Fallout Equestria: Better Days

Chapters

Chapter 2 - C'est la vie
Chapter 3 - Best Frienemies
Chapter 5 - Performance Review
Chapter 6 - Grandmother Knows Best
Chapter 7 - Family Matters
Chapter 8 - The Principles of Heroism
Chapter 9 - Of hugs and hatred
Chapter 10 - Dark Places
Chapter 11 - Warmth
Chapter 12 - Road to Retribution
Chapter 13 - Hasty Actions
Chapter 14 - In all the wrong places.
Chapter 15 - Bad Ideas
Chapter 16 - Six by Eight
Chapter 18 - Summer Prison Blues
Chapter 19 - Mounting Debts
Chapter 20 - True to it's name
Chapter 21 - From the Ashes
Chapter 22 - Why they always run
Chapter 23 - What the heart wants
Chapter 24 - Everypony hates unexpected guests
Chapter 25 - Beam me up
Chapter 26 - Double Edged Sword
Chapter 27 - The Dinner Party
Chapter 28 - Clean Slate
Chapter 29 - Back to Work.
Chapter 30 - Reunion
Chapter 31 - Bystanders
Chapter 33 - ...is new again
Chapter 34 - Respite
Chapter 35 - Dichotomy
Chapter 36 - Undivided Attention
Chapter 37 - Mighty Fine Shindig
Chapter 38 - Uphill Battles
Chapter 39 - Boiling Point
Chapter 40 - Professionalism
Chapter 41 - La vie en rose
Chapter 42 - The Third Law of Motion
Chapter 43 - Family
Chapter 44 - Best laid plans.
Chapter 45 - Coup de foudre
Epilogue
Chapter 1 - Not so humble beginings...
Chapter 4 - Physical Therapy
Chapter 17 - The best of times
Chapter 32 - Everything old...

Chapter 2 - C'est la vie

I let out a sigh as I used my magic to flick the lighter in my levitation, the worn down flint looking as if it had finally gone out. I flinched as a poorly aimed round ricocheted on the rock I was laying behind, the raiders who had ambushed me had been too hasty to fight and made the mistake of firing too early. I chewed on the end of my cigarette lightly before levitating it up as I concentrated on using my fire spell, smiling as I could hear it light up.

I brought it back down to my muzzle and took a long draw off of it while I stretched my legs a bit. I swiveled my ear as the sound of the gunshots drifted through the hills around me, no new rounds being fired at me. So what do I use? #5? Nah, they are still too close for the scope. If I took #3 off burst, I could probably hit them. Alright then, that's the plan.

I tugged open the holster for #3 as I rolled onto my belly, staying low while floating the black and silver gun to the side of my muzzle. Taking another long draw off of my cigarette, I held it in, not wanting the smoke to give me away. I swiveled my ears again, listening carefully for anything moving.

The soft crunch of a hoof on gravel to the right of me made me smile. I sprang up with my legs, levitating the gun in front of my muzzle as I spotted the grimy looking stallion trying to sneak out of cover. His break-open shotgun dropped out of his muzzle as he saw me, making a mad dash towards cover. I squeezed the trigger twice, sending the rounds his way where only one found a place in the side of his neck.

I dropped back down behind cover as his body tumbled out onto the ground in a crumpled heap, blood squirting out of his neck. Bullet’s chipped away at my cover, making me wish that I had my mother's Pipbuck so I could tell how many assholes were out here. Unfortunately for me, even though she's 'retired', she won't let me use the damn thing. Although, she did try to pawn Grandma's rifle off on me. Pft, I've got a pistol for every occasion, why would I need something as cumbersome as a rifle?

My ear caught the sound of somepony just on the other side of the rock. I rolled myself to the side as a raider jumped over it, jabbing a sharpened pipe into the dirt where I just was while screaming something from around the shaft. I tried to swing #3 around to her, but lost my focus on holding it when a scatter of shotgun pellets whizzed by, barely missing me.

The mare swung her head up and thrust the pipe at me again, dragging the tip of her makeshift ‘spear’ along my leather coat. If she had taken any time to actually make sure her weapon was sharp, I might have been in real trouble. But her mistake let me retrieve #6 from it's holster, quickly flipping it around and firing it. The recoil of the 20 gauge shot threw the firearm from my levitation, but shredded a hoof sized section of her chest. She slumped to the ground as I stuck low, listening for any hint on where to look next.

Two assholes down, most likely only one to go. I glanced around the dirt, quickly gripping #3 in my magic. My ear caught the quick beat of hooves moving away from me, giving me pause to think about my next action. I smirked as I dropped #3 and pulled out #5. One .44 magnum round, express delivery to the raider asshole who started this fight. I stood up and levitated the gun in front of me, taking my time as I carefully aimed at the cowardly stallion.

The gunshot echoed across the hills, a solemn warning to any other assholes in the area to stay the fuck out of my way.

Steel Junction wasn't much to look at from the hills above it, being no more than an odd collection of old brick buildings and the junk pile of a train yard it had been built for, but the depressed looks upon every residents faces always made me feel better. I don't know why, but whenever I run through here, I can't help but smile at all the grumpy folk.

I levitated my hat into my saddlebag and let my hair down, roughing it up with my hooves. I pulled out the rigged slave collar and put it around me, frowning as it chafed against my neck as it always did. This was always the tricky part. I had to play a convincing slave and hope that I could buy off the bartender to set up a meeting between me and the target. Paying off Keg Tap was never a problem, seeing as we've worked together for years. But it's making it convincing to anypony watching? That's always been the problem.

I left my preparation spot and trotted back up to the road, heading toward the city at a pace that made it look like I had run all night. I smiled as I entered the ornate iron archway into town, trying to pass myself off and having 'made it out' per se, trotting my way directly into Keg Tap's saloon. I pushed the doors open and walked in, darting my gaze around as if paranoid.

"Hello there, what can I..." Keg spoke as he turned around, stopping as he spotted me. "Oh, you look exhausted. Can I get you something sweet? Or perhaps something stronger to help with the pain?" He asked with a smile. This was part of the system escaped slaves used. If somepony answered with something sweet, they were looking for a place to hide out in town, if not, then they weren't actually a slave.

"Something... sweet?" I leaned forward and dropped my voice just enough so I could still be heard throughout the room. "I need a place to stay." I forced a nervous smile, turning my gaze around the room. I glanced up to the second story balcony, briefly spotting my target peering out from the shadows. I shot my gaze towards him, smirking before running out the door. If I had just played my cards right, she will be intrigued enough to come find me at my trapped shack outside of town.

As I ran along the dirt path that lead out of the small settlement, I did a mental tally of everything I needed to do. First was inspect the shack for inhabitants or wildlife. Second was clear out said inhabitants or wildlife. Third was set up the shotgun rigging. Mental side note here to load in the less lethal rounds I've carried around forever. I can't go screwing up a contract as important as this! And lastly, secure myself inside the mailbox to wait.

The shack was only about a half hours trot outside of town, and one could get here at a gallop in only fifteen minutes. That didn't leave me much time to get everything ready, but I've worked under worse constraints before. An odd shape caught my eye a few hundred feet out into the wastes behind the shack. It was a pony. A dark coated pony with a light colored mane that was laying on top of a rock, probably dead from some wasteland horror. An all too common sight out here.

I looked up into the sky, noting that the buzzards were circling fairly low, meaning it had been here for a while. I toyed with the idea of dragging it into the shack on occasion that it scared my target off, but there wasn't enough time, so I was just going to have to risk it. So in I went, levitating my gear out as I did a visual inspection of the inside of the shack. With no ponies or wildlife, I set the shotgun into the mounting I had built into the wooden table for it.

My magic tightened down the straps that held it in while feeding a single less-than-lethal round into the chamber. Satisfied that it was set up, I took my spool of wire and ran a line through several eye bolts I had secured into the floor to both the shack door and the trigger, tieing the trigger tightly before trotting to the door. As I swung it shut, I pulled it through a rusted hole and tied it to a nail that I melted to the sheet metal.

I turned and looked at the mailbox, swinging the back open with my magic as I scanned the horizon. Climbing inside, I was reminded that I actually enjoyed sitting inside the trashcan more so than this, because at least the trash had ventilation. I swear I could smell my flank cooking to the metal floor plate as I hoofed the mailslot down.

Now came the most annoying part of a contract; the waiting. All in all with this contract, she happened to be at the bar, which was perfect, and if Keg Tap played his role right, it would be fairly quick for her to make it here. I levitated half a bottle of water from my pack, taking my time to enjoy the warm liquid as I kept my eyes glued to the horizon.

As time ticked on, I used my forehoof to wipe the sweat from my muzzle. This box was nothing short of an oven today, and if I had to sit in it much longer, I'll be considered medium well to well done by anypony who'd found my cooked corpse. I spotted a small, dark dot on the horizon, raising #5 out of it's holster to my eye. She had wrapped herself in a cloak, but it was definitely the same mare as from the bar.

I smiled and pressed myself back against the scorching metal wall, folding the mail flap up just enough to where I could still see, but be better hidden. As she approached, I re-holstered #5, no need to keep it out if I had to take her alive at all costs. If this failed, then I'd have to find another way to try again. But, like all others, she nervously looked around as she trotted up to the shack. She stopped in front of the door, pressing her ear to it before opening it.

And then she trotted inside.

I blinked as she shut the door behind her. Where's the bang? Why the hell did my rigging fail!? I sighed and knocked my head against the wall in frustration, stopping as my ears picked up a soft murmuring inside the shack. Was she... talking with somepony else? I opened the mail flap and leaned my head closer, sticking my ear out of it to try to get what was being said.

I still couldn't understand it, but I could hear two voices, one a mare's, which was probably my target, and one a stallions. The real question was how the fuck did an asshole get inside my shed without my knowledge! Not only did he get in, but he disarmed my trap as well. Did this set of slaves have the resources to hire an anti-bounty hunter? Even so, he got here impossibly quick.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" The voice of the mare shouted, shortly before the door swung open. A dark coated stallion bolted out from the shack, zipping by the mailbox at his fastest. As he ran by, I noticed a brown and black tube in his muzzle. That asshole had stolen my shotgun! I turned around and was about to throw open the back hatch when something I completely didn't expect happened.

The shack exploded.

The force of the blast sent a forceful wave of air into my hiding place as several sharp pieces of metal punched through the rusty walls. Unlike the raiders spear, the hot shrapnel was indeed sharp enough to get through my coat, perforating me with several spikes of old sheet metal and wood splinters. The mailbox's legs gave out and was pushed over, the hatch behind me opening to spill me out onto my back as debris fell from the sky.

I coughed and groaned, at least, I think I did. My hearing had becoming nothing more than a dull, low ringing as I tasted the metallic crimson blood that flowed from my muzzle. I concentrated and focused on the healing potion I had in my saddlebag, gripping it and floating it up over me. My magic twisted the cap off and poured it over me, sealing my lacerations and other assorted wounds, the reason being that I needed to stem the bleeding before removing each object embedded in me.

With most of my superficial injuries dealt with, I brought the mostly empty bottle down to my muzzle, guzzling the rest of the magic laced liquid. I could feel it knitting me up from the inside, the always alien feeling of new tissue sewing itself together making me shudder. I attempted to roll myself over, but stopped when I tweaked several sheet metal knives sticking from my side and hind leg. I tossed the empty healing potion bottle aside, pulling out my emergency spare.

Using my magic, I managed to slip each piece from my side at once, a process that made me belt out what was probably an impressive scream I couldn't hear because of my blown hearing. I fumbled with my telekinesis as I felt lightheaded. One of the pieces must have hit an artery, and my blood pressure was dropping fast. I forced the potion against my side, letting most of it wash down me as it closed the grievous wounds.

I took a sip from the bottle, making my head feel a bit better as the fluid forced my body to replace the lost blood. It had been a close call, but my health was now in the clear. Well, all except for my hearing. Lifting the bottle, I tilted it and washed the last of the fluid into both of my ears, the odd ringing slowly being replaced with the crackling of the few fires that burned what was left of the shack.

I pulled myself to my hooves, walking over slowly toward where the old shack used to stand. Maybe she was able to survive the blast. I know that in a situation like this, the old table like the one in there was made of thick enough wood that it could have absorbed the force fairly easily. But as I climbed over a few pieces of sheet metal, I spied a cream colored hoof sticking out from underneath it. I lifted the sheet in my levitation, stopping when I found that the leg ended in a bloody mess just above the shredded cutie mark of a white star over a fireball.

Well fuck.

That was the one FUCKING caveat on the job, don't kill the asshole, and I failed. I threw the metal debris aside and roared out my frustrations. How the fuck could this have happened!? I've done this dozens of times before where I was in complete control of the situation, so how the FUCK did a stallion manage to get inside!? Whatever, I might as well snip her cutie mark, seeing as Big Shot is going to want proof she’s dead. I pulled my carving knife from my bag and got to work, trying to think of the best way to apologize to him.

As I walked back out to the road, I noticed the dark form of a pony laying on it. I knew it was the same asshole from the shed, I could just feel it. Sure enough, as I trot forward, lines of blood trailed through the dirt up to him. I blinked in astonishment as I recognized him as the same asshole I shot in the leg in Filly. He was bleeding from several deep lacerations as well, the blast tearing him up less than me, but enough he seemed to have passed out from the wounds.

I levitated out my normal bandages and magical healing bandages, wrapping them around him to stabilize his condition. There was no way I was going to let this asshole die before he told me how and why the hell he screwed up my plan. I levitated his saddlebags off and stuffed them inside my own, also taking my shotgun back from the dirt beside him. Once I had everything secured, I focused hard on my telekinesis, lifting his heavy body up and onto my back.

It was going to be a long walk back to town, but oooh, Celestia, save him when he wakes.

I clipped my fake slave collar around his neck as I sat on his chest, double checking the bindings I had tied around his hooves and the bed before I smacked him lightly on the cheek a few times. When there was no response, I decided to try... more drastic measures, swinging my left hoof across his muzzle. Finally that boxing magazine I had read payed off somehow as he groaned and shook his head. He opened his eyes slowly, the ice blue of them for some reason catching me off guard. He looked about in confusion, tugging at his hooves lightly for a moment before smiling and returning his gaze to me.

"Not normally my kink, but I'm cool with it." He smiled and winked. I rolled my eyes and levitated #1 over to his temple, making him cringe as I pressed it into him. "Ok, not so cool with it now, baby. Put dat piece away before ya hurt somepony."

"How the fuck did you get inside my shed?" I asked simply.

"What? Listen baby, I don't know..." He nervously looked around, stopping as I used my horn to levitate #2-6 into his view as well. "Alright, alright! I'll tell ya!" He turned his head and gave me a sad frown. "Geez, ya didn't have ta go dat far, doll."

I sighed as I felt my irritation levels rising. "Don't call me doll, or baby, or babe, or any other fucking degrading name you filthy piece of shit." I returned #2-6 back to their respective holsters, keeping my deringer pressed to his head.

"Well, then what AM I supposed ta refer ta ya as?" He smiled and waggled his eyebrows, making my skin crawl. This asshole disgusts me.

"You may refer to me as Miss Cap." I growled out, smacking him lightly with the gun. "Now talk. How did you get in?"

"I got inside through one of the back metal panels. It was loose, so I lifted it and slipped right in." He carried his glance between my glare and the gun. "So, can I go now?"

"You may go when I feel satisfied." I said, drawing a wide grin from him. "I swear to Luna, if you make another lewd reference, I will shoot you in the only head you think matters." My words made him deadpan with a sigh. "What the fuck were you doing in there, and why did you get my target killed?"

He looked shocked. "ME get HER killed? Why, she was the one who barged in on me trying to make a living!" I popped him hard in the nose with my hoof, making him groan. "Geez, lady, no need to..." I hit him again, a line of blood running down his muzzle slowly.

"I told you, it's Miss Cap." I raised my hoof again, watching him flinch. "Now. The truth."

"I saw ya go inside!" He shouted as I swung my hoof again. I stopped just before connecting, raising an eyebrow as he continued. "Sometimes when ponies go in, they stash some good stuff somewhere they think is hidden, but I can find it."

I crossed my hooves on my chest and glared down at him. "Go on..."

"And when I got in there, I knew ya had ta have hidden somethin good, cause nopony traps a room without somethin good bein inside!" He spoke slower, regaining some of his calm. "But after I disarmed the trap, I couldn't find anythin at all! It was like ya didn't leave anything in there. But dat's when I heard movement outside, and I thought dat maybe ya had returned."

"Get to the part where my shack exploded." I sighed and rubbed my forehead with my hoof. This is the asshole that screwed everything up? Why is it I feel so disappointed that he’s not at least a little bit smarter?

"I was gettin there, babe." He scrunched his muzzle up at that, catching my glare. "I MEAN MISS CAP!" He cringed and waited for my swing, relaxing when it didn't come. "Well, as I was sayin, I had hidden myself when this other mare came walkin in. I figured dat since she didn't know I was there, I'd scam a few caps offa' her."

"And how were you going to manage that?" I asked boredly. Maybe I should just cut my losses and shoot him. Big Shot was already going to be pissed, not to mention I was now in debt to him 1,500 caps. Fuck this sucked.

"Ya see, there's a lil' trick I pull with a broken grenade on a string." He smiled, sounding more like he was bragging about it than explaining it. "I slip it inta their bags with a wire attached and demand they pay me or I pull the stem. Even if they pay, I pull the stem out an bolt inta the sunset, gettin away while they're too busy dealin with a grenade dat'll never go off."

"If they are duds, why did your little trick KILL MY TARGET!?" I hit him again, feeling a bit of the stress bleed off like the crimson down his nose.

"I DON'T KNOW!" He screamed and tugged at the bindings on his hooves. "I was just sold those grenades with the assurance dat they didn't work! If I had known it was goin ta go off, don't ya think I would have tried ta hide?"

He did have a point, but accident or not, he just cost me 3,000 caps and made me fail a contract. Something that's only happened four other times before in my life, and a number that I was proud to be able to hold over my mothers head. Now we're tied thanks to this asshole. Goddesses, fuck my life.

"I swear, dat's the whole shebang!" He cried out, stopping as he realized what he said. "No, not bang, accident! Oh goddesses, please don't kill me." He whined, sounding like he was going to cry.

"Quiet down and quit acting like a foal." I said, standing up and jumping down off the bed. "I have standards as a bounty hunter, and I don't kill assholes without a contract." He smiled with teary eyes. "Although..." I watched that smile drop. "You did cost me quite a lot today. That's why I put that explosive collar around your neck. You work for me until I see fit that your debt has been paid. Got it?"

He looked shocked, moving his head around as he now realized that it was there. "But, I didn't mean ta do it! I've got a wife an two foals!" He pleaded. Oh Celestia, I hate when morons try to lie.

"Oh really? What are their names?" I sighed and stared at him, unimpressed. He froze for a moment before shaking his head and shrugging.

"Yea, ya got me there." He smiled looked over to me. "Ya know..."

"Let me just stop you there." I held my hoof up as I cut him off. "Rule number one, no fraternizing with the boss. Rule number two, I am the boss. Rule number three, you do what the boss asks without hesitation or question. Failure to comply with any of the stated rules may result in your immediate, let's say 'termination'. Yeah, that's a soft enough way to put it." I undid the bindings on his rear hooves. "Do you agree with these terms."

"Yea." He sighed in defeat, wiggling his rear hooves in relief. "Just one question. How’d ya know dat I was lyin about a wife an kids?"

I smirked. "Cause assholes always break rule number one." I undid the bindings on his forehooves. "And only morons do it twice, especially when the first time gets them shot by me." I pointed my hoof to his leg, making him look down at it. As his mind made the connections, I couldn't help but snicker. It totally doesn't make up for the shit that happened, but I am going to make this stallions life a temporary living hell.

After everything today, I fucking needed a smoke.

--Chapter End--
Let’s be honest, that could have gone better.
Quests finished: Not so easy money (FAILED)
Quests Started: Damage Control
Levels earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

Side note: Sorry I put the title of this chapter in fancy, but it's french for 'Such is Life', Which I felt was appropriate for what PC had to go through this chapter. Also sorry if this section seems a little sparse, but I'm running on 4 hours of sleep at the moment.

Thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, John Colt, Hetnu, Xjuan, Sawyer, Vocal, and Bad Pun. You all are truly the most inspiring set of individuals out there.

Special shout out to Regolit, Deathpony, and everypony on the IRC for being all around generally awesome!

Chapter 3 - Best Frienemies

The dusty road ahead appeared to waft in the midday heat as time felt like it was crawling by. It was still another day and a half back to Fillydephia, and having this... stallion to look over had been exhausting. Who knew some pony could complain so much about the most trivial things? His hooves hurt, his collar is too tight…

"Heya, Boss? I'm kinda thirsty." He called up from behind me.

I stopped and lowered my head with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of my muzzle with a fetlock. What did I ever do to deserve this? No no, you're a bounty hunter PC. You don't get to complain when you take a job. "Just stay calm..." I grumbled to myself and levitated both my pack of cigarettes and my canteen out, unscrewing the cap and taking a quick drink before popping one of the nearly two century old guilty pleasures into my muzzle.

I floated the canteen over to him as I looked into the crumpled cigarette pack. Shit, only two left. Maybe there will be some more raiders around here that I could snag some from, they are always good for a pack or two. My ears turned back as I heard the sound of an empty canteen hit the dirt. I turned my head slowly to look at him, watching as he wiped a few dribbles of water from his mouth.

"That was... all the water I had!" I stuttered out, standing in complete disbelief. "That was all the water we had!" I turned quickly and connected my forehoof with his muzzle. "YOU ASSHOLE! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!"

He flopped over and rolled back to his hooves, recovering quickly from my hit. Now mind you, I'm no good in hoof to hoof fights, but I've been in enough to know how to handle myself. He sprung forward and threw his shoulder up, attempting to slam into me. One thing I learned when fighting another unicorn, is to never charge them.

I lowered my head just enough so that my horn tore across his muzzle and cheek, narrowly missing his eye as he slammed into me. As he recoiled from the pain, I used my momentum to roll to my hooves, using my magic to grab #1 and thrust it out from it's holster. As he held a hoof to his cheek, the gun connected with his nose, bouncing off for me to grab again with my magic. He lifted his hoof and swung the strap of the canteen around it, pulling it taut with just enough distance to smack the derringer from my hold.

"Ya messed up my face, ya crazy bitch!" He screamed as he raised his hoof to swing the canteen at me.

"I TOLD YOU!" I screamed back as my magic took hold of the canteen, twisting the strap before I swung the metal container down to smash him in the head. "IT'S MISS CAP TO YOU!" I brought the container down onto his head multiple times, doing no real damage, but then again, I didn't want to kill him. Not to mention, the more I hit him, the less stress I felt I had!

"Alright alright!" He shouted and raised his free hoof to defend against the telekinetic onslaught. "I'm sorry bout the water, Boss!"

"You're damn right you are.... YOU! " I dropped the canteen from my levitation and looked over to my right, picking up #1 in my magic and returning it to it's holster. "The hell is your name anyway?" I rummaged through my coat pocket with my magic until I found my lighter, flipping it open as I brought it to my muzzle. I looked to the cigarette I had, sighing as it had been torn in half during the fight.

"What do ya care anyways?" He rolled his eyes and scuffed the dirt. "It's not like ya really care ta be my friend or nuthin." Which wasn't wrong. I really didn't care much at all. I was just getting so tired of having to call him 'you' every time I spoke to him. And we hadn't even talked that much!

"Friend?" I stifled back a laugh. "If you blew up my contract just so you could find a friend, you are shit out of luck, pal." I finally got the flame to spark up in the old lighter and lit my nubbin, taking a deep breath as I shut my lighter with a click and returned it to my pocket.

"I told ya, it wasn't 'sposed ta work out dat way." He waved his hoof dismissively as a look of agitation crept across his face. "Besides, what if all I was doin was lookin for a friend? Why the hell would dat be so bad?" He scuffed at the dirt with his hoof, sighing as his anger swapped to sadness. "Came out here ta die anyway. I got nothin left."

"Are... are you being serious?" I blinked a few times, trying to suppress my giggles but failing and belting out uncontrollably. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time, but the irony was just too much. "You've got to know, if you want to die, you're supposed to explode WITH the grenade!"

"I'm bein' serious." He said sternly as he look me straight in the eyes. "I've got no friends. No family. No job and no home." He lifted his hooves to the rigged collar I'd put on him, pulling and snapping it off as I went wide eyed. "I even knew this was rigged. I've just been followin along cause I needed some sense of purpose." He let the collar hit the dirt, my eyes unable to look up from it.

"But... I saw you in Filly, you were drinking with your friend there." I tried to recall that night. "I mean, you've got to have some friend SOMEWHERE. Nopony has no friends."

"I don't. I was only there ta work an wasn't even drunk!" He walked toward me slowly, shaking his head, his eyes watering up. He threw his hooves around my neck, hugging me lightly. Why the hell had I let him get so close? I've never let anypony even lay a hoof on me without my permission.

"I don't understand. What do you mean working, you said you had no job?" I asked as I pushed him away, being caught by surprise as he flicked his hoof in front of my muzzle, holding my lighter in plain view.

"Don't make many friends when they know ya can steal everythin out from unda them." He dropped the lighter, making me catch it in my levitation as he took a step back. "All I'm askin is ya let me stay with ya till we get back ta town, then I'll go." He sighed and lowered his head.

Which I hit again with the canteen.

"Oh no. You aren't getting off THAT easily." I said as he raised his hooves again. "Even if I believe you, which I don't, you still fucking cost me 1500 caps." I continued as he finally bat the canteen from my magic. "You are mine until I deem you aren't. GOT IT?"

He looked at me with the faintest hint of a smile, his teary eyes wavering. "Oh thank ya, Boss!" He flopped down in front of me and hugged my forelegs. "Ya won't regret lettin me stay... friend."

Oh I think I will. "Yeah yeah, don't get too attached." I groaned. Goddesses know that this was all a mistake, but I really didn't have any other ideas than just letting him run off after ruining the job. "And you still haven't told me your name."

"Huh?" He wiped at his teary eyes with his hooves. "Oh, the name's Caltrop."

I sighed and hung my head again as we walked. Apparently because I let him stay, we were best friends, and that meant that he could go over his life story in extravagant detail. He was born way up north in Stable 26, which had been overrun years before that by some gang or something. He grew up only knowing his father, grandfather, and three sisters, yada yada yada. Got into some trouble when he stole too much. Got kicked out and has been making a living as a thief ever since.

Boring.

I was about to mumble for somepony to just shoot me when as luck would hold it, someone did. The shot from nowhere hit me square in my right shoulder. Either the gun was low caliber, or it was in extremely poor condition, because when it punched through my leather coat, it didn't sink very far into me. Regardless, it hurt like all hell.

"GET DOWN!" I yelled as I burst into a gallop. Of course there would be raiders set up in the exact set of rocks of where the others died. Only raiders were that dumb to not learn, and of course only I was that dumb to get caught by it again. My shoulder burned as I slammed behind a boulder.

"Only one gunshot at that range so far, which means they only have one gun..." I muttered under my breath as my magic tugged open #3. "Or the other guns they have are shotguns." I pursed my lips and let out a deep breath, turning my ears to hear the world around me. There was a faint clanking from the rocks I had hidden behind the time before.

"What the hell!" One of them screamed as the sound of multiple hoofsteps drug on gravel. "GRENADE!"

I spun myself from behind my rock, catching the first Raider I saw as he bolted from behind his cover. Instinctively, I fired as the sights crossed him. Unicorn, lightly armored, little threat to me without his gun. The single round pinged off the rock face just in front of him. As I continued to spin towards the second running target, my magic flipped the selector on the side of #3 to burst. I'd have to remember to kick myself later for forgetting to do that .

As I lined up the sights, I pulled the trigger again, two of the three rounds finding new homes inside the raiders backside. He went down with a loud scream that was cut off with a sickening snap that I could hear over the echoing report, his neck breaking as he tumbled along the ground.

One down.

I turned to face the other running raider, finding that he had stopped and his horn was glowing. A rusting .45 auto pistol was levitating next to him as he pointed it at me. My legs told me to jump back behind cover, but my mind knew that it was too late. From this distance, my coat wouldn't do enough to stop the round and I had a high probability of getting hit somewhere vital.

A loud thundering boom echoed out across the sky, throwing off the raider's aim as he fired. I felt the round skirt by me while the raider turned and looked up. One of the boulders that sat on top of the outcropping had broken off, smashing the raider flat with a meaty thump. I turned my gaze up to see Caltrop panting heavily from behind where the rock had stood. Had he... just saved my life?

He looked to me and smiled, which I nervously returned. We both jumped as more shots rang out, horribly aimed rounds ricocheted off the rocks he stood on as he slid down the backside. I turned right to see a group of four... no, five more raiders running in. This was going to get bad if I didn't do something, so as a bit of quick thinking, I focused my magic on the dud grenade Caltrop had dropped and tossed it toward the new group.

Turns out, this one wasn't a dud either! If I hadn't been at a good enough angle to place me behind cover, the blast probably would have killed me, but as of now, the worst I got was just ringing in my ears. As I trot around the corner to survey the scene, a little version of me nagged at me in the back of my mind, pointing up to her horn.

Nothing was left of the assholes but meaty chunks and shredded corpses. I vaguely remembered something my mother would tell me because I was a unicorn. That every unicorn had a spell unique to them that related to their talent, and that once I had found mine, I could figure out how to cast it easily. And my talent, was shooting. Any gun or round that my magic touched, no matter how corroded or bent out of shape, never failed to go off when fired.

A unpleasant realization entered my mind. Because I had used my magic on the shotgun in the shack, and Caltrop had stolen said shotgun, he may have contaminated his grenade with my spell. And that meant it had ultimately been my fault that the grenade went off. Which also meant that it was ME who almost got HIM killed by the blast as well.

I fucking hate my life.

Amongst the twitching remains of the raiders, I did spot something that helped lighten my mood. I floated the half empty pack of cigarettes up and levitated one into my mouth, flicking my lighter again and taking in a deep breath, wincing from the bullet still buried in my shoulder. All in all, this hadn't been so bad.

The raiders had a piss poor selection of loot on them. The .45 auto pistol wasn't even worth a second look, and the two rounds they shot at me were all they had, along with the one other that they had in the magazine. I took it anyway seeing as there was no reason to let good ammo go to waste. The big guy who broke his neck had apparently planned to stomp me to death, seeing as he didn't have a single thing on him.

The second group had a few... unorthodox weapons on them. One of them had been wearing spiked shoes, which probably would have sucked if he had ever gotten near me. The other was a mare who had a pole with a circular saw rigged up to it. Which looked intimidating, but let me share a tip for fighting against unicorns. Never wield a weapon so long that with enough leverage, I can flip it back around and use it against you.

That and don't let me throw dud grenades at you, pretty sure I can add that to the list now as well.

The other upside of killing all these guys with a grenade was the hearing loss. The constant ringing was a far better companion to me than the unending chatter from 'my new best friend'. My magic scoured the pockets of the largest dead raider in the group, pulling out a small sack that felt like it had bottle caps in it. I opened it and peered inside, to my delight finding that it did in fact hold what looked to be about 20 caps.

Just another 1480 and I'd be home free!

"So, what ya tellin me is... I'm not the one ta blame for the grenade blowin up ya contract?" Caltrop asked in confusion for the third time. Three hours he had lasted before speaking since my hearing came back, three hours since I blurted out the worst mistake of the day.

"Yes, it was my magic." I groaned out as we walked. Why couldn't the ringing have stuck around for just a few more hours instead of this splitting headache? "But you're still not off the hook."

"Why the hell not!" He demanded. "I dun see how it is I'm ta blame!"

I spun around and prodded his chest with my hoof, the brim of my hat folding up on his forehead. "Because I'm not the one who tried to scam her with a grenade, now am I?"

He gave a nervous smile and took a step around me. I would like to be angrier that we had been having this conversation, but I had to think that he deserved to know. Sometimes my own stupidity baffles me beyond belief. Why is it that I originally wanted to make his life a living hell, but it was infact the opposite happening? I shivered slightly as a random chill ran through my body and didn’t let up.

"So then, Boss!" He smiled as I trot up behind him. "Why dun ya tell me about ya family?"

I tripped. I collapsed like a sack of potatoes as a sharp burning went through my chest. I don't know why, but I didn't feel right. I tried to get back to my hooves, but my legs refused to cooperate, only sliding along the gravel as I felt beads of sweat running down my forehead. I didn't know why this was happening! I removed the bullet from my wound, and it hadn't even gone that deep, so it can't be lead poisoning!

"Booowsss?" Caltrops voice started to slur in my ears as my vision fuzzed. "Waaaassss wrooong?" From that point forward, my world became a mix of random colors, oddly frightful sounds, and intensely erratic pain.

Ever since I was old enough to work with my mother, I had always thought about how I was going to die. Gunshot wound was pretty far down on my list actually, even though it was just about the most common way for the wasteland to get you in the end. Close to the top I had considered landmine blast, robot disintegration, and tetanus, the later of which was surprisingly painful to die by. At the top were the ways I'd least like to go out with, is burned catastrophically by a balefire phoenix, pink cloud fusion, and raider sex slave. And at the top of how I would most like to go out from is at the center of a Balefire megaspell, nothing can ever be quite as bad-ass as that.

I felt weightless as the swirling colors darkened and disappeared, the disturbing sounds continued uninhibited by my loss of sight. But as I felt death creeping up on me, I saw the most welcoming of light approaching. I swear on Celestia's grave that I could feel the radiance of it take away my pain. At that point, I was ready to go. I had lived my life, made my mistakes, and had done the best I could.

Then the light died. It took the pain, sounds, and even my thoughts from me, leaving me in an empty, dark abyss.

"Ey', wake up!" Caltrop's irritating voice invaded my abyss. The asshole couldn’t even keep out of my death. Just had to keep screwing shit up for me, didn't he? "Quit playin around. Ya been layin there fah days now!"

He lightly smacked me in my right cheek a few times. I took a guess and thrust my right forehoof up, connecting with something solid that brought a smirk to my muzzle.

"Whoa now, ya didn't have ta hit the Doc!" He replied in surprise.

I opened my eyes to see him standing over my left, his left forehoof hovering over my chest. I thrust up my left hoof and hooked him good under his jaw, dropping him to the floor.

"The two of you cut that shit out, right now. You can't fight in here, this is the recovery room!" The voice of a stern mare called out from my right. "Besides, that's no way to treat your husband." She dropped her voice to a grumble. "Even if he is annoying as hell."

"My WHAT!?" I sat up and attempted to roll over onto Caltrop. "You asshole! You're lucky I owe you for this!" The heavy hooves of somepony pulled me back over, spinning my gaze to see a very large mare towering over me. Her neon blue coat contrast almost comically with her pristine white lab coat while her strawberry blond mane hung over half of her face.

"Calm down Mrs. Cap, or I'll have to sedate you." She frowned and shook her head. "And that will cost extra on top of your already extensive bill."

"Doc, what the hell happened to me?" I asked as I took a deep breath, trying to relax.

"I pulled a single fragment from that bullet wound you had there." She pointed at my shoulder, making me realize that it had been tightly wrapped in bandages. "The bullet was made of an extremely rare material named starmetal, only seen it once before truthfully. It’s toxic to ponykind and even a single fragment can induce severe poisoning into the subject." She hoofed at a clear cup on the table next to me, a dark sliver of metal no longer than the hair of my coat sat in it.

"Wait, THAT nearly killed me!?" I blurt out. That's impossible! How could something like that do so much?

"Correct Mrs. Cap. Another hour or so with that in you and the poisoning would have stopped your heart." She smiled and lifted her other hoof from my waist. "I had to surgically remove the affected area and apply a hydra and heavy healing potion to you to clear your body of it." She sat down beside me and glanced over to Caltrop. "Now that she is awake, how would you like to settle the bill?"

He grinned nervously and nodded his head towards me. "She'll... take care of it, won't ya sweetie?"

The urge to leap off the table and beat him to a bloody pulp was rising fast, and I'm pretty sure that even without my guns I had a fair chance of winning. But I'm not 5 years old anymore, and I can't settle my debts with a hoof fight as I had when I had just become a young mare. No, I'm a mature pony who pays her debts through hard work.

"I'm just on my way back to Filly from a job and don't have much." I groaned as I flopped back onto the bed. "How much is the total I've incurred."

"That's 1,000 for the stay, 200 for the healing potion, 300 for the hydra, and another 1,000 for a new set of surgical tools." She replied so calmly, I thought she had been telling a joke, though I know that this wasn't. "So the total comes to 2,500 caps." She smiled and looked at me with her bright eyes.

Her bright, highway robbery like eyes.

"I don't even have a fifth of that on me." I sighed as I sat up. "Isn't there some way we can make a deal? Payments perhaps?"

"Oh, don't worry honey!" She waved a hoof dismissively at me with a chuckle. "For you? it's on the house."

"Holy shit, really!?" I laughed and smiled as she sat there.

"Pft, hell no!" She laughed deeply. "I'm going to need you to pay up in full or I'll break both your rear legs." She deadpanned and looked at me expectantly.

Caltrop and I traded glances for a moment before the thought to just grab one of my guns flashed through my mind, only being torn from that thought as the Doctor broke out into hysterical fits of laughter.

"YOU THOUGHT I WAS SERIOUS AGAIN!" She screamed out between gasps. "OH LUNA, THIS IS TOO GOOD!" She nearly fell out of her chair in laughter as she got to her hooves and walked from the room, her laughs echoing down whatever hallway she had turned into.

"What an Asshole." I muttered as I rolled off the bed.

"What makes her an asshole?" Caltrop inquired as I got my hooves under me again. I felt slightly lightheaded for a moment before feeling good enough to take a few steps.

"The fuck do you mean, what?" I stuck my hoof out, pointing at the door. "You saw the shit she just pulled!" I spotted my jacket and gun harness on a chair in the corner of the room. "Not to mention how much she charged me."

"No, ya misunderstand." Caltrop cocked an eyebrow as he looked at me. "Ya keep usein that term. I don't think I've heard ya use anotha insult yet besides asshole? Ya know?"

Because I've never needed to use another word. "When I was young, my mother always referred to everypony she saw as an asshole. In fact, I grew up thinking that was how you greeted people out in the wasteland." Caltrop snickered at my explaination. I levitated my harness over, putting it on as I continued through his immaturity. "SO anyway, when I was a young mare, and she was home from bounty hunting, she made sure that I knew that everypony I would ever meet was an asshole. She always used my father as the only example I would ever need."

Caltrop scooted himself up to the bed I had been on, using his hooves to prop his head up as he listened intently. "You see, my mother never had an interest in stallions. She came home with a new mare every week it seemed." I shuttered at that. Relations of any kind just proved to mess up work, no matter what gender it was with. "But it had been because she had been ambushed during one of her contracts and knocked unconscious. She awoke in a raider den surrounded by pent up stallions." I tightened the buckles on my harness, pausing my story to make sure all my guns were secured in their correct places.

"So... what happened?" He spat out eagerly. "Did she escape?"

"The fuck kind of question is that?" I shook a hoof at him. "Of course she did! I'm here, aren't I?" I shook my head and floated my coat over, draping it across me and pulling it snug. "Even you can figure out what happens in that kind of situation. They ended up rapeing the shit out of her for two days before my grandmother, the badass legend she is, broke into the place and slaughtered the whole lot of them."

Silence filled the room as he seemed to process this. "Wait... wouldn't dat mean only stallions are assholes?"

"No, of course not! Weren't you listening about the mares in my family? We’re all bounty hunters." I facehoofed and shook my head, levitating my hat over and onto me. "Mares are the most dangerous creatures in the whole fucking wasteland! Damn straight that makes us all assholes."

--Chapter End--
Huzzah, you didn't die horribly!
Quests finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: Lack of Fucks -
You gain the ability to ignore 10 points of penalties to skill rolls from a chosen source for a turn. For every rank of Lack of Fucks you take, you may use this ability three times during a session. Each use must be on a different turn. This perk has an unlimited number of ranks -- you can lack as many fucks as you want to spend perks on.

Author's Note

I've decided to keep these thanks sections short because I kinda already go all out on them in Merchants of Hope and I feel it's a bit redundant to go on an on twice.

Thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, John Colt, Hetnu, Xjuan, Sawyer, Vocal, and Bad Pun for their amazing inspiration and guidance. You all are true heroes of the community.

Special shout out to Regolit and Deathpony, for being two of the most dedicated ponies I've ever seen. (yeah, not getting rid of this though, JUST to spite you Regolit :3)

Chapter 5 - Performance Review

As if to grant me the reprieve I had been praying for, I thanked Celestia, seeing as Caltrop had been nearly silent in the hour since we got up. The sun was marching up the horizon at near the same pace as we were walking, making each brightening minute remind me that we were that much closer to Filly. When we got there, I planned to get in a long shower and a good sleep before heading to talk to Big Shot.

Our hoof steps echoed hauntingly between the walls of the small ravine the road cut through, making me feel way too damn uneasy. With the high hills to either side being such a tactical advantage, I had been ambushed in this spot far too many times to not be on edge. I do normally manage to slip through without alerting anypony, but I’ve never tried going through here in the dark.

Maybe they finally gave up after so many failed attempts? Keep out of this brain, you’re never right. A glint of light in the dirt ahead of me caught my eye. I held my hoof out and stopped Caltrop, who at least had the sense to keep his muzzle shut.

“Clever boys…” I whispered softly, staring at the partially uncovered orange light that lay poorly hidden under the dirt. I lowered myself and lay on the ground, looking at wavy mounds in the road ahead of us. “Finally learned to change your tactics.”

“What’s up, boss?” Caltrop leaned down, attempting to figure out what I was doing.

“Mines. A good number of them have been buried along the road.” I pushed myself up with a grunt. Now we’d have to find a fucking way around them and lose another hour, which is just goddess damn fantastic. This morning is shaping up to be just more of the same bullshit my week has been throwing at me.

“Boss, listen!” His voice was sharp, forcing my body to reflexively swivel my ears and dart my eyes about. I stopped when the crunching of wheels ahead of us grew louder, looking to our sides for a quick exit. Shit, the hills here are too large to get up quickly, and if we tried to run up them anyway, we’d get our flanks shot off if they opened fire.

I relaxed slightly as a traveling trader and her bodyguard were just coming around the bend. Seeing us, they both readied their weapons. Just my luck, the merchant mare was a unicorn, and in her levitation, she held a particularly fierce looking magical energy shotgun. Even in the dim lighting, I could clearly make out the gleaming gems along its barrel pulsing softly. The earth pony bodyguard had a battle saddle strapped to her sides, but unlike the other's glowing shotgun, I couldn't make out the guns on it.

"Stop where you are!" The bodyguard ordered, her voice shattering the stillness of the cold morning air.

"My name is Percussion Cap, I'm a bounty hunter returning to Fillydelphia. We don't want any trouble!" I replied, sitting down and raising my hooves slowly. I looked to Caltrop, watching as he did the same.

The two assholes exchanged glances, whispering between each other as both Caltrop and I remained frozen.

“Shouldn’t we tell them about the mines?” He whispered into my ears, his warm breath on them making them perk. God why do stallions always have to exist so close to me? I watched as they started to bicker in whispers, most likely debating on whether or not just to perforate us and continue on their merry way.

“No. It’s our only advantage. Just pray to Celestia they don’t just decide to come any closer. If they set one off, the whole field could go!” I couldn’t emphasize how bad it would be if they did that. I’ve seen what a single mine can do to a crowd, and here we were with an estimated 15 to 20 ready to cement the last 24 hours into the legendarily bad day category.

“You one a Buzzsaw’s gang?” The merchant asshole finally called out to us.

“Nah, you can find that asshole taking a dirt nap at the clinic half a day north.” My muzzle couldn’t help but form a smile at the thought that the asshole had died a very painful death. “The fucker and his group shot the place up, murdered the nice mare who worked there.”

“Fuck, they killed Novocain?” She lowered her shotgun as I could hear her scuff the dirt. I cringed. All it took was a single loose rock knocking into one of those things and we’d all regret it. On the plus side, now I knew who to report had died when I talked with Big Shot.

The bodyguard took her mouth off the bit, taking a step forward.

“NO… DON’T MOVE!” Caltrop screamed across to them.

“GET DOWN!” My own voice screamed as I dropped my hooves out from under me, moving them in front of my face as my ears picked up an entire chorus of loud chirps from the mines.

