An unforgiving world

Chapters

Introduction
Foes in the sand
To Canterlot
A follower

Introduction

[Author's notes: Before we begin, I must clear a few things. This story will be different from most, as in, the readers will decide on the choices the main character takes.

This story will take the path of a RPG. So the character will be referred to as 'you'. The chapters may be short sometimes, but that's because there's an important choice to make. At the end of each chapter, five choices will be given. The one with the most votes will be the outcome in the next chapter. You can either help the character lead a great life, or one filled with pain and misery. So, be careful with your choices.

One last thing. I have been asked this question many times as I planned out this story. Will there be guns? Well, I originally thought no, and was going to stay with swords. But, after so many people asking me, I'm just going to say yes, there will be fire arms in this story.

After all the voting, the character's looks and name have been chosen.

This is you:

Now, to begin the real story.]

Chapter 1

You awake to see the night time sky, filled with stars. You slowly sit up and rub your head, which is slightly throbbing.

You take a look around to see that you are in a desert of some kind, but how did you get here? You try to remember what happened, but everything is blank.

As you stand, you notice something next to you, a strange metal object. It was in the shape of a half square, but had more detail. Upon further inspection, you notice that it has a name engraved on it, 'Everdark '. What's that suppose to mean?

You reach down with you hoof and pick up the metal object. You look down at your chest to see what looks like a pouch strapped to your shoulder. The metal object in your hoof looks like it fits in the small pouch, so you try and place it in it. To your surprise, it fits perfectly.

After you put the object in the pouch, you take another look around.

To the right is a straight stretch of desert, and to the left is the same thing. But to your front is what looks to be a worn down path, most likely used a lot.

You decide to follow the road, hoping it leads you somewhere.

Along the way, you keep getting the feeling something is following you, but every time you take a look around, you see nothing.

This worries you, since you don't remember anything about the world around you. It could be anything, friend or foe.

After fifteen minutes of walking, you see lights in the distance. The kind of lights a small town would put out.

Seeing this quickens your step, making you want to be among others and maybe find out what's going on.

Your trotting turns to full on galloping once you near the town. You see very few ponies walking around, but this doesn't worry you.

It doesn't worry you till one of them points a long object at you and yells out, "Stop right there!"

You put your hooves down, bringing yourself to a complete stop.

The pony in front of you was dressing in ragged clothes and had a few scars on its face. It held a metal object in its hooves, pointing it straight at you.

You have no idea what that thing is, but you can tell its dangerous by the way the pony is using it.

"What business do you have here?" The pony asked, still keeping its guard up.

You clear your throat, but find that its dry, "I don't have any business here. I just saw this place and thought I could get some help."

The pony eyed you up and down and look your flank, where your small cloak was, "The Rising Phoenix. Hmmm, I see, what kind of help do you seek here?"

You thought for a second, "Well, I don't really know. I was hoping somepony could give me some information."

The pony smiled, "Oh, now I know what you want." He lowered the object, "You can enter the town, and get the help you seek."

The pony waved you inside and you walk past him. Why is he acting so strange?

As you walk through the town, your nostrils are assaulted with the smell of rotten food. The smell makes you gag for a few seconds.

You look around and see a few ponies walking around, all of them wearing rags. There are a few stalls set up, all selling either rotten looking food, or strange metal objects. Some of the objects looks like the one you have.

You continue to walk through the town, taking in the sights of a destroyed town.

While you walk, you see a building with the words, 'Dixie's tavern' written across it. It catch's your eye and you decide to check it out.

Upon entering the building, you are assaulted with a new smell. The smell of the sick and decay. You force yourself not to gag and make your way further into the tavern.

You walk up to a long counter with chairs along it. You take a seat and rest your forelegs on the counter.

All around you, you can hear the laughs and remarks of all the ponies. This place must be very popular because there are more ponies in here than outside.

A rough looking stallion approached you from behind the counter. He stood in front of you and threw a towel over his shoulder, "So, what will ya be having?"

You look at him strangely, "What do you mean?"

He sighed and shook his head, "What kind of drink do you want?"

"Oh." You check yourself and notice that you have nothing to buy the drink with, "Uhhh, I don't have any bits."

