elbow down hard behind me. My blow was rewarded with the solid, meaty thump against my attacker's armor. I lifted my hoof high into the air and brought my elbow down again and again, each time trying to hit where I thought the kidneys would be.

Each blow was accompanied by a pained grunt, until the other pony's grip loosened around my neck. Not waiting a moment, I spun around on top of him and twisted him to the side with a single ragged movement. Pinning him on his side with one hoof, I aimed through the blood smeared in my eye, and brought down my hoof heavily on his neck, ending his life with a gut wrenching snap.

I pushed myself off the still warm body and rolled onto the ground, wheezing with exertion. My lungs burned with the effort, but it passed with a few deep breaths, unlike the wet, choking coughs of the unfortunate sentinel pony. I rolled back over and stood up to see Lily being led over by Bit. I turned back to the wreckage, and noticed that the harness lifted up into the air was empty now.

Drag marks gouged into the shallow sand led away from the crash to behind the wagon.

I limped over slowly, taking the time to wipe the gravel from the shallow cuts on my face with my wounded leg. The cold morning wind clawed at the open wounds, but it was probably better to clear them of any dirt.

Behind the wagon, the pony that had shot me pulled himself forward, dragging his limp and mutilated hind legs behind him. He turned and saw me, panic showing in his eyes, and scrambled to pull himself as fast as could. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't very fast. Coughing a ragged spurt into my hoof, I followed up to him easily, and circled around him to look him in the eyes.

He looked away, tears streaming down his eyes and cut face.

"Please," He begged through his sobbing, "Please don’t kill me. . . I. . I didn't mean to hurt you I . . . I."

Not even trying to keep up his pathetic lie, he laid his face into his hooves and sobbed quietly to himself. I couldn't help but understand, the wasteland was a harsh place, and nopony wanted to die. Just a few seconds ago, this buck had been well of for a pony; well armored and with a gun that seemed to be in good repair.

“Please . . “ He whimpered into his arm.

And who was I? A raider? No, not even that. Just a slave, doing the bidding of his master; doing what he needed to survive, regardless of the blood it would stain on his hooves.

"Brick!" I could hear Pops shout from behind me, "Brick, get your ass out here!"

I already had blood on my hooves in the name of survival, and today would be no different. I leaned in close and wrapped my hooves around the side of his head, jerking his head roughly to the side. His sobbing stopped as his head bent unnaturally upwards towards the sky, his blue eyes staring up towards the cloud smothered sky, empty, as his last breaths caught in his mangled neck.

Yes I was an addict and a slave, but this buck was free and look where it got him. I was better off.

I was alive.

Note: Welcome to level three!

Perk Gained: S.P.E.C.I.A.L.. Training: Through hard work and sweat and all that, you managed to get a permanent increase to AG. Congratulations!

Skill note: Unarmed: 50

Survival: 45

Author's Note

Special thanks to Kkat for the ever wonderful, Falout: Equstria. Thanks to Wegeekirby as well for the help. I'm trying to get more of this written, but Finals happened and it gets hard to find the time between Fo:E Murky Number Seven chapters

Which reminds me; Fuzzy, wherever you are, you're awesome.