At some point during the thunderous symphony of explosions, my hearing had transformed into a dull whine. I could feel the wave of pressure from each blast, shortly before I felt the burning of hot debris and sharp piercing shrapnel peppering me. I tried to keep count how many had gone off, but was distracted when something heavy landed on top of my head.

What was most likely only a few passing moments of stillness felt like hours. Had they all gone off? Would falling debris set of more? Did Caltrop manage to make it through alright? Shut it brain, I’m sure he’s fine. I uncovered my head stiffly, the pain of several deep gashes lanced through my legs as I opened my eyes to notice a few jagged pieces of metal sticking out of them. As I lifted my head off the dirt, the object on my head rolled forward and splat onto the ground.

It was the severed leg of one of the two assholes across the way. I looked up, noting that in the dark, I could just barely make out what looked to be two meaty… piles where they had once stood. Maybe Caltrop was right, maybe you should have told them. Conscience, this is no time to be bringing up should haves and could haves. What’s done is done! Now, to check on the asshole in question.

Caltrop lay in the dirt behind me, shaking and looking up to me with tears streaming down his cheek. He suffered quite a few lacerations, but the biggest injury was the twisted barrel of a magical energy shotgun impaled through his neck. My heart nearly stopped as my body acted on it’s own, galloping over to him and biting down on the sharp steel barrel. My magic dug through his saddlebags, searching for the only thing that could save his life, finding it and drawing it out.

In one quick action, I jabbed the Hydra injector into his flank, tugging the shotguns barrel with all my strength. The metal burrs and sharp edges tore at my muzzle, ripping into my tongue, cheek and gums until It finally slipped free, flying from my mouth as I tumbled backwards. I groaned from the dirt grinding it’s way into my open wounds, breathing heavily as I could taste and smell nothing but copper.

I rolled over onto my belly again, panting heavily as Caltrop’s wounds closed. I was relieved for a moment, thinking that he was out of danger, but after few seconds, he didn’t move. He just sat there, his eyes half closed.

“I WILL NOT LET YOU DIE!” Was what I assumed I had screamed, finding the strength to get back to my hooves. Step by step, I made my way to him. “You still owe me, asshole!” I continued my deaf screams thrusting my forehoof against his chest hard, panting heavily as I pulled my hoof back again. “GET THE FUCK UP!” I slammed my hoof against his chest another time, fairly sure I felt a crack. Though, to be fair, I was in enough pain that I probably couldn't have told if it was my own leg. “YOU WASTED MY HYDRA!”

I reared up with both forehooves and hammered him in the side one final time, feeling as he arched his back and drew in what felt to be a deep breath. He was alive! I… I can’t believe I had saved his life! I instinctively brought my hoof up to wipe my cheek, seeing the glint of my own tears run down. When did I start crying?

See PC, you are capable of caring about others.

Caltrop had silently insisted that I use the magical bandages on my wounds, probably because besides his bruised chest, the hydra had fixed him up quite nicely. I grumbled as we both worked on getting me patched up, making me out to look more like the mummy monster costume from the nightmare nights in the old advertisements during the war. My left foreleg stung as I put pressure on it, but didn’t give out, so the snap I felt was probably nothing more than a hairline fracture.

My hearing was still gone, the single ringing note playing through my head was getting old fast, but all in all it was probably a good thing that my hearing had been the worst of my injuries. The thought of losing one of my senses never really crossed my mind much, but I have to say that now? I’m scared of never hearing again. I can’t do my job without it, let alone travel through the wastes.

On a related note, I wonder how Ditzy Doo copes with her disability. Grandma had told me of the horrors the pre-war ghoul had been through over the years, and that not even having her tongue removed had slowed her down. Though, ever since Mom took up running the shop, she’s despised the ghoul due to being a rival business mare.

The sunlight filtered down through the cloud cover above enough that I could see the extent of the damage to the road. It looks as if there were indeed 20 or so mines that went off, with most of them being centered around the smoldering remains of the two assholes who got us into this. The most troubling thing I could see was the still pale orange light of the original mine I had spotted. Who know’s how many more of these things are hidden around here, or where. The hillsides were looking a lot less promising now.

On a side note, it also troubled me deeply that the chunky remains of them splattered against the hillside actually made me hungry for Mom’s radigator stroganoff. I think I can probably just chalk that up to the fact that Caltrop ate my fucking beans last night and I was still hungry as hell.

“Come on, we have to find a different way around.” I attempted to speak, knowing I was butchering the words as badly as the the mines had done to the two mares. Was that really necessary? What, conscience? Too soon?

You should at least make an effort to be less of a horrible pony. Think of the last few days as a sign you need to change!

Why the hell was I even letting my conscience get to me? I’ve never had an issue with it before, not since I was just a filly anyway. I shrugged and tried to check on what Caltrop was doing, ending up pressing my muzzle against his as he pushed it against mine. I shoved him hard, sending him scrambling and trying not to fall onto his side, only to drop down onto the nub of his tail. Oh yeah, I cauterized it, so it didn’t grow back when I used the Hydra on him. Good thing I didn’t give in yesterday, or he’d be dead right now.

Admit it to yourself. With a reaction like that, you know you don’t mind having him as a friend. If you didn't, you would have just shot him instead.

No, shut up brain. He’s just an asshole like everypony else in the wastes. If he stays with me, he’s just a liability. He only stays until he repays his debt.

If that was true, you wouldn’t have saved him, you’d have called it good and kept the Hydra to sell. Hell PC, you just cried at the thought of losing the only friend you have. Think about it, you two are one and the same, two loners just looking for the comfort of a friend, just admit it to yourself.

He yelled at me angrily as he got back to his hooves, rubbing his ass with a hoof as I sat in the bliss of not hearing a word he spoke. I sighed out, trudging along the road, heading back the way we came with the annoyed realization that if I had decided to backtrack when we got here an hour ago, we would have already made up the time.

The ringing had waned off enough that if Caltrop yelled, I could kinda sorta make out what he was saying. The wind had picked up, pressing against my every step in what in my mind, amounted to a futile attempt to keep me from getting myself into any more trouble. Thankfully it had been another few hours of peacefully walking, and we were entering the scattered ruins of what remained of Equestria’s finest steel producing city.

The trade off for what little hearing I had, was having to deal with a pounding migraine, each throb of pain working it’s way from the base of my skull, straight up to the tip of my horn. Thankfully, it hadn’t been damaged by the mines, but that didn’t stop it from adding to my pains when I tried to use even something as simple as my telekinesis.

Wandering through the simple merchant stalls at the entrance to the northern district, I found one who had a half a healing potion for sale, quickly exchanging the packet of Rad Away and couple of Rad Safe pills we had for it. I was getting the bum end of the deal, but it was so worth it to fix my hearing.

“Feelin better boss?” Caltrop asked me at a normal volume.

“Yeah. Come on, my place isn’t too far from here.” I could hear my bed calling for me. A good night’s rest was all I needed. Then, I’d be good to talk to…

“Hey PC! Good to see you back in town!” Horus chimed as he strode out of an alleyway ahead of me. Knowing the asshole, he had probably been waiting there all day just to do that, knowing full well I hated when he showed up unannounced. “Big Shot has been waiting for you! He’s not going to wait much longer, so why don’t you go ahead and talk to him. In the meantime, I’ll get room 6 all nice and cozy for you.” He beat his wings before I could respond, shooting into the air and over the rooftops back towards the motel.

“Griffin friend a yours?” Caltrop asked in that irritating way that just makes me want to buck him hard enough to send him all the way back to Steel Junction.

“No, he’s just an asshole.” I replied, forcing myself to continue forward, even as my legs protested with every step. “We just have to make a small stop before hitting my home. I’ve got… Business to take care of.”

“He mentioned Big Shot. Ain’t that the guy who ya had ta ask for the ghoul chick from?” He pointed out in the way that only he could make the obvious painful to hear.

“Yes, now shut up and follow me.” I sighed, wishing I at least had some time to clean myself before the meeting. “Oh, and don’t go wandering off when I’m in there.”

Just to mock me for the day I’ve been having, a soft patter of rain now fell, turning the layers of dirt and dust on my trench coat into a muddy soup. The brown water dripped from the brim of my hat, the cold water seeping through all of my clothes and into my bandages. Maybe it was better that I saw Big Shot before getting cleaned up. This way, he’ll have a chance to see how fucked up the last few days have been.

The soft patter quickly picked up into a deluge as we walked, clearing the streets around us faster than a band of raiders ever could. I looked longingly to the motel as we passed it, my weary body feeling an almost magnetic pull towards my bed that I had to restrain myself from following. I’d have all the time in the world to sleep soon, but I just had to finish this. Plus, there is no way I’m going to sleep until I can figure a way to pay Big Shot back.

The streets of this foul city became it’s own sort of minefield in the rain. Foot deep troughs and potholes mixed with the ones only an inch or so deep, one misstep was all it took to break a leg or twist a fetlock. My aching left foreleg was a constant warning that even back here, I wasn’t out of the woods yet. Twisting and winding my way around the street like a paranoid foal afraid to step on a crack in the sidewalk, I was making slow progress toward the old bank at the end of the street.

The guard ponies had each shifted their positions to stand under the small awning above the door, pushing at one another for who got to stand in the rain. Maybe if they just agreed to take turns… No, no. Not now brain. They can be assholes if they want to, it’s none of my business. You should be working on how to fix the train wreck of a week I’ve had.

“Stay out here, Caltrop. I’ll only be a few minutes.” I said to him, the cuts along my muzzle burning as the muddy water dripped from my hat into them.

“But… can’t I look for somewhere dry ta wait?” He pined to me, the faintest hint of sadness coming through his voice that only added to the irritation I was feeling. If he hadn’t been perfectly fine after the hydra, there might have been a chance that I would have briefly considered his useless request. I’m not in the mood to care if he has to spend an extra few minutes in the rain. He can suck it up like the adult stallion he SHOULD already be acting like.

“No, you can wait here…” I felt my leg give out from under me, dropping me like a sack of moldy potatoes into a puddle. I resisted the urge to cry out as all my still fresh wounds were soaked in the dirty water, the foul liquid seeping in like a thousand knives intent on filleting me slowly. Thankfully, my leg had slipped from the mud instead of just snapping, laying forward under my head and protecting me from a muzzle full of the soupy mix.

“Ya alright there, boss?” He chimed in from across the street, standing under the crooked balcony of a ruined apartment building.

“Get back in the street. NOW.” I snapped as I pushed myself from my impromptu bath. “Did you suddenly FUCKING forget rule number three!?” I shook myself off, which was a bit pointless, seeing as I was covered in wet clothes in the middle of a rainstorm. Now I get to spend a good half hour drying my clothes with my fire spell before I can even think of taking a shower. Whatever, more time to think of ways to pay the boss back.

Caltrop whimpered and strode into the street, looking quite defeated. I glared bullets into his blue eyes, praying to Celestia that a bolt of lighting would just come down and smite him for breaking the rules he agreed to. As if by divine approval, a rumble of thunder came from the other side of the city, booming across the sky loudly enough that Caltrop jumped.

“Sit your flank in the mud, and don’t move until I get back. Got that?” I growled to him, spinning and continuing on my way up the street. The guard mare in the doorway who had ended up winning the queen of the dry hill competition, hurriedly stepped out of my way as I approached. I wasn’t sure if it was the universe finally giving me a break, or if Big Shot had wanted to see me that badly.

“Miss Percussion Cap!” The stallion of the hour called out, leaning his head around and looking out the doorway behind me as I walked up to his countertop. “I’ve been on the edge of my seat in anticipation of your return. Tell me, where is the target?”

“Dead.” I replied, using my magic to pull out the shredded remains of her cutie mark, setting it on the countertop in front of him.

“You know the contract specified alive, didn’t you?” Big Shot grit his teeth and twisted his neck to the side, popping a joint loudly as he kept his eyes on the cutie mark. “I thought I had made that perfectly clear.” Yeah, this was a new level of pissed. I’d never seeing him this angry at anypony before.

“There was another, an outsider. He must have known she had sensitive information, because he killed her before I had the chance to make a move.” I kept my eyes on him as I lied through my teeth. If I gave up the information that it was Caltrop who killed her, he’d just shoot him. There is no way I would have used something as rare as Hydra on the asshole if I wanted Big Shot to just kill him for me.

“I see. Well, that is… unfortunate.” He looked me over, trying to read my body language. Thankfully, I was freezing my flank off and wincing from the pain of my wounds so much that not even somepony like him would be able to get a good impression. He tapped his hooves on the desk as he sighed, looking over to one of the stallions leaning against the wall and nodding his head. “I’m assuming you spent the forwarded caps on supplies and can’t reimburse them?”

Nodding, I should have known that this would have been his reaction. I had just cost him a lot of caps AND whatever information the mare had been carrying. He would have to know I would never consent to being set up as a slave, so his next best option would be to have me… retired. I tried to think of something to stall for time, something that could maybe get his mind off how badly I screwed shit up.

“Also, I’m to inform you about a nurse who worked at a clinic up north, went by the name Novocain.” I spoke quickly, peaking his interest enough that he gave a wave of his muzzle to the stallion that was now standing next to me. I waited until he returned his eye contact to me, and for him to give me the implied ‘go on’ look. “The place got hit by raiders, I'm sorry to report the clinic is in ruin and that she’s dead.”

“So... on top of failing to bring back the contact alive and not being able to pay me back the advance I gave you. You're telling me that Novocain is dead.” A blank expression fell over his face as he put his hooves on the counter and leaned forward, his deep breaths struck me in the muzzle, warming my cold nose.

“Yes, that would be correct.” I cringed at his, if simple, all too accurate account of the last week. “I'm sorry Big Shot, there was nothing I could do to save her.”

His muzzle twitched before curling into a sadistic grin.

“Sorry? SORRY!?” He nearly jumped over the counter and dove at me. Instinctively my magic wiggled #1 out from between us and flew it around the back of his head, causing the other guards to raise their weapons to me. I stopped as I felt Big Shot press against me in a tight hug, laughing into my jacket. “If it weren't for the fact that you owed me so damn much already, I'd take you out for a drink! That fucking bitch had it coming!”

She what…? I couldn't do anything but stand and blink, unable to fit together how her death had been a good thing. Just who the fuck was Novocain to Big Shot? He pushed himself off me and slid back over the countertop, wiping a tear from his grinning muzzle.

“I'm sorry, you must be terribly confused. You see, Novocain is my ex wife.” He reoriented himself behind the counter, hoofing his mane back across his balding head before continuing. “All she ever wanted to do was open a clinic and 'help ponies in anyway she could'. I tried to tell her that there was no money in 'helping' and that it was better to get into the industry of... 'pony resourcing'.”

Is that what they're calling slaving these days? Everypony know’s of the slave trade, why do they even bother trying to soften what it is? I knocked a fore hoof on the side of my head softly. Quiet brain, you aren't helping.

“So, then there’s no reward for a friendly favor?” I only half joked, watching as that killed Big Shot’s jubilant mood faster than I would have liked.

“Look, Percussion. You're a good mare, and a damn fine bounty hunter if I may say so myself.” He leaned forward and pressed his hooves together on the counter. Please don’t tell me that he was trying to pad my ego before he murdered the hell out of me. I’d rather just be shot now. “It's just, there are procedures for these types of... failures.” Hoofing open one of the drawers behind the desk, taking out the nub of a cigar that looked to be one or two puffs away from being more ash than tobacco. I leaned forward as he did, painfully using my fire spell to light it for him.

“Normally the boss would just want me to shoot you as compensation, but seeing as you did a small favor to me, I'll grant you a small favor in return.” He sighed and took a quick draw from the old cigar. “I'll wipe your order of execution, but the city of Fillydelphia and associates of Red Eye no longer wish to employ your services. Until you pay back your debt to me, which I still expect, consider your status as a bounty hunter in this region revoked, and yourself banned from the city.”

“Fucking, WHAT?” I growled out, completely ignoring the fact that he had just chosen to spare my life in what was probably the kindest act he had ever performed for anypony. “You are the ONLY employer this far north that’s got anything for me, and I can’t fucking get by on the pay anypony else is offering!”

He sat wide eyed for a moment as he exhaled a ring of smoke, breaking into a fit of hysterical laughter. I wasn’t quite sure what I had just done, but I was now silently praying that he wasn’t insulted enough to change his mind on the whole ‘letting me live’ thing. His laughter paused for a moment as he glanced at me, laughing even harder as I shrugged to the guard who was still towering over my shoulder, getting a shrug in return. He slapped the counter with a hoof lightly before his laughter stopped abruptly, now just looking at me expectantly.

“You serious?” He leaned back and took a long draw from his cigar, finally putting it on the desk and rubbing it out. “You're not paying me while just standing there, go find a way to bring me my money.” He waved his hoof at me dismissively. “Get the fuck out of town, there’s the door.”

He was right, I had lost this fight and just needed to move on. I trod out the door and past the wet guards, approaching Caltrop as he sat inside his own, personal puddle.

“Ready ta get some rest, boss?” He forced a smile, doing his best to control his shivering body.

“No, we can’t stay here.” As much as I hated it, without being allowed to stay in Filly, it was the only option I had left. “Come on. We’re going to Baltimare. I need to go see my mother.”

--Chapter End--
Bright side? At least you aren’t dead!
Quests Finished: Damage control
Quests Started: Homeward Bound
Levels Earned: 1
Perk’s Earned: Brown Muzzle -
You've learned how to suck up to your superiors. You get +1 Charisma and another +10 speech for reaction rolls when dealing with authority figures for each rank of this perk.

Author's Note

Thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, John Colt, Hetnu, Xjuan, Sawyer, Vocal, Tinker, and Bad Pun for their inspiration and support in the writing of this fic!

Shout out to Regolit, Deathpony, and Retl for their feedback! I really do love to hear what you all think!

Chapter 6 - Grandmother Knows Best

Though the walk back to Horus’s motel had been short, the rain felt now like it was past telling me to give up, instead almost trying to nail me to the ground with it’s volume. My headache peaked as my telekinesis opened the door, Caltrop and I slipped into the dry office as the smell of fresh radigator stew filled my nose. I didn’t even bother to stop the chime of the annoying bell hanging from the door, instead hoping that it would in fact trick Horus into thinking it wasn’t me who’d arrived.

It worked.

“Hello hello!” His voice came down the hallway jubilantly, his quick steps sounded lightly on the dusty carpeting. “Welcome to… oh, it’s you.” His facade dropped as he deadpanned. “Still amongst the land of the living, I see.”

“Can it, Horus. I need you to refund the rest of the month I paid for.” I tilted my head down, running a line of water down my hat and onto the floor. His expression fell to a frown as he watched me soak his carpet.

“Whoa, no can do. Sorry miss Cap, but Big Shot's orders. Being banned means I can't do any transactions with you while inside the city.” He was faking his remorse, and he'd been listening in on my meeting. I bet he was busting up laughing on the inside, enjoying the hell out of the fact I had been kicked out.

“So let's step outside the city and we'll get it done.” I gestured back toward the door, wincing as my hoof didn’t want to turn the right way with the bandages on.

“And leave the place open to looters? I think not!” He puffed up, pretending to be offended. The one real thing I saw him do was glance at Caltrop a few times, probably unsure of just what he was doing here. “Can I help you with something?”

“Yeah, ya got a bathroom around here?” He smiled and stopped fidgeting about.

“Yeah, down the hall and on your left.” Horus sighed, pointing a tallon back as he flapped his wings, hovering up in the hallway to let Caltrop pass. He watched as Caltrop entered the bathroom before hovering to the front desk, setting down with a grunt. But now that Caltrop was away...

“An here I thought you were my friend.” I pouted, giving him the saddest eyes I could muster. Caltrop would have made a scene if he heard me use that word, and I don’t need a bigger headache than I’ve got. If Horus was allowed to fake his responses like this is a game, maybe he’ll give in if I play along.

Instead, I got him running his tallon down his face as he shook his head.

“Miss Cap, you don't have friends. Speaking of, who's the chump following you around?” He was trying to change the subject.

“He’s nopony.” I grumbled, glancing back to the hallway. Sure is a long time to take in the bathroom for somepony who went three times in the last two hours. There is something seriously wrong with how that stallion thinks.

“Nah, he's too comfortable around you to be nopony.” Horus squinted, furrowing his brow as he thought hard about it. I went to respond, but found a tallon being waved around in front of my muzzle. “No no no, I want to guess. Hmmm, you're here because you’re broke, so not a merc. Too young to be an uncle, so I'm going to have to say he's that brother you're always going on about.”

“I don't have a brother.” I put my hoof on his desk and canted my head. “When the fuck have I ever told you anything about my family?”

“It was a shot in the dark. You never said you didn't have a brother.” He gave me a sly smile, showing me that he was enjoying our little back and forth. As great as it was to be talking for a change instead of getting shot or blown up, this wasn’t getting anything done. “Besides, I don't listen to any of the crap that comes out of your muzzle anyway.”

“Fuck off Horus, just refund me my FUCKING rent.” I raised my voice, slamming my other hoof down onto the desk. I ground my teeth as the fracture in my leg spiked with pain. It seems that in my anger I had forgotten which leg to hit with.

“I already told you, I can't. Best I can do is give you three weeks of credit when you get unbanned.” He sat down and pulled a sheet of paper out from a desk drawer. “I probably shouldn’t even be doing this, but technically this isn’t a transaction, seeing as nothing is being traded.” Seeing as that at least didn’t lose me more money, that would have to do.

“Did ya get the refund, Boss?” Caltrop came trotting back into the office, wearing a wide grin on his face. All he had to do was be quiet for thirty more seconds, and we could have gotten out of here scot free. But instead, he had to go and ruin that by giving Horus fuel for his ‘make PC’s life a living hell’ fire.

“Just, sit there and be quiet, Caltrop.” I shot back reflexively, my agitation toward him keeping me distracted just enough to where now I slipped up.

“Hold onto your hats everypony, Tartarus just froze over!” Horus chuckled as his grin looked as if it were about to stretch around his head. “Turns out he is somepony then. And since you didn't refer to him as 'asshole', you must really lov...!” I didn’t care how much it burned, this was worth it. I clicked open the holster for #5, the sound of the hammer drawing back silenced the griffin mid sentence.

“Finish that sentence, and I'll make sure you never open your beak again.” I watched as he nodded once nervously, stiffening up as I poked the barrel of #5 under his beak. “I hear that wonderglue sets remarkably fast. I'm sure that could make your day a lot worse than mine has been.”

“Pleasure doing business with you, Miss Cap.” He whined as I lowered the gun, returning it to it’s snug holster. “Nice to meet you… Mr. Cap.” He tried to hold his snicker back, but it just came out through his nose. My temper flared as I lunged at him, only being stopped by Caltrop as he wrapped his forehooves under my shoulders. I flailed my hooves and growled at the griffin as I was pulled out of the office, making sure to slam the door with my magic when we were clear of it.

“Geez, Boss. It was just a joke!” He released my hooves, letting me drop forward onto them with a splash into the mud.

“I know, it’s just not the time for jokes.” My semi-dry self was back to it’s soaked state in the meer seconds we had been outside, weighing down my mood as well as we started to walk again. “Let’s just get out of here. The sooner we get to Baltimare, the sooner I can find some work.”

Being banned meant that even though Baltimare was to the south, and it would have been only an hours walk to just cut through the city, we had to leave through the north gateway and walk all the way around. Even with that having added more time to our journey, there were two things I am grateful for in the last hour. One, is that the rain had tapered off to a fine drizzle. Two, is that Caltrop hadn’t said a thing since we left.

“So, Boss. Ya say ya mother lives in Baltimare?” And we’re back down to one thing again. “What, ya think she can help ya or somethin?”

“As much as it pains me to go to her like this, she may have a job I can take.” I already hated having to go home, but to go back and beg for work? I would rather choose to do another contract for the safe return of a living pony, than to work for Mom.

“Somethin tells me ya don’t seem ta like ya motha very much.” It was like his voice was getting sharper every time he spoke, jabbing my mind deeper and deeper in annoyance.

“Great work there. I need to make a note of your remarkable observation skills. Caltrop: Master of the obvious.” I grumbled, stepping over an old log that was laying in the middle of the road. There weren’t even any tree’s around, how the fuck did that get there? In the back of my mind, there was a little unicorn shouting something to me, but I just shrugged it off and kept walking.

“It was just a question, Boss. No need ta be so mean about it.” Which was true, he was pretty ignorant for a wastelander. I mean, who the fuck thinks that friends will just magically make their lives better around here? That bullshit line of thinking died with Equestria nearly two centuries ago. “Actually, boss? Can we stop for a minute, I gotta pee.”

“What? You just went to the bathroom an hour ago!” I turned to him with a look of disbelief. Seriously, if this is how it’s going to be all the way home, I might as well just shoot him now.

“No I didn’t! I just used that as an excuse ta get ya rent back.” He produced the small container of caps I had given to Horus from his saddle bag. Yup. Just going to kill him now.

“YOU MORON!” I stamped my hoof, feeling a firm snap under it. I looked down to see the muddy bones of a long dead earth pony, which was an odd sight, because you never see old bones in the road. My mind reminded me that one of the only exceptions to that was somepony waiting in ambush could have wanted to use it as a signal!

The report of a single gunshot rang out as I felt the round impact my bare chest, sucking the wind out of me and sending me to the muddy ground. Caltrop screamed something and hooked his forelegs around mine, dragging me off the street and behind one of the boulders that lay half buried alongside the road. I gasped loudly as I regained control of my lungs, looking down at my chest to see how badly I was hurt.

The black and blue welt about the size of my hoof was the only issue with me. Immediately, I knew what had just happened.

“PC! Oh, goddess don’t ya die on me!” He was shaking so badly that he was having trouble standing. Funny. He nearly gets killed by mines this morning and my first action is to use the most expensive medicine I have on him. I nearly die and all he can do is freak the fuck out? The least he can do if he thinks I’m his friend, is to get out some bandages.

If bandages are what friends get, what would a hydra classify him as? You know what brain? I’m going to drown you in alcohol when I get home, and we’ll see if you keep pointing shit like that out when I sober up.

“Caltrop, I’m fine. It was a rubber bullet, that’s all.” I grunted as I propped myself up against the rock behind me and levitated a cigarette out, tilting my hat up and using my horn to light it. “YOU GOT ME GRANDMA, YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!” I leaned my head against the rock, taking a long drag off the stick.

“Gramma? Why would ya Gramma shoot ya with a rubber bullet?” He scratched the back of his head, stopping when he realized he was just matting his mane down with mud. You know what, I think I’ll pass on the alcohol when I get home, lest I end up as smart as he is. My ears perked and swiveled as I heard the soft hoofsteps in the mud, barely distinguishable over the light drizzle.

“Because, my Granddaughter should have known better!” Her voice pierced the air with it’s sharp tone. I hated that tone for the reason that for being so harsh, it shouldn’t be able to bring the full might of her ego to bear down with whatever she scolded me for. She walked around the rock and into view, her emerald eyes glaring at me in the way only a family member could show their disapproval. “I mean look at you all bandaged up. Did I not say this exact shit would happen if you worked for slavers?”

“She’s ya Grandmotha!? But… she looks smoken hot for being old!” Caltrop blurted out, quickly finding my Grandmother’s rifle pressed into his muzzle, her piercing gaze now bearing down in agitation on him. His legs resumed shaking as she put on a nervous smile. “I uhhh, nice weatha we’re havin, isn’t it?”

“Where the hell did you find this sad excuse for a stallion?” She asked, lowering the rifle and removing her hoof from the action. How earth ponies managed to use hoof fired weapons was WAY beyond me, not to mention with an action like that, you can only use one gun at a time! Magic was so much better, seeing as I could use #1-6 all at once if I really wanted too.

“Look, Grandma, it’s nice to see you are still deftly avoiding retirement by looking into my life and finding new excuses to shoot me, but I can’t sit around and chat.” I took another draw off my cigarette, pulling myself to my hooves. “I’m heading home for a while. If you ever decide to stop by, maybe, just MAYBE, will I feel good enough to talk then.”

“Miss Percussion Mercury Cap, I will not have you fucking speak to me in that tone of voice.” She raised the rifle to me again and worked the action, the spent casing from her previous shot flicked out and bounced off Caltrops muzzle. “You will show me some fucking respect by sitting your flank down and answering my goddess damned question.”

I briefly entertained ideas of how to get out of this, shortly coming to the conclusion that any attempt would get me shot again. I was about to take another puff from my smoke when she waved her forehoof at me, knocking it from my muzzle and into the mud.

“Look, you want to know? Fine. Caltrop the wonder-dolt here, screwed up my last contract. He screwed it so badly in fact, that now I’ve been restricted from taking contracts in Filly, and can no longer enter the city until I pay back the large sum of caps I owe!” I pushed myself past her, turning back along the road toward Baltimare.

“Geez Boss, ya don’t have ta be so mean all the time.” He actually sounded sad. Seriously, what is with this guy? I heard their hoofsteps following behind me, the soft squishes seemed exceptionally annoying to me for some reason.

“Yeah, PC, go easy on him.” Storm spoke up in a move that almost made me trip up as I walked. “You remember, the first real friend I made was a pony who screwed up my contract, though, to be fair he was the contract, so it was make friends or get killed.” She chuckled as she walked, making me hope that she would turn around any moment and leave me to walk in quiet. “He was even a unicorn. Funny how sometimes the universe just sets these things up to where history repeats itself.”

“Yeah, doubtful.” I rolled my eyes and looked back to the pair, seeing that Caltrop was busy eyeing Storm’s flank. If I knew Gramma would have seen him, I’m sure she would have been alright had I shot him then and there, but alas, she was busy smiling and daydreaming of her adventures again. “So why are you in Filly? I thought you didn’t take contracts from slavers.” She gave me a long sigh as she thought about my question.

“I wasn’t working. In fact, I came to see an old friend. Was trying to keep him from doing something stupid, but he seems dead set on it.” She grumbled and now mirrored how I most likely looked. Well, minus the bandages and stallion shaped child leashed too her. “So I too am heading for your mothers, though, most likely not for long. You know how Baltimare makes me feel.”

“Yeah yeah, you told me a million times before.” If the rain can make my body feel nothing, maybe if it continues, it will make my brain numb as well. Once again, just as if to spite me, the drizzle tapered off, leaving the sticky feeling of my soaked jacket and hat preparing to dry out.

“Well it seems to me that you are having a bit of a hard time remembering things I tell you recently. Do we have to go over the basics of spotting a potential ambush again?” Storm shook herself, rousing a whine from Caltrop as he got mildly wetter than the soaked he already was. “Whoa there PC, just a minute.”

“Seriously? What the fuck is wrong with you two having to stop all the time?” I moaned and sat down in the mud with a squish.

“Ok, look Call Drop. We have to talk.” She stepped up to him with a devious smile, making Caltrop cringe as she hooked a hoof around his neck and pulled him next to her.

“It’s Caltrop, Ma’am…” At the very least, this interruption was worth it to see Caltrop look twice as terrified as he was whenever I threatened him earlier.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m going to give you some advice that may help you in your day to day life.” She prodded him in the chest, eliciting a quick flinch and wince from his body. Why is it that this is making me hungry for some hot popcorn? Regardless, this was too good to miss. “First off, you might want to look into growing some balls. I’ve removed my fair share from stallions, and I can’t seem to find yours.” She used her tail like a whip, snapping it behind him to make him jump, which he did with a whine. “Secondly, if I catch you looking at my flank again, I’ll kick you so hard in yours, that you might just grow those mare bit’s you keep acting like you already have.”

And that is how my Grandma secures her place among the badasses of the wasteland, though, it’s still a mystery to me how she knew he was watching. Then again, she’s always seemed to know when anyone was. Goddesses, I wish I had a sixth sense for detecting assholes BEFORE they found me. Maybe then the last week wouldn’t have fucking happened. “But don’t you think that she was a bit harsh on him? You weren’t even that harsh.” And for once, I can agree with my conscience!

“The fuck, Grandma!? Didn’t you just tell me not to be so harsh on him?” I smirked like an asshole, watching as it irritated Storm to no end. See, now the tide had turned, and it was her that just waltzed right into the proverbial ambush. “Sounds like you aren’t even listening to what you…”

I shouldn’t have said that.

Another gunshot cut me off, and another bruise appeared next to the first. I couldn’t control my breathing while I flopped into the mud, the thought in my mind that it had been a good idea went and hid somewhere I couldn’t hunt it down and rip it to shreds. Finally, with a great gasp, my lungs filled with air and I groaned out from the pain coursing through my ribs.

“Watch your language young lady!” She called out arrogantly as she stepped over me. “Come on Cow Top, we still have a long way to go.” I eyed Caltrop as he walked up, holding his hoof out with a less forced smile than before. It was so reassuring to me that with Storm around, she was the Alpha in the group. Only because there’s nothing like your Grandmother laying the smackdown on you to cement in your subordinates mind, that you are just as fucking useless and weak as they are.

This was going to be a long trip home.

It was just my luck that with Storm traveling with us, every asshole in the wasteland decided to descend upon us at once. Not a group cropping up here or there every hour or so, or a steady stream of them. All of them had surrounded us when we were about to set up camp in a ruined convenience store. I had in fact suggested that we bunker down somewhere like, oh I don’t know, the ACTUAL bunker we passed on the way into this pre-war, backwater rest stop.

The faded mural on the back wall had once shown a family of smiling ponies having a picnic in some meadow, a large spread of different foods were laid out in front of them as they ate without the knowledge that the world came to an end. What smug assholes they had been to enjoy their lives before sending the rest of us into the pit of hell that is the wasteland. The band of raiders outside let out another volley of machine gun fire, their poor accuracy literally removing the smiles from the ponies on the mural. Still doesn’t make up for giving us the wasteland, but it’s a fucking start.

“Why am I gluein these on again!” Caltrop was busy reinforcing the back of the counter we took cover behind with the assorted clipboards that had been on display there since the war. Not to say that it was a good question, but I’m sure that this wasn’t the time for arts and crafts. Caltrop was anything but a slow worker though, actually having managed to get most of the counter covered in the muted brown things.

“Trust me! These things are bulletproof!” Storm shouted, looking to me and waving her hoof as the signal. I levitated #3 up over the barrier and fired again and again, emptying the mag before pulling it back down. As I did so, she twisted herself and stood up, moving her rifle from right to left, working the action faster than I could ever think a pony could. I had seen her use S.A.T.S. a few times before, but it still amazed me everytime with how that small accessory could change the tide of a battle in an instant.

I used my magic to grab at another mag for #3, only to come up empty. Well, shit. I’ve only got 9 rounds left for #5, and 2 shells left for #6. #1 and #2 won’t be too useful here either, and of course, I ran out of rounds for #4 in the fight at the clinic. If only my life hadn’t screwed me by kicking me out of the only town around that I could buy ammo at!

Another wave of random fire came in through the entrance, shredding a few of the old shelving units a few feet from us. I growled and yanked #5 out of it’s holster, raising it up and firing the last 3 rounds in the cylinder. As I brought it back down to reload, Storm popped back up and fired with S.A.T.S. again, hopefully dropping a few more of the assholes and getting us one step closer to getting out of this death trap.

“RELOADING!” She shouted, dropping back down below the counter as she hoofed a long plastic reloading strip from her saddlebags. I cringed as her voice reverberated in the room, that call normally meant to tell me to give her covering fire. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to call it out, and had left us completely exposed. Storm looked at me with a look of disappointment as we both hurried ourselves to finish.

The sound of hooves galloping through the doorway signaled that we were out of time, punctuated by just about the largest Stallion I’d ever seen leap over the counter, dropping down to the floor only inches from Caltrop’s cowering form. I deftly whipped #6 out of it’s holster, firing it as my spin brought it in line with the raider and struck him square in the shoulder. He roared in pain and bucked out, kicking the shotgun from my levitation hard enough that it looked like it knocked Caltrop out cold.

Storm fired again and again at the raiders outside as I pulled #1 out from it’s place, rolling myself to the side to avoid another of his ridiculously strong bucks. I barely missed it, watching as his hoof punched one of the clipboards through the counter. I fired both of the .45 shots from my deringer, hitting him twice in the ribs. Just go down like every other asshole! He reared up and screamed again, curling his ridiculously muscled forehooves for a strike I wouldn’t be able to avoid.

BLAM!

The report of #6 going off right next to me startled me, the shot punching through the soft bits of the Stallions neck and muzzle, dropping him to the floor with a thud. I looked down as Caltrop spit the sawed off out of his muzzle, whining and rubbing his neck with both his forehooves. How he got the extra shell was a mystery to me, maybe it was his thieving hooves actually coming in handy, but I was too shocked that he had saved me to care. Reality came knocking when I heard the wind whistle through the fresh holes in the walls around us.

“Oh, I see you finally took care of him. Here I was thinking you were actually having a tough time fighting more than just some moron overdosing on Buck and Med-X.” Storm set her rifle down, and walked past me as I was too furious to do anything. If I didn’t hold myself completely still, I couldn’t be held accountable for what I would attempt to do to her. She kicked him and shrugged. “I guess he was kinda big. Still, you could have spent half as much time playing around with him instead of letting me get most of the kills out there.”

There are just no words for how much I wanted this week to be over.

“So then! PC, see what you can scavenge from the dead out there. My E.F.S. says it’s clear, so you needn’t worry about more visitors. Meanwhile…” She hoisted up a leaking bag of flour that had sat happily on the shelf for two centuries before today. “I think I’m going to make us some dinner with this, as my own mother taught me how to make great pancakes with scavenged goods. Hey, Car Mop, see if you can’t find me some powdered milk over there.”

“It’s… CALTROP.” He growled as he got up. I’m not sure if his stupidity spawned from the fact that saving me gave him an ego boost, or that he took her advice and actually grew a pair, but regardless, this wasn’t going to end well for him.

“Oh, I know that dear. But you see, you’ve confused me with a pony who actually cares.” She smiled her widest, giving him her best murder eyes as he froze where he stood. “Now, about that powdered milk?” I had never seen Caltrop mad like this, it was so hard to keep a straight face.

“Boss, ya Grandmotha’s a dick.” He muttered to me under his breath as he crossed the store, stopping next to the door where the powdered milk supposedly was.

“At least she has one.” I jested as I trot out the door past him, receiving a sour smelling cloud expanding from around my head when Caltrop threw one of the containers at me. He may not be the shining example of a stallion as the hulk was back there, but there is at least hope for him yet. With a little work, and probably more than a bit of polish, Caltrop might shape up to be something that could maybe pass as a decent employee.

One day. Maybe.

--Chapter End--
Hopefully family can make up for your lack of ammo!
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

(Sorry about the copy-paste thanks section, but I wanted them to be simple, and I've put 4,5,6 up all at the same time, so it made sense to me.)

Thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, John Colt, Hetnu, Xjuan, Sawyer, Vocal, Tinker, and Bad Pun for their inspiration and support in the writing of this fic!

Shout out to Regolit, Deathpony, and Retl for their feedback! I really do love to hear what you all think!

Chapter 7 - Family Matters

The night had passed just about as quietly as I had hoped it would. Having slipped out under the cover of darkness, we had left the assholes waiting to ambush us long behind us. Well, at least I hope we did. My clothes had mostly dried out overnight, which was one less annoyance to deal with, though, it didn’t amount to much good considering it was my injuries that I wished would just disappear.

“Those sure were some good Pancakes, Boss!” Then there was Caltrop, the only other thing in the wasteland that I had wished would just disappear. What the hell was I thinking, bringing a pony along with me?

Storm just rolled her eyes and trotted past me. “Flattery will get you no where young man, but of course they were! She did learn from the best after all.” She was in a good mood this morning, and that troubled me. Grandma’s good moods normally end with the slaughter of a raider camp, the cleansing of a slaver auction, or the defeat of some monstrosity harassing the innocent ponies of the wasteland. Lost in thought, I had crested the last of the hills leading to the outskirts of the once great city of Baltimare. I say once great, because every city nowadays is the exact same ruin filled shit hole as the next. We just happened to call this one home.

“So, Grandma, what did you say you’re business was at Mom’s?” I knew she could see right through my question by the way she turned her head around and eyed me. She picked up the pace, breaking off from Caltrop and I with a smirk. With my bone still shooting pains up my leg every time I stepped on it, there was no way I was going to try to keep up with her today. Fuck running, I’m taking my time from now on.

“Oh, you know, just back so I can finally relax.” Her ears perked up as she picked her steps up into a gallop. “Time to deal with the fanatics, so I’ll go on up ahead to keep them off you. See you at home!” She took off down the road, a few random ponies looking at us before watching as she ran down the street and giving chase after her.

“So… I’m confused.” Caltrop’s voice was just at that pitch perfect annoyance this morning to where every word was like a nail being driven through my ear. “Why exactly is she runnin?”

I facehooved. “So the fanatics don’t bother us with their stupid requests.” I shot back a glare that he physically cringed from. “Look, I don’t need it rubbed in my face any more. So just shut your muzzle, and walk.” He seemed to think on that for a moment, raising a hoof to comment before I cut him off. “Did you forget rule number 3?” He shook his head at this and mercifully remained quiet.

For all of thirty seconds.

“Heya, boss. I need ta ask... why did ya save me?” His words made me freeze mid step. His hoofsteps fell silent as well, waiting for an answer that I hadn’t prepared. “Boss?”

“Why the fuck are you still following me?” I growled out, jumping to anger as I didn’t know what else to do. I have always kept everything in my life all neat and orderly, even the thoughts in my head. I’ve always been a step ahead of the curve, prepared for anything. So why the fuck hadn’t I figured out why? “You and I both know that you can get away at any time, and that I don't have the energy or care to give chase. So let me ask you this. Why do it?”

“I was bein serious before. I ain't got anythin waitin for me back home and I... I just wanted ta have a friend.” Still sticking to the same damn story. Either he’s avoiding the real reason, or he’s the dumbest asshole the wasteland has ever produced.

“But why me!? Out of anypony else in the wasteland, why the fuck did you choose to follow me?” I finally turned around, watching as he dropped his gaze to the ground. I don’t care if I was being harsh, or mean, or just downright bitchy. He fucking deserves it. After everything he did. After all the shit I’ve been through because of him.

“Because…because ya cared about me. ” He scoffed at the dirt with his hoof. “Nopony even cares when I'm around, it's like I'm invisible or somethin! And even when they do look at me? All they can see is a petty thief.” Was he actually crying? “But ya saw me for somethin other than a thief or a nopony. Ya saw me as another pony, as someone whole and substantial.” Ok, so he wasn’t crying, but as he raised his gaze up, it looked as if the waterworks could start at any moment.

I gave a sigh, trying to explain that it wasn’t that simple. “You misunderstand. I see every asshole out there as just another pony.” He gave a laugh at that through his display, wiping a hoof along his eyes.

“Then why don't ya tell me then, why did ya save me?” Now he sounded slightly angry, a bit of what little ego he carried with himself showing through. “An don't say my debt to ya, we both know ya could have just sold the supplies an cut ya losses. I want the truth.”

“I…” I still couldn’t say. When I saw him like that, I just... lept into action. There wasn't really a reason for it, I just… did. You know what the reason is. Shut up brain. I've never cared about anypony before besides Mom and Gramma, so why would I care about him? Why the fuck would I want to even consider him a friend? Admit it, you're tired of being alone.

I groaned. “FINE.” I flopped on the ground, not wanting to fight it anymore. The rest of my life had already fallen apart, so what’s the point in trying to keep that last load bearing beam from collapsing under the weight of the impending disaster above. “Because I’ve never had a friend before.” His ears perked at this, giving a sniffle from his muzzle as he smiled. “I didn’t want to lose the only one I might ever make.”

“So… we’re friends?” He really was like a foal, his sadsack attitude immediately swapped out for unbridled happiness.

“I didn’t say that.” I took a deep breath and pushed myself back up, wiping myself off as he walked up to me. “I said you might be my friend. As in, you’re still undergoing evaluation.” I pressed my forehoof into his chest hard, resuming the glare I had from before. “This doesn’t change shit. The rules for being my friend are a lot like the rules for being my employee. And the one thing that ESPECIALLY didn’t change, is the termination clause. Got it?”

“Whateveh ya say PC!” He gave me a wide grin, which I promptly smacked off of him. He rubbed his cheek and looked surprised. “Oh come on, ya can’t still require me ta call ya Boss!”