The stallion groaned, "Then why are you even in here?"

You shrugged and sigh, "I don't know. I can't remember anything about my life."

Should you have told him that? That may have been a bad idea.

The stallion looked you over and rubbed his chin, "I see... I think you should go down the street, to Dr. Slain's house. He may be able to help you with that."

You stand and say thank you. You then walk out of the tavern, getting strange looks from the ponies around you. Their stares are making you nervous.

Once your outside, you look around. The ponies are all doing the same thing as when you went inside. This town isn't very exciting, but that's a good thing.

You walk down the street, looking at every building, trying to find DR. Slain's house. But there are no names on the buildings, just plain brick and wood.

After a while of searching, you see a pony wearing a white coat walk into a building. You decide to check it out, hoping its the doctor.

You walk up to the house and knock on the door. Second's later, it opens to reveal the pony wearing the white coat.

He looks you over, "Huh, The Rising Phoenix. Interesting. What can I do for you?"

Why does everyone keep saying that? "Are you Dr. Slain?"

He nodded, "Yeah, and who are you?"

You bit you lower lip and shrugged, "I have no idea. I can't remember anything about myself."

He tapped his chin, "Hmmm, interesting. Please, come in." He steps aside and allows you to enter.

Upon entering his house, you could easily tell this is also his clinic. There was ponies in beds, most covered in bandages and a few with broken limps.

He then leads you down a small hall to a room that looked like a patients room, "Let me have a look at ya."

You nod your head and sit down on the bed. Dr. Slain then proceed to take off his hat to reveal a horn. It begins to glow and you feel a slight tingling feeling in your body.

"Huh, that is interesting." He says while taking a few notes.

Why does he keep saying interesting? Its kinda strange.

After a few minutes, his horn stops glowing and he looks over his notes, "Well, I think I know whats wrong with you."

You motion for him to continue, "Which is?"

He looks up at you, "The scan said you've taken a heavy blow to the head. I think that's what's taken away your memory. But that's not all, you also have a broken rib. I can't tell how that happened though."

Blow to the head? Broken rib? What the hay happened?

He reached behind himself and pulled up a piece of paper, "Here, fill this out. It could help with your memory, maybe."

You look the paper over and notice that its a personality test, "Why do I have to fill this out?"

Dr. Slain sighs, "Look, if you want your memory back, this is the best place to start. It may help you remember something about who you are."

You give a shrugged and pick up a quill. You look over the test and begin to fill it out.

Now, for the first choice you get to make. You all should chose wisely, because this will affect the story in a big way.

Pick a class:

A. Firearms expert (You know everything there is to know about firearms. This boosts your accuracy with all types of firearms, and you instantly know how to use each and every one with no practice. This class comes with a combat bonus. You have a sharp eye, meaning you almost never miss what your aiming at.)

B. Brute (You excel in the use of melee and hoof to hoof combat. You can take massive amounts of blunt damage, but are very weak against other types of damage. This class also has a combat bonus. You can use almost anything as a weapon, even a simple stick can be used as a weapon with the same results as a sledge hammer.)

C. Assassin (You are an expert at all things that involve stealth. You are a master thief, you have the ability to pick any lock and break into anything. You have fast reflexes and enhanced senses. This gives you the edge in all combat situations, but you lack the ability to take a lot of damage.)

D. Medic (Your skills in the medical field are unrivaled. You know every healing techniques in the book, and not in the book. You have the ability to heal yourself, and others with out the help of healing tools. Not a class if you plan to fight.)

E. Engineer (You're an expert when it comes to maintaining weapons and machinery. You can fix and build almost anything with out the use of tools or gear. This class is a great balanced class, giving you the best of both worlds. The ability to fix/build things, and the ability to hold your own in a fight.)

Everyone must vote on one of those, and the one with the most votes will be the chosen class.

I know this was a short and fast chapter. But this was merely the introduction. It just sets up the real story, so don't think that the entire story will be like this. The next chapter will be better, depending on your choices here.

Foes in the sand

I have counted the votes, and we have a class.

You chose: Engineer. This will affect the story line. Will it be a good thing, or a bad thing?