“I can, and I will.” I shifted my hoof and pointed back to the hills. “If you don’t like it, I’ll give you a 30 second head start before I discontinue our agreement.” I smirked as he scrunched up his muzzle, instead choosing to take a step aside and motion for me to lead on. “That’s what I thought.”

See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? To be honest, it wasn’t, but I’m more afraid of the fact that I can’t take back what I said. Just blurting it out like that just feels wrong, and I know that somehow, my lack of thought in the situation is going to swing around and catch me off guard one of these days. The murmur of a crowd of voices from around the corner up the street perked my ears as I instinctively lowered myself down to sneak up.

“Um… Boss?” Caltrop whispered behind me as we slowly made our way down the empty street. “What are we doing? Were you kicked out of here as well?” His words knocked a bit of sense into how silly the idea was. It had really been that long since I had been home that the place no longer felt like familiar territory to me. I shook off the feeling and walked around the corner to where my mother’s shop was set up.

The old Manor was wedged between the ruins of two stately apartment buildings, serving as both our home and the general trade store for the northern tip of the city. Mom had fought hard to secure the house for the sole purpose of being the first thing most outside travelers would stop at when they arrived in town. Unfortunately, being so memorable meant that when Grandma came back, everypony knew exactly where to find her.

“Back! Get Back!” Mother was shouting as she wielded a pair of brooms at the crowd that had gathered outside, guarding the front door like the most valuable wasteland treasure was hidden inside. The problem is, that was kind of true. “She just got back and I’m sure she’s very tired. So if you aren’t here to make a purchase, then go, get, skedaddle, shoo!” There was a collective groan from the crowd as they waved their hooves in frustration and left, dispersing in a matter of moments.

“Hey there, Mom.” I sighed out, happy to see at least one face that wasn’t out to bring me more pain. She spun to look at me, her grimace fading as she realized I wasn’t another wasteland pest.

“Honey, you’re home!” She gave me the kind of smile only a mother could give, her soft blue eyes showed me just how much she had missed me. I walked up to give her a hug, only to find my head assaulted by the brooms she held. “What is this your Grandmother has been telling me? Have you been working for slaver’s up north?!” Her magic took hold of my ear, squeezing and pulling it up to stear me up the stairs to where she sat. “I thought you were going to be better than that!”

I bat the brooms away with my hooves. “Damnit Mom, what do you care!” I frowned as she finally relented and let go of my ear, setting the brooms back neatly against the front porch wall. I pointed my hoof back to Caltrop, making him stop with a nervous grin. “If it makes you feel better, he ensured that I’ll never find work up there again.”

“Oh, look at that. My little flower, all grown up and finally taking an interest in stallions!” Wow, if they held records for the longest jumps in the world, I’m sure that conclusion would be up there in the top somewhere. “Give us a spin so I can get a look at you!”

With as much as I’ve used the gesture recently, maybe I should just wonderglue my hoof to my face, so I can permanently express just how little faith I have in anything in my life. And of course, Caltrop does as she asks, spinning and giving a blush as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

“Eh, you could do so much better.” She turned to me with a smile, ignoring the fact that Caltrop looked like that comment had completely baffled him. “So, I take it that what you said means this isn’t a social visit then.” I nodded shortly before there was a crash upstairs, followed by the sound of a scuffle. Mother and I walked through the door just in time for a stallion to fall over the second floor banister, swinging above us suspended by a rope that was tied around his rear leg. The chiseled face and striking chin that hung before me was one I always worked to actively avoid.

“Ash, I told you that if you tried anything with her, I wasn’t going to step in.” Mother huffed and trot over behind her counter.

“Well you see Ma’am, I wasn’t trying to start anything.” Goddesses I hated the way he spoke. All the other mares in town found his smooth voice charming. While me? I always got the impression it was as slick as oil, and just about as toxic. “I was just trying to tell her she looked as nice as ever.”

Storm stuck her head over the top railing, speaking through the rope holding him up. “Yuh, shpoke it to the wrong end of meh.”

He rolled his eyes, stopping as he locked them onto me and tried to turn up the charm. “Well hey there beautiful, hear you’ve been making waves up north.” I don’t know what he was trying to accomplish, but he must be desperate to try to seduce me while my grandmother was hanging him upside down. “We should run together when I head back up there. I could show you some of my… new techniques.”

I used my magic to levitate one of the Machete’s mother had on display over, startling Caltrop as he almost walked right into it. With one quick flick, I dropped the asshole onto his head with a thud.

“Look, Ashley, you’re a smart Stallion. This is what, you’re fiftieth pass at me?” I lowered the blade down to him, resting it flat against his neck. The reason I shot Caltrop in the leg last week in the street? It’s because I’ve met just a few too many assholes like Ashley. “Every time has been a no, so why keep asking?”

He smiled in his devilishly handsome way. “It’s because I can’t stand to see a pony as beautiful as…” I shifted the blade to that it lightly pressed against his neck, making him give a light gasp. If I didn’t know better about ponies like him, there wouldn’t have been anything to stop me from saying yes to him. I’m not going to lie, I am a mare, I have wants, and those wants are everything that he’s got.

“What is it you said earlier about flattery, Grandma?” I smirked as he hoofed his speckled grey mane from his face.

He hoofed the blade away slowly, getting to his hooves and backing toward the door. “I can see that you are busy today PC, just remember that for you? The offer is always open.” He hoofed his leather hat from the stand next to the door, looking Caltrop over to size him up as he walked out the door. He spun and put his hat on, tipping it as he gave the shop one last look. “As always, good evening ladies.”

An awkward silence filled the air in the moments that followed, nopony really doing anything other than just trying to forget what just occurred. Storm pulled her rope back up and went into Grandpa’s room, while Mother pulled out a sheet of paper in her magic, floating it over to me as Caltrop walked up to my side.

“So, Dis is a pretty nice place ya got here, Mrs. Cap.” He looked around with a forced sense of awe. Well, at least I HOPE it was forced. “There ain’t any houses dis sized back home.”

“Where might that be?” Mom added, smiling as she got ready to judge my choice in stallions even further. “And you can call me Lever Action. My daughter’s name is her own, I know how much she hates when others take it.” She shook her head and shot me a wink. Suddenly, I feel like I’m the only mature pony in my life these days. Trying to distract myself, I looked over the paper I had been given, delightfully discovering that it was a contract posted not three days ago. You know, maybe my luck is starting to swing back the other way for once.

[---]

Target’s Name: Auger, may used multiple aliases. Known aliases include: Nightshade, Pin Prick, Splint, Hard Cast

Description: Earth Pony Mare, Silver colored coat, Red Mane and Tail.

Physical Abilities: Large size with high strength and high agility. Extremely dangerous in hoof to hoof combat.

Cutie Mark: Large, silver helical drill.

Suspected location of shelter: Dodge strip.

Known associates: None.

Additional Notes: May be posing as a mercenary medic.

Reward: 300 caps dead. 750 alive.

[---]

I looked up from the note, seeing that my mother had lost interest in whatever Caltrop had been saying. To be honest, I didn’t really care where he came from, it’s bad enough he’s here now. You need to stop demeaning him if he’s going to be your friend. Ugh, dammit brain, quit making this hard.

“She's seen hunters come after her before, so you're going to have to come at her like some poor wasteland explorer looking to strike it big.” She squinted at me and licked her hoof, mushing it against my cheek to wipe whatever was on it away. I bat her hoof off of me.

“Well we got tha poor thing covered, Mrs. A!” Caltrop chimed in again with his ever astute recollection of the plainly obvious. “Ya don’t mind if I call ya that, do ya?”

“Caltrop, shut up. And goddesses mom, I wasn't fucking born yesterday. I know how to fucking hunt assholes.” I sighed and walked over to the ammunition rack, taking a few boxes of 9mm and .44 to reload my guns with. Unfortunately she didn’t have any 12.7 rounds in, so I’d have to hope I could get some at one of the other vendors in town. That is, if Mom can give me something to trade for them.

“Why don't you take Storm’s rifle just in case? She’s on vacation and won’t need it.” Yeah, Grandma would be on vacation if I took it. She never goes anywhere without that damn thing, and won’t give it up for the world. No, if I took it, she’d just get it back from me and shoot me again. On that subject, why does everypony think that I need a rifle? It’s heavy, and bulky, and my .44 can perform just as well as one. Mother though, was intent on having me take it, floating it in front of me as she adopted a sing-songy voice. “You never know when it might be useful!”

“I told you to quit trying to pawn that piece of shit off on me.” I grabbed hold of it in my magic, floating it to the counter and setting it down gently. Not only would she probably shoot me for taking it, I know she’d shoot me for damaging it.

“Well the longer it’s around here, the more Storm will want to take a job.” Mom sighed and tossed her mane from her eyes and adjusted her headband, pinning the normally cooperative blue hair down. “You know her, it's all just work work work.” Yeah, because unlike her, some of us have to actually leave home to make money. Even so, she did have a point.

“Yeah, crazy old coot needs to just retire before she 'saves the wasteland' again.” I rolled my eyes and gave a laugh. Baltimare was in her debt for what she did back then, but there is no way she’d be able to go through all that again at her age.

Caltrop let out a large gasp. “Wait, ya gramma is Storm? As in Storm Rider!?” Oh great. Here we go. “I'm workin with tha grand daughta of a legend!” He giggled like the prewar fillies did from the boring flicks in the old cinema.

“Don't let it go to your head, she's not THAT great.” I looked to Mom for backup, finding that she had disappeared on me without me noticing. I don’t know if it’s true, but I blame Caltrop for distracting me.

“Ya kiddin me? I used ta hear all sorts a stories 'bout her an her band when I was only a foal.” He was almost vibrating with excitement, and I don’t think any amount of smacking would remove the dumb grin he wore. “When I grew up, and that otha’s stopped belivein it was true, I was the only one that knew she had ta be out there.”

“Wait, when did you become a stallion?” I shook my head. “Cause I don’t think you’ve already forgotten what happened yesterday.” You know, if Mom is going to leave the shop floor unattended, I’m just going to borrow some stuff to barter with. So into my saddlebags went a few random items I thought might fetch a good price, and we were heading out the door.

“Speaking of!” Mother shouted from the kitchen, probably hearing us as we went to leave. “Now that you've found a nice stallion, why not retire and come work for me! Grandchildren would be nice to have you know!” Just the thought of Caltrop and I being friends was tough enough to swallow. So the thought of Him and I together?

I turned my head back as we walked to the porch, giving her my answer. ”Fuck you mom!”

“LOVE YOU DEAR! STAY SAFE!” I cringed as her voice carried over the morning air. As much as I love my mother, staying around her was a chore in and of itself. I’m just glad I have a job, and can get back to work.

“I dunno! I kinda like yah mother.” Caltrop smiled as he walked ahead of me, a bit of extra bounce in his step as if today has been nothing but sunshine and rainbows. When was the last time I felt that happy? My head was starting to ache from all of the annoyance.

“Just... shut up.” I groaned and tried to remember the way to the bazaar. “We’ll trade this stuff for some much needed supplies, and then we’re out of here. The contract’s not the freshest one, but I think that if we play our cards right, we’ll get the drop on her wherever she’s hiding out.”

“That’s a hell of a complex plan PC.” Ash’s voice came from the alleyway up ahead. “Forgive me if I sound ignorant, but it sounds like most of that plan relies on luck.” Why the fuck does he always have to do this. Sometimes, I wish I had the mindset where I wouldn't hate myself for shooting innocents.

“Well, let’s hear your plan, Ashley.” I shook my head and just kept walking.

“What kinda name is Ashley?” The way Caltrop asked it, it sounded like he was actually straining to think about it. “Ya parents on drugs or somethin?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, they were. My name is Ash Cherry, but the drugs she's taken mess with how mom speaks, and wouldn't I know it, it stuck.” Score one for Caltrop, who seems to have upset Ashley with a guess! “She still has issues with the shakes the PTM’s gave her.” He did his best to catch up with us, shaking off the uncomfortable memories by getting aggressive. “And wouldn’t you like to know my plan. I already gave you a chance to go with me, and you blew it sister.”

“Ya related ta this asshole?” Caltrop really had a chance to go two for two with his questions. Well, better luck next time I guess. “Ya told Horus ya didn’t have a brother.” Wait, not only did he steal back my caps, he was eavesdropping as well? That sneaky little bastard.

“It’s just a phrase.” The voice of a younger mare called as she walked down the street in front of us. I looked up, watching as another one of my old rivals decided to make an appearance. “This guy giving you trouble again PC?” So smug and haughty in her armored vault suit and pipbuck, her high class looks the result of a privileged childhood of living in a stable.

“Nothing I can’t handle, Bluejay.” I tipped my hat down, pushing myself to move faster than a walk, but not wanting to give away my injuries. “You doing the Baltimare PD’s patrols now?”

“Nah, just stopped by the market to pick some things up. I wish I knew you were back in town, would have made time to catch up some.” You mean gloat over that sloppy merc work you call ‘helping ponies’. “I’m just about to head out to dodge for a job. Wish I could chat, but I gotta run.”

“Ya got the contract as well?” Caltrop’s voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, his big mouth just making the biggest mistake in the bounty hunting business. “Maybe we can all work as friends!” That naive son of a bitch.

“Nah, I’d rather not split my share!” Bluejay shouted, whipping around and taking off down the street at a gallop. I turned to see if some sort of divine gift had spared Ashley’s ears from the privileged information, only to find that he had up and disappeared without a trace.

This time, I definitely knew that this was all Caltrop’s fault.

--Chapter End--
So much for getting a little R&R
Quests Finished: Homeward Bound
Quests Started: Malpractice Makes Perfect
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

Thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, John Colt, Hetnu, Xjuan, Sawyer, Vocal, Tinker, and Bad Pun for their inspiration and support in the writing of this fic!

Shout out to Regolit, Deathpony, and Revel Romp for their feedback! You guys are the best!

Chapter 8 - The Principles of Heroism

“I already said I’m sorry, what more do ya want!” Caltrop whined and rubbed at the back of his head. He’d probably have a bruise there tomorrow after how many times I’ve hit him in the last 30 minutes, but I really couldn’t care, not today. What I did care about was the constant ebbing pain in my leg. I really just wish that I could fix it, but I don’t have the caps to spend on a hydra just to heal the bone.

“Some peace and quiet.” I growled, turning my gaze back to him as we slowly made our way back through the marketplace. I had managed to sell off the few things I took from mom and ended up getting 10 more 12.7 rounds, a couple of 20 gauge shells, and a single healing bandage. I’ve only got a single mag left for #2, and I should probably get a few more rounds for it, but I should be fine. With so many of us having taken the contract, I’m sure there won’t be time for stealth.

“So… this Ash guy. What’s up with him?” With as much as Caltrop’s been talking, I’m sure being quiet is out of the question regardless. He winced reflexively as I stopped walking, but I don’t think hitting him again was going to accomplish anything.

“If you’re going to insist on talking, the least you could have done is kept that asshole out of the conversation.” I sighed, shaking my head as we turned the corner and headed into the main bazaar. My stomach grumbled as the scent of fresh Brahmin meat filled my nose.

“Well, I wanna know what I’m up against… for ya… for us, I mean.” Caltrop stuttered as he spoke, making my ears perk as I registered the most disgusting thought in my brain.

“Are… are you kidding me?” I spun around and let out a laugh. “First off, please, PLEASE don’t tell me you are getting jealous over the thought that I might actually succumb to his charms.” I waved my hoof around my body, watching as he followed with a blush. “Second, you know you and I will never be anything. IF, and that’s a big if, in the event that we become ‘friends’, then it stops there. I’m not looking, so you’re not asking. Got that?”

He nodded sadly as he looked at the dirt, hoofing at it softly. For a moment, I thought he was going to start tearing up again, but he just stood there looking dejected. That is, until his stomach gurgled loud enough to cut over the hustle and bustle of the market behind me.

“If ya don’t mind… maybe we could get somethin ta eat?” He looked back up with a nervous grin. My ear perked as the sound of fluttering cloth preceded Caltrop being knocked to the dirt by a blue blur.

“Didn’t you just hear her? She’s not interested.” Bluejay gave him a light kick while he was down, the automated winch system to her battle harness retracted the hook and line she used to suspend herself with, the whole setup giving a slight hiss as it locked back in place.

Did I already mention how much I hated her ridiculous gadgets and shit?

“I appreciate the thought, Blue, but he’s actually just hungry.” I shook my head and kept my eyes locked on her. She had run off so quickly before, and she knows we have the same contract, so what would she still be doing here? Wait… she wouldn’t be dumb enough to ask to split a contract again, would she? I would have thought she’d have learned after I left her high and dry last time. “Besides, I can handle myself against a stupid stallion or two.”

“You know, it’s like you’ve changed since last I saw you. You’re defending a stallion like him? I knew he’s just hungry, I mean, half the market had to have heard the sound that came from him.” She smiled like the asshole she was, not even looking as Caltrop took a lazy swing at her, but still artfully dodging it, and redirecting his momentum to toss him back to the ground at my hooves. “But I’m not so sure you can handle yourself. You remember last winter? That Orange fellow we had to go after outside of Friendship city? I remember him having beaten you quite literally half to death before I showed up.”

“Yeah, and I remember the other five who I took down to get to him.” She was right, I had gotten it pretty bad, and sure, had she not showed I might have died. “The thing is, I seem to recall having to save your ass not a few months back from that manticore who snuck up on you. Or what about the time just after we first met out in the badlands when that giant robo-scorpion thing chased you for four days straight?”

My words turned her smirk into a scowl for only a moment, her muzzle spreading to a smile as she laughed. “Yeah, you’ve got me there, but this contract is mine.” There was a loud beep from her Pipbuck that caught all of our attentions. “Ah, my rides here.” She looked down to Caltrop and fluttered her eyelashes, blowing him a kiss before her magic activated the pneumatic hook system on her back, the high speed winch pulling the rope taught as it latched onto one of the ruined buildings down the street. “When I get back, drinks are on you!” She flew back as she worked her system, cackling loudly as she disappeared from sight.

“Geez Boss, is everyone ya know so fuckin obnoxious?” Caltrop got to his hooves, dusting himself off as my stomach churned again.

“The correct term, is asshole.” I laughed back to him, listening as he snorted and tried to clear the dust from his face. “Now come on, I’m getting hungry as well, and those Brahmin steaks smell too damn good.”

“Ya know, I knew a Brahmin once, nice pair of folk from Manehatten.” He strode up beside me as we entered the crowds of the market, my eye catching as his hoof slipped into the jacket pocket of a well dressed pony that was staring intently at some overpriced, sickly looking fruit. He produced a small bag of caps which he immediately placed into his saddlebags, not even breaking his stride or his speech. Well, looks like I know who’s paying for lunch. “Still, I kinda feel bad for ponies always eatin’ them.”

“Then they shouldn’t smell or taste so damn good when cooked.” As we approached the food wagon, the cook behind the grill looked to us with a smile and pointed at both Caltrop and I. I nodded and took a seat in front of the small window, listening as the sizzling of two fresh cuts filled my ears. “Besides, what other meat would you rather eat? Pony?” My words made him shudder at the thought, which for some reason made me laugh.

Maybe Bluejay was right, maybe I have changed. Grandma always told me about how the simple act of making a friend changed her life for the better, and Caltrop has been more civil than anypony else I’ve ever known. Yeah he’s completely screwed up my life, but that’s something Grandma’s first friend supposedly did as well. Maybe it’s some sort of friendship rite of passage to have them ruin everything you’ve got going for yourself.

The Brahmin steaks were set in front of us, looking like slices of heaven on a plate. I looked to Caltrop, finding that he had already counted out the caps from the bag he stole and was hoofing them over. I didn’t even have to ask him to pay. Is that something friends do? Then again, I don’t know what a friend is like because mom didn’t have any. Before she hated her as the merchant competition, back when she was a bounty hunter, she referred to Ditsy as her only friend due to the fact she could bum rides around the wasteland off her.

Wait… that little stable bitch!

“No time to eat, Caltrop!” I hooked my foreleg around him and pulled him away from the cart, the two of us immediately breaking into a gallop. I wanted to mirror Caltrop’s look of longing for his steak, but we don’t have the time to care. “We’ve got to get back to my Grandma!”

Even something as simple as this put him on the verge of tears. “But…can’t we take ‘em with us?” I was sorry as well, but the more time we stood around, the higher the chance Bluejay would be gone already. Getting back home was going to be our best shot at gaining an advantage toward the others.

The few minutes it took to gallop back here, and the loss of our lunch, were the least of my worries as I burst through the door to my mothers shop, nearly bowling over one of the customers inside as I galloped up to Grandma. She had her forehooves crossed under each other as she lay back in a rocking chair, looking quite bored. Let’s see if I can change that.

“Grandma, I just heard that Ditzy’s in town.” I watched her perk right up as I had hoped. “I need you to talk to her for me.”

“Ditzy?” She put a forehoof to her chin and nodded. “It's been ages since I've seen her, and catching up would be nice,” She frowned a bit as she paused. “...though I still owe her a muffin and want to avoid making an excuse for why even though I have the supplies, I haven't baked it yet.” She leaned back in her chair, rocking softly as she took far too much time to think. “Hmmm, dilemma…”

“You done going off to La-la land?” I used my forehoof to stop her rocking, drawing her annoyed gaze. “I need you to convince her to take me out to Dodge.” And at that, she looked genuinely surprised.

“Oh, is that why you came to me? So you can rest your hooves a bit while somepony does all the work for you?” She laughed to herself. Here it comes, the same thing that’s happened every time I’ve come back home. Storm gets to lecture me on the finer points of how bad of a hunter I am, and I get to leave in a huff. “If how I found you in Filly was any indication, you've already gone soft enough out there.”

“Really? You’re going to pull this shit again?” I felt like smashing my face into a wall would have saved me the frustration of actually thinking she would help me for once. “You know that I am ten times better qualified than the others on this contract. And I am asking you out of respect, that I could really use the head start on the others.”

“Yes, I am going to pull this shit again. And every time you come to me for something like this.” She chuckled to herself as she knocked my hoof away and started rocking again. “If you are that much better, then my saying no levels the playing field. You've been unchallenged for so long that you've forgotten just how to play this game. Beat them now, and you will have proven yourself to them.”

“Grandma, I don’t need their respect. All I really need is the caps that come from the contract, nothing else.” I turned and looked for mother, knowing that as a sensible business mare, she’d know that caps are always what it’s all about. I found her sitting behind the counter, her muzzle buried in the pages of a Daring Doo novel, one of the old world adventure books I had read as a young filly. “Mom, care to help me out on this?”

“Listen to your grandmother dear, she know's more about this sort of thing than anypony else alive.” She spoke without even looking up from the old book, licking her hoof and turning the page as if none of us were even here. How no pony robs her blind is a complete mystery to me.

“Besides, walking from here to Dodge isn’t so bad. Builds character.” Storm’s logic was just infuriating to me. She’s never had to make a trip like that before under time and money constraints like these. I looked over at her with a blank expression as she smirked with the same devilishness that Ashley always did. “I suggest you use the extra time to get to know your friend out there more.” She shrugged and went back to her rocking with a disinterested sigh. “You may not be so used to it now, but I'm sure you'll find having a pony with you to be an asset you'll wonder how you ever got along without.”

Time for plan B.

“Look, either help me out, or I tell Ditzy you don’t intend to pay her back.” I shook my head with my own grin, watching as Storm stopped rocking, clenching her jaw as the anger inside her rose. Her burning gaze looked up to me slowly, the silence that filled the room made me wonder where everypony went, before quickly remember that along with being a well known hero of Baltimare, the other thing she was known for was her temper.

“You two, please don’t make a scene in my shop.” Mom had spoken up finally, probably only for the fact that our argument had just potentially lost her money. “Well, any more than you already have.”

“You don't get to try to blackmail me, young lady. Especially after you stole a few good caps worth of items from your mother earlier.” Storm prodded me with her hoof. “Now go, before I shoot you with another couple of rubber bullets to make sure my points today have really sunken in.”

“Storm, I’ve asked you to stop hurting PC before, don’t make me ask you again.” Great, now Mom was furious. She would never raise her voice, or lash out, but you could just hear it in her voice, that if you continued to piss her off, you would pay. The great thing was Storm could never bring herself to even yell at mom, so she was always the one to end arguments. “PC, take your stallion friend and go, but I expect you to reimburse me for what you stole once your other debts are settled.”

“Fine.” I grunted and looked back to the door, watching as Caltrop smiled to me. Friendship with him or not, this was going to be a long, and most likely pointless trip out to the middle of nowhere.

The walk out of town hadn’t been unbearable, but the pain in my leg had been there the whole time, wearing my mind down slowly like a fine grit sandpaper. Caltrop had mostly been quiet due to the fact that every time he opened his muzzle, his stomach would rumble before he could say anything. I have to admit, I’m regretting the decision to leave those steaks behind, but such is life.

“Ya know Boss, ya never did answer my question.” He finally found the courage to break the silence. “About dat asshole ya know.”

“If it will get you to shut up, then fine, I’ll tell you.” I grumbled, climbing the still soggy, rolling hills that trailed out toward the westward mountains. While still a day or so off, the mountains were going to be a problem. While it would save us time to cut straight over towards dodge rather than go around, we would save more time going through one of the old railway tunnels. Granted nothing says all of them haven't collapsed by now, and there could be a whole host of unfriendly things inside, but I think it’s worth the risk.

Wait, wasn’t Caltrop talking?

“Ya even listenin ta me Boss?” I would like to say that I felt bad for zoning out, but I honestly don’t. I just turned and stared at him until he repeat the question with a sigh. “I was askin how long he’s been around.”

“Four, five years?” That was actually a pretty good question. “Far as I can recall, he just showed up one day and acted like he was the next greatest thing since sliced bread. I don’t know a damn thing about him past the fact that he’s the biggest Asshole I’ve ever met. Never cared to.” As soon as he had stopped talking, a scream in the far off distance was punctuated with several gunshots, forcing both Caltrop and I to the dirt.

“Shit. What the fuck is going on up there?” I tweaked my ears, listening as more screams and shouting were heard between shots. Raiders? No, too many gunshots for it to be an attack. Slavers? No, not ENOUGH gunshots for that.

“Sounds like a gunfight ta me.” Master of the obvious over there spoke in his normal tones of wisdom. “Maybe we should go check it out?” Okay, more so not as full of wisdom today.

“Of course it’s a gunfight, it was a rhetorical question.” I grumbled and pulled #5 from it’s holster, levitating it close to my side. “And of course we’re not going to check it out. Being as they are still shooting, I’d say it would be a bad idea to get involved.”

“But what if they are innocent ponies? Wouldn’t ya wanna help them?” Why did he have to sound so genuinely stupid today? “We could be hero’s or somethin!”

“No. You know what the definition of a hero is? Somepony who gets other ponies killed.” I could feel the urge to shoot him rising as I remembered something he had said when I had barely been listening. “Didn’t you say you grew up a raider? Doesn’t that mean you should want to kill them all?”

“Ganger. It’s different.” He snorted and stamped off past me. “An if ya ain’t gonna help, I’ll do it myself.” He held his hoof out to me, wincing slightly with every gunshot in the distance. “Give me one a ya guns.”

“No, find you’re own.” Yeah, trust anything of mine to him when it’s not necessary? Fuck that. If you are going to seriously try to be his friend, where’s the harm? See, this is where you’re wrong brain. If he goes and gets himself killed, I lose both him and my gun. A week ago, you wouldn’t have cared about more than your gun, which means you do care about him. Just… shut up brain. I let out a sigh as my ear tweaked, hearing Caltrops hoofbeats running off in front of me. “Might as well back him up I guess.” I went to levitate #5 around from my side, just now realizing that I didn’t have it anymore. “Oh, you’re just asking for me to shoot you!” I screamed and took off after him.

My aching foreleg burned as I raced after him, the weight of my harness and coat feeling like a ton of bricks weighing down on it. I grit my teeth and pushed through the annoyance as the gunshots started to seem less frantic, and more precise. With #5 out of the picture, it was either #3 or #4 to use in it’s place, but I’d have to see what we were fighting to know. As I crested the next hill, I nearly slammed into Caltrop as he galloped towards me. The deep roar of a full grown manticore, who until our intrusion had been happy with clawing at a large armored cart, was now barreling towards me at full speed.

Fuck 3 or 4, the answer is both!

I whipped the guns out in my levitation, firing as I spun and galloped back down the hill. I don’t know if I had hit it at all, but I do know that no one shot was going to bring it down. This is exactly the reason I avoid running toward the sounds of fighting! I pushed myself to get up the other hill, looking back just as the huge beast crested the top of the last one. It was bleeding from several holes in it’s hide, the trails of blood too thin and spattered to be from my guns.

With another deafening roar, it leapt towards me, nearly making it from the peak of that hill to mine. As it slammed into the dirt, and braced itself from the impact, I took that time to unload into it with the two guns, ripping into it’s skull and shredding it’s head to ribbons. It gave one final groan before it collapsed, it’s scorpion tail dropping into the dirt with a thick whump.

“Not so tough after all, I guess.” I remarked to myself, using my magic to pull the magazines from #3 and #4, loading in fresh ones. Caltrop trotted up to my side, #5 sitting firmly in his muzzle for only a second before my magic tugged it, spun it, and hit him square in the forehead with the grip. “You moron! Don’t you EVER do that again.”

“Alright! Geeze, not like ya needed it or nothin.” He walked forward and kicked at the corpse with his hoof. “Odd though. Don’t normally find em alone.” Now that he mentions it, that is true. They normally travel in mated pairs. “But if this was the male, I’d hate ta meet what ever took the female down.” There was a piercing roar from further ahead, back up where the armored wagon was, making Caltrop jump and shiver.

“You just HAD to say it, didn’t you?” I shook my head and added #6 to the weapons I had floating around me. “Just, stay here and don’t get yourself killed.” I prodded at his chest, looking at him dead in the eyes to make sure he knew I was serious. He nodded and took a step back. The gunfire that had been silent started up again, though, it sounded like some sort of magical energy weapon this time. If the pony using it could hold out enough, one of those shots might just do the trick and turn the whole thing to ash. Guess that’s where I come in. I galloped forward, heading back across the hills toward the sounds.

What stood before me when I got on top of the hill was the largest damn Manticore that I had ever laid eyes on, towering nearly twice as tall as the first one. It had the cage pinned between it’s enormous paws while it’s tail hammered at the side of steel box, each hit denting it in more and more. There was a single slit window on the crumpleing wall, horribly inaccurate red beams were emit from it between every slam, not even getting close to hitting anything at all. There was a sickening screech as the side of the box sheared with one of the slams, the manticore peeling the metal back with little effort.

“Fuck me.” I used my hoof to tip up my hat, taking a deep breath before lifting #5 to my eye, and pulling the trigger. I used the recoil of the shot to help nudge it out of my vision, levitating it back into place as the Manticore let out a roar, the oozing wound where one of it’s eyes had been clear as day even without the scope. I didn’t waste any more time, focusing on firing everything but #6 at the beast.

It lept up and darted to the side with agility and speed I had never expected from something its size, darting through the dirt and along a hill to the left of me, slowly curving it’s way towards me as I fired. #5 ran dry, so I dropped it, keeping my fire on it as it barreled towards me. #3 and #4 went dry, so I dropped them as well, waiting until just the last moment before I could use #6.

The report from the sawed off shotgun unfortunately happened to be the most impressive effect of using it, the shot punching into it’s flesh, but having no real effect whatsoever. I rolled to the side, using my smaller sized agility to outmaneuver the charging beast. I had fought a few Minotaurs in the past on contract runs, so when something charged, I generally knew the drill.

Unfortunately for me, Manticores are not Minotaurs and have huge tails.

The sheer power of the log sized appendage hitting me knocked the air from my lungs as it sent me flying down from the crest of the hill. I slammed down into the dirt with barely enough time to yelp before the huge beast was on top of me, pinning me down with it’s large, powerful paw. It raised it’s tail high to strike, letting out an ear shattering roar before it froze. A brightening pink glow came from inside of it, slowly consuming it before the ashy remains of it dropped down and coated me. I was forced to breath deep as my lungs screamed for air, sucking in a large amount of the beasts ashes before I began to choke on them.

“Whoa there! Don’t yah go dyin on me now, yah hear?” The voice was that of a mare, coming from up on the hillside I had just been on. I presume she was the one who had just vaporized that thing and saved my flank. I turned over, gasping and moaning as the side that had been hit screamed in pain. I used my magic to lift my coat, finding that my entire right side had been recolored black and purple. “Now that's a mighty large bruise if yah go askin me! Why don’t yah make yah way over ta tha cart and Ah’ll repay yah by helpin to get yer hurtin ta stop.”

Well, at least she didn’t shoot me. Maybe… maybe not everypony in the wasteland is an asshole after all?

--Chapter End--
Now you are starting to look like the hero of your own story!
Quests Finished: Tin Can Merchants
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: Big Game Hunter -
You’ve made it a hobby to take down the big things nopony should have any business fighting! You gain +2D10 extra damage against mutant wildlife.

Chapter 9 - Of hugs and hatred

“Boy, ya sure did get walloped pretty good in tha side there.” The mare who had dusted the manticore and saved my life was dabbing at my side with a cold cloth. For a unicorn, she appeared to know quite a few spells, including one to make ice. I winced as the cold feeling was countered by the sharp pains my ribs gave me from the pressure of her hoof. “Ya know, this would be a whole lot easier if ya removed all of yer guns.”

And leave myself open to the whims of an asshole? I think not.

“Fighting that thing was a stupid mistake on my part. I should have never tried to take it on.” I muttered under my breath. I turned my angry gaze toward Caltrop, who of all things wasn’t even paying attention. He had his muzzle buried in an old financial magazine that meant nothing now that the world was more concerned over killing for it’s wealth, than trading for it. A sharp jab to the side preceded the numbing sensation that the painkiller gave off.

“Hey, if ya’ll hadn’t distracted it, I’d be nothin but another meal fer tha buzzards by now.” She gave my side a pat as her magic dissipated the cloth and ice into nothingness. “Tha name’s Brightshine by tha way, it’s a pleasure tah meet ya.” She held her hoof out with a smile.

“Yeah, well I’m grateful for the assist back there. But we’re late as it is and should be moving on.” I snagged my coat and hat in my magic as I stood up, surprised to feel it tug away. This mare had wrapped her own magic around it and was pushing it back down.

“Awe shucks, I’m sure ya can at least stay fer lunch!” A look of determination came over her face as she gave me the smallest of smirks that only served to piss me off. But my body betrayed me as a deep growl came from the pit of my stomach, somehow drawing one out from Caltrop as well. Fuck, if only we didn’t leave those steaks behind. “See, even yer friend’s stomach is agreein tah stay!”

“He’s not my friend.” I grumbled and gave up the battle for my gear. “Alright, we’ll stay, but make it quick. I still want to make some progress by sundown.”

“Fair enough.” She smirked and set my gear down next to Caltrop. “Lucky for you, old Mr. Carver here was tha first tah fall from tha manticore. Though, ah wish ah coulda saved his son, poor thing shoulda known not tah stray that far from tha cart.” She nodded her head to the backside of the overturned cart, the mangled remains of what I can only assume was the pony she spoke of lay heaped against the side of it. “A shame really. He coulda avoided this whole ordeal if he had just listened tah reason.”

“I see…” I didn’t really care about what happened. Dead is dead. Can’t change that.

“Why don’t ya pick out somethin, whatevah ya’ll want and I’ll whip it up.” She floated a large bag from inside of the mangled metal wagon, tossing it over to me. It struck the dirt and spilled out a plethora of canned goods. Canned corn, canned beans, canned radishes. Even canned pineapple.

“Ya got any Carrots?” With the premiss of food, of course Caltrop found the time to pay attention now. I used my levitation to grab the cans and neatly stack them, streaming the ones in the bag out past my face so I could see what they were, the last can I pulled wore a faded orange label with a smiling mare on the front with a carrot in her hooves.

“Yeah, looks like we’re fresh out.” I smirked and tossed it as hard as I could behind me with my magic. No, Caltrop doesn’t get what he wants, not after the shit he pulled. I smiled up to him as he stood teary eyed from the simple response.

“Hey, ya’ll don’t go wastein somethin like that now.” The mare spoke up, levitating the orange can past my head and over to Caltrop. He took the can and pulled it close to his chest with a gasp, cradling it like it was a foal. “Not tah mention, treats are few and far between when travelin, what’s tha harm in lettin him enjoy himself a little?”

“You offered lunch, not a lecture on my goddess damned wasteland ethics.” I shot her a glare as she levitated some of the broken wood from the cart into a pile, building a fire put to cook on.

“At least she has ethics.” Caltrop muttered.

“What’s tha story with you two anyhow?” She kicked a few rocks into place around the wood before putting a hoof into the leather coat she wore. She pulled out an old torch striker and bit down on it. It rang to me a bit weird that not only was she not using magic to use the thing, but she seemed to not find it absolutely frustrating to use tools like an earth pony must.

“Well, ya see…” Caltrop started off, quickly stopping himself before hesitantly glancing at me. He shifted uncomfortably away from me as I was just waiting to hear what he was going to say. I lifted my hoof and rolled it to try to encourage him to continue. “I… I screwed up one a the jobs Boss was on. Screwed it up bad enough I got her kicked outa Filly. So now I gotta follow her till I can pay her back.”

The mare huffed through the tool as she worked it, sending spark after spark into the wood. A small wisp of white smoke came through the bottom of the pile, quickly becoming a large cloud as the fire caught. The mare spit the tool back into her hoof as she levitated her Yellow and blond streaked mane away from the young flames.

“So, ya’ll are her slave?” Hoofing the tool back into her jacket, she dug around in her saddlebag until she pulled out a metal framed cook stand. She opened it with a flick of her fetlock, setting it over the wood and levitating a large pot onto it.

“No, not at all.” I laughed to myself, staring into the fire as it grew. “Caltrop is free to walk off whenever he wants. Hell, I want you to take him off my hooves. If anything it saves me from getting into any more trouble like this.”

But you don’t really want that, now do you?

“So, Mr. Caltrop. Tell me, is she always this uptight?” She shook her head and levitated a can opener out, her magic pulling the can from Caltrop’s hooves as well. The air was filled with the crackling from the fire as he shrunk down on his hooves and looked at me. Why the fuck did he have to act like a scared filly all the damn time? After that shit this morning in town, you’d think he’d want to make good on trying to impress me.

After what seemed like minutes of silence, he finally found the courage to speak up. “Can I… decline to comment?”

“No.” I spoke up. From the way the two of them both perked their ears, it looks as if my response had caught them off guard. “You wanted to be friends, so I want to hear it. Good or bad, I want you’re unbiased opinion on how much of a bitch you think I am.”

“Do ya promise not ta hit me after?” Even though he sounded hopeful, he should have known the answer.

“Not a chance. You’re already way past me having to buck the shit out of you for getting us into this.” I ground my hooves into the dirt. How badly I wanted to just toss him down and stomp his face in until he wasn’t breathing. How the fuck has he survived this long in life if this is the shit he get’s into? He’s either the most fortunate stallion I’ve ever met, or the ponies he stays around are some sort of ablative armor for his moronic actions.

“I think ya’ve been the only pony I’ve ever seen who can be so mean without havin to resort ta killin folks.” He cringed and waited for the inevitable to come bearing down on him. But that took a lot of strength to say, and it’s just about the first thing out of his muzzle that I didn’t outright hate hearing.

The screeching of the can opener against the rusting lid of nearly two hundred year old vegetables made a shiver run down my spine. “Well now, ain’t that somethin.” The mare spoke up as her magic pryed the lid up and spilled the contents into the pot. “Ya’ll two are complete opposites it seems, yet ya’ll are travelin tagether like two peas in a pod.” She pulled a can of beats from the bottom of stack I set up, making me struggle to catch all of the cans before they clattered to the dirt. She continued without even missing a beat. “If ya’ll don’t mind me askin, where are you off in a hurry tah? If we’re headin the same way, maybe we could stay tagether. Ya know, safty in numbers.”

“Thanks, but we’re fine on our own.” It was hard to focus on answering her question as I held the ten odd cans in my magic, throbbing pains streaked down my horn into my skull as I focused on placing them down neatly again.

“Boss, if she’s headin tah Dodge, what’s so bad about teamin up?” Caltrop just earned himself another beating for miraculously telling another pony our destination. He might as well just wear a fucking neon sign that shouted ‘Come ruin PC’s life!’ on his back.

“Well Ah’ll be! Yer in luck as ah just so happen tah be headin out there myself, lookin fer work an all seein as my last charge is layin dead over there.” And with that, I officially hate my life again. I upgraded it from hate to a mild dislike this morning. Now? I think I’ll just leave it where it is until the day I die. “After lunch ah’ll make sure tah get my things all ready and we can all head out tagether! Oh we are gonna have just a fantastic time gettin tah know one another!”

“Great.” I sighed. “Just… great.”

A spike of pain shot through my side that made me groan.

“Ey Boss? Ya need more Med-x or somethin?” My resident master of the obvious here was back to his cheerful self as well now that he had his fill of soup.

“I’ll be fine.” I don’t know why it was so hard for these two to be quiet. It’s still another three days till we get to dodge and they both seem contented to make me loathe every second of it. The only thing I need to do is just focus on the horizon. This is just the same as every time I’ve gone out before, nothing’s changed except the company I keep along the way. Not to mention, we should be nearing Driftwood, and if my luck returns, maybe they will have a different contract there I could pick up.

“Hot diggity dog, ah just had a fantastic idea!” Brightshine was far too excited to have been traveling with us for all of an hour. The soup, while good, was a waste of time. If we had left as I suggested, and waited for nightfall to make dinner, we might have made it halfway to the base of the mountain. Not to mention, we waited for so long, the painkillers started to wear off. “Ah used tah be a prospector of sorts round these parts and if it’s Dodge we’re headin for, Ah know of a few mine shafts that could cut our trip right in half!”

That was actually surprisingly useful, provided it’s not dangerous.

“Weren’t all the mines all cleared out for Stables before the end of the war?” Caltrop’s question caught me off guard, as I didn’t think he was smart enough to bring something like that up. Though, he had said he grew up around one of those things, so I guess it makes sense enough.

“Honey, if that were true, there are so many mines that ah’m bettin they coulda saved everypony in the land when tha end came.” She floated out her magical energy rifle, twirling it in her levitation. “That ain’t ta say they didn’t leave some interestin things in some a them though.” She brought the weapon’s sights to her eye and smiled, making me wary that she’ll ‘accidentally’ shoot me. “Why, ah found ole’ Betsy here just sittin in a corner as pretty as tha day she rolled outta tha factory!”

“This shortcut, how dangerous is it?” I don’t care if there was buckets of gemstones in the mines, if there were things in there that wanted to kill us, then we would be hoofing it around the mountain. Even if that ended up adding another day to our trip.

“There ain’t nothin harmful in that cave cept for the dark.” Even with her saying it, I highly doubted that. “And ah’ve got a spell ta help with makin sure that aint a problem. Mah name ain’t Brightshine fer nothin!” Well I was sure it didn’t have anything to do with your intelligence.

“Fine, we’ll give it a shot.” I still didn’t feel like it was a good idea to vary from my normal routine, but shit had already gone so far off track from normal that I just wanted to get this job over with. The sooner I could get paid, the sooner I could go back to Filly and start again with my regular work. Scanning the horizon, I could see the thin lines of smoke coming from the direction we were headed still quite a few miles off. As much as everypony inside was an asshole, the sight of a settlement meant I could relax slightly.

“Do ya’ll mind if ah stop by home for a few? Mah brother might be willin tah lend us a hoof.” Great, let’s just keep bringing more assholes along with us. Just let me quickly find more of those neon signs real quick… “If he’s doin a run up tah Timber, maybe we can ride along.”

“Hey, don’t Timber have one of them train things?” Caltrop sounded nearly giddy at the thought of it. “Ever since I was a foal I wanted ta ride on one.” Fantastic. That last thing I want to do this week was sit in a giant, uncontrollable steel box and wait to be killed when it crashes. Even worse is I’ll have to listen to Caltrop whine the entire time we’re dying.

“It sure does! Runnin all tha way from Driftwood tah Timber, and Mah brother is the lead puller on tha team.” She leaned her head back as she trot. “Ah just hope he’s finally back tah work.”

“Why hasn’t he been workin?” Which was yet another good question from Caltrop. I’m sure that running something like that was a fairly dangerous job, considering you’re completely exposed and not exactly subtle with those things.

“A few days ago we got news that mah sister was killed. He took it particularly hard.” Brightshine sniffled a bit as she spoke. “Her and ah were never that close, an she always had a habit of gittin herself intah trouble, but she was younger than tha both of us. Yah never know how much ya miss somepony till their gone fer good.”

So what if somepony died. Shit like that happens in the wastes every day. If somepony you know dies, you just deal with it an move on. It’s that simple. If it’s truly that easy, why were you so afraid of exactly that when Caltrop was hurt?

“FUCK YOU.” I couldn’t take this anymore as I angrily turned and barreled into Caltrop, sending him sprawling to the dirt with a surprised look. He cried out in the foalish way he did, letting out a whine as I pinned him down, panting through my teeth.

“Wha… WHAT THE HELL PC!” He shouted and squirmed, going wide eyed as he said my name.

“SHUT IT.” I growled. “What did you do to me?”

“I… what?” His eyes were tearing up as he started to shake out of fear. “I don’t know what ya talkin about!”

I lost it at that point. I was so incredibly tired of the last week that I just wanted it all to go back to the way it was. I never wanted anything to change, but he was what started this. He’s the one who’s got my brain stuck on him. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but I don’t want it.

A swift buck in my bruised side send me to the ground as Brightshine came to Caltrop’s aid. I cried out as I slid along the dirt, my side rippling in waves of pain while I tried to stop myself. In an instant, I had righted myself and removed #3 from it’s holster. I spun it and pointed it at the cream coated mare standing over the still whimpering stallion, finding that she had her rifle pointed at me as well.

“How bout ya’ll just take a moment tah think over ya next move carefully.” Brightshine’s normal happy demeanor was gone, replaced by the cold look that I had seen on so many others in my line of work. “Yah can start by explainin what yah ment by what yah said tah him.”

I clenched my teeth and swung my head down in frustration, lowering #3 as my anger drained just enough that I didn’t do something stupid and get myself killed.

“That fucking idiot behind you?” I lifted my gaze to him, watching as he lay in the dirt behind her with pain filled eyes. “He’s important to me. I don’t know why, but even though he screwed up my life, for some fucked up reason, I can’t stand the thought of not having him around.” There brain, I admitted it. “I’ve known him for a week, and he’s the most fucking useless pony I’ve ever seen.” I laughed as Caltrop’s eyes were wide now as he listened to me rave like a lunatic. “But I can’t get rid of him in my head, even when he pulls shit like earlier.”

Brightshine tipped her rifle down as my words gave her pause. “Ya’ll are serious? That’s what this is about?” She shook her head rolled her eyes. “Scared tha poor guy half tah death cause ya’ve got feelins for him an shit. Yer fucking crazy, yah know that?”

Caltrop pushed himself up and walked closer, pushing past Brightshine forcefully as he had a look of determination on his face that I had yet to see from him before.

“So all that shit ya told me this mornin, about how ya don’t care about me at all, it was all a lie?” He stopped just short of me, breathing in deep, huffing breaths. “Ya cared this whole time an ya just never said it.”

“I still don’t know if we can be friends. I’m going crazy just with this shit in my head, how good of a ‘friend’ do you think I’ll make?” I couldn’t look at him. This was it. For better or for worse, everything was on the table now. “Besides, I thought you wanted to hear me say it. Why the fuck are you so angry?”

“Because friend’s don’t FUCKIN lie to each other.” Caltrop was legitimately angry, and the worse thing was I felt bad about it. Mom and Grandma could yell at me all day and I never felt a goddess damned thing. But this? This made me feel worse than knowing I failed another contract. Caltrop lept forward, grabbing around my neck with his hooves and squeezed. For a moment, I thought he was going to kill me, but instead I found myself pulled into him.

I stood against him as he hugged me, not quite sure what to do, seeing as my family wasn’t really the most caring kind. I hadn’t been hugged by anypony other than my mother, and the last time she had done that was when I was still a foal. So there I awkwardly stood in his embrace, trying not to wince as my aching body screamed for him to let go.

“Now ain’t that just the cat’s meow. Ya’ll are gonna bring a tear tah my eye.” Brightshine spoke up finally, helping to at least take away the uneasy silence.

“And if you don’t shut your muzzle, I’ll make damn sure you’ll have plenty of tears.” This is already awkward enough without some cunt making it worse. “A ‘hug’ from him is already annoying enough.

“Come on Boss, it ain’t so bad. Ya might like it even if ya give it a try.” His encouragement didn’t make me feel any less foolish. Looking up with a grumble, I hesitantly put a hoof around his neck. Briefly the thought of strangling him ran through my mind, but was quickly squelched by the same nagging thoughts I’ve been plagued with. I pulled myself closer to him as he did the same.

And it felt… warm. He felt like mom used to when I was just a filly, so warm and loving. A beacon of safety in a broken and desolate existence of pain and suffering. I hated admitting it to myself, but as I pressed my muzzle into his chest, I felt good.

“I… I still blame you for making me go soft.” I couldn’t make myself speak at more than a whisper when I finally pushed myself away. The emptiness of the wasteland came into focus sharply as the warmth of the embrace left me, everything just seeming a bit bleaker than before. I shook the feeling off as much as I could, turning back and walking toward the settlement on the horizon. “Come on, we’ve had enough of a break.”

Even though my will to fight against Caltrop was gone, for the next five minute or so as we walked I fought my own thoughts. Do I come off as being a desperate mare? Do I really care what he thinks about me? Why would it matter?

“Hey, Boss. Ya feelin alright?” His voice made my thoughts tumble away as I found myself lost for a moment, wondering when he had snuck up beside me.

“What? Why are you still calling me that?” If we were ‘friends’, wasn’t it only natural that he use my name?

“Well, so far, ya always hit me when I call ya PC.” He stuck his hoof out and put it on my shoulder as we walked. “Besides, I’m no good in a fight. Ya the best chance I got when it comes down ta it, so when ya take charge it makes sense for me ta just keep sayin it.”

“Do what you want. I don’t care anymore.” I shrugged his hoof away and pressed on, wincing as my aching foreleg stung with each step. It’s too bad I couldn’t get this thing healed up properly, constant annoyances are always the worst. Case and point, Caltrop smiled and made a noise not unlike a magic capacitor charging up.

“Really? I can call ya PC or Cap and ya ain’t gonna hit me?” He was making this into something much bigger than it was, and it was just giving me a headache.

I stopped and smacked him upside the head with my forehoof.

“Shut up ya dolt.” It was hard not to continue hitting him, but as he whined and pouted, I knew that would be good enough. “You know what? Boss sounds perfect to me.” And with that, he looked like I had just crushed his foalish childhood dreams. I guess I can at least TRY and make him feel better about it. “Think of it less as a title, and more as an imposed nickname.” That wasn’t so hard, was it?

“Ah dun know, sounds pretty kinky if ah say so mahself.” Of course Brightshine had to make a comment. “Hold on just a moment so ah can get mah rope fer the both of yah.”

“It’s not like that.” I reaffirmed, poking a hoof against Caltrops muzzle. “That wasn’t a lie this morning. It goes no further than friends, got it mister?” His response was a simple nervous gulp and quick nod. “Good.”

“Ah-hah, there it is!” Brightshine shouted “Found somethin even betteh!”

“I fucking told you, it’s…” I turned around angrily just in time to see Brightshine’s magic holding a small crossbow looking object, her eyes now hidden behind a set of welders goggles. “What the hell are you doing?” Something wasn’t right about this, and all she did in response to my question was smile. “Brightshine, put the weapon away.”

“Ahm sorry hun, Ah can’t do that.” Her horn flared up steadily, brightening more and more as my own levitation reached out for all of my guns. She’s within fifteen feet of me, wearing what looks to be some sort of leather coat. My guess is that it’s got plates in it, or at least is reinforced, but that just discounts #2 and #6. I settled on #3 as I flipped it to it’s burst setting.

“But, I thought ya wanted ta go with us ta Dodge?” For the first time, I think Caltrop speaking up was usefull. If he can get her attention, maybe he can hold it long enough I can finish this quickly. “Driftwood is just anotha half mile from here! We could just go our separate ways once we’re there an forget this even happened!”

My luck was once again no where in sight as even if she was looking away from me, the combination of near blinding light from her horn and her goggles meant I had no idea where she was looking. It was too risky to wait any longer. I needed to take my shot. I lined up the gun through the light and squeezed at the trigger. At the same time, I felt the sharp prick of a bolt striking my jacket, punching through but not making it far enough into my chest to do anything more than sting.

But as the light from her horn stayed in my vision, I knew I had missed. I swung the gun around in my magic, taking a step to the side to reposition and found myself muzzle down in the dirt. I tried to get back up, but my legs refused to move. The panicked thought ran through my head that the bolt in me might have been poisoned, and the paralyzing feeling gripping me only confirmed it as my horn quit and dropped my pistol to the dirt as well.

“Thank ya kindly fer takin down that Manticore. It’s venom was tha last thing I was needin ta do mah job.” The soft twang of her crossbow made Caltrop yelp, forcing back the memories of mom and the raider when I was younger into my head. Please, goddesses no. “Ya see, mah trouble prone sister? She was a slave owned by a friend a mine, and when he wanted her back, ah learned that some bounty huntin bitch killed her instead. Now, Burst Flare wasn’t the best a family, but she was MAH family.”

The light from Brightshine’s horn dimmed as she approached, her goggles lifting up as she glared down to me with a burning hatred that I hadn’t seen from her the entire time. Putting her crossbow away as Caltrop now collapsed to the dirt, she pulled her magical energy rifle out and spun it around.

“Don’t yah worry yah pretty little head, Ah aint gonna kill yah. Contract pays better if the both of yah are alive, but damn if I ain’t just itchen tah make yah pay for what yah did tah her.” She looked off to the horizon and waved her hoof. “Though, maybe he’ll still let meh finish yah off when he’s done with yah.”

She brought the rifle down onto my head hard, and from there everything went black.

--Chapter End--
One out of Two new friends isn’t so bad, right?
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: Broken Bonds
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 10 - Dark Places

Just a quick disclaimer before you get started: This chapter has a scene in it that is associated with the attempted act of rape. I don't know if this section would be considered bad enough to be offensive, but I figure better safe than sorry. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

The smell of burning wood mixed in my nose with the smell of rust and fresh oil, doing little to keep my head from feeling like it was slowly spinning. I don’t know how long I had been out for, but when I opened my eyes, it was darker than I thought the night could be. That is, until there was a loud clank, and the metal door that I didn’t know had been sitting across from me swung open. The bright light of day poured in as that obnoxious bitch climbed into the metal box that I was in, forcing me to squint my eyes and try to look away.

“Ya’ll have got ta try tha sauna here in town, it really is somethin else.” Her magic rubbed an old towel around her fancied up mane. Now that she was cleaned up and not wearing the crud covered outfit from earlier, I realized that she was a fairly decently built mare. Her creme coat had very few blemishes in the way of old injuries and scars, only slightly discolored from the areas she had been hit in during the manticore fight. Her mane was much shorter than it had been before, and was now pulled back into a ponytail, showing off just two stripes of yellow amongst the blond. I had thought there were more, but I couldn’t see them now.

The paralyzing venom must have still been affecting me as I hadn’t noticed that my forehooves had been chained up against the wall behind me. The other perk of averting my gaze, was that I could see that Caltrop was in the same predicament I was, but was still slumped over and unmoving. I pulled at the bindings, which only served to bite the rusting metal into my skin. Now that I noticed it, I was missing my coat and hat! That bitch didn’t even let me keep those, and no pony touches my hat but me.

“Yah know, not too many ponies can shrug off venom like that so fast.” Brightshine leaned against the wall by the door. “Color me impressed!” She spoke with more enthusiasm than necessary and it only served to make me angry.

“You’ll find that I’m not a mare you should have messed with. You’ll slip up again and I’ll end your life faster then you’ll have a chance to even think about begging for it.” These threats were all I had. How could I have been so fucking stupid! I should have listened to my instincts, which Grandma had taught me just so I could keep shit like this from happening.

A groan from my side told me that Caltrop was at least still alive, but the laughter from Brightshine that followed his grogginess took any satisfaction that knowledge gave and converted it to hatred.

“Ya’ll keep puttin on a brave face, but with him awake, ah’m fairly certain ah just needed ta apply more venom than ah did.” Her lighthearted half chuckles as she spoke did little to help me fight past the rusty metal tearing at my fetlocks, but I pulled as hard as I could at the shackles in rage. If I could just get one hoof loose, my magic could pull her head close and I would snap her neck. “Now simmer down there, can’t have ya dyin by tetanus before ah can deliver yah.”

“Hey, Boss. I… I knew that bitch was lyin ta us.” Caltrop thought it was helpful to sleepily mumble his disdain, still obviously under the effects of the poison. Goddesses, can’t he ever just shut the fuck up after he screws something up? I’m sick and tired of always hearing obvious things in hindsight.

“Then you should have spoken up, you dolt!” I kept my anger down to a harsh whisper hoping that he would at least perk up a little if he knew how angry I was. “At least then I could have shot her and we wouldn’t be in this mess.” I should have trusted my training, but no, I had to go and think that I could make friends with every fucking asshole in the wastes. The next time Caltrop asks to help somepony, I’m going to shoot them instead. Then shoot him in the leg again for good measure.

“Can ya’ll refrain from talkin about meh like ah ain’t even here? It’s just a tad rude.” Brightshine taunted us with her large smile and happy voice. Two things I’d gladly wipe from the face of the wasteland if I could just get the chance.

“Why? Don’t like it? What are you going to do, kill me?” If she couldn’t risk killing me, then the best thing I could do is to get her angry enough to leave. Grandma told me that the greatest asset you can have as a prisoner, is time alone. At the very least the quiet would be a nice change. “You said it yourself, your boss wants me alive.”

“True enough that ah won’t, but he was a bit fuzzier on tha subject of kneecaps.” Her horn glowed softly, opening up her saddlebag and drawing out MY #2 from it. I didn’t even flinch as she flicked the safety off and pointed it at me. “Might not be a fun as killin yah woulda been, but it’ll have ta do.” I’ve been shot plenty of times, and a .22 hurts, but the pain is something I can live through. She pulled the trigger sharply, but the gun didn’t fire. “What in tha hell, ah didn’t break yer gun, did ah?” She smirked. “Sorry if ah did, nevah was any good with regular guns anyhow.”

I gave her my own asshole grin. “Next time you might want to check the ammunition.” Saved by the fact that a full box of corroded .22 was 4 caps cheaper than half a box of well kept .22s.

She growled and kept her grin as she put the gun back into her bags. “Oh, that’s alright, ah shouldn’t be riskin ya anyway. Ya’ll are gonna earn me a whole heap of caps in good condition.”

“Actually, on that note, what is the price on my head if you don’t mind telling me.” I leaned myself as far forward as I could and used my magic to pull my mane back, twisting it up into it’s proper bun. I didn’t have a mirror, but I could tell I wore that style better. “I just want to know how much I’ve pissed this guy off is all.”

“1500 dead, 2500 alive.” She smirked and kept her gaze off of me, instead turning her head out to the street and staring at it. Damn, what the fuck did I do to this guy? This goes way past simple revenge or a heated rivalry, and right on into me being a threat to something big in the works. But what pony would need a bounty hunter like me out of the way for that much? “Don’t yah get too smug now, cause that other bitch has double what yah’ve got on yah head.” Other bitch? “With a reputation like her’s though, Ah didn’t expect her ta be so easy ta get captured, but that’s why he’s tha boss ah guess. Guess that bird’s sung it’s last.”

There was only one other hunter with a name that matched and contract like me. “FUCKING WHAT!?” Bluejay? That… she… how the fuck was she worth more than me!? The better question was who wanted two of the best hunters on this coast out of the picture? “Who the fuck hired you?”

Brightshine laughed. “Oh heavens, why would ah evah spoil that?” She winked to me as she hopped from the room, letting one of the guards climb in. “Keep an eye on ‘em, and just make sure they don’t try anythin until we get ta Timber.” She waited for the guards confirmation before looking towards the front of the train. “Alrighty! Let’s get this train movin!” She wrapped a hoof around the guard’s fetlock, turning him back towards her. “Oh, one last thing. If ya get tha urge ta ‘have fun’ like yah do? Make sure ya’ll keep it quick an see that they dun get too banged up, got it?”

Wow, I can’t tell if she meant that, or if she thought that kind of scare tactic actually worked on me. Sure my line of work means I’m no stranger to being threatened by a stallion, but I’ve always managed to come out on top. Granted the last time it happened was with Bluejay, I can normally handle them with the steps Grandma told me. First, play along. Get them worked up and let their mind wander, then when they give you the slightest amount of control, you geld the fucker and keep hitting him till he stops breathing.

The guard gave an approving grunt as the whistle on the train sounded. The doors shut and his magic pulled down a pair of slatted vents on the walls, letting in just the barest amount of light as I felt the floor rumble lightly. We were locked in a train car and I hadn’t even known it. The sound of rusty wheels and old couplings filled the air as we pulled away from Driftwood, the feeling of the train slowly speeding up was translated through the cart as it started to wobble.

“Woo, I like trains!” Caltrop slurred as I shut my eyes and did my best to relax. I took a deep breath, pausing and swinging my ears around before letting it go. There had to be something here that I could use, a splinter of wood, a shard of metal. Hell, I’d take a decent sized rock at this point. Breathing in again, I tried to repeat the process, but our escort was breathing through his mouth and it got to be quite hard to focus on anything else.

“I’m going to ask you this once, but can you shut your muzzle for a minute?” I opened my eyes and glanced over to the stallion as I spoke. His glare of annoyance was all he gave before he wiggled himself against the wall and got comfortable, shifting just enough that the stun stick he carried on him dropped to the floor under his back. Startled by the noise, he turned and hoofed it further behind him before going back to shutting his eyes and breathing through his mouth again. I waited for a moment to contemplate this guard’s stupidity. He really thought it was alright to fall asleep with a stun stick in plain view? I focused my levitation, wrapping around it and drawing the weapon out from behind him.

Everything was fine until the thin wire running from it to his belt ran out. The tug my magic gave stirred a growl from him, his own horn wrestling mine for control of the stick. I smirked as his weak magic allowed me to turn it around toward him and push it closer. I could tell he was straining himself, and I could feel it as he pushed back, only trying to turn the head away from him. I concentrated on the round button on the grip, pushing it in and switching the prod on as it pressed forward ever so slowly. He gave the handle a quick nudge and turned it off, barely giving up any ground in the process.

Frustrated, I used my magic to flick it back on, but he was smarter than I gave him credit for and used that little bit of pressure I put on the button against me. He reversed the direction he was trying to spin the baton and twisted the handle right into his muzzle. Once he bit down, I knew it was over. No amount of my tugging would free it.

“Fuggin Cunth.” The stallion didn’t bother making his tone subtle, which was fine, plan B has always worked. His magic undid his simple leather barding and dropped it to the floor, stepping over it and towards me as I got a look at just exactly what I was contending with. By no means was he anything special, but even at half mast, there is no way I’d even want let this guy near any part of me. In just a few more steps, I’d…

He craned his neck and powered on the shock prod before shoving it onto my flank. I let out a scream as the pain lanced through me, making me tense and wrench at my bindings. He pulled the rod away, letting me relax for only a moment before forcing it against me again. My eyes felt like they locked themselves shut with every jolt, and my whole body rebelled against me, twisting and turning with no way to find relief.

“Fuck you...” I managed to get out, only to have him hit me hard across the cheek with his hoof. My head snapped to the side as it hit the steel boxcar wall, the taste of copper starting to form in my mouth. I gasped a few times and got out a laugh before he hit me again. I coughed and dribbled some bloody spit onto the floor. “Don’t damage... the goods.. remember?”

I looked him in the eye with a smile, finding that his gaze was far different than the anger I expected. He was smiling brighter than a stallion in his position had any right too, and his look was so distant, that I knew that he had to be insane and this whole situation was a giant mistake. He pushed the prod down on my chest, waiting for me to decide when to get shocked. I relaxed slightly as I thought that might have given me time to think, but that was exactly when he activated it. I arched my back, and screamed again, pressing back against him as he got in close, hitting me with the shocks over and over.

For the first time in a long time, I cried between the screams. Not out of pain, but out of fear. I had absolutely no control in this situation. I needed something, anything to help me turn the tides, and there was nothing left for me but to beg. I knew how much he was enjoying this, I could feel him jabbing himself against my chest, grinding his length across me as he took his time to wear me down. I slumped myself as best as I could when he stopped this time, hanging limply as I just wanted it to be over.

“P… please don’t… no more.” I muttered out with a whisper. His smile turned to a grimace as he spit the shock prod to the floor next to me. I wanted to grab it, I wanted to make him pay for what he was going to do to me, but I couldn’t focus at all. I was going to end up like Mom, only this time Grandma wouldn’t be there to save the day at the end. I just had to clench my eyes shut and wait for it to be over.

“Ey, Dich!” I cringed at the voice, pulling myself up as the stallion above me turned. The sound of the shock prod going off again made me scream. My ears picked up the sounds of hoof to hoof fighting and another few assaults with the prod before a loud snap filled the air, a heavy weight was then pressed onto my legs. I pulled myself up against the wall as tightly as I could and just continued sobbing. Goddesses why couldn’t it all be over? “Boss, it’s me, it’s alright.”

I felt a hoof on my shoulder and whined, and even as I knew it was Caltrop’s voice that was speaking, I couldn’t stop shaking. The squeaking and jostling of my shackles preceded the soft click of them opening. Immediately I lost all control of myself and fell to the floor in a ball, shaking and crying as I couldn’t think about anything other than how scared I am. I want to go home and crawl into mom’s hooves and never leave.

“It’s alright PC, it’s all over.” His voice was like the warm breeze on a summer night. It didn’t help much, but I wanted something safe, something familiar. “Why don’t ya take a few minutes ta rest and then we can get da hell off dis train.” Caltrop had taken away the pain, he saved me, and as he put his hooves around me, I didn’t fight it.

As I sat on the floor of the dark boxcar in his warm embrace, I cried for a lot of reasons. For what had just happened, and how I had no control over anything anymore, and even for how I had treated Caltrop. But the biggest reason I cried, was because I could finally get it out of my system about just how much I wanted him to be here with me. No pony has regarded me in the way he had, and even through all my bullshit, he still fought to save me.

Grandma was right all along, friends do make a difference. Caltrop needed a friend this whole time, and I couldn’t see that I needed one too. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry...” I whispered into him as he undid my mane, running his hoof through it softly as he hummed a slow song.

“There once lived a colt, young Fin was his name. And out to find treasure, was his heart's true aim.” Caltrop was now… singing. “But one fateful day, his gaze fell upon her. A life filled with trinkets, his heart wanted no longer. Years later they took her, and the ransom was set. Fin lured them with treasure, yet they would not relent. Thus save the maiden, his heart told him so. And in a great fight, he was struck by a blow. His breaths growing weaker, Fin slew to the last. And in saving the maiden, he then finally passed.”

The whistle from the front of the train filled the air, cutting off Caltrops song as the entire train shook and tilted back, starting it’s long climb up the mountain.

“Thank you. Your voice, it’s beautiful.” I whispered as I reached my hoof up, wiping the tears from my eyes. He looked down to me and smiled, the warmth he gave off doubled. “But I think that ending is horrible.” I needed the distraction he was giving, I couldn’t be trusted with my own thoughts yet. “He dies? What kind of story finishes with that?” I looked up to him and threw out my best smile, but only managing to barely muster what was probably a neutral look.

“Dat’s cause there’s one more verse.” Caltrop chuckled and started humming again, finding the tune quickly. “When the maiden gave birth, the foal was a colt. She had named him young Fin, same as the legends they wrote.” His voice had raw emotion to it when he sang, and I have no doubt in my mind that had the end of the war not happened, he would be one of the top Equestrian radio stars of all time. “Yeah, I was one a the only foals ta ever read anythin they left in that old stable. Found that in a book of old bards songs and parables, but I nevah much cared for the endin myself.” He put his hoof under my chin and lifted it. “Are you going to be alright?”

“I… I don’t know. I’m a complete mess, and I don’t even know where to start.” I pushed myself from his hold, tensing up at the feeling of the cold floorboards under my back. “Lets just get off this train. Contract or not, I want to go home.” I wanted to use my magic to feel out for the door latch, but the second I closed my eyes to concentrate, my mind cropped up in fear of getting hit with the prod again which sent me out of focus. Instead of only finding the latch, my magic grabbed the upper hinge pin and yanked it up.

The rusty pin sheared loose, and tilted the heavy door down with a groan. The added weight on the other corroded pin caused it to snap off, dropping the door to the dirt as we sped over it. The screech of bending metal came from a ways behind us as I assumed the door struck whatever cars were back there. Caltrop and I both stepped up to the open side of the car, gazing in annoyance at the sight before us.

We were twisting around the inner curve of the mountain, and just a few feet off the tracks in front of us, was the steep cliffs and hills that lead back to the lowlands. If that wasn’t bad enough, most of the dead tree husks that lined the cliffs and hills looked like they would impale us if we jumped. But if there was a chance we could make it, we have to try.

“I need to test an idea.” I shouted over the whipping air, turning around to the corpse of the guard. It was dark enough that I hadn’t noticed it before, but with the door missing, I could clearly see that his neck was bent at a near right angle around the shock stick. “How did you manage that? I didn’t think you were that strong!”

Caltrop nudged me with a smirk. “One of the other books I read, the third in a series of physics texts. It was about applying leverage.”

“Good enough for me!” I shouted and tried to concentrate on the body, never having lifted somepony this heavy before. As I got his chest up, his head flopped forward and onto the floor, laying just at the right angle to where it was if he was looking at me. My mind panicked and I pulled with my magic, sending a painful stab down my horn as my levitation threw him out of the boxcar. His legs smacked Caltrop and sent him sprawling towards the door, where my horn and body then took over without my thinking it. My magic enveloped Caltrop and pulled at his flank as it slid over the edge, his eyes going wide as he scraped his forehooves at the wood flooring, dangling off the car as I nearly dove for him.

“Grab my hoof!” I screamed to him, holding my legs out as my horn glowed brighter than I’ve ever seen, shooting pains throughout my skull and sending off sparks from the tip. He yelled and threw his foreleg forward, hooking it over mine.

“Don’t let go of me, Boss!” He screamed and kicked his legs out, trying to find something for them to latch onto. I grunted and hooked around his foreleg with both of mine, straining and pulling at him while my magic started to waver.

“Then quit kicking and pull!” My back was going to be sore tomorrow if we even got out of here, but there was no way I was letting him die now. As I pulled, I could feel him pushing himself higher with his other forehoof and leaning forward. We were doing it!

The train jolted sharply and gave an ear shattering squelch as the wheels locked and tossed both Caltrop and I to the front of the boxcar with a slam. The air in my lungs hurt as it forcibly left and my horn gave a soft sizzle as we flopped down, my legs flailing to find the exit again even before I got my breath back.

“What in the hell was dat!” Caltrop either hadn’t hit the wall as hard as I had, or it was that earth pony resilience I had always heard about. “Hey, Boss! We’re slowin down!” He laughed and walked over to the open door where I could see as well that the trees were passing at a marginally slower rate. I finally gasped and filled my burning lungs again, panting heavily as Caltrops smile dropped. “Shit, but dat was… Boss, we gotta go!”

Pushing myself back up, I ground my teeth down as my aching leg decided to act up, feeling wobbly under my weight as I hobbled my way to the door. I poked my head out, just in time to see the fact that the railway that bridged the gap over this valley was on fire, and no longer lived up to it’s structural namesake. That was all the evidence that I needed for my instincts to agree with what he was saying. We need to jump.

“Caltrop, get on.” I pressed up against him, trying to keep my legs steady. Levitation was hard enough with multiple objects, and even harder to perform with big objects, but I had seen Bluejay slow her own fall with it, so how hard could it be?

“PC, I don’t think dis is the time for that.” He was blushing bright red through his coat. Admirable, but I didn’t have time for jokes. I threw myself under him and pushed with all my might, useing my magic to press up against my hooves as hard as I could. For a moment, I thought it was going well, as we hadn’t hit anything yet. I dared to open my eyes to see our rate of descent, but the moment I did that, I lost focus and the spell dropped us.

We hit the dirt and started tumbling, I lost track of Caltrop when he let out a yelp further up the hill. I tried to keep my legs tucked in close as I rolled, but my bum foreleg was weaker than the others and gave up listening to me. I felt the snap throughout my whole body as my leg caught on a downed tree, both stopping me, twisting me over it and racking me with pain. It hurt more than any other injury I’ve had, so much that I couldn’t even find the will to scream.

Shaking and bleeding from several other gashes and cuts, I knew that I had to get back to Caltrop. If he was in any better shape than I, he was our only hope, but if he was in any worse shape? My mistake will have just cost us our lives. I whined as my rear hooves tried to find a hole in the dry, rocky dirt of the hillside, finally digging in and allowing me to turn. Even though I couldn’t do anything about the pain, the sound of crunching bones and open flesh didn’t prepare me for what I saw.

I had broken my legs before, and the way they sat always made it hard to believe it belonged to me at the time. The way this looked made it hard to believe it belonged on a pony at all. My foreleg had pretty much turned into one of the medical posters that I had glanced at back in Novacane clinic, looking as if somepony unzipped my foreleg to show off each muscle and bone that sat in sharp and jagged pieces. The sound of slow hoofsteps from up the hill was music to my ears, pulling my gaze from the sideshow my leg had turned into, up to the smiling face of Brightshine. Behind her, the train had stopped a bit further up the tracks just before the busted bridge, and the rear door to the caboose hung open, presumably being where she had come from.

“Once again, Ya’ll have impressed me.” She sat down and levitated a sparkle cola from her bag. “Sad ta tell yah though that ah’m tha best nurse around, an tha only one who came along on tha trip. Ah take pride in mah work, but ah think ah’m just gonna watch ya suffer a while before ya’ll pass out.” Her magic twisted the cap off of her drink and lifted it to her lips as she sat and stared at me.

The moment she mentioned passing out, it didn’t sound like too terrible of an idea. Even though I knew she would just put me back on the train, my eyelids began to droop, slamming shut with the weight of an out of control train. I was able to mutter my last thought, hoping she would at least give me an answer before the darkness came and took me. “Cal...trop.”

Sadly, all I heard was her laughter as I slumped against the log and was lost in a sea of painless darkness.

--Chapter End--
Sometimes rock bottom isn’t as soft a landing as we think it is.
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 11 - Warmth

“Y’all gonna lay there all day?” Brightshine spoke harshly as she smacked my cheek a few times.

I flinched and reflexively moved to swat a hoof at her, knocking my injured foreleg against her own and making me yelp out in pain. As I hissed and struggled to make my eyes adjust to the light of day again, all I could think was fuck my life. I regret ever thinking that waking up to Caltrop’s voice was a bad thing, Brightshine was worse. I paused before going wide eyed.

“Caltrop!” I sat up and looked around for him, finding no trace of him. Shit… I, I didn’t get him killed, did I? Look at little miss PC, finally worried about somepony other than herself. Goddess damned nagging thoughts aren’t needed right now, I just need to find him. I glared at Brightshine. “What the fuck did you do with him?”

“Yah boy toy?” She snickered and took a step back. “I sent him on ahead while I worked on yah leg. Ah’ll give him somethin though, he sure is heaps more durable than he looks. Aside from a black eye and a concussion, ya’ll don’t have ta worry about him.” She pointed to my leg, making sure to point out the hairline split that ran down whatever hard material she had used to bind my leg. “Oh, speakin’ of injuries, Ah just knew how helpful of a pony y’all could be, so I didn’t finish sealin ya splint.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to walk if it won’t stay on?” I snarled as I wiggled my forehoof, wondering if she had done any healing at all other than stop the bleeding. “I thought you were supposed to be some kind of nurse. I could have bandaged this better myself.”

“See, Ah knew y’all would say that.” The most noxious grin spread across her muzzle as she took in every ounce of joy she could squeeze from this. “So, y’all just have ta use yah magic if yah wanna go about provin me wrong. Put a lil pressure on each side and tha pain should go away, quick as a whip!”

She was smart, I’d have to at least give her that much. Forcing my magic to focus only on my leg to avoid the pain was a great tactic, but she just gave me the reigns to this whole adventure. And right now, I’ll take any amount of control I can get.

“It’s fine, I’ll just take my time. You win.” I took to looking around for anything to use against her, but just now realized that I was somewhere further up the mountainside. None of this terrain was familiar, and other than rocks that were too small to hurt or too heavy for my horn, there was nothing around. “I mean, no rush, you’ve got us already, and I can’t run like this. You know, I’m actually feeling kinda worn out already.”

“Ah get what y’all are tryin ta do.” She deadpanned at that. “Yah got yourself thinkin ‘Maybe we should stop fer a break, it’s not like yah can kill us if we don’t comply’.” She facehoofed as her horn glowed softly. She brought out a small square box I was extremely familiar with. “Ah’m tellin yah, Ah’m really not in tha mood ta be muckin about all day on tha side of this mountain.” She twirled the explosive collar detonator in her magic.

“How is that supposed to scare me?” I let out a sigh. Either she was the dumbest mare in the world, or even this bad off, I was on my A game. “You said you can’t kill us, so why try to force useless threats?”

“Ya’ll seemed ta have misundahstood me. Tha contract says ah only need you, honey. Your boy toy here on tha otherhoof? Well, let’s just say that he’s only alive as long as he’s leverage, y’all got that?”

I nodded and grit my teeth together. I fucking swear that the first chance I get, I am going to tear her throat out with my own two hooves. She smiled brightly and held her hoof out to me, only finding my glare in return.

“Ah’m feeling mighty refreshed after our little rest! Wouldn’t y’all agree?” She practically sang out, the small box in her magic floating up to the tip of my horn before stopping. The trigger sat so close that I wasn’t sure I could nudge it away without her pressing the button. “Honey, ah asked y’all a question.”

“Yes. I agree.” I grumbled out and held my hoof out to her.

She dropped hers and turned around, ignoring me like the fucking cunt she is. “Good! Cause we’re already behind schedule. Come on miss Cap, time's a wastin!”

I used my magic to hold the makeshift cast tight against my leg as I rose to my hooves. Following her was really my only option for the moment. My instincts are telling me to turn and run for it, to forget Caltrop and just trade his life for mine. But you can’t do it. That’s just it, for as annoying as he is, he… he helped me on that train. I can’t be alone right now, and if he died, then nopony else would stop the next stallion up the line from…

I shuddered and pushed the frightening thoughts from my mind. No, this is just like a job. I just need to work through it like normal. Brightshine is the target, so what do I know about her? Mare, about my age, fairly athletic build.

“Ey Boss!” Caltrop shouted and waved as we came around the corner. I looked up to him, Ignoring the fact that half of his face was black and blue from our failed hillside escape. Instead, I frowned as I focused on the metal disk that sat clamped around his neck. “I’m glad ta see ya can still walk.”

“Well enough I guess.” I shrugged and stopped as I got to him. Brightshine took a few more steps and laid herself up against a large boulder that was set in the hill. She flopped her head against it and knocked at it softly with her hoof, listening for something inside. Okay, so generic info is getting me nowhere, what about notable features? I looked her over, not really having anything unusual to note other than her mane. It was a solid blond now, completely missing the yellow stripes it held earlier.

Brightshine’s eye darted over, catching me looking at her quizzically. “So yah’ve finally noticed. Ah’d love to tell yah that ah hate how tha killin joke gave em to me, but they do add somethin special to mah mane when they're there, don’t yah think?” She continued tapping at the stone and listening. I kept my muzzle shut, and she didn’t seem to care for that much. “Yah make one little quip when ya’ll are a filly about how maybe ya’ll will be overflowin with magical power one day, and this is tha shit yah get for it.”

“Believe me, I understand. I’d hate to be cursed to have a muzzle like that.” I shot back with a smirk. Her remark was true at least, it’s something I had hoped for after my first burnout as a young filly. I grew out of that hope quickly, luckily escaping the wasteland crushing that dream for me when I got my cutie mark. I realized then that magic was nice, and it was very useful in the right scenarios, but the only thing I would need to survive out here in the real world, was a few good guns and a true aim. “Oh sorry, you mentioned it was just your mane, right. My mistake.”

Brightshine’s horn flared as she tossed a small rock at me, bouncing it off the cast and causing the ceramic like material to crack. I focused my magic on it more, pushing against each of the little pieces that tried to work their way free from the hit.

“Sorry hun. Ah don’t mean ta make walkin harder on yah, but ahm just a mite sensitive about mah looks. Ya’ll might think twice about makin smart remarks on it in the future.” She squinted and let out a final set of taps, smiling as she leaned forward and pushed her horn against the boulder flaring it another time. There was a snap that I could feel through the ground, and with a large whump, the rock jolted and started to roll forward. Behind it was a small air powered ram that whined as it’s compression died, bleeding off down the tunnel it sat inside.

“So what’s the downside?” Caltrop, with a moment of rare lucidity, had actually asked a fairly decent question. “All the normal ponies I knew who were hit with the stuff died instantly, or worse. Gettin somethin like what ya got? Seems too good ta be true.”

“Well ya see, being an arcane font ain’t all it’s cracked up ta be. Now if ah don’t let off a few spells every once in a while, Ah get anothah one a these” She put her hoof up to her mane, timing it well enough that I watched as a line of yellow streaked through it. “Ah can feel the energy building up inside me all tha time, so Ah’ve gotten good at predictin when one’ll show.”

“That really doesn’t sound bad to me.” Caltrop shrugged and looked to me.

“Only let it build up once. Got to be where ah was one, maybe two stripes from not havin any more room left before ah got a headache so bad ah was sure ah was gonna explode.” She waved for us to come to her and begrudgingly we walked forward. “Nevah let it get that far again, just ta be safe.”

“Well, what happens if ya burn out?” Caltrop spoke up as he walked by her, eyeing her horn. “Or if ya horn’s broken?”

She let out a hysterical laugh as I followed him into the entrance of what looked like an old mine shaft. “Honey, if y’all wanted ta try anything…” She lifted the detonator in front of him, and eyed it a few times. “Ah can promise yah, it ain’t gonna be easy ta scrape what’s left a ya off mah hooves. I’d rather not deal with the mess at all, so ah suggest yah start walkin. Wasted enough of mah time taday.”

There was a glow that was barely visible near the far end of the tunnel. Focusing my magic to hold the splint together, I entered the darkness. Each step in grew shorter, and each breath of mine became more panicked as more and more my mind told me that I was back in that train car. I pushed my legs to distance me from the hoofsteps right on my flank, gritting my teeth as pain shot through my bad leg with each step.

“Heya, Boss. Maybe ya should slow down.” Caltrop spoke up, but as he did, I felt a hoof touch my flank, and my mind snapped.

In an instant, I was off and running down the tunnel, trying to make it to the light of whatever lay just around the bend. Even Brightshine shouted something, but I didn’t hear it. The closer I got to the light, the more I noticed the cave open up, eventually becoming a gem studded cavern. I skid to a stop as the soft light the gems gave off snapped me from my panic. The light from emeralds, sapphire, topaz, even a few scattered diamonds shone down, and an odd feeling of warmth spread over me that felt comforting. I felt safe in here.

Then my stomach churned, and I threw up.

“Are y’all fuckin crazy!?” Brightshine galloped in as my legs felt weak and I tipped onto the floor. Her horn shown brilliantly as I felt her magic wrap around me, the room sparkling with a million motes of light as she floated me away. “DO. NOT. RUN. AHEAD.” She shouted as we exited the cavern, and went back into the cold, confining tunnel.

She muttered some other string of profanities, but it was lost on me as I doubled over and threw up again, the heavy taste of copper lingered in my muzzle as I shook on the floor.

“Boss, ya okay?” Caltrop was trying to help, but I was still trying to wrap my head around why I felt so sick.

“No, she ain’t.” Brightshine did me a favor by answering for me, her horn lifting out a small silver packet. “Give her this and pray that it’s enough ta keep her alive.” She floated the packet over to him. He quickly tore the tip off of it and lowered it to my muzzle, letting me sip at the tart, orange flavored liquid inside. The more of the horrid drink I got down, the less my stomach rebelled. I sucked at the now empty packet for a few seconds before I realized that was it, and sat up. Brightshine hit me on the horn with her hoof.

“Tha hell are y’all doing? There’s enough radiation in those gems ta kill ya in thirty seconds!” She grumbled and flared her horn, a point of light forming in front of her. “Ah swear y’all are the dumbest pair a ponies Ah’ve evah seen. It’s like y’all are tryin ta get killed.”

I groaned as I rubbed my horn. “Well, with hospitality like your’s…”

She hit me again, but this time on the cast she had made. It shattered to pieces and fell to the dirt, letting me see the bruised skin around the six or seven inch dark scar of flesh that ran up my leg. Fantastic, walking was just going to suck now.

“Shut it. Yah wander off again, ah’ll kill yah coltfriend.” Her horn dimmed, but the bright mote remained, moving with her gaze. As the light pulsed softly, I could feel my breathing start to mimic it, slowing and becoming more relaxed. “Ya’ll are to walk ahead of me, and go where ah tell ya. There’s enough traps and mean stuff in here that if yah get lost, you’ll be lucky ta make it back out.”

“Wait, what kinda mean stuff?” Caltrop took a step towards me. “There ain’t bloodwings, are there?” He helped me up, letting me put my hoof around his neck to make the walking easier. I winced as he did, but the alternative was less appealing.

“Zombies, giant rats, and worst of all, hellhounds.” She looked down another tunnel I had run past without knowing, sending the mote down it and away from us. Without her asking, I nudged Caltrop into walking after the light. The warmth he gave against my battered and bruised body helped me from panicking further, but I didn’t want to be in the dark, not if I could help it.

I needed to ignore Brightshine and clear my head. All I need to do is think my way out of this as if it were any other contract. My only option is to kill Brightshine before she can detonate Caltrop’s collar, but to do that I need two things. She needed to be sufficiently indisposed, and I needed a weapon. The first part is easy, but will suck as it involves breaking my leg again. The problem lies in a weapon. There is nothing but old rock and water around here!

I kept my head on a swivel as we followed the light, changing paths as new forks opened before us. A few times, I swore I saw something move in the shadows of the other tunnels, but I couldn’t make out anything other than our echoing hoofsteps. Well, that is until we reached the next fork, when I felt something metal depress under my hoof with a click.

“WAIT!” I screamed out and balanced on my one good foreleg as I fought my momentum. I pirouet slightly around on it, dropping back down as Brightshine stopped in her tracks. “Under my hoof. I think it’s a mine.” I fought my tensing muscles and quickening heartbeat, keeping my eyes pinned to the dirt as Brightshine’s light floated closer to me.

“Well, shit.” She spoke up as the dull, rusted metal of a landmine shown barely though the dirt. The round indicator light on it had at some point shattered and corroded, which was the entire reason that I missed it most likely. “Ah didn’t think any of these were left, seein as we swept the tunnel twice.”

“Obviously you suck at looking.” I growled back, clenching my jaw as I evened the weight on my hooves and put pressure on my busted leg.

“Honey, yah ain’t helpin. Though, y’all might be in luck, seein as we removed the mines due to tha fact that they were simply too corroded ta work. If tha explosives got wet, it might have a smaller yeild and take an extra second ta go off.” Her uncertainty of this didn’t help my body relax, and now my right foreleg was shaking under the weight. “Ah say risk liftin ya leg and duck fer cover.”

“Caltrop, get back by her.” I didn’t want to be stuck here forever, but I also didn’t want to repeat what happened last time we encountered a mine. He’s probably thinking the same thing, so reassuring him would probably help. “Don’t worry, Caltrop, I’ll be fine.” I hate when my inner thoughts are right.

He relaxed slightly at that. “Ok, Boss. If you say so.” Trotting over to Brightshine, he took up a position behind her as she took a few long strides back.

“I’m going to try to lift my leg, so get ready.” Alright, so if all goes correctly, I’m going to throw myself forward to the right, and use the small wall of the path there to shield myself. Well, this is assuming Brightshine is right and I have that extra second to get away. If not, then even if we survive the blast, the cave might not and collapse inward on us. “I fucking hate my life!”

Pushing off with all my force, I slipped off the metallic disk and twisted myself halfway around the wall to the other path before the half second I counted on was up. My mind took over as I scrambled to press myself further down the dark corridor ahead, locking my legs up and dumping me to the wet dirt floor. The next few seconds passed unbearably slow as there was no sounds in the tunnels, and everything lay still.