Remember, I'm keeping track of all of the choices and where they lead. Make the wrong choices, and this story could end very soon. Yes, your character can die, so be careful and thoughtful of your choices.

One last piece of information: When the character picks up a piece of gear, instead of describing it, I'll put a picture. This way, you'll be able to visuals the story better.

Chapter 2

As you fill the personality test out, you began to remember certain skills that you must have learned. After you finished filling out the test, you hoof it to the doctor.

He looks it over and nods, "Did this help any?"

You give a small shrug, "Yeah, I can remember a few of my skills."

He smiles, "Good, good. What are your skills?"

You think for a second, "Well, as far as I can tell, I use to be very good at building and repairing things."

Dr. Slain nods, "Interesting, so your an engineer?"

"I guess." You say, not really sure if that's what you are or not.

He closes his eyes and chuckles lightly, "Do you even have anything on you?"

You cock your head, "What do you mean?"

He sighs, "Do you have any gear on you?"

You open your mouth and say, "Oh." You reach into your vest and pull out the metal object, "This is all I have."

He jumps slightly, and uses his hoof to point it away from him, "Watch where you aim that."

You look at the metal object in your hoof, "Why? Is it dangerous?"

He looks at you strangely, like you're an idiot, "Uhhh, of course its dangerous. Its a gun."

What the buck is a gun? "A gun?"

He rubbed his temple with his hoof, "You really did forget everything, huh?"

You shrug slightly, "I guess I did. Can you please explain this thing to me?"

He furrows his brow, "I can." He reached out and grabbed the gun out of your hoof, "This object here is a gun, or to be more specific, a .45 pistol. A gun is used for defense, but we also use them to kill. That is the main purpose of a firearm, to kill."

You nod, "Alright, I got it. How does it work?"

He hoofs it to you, "Well, I don't really know. All I know is that you pull this thing," He points to a piece of metal sticking out from under the gun, "And the gun fires out a bullet. But be careful, because once you pull the trigger, there is no going back."

You look the gun over and instantly know how it works and how to take it apart. Your memory must be slowly returning or something. "Thank you doctor."

He held up his hoof, "There is another thing. You see, those guns need bullets, and bullets here cost a lot of bits. So, you're going to want to conserve them if you can."

You look at him confused, "I see, how do I get bits? I know what they are, but I don't know where to get them."

He chuckles, "Oh, I could take advantage of you so easily. The easiest way to get bits is to work. Most ponies around here have something they need done."

You stand and hold out your hoof, "Thank you, you've been helpful."

He smiles and shakes your hoof, "No problem. I'm glad to help somepony in this hell hole."

You furrow your brow in confusion, "Uhhhh, can you tell me whats going on. I mean, why is everything so... bad."

He looked at you sadly, "This is a long tale, but I'll shorten it for you. You want to hear it?"

You nod.

He sighs and sits in his chair, "Eighty three years ago, Equestria was a peaceful place. There wasn't any thoughts of death or murder, just innocent ponies going about their innocent lives."

You raise an eyebrow, "How did that change?"

He licked his lips, wetting them, "Well, Princess Luna wanted to have equal power to the throne. But her sister, Princess Celestia, wouldn't let that happen. She didn't want to give up to much of her power. Luna became outraged and they locked themselves in the conference room. Nopony knows what was said, but when they left, Luna left the kingdom. She started her own government, the Lunar Republic. After a few years, it grew, and grew, and grew. It soon became just as powerful as the Solar Sentinels, which was ruled by Celestia. As expected, they became weary of each other and went to war. The first war to happen since the time of Nightmare Moon. The battles were horrific, so much destruction and death. I don't know what happened fully, but what I do know is that it soon came down to the two going at it one on one. That's where most of the destruction happened, that's what turned the world into what it is today."

You try to process all this new information, but find it hard, "What happened to the sisters?"

He sighed, "They called a peace treaty, but you couldn't call it a peace treaty. They still fight, all the time. Their governments hate each other."

You tap your chin, "Which one is the good one?"

He looked at you and bit his lip slightly, "You know, I don't think either one of them is good. The past eighty years has changed those two, but I would say the Lunar Republic. At least they don't force you to obey them."

You rub your chin, "But, I don't get something. How did all this happen? You know, the state of the world. Couldn't they fix it?

He shrugs, "They could, but they're to busy fighting each other to care about the state of the world. To tell you the truth, the only way things will ever be the way they use to be is if one of them die. And that's not going to happen for a long, long time."

Before you can answer, you hear a pony yell out, "Dr. Slain! We need your help!"

Dr. Slain sighs, "I'll be right back." He then trotted out of the room and down the hall.

You stand there, looking around the small room. You suddenly have an idea, you pull out your handgun and lay it on the counter.

You look it over and smile, "I know this now!" You then begin to disassemble the small handgun.

After a full minute of work, it was fully disassembled. You looked at all the pieces, knowing where each one goes.

You put it back together just as fast as you had disassembled it. You then repeated this process over and over again till the doctor came back in the room.

"Ah, I see your enjoying yourself." He said as he walked up next to you.

You smile, "Yeah, this is pretty fun. This gun is so interesting."

Dr. Slain smiles, but then looks slightly concerned.

You look at him and cock your head, "Uhhh, what is it? Is everything alright?"

He sighs, "No, everything isn't okay. That was Lily Bell, her sister was attacked by a group of bandits."

You become worried, "Is she okay?"

He nods slightly, "Yes, but she won't be for long. She has a slight infection from a bullet wound."

You rub your chin, "Well, can you help her?"

He shook his head, "I'm afraid not, I ran out of the type of plant to stop infections a long time ago." He then looks at you and slightly smiles, "Say, you look like you could handle yourself pretty well out there."

You shrug, "I might, I haven't had to yet."

He smiled, "Could you go out there, into the desert, and bring me back the flower I need?"

You bit your lip, you want to help the pony, but you don't know what its like out there, "I don't know..."

"I can pay you."

This perked you up slightly, "I guess I can go out there, but I don't know what the flower looks like."

He opens a drew and pulls out a picture, "Here, take this with you, this will help you in identifying the plant."

You take the picture and look it over.

You nod, this should be easy. Just look for yellow.

"I'll be back soon." You say, heading for the door.

He nods, "Hurry back, I don't want this infection to spread to much."

Twenty minutes later

You stop walking and look around. You swear something is watching you, you can feel it.

The moon above makes the desert look like a death trap. Shadow's move, creatures hiding in the darkness, and who knows what in the skies.

This isn't an ideal situation, everything around you is unnerving.

After a few more minutes of walking, you see a board stuck in the ground. Upon reaching it, you can see it in greater detail.

You can't tell what it means. Probably just a random sign, or something.

You walk past it and continue your search for the yellow flower.

Seconds after passing the sign, the sand in front of you starts to shift.

You stop and look down at it, confused.

Suddenly, a hoof shoots out of the sand and grabs you by the neck. You feel yourself being lifted up and then slammed into the ground.

You look up at your attacker, but the darkness hides his face.

"I knew he was going to trespass!" It said to somepony out of sight.

"I guess you was right. Hurry up and kill him so we can get back to... Wait a second! Look at him!" The pony out of sight said.

The pony above you leans down and examines you, "I don't believe it! He actually came back, even after what he did!"

"Lets bring him back to camp. I know Draco will want to have a talk with him." The pony out of sight said. The pony then walked into view and held a long wooden thing in his hoof. He then slammed it into your head.

Everything went black.

Four hours later

You open your eyes and jump up, surprised to find that your not tied down. You look around and notice that your in a hut of some sorts.

You can hear somepony talking outside the hut, "Yes, its him! He actually had the nerve to come back!"

What's going on?!

The blanket that acted as a door was pushed aside and a tall pony walked in. He was covered in bandages and at least as tall as two ponies.

And unfinished picture. This is the basic look as of this moment.

He glares at you, "So, you've come back. What was your plan this time, to kill our oldest mare?!"

You shook your head, "No! Please listen, I don't know who you are, or whats going on."

He looked surprised, "Don't try and lie your way of of this one."

You held up a hoof, "No listen to me! I don't remember anything but tonight. I don't know how, or when, but somehow I've lost my memory. I swear!"

He eyed you up and down, "Lets see then." He turned and yelled out to somepony, "Come here! I need you to perform a truth spell on this one."