“Boss? Ya alright down there?” Caltrop’s voice startled me at first, but I was glad to hear that Dolt’s voice. “Looks like it was a du…”

Foom!

The blast slammed into me with the force of the manticore tail of earlier, guaranteeing the same black and blue coloration would adorn all of my coat rather than just part. The Cave wall disintegrated as the stiff cracking noise of collapsing rock came across the ringing that was my hearing, and I got to my hooves as fast as I could. The rumbling of the tunnel picked up as part of it collapsed behind me, my hooves carrying me through the dark as I raced away from a premature burial.

I tripped on my bad leg and slammed my muzzle into the muddy dirt, skidding to a stop as the shifting rocks came to a halt some distance behind me, leaving me laying alone in the dark. Step one of my new plan, get light to calm my nerves.

“How did that light spell go again?” Every time I cast this spell, it always helped to remember that dumb light. I sat and tried to remember that one annoying light in mom’s closet. Past levitation, this was the first spell I had learned, which is surprising with how often I actually use the damned thing. I focused on the flicker that it would make when you turned it on in the evening, then the muted yellowing color the glass gave off on the walls, and finally, the loud buzzing the fucking thing made as it glowed.

A small mote of light came into being just in front of my muzzle, growing in strength as I looked at it. My spell was nowhere near as brilliant as brightshine’s, but I think she has a bit of an unfair magical advantage. For example, my spell was just a recreation of that dumb light, which was noted by the slight yellow tinge the light gave off as my magic nudged it around. As dim as it was, it did manage to keep the thoughts of the train at bay while I looked at my surroundings.

I figured the best thing to do was try to make sure the others knew I was still alive. If She killed Caltrop, I… I don’t know what I’d do. I’ve never had a friend before, and as much as I want to believe I wouldn’t care about a stallion I’ve spent so little time with, I don’t think that’s true. So I have to move my hooves and get back there, if there’s going to be any chance he can make it out with me. The sporadic rock dropping from the ceiling and rolling across the sloping, newly formed cave wall gave me little comfort, but I could hear a muffled sound coming from the other side. I couldn’t make it out, but it was definitely another pony yelling.

“I’m still alive!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, cringing as my voice echoed down behind me. I can’t afford to attract anything this way if I can help it, so I’ll have to make this quick seeing as I’ve got no chance in a fight. “I’ll find a way around!”

Nudging my light mote ahead of my path, I turned around and ventured further into the tunnels, unsure of what I’d even find ahead.

“Let's check out the gunfight, we'll help out the ponies, end up heroes.” Muttering to myself about Caltrop was the only way to keep myself from worrying about my choice in directions so far. I’ve kept going left at every chance, hoping that one of these tunnels connects, but I have no idea anymore. With the gradient of some of these, I could be three hundred feet above them and heading for a dead end. “Damnit, PC, focus!”

I shook my head to clear it, letting out a whine as my horn stung for a moment and broke my concentration. The light spell fizzled, but it allowed me to see something interesting in the fork up ahead. Both directions were glowing, but the one on the left had a mild green tinge to it. To me, it looked like the same tinge of Grandma’s pipbuck, and decided to creep towards it as I felt the hope that somepony else had been back here recently! If they left anything behind at all, a gun, barding, a goddess damned Med-X maybe, I could make it.

But as I crept around the small bend into the cavern that opened up, I froze in place. Sitting in the center of the gem encrusted walls with it’s eyes closed, was an orange coated ghoul, glowing brightly as it soaked in the radiation. I took a step back as slowly as I could, trying my best to keep quiet when it let out a sigh.

“I won’t bite you know.” As it spoke with the gravely voice of a stallion, there was a glow from inside it’s body that brightened with each word. It opened and looked to me with glowing green eyes, glowing tears dripped slowly down it’s cheeks. “What are you doing in here? It’s very dangerous and you should leave before you get sick.”

“T...the…” Damnit PC, get a grip! “The tunnel collapsed and I’m lost. Do you know the way out?” I have no idea if this thing was friendly enough to help me, but I have little choice in matter. The long silence became uncomfortable, permeating the air as the ghoul’s tears slowly ran to the floor. “Please, I have to get back to my friend before he’s killed.”

“Pft, friendship.” He shook his head and snarled. “You know, I’ve been traveling the wastes for nearly two centuries in the hopes that I could convince ponies that friendship would help save ponykind?” Giving a laugh, he looked more sad than anything. “I was a fool to believe what she said, and a bigger fool in believing it would work.”

I didn’t have time for a literal sob story. “I get it, you want to be left alone, and I can do that for you, but I need to know how to get out.”

He glared and thrust his hoof at me, brightening immensely as the air around him waived from the heat he gave off. “Go back to the other tunnel in this fork, take the first right, then the left just past the bend. Follow that tunnel until it joins the main shaft and you can go find your precious friend.” He turned his back to me and gave out a sigh. “Go then, take what knowledge you sought and leave me in peace.”

I was close to getting out, and as long as Brightshine got the message that I was still alive, she better be sitting there waiting for me with a still headed Caltrop. I turned to leave, stopping once my ears heard the soft sobs of the ghoul. Really? You’re not even going to say thank you?

I shut my eyes and sighed. “Thanks, whoever you are.” I don’t know how one stallion could have fucked up my brain enough to think I could have a friend, but if there was one pony I could tell without feeling guilty about it, this ghoul would be it. “About my friend. If you would have asked me a week ago, I would have told you that friendship is a waste of time. But that friend I’m trying to get back to? He changed my mind.” As I talked the sobs died down, leaving my voice to resonate through the cavern he was in. “I don’t know about saving ponykind or anything, but I… I don’t think I can go back to being alone. I treated him like dirt, but I’m trying to do better now, to be better. I owe him that much.”

“You’re welcome.” The ghoul spoke softly, giving a small sniffle. “And thank you, for trying to help me. With 230 years of memories, it’s hard to have any perspective other than your own, and it’s good to hear another ponies opinion.” He let out a long sigh. “But you must go now and find your friend. Who know’s, maybe we’ll see each other again sometime and I can properly thank you. You seem like a mare who’d enjoy a good, home cooked breakfast.”

“Sure thing.” I smirked to myself and nudged my light down the tunnel again. With a broken body, but a clear conscience, I pressed myself forward. I can do this. I can get us out of Brightshine’s hooves and track down the stupid son of a bitch who thought it was a good idea to put a contract on me. Who knows, if I can take her down without killing her, maybe I can force the name from Brightshine. And if that works, just for fun I think I’ll find out what happens to all that magic when her horn breaks.

--Chapter End--
“You’ve got the will, so there must be a way.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 12 - Road to Retribution

I had to favor my bad leg, thinking with every step that the pain was worth it as long as Caltrop was still alive. Even if this was all pointless, and he wasn’t still breathing, it would still be worth me murdering the bitch responsible for his death. I don’t know how long I’ve been traveling down this tunnel, but I could feel cold air coming from up ahead, so I had to be getting close to the main tunnel. Well, that or there was a Windego ahead and that ghoul sent me off to my doom...that would be a really bad end to my week.

I don’t know if they were echos from outside, falling rocks, or just my mind playing tricks on me, but there were a few rapid noises that sounded remotely like gunfire. Once again I lost focus of my light spell, the mote dimming out and letting me see the dim light coming through the tunnel ahead. Murmurs came through the air, echoing into the darkness around me and sending the thoughts of the train into my mind again. They were incessant thoughts, pushing me to go faster to get away from that disgusting stallion before he came back and finished what he started. I needed to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, and this time I hoped to the goddesses it isn’t more gems.

The sounds became more intense the closer I got to the end, picking up into the sound of quickly beating hooves with a few magical energy weapon reports interspersed. The tunnel I was in widened as I reached the brighter tunnel, it’s slope shifting upwards incredibly steep compared to my own, and ran up to my right straight out into the open daylight. The grey cloud cover never seeming so welcoming as I felt myself relax a bit.

“Oh hell, we can’t just leave her down there!” That was the voice of Caltrop!

“The fucking hellhounds beg to differ!” Brightshine yelled as she streaked by, Caltrop hot on her heals. A low growl filled the air from their section of the tunnel, and without my consent, my legs knew that it was catch up to them, or die. Brightshine spotted me and fired my revolver a couple of times, getting a whimper to emit from right behind me. “Nice of Y’all ta join us. Now would yah kindly, RUN!”

I don’t know what her plan was, but I dared not look back, only focusing on running. Oh goddess did my leg hurt as I pulled myself up the slope, growling as I used my magic to hold the bone inside as straight as I could. It was incredibly taxing, but I could swear that the heavy scraping noises and panting muzzles of hellhounds were coming from right at my flank. Just one of their claws nicking me at all and I was done for, torn to ribbons faster than I could pray for my forgiveness from the goddesses..

Brightshine reached the top first, stopping and spinning to face into the tunnel. What the fuck was she doing? A firm stance and a smirk across her muzzle weren’t going to stop claws that could cleave a Steel Ranger in half! Unless she planned on trying to slow them down so we could escape, but her general cocky attitude she’s shown made me think that it was unlikely she’d do something that noble. I flew past her, barreling right into Caltrop who had for some reason stopped as well.

“Boss, you’re alive!” He shouted and wrapped his legs around me in the most inappropriately timed hug in the world.

“Fucking quit it! We’ve got to go!” I shouted, wrestling myself from his grip.

“Not another step!” Brightshine shouted with an intensity I wasn’t ready for. Both Caltrop and I froze, looking up as three hulking examples of the worst the wasteland had to offer skid to a halt at the mine entrance. Had the dust they kicked up not slowly drifted away, I would have thought that perhaps time had stopped. The three hounds glared at Brightshine from a seemingly invisible wall, separating them by only inches.

“Ponies stay out, no trespassing allowed.” A crimson coated hound spoke with a hiss to his words, stepping forward while putting one of his enormous clawed hands to the dirt and drawing a line in it. He didn’t even stop when his claws cut through the old mine cart track like it was paper. I have seen their kind only once before, and that was through the saftey of my scope. Three of them tore through a whole squad of paladins like it was nothing, only taking one casualty in return to the five rangers they brought down. I’ve never in my life wanted to be this close to them.

“Ah know that Honey, but the bridge on tha otha side is gone.” She took a step back with a smile, not moving her gaze from the lead hound even once. “But yah see, we ain’t in yah mines no more, and we ain’t goin back in. So as long as yah little truce wants ta hold, y’all bettah scurry along.” She waved her hoof and lightly flicked my revolver at them.

“Yes, but no more tresspasses will be forgiven.” The lead hound snarled, looking over to Caltrop and I before swinging his arm out as he turned around. It happened so astonishingly fast, I didn’t know what he had hit until he was already a few steps in. “Payment for this offence.” Half of the barrel on my .44 dipped off the gun and fell into the dirt, bouncing to their side of the line where the smallest of the three picked it up and ran off with it.

“My gun…” I can’t believe that my favorite gun was gone. Brightshine simply shrugged and tossed the thing into her saddlebag like it was nothing. “You fucking broke my gun!”

“Boss, that’s all it is, just a gun!” Caltrop put his hoof on my shoulder and making me calm myself enough that I wasn’t going to just throw myself at her for destroying Grandma’s old revolver. She gave that to me after I got my cutie mark, and I have shown it nothing but the tender loving care a firearm like that deserves. And thanks to this bitch, it’s broken. “Please PC, just think this through.” He gave me a soft pat and a nervous smile as I glanced at him.

“Yes PC.” Brightshine mocked him and put her hoof against her forehead, leaning herself back. “Think at all tha poor, innocent lives Ah’ve helped ta save by destroyin yah evil, murderin gun.” She paused from her over dramatic acting and dropped her hoof. “Y’all don’t get ta bitch about a fuckin gun, not when yah took away mah sister.”

“Oh, how insensitive of me.” I spit out and walked towards her. “My mistake, seeing as that gun was worth more caps than she was.”

That hit a nerve somewhere in Brightshine and she hit me with one hell of an uppercut, sending me a couple steps back. She sneered and levitated Caltrop’s detonator out, shoving it into my view just fast enough I would stay ahead of it as I backpedaled. Caltrop didn’t deserve to go out like this, even if he’s an annoying fuck up, so I had to keep walking back. I was forced to a stop when My rear hooves struck something solid and I found myself pressed back up against a wooden structure as the detonator stopped just in front of my muzzle.

“Burst was worth more ta meh than what a thousand a yah could ever be.” Brightshine’s words were short and harsh, whipping at me as she kept me pinned with the floating red button. “And Ah have had just about enough a tha shit that’s comin from yah muzzle, so y’all know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna make sure yah regret it.”

There was a flash of red that came from her saddlebag, a long red cloth floated out and over to Caltrop. It wrapped itself around his muzzle tightly and bound it shut, tieing off in a neat bow. The next thing that came from her pack was a length of brown rope, winding and snaking around his legs before pulling taught. To his credit, he didn’t even fight it, knowing that as long as I didn’t speak up, he’d be fine. Next, I watched as her horn’s aura flared and Caltrop began to lift off the ground. She took the remote away from my muzzle and pulled the helpless Caltrop through the air towards me, and I knew what came next would suck.

“Now, what y’all are goin ta do is carry him all the way to tha sheriff's office without so much as a single syllable comin outa yah muzzle.” She spoke through her strain, setting him onto my back ever so lightly before cutting her magic. My leg shuddered under the strain, and I have to focus my own magic on the weak bone inside to keep it from coming apart. I bit my lip hard enough I could taste blood, and groaned as Brightshine strode past me. “Excelent. Now, be a dear an just follow me ta yah holdin cell.”

My hooves felt like they weighed a million tons each, while my legs felt like they were made of glass. I could feel the bone in my fucked up foreleg creaking each time I took a step on it, painfully moving forward at an agonizing pace. But I kept my muzzle shut. Being a bounty hunter meant that Brightshine had to see the uselessness of killing somepony who doesn’t have a reason to die, and I had to do my best not to give her that reason.

Heading out from where the mine was, we followed the wall of the enormous three story Wooden building that I had bumped into, walking out past it and onto the main street of what I could only assume was Timber. I've only ever been here once, and it was at night and I left as soon as I had arrived, so the layout was unfamiliar to me. The town to my left consisted of a few dozen homes which were mostly skeletal frames, a large run down grocery store, and the sheriff's office down at the end. To my right is what looked like a standard motel, some saloon looking two story restaurant, and a bank down all the way at the end. Now that I was out in front of it, I could see that the large wooden building beside me was partially deconstructed. The words Marehaeuser Timber Mills was stretched across the flaking green paint in large white letters.

“Y’all need ta keep up.” Brightshine yelled out as she headed off to our left. She wasn’t even looking back for us, instead only spinning the remote in her magic. “Ah got plans ta see mah brother and his wife tonight, so Ah’m gonna need ya ta hurry up.” Finally she tilted her head back just enough that I could see her smile. But just as quickly as I saw it, it drooped into a frown.

The closer we got to the sheriff’s office, the more I could see it was more or less just the one wall. My guess is that stripping these buildings down has become a lot more profitable than getting the lumber mill working again. Though, who in the wastes is buying up so much damn timber? There are plenty of good shitholes to make a home out of cheaper than building your own.

“Tha hell are y'all doin! Ah still needed that ta keep mah contracts in!” Brightshine shouted, waving her forehoof to the empty building. A large, yellow coated stallion poked his head around the corner, a bright smile growing across his muzzle.

“Howdy there sis!” He chuckled, and strode out from the foundations. She didn’t have any chance to escape as he bumped right into her and pulled her into a tight hug, squeezing her so tightly I could swear she was turning blue.

I whined as my legs didn’t want to stay up anymore. Slowly lowering myself to the ground, I got out a quick few pants before Brightshine gasped for air. Her brother dropped her and stepped back as she half laughed, half gasped. She had such a genuine smile on her face, one might just forget that she’s holding two prisoners under the threat of death. Well, not easy for me to forget anyway.

“We moved everything ya needed over ta tha bank. Figured it was more secure than here, and with tha wood this place had, it should bring in a whole heap a caps!” He smiled and ruffled Brightshine’s mane. “Y’all gonna show up fer supper?”

“Yeah, just gotta throw this junk in lock up an Ah’ll be right over.” Brightshine smiled and got to her hooves again. Treating us like we were common criminals was forgivable, but did they really have to move the ‘lock up’ to the bank? That’s literally as far across town as you can get. “Come on, missy! Get a move on already, Ah dun wanna have a cold dinner!”

What a bitch.

You know what I hate? Magic nullification items. More than anything, I hate those stupid grey rings.

“There, all nice an cozy!” Brightshine smiled as she walked out of the sea green bank vault both Caltrop and I had been chained inside. “Oh, and before Ah forget, there’s no need fer this anymore.” Her horn flared as the collar around Caltrop’s neck clicked, popping open and floating to her. She hadn’t unbound his muzzle, but at the very least I could breath a sigh of relief that he was safe for the moment. All I had to do now was have Caltrop break free of his bindings again once they were gone and we could sneak our way out of here.

“Who did you bring in this time?” A heavy stubbled stallion came in with a sigh, making the two ponies guarding the vault stand uncomfortably at attention.

“The mare fer tha Percussion Cap bounty.” She smiled back to me and gave me a wink and a blown kiss. “Not mah easiest catch, she was damaged in transit, but ah think tha big stallion should be impressed with her.” She levitated a square sheet of paper from her saddlebags, waiting silently as he looked it over in his hoof.

“Come on Brightshine, what proof is there that this is the Contract mare?” He groaned and darted his eyes between the contract and me. Even though he wasn’t staring, there was something about his eyes that seemed just as insane as the train guards, and I hated it.

“Geeze ya act like this is yah first time doin this. Look at her cutie mark and you’ll see it matches the description.” She rolled her eyes and hoofed at her saddlebags. “But here, She’s known fer wearing these, but why dun yah go an bother Martial?” She floated over my coat, hat, and gun harness to him. They were so close, but I couldn’t get my magic to focus on even #1. “He said he knows tha bitch, so go fuckin ask him. Use yah fuckin head fer once!”

Somepony I know put the contract on me? Fuck. Odd thing is I don’t know any ponies named Martial. Maybe it was the pony who was Big Shot’s boss, or maybe the head of whatever slave faction I’d been killing off in my work. The answer didn’t much matter just at this moment, seeing as I’d find out soon enough and murder the hell out of them.

“Don’t get your reigns in a bind, this is suitable evidence.” He smiled and nodded to one of the unicorn guards. Their horn lit up quickly, the blurry form of a rusty iron pipe being swung dropped Brightshine to the floor with a thump. Did they just… double cross Brightshine? The stallion in charge looked down at her and poked her with his hoof. “Take her to the train and get a collar on her. The boss wants her shipped up to U Cig for re-education, and Miss Amble’s got a knack for breaking unicorns.”

Holy fucking shit, these assholes just sold her out! This… this was not good. Deviations in any plan are not good. I tugged at my bindings, finding that the metal racks Caltrop and I were up against were solidly built, not giving an inch for my efforts.

“You know what, send that other pony in there with her, he can suffer with her as well. We’re short on quota this month and the contract only requires the mare.” The stallion pointed his hoof to Caltrop, and instantly I tried to wrestle at my bonds. “If U-cig wants tough customers to break, she’ll be their crowning achievement. He can just suffer with the rest of them.”

“No, leave him alone! He’s not worth your time!” I shouted, finding out that once again I should have kept my muzzle shut. The iron pipe slammed into my head hard and sent my vision dark for a moment.

“Bitch, everpony is. Even if they’re only two caps worth.” I could feel the stallions breath along my neck and I squirmed, pushing myself as far from his stink as I could get. “You’ll have to excuse my employer’s boss. As it turns out, there was a small revolt in his villa workforce, and he wanted to stay and personally ensure that it wouldn’t happen again.” Even with as much as I tried, he just crouched lower and leaned in towards me. “Though he does send his dearest regards, and he’s requested you be kept alive until you and the other cunt on the contract are both there to hear his terms.”

My vision slowly became less fuzzy as my head hung to the side. Caltrop struggled against his bindings, looking at me with wide eyes as he panicked and tried to scream through his bound muzzle. The unicorn floated his pipe over and brought it down on Caltrop with a stiff thump, making Caltrop’s eyes go half lidded as he looked at me. A single line of blood slowly dripped down his head as he shut his eyes and slumped back. I tore at the ropes holding me, uncaring of how they ground painfully against my hoof. If only I could use my fucking magic, then I could save him!

“You know what though? I’m not so sure you’re worth the extra caps alive, seeing as I can tell you’re going to be trouble.” He put his hoof under my chin and slightly turned my head towards him. “Maybe there will be an ‘accident’ later tonight. Who knows?” Smiling softly he looked dead into my unfocused eyes. “If you behave, you might just make it through the night, alright hot-stuff?” He tapped my cheek and stood up, taking a step back. “Alright you two, seal this box up tight. Nopony in or out.”

Caltrop’s limp body was picked up in the amber glow of the guards magic, drifting forward as the cage guard swung the door open. I watched in horror as he was put onto a small tarp next to Brightshine, the plastic sheet then began to slide away, quickly disappearing past my view and out of my hearing. The heavy steel door shut with a slam, and the squelch of rusty door pins locking into place meant that I was secured.

After everything, the one friend I had ever made was taken from me. You tried. It was a mistake to have even thought anything good could have come from it. Can’t you see, you were happier than you were for a long time. And now I’m alone again. You can’t give up now. So all I can do is wait for tomorrow.

“I’m sorry…” I whispered out, silently wishing that my tears could make this all go away.

I must have passed out at some point, shaking my head slowly and spitting out my mane from my muzzle. Opening my eyes, I found a pair of round, pink eyes staring back from the end of a short and flat muzzle. I blinked a few times in confusion as I didn’t move a muscle.

“What… are you.” The eyes spoke in a higher pitched whiny voice. They pulled back, the small shape of a hellhound taking form. From the octave, I could only assume that this young hellhound was a girl, though being only the fourth one I’ve ever seen up close and having no real way to identify gender, it was my best guess. Her navy blue coat and white underside were pristine and only now as she stood back did I realized how small she was. Even on her hind legs, I wasn’t sure she’d come up more than to the top of my chest.

“Hello... there.” I spoke softly, unsure of what to do. In the far corner from me was a small mound of dirt, and the dusty paw prints that led over to me made me weary if there were more hounds about to burrow up and rend me to pieces.

She gasped. “Oh, you can speak! That narrows it down!” Her eyes lit up and she pressed herself in close again. “Are you a pony perhaps?”

“Yes?” I stammered, not even sure of the question myself. “How is it you’ve never seen a pony before?”

Shrugging, she walked around and looked me over intently, sniffing uncomfortably at me. “Some of the older dogs tell stories about them, but we never see any in the den with the pact they made and all. They always say that ponies are violent towards us, and that we should attack them on sight, but you don’t look dangerous.” She stopped and went wide eyed. “Are you dangerous?”

“Kid, that’s probably something you shouldn’t ask somepony… er, someone after you speak with them.” I couldn’t outright tell her I killed ponies for a living, but lying to a kid? That seems a bit much. “To answer, yes I am.” Her eyes locked in terror. “But I only hurt those who hurt me.”

That made her relax. “Oh, I know how that is.” She looked solemnly to the floor. “Down below the other pups are always picking on me. So what if I’m small? It doesn’t mean anything! I came up here to prove that I’m just as tough as the others!”

“Great, out of anyone in the world, I get a run away runt.” I closed my eyes. “Kid, it’s not safe up here, you should go back.” The hound huffed and kicked at the concrete floor.

“No! I’m not going back until I can prove them wrong!” She raised her voice slightly, making me cringe. If the guards heard her, then we’d both be dead. She spoke again, but in a whisper. “My name isn’t Runt either, that’s just what the others call me.” She looked up to me with wide, sad eyes as her muzzle trembled. “It’s Sandy.”

“Well then Sandy, my name is Percussion Cap.” I couldn’t help but smiling when she made a face like that. “And I need your help.”

“Wha… what can I do?” She looked to the floor and scraped at it with her oversized claws. “I’m the worst dog in the pack. I can’t even bring back a trophy.”

“Tell you what, if you help get these bindings off me, I’ll help you get your trophy.” I leaned back against the metal rack and tried to pull my hooves apart. Sandy’s face lit up at the suggestion and she quickly got up. She was small enough she could get under the shelves and had soon wiggled her way behind me. “Just be really careful you don’t lop my hooves off!”

There was a deafening metallic squeal as her claws cut not only through the ropes, but through the metal post the ropes had been wrapped around. There was the sound of a bottle shattering from outside the vault, and the hushed murmurings of somepony who was drunk grew.

There was a loud rapping at the door. “HAY. What tha hell are ya doing ‘n there?” The slightly slurred words of one of the guards came through the walls. “What wass that noise?”

“Sandy, don’t make any sound.” I whispered, straightening myself up and clearing my throat softly. “That was…” Come on PC, THINK. “...the sound of my heart breaking!” Fuck, that was the dumbest lie I’ve ever told. Well, I need to stick with it now. “You took my one true love from me, and I'll never forgive any of you monsters for it!”

“Oh, shut uhp.” There was a thump against the door as he drunkenly knocked at it again. “Wallow in sorrow quieter than, oral make ya quiet. Ghot it?” Thank Celestia for cheap and plentiful whisky. I could hear as he cursed and made his way back from the door, and only then did I pull my hooves out from behind me.

“Nice work Sandy.” I whispered, pulling my hooves up and lifting the magic nullification ring from my horn. As she crawled her way out from under the metal shelves, I held my hoof out, dropping the ring in front of her with a smile. “This is a really rare magical item. You bring something like this to your pack and you’ll be on top of the heap in no time.”

“Thanks! I’m just glad I was useful for once!” She scooped the ring up in her claws, clutching it tightly to her chest. “I never believed them anyway. Ponies aren’t dangerous at all!” She looked up to me with the bright eyes of a foal. “Are we… friends now?”

“Sure, squirt.” I smiled and got a giggle out of her. “You best run on home now. I’ve got work to do, and you probably won’t want to stick around to see what happens.”

“Alright. Goodbye, friend.” She gave me a toothy grin and galloped… do hellhounds gallop? Whatever. She disappeared down into her hole, and once again, I felt sad that I was alone. But I could change that now. I had a new plan, which involved me killing my way to the top of this town, then finding out where they sent Caltrop. I will repeat this process as many times as it takes to get him back, even if I need to wipe out every goddess damned asshole this wasteland has to offer. I wasn’t going to be a bounty hunter anymore, not after what I’ve been through.

Right here in this room? I was a clean slate, free to start over with no more rules to hold me back. It’s time to make a name for myself. It’s time…

A muffled scream came from outside the vault, but was quickly silenced. With no allies left, no weapons around, this was going to come down to my bare hooves. But that’s fine by me, anything to set things straight again. There was a squeal as the pins in the doors rolled back, and I lowered myself down, ready to pounce. But as the door swung open, I stopped and could only stare into the sharp blue eyes of my Grandmother.

She spun her gun around on her hoof as the body of the guard smoked lightly, small blue flames flickered out of deep cracks in his skin and coat. “Fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into, PC. Your mother would be so proud.”

--Chapter End--
Kill until he's safe sounds a bit raider-like, don't you think?
Quests Finished: Broken Bonds
Quests Started: Warpath
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: Your mother was a hamster! - Through some great insult or rude gesture, you draw an enemy’s attention to you. Once per turn, you may make a CHA test to force a single enemy to attack you instead of another party member. May only be done on CHA/2 enemies per combat and only against 'intelligent' enemies.

Chapter 13 - Hasty Actions

“You could have saved us at ANY FUCKING TIME!?” I barked in a harsh whisper as I searched the bank for my things. Annoyingly, the only thing that I found remotely big enough to hold them was a locked hooflocker in the corner, so here I was waiting for Storm to finish attempting to pick it open.

Of all the times Caltrop could have been useful…

“What? And robbed you of this valuable lesson?” She snapped back from around the screw driver in her muzzle, torquing the bobby pin in her hoof enough that it broke. She gave out a sigh and pulled the broken pin out. “I knew you weren’t ready to go back out, so I followed you when you left. Had to call in a quick favor from some old friends to blast that railway, but it gave me time to catch up.” She smiled in a way that made my eye twitch in rage. “You should know me better than this, PC. You aren’t stupid, just… dim? Short sighted? Moronically Inclined maybe?”

“Thanks, so much for that.” I knocked the screwdriver from her muzzle in anger. “You know what happened on that fucking train?” I shoved her back as I leaned in close. “I almost ended up like mom. If it weren’t for Caltrop…”

“What, and you think that was my fault?” She laughed to herself. “You’ve got a lot of nerve to blame me. If you’re looking for somepony to pin it on, try a mirror.”

“You don’t get it, do you? They took Caltrop and shipped him off to some slaver camp.” She clenched her jaw as I reached out and prodded her sharply. “Because of you and that dolt, I have it in my head that I need to have him around, and that he’s my friend. So you know what you’re fucking going to do? You’re going to shut the fuck up and help me get him back, because you wanted me to find a friend, because I’m not losing him.”

“Well we aren’t going anywhere as long as this box stays shut!” She shook her head and pulled out a cigarette. I pulled one up to my horn in my magic and watched as she flipped open her lighter. We lit the sticks and inhaled deeply, both relaxing together.

“Are you a dangerous pony?” The squeaky voice of Sandy came from the vault, her bright pink eyes staring from the corner of the door. I deadpanned as Storm let out a soft laugh.

“Another friend, PC? There may be hope for you yet.” She gave me a pat on the shoulder and smirked. Turning to Sandy, Storm softened her gaze and spoke in a caring tone. “We’re trying to get her things back, but have hit a bit of a snag with this locker.”

“I… can open it, if you want that is...” Sandy held up her hand and spread her claws out. “Even though my brothers and sisters tell me I’m useless, I know I can be super helpful! I even helped her!” She pointed to me and I could only let out an embarrassed sigh.

“I thought I told you it wasn’t safe here.” I facehooved. Seriously, this kid has ears twice the size they need to be and she can’t hear a word I say. “You have your trophy, why don’t you go home where it’s safe.”

“Oh come on PC, can’t you see she wants to help?” Storm stepped up to the hoof locker and tapped at it. “Think you can crack this open for us, little one?” Something about the way Storm sounded made me grind my teeth. Maybe it was because she never spoke to me that nicely, even as a foal. Some part of me thinks it’s because she’s just trying to show me up again, but the way she spoke was just so… genuine.

Sandy quickly bounced her way over and sniffed along the edge of the locker. With little more than a rap of her claws near the top and bottom of the thing, slicing through the hidden hinges. Her spiked club like tail wagged erratically as she smiled, while Storm reached over and gave her a few pats on the head before hoofing the door from the locker. Sadly, my things weren’t inside, but there were three old, cut down, double barreled 20 gauge shotguns, along with a box half full of shells.

“It’s easy to smell the hinges on boxes like these, so they’re not hard to find.” She opened her eyes again and beamed in delight at the old firearms. “Cool! That would be a much better trophy than any ring!”

“What? No, guns are both dangerous AND valuable. I can't let you just go running off with one of these.” I shook my head and pointed back to the vault. “Besides, you need to get back home. I bet your mother is really worried about you.”

“Oh come on, let me take one!” She whined at such a high pitch it made a spike of pain shoot through my horn. “You can't even use all three!”

“Unicorn.” I simply stated, enveloping them in my magic and floating them up to me. I opened each one in sequence, inspecting their barrels. They aren’t in the best of shape, but they’ll get me some answers. “Now take something else for your trophy if you want and go back. In five minutes time, it's not going to be safe above ground.”

“Fine, I’ll go.” She hung her head and gave up. “I guess this is goodbye again.” She looked to me with her, round sad eyes that felt like they clawed directly into my soul. “It was nice meeting you Friend. Maybe we’ll see each other again sometime?”

“I hope so, Sandy.” I felt myself smile through my sigh, rubbing at my hoof with a fetlock. “Now go on and get home safe.” I nodded toward the vault and she turned away, slowly walking into it. “And don’t let anypon… anyone push you around down there, you hear!” I shouted, making Storm smack me in my bad leg.

“Keep your voice down and let’s go.” She pointed towards the door.

I loaded each gun with two shells from the box, and slipped the rest of them into Storm’s pack. Now that there was nothing to distract me from it, my leg ebbed in pain as I stood on it. Walking quietly became an agonizingly annoying process, needing me to hobble quickly when it came time to use that leg. Hopefully we could just get the information we needed and kill them all without needing to run.

This is how I know I’m a pessimist. Even with as much hot air as I blow up my own ass in an attempt to feel good, I know we’re still going to be screwed over. That’s just how my fucking life goes.

Finally ready, we had reached the door and opened it just a sliver. The sun had started to set when I came into the bank, but now the sun is already peaking above the horizon to the east. This was not good. That knock to the head kept me out for hours, which meant that the caravan with Caltrop in it could already be down from the mountains by now!

“The Streets are clear. We’re going to head straight for the Saloon. On my way to rescue you, I saw one of them head in there.” Storm whispered.

“How do you know it was one of them?” I asked as she slowly swung the door open, the two of us cringing in unison as it let out a few sharp creeks.

“Trust me on this. I know it’s him.” She snapped back, heading out before I could say anything further. If I had any other choice in getting Caltrop back, I wouldn’t be following her. Every damn time Storm is around, things go from bad to worse, and that’s on top of all the unsavory ponies she seems to get crawling from the woodwork. As we crossed the street, I glanced at the Marehouser building.

Maybe I shouldn’t press my luck by talking about woodwork in the middle of a timber farming town…

There were eager shouts coming from the Saloon, and the thick snaps of what sounded like a whip on flesh made me jump as we snuck up beside the door. I took my place on one side, as Storm set herself against the other, holding a hoof up for me to wait. The heavy whines of a stallion broke the silence between muffled screams and whip snaps. I looked to Storm as she lowered her hoof.

“Alright PC, there are five hostiles inside, and one neutral.” she whispered so low, I almost couldn’t hear her speak. “You should be able to handle them with ease.” Stupid cheating pipbuck, seeing through walls and shit. It just isn’t fair that she gets to use it, and I can’t even cast any spells close to being that good.

“What?” I did my best to contain my volume, almost dropping the shotguns in surprise. “Aren't you coming in to help?”

She deadpanned as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. “What did I tell you about surprise fights in the wasteland?” She had taught me everything on how to survive out here, and I can’t believe I forgot one of the basics. Never show all your cards when you only have to show a few. Maybe I have gotten lax over the last year or two. With the contracts from filly being so simple and plentiful as well, I never really had to try.

“Woah there Augs, slow down on the stallion.” That voice… “We don’t need him passing out on us, that takes away all the fun. We’ve got a few more hours before the boss get’s here for PC, so lets make sure to enjoy it.”

I growled and stepped up to the swinging door, kicking it open as hard as I could before stepping through the doorway. The room was a fairly standard layout for a bar. With the place being closed normally at this time, there were no patrons or staff about, and the only inhabitants stood in a semicircle around a table smack dab in the center of the room. The three leather coated stallions closest to me turned and spread out, funneling the asshole who put the contract on me into the center of my vision.

“Shit!” Was all Ash could get out before I opened up with two of the shotguns. One of the stallions heads exploded as the buckshot removed his face, and the stallion opposite of him dropped to the floor from a hit to the chest. Ash and a large framed mare flipped the table they had the bleeding and crying form of Brightshine’s brother on, hiding behind it as I took aim with the third shotgun.

The stallion from the middle disappeared with a flash, confusing me as to where he was when I was bucked sideways. The suddenness of it all broke my levitation as I prayed none of my ribs were broken. I let out a whine as I tried to stabilize myself with my bad leg, giving up before slamming into the worn wooden floor. Gasping for air as my already bruised side stung all across where the manticore had struck, I reached out with my horn and secured two of the dropped shotguns.

I spun one and fired at the stallion attacking me, liberating most of his throat from his neck and dropping him to the floor in a bloody heap. There was little time to pause, as the one I hit in the chest returned to his hooves. His reinforced armor, although shredded, had stopped the shot. And he wasn’t happy.

He bit down on the handle of a rusty logging axe he had set on his back and charged at me. I fired with the other shotgun and managed to tag him with one of the pellets, but it didn’t slow him down. Scrambling to my hooves, I was forced to parry his attacks with the two empty guns. More scooting and rolling than actually dodging, I was doing a fairly good job at keeping his aim off just enough that he would nick the ground with each swing.

My flank pressed up against the wall, and I was out of time. I went for broke and threw both guns at him. In the moment it took for him to avoid getting clobbered in the face, I pushed myself up, slamming myself into him with a scream of anger. He went down and rolled onto his back for only a moment, allowing me to follow another one of the lessons Grandma ingrained in me. With as precise of a jump as I could, I hopped onto the stallion, making sure that if anything, his family line ended with him.

The clunk of him dropping the axe was followed by the breathless scream that I would expect came with most geldings, but just for good measure, I stepped onto his throat until he stopped moving.

“Bravo, PC. Absolutely top rate badassery.” Ash clapped his hooves from behind the table. I looked around quickly, finding the last shotgun with ammo on the ground. “I bet you’re wondering why I put out a contract on you.”

“It’s a good place to start before I kill you.” I snarled, bringing the gun up to my side. There was still that other mare behind the table with him, so I couldn’t make the first move without knowing that I could take them both. “It’s simple, you were costing my employers too much. There are only two reasons they put out the bounties in the first place. One, is to remind the slaves that running is a big waste of time. Two, is so that the most bloodthirsty and skilled mercs in equestria have something to do other than overthrowing the current establishment due to the highest bidder.”

Ash let out a laugh as there was a metallic slam from the other side of the table, the rattle of a pill bottle made me wonder just what he was up to. Brightshine’s brother had his eyes clenched shut as he pulled against his bindings. If there were some way that I could get him to roll the table forward, I’d have a clear shot.

“That doesn’t explain shit, Ash.” I yelled, wondering just where the hell Storm was. Yes I didn’t need her help, but it would be appreciated!

“Unfortunately for you and Bluejay, you just happen to be the cream of the crop, the best of the best.” He yelled back, just taunting me to come at him. But I was smarter than that, and if I couldn’t get Brightshine’s brother to flip the table, the very least I could do was get him out of the way. “Bluejay has deviated from hunting and has gone and grown a soul. She’s wrecked more slave caravans in three months than even the Filly freedom fighters have, and it’s become an issue to the ponies I work for.”

“Once again, I don’t see why I was dragged into this.” I focused my magic on the ropes that held Brightshine’s brothers legs to the higher half of the table, slowly unbinding them. “Big Shot said that if I paid off my debt to him, I could come back.”

“Big Shot’s out of the game now, theres another in his place now who is much more efficient.” He spoke back starkly. Could that be true? Could they have just outright replaced one of the most ruthless stallions I’ve ever worked for? “As for you. You were the top contract clearer for north Fillydelphia, and remarkably hard to find if you’re looking. Now that you’ve been barred from working for my employer, there is a certain… concern that you might take up a job to kill him. So this is simply my way of ensuring that doesn’t happen.” He gave a small chuckle. “It’s fantastic, isn’t it? Me, a fellow bounty hunter, sending bounty hunters after my only rival?”

“Yeah, but you made a couple of mistakes.” The first binding came loose, with the second one only moments away. “You sent Caltrop off to slavers, and you assume I came here alone.” I undid the other strap and Brightshine’s brother dropped to the floor with a thud. I waited for the table to fall over with him, but it must have been heavier than I thought, because it didn’t budge an inch.

Now would be a really good time for Storm to join me.

There was a pressurized hiss from the other side of the table before Ash’s voice came it. “Quick thing now that we’re just getting things out in the open, I never wanted a relationship with you, seeing as I’m already with this amazing mare.” As he spoke, the Silver coated mare rolled out from behind the table, setting herself on her hooves as she tensed. I fired a shot at her, hitting her dead center in the chest. As the blood drained from the wound, it started to close, and she gave me a smile. “PC, I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Auger.”

I fixed my aim and fired again, hoping that a shot to neck would down her like the previous stallion. She let out a gurgling scream and charged me, the only thing I managed to catch as she slammed against me was the red of her mane before she was trampling over my body. I let out my own scream as the blades she wore on her hooves gouged troughs of flesh from me. Before I could do anything else, she reared her hind legs and bucked against my back.

I flipped over and tumbled along the floor as everywhere hurt, stars flooded my vision and the only thing I could see clearly where the thick blood stains I had left. She didn’t even have to charge over as I struggled to get to my hooves, simply and calmly walking over to me before she growled and hit my horn with a haymaker. A breathless scream was all I could mutter as the pain in my head overwhelmed me, my body falling to the floor again as I passed out for only a moment.

“Auger, wait.” Ash spoke up. “Don’t kill her just yet.” It had been one of the shortest fights I’ve ever fought in my life, and he didn’t want to just end it even though I was way out of my league. If I had any of my guns, this never would have happened. If Grandma had just helped out already, this would have never happened. If I didn’t care about Caltrop’s friendship...

“But sweetie, just one little flick and she’s dead!” She spoke back, putting a hoof on my neck. The cold steel blade pressed against my flesh so tightly that I was sure that if I moved a muscle, I would slice my own throat open. It was then that I noticed that Auger’s hoof was entirely steel, the robust cybernetic leg had been painted the same dull silver as her coat to make it less noticeable.

“Call off your attack dog, Martial.” Storm spoke up as she entered, finally deciding that now I was in need of help. If we make it out of this, I was going to shoot her a few times with her own damn rubber bullets. Storm stood on her hind legs and propped herself against the doorframe, leveling her rifle. “Sorry I never told you about this PC, but the first day Martial here showed up in town, he tried to kill me. He wanted revenge for what I'd done, and I could see it the moment he laid his eyes on me. Ever the son of the last Mustangia Ruffian whore.”

“Ma told me how you spared her because she was carrying me in her hooves, but you murdered my father, my brother, and everypony else in my camp, so you had to pay. You ruined her life, caused her to take up drugs and drinking to cope with losing them. So what kind of son would I be if I didn't carry out my mother's last wish for revenge?” Ash’s voice had changed. It no longer bled with the smoothness that angered me, but instead was sharp and harsh.

“I stomped that whole clan to dirt for what they did to your mother PC.” Storm spoke up before he could continue. “Martial here was just trying to get back at me the only way he could. Through my family. When he took on the name of Ash, I thought he decided to put what happened in the past, but I always knew he would try again.”

“Then this has nothing to do with me.” I groaned out, trying not to shift my weight under the steel hoof. “I don't fucking care about your grudge, tell me where you sent Caltrop and you two can fight it out.”

“Your colt friend? He’s on his way to U-Cig for Re-education, I mean really PC, I would have assumed you overheard one of the guards or something.” He sighed in disappointment. “But that won’t matter now. I can’t just let you go when I can knock my biggest rival out of the game, can I?”

“What waystation are they using? Who hired you?” Storm spoke up. “Seeing as if you win, the information won’t matter, and if you lose, at least you die knowing I’ll kill everypony in your whole fillydelphia operation.”

“See? Look at that PC, you just have to ask the right questions!” He let out the same laugh he always did, and even as I bled out on the floor, it still made me want to get up and kick the shit out of him. “I’m not going to tell you my employer, but I guess you’ve earned a little info. They're stopping at summer camp for a few weeks holding, good luck getting them out alive.”

“You just leave that to me.” Storm flinched, turning her gun faster than I ever could. Under the helpful spell of SATS, she unloaded four shots into Auger faster than the mare could react. The large mare stiffened and fell over, her bladed hoof slicing into my throat as she did. I gasped and felt the gurgling wound along my neck suck in air as a pool of crimson grew around my head. My body felt cold, and I couldn’t even find the strength to whine as I slumped down on the wood.

Great, I was going to die here on the floor next to the half headed wife of my rival. Thinking back to my list, maybe I put things like tetanus up a bit too high. Dieing by the fact that my grandmother’s shots caused my neck to be sliced open, was now my least favorite way to die. Why did it have to be now though? Caltrop actually had something to live for when I was around, and in a way, so did I. It’s just that I was really hoping I could at least save him.

Storm’s quick hoofsteps towards me came to my ears as I heard Ash’s drift off into the distance. “Hold on PC, don’t die on me now.” She didn’t sound worried. Her fucking granddaughter was basically dead on the floor and she didn’t sound worried. This was all her fucking fault and she DIDN’T… SOUND… WORRIED.