He stepped aside and another pony walked in, this one also covered in bandages. He trotted over to you and pointed his horn at you. A small beam shot out and hit you in the forehead, causing you to yelp in surprise.

The other pony stepped forward, "Now, tell us that again. And don't bother to lie, that spell will make you tell the truth."

You gulp, "I woke up in the desert, with no memory of my past life. I went to a town and got a little help from a doctor there. But now, I'm out searching for this plant," You hoof him the picture, "I didn't know I was trespassing."

He looked the picture over and then at you, "Huh, I guess you're telling the truth." He hold out his hoof, "Since you don't have any memory, my name is Harena Draco, but only call me Draco."

You shake his hoof, "Nice to meet you Draco, I don't really know my name, but I think its Everdark."

He nods and steps back, "Okay then." He looks at the picture again then back at you, a smile formed on his face. "I think we can use you not having your memory to our advantage."

You cock your head, "What do you mean?"

He chuckled, "Well, we've been needing somepony to go to the old city of Canterlot and do a special job for us."

You know where this is going, "What is the job? Why can't one of you do it?"

He looked amused, "You really don't have your memory. Well, we Sand Dover's aren't really friendly with the Solar Sentinels. We can't even get close to the city walls with out being shot at, so going there is a no go for us."

"Sand Dover's?"

He nods, "Yeah, Sand Dover's. A Sand Dover is a pony that lives in the desert . We use the desert to our advantage in all possible ways. Including, making gun powder, travel, and we can use it to heal certain wounds."

You tap your chin, "How's that work?"

He chuckled again, "Lets just say we have a special ability when it comes to sand."

You nod, "So, what's this special job?"

He pulls down his face cover to reveal dry, broken skin, "A little over a month ago, a caravan came through here. The pony in charge promised us medical supplies if we gave him fifty pounds of gun powder. The only catch was that we had to give the gun powder up front. We accepted since we are need of more advanced medicine. Well, its been a month and he hasn't returned, this leads us to believe he is never coming back. I want you to go to Canterlot and kill him."

You bit your bottom lip, you don't want to kill somepony, "What will I get if I do this?"

He pulled his face cover back up, "If you do this for us, we'll give the plant you're seeking. We have plenty of it laying around here that we're not using. And as a added bonus, if you bring back the promised medical supplies, I'll throw in one of our weapons, and maybe a few other things."

You perk up at this. You need this plant, and you could really use a second weapon. But, you don't want to kill another pony.

This sounds good, very good. It just comes with a cost. You could do this and get the plant you need, plus a little extra. Or, you can say no and find the plant on your own. But that may take to long.

He looked at you, "So, will you do this?"

Time to make a choice, chose wisely.

What will you do?

A. Accept the offer and go to Canterlot.

B. Decline the offer and search for the plant on your own.

C. Demand that they give you more.

D. Demand they give you the rewards now and go back to town, and forget about the Sand Dover's quest.

E. Who needs this? Shoot your way out of the camp, may be fun and you may find a weapon or two.

Remember, your character can die. Make to many bad choices, and your character gets closer and closer to death. Think about your choice wisely, because what you do now will affect the story. For the better, or for the worst. Choices made now will come back to haunt you later on in the story.

To Canterlot

You chose: Path A. Lets see where this takes you.

Also, to answer a few questions: Yes, this story can take a wrong turn and could end very fast. I'm keeping track of all things that happen, and so far, your character is doing great. For now that is...

Chapter 3

You sigh, "I'll do it."

Draco smiles, "Good, good. Your lucky, if you had said no, we would have killed you."

You begin to sweat, you just go lucky. "Well, I'm glad I said yes then."

He nods, "Me too, I need you for this."

You rub the back of your head, "Uhh, what's this pony look like?"

He chuckles and walks out of the hut, "Let me get the picture."

You sigh and reach into your vest to check your pistol. But find it missing. You wipe your hoof across your forehead, its a good thing you didn't try and fight them. That would have been certain death.

Draco returns and hoofs you a picture, "Here he is."

You nod, "Whats his name?"

Draco thinks for a second, "I think he said it was Merck. Strange name if you ask me."

That is a strange name. "Uhh, which way is Canterlot?"

He sighs, "To the west, about ten miles."

Ten miles! "That far?"

He nods, "Afraid so, but don't worry. Its only an hour an a half trip if you gallop."

You sigh, "I guess I should get started." You walk past him, but he stops you.

"Here, you'll need this." He gives you your gun. "And take this also." He then slides a knife into your vest.

You received: Combat knife

You smile, "Thank you."

As you step out of the hut, your mouth hangs open.

There must be at least a two hundred Sand Dover's here! It is a good thing you didn't fight them!

Draco walks out, "Well, good luck. Don't die out there."

Very encouraging words.

An hour later

You trudge through the sand, exhausted from no sleep.

You could barely see the sun as it slowly made its way upward. It must be early morning or so.

As you walk, you pull out your pistol and examine it. You look at the clip for the first time and shake your head.

The clip is half empty, only three rounds left. How did that happen?

That must be why Draco gave you the knife. But, why couldn't he have gave you more bullets?

That is very odd. Very odd indeed.

Suddenly, a high pitched scream could be heard on the other side of a large sand dune. This scream was followed by a gunshot and the laughter of stallions.

You look that way and begin creeping up the sand dune. When you reach the top, you see five stallions standing over the bodies of two other stallions. But that's not all, there was a mare, tied up and gagged, laying at their hooves.

You lower yourself, staying out of view and listen to them.

"I want this one first!" The tallest one yelled out.

"No! I get her first! You four can have sloppy seconds!" Said the strongest looking one. He must be the leader of the group.

"I get her second!" Yelled out a medium sized stallion with a large scare on the side of his face.

They began to argue over who gets her first, and so on.

You lower yourself all the way and bit your bottom lip.

What should you do? Should you help this mare? You only have three bullets and there's five of them, but if you don't do something, she'll be raped and maybe killed!

You want to help, but your current ammo situation is holding you back. You have a knife, but you don't really know how much use that will be.

"Forget you guys! I'm mounting her now!" You heard the strong one scream.

You gulp, you have to make a choice and you have to make it NOW!

What should you do?

A. Help her, you can't watch a young mare get raped!

B. Who cares? You don't know her, let them have their fun.

C. Try to distract them.

D. Try and join them, may be fun.

No choice 'E' tonight. Now, choose wisely. Think about this one really hard, because I can guarantee you'll regret not doing one of them.

A follower

You chose: A

Let's hope you can fight with only three bullets and a knife.

You bit your bottom lip and let out a deep breath.

You take hold of your .45 and begin to creep back up the sand dune. Once at the top, you peer over to see the big one preparing to mount her.

This makes you angry and you lose your cool. You jump up and fire twice.

The first round misses all of them completely, but the second one hit the smallest of the group.

"AHHHH!" He screamed out as he fell to the ground, holding his throat.

The big one jumped off the mare and pulled a large metal weapon off his back.

Before he could point it at you, you fire your last bullet, hitting him in the chest.

He stumbles back and falls.

The other three charge you, none of them have a firearm on them, only knives.

The tallest one reaches you first and surprises you with a swift kick to the jaw.

Your head snaps up and you collapse.

They all give you a few hard kicks before backing up.

"What should we do with him?" One of them asked.

"I say we kill him now."

"No." Said the tall one, "I say we make him suffer."

Buck, you helped the mare and this is what you get. Death.

You lay your head back and look at the three stallions, waiting for the end.

But suddenly, you feel the ground begin to lightly shake.

Then behind the three stallions, the sand explodes upward.

What you see surprises the buck outta you.

A Sand Dover jumped out of the sand and grabbed the nearest stallion, the medium sized one, and dived back into the sand.

There was a muffled scream, then silence.

The other two stallions looked at each other and pulled out their knives, ready to fight.

The sand shifted slightly under one of them and a clawed hoof shot upward and embedded its self deep in the stallion's gut.

The stallion yelped in pain and collapsed.

You slowly stand, trying to clear your head.

The last stallion makes a mad dash for the fallen stallions gun.

But, before he could reach it, his front hooves suddenly shot under the sand. He began to scream as he was slowly drug downward.

Seconds later, it was silent.