There was the thick pop of a bottle as my vision darkened, and a warmth filled the core of my body. I closed my eyes and tried to take one last deep breath, struggling to get my lugs to move at all. As hard as I tried, my body had already given up, and finally I got the simple fact through my head.

Fuck it. I’m done.

The sound of softly flapping curtains and the slow patter of rain was the first thing to come to me, followed by the feeling of warmth and pain, mixing together in separate ebbing waves. I opened my eyes and pushed myself up, looking around to find that I had been tucked into a large bed on the second floor of a house. Through the open window, I could barely see the side of the Marehouser building in town through the hazy rain that came down.

Pulling the sheets off of me, I looked down over my coat, seeing that my injuries had been healed. The bruises that I got, along with the pain in my leg were non existent, but several crescent shaped scars coated my body in various places, and the long one down my leg still sat where it had before.

“Fuck.” I sighed.

“Oh come on.” Storm’s voice startled me, and I scrambled out of the bed as best I could. “That’s it, shrug it off. We both know I’ve come back from much worse than that.” My best wasn’t good enough as my rear hooves got caught in the bedsheets and I flopped onto the floor.

“You know what Grandma, you’re fucking impossible to please, so with all due respect, fuck you.” I untangled myself, picked myself up, and turned around to find the barrel of her rifle pointed right at me. “You wouldn’t.”

BANG

I guess I was just destined to spend all of today on the floor in pain. As the ringing in my ears dropped off, I heard quick thumping hoofsteps running up a flight of stairs towards us. I clutched my chest in pain as the door flew open and Brightshine’s brother looked around in a panic.

“Tha hell are y’all doin?” His voice was a lot deeper, rumbling through the floor even as he yelled. “Ah brought yah here ta ask a favor, not ta let yah kill each otha.”

I groaned out at that. “If you're asking me to save your sister, you can fuck right the hell off.” Yeah, it sucks that she was taken as well, but she’s the reason Caltrop was gone. She deserves worse than she’s got.

“Ah know it was you who killed Burst Flare. Now, Brightshine might hold a grudge, but I don't.” He held out a hoof to me, giving me a stern look. Just because he’s shown me the courtesy of not killing me for murdering his sister, did not mean I was going to save Brightshine. “I knew Burst would get herself killed sooner or later, but even so, you owe the two of us more than you can ever pay for taking her away from us.”

“No, your sister hates me.” I took his hoof, finding myself pulled to my hooves in an instant. There was no doubt about it, he was damn strong, and if I refused, I hope Storm doesn’t wait as long as last time to shoot him. This although is also true for Brightshine if I agree as well. “The second I free her, she'll kill me. You may be fine, by my word isn’t going to mean shit to her.”

“She won’t kill you because you'll give her this.” He reached back into the dusty saddlebag he wore, pulling out a faded striped cap with a small flashlight on it. “This is the hat I got when I inherited the job as lead puller from our father. Show her that and she’ll know that I gave it to you.”

“Fine. But if she still tries anything, I won't hesitate.” I tried to grab it in my magic, feeling a sharp twinge as I did. Quickly depositing it into my bags, I kept my eyes locked on him. I didn’t want to do this, not at all, but part of me remembered something. I don’t want to do it, but this was a debt I had to pay. I was glad that I no longer had to pay Big Shot, but now I was in a different kind of debt, and there was no outrunning this one.

“Brightshine is her own mare, but I only ask that you try.” He sighed and shook his head as he turned around. “I've lost enough family members already, I just don’t want to mourn another.” He walked slowly down the hallway, his heavy steps creaking down the stairs as I turned back towards Storm.

“Martial left these in a locker in back.” She tossed out my coat, hat and guns, along with Brightshine’s rifle and heavy leather jacket. “Get ready to go, because we’re already at almost a full day behind.” She got up from her side of the room and walked to me, looking at me with sad eyes. “I’m sorry about what happened in there, I should have acted sooner.”

“I don’t care.” I winced as my magic enveloped my coat. I opened it beside me, creating a makeshift curtain. “For once, maybe instead of watching me fail your tests, you should actually help me.”

“Yeah.” She sighed sadly and walked out. “I will.”

--Chapter End--
“At least you completed the fake contract?”
Quests Finished: Malpractice Makes Perfect
Quests Started: Family Bonds
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: Shotgun Surgeon - When using shotguns, regardless of ammunition used, you ignore an additional 10 points of the target’s damage threshold

Chapter 14 - In all the wrong places.

It had stopped raining in the few minutes it took to get myself together, leaving the soft mountain dirt with the consistency of slop. While in the bathroom, I noticed that when Auger hit my horn, her hoofblade had gouged out a visible line along it, following the opposite of my spiral. Another fun addition to my scar collection was the almost perfect line that ran across my neck. I never really cared too much about scars in the first place, but I’m thinking that others might take it as a sign that I’m weak.

The amount of injuries I’d sustained recently was really starting to worry me. Maybe I was weak now. My guns are my livelihood, and the only reason Brightshine had managed to get the drop on us was my inability to follow Grandma’s rule. If it looks like an unfriendly wanderer, shoot.

I should have listened to my instincts.

“So where is this ‘Summer camp’ and what should we expect?” I asked as I stepped off the old wooden porch and sank past my fetlocks in mud.

“Summer Skies Penitentiary” Storm answered as she fiddled with her pipbuck, ignoring the mud she was smearing across the buttons as she flipped between screens. “It's an old world prison up north on the other side of the mountains, and nigh impenetrable. Maximum security and a nasty place to be if you aren’t the one running it.”

“If it’s that bad, how the hell are we going to get in?” I looked up to the sky as I spoke, watching as a line of lighter grey clouds marched off the dark ones to our south. If anything, I hope the weather held out until we could make our escape. “And once in, how the fuck do I get Caltrop out?”

“We use…” She sat into the mud with a thick smack and hoofed at her saddle bag. “This!” She pulled out the robust silver leg that had once been connected to Auger. “This leg had a fairly complex system of magical circuits in it to keep that bitch fixed with Hydra if she needed it. If I can strip them out, there might be enough space for me to cram a couple of grenades into it.”

“No, that won’t be suspicious at all!” I didn’t have much in the way of a plan, but even I knew that they would take the leg as soon as I got in. “Unless you plan on ripping my leg off and attaching that, they're going to fucking take everything I have on me when I go in.”

She facehooved. “That’s the fucking point. They’ll take it and lock it up in the medical wing, which will be much less guarded than the armory. When you grab your boytoy, you fight your way there and you’ll have your way out.”

“Okay, so the way out is covered. Now how do I get in?” If this place is anywhere as tough as I think it’s going to be, it will be a suicide run if we come at it directly with all guns blazing. Putting the leg away, Storm surprised me with her answer.

“You head right at it.” She smiled in a way that she had no right to for what she just suggested. She continued just when I was a half a moment from facehoofing myself hard enough to make me possibly think this was a good idea. “If I can pass myself off as another bounty hunter looking for a quick cap for a random slave, then they’ll escort you right past all the nasty defences.”

“Then work myself out from the inside? Not bad, but I’m still sure they’ll take all my gear.” I started walking as Storm got back to her hooves. As much as I’d love to lose everything I just got back, I’d rather try to find a different way in.

“Well, we could always take the drainage tunnels.” She rubbed her chin as she came up beside me. “They might connect to somewhere unused, like the showers, or even a power substation.” She nodded slowly as I watched the mud from her hoof paint a brown beard under her chin. “That might just work, although getting around unseen would be an issue.”

“So, you’d wait for me to give you some sort of signal and then help us break out?” I scrunched up my muzzle with how much I really wasn’t liking this plan. “I know you still have a favor or two that can help if you called it in. We’re going to need more than just you to break in, so do what you need to get one of your ‘old friends’ on board and lets get going.”

She stopped abruptly. “No, I've already done enough of that to help. You've gotten in this deep on your own, and you need to be the one to pull yourself out of it. I'm only here to make sure you don't get killed. The heavy lifting? That's on you.” She sighed. “I know what I said, but I won’t ask my friends to get involved in this when we don’t even know who Martial was working for. What if it’s that Red Eye guy from Filly? His forces are big enough even the Steel Rangers are avoiding him, which means my friends would be squashed like radroaches if they got caught.”

“Have you gone senile? You taught me never to leave any tools at home so you're not fighting with one hoof tied behind your back.” I try so hard not to lose my temper around her, but she just makes it so damn hard! “I don’t care if you don’t want them, the simple fact is we need them.”

“I went through worse relying only on the strength of those at my side. You can buck up and do the same.” She snapped back, flicking her tail in anger as she trod forward. “From this point on, we think our way through it. Sit, observe, and take any help we can get.” She stopped and glared at me. “Martial said that we have a few weeks before Caltrop was going to get transferred, which means we have only a few days before somepony inside finds him more annoying than you and kills him.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes, trotting through the mud along the street. “Oh, and I assume we’ll just magically find ponies who will feel so sorry for us that they’ll just jump up at the chance to help!” I yelled my frustrations out, not paying any mind to the small hole in the mud that my hoof caught on. In an instant, I had my flank in the air and was facedown in the sticky, musty, mud.

“Do you need my help, friend?” The sorrowful, squeeky voice of Sandy perked my ears as I picked myself back up. I looked up to see her crouched in front of me, her fur matted down with a thick mix of mud and blood. The bright yellow of a torn up old foal sized raincoat was a hell of a contrast to the darker tones of her coat, but only seemed to be functional as a small vest for her. Honestly, I have never expected to see the runt again at all, and meeting like this could only spell trouble for me.

“Sandy, what are you doing back up here. I told you, it’s not safe.” Why can’t this Hound just get that into her head!? Better question is why do I seem to get stuck dealing with ponies and creatures that don’t listen to a goddess damned word that comes from my mouth?

“I… I…” She stammered, squinting as she sniffled. “I didn’t mean to kill him, I swear.”

“Hold on there pup.” Storm came over, regaining the soft, motherly tone to her voice as I slicked some of the mud from myself. “Just start at the beginning. What happened after you left?”

She sniffled and whined, curling herself up. “I went back down to the den, like I said I would, and I was looking for my Papa to show him my trophy.” She peeked her eyes up over her arms, looking at me shamefully. “One of my brothers took it, and I couldn't stop him because he was too strong. He tried to present it as his own, and I got so angry when they praised him for it, I…” She clenched her eyes shut and cried out. “I didn't mean to hurt him! I just wanted him to give my trophy back!”

“Shhh, shhh. It’s alright Sandy, we’re your friends.” Storm looked to me as she spoke, nodding her head for me to join in.

“That’s right Sandy, you can tell us what happened.” I reluctantly pulled myself closer, giving her my softest smile as she looked up. I don’t like foals. I never have, and I don’t think I ever will. There is something to be said though, of a mare around a crying child. As annoying as it may be, I can’t fight this urge to just step in and want to comfort them. It’s fucking annoying me to no end, but I just can’t pull myself away! Sometimes I wish I was a stallion just to avoid the urges I get for things, and it doesn’t help at all that I haven’t had any ‘quality’ time to myself recently. Though, maybe that’s a good thing considering what happened on the train.

A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about it.

“I was trying to get the thing from his paws, and he was holding it really high up over me. So I thought maybe I could jump.” She whined and buried her muzzle in her arms again. “But, when I did, I hit him with my claws in the neck and then there was so much blood. They all started yelling, and I… I didn’t know what to do!”

“It wasn’t your fault. He was the one in the wrong for stealing.” I reached out and pat her on the head, not sure if that was the right thing to do.

Mom’s the one in the family who’s the best with feelings or whatever. I can only sit here and hope that I’m doing something right! Then there’s Grandma, who for my whole life never shows an ounce of compassion for me, only to give it freely to those around her that aren’t me. Am I jealous of that? A little bit, yes, but am I wrong in thinking that I could have used a bit better treatment than I got?

That must be what Caltrop is thinking right about now.

Shut it, conscience.

She whimpered and relaxed at my touch. “I tried to tell them that I didn't mean too, but they said that I had to leave. Papa said that because I killed Dodger, I wouldn’t be able to come back forever! He said that I was nothing but a murderous disgrace.” She started to shiver as she sobbed softly. “Can’t he see that I just wanted to make him proud?”

“Your father said that?” Storm scoffed. “If he were my husband, I would have shot him where he stood.” I levitated my coat off of me, wincing as my horn shot a spike of pain through my skull. I lifted a much surprised Sandy and wrapped my coat around her, setting her back down lightly. Storm reached a hoof up and pulled back the coat so it wasn’t enveloping her completely. “How could you consider anyone who would say that your family?”

“I… I don’t know.” She still shivered lightly in my coat as she spoke, but the way she pressed herself into it, I could tell she was trying to get to the warmth I had given it. “The whole pack hates me for being so weak.”

“Being small isn’t a weakness.” I knew the dejected look she wore across her muzzle. Even though I never wore it for my family, there were so many times I felt like I was a lost cause. “My Grandma here was so harsh on me when I was just a young filly, and though I see the harsh lessons were necessary, it didn’t make it hurt any less. The fact that you helped me out even though you didn’t know if I’d hurt you shows bravery, and that can be a much more important thing than any size can make up for.”

Storm cleared her throat and gave a smile to her. “We could use some of your bravery if you wish to come with us.” She shrugged and looked to me. “We have to go get PC’s friend back, and I think you could be a tremendous help.”

Damnit. I’d hoped to avoid another Caltrop, and I really didn’t want someone as young as her coming along!

Sandy wiped the tears from her cheeks as she stared wide eyed. “Really? But... why? Aren't you afraid I'll just hurt you too?”

“Not at all.” Storm reached up and pat Sandy like I had. “Besides, we all need help sometimes, and you have to take it wherever you can find it.”

The prospect of bringing Sandy along with us didn’t make me happy at all, as the road was no place for a young child of any race. The good thing was if there was any danger, we could just tell her to dig down and don’t look back. Besides the fact that it had been a weird experience, with Caltrop gone, everything around me just seemed so bleak. Even with Sandy sounding like she was going to be nothing but trouble to have to deal with, the world did seem to have just a bit more color to it.

“Do you really mean it?” Sandy’s clubbed tail poked out from my jacket, wagging slowly as the sweetest of smiles ran across her muzzle. As we nodded, she made a noise that I could only describe as some sort of bark/squee, making me cringe from the pitch of it. “You are the best non-dangerous ponies I ever met!”

“That’s because we’re the only ponies you’ve met.” I chuckled and unfurled my coat. “Now come on, my friend isn’t going to save himself.” For better or for worse, it was time to go. I just hoped that she wouldn’t end up like mother almost did all those years ago, but I was going to make sure that it wouldn’t. No matter the cost.

My hooves slopped in the mud as we followed the old logging roads north. Storm had taken the lead as I focused on inspecting my guns as we walked. All of them had fared well in their time with Brightshine. Well, all but #5. I made sure to only inspect the now snub nosed revolver while Grandma wasn’t looking, but I had a bad feeling she’d find out about it sooner or later. Slung around my neck was Brightshine’s rifle. The old magical energy weapon was lighter than it’s bulk made it look, but it didn’t make it any less useless to me. As far as I was concerned, lead was the only tangible means of getting any job done, and having a bounty turn to ash before I could snip their cutie mark just made for bad business.

“Why do you have pictures on your butt?” Sandy asked, inspecting Storm’s rifles and crosshair cutie mark with intrigue. “Is it paint?”

“No, they’re permanent. These are our Cutie marks.” I laughed, finding it a rather odd subject to bring up right as I was thinking about them. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though, as Sandy had so many questions about things that it reminded me of Caltrop, but I at least didn’t mind answering them for her. The dolt on the other hoof should know half the things he asks about. “They magically appear to show what our special talents are.”

“That’s so cool!” She gasped as her tail wagged wildly, spinning in circles on Storms back as she looked at her rear. “Do I get one!?”

“Sorry, pup, but only ponies get cutie marks.” Storm called back, making Sandy droop down with a pouty face. “Though, maybe hellhounds do get something similar?”

“Yeah, Zebras get their own kind of cutie mark, so it may not be so far fetched.” I shrugged. “I’ve only seen a couple other Hellhounds, and that was at quite a distance. I have no idea really about anything hellhound related so… maybe?” I really couldn’t care. As nice as she was, and as useful as she had been, she’s got more questions than I’m sure only ponies from before the war would have answers for.

“I hope I get one!” Sandy tooked to me with wide eyes and grin brighter than the sun.

The clatter of rocks as they tumbled from the hill above us pulled my attentions to a small rocky outcropping. Both Storm and I stopped and waited, taking the moment to scan the hillside for any signs of who the hostiles hiding up there might be. Slowly, we made our way closer to a few boulders that lay next to the road, pressing up against it as well as we could before making a move.

“Three hostiles, but I can’t tell what they are.” Storm whispered, making sure to only shift her head enough that she could get one eye out from around our cover.

Sandy sniffed at the air a few times before scrunching her small muzzle up tightly. “Whoever they are, they have a stink like none I’ve ever smelled before.”

“Raiders.” I snorted, unclipping #3’s holster and drawing the pistol out. I hesitantly flipped it’s selector to burst and leaned out slightly. “Sandy, I need you to…” I was cut off as the quick rattle of submachine gun fire sparked off the rock. “Dig Sandy, dig!” I screamed, floating my gun over the rock and pulled the trigger. My own firearm rattled off a few shots that I hoped were in the right direction. What I wouldn’t give for one of Caltrop’s grenades about now!

My head exploded in pain as my horn shot a few sparks from the tip and my magic died. I let out a whimper as my gun dropped down into the mud and I cowered behind the rock. I tried to refocus myself on picking up the gun again, but all I got in return was another jolt of pain running through me. Great, I traded my bum leg for a bum horn.

“Can’t get it up anymore?” Storm joked before she poked herself out, using the rock to steady three quick shots from her rifle. “Reach into my satchel, you’ll find a small clay jug. Open and drink 2 sips, no more, no less.”

Unsure of what I was getting into, I inched myself closer to her and reached into her cracked leather bag. At the top I could feel the object in question and pulled it out. It was a ceramic jar with a single bone colored stripe that ran across it, and I could feel a liquid slosh about inside of it as I pulled it close.

“What is it?” I popped the cork and sniffed at it, recoiling at how rank it smelled. Even without an answer, I knew Grandma thought it was safe enough to use, so I brought it to my lips and tipped the jug back. It had the taste of honey to it, tasting much better than it smelled. So much so that as I took the second sip, I wanted to go for a third, but managed to rein myself in before doing so. I licked the sweet liquid from my lips and re-corked the bottle before stuffing it back into her bag.

“It’s an old Zebra bone remedy.” She finally got around to saying as she loaded a few fresh rounds into her gun. “In twenty four hours time, your horn should be as good as new.”

“24 hours!?” I shouted right as she slid out and fired another pair of shots. A scream punctuated the last one and the sound of a body bouncing off rocks confirmed that at least one of them was done for. A new wave of bullets peppered the rock next to Storm, eliciting at yelp from her as one of them punched into her shoulder.

“Goddess damn sons of bitches!” She screamed and rolled out from behind the rock. She must have dipped into Sats, because her grip was rock solid as she emptied the rest of her rounds up at the rock face. The echoing reports of her rifle drifted off into the distance as another body rolled down the loose rocks that claimed the hillside. “That’s right, you better fucking run.” She snarled and set her rifle down on the rocks. Reaching into her bag with her bad leg for what I thought was going to be bandages, instead she pulled out her half pack of smokes and bit one out of it.

“Hey grams, give me one.” I sighed and really wished that I hadn’t somehow lost my own pack. It’s funny how I can go for years on my own out here in the wastelands, needing no conversation or company, not even needing alcohol or heavy drugs to keep myself going. All I needed was a can of food, two bottles of water, and a fresh pack of smokes to be the most efficient bounty hunter I knew I could be.

Storm must have had a momentary lapse into senility, because she nodded and tossed the pack towards me in the same manner as she always had, expecting me to catch it with my magic. Even though I tried to speak up, I failed to say anything in time and the pack smacked me in the nose, dropping into a muddy puddle at my hooves and sinking. We both sat there for a moment, dumbstruck at what just happened. The quick flick of a lighter was the next thing to greet my ears as Storm lit her cigarette up and took a drag.

“For your sake, one of those two morons better have smokes on them.” She rasped out and raised an eyebrow in annoyance at me.

“Is it safe?” Sandy whispered up from the hole she dug, poking her head up just enough that I could see her quivering eyes. It was probably the first time she had been anywhere close to a firefight, so the fear was understandable. Unfortunately for her, it won’t be the last one we get into, not by a longshot. At the very least she didn’t hesitate to do what I asked.

“Yeah kid, it’s safe.” I sighed and closed my eyes. Today just isn’t going the way I’d hoped it would. Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised. Between running into Caltrop, getting kicked out of Filly, and getting captured, I’m hesitant to say that little else could possibly make this week worse than it’s been. I listened as Sandy pulled herself out of her hole with a little bit of effort and sat next to me, sitting there quietly as I just tried to think of what to do next. She’s along for the ride, so why not use her? “Hey kid, can you grab my gun? My horn’s out of commission.”

She darted behind me through the mud, and returned a moment later with #3. I opened my eyes and looked down to see her sitting there with the gun in her mouth, smiling brightly as I took it from her and carefully hoofed it into it’s holster. I could tell that the whole no horn thing was going to get old fast. Sandy stiffened up as her stomach made a louder growl than I think she could ever make on her own, in turn reminding me that since we ate with Brightshine, we hadn’t had anything.

“Here pup, catch.” Storm groaned as she reached into her satchel, pulling out a bent up can of old peaches. “Eat up.”

Sandy caught the can with a gasp and looked at her in awe. “R… really? I can have it?” Nodding, Storm reached back into her bag with a grunt and finally pulled out a small shimmering roll of bandages. Sandy stuck a claw into the top of the can and sliced neatly through the old metal, cutting a hole large enough that she could put it up to her muzzle and basicly drink the peaches out of it. After a moment of drinking, she sputtered and coughed the fruit onto the mud. “Uch! What is this stuff?”

I couldn’t help but get a chuckle at that. “You've never had peaches before?”

She shook her head and held the can out to me in disgust. “No, we didn’t have canned food down in the mine to eat. We always traded it for fresh meat when we could.” She whined and wiped her tongue with her hands. “What part of what animal is that from anyway?”

“Animal?” I tried to hold myself back from laughing at the absurdity of this all, but was rapidly failing to hold myself together. “Sandy, it's a fruit, it's not part of an animal!”

“You mean it's a plant?” Her already wide eyes doubled in size as she cringed. “Bleck! I'd rather have radroach meat again.”

Relying on only meat to survive was not something I had taken into account. Ponies could get by on eating meat if we absolutely needed to, but it was not something that did our bodies any good over prolonged periods of time. Although I had to agree that sometimes a good steak was just too tasty to pass up. Like the one you would have shared with Caltrop had you not dragged him away? Will share with him, conscience, just as soon as I can get him out of that prison.

Sandy poked at me carefully with her claw. “Well, what if I ate one of the dead ponies? Is that alright?” She pointed in the direction of the raiders.

My mind froze up in that moment. This shouldn’t be a question I have to answer. Eating other ponies was wrong, I knew this, but she needed to eat. It wasn’t like it was wrong for HER to eat ponies, I just… I don’t know. In my travels, I’d seen other ponies eat their dead, and I’ve seen monsters eat ponies alive. The wasteland was a horrible place to live, and after so long, you just get so jaded against everything that happens out here. I guess that just given the choice, I’d find it wrong to eat another pony. Thankfully, Storm saved me from having to answer.

“Uhm... are you sure? I don't think Raider is the best kind of meat to have.” She grunted through her bandages as she wrapped them tightly around herself. “Probably diseased and chock full of drugs. I’ve seen cannibals that given the choice, choose not to eat raiders.”

“Oh, the old dogs taught us that us hellhounds are fairly resilient to drugs, so we shouldn’t hesitate to tear the throats out of ponies if given the chance.” She smiled brighter than one should when talking about that, but it seemed like she had made up her mind. Turning to me, she gave me those same sad eyes she had back in that bank vault. “So can I? Please?”

“Why are you asking me? I’m not your mother.” I rolled my eyes and felt my headache spike through my horn. “Just… do whatever you want. You’re your own mare… er… girl. The point is you don’t need to be told to do everything anymore.” I didn’t even finish speaking before she was bouncing off around the corner towards their bodies. I raised my voice to make sure she would hear me. “The only time you must listen to me is when we’re in trouble, alright?”

“It’s not a foal, but you’re mother would be proud.” Storm blew a large plume of smoke from her nearly dead cigarette right into my face, and it send a shiver through my spine. I could really use a smoke.

“Shut up, Grandma.”

--Chapter End--
“Nopony can ever have enough friends, right? Even weird ones...”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

Thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, John Colt, Hetnu, Xjuan, Sawyer, Vocal, Tinker, and Bad Pun for their inspiration and support in the writing of this fic! Much, much thanks to RevelRomp in his support and help in the making of Sandy! I hope everypony enjoys her as a new cast member!

Chapter 15 - Bad Ideas

There is really nothing that makes you rethink what you've done with your life than having a small child giggle and laugh at stupid two century old jokes, while her muzzle is still coated with the bloody meat of your enemies. It’s not bad, just… not what I saw myself doing at this time in my life. Everything had been going so well, or at least I thought it had been. Maybe it wasn’t going as well as I had thought.

Seeing someone like Sandy laughing and having fun with Grandma, while odd, feels good to me. The normally stale air in each breath, the dull always gray sky, and the mottled tones of the mountain around me, all seemed to be just a little more alive than they ever had. That’s the way I felt now, alive, as if I had only just recently awoken from a long slumber. With it came the feelings of happiness, calm, and most profound of all, loneliness.

As merry as our little band was with the addition of Sandy, there was still a hole in it. I screwed up, and now Caltrop is suffering because of that. I made a mistake, and as with every mistake I’ve ever made though, all it will take is work to get it fixed.

The sun was on it’s way down, heading in the same direction as us while we wound through what Grandma said was an old game trail through the steep shale. The sharp jutting rocks rose around us on both sides, giving me the feeling that down was the only way to go. She assured me that this was the way to go, but in following this path for the last hour, I wasn’t so sure that she wasn’t lost.

“Stay here for a second.” Storm held her hoof up for me to stop. “Sandy, be a good pup and go wait over there with PC while I make sure our observation point is clear.”

“What is it?” I slowly advanced towards her, looking ahead of her the best I could to see what she was talking about. There, just through the rocky path before her there was a level dirt platform that stretched off past the mound beside us.

Her hooves kicked up a little dust as she quickly worked her way down the rocks, skidding to a stop as her hooves sank into the still semi muddy ground. She stood there for a moment, unmoving and silent. Sandy climbed up onto my back and peeked her head out along my neck as we both waited to see what was up. Storm cursed softly and shook her head, finally turning to look at us.

“Up ahead on this path was the vantage point I had hoped to use to get an eye on the place. But it looks as if they’ve mined the first ten feet or so. I can barely make out the lights, but they are too close to each other for me to disarm them.” She sat down and hoofed out a cigarette, popping it into her mouth as I tried to think of another way down that didn’t mean hours of backtracking.

“Oh! I can do this!” Sandy screamed into my ear so suddenly that I almost lost my hoofing. In a flash she was off my back and scampering down the slope without the slightest hint of hesitation.

“Sandy, no! Get away from those!” stepping as precisely as I could, I rushed myself to get down from the rocks. My mind fought to remind me that I didn’t need another broken limb from one misstep, but my heart screamed for me to save her. Having slowly made the realization, I shouted to the only pony who could do anything now. “Storm, stop her!” I shouted, but to no avail. Sandy squeaked by Grandma and bound forward into the minefield. As I stepped into the mud, I found myself unable to form the words to yell for Sandy, only tensing up for the inevitable blasts to come.

But they never did.

Sandy had instead stuck one of her digits into the mud and disarmed the mine she stood near. With a grunt, she plunged her face into the mud and started to push herself backwards towards a mortified Storm and I. It wasn’t until she had dragged the mine to my hooves that my sense of dread left me, and I ended up just blankly staring down at her mud coated smile.

“There used to be mines all over the tunnels back home!” Sandy shouted with such glee. “I was always the one who was supposed to push the button on top so we could collect and sell them.”

Storm gave a chuckle and smacked my shoulder before picking up the explosive with her hoof. “Smart of them to know she’s too small and light on her paws to set them off. That actually gives me a really good idea for how to get your guns inside.” Grandma’s revelation struck me hard when I figured out that she wanted to send Sandy burrowing inside after I was in there.

“No, we don’t even know what we’re dealing with yet and you want to put her in danger?” I shook my head and glared at her. “The plan is still the same. I go in and find Caltrop and Brightshine, we use the grenades you hide in the leg and boom, we’re out of there. Sandy can hide somewhere with you where it’s safe.”

“But… I want to help!” Sandy whined.

“It's amazing how the small ones always go unnoticed.” Storm put her hoof to her muzzle as she rambled on. I can always tell when she does because my words never seem to reach her brain. “Reminds me of a pair of fillies I saw up north. Smart, those two. They were hidden so well that the raiders I was hunting basically walked right over them. They got lost just as soon as they could get away unnoticed, but if I hadn't already been looking for places to set up an ambush, I'd have missed them completely.”

“I can do it!” Sandy gave me a stern look and held her claws clenched at her side. “If I don’t have a chance to prove myself, then how will I ever grow up to be strong?”

Clearly on the losing side of this argument, I gave up. “Fine. Still doesn't make me any less worried that it's a lot to put on Sandy.” I don't want innocent blood on my hooves. Even with the radical changes in my life, that was one rule I refuse to break. It’s always about the job and only the job, no pony outside of it needs to die.

In just a few minutes, Sandy had found and disarmed all of the mines, pointing them out for Storm to retrieve for sale elsewhere. I had hoped that Sandy would show me a few to store in my bags, but Storm always got them first. If it weren’t for my fucking horn being so damn useless at the moment, it wouldn’t have been an issue. At fifteen caps a mine, even half of those could pay for enough supplies to last almost a week.

“The overlook is just ahead, so keep your voices down.” Storm spoke as she lead us along the thinning path. In the fading light of day, I was just trying to make sure that my hoofing was sturdy. To my right was a fifty foot vertical rise with jagged points poking out at different heights, some low enough that it was difficult to choose whether to jump over or crawl under them. On my left, was a hundred and fifty foot near vertical drop that I just didn’t want to spend my time focusing on.

“I’ve been in worse places…” I whispered to myself as a light wind licked at my hide. I kept my gaze locked to the dirt just in front of my hooves because every time I looked up, the six inch wide path seemed too narrow. My legs wobbled as I went, but continued to carry me along as I just tried to remind myself of what I was doing this for. You’ll get to him soon enough, and then you can apologize yet again.

As soon as I saw that the cliffside path widened again, I nearly jumped the rest of the way there in one go. My heart pounded in my chest as I wiped the sweat from my brow. Storm only shook her head with a raised eyebrow. The overlook was a fairly large plateau of rock that jut out from the cliff face that directly overlooked what I could just barely make out as a bunch of grey rectangles and squares that made up the prison.

The only light coming from the entire complex was from the rows of high intensity spotlights that beamed down into the wide courtyard between buildings. The freshly repainted red lettering on the side of the largest building explained why they called it summer camp. Only the letters of ‘Summer’ and ‘Tent’ had been repainted in their brilliant white coloration, while the rest of the faded letters sat barely visible at all.

Wasteland naming customs were something that’s never really made sense to me. Just because some pre existing dilapidated sign has a word on it even raiders could make out, doesn’t mean it makes for a good name or even makes sense. Alternatively, just slapping ‘new’ on any old place isn’t much better in my book.

“There we are.” Storm’s calm voice pulled me out of my stupor. She was looking down at the prison by using half of an old pair of binoculars. It was extremely hard to see, but I thought I could make out the shape of a wagon just in front of the entrance gates. “Yep, that’s them. Looks like they're going through the checkpoint.” She sighed. “Damn, we’ll have to wait for the changing of the guards to try our plan.”

“What, why?” I don’t see why we couldn’t just go down in a few minutes and proceed with the plan.

“If any of the traveling guards mentioned you to the prison guards, then our plan won’t work.” Storm sounded more than annoyed with me, and for good reason. I should have thought about that, seeing as it’s been an issue before on a few contracts. “We’ll have to wait for the midnight shift change, then we can get the plan rolling.”

I cocked an eyebrow as I tried to memorize the locations of the buildings. “How do you know the guards will change at midnight?” And why did I suddenly think that sending her in would be a better plan off the bat.

“Because I already broke out of that place a few times already.” She shifted her position on the rock and turned over to look at me.

“What? When?” I’d have think she would have brought this up before. Maybe have given me some pointers already on the layout if anything.

“What does it matter?” She snorted in annoyance. “And before you go complaining that I should go in, they know who I am. They’d rather shoot me on sight than arrest me. No, if I’m turning somepony in, they’ll let me walk away and pay little attention to you.” She scoot herself back from the edge and closed her eyes. “Anyway, we’ve got a few hours to relax and plan. I’m going to get in a quick nap, so you and Sandy might want to get some rest as well, or go over what you need her to bring in.”

I figured that I could use some sleep as well that didn’t constitute as recovering from a major injury, and found a nice spot to shut my eyes. I found it hard to slip into a relaxed state, constantly finding my mind drifting over this weeks events. As hard as I tried, I just couldn’t believe that Ash had set me up because of some petty revenge scheme. So what if Grandma murdered his entire family. They fucking deserved it for what they did to mom!

I felt a lump in my throat form. Then again, with what they did to mom, I’m technically part of their gang. Just the thought of being related to somepony so repulsive made the blood in my veins run cold, and I felt a hefty shiver as it traced all the way up my spine. I did my best to forcefully stuff those thoughts straight down into the part of my brain that gets no sunshine, trying to think of anything but where I came from.

For what seemed like forever, we all had laid on the rock quietly. Storm was snoring softly near the top of the outcropping, and Sandy had curled herself up in the middle. I guess I was the only one with the fear that if I rolled in my sleep I’d wake only a moment before I become a permanent feature to the jagged rock face below. If that wasn’t enough, my brain had convinced itself that I couldn’t sleep knowing that somewhere just down there was my… friend.

It still felt weird to think of him that way. Nopony had ever wedged themselves in my mind like he had, well, at least not in a good way. The only stallions I ever cared for were all found in old magazines for when I had to pass the time. Even then, no stallion today could ever compare to the ones from the old world. And oh how much I wanted to be with one of those studs right now.

Now that it’s crept back into my mind, I do have a bit of time to myself. That and Grandma did say to ‘relax’. I wiped as much of the crud from my forehoof as I could on my jacket and tried to remember the stallion I was going to use in the shower. His flowing mane, crisp apple green eyes, all while the only thing he was wearing was a cowpony hat. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, but I found myself only tense up.

The zaps of electricity played in my ears, and my mind was instantly paralyzed in fear. The moment my hoof touched myself, I gave a gasp, but not one of pleasure. The stallion from the train was in my mind, and all I could do was whine as the scene started to play out again in my head.

“Hey friend, are you awake?” Sandy’s voice squeaked into the night air. The memory shattered and I felt the tears softly drip down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away with shivering hooves, a sense of unease settling into the pit of my stomach.

“Yeah.” I let out a sniffle and curled myself up. “What’s up?”

“Where are the stars?” She asked as she pulled herself up, rubbing at her eyes with a small yawn. Crawling over, she lay down next to me and stared up into the night sky. “The old dogs told us that the stars filled the night sky, and were made of the more brilliant gems than any you could dig up with your bare paws. They even told us a story of how back before we all had to hide underground, there was even a dog that went to them with the help of ponies. He said that if we ever got a chance to look up into the night sky, we'd see her still up there.”

“You mean Laika?” Storm shifted and sat up slowly.

“You know of her?” A gasp left Sandy’s mouth as her tail went crazy, thwapping against my side again and again.

“Yes. I once visited an aerospace museum down south that had a whole section dedicated to her.” Storm let out a hushed groan and got back to her hooves to dust herself off. “Whenever we go back to Baltimare, I’ll be sure to take you there.”

“You really mean it?” Sandy squeaked out louder than I would have liked. If they knew we were up here at all, if they caught us setting up, that was it. We’d never get Caltrop out of there.

“Yeah pup.” She flashed her a smile that glistened in the dim light around us. I really hoped Grandma had another way down than backtracking across that ledge. Storm turned to me and held out her hoof. “Alright PC, choose a gun to have Sandy dig in to you and hoof over the rest of your gear.”

“Sandy, can you grab #5 for me?” I sighed out, not wanting to part with everything now that I just got it back. Sandy just sat there look at at me with a confused look on her face, and I’ll be the first to admit that I was a bit slow on why. “Oh, sorry, it’s the revolver.”

She wiggled herself under me before I could even raise a hoof to make it easier. I felt only a small tug and heard the soft click of the holster opening before she darted from under my coat, revolver in muzzle. Worse than having none of my weapons, I hated the unbalanced feeling I got when one of the was out of place outside of combat.

“What did you do to Bon Appetit!?” Storm growled and glared at the revolver, bringing her eyes up to mine in short order.

“Wait, that's its name?” I felt my muzzle scrunch up at the odd comment. “And a hellhound got to it. You’re lucky it’s still in working condition.” Seriously? ‘Bon Appetit’ is a horrible name for a gun! I wouldn’t even name #1 something that nice and friendly sounding.

She pointed her hoof to me. “One, when you get out of there, I’m going to shoot you again for ruining my gun.” She pointed at Sandy and dropped her scowl too late as Sandy shrank to the ground in fear. Immediately she pointed back at me. “Two, you’re going to describe said hellhound and I’m going to shoot it as well if I ever see it.” She huffed and turned back towards the path we came up on. “Come on, we don’t have much time before the shift change.”

You may think that I’d be used to this much suck by now, but you’d be wrong. Of course we had to backtrack across the dark cliff face of unobservable slipperiness to get to the trail, and of course it was a steeper decline than even the game trail had been higher up. All in all, I only slipped twice and cut up my legs a bit, but fantastically managed to not break any bones.

Did I mention how much I hated walking on shale?

“Alright then.” Storm breathed out her own sigh of relief as we finally reached level ground again. “PC, how’s your horn doing? Back to working order yet?” There was a soft click and light flooded my vision from a small flashlight she had her fetlock wrapped around. I floated my hat off and lifted my hoof up to my horn and rubbed along it’s ribs, saddened by the grove still in it.

“I don’t think it’s working, the groove is still there.” I said softly, freezing as Storm facehoofed. I looked up to my hat as it sat in my aura, confused how my magic worked even though it was still damaged. “Oh, right.”

“The groove will remain forever. The brew you had is just supposed to restore your magic.” She said, motioning for me to give her my things. I quickly wrapped all of my items in my levitation and floated them over, feeling my head pulse from the sudden strain of holding everything at once. I panted and dropped to the dirt as she stuffed the other guns, brighshine’s armor, my hat, and my harness into my in-coat saddlebag. “Gotta love the bigger-on-the-inside spell for packs. I actually think we can just fold this up and have Sandy take it in instead. Sound good?” I could only nod as Sandy ran over to Storm and dropped #5 at her hooves.

“So… now do I give her the war orb you had me protect?” Sandy bounced with excitement, pulling a small glass marble from the pocket on her vest.

“War orb?” I took a step back as I looked at the memory orb she held. I had seen them before, but I’d never dared to use one. I saw how it made ponies drop into a trancelike state, even having used that to my advantage more than a few times to complete a contract. “Woah there, you aren’t seriously expecting me to use that thing, are you?”

Storm blinked. “We don't have any chains or a spare bomb collar to put on you. If you go walking up to the gate of your own volition, they’ll know I’m using you as a way to break somepony out.” She nudged Sandy to walk over to me, and she did so with a smile bigger than needed when threatening to take away all control of my body. “It's either we use the orb, or I actually knock you out. I'm just as happy with beating you senseless instead of shooting you later.”

I didn’t want to lose control again, and the thought of being immobile and defenceless for any period of time honestly scared me. Orbs I’d seen ponies use also never had a consistent time limit to them. Some could last for hours at a time, while others were only a few minutes in length. The last thing was the fact that they all seemed to have an addictive quality to them. Some ponies would get lost in the same orb a few times in a row, and I didn’t want to become some sort of junkie.

“Fine.” I groaned and held my hoof. I didn’t see any other way around this, and breaking an addiction from one use was going to be easier to get over than a split skull. Sandy slowly and carefully held the orb out, dropping it into my hoof. I wrapped my magic around it and pulled it closer. “So how do I…”

OOOoooOOOoooOOO

What the hell?

The dark world around me morphed and brightened as I came to again. Bright sunlight poured through the windows behind me as I sat at a desk staring at a stack of neatly written out papers. I fought to turn my head to take a look behind me to see why it was so bright, but I couldn’t move. All I did was sit there breathing slowly as my right ear started to annoy me.

Without thinking to do it, I reached up and slid one of the papers from the stack and leaned in to read the next one. It was about that time that I realized that my leg was not my own. This leg was colored in a deep, chocolate colored coat. Now that I think about it, I couldn’t feel my horn either. I panicked, trying to ‘feel’ my body as I breathed. There were no wings, and thankfully there was nothing new in my nethers. It seems that I was trapped in the body of an earth pony mare.

The shock of this quickly faded as I relaxed, quickly being overcome with a sense of boredom. I tried to read along with the pony I was in, but it was all boring jargon about everything from expense reports and material requisitions, to building permits and employee complaints. The fact that anypony could read anything like this for as long as I was forced to was like torture. Maybe this is one of those ‘trapped orbs’ I heard are so dangerous.

For the next forty six and three quarters minutes, I sat and read through the papers. How do I know it was exactly forty six and three quarters minutes? Because I kept checking the clock on the desk over and over, hoping for something different to happen, or for this nightmare to end! Then the buzzer on the desk rang, and an annoyed sounding stallion came over the intercom.

“Mrs. Florentine, as long as it’s on my mind, do you have that report from Nitro yet?”

I reached forward and pushed the talk button down. “Yes sir.”

Oh goddesses, my voice was so nasally and scratchy! Please don’t speak again lady, it’s painful to hear. If you absolutely must, can you maybe get some water or something first to help?

Instead, I was forced up from my chair. Grabbing a set of file folders from the desk and tucking it along my side, I walked to a standing mirror sitting just along side a large wooden door. Staring into it, I could finally see what I looked like. I was an older mare, maybe in her late fifties, early sixties. She had a curly caramel colored mane with a turquoise brooch pinned in it, and sharp green eyes that looked younger than her, but just seemed to gaze sadly back from the mirror. I reached a hoof up and poked it at my ear, pushing something further into it that I assumed was one of the old world hearing aids that were degrading all over the place in Equestria.

She hoofed open the large door and walked into a large office that obviously held her boss. The squat looking stallion sat behind an orderly desk that faced away from the large multi paneled window that let in such bright light. Through it sat the town of Timber, bathed in the golden light of a sunset and positively sparkling with how pristine everything looked.

“Shut the door, won’t you Mrs. Florentine.” The stallion grumbled and put his forehooves on his desk. In an odd way, the way he presented himself reminded me of Big Shot, and instantly I didn’t trust that he was a legitimate business pony. Something was definitely off about him. I turned and shut the door without a word before going up to him and laying the folder on the desk in front of him.

“Sir, Nitro has confirmed the reports that a pack of diamond dogs have moved into the mines. Tomorrow I’ll be scheduling a Ministry of Peace official to come down and negotiate for their eviction.” I said with that horrible voice that I could feel irritated my throat.

“That won’t be necessary.” He waved his hoof dismissively at me as he opened the documents up. “Just order the workers to blast through them. It’s their fault for trespassing.” I knew this guy was fucking up to something!

“What was that Sir?” I took a step back from him. “But… Mr. Honcho, we can't do that, the regulations require that we…”

“Sod the Luna damned regulations!” He shouted with a slam of his hoof. I let out a whimper and stepped back again as he looked positively furious. “We only get paid the bonus if we keep production for the war up, and the regulations only matter if the pack doesn't get killed in accidents while we’re busy mining towards Equestria’s victory!” He sat back in his chair with a sigh and cupped his forehooves together. “Come on Florentine we’ve worked together for the last two years without a problem. It would be a shame that I had to ask the Ministry of Morale to come all the way here because you were on the Stripes side, don’t you think?”