You stagger forward, but stop when you see the sand in front of you shift. Your prepare for the worst, but instead of attacking. The Sand Dover jumped out of the sand and landed in front of you.

"You are very stupid, you know that?" He said as he looked at you.

You rub the back of your head and chuckle, "Yeah, I guess that was pretty stupid."

You hold out your hoof, "Thanks for saving me, I think my names Everdark, whats yours?"

He looks at your outstretched hoof and hesitates before shaking it, "Mine is Mortem."

Why do Sand Dover's have such strange names? Wait, why was he following you?!

"Uhhh, why was you following me?" You ask.

He pulls down his face mask to reveal the same kind of broken dry skin as Draco's and smiles, "Two reasons. One: Draco told me to. And two: I knew you would need some help."

You smile, "Thank you. I would have died if you hadn't been here."

He nods, "Yes, you would have."

You hear a light cough behind you and you turn to see the mare, still bound and gagged.

You pull out your combat knife and advance on her.

She looks at you with fear in her eyes, scared of what you have planned for her.

You reach down and pull the gag out of her mouth, allowing her to breath better. You then cut the ropes holding her.

She shakily stands and looks at you, and says with a shaky voice, "T-Thank you."

You smile and put the knife away, "It was nothing."

She then looked at the bodies of her friends, "My family... dead."

You feel a ping in your heart. This mare just lost her whole family, "I'm sorry for your lose."

She gulps back tears and looks at you, "Where is the nearest town? I want to have them buried."

You look at Mortem.

He sighs and points to the left, "That way is the settlement of Broken Ridge. Its only a half hour walk, but its the closest."

She nods at both of you, "Thank you, both of you."

She then trots past you two, heading in the direction of Broken Ridge.

You sigh and sit on your haunches.

Mortem walks over to the fallen stallion, the tough looking one, and picks up his weapon.

He looks it over and shakes his head, "This thing is a disgrace! Our weapons back at the Sand Dome are much better then this!

You look at it and furrow your brow, "Can I have it?"

He looks at you and hoofs it to you, "Yeah, I wouldn't want to make a foal of myself by using it."

You receive: Hunting rifle

You look the rifle over, examining the components. You pull out the clip and check the ammo. Six rounds, not bad.

Mortem leans over one of the bodies and began to search its pockets. He pulls out a few items and put them in a small pouch on his side. He pulls a bag like thing off one of them and tosses it to you, "Here, you're gonna need one of those."

You receive: Saddlebags. Your inventory is now increased to 13.

You look at it and smile, "Thanks, this will be of great use."

He gives a small wave and goes back to looting the bodies.

You want to loot the bodies also, but it feels wrong. Sure, they were bad, but that doesn't make it right to just take what was theirs.

Once Mortem had searched all the bodies, he turned to you, "You ready to continue?"

You nod, "Yes, it should easy from now on. Right?"

He slowly shakes his head, "You have no idea what lays ahead, do you?"

You try to think about it, but give up. You shake your head, "No..."

Mortem sighs and walks up the large sand dune. Once he was at the top, he motioned for you to follow.

You slowly trudge up the sand dune, almost slipping a few times.

When you arrive at the top, you can see a large forest not far from your position.

Mortem waved a hoof out in front of him, "That.... That my friend is the Everfree Forest. Its the only way to get from here to Canterlot."

You have leveled up! Choose a perk:

A. Physically Improved (This perk increases your stamina, endurance, and makes it where you don't tire out easily. Great for couriers or ponies on the move.)

B. Fast learner (With this perk, you will learn new skills at half the time. Mostly used by teachers and eggheads.)

C. Royal snob (This perk increases your chances at a bigger pay out after a completed job. It also gives you a huge boost in speech and bargaining. But, you are very picky on where you sleep and eat. Not recommended for survivalist.)

D. Hoof it! (You gain the ability to travel large distances with a heavy load. This perk increases your storage to 18. But, it also takes away your ability to be stealthy.)

E. Break it down (Your skills in the engineering department are unmatched. You can now build anything and everything under the sun. As long as you have a few tools and material.)

Choose wisely everyone. Next chapter will either be out tonight or tomorrow.

Edit: I forgot to put this in.

You've received a follower: Mortem