“Ye...yes sir.” I can’t believe this mare is going along with this! How could she? “Just to make sure, you suggest that we keep blasting and deliberately kill the pack?”

“Why not? I did the same thing at the Red Wing operation when they opened, and that mine has seen a huge increase in net product.” His words were so damn slick that I swear I could smell the sleeze dripping off of them. “Besides, if we do well this quarter, I might even find some room in the company coffers to give you a healthy Hearths Warming bonus.” As he finished, there was a soft crackle of static from inside my ear that caught both me and the mare off guard.

“Great work Florentine, that's all we needed to get this son of a bitch.”

In an instant, there was a loud slam from the door to the office, and a whole group of pink armored ponies flooded into the room. Mr. Honcho’s shouts were lost in the sea of shouting that ensued, but they shoved him down against his desk and held him there as another pony walked in.

He was a blue coated unicorn stallion with a wavy white and light blue striped mane. His Pink uniform was adorned with a patch that carried the name Pierce above the silhouette of a balloon and the letters M.o.M. under it. Smiling at the sight of Mr. Honcho squirming, he turned to me and put a hoof on my shoulder.

“The Ministry of Morale is thankful for your cooperation Miss Florentine. Of course we'll need you to come back to headquarters with us so you can provide your testimony, but I assure you that Chief Pinkie will deal with this... traitor to Equestria as soon as possible.” I don’t know why, but his eyes we soft and reassuring as he spoke, and I could swear that I felt something yearning in my loins that I hadn’t felt in a long time in the wasteland.

“You fucking bitch!” Mr. Honcho was a strong buck for as small as we was, managing to break free from the hold of the pony behind him. He bit down on the pistol the guard next to him wore and fired at me. As much as I tried to dodge, I just stood there and felt as the bullet ripped through my throat.

I screamed in pain. I could fucking feel every bit of pain that it caused. I thrashed against my unresponsive body as it slumped to the floor. My heart pounded in my chest, and my breaths came across as gurgling snorts as once again the office became a flurry of activity.

“Shit! Bind his hooves and secure that weapon!” Pierce rushed over to me and put his hooves to my neck as I tried to get past the intense pain. “Somepony get a medic and the memory extractor in here, now!” He shouted as the world slowly grew dimmer, and he started to sound farther away. “It's alright Florentine, you're going to be alright, just stay with me now… you hear me?”

But I was already too far gone. Slowly his face, the sounds around me, and even the pain drifted away, leaving me in an abyss of black and my own thoughts. Florentine had died there that day, and I had just lived through it.

This is exactly why I now know I don’t like Memory orbs.

OOOoooOOOoooOOO

--Chapter End--
“At least Storm got you into the prison… right?”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

Thanks to Kkat and all the other great Fo:E authors that inspire me!

Chapter 16 - Six by Eight

I groaned awake as my head pounded. Reaching a hoof up, I winced as part of my head felt sore. Bringing it down, I found my hoof was stained with still drying blood. Storm had fucking actually went ahead and beat me senseless anyway, and now I owed her a rubber bullet for that brahmanshit. Then I heard the sounds of moaning and snoring and quickly remembered where I was.

Sitting up, I found that my rear legs had been bound together with slack chained shackles, loose enough to be able to walk at a little less than normal pace, but not much more. What was more or less my concrete pen was only open on one side, and showed out into the main cell block across from me, where I could see dozens of other pens like mine neatly barred off. Odd thing was, every other pen that I could see had two ponies in it.

Turning around, the looming figure of a pony was propped up limply against the back wall. I concentrated on my light spell, trying to see if my horn would finally cooperate. After a quick spark, I managed to form the dimmest mote imaginable and weaved it close. The stallion as it turned out, seemed to be completely still. It probably had to do with the numerous lines of staples that ran across his body, and the fact that he had some sort of tubes running out of his back and into a heavily jeweled chestpiece.

“Fuck, maybe it’s a good thing he’s dead. Didn’t want any company anyway.” I shook my head and flopped down onto the floor again. Running through the plan again in my head, I knew I had hours of time to spend waiting for the one half hour Grandma said that they let us out for per day. With an annoyed grumble, I turned over towards the barred doors and stared out into the dimly lit block.

I thought about what I was even doing here, and how crazy this was to even attempt. I am not my Grandmother, and I don’t run around the wastes as a force of good. Hell, I’ve been lucky that Filly hasn’t put out a contract on her, but that probably has more to do with that friend she has there anyway. Figures she could keep contracts off herself, but would she help me when I need it? Fuck no!

Lost in thought, I should have been listening.

Somepony touched me. The feeling of a cold hoof on my skin made me shiver instinctively. The darkness, the exhaustion, everything hit me at once and I saw him again. My mind took over and grabbed the trainguard with my magic. With a scream that half came from the panic, and half from the sparks that shot from my horn, I found my magic lifting his heavy form and propelling it from me as quickly as I could. With a crash, the stallion slammed against the steel bars on our cell, wrenching them from their hinges as he rolled and tumbled along the floor into the open block.

Sitting up, I turned around in horror at what I had just done. Frantic yelling quickly escalated into a roar as both the other cell’s occupants and the guards around started to call out. Among the chaos, the most surprising thing was that the body I had thrown was starting to get up. Now in the proper light, I could see that his white coat was covered in more stitches than I had been able to see. The tubes leading from his chest flickered on to a soft blue, and the gem studded chestplate started to shimmer softly as he shook the bits of concrete from himself. Turning to me, he stared at me with a set of brightly burning red eyes, the ebbing glow coming through several vertical slits in his eyes. It wasn't until he started to walk back towards me that I realized that they were cybernetics, giving off the faint whine that all things electronic did seemingly just to annoy me.

I pushed myself further back into the corner as he single hoofedly picked up the steel door, dragging it along behind him as he kept his gaze locked on me. Trapped in a small concrete box was not an advantageous position, and my options for escape were narrowing by the minute. Maybe I could squeeze past him? No, with enough strength to lift that door, he could swat me back in an instant. Wait until he get's too close to use it as a weapon? No, he'd be in hoof to hoof range and I'd be down with a single hit anyway. The only option is wait and find a moment that I could hit him in the only place a stallion is most vulnerable.

He stopped just inside the cell, growling as he turned around and hooked his hooves around the cell bars. With a couple of loud grunts, he pulled it back towards him. The metal door frame squealed and groaned as the steel door was pulled back into place, staying upright as he let go of it with a sigh. He wiped his brow and turned around with a more relaxed look.

"Before you say anything." He sat down and put his hooves up slowly, looking a whole lot less threatening that he did a moment ago. "Let me apologize for that. I probably shouldn't have violated your personal space. I didn't mean to startle you, and I'll stay back if that's what you want." He even went so far as to crack a small smile. Well, as much of one as he could with an oversized metal jaw in place of a normal one.

“You’re a…” I didn’t really have a reaction planned for this. Why would he stop? Is he friendly or just plain stupid?

“Deadmare. Not many of us left around, but I assure you that I am in good enough condition to level this place.” He held out his hoof in the friendliest way somepony who just shrugged off that much steel could. “My name is Lockjaw. I’m a real live walking, talking archano-monstrosity, and I’m at your service.”

“Right…” I'm still trying to figure out just what a deadmare is. I’ve heard stories about them here and there, but they all end with ‘and I just barely got away with my life’. Playing it cool might just be my best course of action. “I was going to say Cyberpony, but sure, we’ll go with what you said.”

“And you?” He asked and rolled his hoof, encouraging me to take it. I did and immediately regretted it. He was ice cold. As strong as I thought I was, with the light touch he gave, I could still feel muscles in his leg almost as thick as my hoof.

“I’m a unicorn… thought it was fairly obvious.” I could already tell that he was going to be worse than Caltrop.

He blinked in surprise before breaking out into cacophonous laughs. “I meant your name. I’m not daft enough to have forgotten what one of your kind look like.” He rubbed at his forehead. “Sorry, it’s not often they stick me with a mare, let alone a mare calm enough to converse with.”

“Let’s just say I’ve been through a lot of shit this last week. I’m PC by the way.” I pulled my hoof back and looked over him again as my brain finally caught up with me. “You said you could break out of here? That’s great, I’m going to need your help then.”

“Sorry, I can’t do that. I only brought it up because everypony who does talk to me eventually asks.” He gave a shrug with his his massive shoulders. “Besides, I can’t leave when I’ve got this.” He craned his neck, showing off the bomb collar that I didn’t even notice when looking him over before. It had carved so far into his neck that I was sure that if he took a deep breath it might go off. I guess it was a good thing he didn’t have to breathe or something.

“And if I could get it off?” I leaned forward and tried to look more closely at it. The problem is that it’s on there so tight that even slipping a tool in might make it explode. “Would that be a fair trade?”

“Even then, I was left here to do a job. I refuse to leave until it is done.” He got back to his hooves and joined me against the back wall. Well fuck, I guess I’m back to relying on myself to get out.

“Then can you at least tell me if you’ve seen somepony?” Feeling more than a little uncomfortable with him next to me, I got up and stood at the steel bars. “He’s a stallion, charcoal coat, silver mane, missing a tail?”

“You know, I might have seen a stallion like that being led in last night a couple of hours before you got here, but he’s not being kept in this block.” Lockjaw gave either a grunt or a laugh, of which I couldn’t be sure through his jaw. “He’s in the slave block.”

I looked back to him in concern. “What do you mean, slave block? Isn’t this whole place just a stop off point for slaves?”

He shook his head. “Only the west block is used for the slaves. The east block, where we are? This side never stopped being a prison. Of course, it’s gotten awfully crowded recently with this Red Eye’s enemies taking up most of the space.” He raised an eyebrow. “I assumed you knew. Like it or not, the warden wanted you in here. If you don’t know why, I suggest you get his attention and ask.”

“I don’t have time to play games with some Asshole. I’ve got friend’s to break out.” I mean really, all I needed to do was get a message out to Storm for where to send Sandy, that’s it. Everypony else in here could go fuck themselves.

“I still suggest it. Getting on his good side can help take some attention off you.” Lockjaw leaned back against the wall like he had been when I first looked him over. “When they let you out, do something to force his attention. Start a fight, seduce a guard, kill somepony. It doesn’t matter, just do something. Trust me on this.”

There was an electronic buzzing noise that encompassed the entirety of the block, the heavy stomps of guard ponies filing in preceded the systematic unlocking of cell doors. For being full of supposed criminals, the single file line that formed and slowly made it’s way to a door at the end of the block was neat and quiet. Ragged and emaciated ponies of all shapes, sizes, races, and gender marched along in solemn, silent unity, and to be honest, the thought of becoming one of those ponies sparked a small amount of fear in me. No more than a couple of hours in here, that’s the most I want to spend in this place.

One of the guards finally reached my cell, holding the ring of cell keys in his teeth with a confused look across his face. It took me a minute to realize that when he put the door back on, Lockjaw put it on backwards. With a roll of his eyes, the guard simply ignored me and moved on to the next cell, abandoning me here.

“Hey, Asshole, I want out.” I pressed up against the bars and shouted for him. Lockjaw groaned as he picked himself up and walked forward. He put his foreleg against the bar next to my head and gave it a slight push. The entire door squealed and tipped out of it’s frame again.

“Just trust me. Talk to the warden.” Lockjaw grumbled as I stepped over the twice broken door. Picking up the door like it was nothing, he twisted it around as I stepped over towards the line that was forming. “Oh, and when you see her, tell Storm that I’m still waiting.”

Before I had a chance to ask how he knew Grandma, one of the guards came up from behind me and prodded me in the side with a ice cold steel baton. “Come on, get in line.”

I had hoped that being outside would mean that I’d get a chance to get away from the prying eyes of everypony else, but like the rest of my life, outside time turned out to be a joke. The shackles they had us in meant that we couldn’t move more than at a walking pace, so not many of the prisoners moved around much. This isn’t really an issue, because from up on that overlook, this courtyard looked a whole lot bigger. There was only enough space for us all the be just out of hoof’s reach of each other, and even that wasn’t enough space to some.

Within the first thirty seconds of being out here, I’d watched two mare’s start a fight that ended in one getting a broken leg, and the other impaled through the neck on the other’s horn. Needless to say, I shuffled my way to the outside of the ‘recreational formation’ and found a spot next to the fence that I could sit. The sun was somewhere above the cloud cover, and looking toward the mountains, I could make out the rough outcropping that Storm should be watching over me from. It’s her damn fault that I was out for so damn long, but I really hoped that she was watching right now.

Ignoring the fact that my cellmate said he knew grandma, I focused on the task at hoof. I had lucked out and gotten a cell on the first floor of the complex, so Sandy shouldn’t have an issue burrowing my tools to me. The issue lies with the fact that I don’t know where amongst the cells I sit. I didn’t exactly have the time to count just how many there were along my side, so a guess is going to have to do. I patted down some of the dirt in front of me and looked around.

About every thirty feet there was a guard patrolling on hoof. They walked in grid like patterns between us, most of them equipped with assorted rusting shotguns or metal batons. One thing most of them had in common was the barding they wore. Cobbled together bits of leather and cloth looked more to me like these ponies were raiders than security. Looking at the dead mare with a fresh horn wound in her neck, it didn’t actually seem so odd to recruit raiders with how violent the prisoners get. They get to kill ponies who act up, and are readily available to replace if whoever ran this place needed to.

Without looking, I began to trace my hoof along the dirt. I kept my head on a swivel, trying to make sure none of the guard’s caught on to what I was doing. Now, I know that I’m no artist, but when I did look down, I couldn’t help but frown at the work I had done. I’d seen pre-war children’s art that looked better than my map, and that was being generous to my work! With a grumbling mutter under my breath, I rubbed it out and patted it down again. This time, I would watch what I was drawing.

“Hey, stop it.” A stallion’s voice cropped up, swiftly followed by the click of the safety on his shotgun. I looked up as he approached, a younger unicorn buck with bright yellow eyes that seemed so out of place amongst the others. “Drag your hoof again and I shoot it off. No digging.”

Lucky for me, It looks like got a guard who wasn’t one of the bloodthirsty raiders. This is good. I can work with this.

“Fuck off, asshole.” I shot back to him and tapped at the dirt a few times. I wasn’t going to draw again, not with him watching, but I really hope Storm will pick up on what I’m trying to do. Tapping at the dirt again, I turned to face the guard, unhappy that even if his eyes were soft, the riot barding that adorned him didn’t look to have anything to do with the notion of soft.

His eyes hardened in anger. “Fucking mouthy bitch!” He snapped out, raising his rifle in his magic. It looks as if I had misjudged him for being the non-violent type, reeling from a strike to my head that punctuated the reward my assumptions have given me. I reached out with my magic and let out a whine as my horn shot painful sparks out. I gripped and pulled at the stock of the old gun to keep it away from me, while I could feel his magic torquing the barrel down.

Had my horn been working right, I could be fairly sure that I would be winning, but each pulse of pain that shot through my skull was going to doom me. Slowly and steadily, the barrel of the gun dropped, inch by inch toward what I hoped wouldn’t be the end of my life. I clenched my eyes shut and focused hard on the gun, using every ounce of magic I could muster to change the course of events in my favor.

Then my magic gave out.

The guard’s magic won out, but he wasn’t expecting all the resistance to release at once, and he ended up shouting a string of expletives as the shotgun flew past my head. He was quick to recover, and by the time I opened my eyes, he barreled into me. Once again, I was in a hoof to hoof fight that I had no hope of winning. His blows were clumsy, but heavy, each furious kick against me forced just a little more air from my lungs. I tried to fight back, curling up and going for the geld, but the riot armor did it’s job and kept me from doing anything other than enraging him further.

Between my scream and a deafening gunshot going off, I couldn’t be sure what had just happened, but I did know that I was alive. Other than the extreme pounding going on in my head, the whole of the yard around me was silent. Whispers crept up like the wind, and it was then I decided to open up my eyes. My assailant lay on his side next to me, his angry eyes dark and lifeless as a line of blood drained down his forehead. A few of the other guards stood with their weapons raised at me and their mouths on the trigger.

“Hold your fire.” The amused tone of a stallion carried through the ringing in my ears. Looking around, it took me a moment to trace back where it came from, finding a sharply dressed white coated stallion standing on one of the main block’s guard overlooks with a hunting rifle propped up against himself. He held his hoof out to point to me. “I know who you are, Miss Cap. Please, why don't you join me up here for lunch?”

All it took was one look at the well groomed mustache on the end of his muzzle to tell me two things. One, he was the Warden, and Two, he was an asshole. Unfortunately for me, there was little choice in what answer I could give. Though maybe…

“Fuck…” I managed to wheeze as I tried to reach out for the shotgun with my magic, finding myself only increasing the horrendous pounding against my skull. I felt myself float up from the ground, wrapped in the magic of somepony else. My forelegs were pulled to the side and hooked around two of the guards necks before I was dragged back toward the doors inside.

I was taken back through the main block,a large, stark black letter A was painted on the wall opposite the one leading outside, and in the center of it, lay a scratched and heavily marred window to what looked like an office. Up above me, the sound of hooves on metal drew my attention to the catwalks that ringed the entire ceiling. The warden caught my gaze and flashed me a million cap smile, disappearing with the rest of the main block as I was dragged through a set of double doors.

There was a loud buzzing sound that made my head spin, and made me flick my ears in annoyance. The door in front of me popped open with a clack, and I was pushed through. It was down another hallway before taking a right through another buzzing door, an old cafeteria on the other side to greet me. The grime coated surfaces and rusting tables were a fun reminder that even in a place built to prevent escape, the wasteland has found a way to break inside these fortified walls. The only thing out of place was the small pristine tea set that sat at the end of the longest table in here. I’d seen how the cups in the wasteland have resisted it’s wear, but never a tea set.

I cringed as I was taken through yet another buzzing door that lead to a rather bland looking starewell. The blue walls got cleaner with each flight, and after we reached the third floor, it was absolutely sparkling. A large wooden door was opened by one of my guard’s magic, and I was pulled along a carpeted hallway. stopping before we reached a small reception area that looked almost like it could be brand new. The brownish-orange carpet meshed oddly with the yellow wall paint, and the few, well dusted fake plants in the room added just a touch of life to it. With a pair of barely molding chairs and a desk that shot images of Florentine into my mind, I was about ready to believe I was in fact inside another memory.

The magic that had lifted me surrounded me once more, pulling me off of them and setting me gently back onto my hooves. The sudden pressure on my legs made them wobble, but I managed to hold myself as one of the guards hoofed at a box on the desk. It gave off it’s own annoying buzzing sound, but this time, the voice of the Warden promptly followed.

“Go ahead and send her in.” Was all he said before he was cut off with a burst of static. The one guard still next to me pointed his horn to the door and gave the handle a twist, popping it open just enough where I’d have to push my way inside. Then he promptly pushed himself past me and joined his companion in one of the chairs, drawing up a magazine from the far side of the desk and opening it. Taking a few steps forward, I put my hoof against the door labeled ‘Facility Administrator’ and pushed.

“Come in, come in!” The stallion beckoned through his thick cigar smoke as he poured what looked like alcohol into a crystal clear glass. “Shut the door before you go ahead and find yourself a seat.” He gave me the same smile he did earlier as he traded his cigar for the top of the old booze bottle, sealing it as I turned and did as he asked. “Oh, forgive me, I should have asked if you wanted one as well. Have you ever had Cognac? A good friend of mine has been working on perfecting it, but the issue isn’t in the grapes, but finding a good source of Oak for the casks.”

“What do you want?” My question made him deadpan with a sigh. I knew that there had to be some reason he brought me up her. Nopony just shoots one of their own without a reason. Well, nopony outside of raiders that is.

“I’m sorry, I do tend to get swept up in the formalities.” Picking up his cigar in his muzzle, and his drink in his fetlock, he strolled lazily back to his ornate wooden desk. He sat down in his chair with a relaxed sigh and leaned back, putting his rear hooves up before pointing at the two pristine chairs in front of me. “Do have a seat though.”

“I’d rather not.” This was one of the things both mother and grandma ingrained in my head. If you’re captured, spend as much time on your hooves as possible. Not only does it allow you to move in a moment’s notice, it makes your captor uneasy and prone to slipping up.

“Fine, your choice.” He dismissed me with a shrug and a puff on his rapidly shrinking cigar. “I've heard quite a bit of you Ms. Cap, and not just from the slaves recently. You've made yourself quite a name with the work you did for Fillydelphia, a both good, and bad reputation at that.” He took a sip from his drink and puckered from the taste, setting his glass down with a clunk on the desk. “I admire the work you did for them. If my guards were anywhere near as competent as you, this prison would be a breeze to run.”

“Unless you're looking to hire me, I'd rather sit in my cell.” Even then, I didn’t want to be up here. Everything about this guy comes off bad, and I know that the longer I stay, the more I’m going to want to do everything in my power to kill him.

Somehow delighted by my response, he smiled again. “Though I wish I could afford your expertise to retrain these half wit excuses for guards, that's not why I kept you from being bludgeoned in the yard just now.” He kicked his hooves off the desk and leaned forward, his chair giving out the most annoying rusted squeaks it possibly could. Even with how pristine this place looked, signs of the end where there just sitting beneath the spring coverings. “You see, I could actually care less about you. The real question I want the answer to, is why did Storm Rider bring you to me?”

“I've got a fairly hefty contract on my head. Every hunter from New Pegus to Manehatten is after me.” I lied through my teeth, and even before I had finished I could see on his face he didn’t believe a single fucking word.

“Oh Ms. Cap, I'd hope you'd be smarter than to lie. You see, during her stay with us, the whispers she gave when she thought she was alone to the ponies she thought she could trust? Those mean that I know a few close kept secrets that she didn't want getting around.” He laughed through his cigar, sending a rolling wave of noxious smoke toward me. “One of these things is that I happen to know that Storm wouldn't just turn you in for a thousand caps, seeing as she's too loyal to betray family.”

Well, there goes that angle. “You’ve obviously haven't ever been shot by her then.” Now I’m not so sure how to go about this. He’s already too sure that I’m here on Storm’s behalf to even believe the truth if I told him, so the only thing I have is to give him what he wants to hear.

“Oh, on the contrary.” He hoofed at his blue suit jacket, pulling it back and popping the snap buttons on his shirt as he revealed his chest. His chest was a whole canvas of old nicks, gashes, and healed bullet wounds, two of them in particular he pointed to with his hoof. “Had she been a better shot by an inch, I would have died the last time she made her escape. So believe me that I am willing to fire the first shot against her this time, even if it's through you.” Leaning back, he didn’t even bother to fix his shirt. “Care to revise your answer?”

“She sent me in to get somepony out, but I won’t tell you without a trade off.” So, the new plan is to feign hiding a contact with important information, and use it as leverage to release Caltrop and Brightshine before breaking out myself. Horribly thought out, and in no way expected to succeed, but at least it’s a plan.

“I’m listening…” He said, cocking his eyebrow and taking the last puff on his cigar.

“I have a couple of friend’s that you’ve just pulled in to your slave building. I want them released before I give you anything.” I stood still, locking my eyes onto his as he contemplated my offer.

He leaned forward and put his hoof on his own intercom. “You’re lying.” He stated simply and hoofed at the button. “We’re done in here. Get this piece of shit out of my sight.” He stared at me as the door to the office opened and the two guard’s entered, flanking both sides of me. “You know what? Stick her in isolation, if she does have any information on somepony important in here, we'll see how long she lasts down there next to the boilers.”

--Chapter End--
“Does it seem warm in here to you?”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: The Great Escape
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 18 - Summer Prison Blues

I hadn’t known who’s bright idea it had been to make the cafeteria tables bulletproof, but I wanted to kiss them shortly before I beat the hell out of him.

Round after round beat against the table I’d hastily flipped onto it’s side. My own bullets had been as ineffective against the table of the mare who’d surprised me from the kitchen. We’d become locked in a stalemate. I tried to be smart and float #1 around to flank her. The single report from her gun sent the derringer clattering along the floor. I’d already used #4 and #5 to try to get her, and #3 proved to be just an effective noise maker. What I really needed was one of Caltrop’s grenades.

I blinked with my realization and threw open the saddlebags I’d taken from him. I really hoped that he still had at least one in here. Another set of shots from the mare made me flinch. It would’ve been a simple search if I’d used my magic. That is, up until the point my magic primed it and I became the cafeteria’s mystery meat special of the day. My hoof fell against something with the vaguely round grenade shape. Wrapping it in my magic, I pulled it out and tossed it over the table. My reward was a metal clank followed by several seconds of silence.

There was an cringeworthy fizzle and pop as the lights in the cafeteria went out. The sudden change in ambiance roused new fire from the mare. Her shots sparked erratically off of the table next to mine. She was shooting blind.

It was my chance. Both #3 and #4 floated out from their holsters. I kept low and ducked out from around my own table corner. #3 raised up in my levitation toward the other end of the table. As I’d hoped, the mare saw it and fired. #4 was ready next to me when she did, firing a split second after she had.

3 clattered to the floor from her shot. As the ringing in my ears dissipated, the room had filled with silence. I held #4 steady in my magic, ready to fire again. The doors to the cafeteria flew open. The light that poured through highlighted two guards. They didn’t seem prepared for the darkness, and didn’t line up their shots fast enough. Taking advantage of this, I was up and halfway across the cafeteria by the time they’d aimed. I fired again and again, my magic keeping the shots as steady as I could.

Diving, I made it behind the cover of the other mare. I had my gun pointed to where I thought she would be. In the low light, I could make out the fact that she was missing half of her head. Relieved, I pressed up against the table. I pulled the mag to #4. One in the chamber, and only one shot left. Not like there was time to reload the mag now. I needed another solution.

Looking around, I found the gun that the mare had been using. It looked like some old cut down military rifle. Hoofsteps interrupted my check over the weapon. Reacting quickly, I floated it up and took a few unaimed shots in that direction. In return I got a few shots back.

“Give it up, bitch!” One of the two guards yelled. “The only way you’re getting out that front door is in pieces!”

I’d seen this tactic before. One kept my focus, while the other stuck to the shadows. Pulling the gun down close to me, I kept my ears perked. One of the two had been trying to outflank me, but I could anticipate where he’d be. I kept low and leaned my head to where I could see where I thought he would be. Relying on the light from the hallway, I knew my eyes were better adjusted for this. The bars of light and dark that stretched across the floor made him easy to spot. Pulling the gun up, I fired.

“Fuck!” The asshole crumpled to the floor. His back dropped into a band of light, and his green coat stuck out. “Right in my fucking…”

I silenced him with another two shots. The bolt locked open on the rifle and there was a resounding ‘ping’ that carried through the air. As if I’d rung the dinner bell, he made his move. I dropped the rifle and weighed my options. I just needed more time.

My hooves connected with the body of the dead mare. I bucked hard, shoving her body into the open. Immediately, the other guard opened fire. I pulled #4 out and ducked around my cover. He’d realized his mistake too late. Giving my gun a tap, I shot him. The round opened a hole in his neck as he looked at me wide eyed.

His own horn was swinging his sub machine gun toward me. I focused and pulled #4’s trigger again. This time the round punched through his eye, finishing the fight. His horn dimmed and his gun clattered to the floor.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. There wasn’t time for rest, not when I had a job to do. Pushing myself back up, I put #4 away. As I grabbed #3, I could see in the light that it was damaged. The hit it took punched through the grip and destroyed it. It annoyed me that I’d have to find a new replacement, but for now I grabbed the sub machine gun that lay next to the last asshole. Disappointed, I slipped #3 into my bag and headed for the door.

The prison had become a frenzy of gunshots and screams. The closer I got to the main block, the more I could hear the chaos that was going on. My legs hesitated more with each step I took, already fed up with how much I had pushed myself. At least they’d had the decency to take the shackles off when they threw me into that fucking oven. My throat had dried again, and my head pounded. It was just another reason I wanted to get this over with.

Turning left, I approached the doors that required somepony to buzz me through. The door was open and unguarded, with nopony anywhere in sight. Slowly pushing my way down the hall, I was waiting for some asshole to pop out. In an uncharacteristic show of luck, nopony did. I’d made it all the way to the corner by the double doors before I found a problem.

“Fucking bullshit!” One of a trio of guards shouted. They all were pressed up against the double doors, franticly trying to keep it shut. “I didn’t sign up for this shit!”

“Only one made it through, we’ll be fine.” Another of the assholes spoke up. “We just need…”

The door shook as it took a hit, interrupting and throwing the talking stallion to the floor. The riot armor he wore clattered loudly against the concrete floor, and the others groaned and did their best to keep the door barred. As the one recovered, he shook it off and looked up the hallway towards me. For a moment, he sat motionless as I held the sub machine gun out.

I fired. A burst of rounds obliterated his face, dropping him down to the floor again. A quick second burst caught the other unarmed pony off guard. He slumped against the door as it pressed open. The final guard scrambled to draw his weapon on me, but didn’t have the time. What looked like a wave of convicts burst through the door. In an instant, it swallowed him. A single gunshot rang out before his screams were silenced.

One particularly blood coated mare turned her gaze to me, smiling around a sharp piece of metal in her muzzle. I realized that it was the mare from the yard fight the other day. She burst towards me, faster than I had expected. Even though she was still shackled, she moved like a blur. I was slow on the draw, and the burst I let out struck the crowd of inmates. The bolt on the gun locked open as it emptied, and I knew I was screwed. She lunged and plunged her makeshift knife into my side.

Oh it hurt so damn much. I threw the gun at her, making her pull the knife out and jump back. I whined and focused, pulling out #6. If she was too fast, this was my only option. As she moved to strike again, I spun the gun and fired. The knife and half of her muzzle scattered down the floor. I let out a scream as some of the hot shot found it’s way into my flank. The fact that I would still have a flank was more than worth the pain. She let out a gurgling cry and dropped to the floor.

I reloaded and reholstered #6. The rest of the inmates backed off as I limped forward. They cleared a path for me, slipping by and galloping off towards the cafeteria as I made it into the main block. I could feel the blood as it dripped down over my gear. The wound in my side made it incredibly hard to walk, but I had to get to Caltrop and Brightshine. I had a job, and I intended to complete it.

I looked to the cell I had first been placed in. My deadmare cellmate was nowhere to be seen, but the iron bars had been knocked down flat. Through the dark, a pair of pink eyes stared at me from the back of the small room. Sandy was slow to emerge, staring wide eyed at my bleeding wound.

“Are… are you dying?” She whimpered.

“No, it’s just a flesh wound.” I lied. I didn’t need Sandy unfocused and slowing me down. Wound’s like the one in my side needed immediate attention. Even more so, I shouldn't be walking with it. “Now come on, we’ve got work.”

The cell block was empty, and it sounded like a full scale war was going on in the yard. Edging open the doors to the outside, I couldn’t see much. What little I could, was a whole mess of bodies. The smell of burning flesh hit me and I gagged. Sandy whimpered and did her best to cover her nose as well.

I switched doors, cracking the other door open just enough to see out of it. I could see the door to the other building sat shut. A whole new problem came to mind as I realized that this place was four floors high. We were already short on time, and had to act fast. There was a group fighting just outside the path, but it was more or less a straight shot across.

“When I open this door, we run for the other building.” I spoke down to Sandy, getting a small nod from her. “Do not stop for anything. Cut your way in if you have to, but don’t stop.”

“I… I understand!” She whimpered but gave me a determined look. I knew she was scared, but I couldn’t do anything about it. Of all my skills, companionship or comforting wasn’t one of them. Caltrop had been the only one I know who’s comforted me, and it’s all the more reason to get to him.

Pushing the door open, we burst from the main cellblock. My peek into the yard hadn’t done it justice. It was a whirlwind of activity out here. Even through my tunnel vision, groups fought in bloody piles. Gunshots rang out from the guard posts above. I didn’t care. Focused on the door and galloped for it. A blue blur pulled ahead of me. For as small as she was, she had been a lot faster than I thought.

The door to the slave cells flew open. A mare in riot gear stood in shock as we barreled towards her. In a flash, Sandy ducked inside. The mare let out a scream and crumpled to the ground, propping the door open for me. I jumped over her to the inside and stopped. Her hooves still stood at the door, but they were no longer attached to her legs.

I pulled out #2 and silenced the mare’s screams for good. As I turned the corner, I heard the muffled crying Sandy gave off. She was huddled against the wall, her muzzle buried in her hooves.

“I didn’t mean to…” She sniffled and lifted her head. She held her claws out in front of her and stared at them in disgust. “I never mean to.”

“You did good, Sandy.” I reached a hoof out and pat her on the head. Something inside me felt like it tore, and I tried to muffle a scream. With no idea who was inside here, or where anything was, I didn’t want to risk alerting them.

“How is hurting good?” She whimpered and curled herself against the wall. “I wish I had never been born with these stupid claws.”

“The mare who stabbed me is dead, and I’m here. Isn’t that good?” I could feel as blood trickled out in a thicker string from the wound. “You aren’t in the caves anymore. Killing is survival up here.” My vision blurred and I got lightheaded.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone… I just want to help.” Her voice was muffled into herself as she curled tighter. I was going to have to do something to get her moving again.

“Sandy, we’ve got to find Caltrop.” I sighed. We had taken long enough already, and we were risking the fights outside spilling into this building. “I promise we can talk about what happened later, but I need to find him.”

“Is he your friend?” She wiped her eyes, staring at my blood draining to the floor.

“Yeah, you’ll like him.” I gave her a smile through the pain. As she stood back up, I turned down the hallway and pushed on. Hushed cries and pained moans came from the cells in the next room. Emaciated and frightened ponies sat huddled by the dozen in the corners of their cells.

I’d always seen slave traders and caravans in my travels, but this was different. There had to be almost fifty cells on this floor alone, and they were all filled to the brim with ponies. Mares, foals, and beat up stallions all looked to us as we strolled down the line. Finding two ponies was going to be a needle in a haystack. That is, up until Sandy sniffed at my bags and gave a soft snort.

“He’s on one of the higher floors.” She looked about and gave a few more sniffs.

“How?” I wasn’t quite sure if she knew these were his saddlebags, but I was going to take all the help I could get. Keeping her head up, she started off across the block. I tried to keep my focus on anything but my side, but staring at the faces of the slaves here wasn’t any better. Following closely, Sandy picked up the pace. She turned down a hallway that wrapped around the last cell, and followed it to a set of stairs.

We both stopped as a form lay sprawled out on the top of the flight. It was the remains of one of the guards, staring at us with a horrified expression. Somepony had twisted his neck so hard his head was facing the wrong way. Skirting past him, Sandy kept following her nose. With the thought of somepony else dangerous roaming the halls, I pulled out #2 again and checked it.

Three rounds left. Good enough to deal with anypony so long as we got the drop on them. We traveled up another flight of stairs before Sandy stopped and sniffled.

“Yuck! It smells like month old burnt roachguts!” She scrunched up her face and smacked her tongue in her mouth. “I can’t get it out of my mouth!”

I sniffed. “I don’t smell it.” I said as I took a deep breath. I winced as pain from my wound flared again. Another warm line of blood flowed out and I was beginning to worry about how much longer I could last. “Go find somewhere to hide downstairs. Wait for us there.”

“But-” She practically shouted.

“Sandy, go.” I growled back, pushing myself to walk forward down the hallway. She gave a harumph as she walked back down the stairs, but had done as I asked. She cleared two floors of him, which had been helpful. Problem is there was still two floors left to search. A piercing scream resounded through the concrete ceiling, and it got my legs to move.

Rounding the corner from the stairway hall, I nearly tripped over yet another corpse. This one had been burnt to a crisp through their riot armor. Funny thing was, the riot armor was completely untouched by flame. With the weird deaths, I swapped #2 for #6 and threw a shell into it. Continueing, I walked along the line of slave cells until I saw something familiar.

A creme colored unicorn with a nearly all yellow mane sat huddled next to the bars of one of the cells. A single strip of blond cut through her mane. It was Brightshine, and she looked as if she’d been beaten quite badly. On top of that, one of those anti-magic rings was secured around her horn. Now I regretted telling Sandy to wait somewhere else. I swung #6 around in my magic, pointing it at the cell door. One of the slaves inside cried out in fear, and got the others attention.

“Stand on either side of the cell.” I shouted, giving them enough time to scramble to each side. I fired at the door. I flinched as more than one of the pellets ricochet off and struck me, but I didn’t have time to care. Hooking a hoof around the door, I let out a cry as I yanked at it. As I’d hoped, the lock had been broken by the shot, and it swung open. The slaves inside let out a gasp and scrambled for the opening.

I was knocked back by a couple of them as they bolted from their cell and ran down the hallway. Getting up as the cell emptied, I found myself alone with Brightshine. She hadn’t even moved since I arrived, and it took a prod from me to get her to at least give a groan. Slowly, she looked up.

She gave a weak laugh. “Here ta kill meh?” She smiled up through lips as cracked as mine, and eyes filled with more pain than I can imagine. “Y’all’d be doin meh a favor. Ah’ve been used enough fer one lifetime.”

“Your brother sent me. I'm here to get you out.” My headache flared as I pulled Brightshine’s rifle off of me. It took me a moment, but I remember she couldn’t grab it. I set it down in front of her and watched as she just looked at it.

“Yah’ve ruined mah life enough. Just kill meh an git it over with.” She snarled, pushing her rifle away.

“I came for Caltrop. We could have fucking left you here on the ass end of the prison, but I told your brother that I'd help bring you back. Believe me, were it my own decision I’d let you rot in here forever.” I kicked at her rifle in anger, but missed as I felt lightheaded again. Stumbling, I barely caught myself, but it felt like my side was on fire. “Stay here if you want. I opened the door, so my job is done.”

Turning, I left her there. She was the pony who put me in this mess, and I really couldn’t care if she made it out from here or not. I had to find Caltrop, and fast. As nice as the feeling was, knife wounds weren’t supposed to start to feel numb. Each cell I passed had slaves that looked in worse shape than the last. The final cell in the row actually housed more dead ponies than alive. Thankfully, I didn’t find him here.

I turned the corner past the last cell and continued to the last flight of stairs. The scream that came from up here was in the forefront of my mind. Drawing #2 again, I pressed up the steps slowly. Once at the last step, I peeked my head around the corner. The immolated corpse of a pony lay in the center of the hall, the sunglasses they wore the only thing that made it through the fire.

Perking my ear, I just barely made out a soft humming. Immediately, I’d recognized the familiar cadence. I pulled myself into the hallway and walked toward the cell it came from. Every cell on this floor had only one occupant each. All of them were dead. I continued until I found Caltrop pressed back against the bars with his eyes closed. Still, it was good to see him for once.

“You really are a Dolt.” I grunted, rousing a startled look from him. “But then again, the maiden got kidnapped, didn't she?”

“Is… is dat really you?” He asked, spinning and pressing against the bars. Now that he faced my way, I could see that they’d done a number on him. Still, beaten and bloody, he hadn’t given up. “You came for me.”

“What? No. I just saw this place and had a strong feeling that it wasn’t nearly bloody enough.” I rolled my eyes, nearly falling over as I became light headed. That hadn’t been the best of ideas with as much blood as I’d lost. “Of course I came for you. Can’t let my sidekick rot in a place like this, can I?”

“I guess dat kinda does make you Fin then.” Caltrop sighed and shrugged. “I'm always the maiden.”

“You’re damn right you are.” I snickered, focusing my magic on pulling out #6 again. “Hey, being the maiden isn’t bad. It always seems to work out for them in the end, doesn’t it?” Slipping the last shell I had for it in, I pointed #6 at the cell lock. “You might want to stand back a bit.”

“Yeah, ya right! Ok Boss, carry me to our happily ever after!” He remarked with a smile, stepping to the side and raising his chained legs up. “Oh yeah, right.”

This time, I stepped to the side before firing. I pulled the trigger, and the gun blasted the old lock out of the barred frame all together. After a quick check over myself for new holes, I reholstered my guns. Caltrop pushed the door open and immediately jumped at me. I let out a yelp and fought off his hug as my wounds burned again.

“Fucking stop that.” I growled out as I stumbled back. My legs gave out and I slumped to the floor, my head was spinning out of control. The pressure I put on my side however, felt good. “Just… I need some time.”

Caltrop seemed to comply for once as I laid there and got my bearings back. My vision cleared just in time for me to look past him down the hall. A piss yellow earth pony walked around the corner wearing an enormous grin across his face. The two guns on his battle saddle swung around to line up with us.

Then he disappeared. With a roar, blue flames erupted from the hallway he had emerged from. They enveloped and swallowed him whole. His scream pierced the air, and in the time it took Caltrop to spin around, it was over. The charred remains clattered to the floor with the crackles and snaps of emberous firewood. Then, all was quiet.

Storm strolled casually out from around the corner, walking towards Caltrop and I. How’d she get in here? Why hadn’t she come for me first? Where did she store the flamer she’d been using? I had more questions than answers, but I was just glad she was here.

“Can ya do anythin ta help her?” Caltrop pleaded. I would have smacked him for thinking I couldn’t handle myself, but this time he was right. Hell, I’m amazed I’d made it this far with a botched plan.

“Give her these, and stuff this in her wound.” She pulled out a small white bottle and a small wad of bandages. Storm’s voice was different now, colder than usual. “Then go downstairs and wait. I’m not done here.” Then she walked past us, heading down stairs on her own.

I choked back a scream as Caltrop hoofed the wad of bandages into my stab wound. Sitting up far too fast, I sent my head spinning again. I flinched as I felt Caltrop’s hoof against my muzzle. He held me up as the pill bottle he had rattled.

He spit the cap aside. “Here boss, take dis.” He waited for me to open my mouth before he dropped in a couple of pills. I bit down on them, feeling the chalky tabs dissolve on my tongue. It took a minute, but my head stopped spinning, and my headache dulled down to a minor annoyance. I felt the strength return to my legs, and I pushed myself back up. My vision was sharp, my muscles felt primed, and my mind was refocused. Thank the goddesses for whoever made Buck tabs before the war.

“Alright Caltrop, what do you say we get the hell out of here.” I grinned widely as I pulled out #4. I floated a stream of rounds out from the saddlebags, ejecting the mag from #4 to refill it.

“Sure thing boss, but…” He looked at me uneasily. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Never felt better.” I said, shoving the bullets into the mag. “I just really feel like killing something right now, you know?” Shoving the mag back in, I chambered a round and turned to the stairs. “Let’s go. I too have unfinished business.”

I was flying. Down the stairs and through the halls, I didn’t care that it hurt. Everything was awesome, and I was going to murder the warden! We just had to pick up Sandy, cross the yard of death, and fight off any remaining guards before I could serve justice. Easy as pie, or however that phrase goes.

Caltrop struggled to keep up with his bound legs, so I turned around and levitated him onto my back. He was lighter than I’d remembered him being the first time we met. It wasn’t really something to note, but I found it interesting. Not having to worry about my wounds gave me lots of time to think about useless things it seemed. Lost in my own thoughts, I’d made it down to the first floor a lot faster than I’d realized. Before me stood Sandy, bright eyed and smiling at the new pony before her.

“Sandy, this is Caltrop.” I set him down next to me, pointing at his shackles. “I’d love it if you could help him out of those.”

She gasped and nodded. Zipping around him in a circle, Sandy giggled as the noise of shearing metal made Caltrop wince. With flawless precision, all four of the chained shackles split in half and dropped from his legs. The look of fear across Caltrop’s face would have been priceless had it been any other time, but I still needed to murder somepony.

“My name’s Sandy, and we’re going to be best friends!” Sandy smiled and waved at him.

“I… um… alright?” Caltrop gave a weak wave back. He took a step towards me and lowered his voice to a whisper. “A hellhound, really?”

“Hey, she’s the reason I’m free to come save your sorry flank.” I shot back, nudging him aside. I gave Sandy a pat on the head before walking past her. Across the cell block, opposite the hallway from the stairwell, was a door. I’d missed it on the way in here, but it had been smashed open. Inside was what looked like a small office full of terminals and controls. Storm stood in front of them, slowly looking over it before hitting a couple switches.

An annoying buzzing sound rang out through the block for a half second. It was quickly followed by one loud, metallic bang. Each and every cell on this floor popped open slightly, the clang then came from the floor above. All the cells had been unlocked, and slowly the occupants pushed them open. The jingle of metal came through the air as Storm exited the office, a ring of silver keys clamped tightly in her muzzle.

“Go, clear the way. I’ll unlock them all.” She growled to me as she headed for the cell closest to me. Even though I’d never cared about it before, there was something about seeing these ponies get their freedom. I’d spent my life tracking down and killing them without a second thought. Now, I could truly see what freedom meant. Maybe that was something I’d reflect on later.

Right now, I had ponies to kill.

--Chapter End--
“Yeah, you ain’t got time to bleed.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

Thanks to Kkat for creating this wonderful world for us all to blow to smithereens. Also, thanks to all of the Authors and friends who have supported me in the last year. You are all such fantastic ponies, and I'm eternally thankful for you all.

Chapter 19 - Mounting Debts

This didn’t feel like a fight to me. A fight was what I went through when raiders tried to ambush me. Having some drunken asshole come out swinging from the bar made for an amusing fight. No, this was different. This must have been what war felt like.

A lot of the ponies in the courtyard on both sides were dangerous folk. Most of them out here were probably reveling in the hell that this chaos presented. Some were most likely innocents, just fighting for their lives.

Right about now, I felt closer to the former than the latter.

Laughing, I beat, slashed, and blasted away at anypony close enough to me. When they fell, I picked up whatever junk they had considered a weapon and used it as my own. I knew my horn burned from the strain, but with buck, I didn’t care. It gave me the strength of six mares, and the ego of six Storms. I was a tempest of arcane anger and hot lead. Or, so I had thought.

“Boss, look out!” Caltrop had yelled out from somewhere behind me. His warning had of course came too late. There had been a sharp pain in my side as I was thrown from my hooves. A bloody, armor clad pony was quick to maneuver himself over me. The long nightstick in his muzzle glinted with fresh blood, and he raised it high to strike.

Something in my mind snapped. I was no longer in the prison, but on the train car again. The stallion above me wore the same disgusting smile. The spark from a shock prod ready to strike hung next to him. I screamed.

Dropping the weapons around me, I panicked. I’m not sure why my spell resolved the way it did, but I’m fairly sure it had something to do with the smell caked in my nose. The burned flesh from the slave block brought forth pictures of the bodies in my mind. All while I tried to use the only spell I had that could be considered offensive at all. The air around my horn heated and condensed as my magic warped it. With a spark from my straining horn, it ignited.

A jet of flame engulfed the the guard. He reared up as the flames charred through the gaps in the armor. Writhing, he slipped his helmet off and tried to unbuckle the armor. As he flailed in pain, a blue blur zipped up onto his back. Sandy dug her claws in around his neck, and bit down on his head with a growl. The bite did little, but the gashes she tore in his neck brought him down for good.

“Good job, Sandy!” I shouted out. The stallion on the train was done for, and I could get back to getting my revenge. Rolling over, I hopped back to my hooves and continued my way to the other block. Bodies lined the path, but among them lay something out of place. A pile of pink ash sat near the door. Brightshine had gotten out. Another contract successfully completed.

I slammed my shoulder into the door to the main block. A few bodies now laid sprawled amongst the open floor, but no hostiles met my gaze. As Caltrop and Sandy made it in behind me, I turned my attention upwards. There, in the wide glass window overlooking the block, was the shape of the Warden.

“You’re mine.” I snarled with an eager grin.

Another figure shifted in the office above, and the glass shattered down to the floor. The Warden’s scream punctuated his fall, ending with a meaty slap against the concrete floor. Above, stood Lockjaw. The asshole stole my kill, but I couldn’t hold it against him. Not that I cared right now anyway. I still needed something to kill before the buck wore off.

“Fucking... bitch.” The warden sputtered amongst the blood pouring from his muzzle. He smiled up at me, stubbornly clinging to life like a radroach in a collapsed ruin. This asshole needed a bullet to the brain. Instead, I let out a yelp as I was tugged back by the tail. The wooden desk he had once sat smugly behind crashed down onto him. The squelch that emit, and the gore that radiated around it meant I could save that bullet for somepony else.

“A desk? Really?” I laughed and looked back to Lockjaw.

He let out a throaty laugh. “You would’ve prefered something more plush? A couch perhaps?” He shook his head. “In my lifetime, I’ve learned it’s important to improvise if you’re going to survive.”

“That’s one hell of a way to improvise.” I pointed to the doors across the block. “Get down here, Storm and I are going to need your help.”

With a nod, he disappeared into the office again. Sandy brushed past me as she moved up to the desk, climbing on to it carefully. The Warden was dead. Even if he hadn’t died by my hooves, I’m at least glad my face was the last thing he saw. I hope he’d enjoyed it.

“Ya really need ta wash yah tail, you know that?” Caltrop blathered as he spit out some of my hair. I’d slap him for that, but with the buck in my system, I don’t think I’d ever stop hitting him. Though, part of me really didn’t think that was a bad thing. With my pause, I think he’d caught wind of my thoughts. “Hey, we’re friends, remember?” He flashed his nervous smile and took a step back.

Something outside exploded, and it reminded me that we still had another job to do. I’d spun and was galloping for the doors I’d pointed to. Pushing through them, I found that the bodies of the guards I’d shot had been dragged off. Even the bitch who’d stabbed me was gone, only a bloody smear on the floor remained.

I reached the corridor that split off to the cafeteria, stopping as gunshots echoed down the hall from the other direction. This hall rounded a corner, and presumably lead to the entrance of the building. I pulled out #4 and crept up to the corner slowly, listening as rounds now slapped at the steel doors to the outside. With a quick peek, I found the doors barred with an old fire axe. Laying against the wall, was a creme colored unicorn mare with a golden yellow mane.

A sickening sucking sound accompanied her breathing, and a fresh line of red poured from a bullet wound in the center of her chest. I’ve seen my fair share of these, and enough had been caused by my own hooves. Without a potion, she had maybe minutes to live. It would take that long at least to get back to Storm, and it was a gamble if she even had one.

“Heh, bet yer happy…” Brightshine gasped, weakly smiling as she glanced over to me. “Fuckin dipshits out there… too many ta fight.”

Somewhere inside, I wanted to see her die. I wanted her to suffer for what she put me through. With her like this, I should have been happy. That feeling never hit me. I’d gotten caught on the fact that she wasn’t going to make it out. I’d failed her brother, and I’d failed the job.

I was better than this. What happened to me? Storm was right, I’d become complacent and weak. So set in my ways, that I can’t adapt anymore. The only thing that gave me confidence to fight here was the buck, and even that was wearing off. Sure, Brightshine was a colossal bitch, but she was better than me. I resent that she could beat me like this.

No, she wasn’t dead yet.

“How many?” I asked. Killing my way out of here was the only hope any of us had. This meant that I needed information I could get. “Any chance the two of us could clear them?”

“Too many…” She coughed and pulled her rifle close. Shakely, she pulled herself up onto it. Amazingly, she fought through the pain and stood before me. Under the same circumstances, there’s no way I’d be able to stay calm, let alone stand with a wound like that. She was tougher than I could ever be, and I both respected and resented her for that. “Ah might be tough, but I aint bulletproof.” A full smile worked across her muzzle. “Honey, yah stairin... is it cause yah want ta tell me now yer inta mares afta all.” She let out a choking laughed.

Bulletproof?

“That’s it.” I tapped my hoof on the floor. “The tables in the cafeteria, they seemed fairly bullet proof to me.” The sound of Caltrop and Sandy finally catching up pushed that plan from my mind. “Fuck, there’s no way we could all get out though.”

“Four should be enough.” Brightshine gasped out. She eyed at her mane as she wobbled woozily. “With this much juice, ah can cast a shield ta fill the gaps.”

It was the most sound plan at the moment. Once past them, we could find a fortified position and return fire until storm could attack at their flank. Once we were safe, I’m sure I could find a way to stop Brightshine’s bleeding. She could still make it as long as we got past these last guards.

Turning around, I ran muzzle first into Lockjaw. For a big guy, he was silent when moving. He stepped back and took his eyes off Brightshine, and even with the augmented eyes, he looked sad. I’m sure he’d come to the same conclusion about the gravity of her wound as I had. Without a word, he pushed past Caltrop toward the inside of the block again.

“You two, stay here.” I prodded Caltrop as I passed him. He gave a whimper and Sandy gave me a quick bark. Charging down the halls, both Lockjaw and I flew into the cafeteria. In one quick action, he dropped down low and rolled over. He popped up under one of the tables, thrusting it off the floor. It slammed against the wall hard enough it’s legs sheared off, and the flat steel slab crashed to the floor. More interested in watching the spectacle, I slammed into one of the overturned tables I’d used for cover earlier.

I focused my magic around it and tried to pull it up. My horn sparked and shot a stabbing pain through me. It dropped back to the floor with a slam, and I rubbed my sore horn softly. As if to show off, Lockjaw walked over and tipped the table over onto its top. He climbed onto the flipped table and put a hoof on each table leg. With a squat and a flex, each leg violently sheared off, and dropped to the floor. Walking to the next one, he then repeated the process.

I strained to even lift the one table onto my back. Brightshine was sure she could do this, but I’m sure that these would drain her magic too fast. With the back end of the table dragging along the floor, I walked back through the doors. The metallic screech along the floor was maddening. Every step sent a fresh shiver up my spine. My lightheadedness returned as the buck wore off faster. I couldn’t pass out now. If I did, we were all dead.

Caltrop trotted up next to me, ignoring my order to stay where he was. I was about to complain, but he nudged into my side. I felt the table lift as Caltrop kept pushing against me, and soon I wasn’t carrying it at all. Stepping aside, he grunted and walked faster than I had been, pulling the table up and around the corner. Looking back for Lockjaw, I almost didn’t duck in time.

The three tables he had horizontally balanced across his massive back, passed over my head as he trotted with little exertion. I followed behind him, with steps that felt increasingly less coordinated. By the time I’d gotten to Sandy, Brightshine already held them in her magic. It took me a moment, but the shape she had made wasn’t a square. I wondered why that was, right up until she effectively threw the extra table at us.

Even Lockjaw hadn’t been prepared for it. He absorbed most of the force as he was knocked back. The table slammed into Caltrop, who then slammed into me. Sandy had fast enough reflexes that as three of us went down, she’d ducked behind the wall. With another metallic screech, the table wedged itself between against the hallway walls. As Caltrop rolled off of me, I didn’t feel like pulling myself to my hooves. I was tired, in pain, and the Buck wasn’t helping me anymore.

“Sorry, but Ah'll be dead in two minutes either way. No need fer yah ta die with meh.” Brightshine yelled to us. As my vision cleared, I looked to the table she’d thrown. It hadn’t gotten stuck like that, she had placed it as cover for us. “Just let meh do this one meaninful thang with mah life before Ah die. And tell mah brother... tell him that Ah'll be waitin fer him with Burst an Mama.”

I didn’t have the strength to try to stop her. With my head spinning, I heard as she opened the door. Immediately, the air was filled with roaring gunfire. Ricochets and stray rounds slammed into the table and wall behind us. Finding the strength for somewhere, I managed to will my vision from spinning. The hallway was growing brighter by the second. I’d wondered why that was, but then came a flash that was brighter than anything I’d ever seen. Everything fell silent from outside, and the only sound that met my ears was Sandy’s whimpering and Caltrop’s groans.

“Fuck dat hurt.” Caltrop slowly scoot his way over to me. He prodded at my side hard and I whined. “Hey ,Boss. Ya dead?”

“Yeah.” I groaned out, wishing that maybe I had died instead. “What the fuck did she do?”

“She hit you with a table!” Sandy squeaked. “Then she got all glowy and I had to shut my eyes. Now they’re all just standing outside.”

I didn’t know what that meant. What the hell had she done? As Caltrop hooked a fetlock around my leg, my vision started to dim. At first I thought that maybe I was passing out, but the white I could see dimmed. I let out a cry as Caltrop hoisted me up over his shoulder, helping me to stand on my legs.

“Goddesses, would ya look at dat…” He muttered softly.

I clenched my eyes shut tightly. When I opened them again, I could start to make out what he was talking about. My eyes trailed from things like the fire axe on the floor, to the fire extinguisher on the wall. Each had a shadow that stretched at an odd angle, the blistered paint on them looking like they’d been exposed to a raging fire. Slowly, I traced from the shadows to the light that had cast them.

Standing as still as a statue, was Brightshine, or what was left of her. The charcoal black pony looked like a replica. It was joined by a semicircle of other char black pony figures, each with a shadow that trailed off away from her. The wind outside picked up. One by one, the pony statues collapsed into a heap of ashes, until Brightshine alone was left. My vision finally normalized, and as it did, the wind howled through the door. The soot and ash from Brightshine whiped away, not leaving a pile like the others, but instead, a solid crystalline version of her that was clearer than any glass in the wastes.

“She… she did all dat?” Caltrop stuttered. “But… what kinda spell does dat?”

“It’s in her name.” I sighed. Fucking hell. She didn't need to do that for us. The shield plan would have worked, and we could have all made it out. Fucking cunt just wanted to show me up and make me owe her one.

And I hated being in debt.

“I’m sorry I can’t do more…” One of the unicorn slaves spoke softly. She was stitching up hole in my side after she stopped me from dying. “You shouldn’t bleed any more, but you’ll need to make sure the wound doesn’t get infected.”

“Thanks.” I grumbled amongst the admittedly dulled pain.

Sometime after I’d passed out from blood loss, Storm and the slaves finished the fight in the courtyard. Then I guess they decided to set up camp here, because that’s where I’d woken back up at. The dead were cleared, and the slaves were huddled together in small groups. Some of them were crying, others laughing. Most just looked sad, and I hated it. This many ponies was just uncomfortable to be around in the first place, let alone a bunch of do nothing slaves.

The inmates from A block who weren’t bloodthirsty douchebags had gathered up the food stores, and were steadily distributing it to the starving slaves. Caltrop happened to be so lucky to get a half a can of prewar spinach. Walking over, he offered me some.

“Nah, I ate before I came to rescue you. You have it.” I grunted as I sat up. As I did so, a commotion split the crowd from the entrance to Cell block A. Storm was leading a whimpering and bloodied stallion across the yard to me. She kicked him and sent him sprawling to the dirt a few feet from me. He whined and looked up to her with fearful eyes.

“Go on.” Storm spoke sternly to him. “Tell her what you told me.”

‘Then… then you’ll let me go?” He whimpered. He gave a weak smile as she nodded. “Camp… it’s run by Mr. Flint. He’s the one who puts the contract ponies in here.”

“And?” Storm growled, making him flinch. If it weren’t for the fact that Storm was pissed, I’d have slapped him and told him to grow a pair.

“...And that he’s the one who authorizes all the high level bounties in Filly.” He spit out. “I swear, that’s all I know!” Whining, he scrambled up to his hooves. I wasn’t about to let an asshole like him leave though. Quickly, I drew #1 from my side and raised it against him.

“No.” Storm shouted and shoved him out of the way. Before I could reorient the gun, she kicked it from my magic and screamed. I found my head snap sharply as she hit me with a left hook. I saw stars and yelped. In the confusion, she placed herself over me and pinned me down. “Have you learned nothing?” She seethed through clenched teeth. “Look around you. Every choice you've made has ended in disaster. It's time to stop playing little miss badass and grow up.”

“Fuck off, Storm.” I shouted. Twisting and torquing myself only served to make my side send bolts of pain through me. Her hold on me was absolute, and I was going to sit here until she decided I could go.

“Listen to me!” She pleaded. Here eyes were locked on to mine, and she looked more worried than I’d ever seen her. “I'm only telling you this because it happened to me. You can't continue to just go off half cocked anymore. Things are changing here in the wasteland, and I know you know it's true.”

“So what are you waiting for?” I huffed out. However true that was, she didn’t need my help. “Go off and save it again.”

“I can't.” She took a deep breath as she shook her head. “One day you'll understand, but if you don't change, you'll never live to see that day. No more killing out of spite, no more foalish revenge. You are my grand daughter, and I expect you to be better than that.”

“One day... be better?” I couldn’t believe the shit I was hearing. She was treating me like a fucking foal! “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Brightshine gave her life to save you. Who else are you going to drag down inadvertently? What if you got Caltrop killed? What if Sandy was the one who died because you couldn't change yourself?” She stepped off of me slowly. “I'm not going to be here to fix your mistakes anymore. You've got friends to rely on now. If you don't let them down, they'll be better than any weapon and make you feel more alive than any revenge you could take.”

“So you won’t stay, and you won’t help.” I spat at her. Getting back to my hooves, I rubbed at my sore cheek. “Then tell me, what the fuck are you going to do?”

She sighed again. “It was a mistake to ever assume you could handle a job like mine. You’re reckless, hot headed, and shortsighted. You’d never be able to stand up to the pressures I face without cracking.” Turning towards the entrance of A block, she looked back at me with a frown. “Do you even know why I was in Filly in the first place? I was there to close up my services with my last friend. Your mother was right, I’m too old for this. So I’m done. If I don’t stop now, I’m going to get myself killed.”

I didn’t believe it. Not for one, fucking second.

“You say it’s all my fucking fault? What about Ash? You’re just going to leave me to clean up your mess this time?” I shouted. She stopped where she was. “Don’t act like you haven’t made mistakes, Storm.” Picking up #1 in my magic, I floated it over and reholstered it. “How many have had to die over the years because of your mistakes? Dozens? Hun...”

She whipped around and cut me off with a shot from her rifle. Her shot hit me just above the stab wound and I cried out from it. I dropped to the dirt as she worked the action, aiming another shot for me. In a surprising move, Caltrop walked forward. He placed himself between her and I, giving a snort in anger.

“Knock it off.” He shouted. “Ya wrong about PC. Yeah, she could stand ta be nicer, but she’s a good mare.” His words made Storm lower her rifle a few inches. “The Storm I’d always heard about wasn’t ever dis cruel. She believed in helpin ponies.” He shook his head. “Ta be honest, I expected more from somepony so revered. It’s easy for ya ta stand there and say all dat ta her. Life delt her a bad hand, but she’s dealin with it. Maybe it ain’t the way you would, but maybe it ain’t her dat needs to change.”

Where did this come from all of a sudden? Where the hell was the whimpering, weak stallion that I’d been traveling around with? Deep down, you know why. A month ago, I wouldn’t have given somepony a second glance if they asked for something. Now, I’d gone charging headlong into a prison to save Caltrop.

“Watch your tongue. I would shoot you as well,” She paused and leaned to glare at me. “But at least you’re a pony who stands up for somepony other than herself. She’ll need that from you from now on.” Storm remarked as she slung her rifle onto her back. “Get your things together. We are returning to Timber tonight, and we’ve already wasted too much time as it is.” With that, she disappeared into the cell block.

With her words running around in my head, I flopped down. I hated the fact that she’d always acted like she’s better than everypony else. The problem is, she always had been, and I resented that fact. She was always right. Not just about this, but about a lot of things. Every time I’ve just been too stuck in my ways to see it immediately.

Sandy approached me slowly as Caltrop sat down with a sigh. I’ve never seen Storm act that way before. Yeah, we’d argue, but she’s never been this physical. There’s something more to it than just retiring, I know it.

Adding to the weirdness, Caltrop was now standing up for me? I know he’d said that he was my friend, but was this what friendship did to ponies? Did it make them do short sighted things on the chance it might make things more bearable? Am I okay with that in my life?

I don’t even know what to think anymore.

“I’m sorry, Boss.” Caltrop muttered. “I didn’t mean ta get ya inta dis mess.” He shook his head and looked down at the can in his hoof. “Always screwed things up everywhere I went before. Don’t know why I thought dat could ever change.”

I was reminded of the farewell note in his bag, and I sighed. Even though it made my head throb, I snatched the can from him with my magic. Bringing it to my muzzle, I ate it’s contents quickly.

“Shut up you dolt.” I tossed the can at him lightly. “I didn’t just bust you out so you could get all mopy on me. If I thought you weren’t worth it, I wouldn't have done it.”

“Ya think I’m worth it?” He asked slowly, looking back to me with a weak smile.

“Maybe.” I grunted as I stood up. My closed wound had welted up with the bruise from the rubber bullet. It hurt to walk, but at least I could do so. “Still figuring out if your useful enough to keep around all the time.” I couldn’t help but give a small smile to him.

“But… what about me?” Sandy asked softly. I looked to her as she hung her head and sat dejected. “What if I’m not useful enough?” She curled up with a whimper and put her arms over her head.

It was probably in poor taste, but I laughed. Once I started, I fought to stop. Between each round of laughter, I whined and cried about my side. The notion was just so damn hilarious to me. Only when she looked up with teary eyes could I force myself to regain control.

“Sandy… you’ve already been ten times as useful as he has!” I shuddered in pain as Caltrop just rolled his eyes. “Pup, you can hang with me for as long as you want. Besides, I know Caltrop knows the answer to every question you’ll ever have.” That would be revenge enough. While combat hadn’t been the way I’d normally like to avoid annoying conversations, I had grown to miss the ability for actual interaction.

“I’m gonna ignore dat comment outa my desire ta be ya friend.” Caltrop remarked smartly.

Sandy blindsided me with a hug. For a moment I worried about her claws, but as she pressed warmly into me, it was pushed to the back of my mind. I put a hoof around her and pulled her close. Never in my entire life would I have imagined how good having friends would make me feel.

“I told ya dat ya’d like hugs.” Caltrop whispered as he leaned closer to me. I looked up and found his smug face smiling at me.

“Shut it.” I spat back playfully. “Do me a favor and take your saddlebags back. I’m tired of carrying your shit, and I don’t want to walk all the way back with it rubbing against this wound.” Thats when it really hit me. I would have to tell Brightshine’s brother I’d failed. Today had already been a whirlwind of emotions, but to have to do this? I hated the thought of it more than anything. Rubbing Sandy’s head, I pushed her off of me as Caltrop took the bags. “Get yourselves ready and meet me out front, I have to go do something first.”

I went looking for Lockjaw. Brightshine was better than me, I get it, but it didn’t mean she could go and do what she did. Even though she had died, I needed to give her back to her brother. I would do it on my own if I had to, but I really hoped that I could have his help. As I wound my way through the building towards her, I didn’t catch even a glimpse of the large cybernetic stallion. That is, until I got to where Brightshine was.

“She’s heavier than I thought a glass pony would be.” Lockjaw groaned out as Brightshine was carefully tied to him. Storm yanked the rope in her muzzle and tightened it around him. She let out the slack and stepped back with a sigh, looking over the rigging.

“It’s because diamond is much denser than glass.” She gave Brightshine a tap with her hoof. Her ear swiveled around as she listened to me approach. “Come to argue with me some more?”

“No, I came for her.” I grunted. “Her brother deserves her back with him.”

“Well, at least you understand that much.” Storm glared at me as she lifted her pipbuck. “We should have been on the road…” She paused and looked over to the mountain cliff we had camped on before. She sniffed at the air, which in turn made me sniff. The air was becoming thick with the smell of burned corpses.

“I thought that smell would have drifted off by now.” I scrunched up my nose in disgust. “Did you really have to flame so many?” Seriously, it was just getting worse. Caltrop and Sandy came out the door behind me and had probably been baffled by us sniffing the air.

“It’s not coming from the prison.” Storm shook her head with a growl. Without warning, she took off toward the cliff path we’d used to get down. “It’s coming from Timber!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Oh, fuck me.” I groaned as I took off after her. Brightshine’s brother can’t die because of me as well. There is no way I’m was going to be responsible for killing their whole family. Pain in my side, dehydration, and exhaustion be damned. We were going to get him out of there alive, he could bury brightshine and move on with his life. He had to.

I had to.

--Chapter End--
“Finally, you are starting to comprehend the magic of friendship… kind of.”
Quests Finished: The Great Escape
Quests Started: S.O.S.
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: Advanced Spells - Your ability to cast spells has increased. You may now learn Advanced versions of the basic spells you possess.

Chapter 20 - True to it's name

The gallop we had started out at had quickly become a crawl. We followed the thin trail as it wound it’s way up the steep cliff sides of the mountain. The smell of burning flesh had become more prominent the higher we’d climbed. To my knowledge, Timber didn’t have that large of a population, and for the smell to be this bad, I wasn’t sure we’d have anything left to find when we got there. On top of that, a thick bank of fog was quickly descending from the mountaintop, and I hoped that we could get back to the main path before it settled in.

Spending this time behind brightshine’s corpse as she glinted in the afternoon light got me to thinking. There had been a point when this whole train of events started. It was then that one simple choice I could have made differently, changed everything. A simple ‘no’ to Big Shot would have saved me all this pain and suffering. Then there wouldn’t be any Caltrop, no Novocain or Sandy. Like the fool I was, I didn’t make that choice. Now, good ponies lie dead because of me, and more are at risk.

Maybe… maybe stopping now was the best option. If I sat here, perhaps it would all just blow over in time. My body screams at me to stop. To rehydrate and feed it, and to lay down and let it heal. I couldn’t do that. These things were all punishments for my stupidity, and I deserved to suffer through them. Then and only then, might I never make these mistakes again.

I stopped walking, sat down. My eyes drifted and looked down at the rocky path under my hooves. As much as I’d wanted to go back to the way things were, I’d hate myself then. Even though I’ve objected to his presence, Caltrop has done nothing but try to help me. He’s in this situation, because of me, and the same could be said of Sandy. If I hadn’t given her that ring, she could still be living with her family.

“Ya okay there, Boss?” Caltrop asked softly as he put his hoof on my shoulder.

“I didn’t mean for any of this.” I turned towards him and threw my hooves around his neck. “Thank you. For not abandoning me.” I pressed into his warmth, hugging him with all the strength I could muster.

“PC…” He sighed. Slowly, he wrapped his forehooves around me lightly and just held me. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a burden. It ain’t easy havin somepony like me around. It’s why...” I silenced him by pushing off of him slightly and shaking my head. I knew that he was going to tell me that’s how he ended up on a rock in the middle of nowhere for me to find. I didn’t care anymore how, just that he was here now.

“You aren’t a burden.” I looked him straight in the blue eyes I had despised the day I met him. “You’ve been better to me than anypony I’ve ever known.” There wasn’t a single ounce of hatred for me in those eyes.

“Well… umm… ya see...” Caltrop stammered as his cheeks practically glowed red. He leaned back and looked nervously around me. Then his eyes met mine, and that was when I’d realized my mistake. I opened my mouth to tell him this wasn’t what I’d meant, but all I was met with was his muzzle.

I had never been kissed before, at least, not like this. My mind went blank, and I practically melted into his grasp. Even though it’s not what I meant, I won’t deny that it was something that felt right for the moment. Then, from the back of my mind, my conscience had to point something out.

You’ve finally found your somepony to love.

Pushing him away, I snarled at the thought. He didn’t deserve that kind of response, but he’s the one who used his talent or something on me. That’s the only way I’d ever break one of my own rules. With him left speechless, I turned and continued along the path.

What the fuck was wrong with me? Since when did I curl up into some stallion’s legs for comfort? I was every bit as pathetic as Storm said I was, and more so even.

The rocky path leveled off, and widened out into a small outcropping. There, Storm and Lockjaw had apparently elected to take a break and wait for us to catch up. Keeping my ears perked forward, I listened in on their conversation as I approached.

“So I tell you to inform me of what this 'Red Eye' stallion is doing, but I haven't heard you mention him once.” She remarked as she drew out a cigarette and popped it into her muzzle.

Lockjaw shrugged and looked down the slope back towards the prison. “As per the stories I've heard, he's clean.”

She flicked her lighter open and brought it to her muzzle. Taking a deep draw, she shook her head. “He controls an army of slavers, bounty hunters, and mercs larger than anyone over the last twenty years.” Blowing a ring of smoke, she looked over to me for a moment. “Tartarus, even the Alicorn monstrosities leave him alone.”

“You asked me to listen for stories, and that's what I've done. He only controls this much because he took out all of the other slavers, and paid enough that the mercs and hunters would be foolish to refuse.” Lockjaw got back to his hooves and straightened up the rigging that held Brightshine to him. “From what I saw from my time inside, he's put far more dangerous ponies away than he's let go. I dare say he's shooting to outshine you even as he rebuilds his city.”

“It’s not his city. Not to mention he’s rebuilding it with slaves.” Storm spat as she too rose back up. Looks like break time was over. “Even if he's put these ‘dangerous’ ponies away, how can he justify what's been happening? How can he justify the suffering?”

“As far as I'm able to tell, I'm not sure he knows about what goes on outside the Fillydelphia walls.” Lockjaw grunted and started toward the next path up. “As I said, Flint is in charge of gathering the slaves. I'm sure all Red Eye ever see's is the numbers to prove he's efficient. The head may be pure, but the limbs are infected.”

“Flint.” I spoke up. “He was the stallion who put the bounty out on me?”

“So long as that guard wasn’t lying,” Storm chuckled. “Then again, why would he have lied? He thought we weren’t going to let him go if he did.” She tilted her head just enough that she could shoot an annoyed glance my way. She let out a puff of smoke and shrugged. “Go ahead. Take vengeance on him if you want. I know you want to pay him back for screwing up your life.”

As much as I’d wanted too, I don’t think I could. I’ve never even heard of this stallion before today. Going after somepony with only their name was a good way to get yourself killed. If I wanted to take him down, I would need resources. Something I’ve not got a lot of at the moment.

My answer to her was simple. “No.” I trotted forward and pushed past her before she could reach the next ledge.

“Good.” She stated back. “Let’s just focus on getting whatever has happened at Timber sorted first.”

The fog was a blessing and a curse. We were trailing behind somepony or some ponies. We’d found multiple hoofprints on the trail back to town, and we were moving at a snails pace with our eyes wide open. Sandy and I took the lead. With her nose, we might be able to smell them before we see them. If so, I could use #2 to put them down without alerting any others that might be lurking around.

But that’s only if they didn’t find us first. I had to assume that these were fresh tracks, and that whatever ponies left them were still around. Thankfully, the howl of the chilled mountain wind was the only thing that met my ears. Then again, no happy ending ever started with ‘there was nothing but silence’.

Winding through the field of boulders outside of town was like a maze. Several times I had to stop and squint to see if I saw somepony. Each instance it turned out to only be a pony sized boulder. Every part of the old me screamed that this was a mistake, and that we needed to get the hell out of here before we got killed. The part of me who wanted to change though, new that we needed to press on.

Sandy stopped and sniffed a few times. “Something around here smells funny.” She whispered to me before crouching low. She practically crawled along the dirt. She stopped when she found a small dirt mound with a yellow rock poking out of it. “Oh, what's in this thing?” She used a paw to wipe the dirt from it, revealing three pink butterflies stamped on a yellow case.

It was a case I’d seen a thousand times in my journeys, but never once had I seen one with a black box taped to the side of it. Something in my mind connected the two and I focused my magic forward.

“Sandy, NO!” I shouted and gripped around the box with my magic. Sparks shot from my horn as I lifted the box and propelled it as far as I could. I pushed off the ground with my legs towards Sandy, sailing through the air over her before crashing down into the dirt. There was a loud click as the box smacked a rock up ahead. Then came the boom.

The makeshift explosive detonated with a thunderous crack. Sandy flattened herself to the dirt next to me with a scream. The concussion of the blast pelted me with rocks, but I didn’t feel any hot pieces of shrapnel slice into me. As the ringing in my ears drained away, I heard Sandy crying softly next to me.

“Shhhh, Sandy. It’s alright.” I sighed. Quick hoofsteps came from the trail behind us, and after a moment, Storm appeared through the fog. Lockjaw appeared behind her and looked down to the loose dirt that the bomb had come from.

“I’ll look for more traps.” He stated simply before trotting past us.

“No, everything isn’t alright.” Sandy sniffled. “All I do is screw things up and hurt everyone.”

“Listen to me pup.” Storm spoke out, kneeling down next to her. “We’re all born with something we’re meant to do.” She paused as sandy wiped at her eyes and looked up at her. “For some, it means that they are really good at building things. For others, it means that they can heal the sick.”

“But… I can’t do anything like that.” Sandy curled herself up and pulled her yellow vest over her head.

“No, but what you can do, is keep ponies safe.” Storm reached over and nudged the vest away from her face. “Strength like yours is not something everypony out in the wasteland has, Sandy. If you can learn to use that strength to help those around you, then you will never be useless.”

“Sandy, why is it you keep thinking you aren’t welcome with us?” I asked slowly. Storm gave me a momentary look of shock before giving me a small nod. I realized that it was a surprising question to come from my muzzle of all places, but Sandy seemed more afraid to let us down than anything else.

“I was never useful to the den.” She whimpered and pulled her vest back onto herself. “All the other dogs hated me… Papa hated me. And I deserved it.” Calming down, she looked up to me with her watery pink eyes. “But then I found you. You were the first to not hate me. I just… I wanted to help you, but all I seem to do is screw things up.”

“If it weren’t for you, I’d have been killed in that bank vault. If it weren’t for you, I would have rotted away in that prison.” I shook my head and slowly pushed myself up. “I need you and Caltrop. Without you two, I...” The kiss from earlier floated into my mind again, and I hated that I enjoyed it. “I just need the two of you, mistakes and all.”

“Hey, up here.” Lockjaw bellowed out through the fog. “You’re going to want to see this.”

Storm pushed past Sandy and I, while from the fog, Caltrop hung back. I looked to him briefly, but he averted his gaze. With a sigh, reached over and pat Sandy on the head.

“Come on, Sandy, let’s go see what they found.” I gave her a brief smile and was relieved to see her nod. Turning, I wandered in the direction of Lockjaw’s voice and soon found myself walking on the dirt roadway that ran through the middle of town. The stench of burned flesh got more pugnant with each step, and the closer I got, the more the fog seemed to clear. It wasn’t until I reached a small boulder that I had to cover my nose. Perplexed, I stepped a bit closer until the fog mostly lifted.

It wasn’t a boulder.

It was a twisted mass of burned ponies. They were all too charred to identify, but seeing as nopony else was around, I had to assume that they were the towns folk. There had been nothing we could have done. My actions brought Ash’s force down onto this town, and they had paid for it with their lives.

“PC.” Storm snapped. “Over here. Now.”

I grunted and hobbled my way toward her voice, my nose pinched as tightly as I could squeeze it. Both Storm and Lockjaw stood facing a single, oddly shaped pony. As I reached them, I stood between them and stared at the third figure. There, tied to a post and beaten bloody, was Brightshine’s brother. Blood dripped from a bullet hole in his skull, while my legs trembled. A piece of parchment had been nailed to his chest, it slowly fluttered in the breeze.

I had been so damn cocky, both with his sister and with him. I’d failed, completely and utterly. Storm stepped forward and put a hoof on the paper. She tore it off of him and pulled it close, reading the words that had been written on it. After a minute, she let out a low growl.

“Fuck.” Was as she spat as she hoofed it toward me. I took it in my magic and read the hastily scrawled letters.

‘Dear fuckwit and fuckwit’s grandaughter,

Nopony fucks with me. Not even my wife fucked with me, but then you had to go and fucking kill her, didn’t you? Your have taken everything I’ve ever had and burned it to ashes. I’ve waited too long to repay you, and I will do so in kind. Consider the townsfolk of Timber the warm up for what I’m going to do to every pony you’ve ever loved or cared for.

To PC. You had your fucking chance to go with me back in the day. Now, I’m going to make sure all of your contacts suffer for turning me down. And when you least expect it, I’ll be back around to kill you and your little stallion friend too.

To the old cunt. I'm sorry I couldn't stay to kill you just yet, but I'll leave my dearest apologies with your daughter.'

“We have to go help mom.” I tossed the note onto the ground in disgust. I should have expected this from Ash. We should have killed him when we had the chance.

“No, not we. Just me.” Storm shook her head and checked the straps on her satchel and rifle sling.

“Fuck you, she's my mother!” I stepped forward and pushed Storm back. In my anger I’ve done some stupid things, but touching Storm was never something I did that ended well. Predictably, she hooked around my hoof and redirected my momentum. With little effort on her part, she flipped me over and I crashed down onto the dirt with a groan.

“She's my daughter.” She growled out as she put her hoof on my chest. She pressed down and kept me pinned as I tried to roll over to get up. “What do you think happens when we both go strolling back into Baltimare? Use your head.”

I stopped squirming. As much as I wanted to go, she had a point. Ash had to expect that we would go after him, and that both of us would try to attack. Playing right into whatever plan he had set up was a stupid idea, but knowing I couldn’t help didn’t ease my worry. Mom and Storm are all I’ve ever known. I can’t afford to lose either of them.

“Ash was my fault. You were at least right about that. He's my problem, so I'll solve it.” She lifted her hoof off of me and held it out. I begrudgingly took it and hooked around her fetlock. “If he’s doing what he said, you don’t have anywhere safe to run.” With a grunt, she yanked me back up to my hooves. “Lucky for you, I have somewhere you can hide.”

“So, what? I’m supposed to just go sit somewhere and hope you and mom don’t die?” I didn’t like that at all. There had to be something I could be doing. “This Flint guy, he’s the one who wanted me. What if…”

She cut me off. “If you suggest killing him…”

I turned it around and cut her off. “Fuck no! I’m going to tell him the truth! Hating me or not, he’s letting Ash run around fulfilling a personal vendetta on his purse!” Storm smiled a bit on that. “If I’m lucky, I can convince this ‘Flint’ that it’s the only reason Ash wanted to be in charge of the contracts out on Bluejay and I…” I paused.

I’d nearly forgotten that Bluejay had already been captured.

“It’s too risky.” Storm sighed and put her hoof on my shoulder. “Get off this mountain and head north. There’s an old settlement a day and a half from here you can wait in.“ She gave me a pat and turned to Lockjaw. She gave him a nod and walked off, canting her head back to speak. As she did, she picked up her pace into a run. “Once there, you’ll find safety under a tree! I’ll come get you when I’ve made sure you mother is safe!”

After a few moments, she and Lockjaw disappeared into the fog, and after a minute, I couldn’t even hear their hoofsteps. I let out a sigh and uncovered my nose. I didn’t care anymore about the smell. I deserved to suffer.

“Where do we go now?” Sandy asked softly.

“North, like she said.” Giving one last look at Brightshine’s brother, I made sure to remember him this way. I needed to do better, to be better from now on. Once, I was sure I was the best bounty hunter in the wastes. Maybe someday I will be again, but that’s far down the road. “Come on. We’re going back to the prison.”

“What, why?” Caltrop finally broke the silence he’d had and spoke up.

“Unless you have and food or water, we need supplies.” I pushed myself up to a trot, wincing as I felt a warm feeling on my side. Looking back, I found that the stitching had been torn when Storm threw me, and I was bleeding again. It wasn’t life threatening, just another fucking agitation amongst the others.

The walk back down the mountain seemed to be more grueling than the walk going up. To make things worse, it had been completely quiet. I know that’s what I asked for, but whenever Sandy tried to ask a question about something, Caltrop never even answered. I hadn’t meant to foul the mood, but it was his own damn fault. When we came up on the small clearing where Storm had taken her smoke break, I stopped and sat down.

“We’ll rest here for a while. I need some water.” I said, raising a hoof expectantly to Caltrop. He walked over and shucked his bags off of him with a huff, dropping them into the dirt before turning and walking to the other end of the outcropping. Unimpressed by his hissyfit, I opened the bag and started to go through it.

“I thought he was your friend.” Sandy asked hesitantly as she came up to me. “Why don’t you like each other.”

“Alright, dat’s enough.” Caltrop spat out. Getting to his hooves, he walked over and glared at me. “Why do ya hate me when I show ya nothin but love?”

“Why? It's because you want love!” Tossing the bag aside, I prodded at his chest with my hoof. “I meant what I said, we can be friends, but that's where it stays.” I couldn’t believe the fact that he still expected he could take it further. “Don’t forget, you signed on with this before we even got to Baltimare.”

“Oh really?” He groan out sarcastically. “Cause those were some pretty mixed up fuckin signals back there! First ya tell me dat ya don’t want ta be friends, then ya say ya do, then ya say we are, and then ya hug me! What the fuck was I supposed ta think!”

“Did you ever stop and think for a moment that just maybe you were just misinterpreting things?” I shot back at him. He took a step back and contemplated that for a moment, still leaving me with an annoyed glare. Reaching for the bag, I started to rummage through it again. “Or maybe you aren't thinking with the right head.”

“Just stop it!” Sandy shouted at the top of her lungs. He voice squeaked so high, both Caltrop and I had to cover our ears. “Stop fighting! Friend’s don’t fight with each other!” She sniffled and started to cry again. “If that’s how you treat your friends…” She got down onto all fours and shook her head wildly. “Then I don’t want to be friends with you at all!”

Like a blue bolt, she tore through the dirt and rock, digging herself a hole. The two of us sat there in silence for a moment. To be honest, I’m not sure what we were waiting for. The howl of the wind accompanied the awkward silence, and when it was clear she wasn’t going to pop up again, I gave out a sigh of disappointment.

“Look..” I began to say.

“I’m sorry.” Caltrop spoke over me. “Maybe I did misread some of the signs. And ya right, I did agree dat it ends at friends. I was just kinda swept up in the heat of the moment, ya know?”

“Yeah.” I said softly. “I think that’s just all that happened. There’s just been so much going on… I’m sorry I yelled.”

“No, I get it. It’s been a hell of a week for the two of us. ” He grumbled and nodded. “Funny how it took her ta point this out. I can see why ya kept her around.”

“I needed her, and she needed me.” Slowly, I walked over to the hole Sandy had torn through and looked down into it. It went far enough into the mountainside that I couldn’t see the bottom. Still, I had to try to make up for this. “Sandy? I’m sorry I yelled. Caltrop and I are alright now.”

“Ya were right.” Caltrop yelled into the hole. “We won’t be yellin at each other anymore.”

A small whimper echoed through the tunnel. “Do… do you promise?” Sandy cried out weakly.

“I promise.” Caltrop said back. “Cross my heart and hope ta fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

I looked up at him quizzically over the gibberish that just erupted from his muzzle, but I could forgive it for the sake of Sandy’s friendship. We needed her friendship. It may sound wrong of me, but she was a powerhouse in a fight. She doesn’t realize her own strength, and on top of that, she lets her instincts do the fighting. She just can’t help but take down her enemies.

A pair of pink eyes looked up through the dark tunnel and slowly got closer. Both Caltrop and I smiled as she climbed her way up. Caltrop was right, it was stupid that it took someone like her to point out that we were just too angry to see that there could have been mistakes on both our parts. Even if I’m still certain he’s more at fault than I am.

“What… why would you stick a cupcake in your eye?” Sandy asked softly as she climbed from her hole.

“It’s an old way of sayin ‘I promise’. I read it in a book a long time ago.” Caltrop answered with a chuckle. “Maybe one of these days, we’ll visit my home and I’ll let ya read it. Sound good?”

She nodded with a smile before scrunching up her muzzle. “What’s a cupcake?”

--Chapter End--
“The time has come to take yourself in a new direction.”
Quests Finished: Family Bonds (FAILED), S.O.S.
Quests Started: Toward the Future
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

It's been a while since I did this, and I apologize. Most of it is absent mindedness, and part of it is that I want the chapter up as soon as it's done. It's no excuse not to give out what's owed.

Thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, Hetnu, Xjuan, Relyet, and a TON of others. Without these author's stories to inspire me, there's no way I could bring you all my own. One Author I'd like to thank in particular is Tinker Chromewire for allowing me to use Lockjaw the deadmare in my story. I consider his story canon with my own, and I hope he considers mine for his canon as well. Go read FoE - Second Wind though, great stuff along with more behind the deadmare that make such interesting characters!

As a special shout out, I'd like to Thank RevelRomp for his continued support and constructive comments that he's sent me. You are one hell of a fan, and I appreciate it greatly.

Chapter 21 - From the Ashes

Silence. Such glorious silence in the air, even with the shit from earlier.

“So…” Caltrop spoke up.

I felt it as my eye twitched from his voice. I’m not sure why I’d expected the silence to last. Just another day in the rest of my life I guess. Slowing down, I hopped off the mountain trail and slid the last few feet down to the soft dirt. The prison loomed next to us, and the courtyard seemed just as lazy as when we had left it. One of the slaves ran inside when she saw us, but that was to be expected.

“Was there an end to that, or were you disrupting my relaxing walk for nothing?” I groaned and looked back at him. My eyes swung down to Sandy, who looked disheartened at my tone. Rolling my eyes, I looked to Caltrop. “Sorry, but was something on your mind?” That got Sandy to smile and give a nod of approval. I hated that she could get under my skin like that.

“What the hell was up with ya grandma's eyes?” He reached up and scratched at his mane slowly. “Changing color an shit? That ain't weird ta ya at all?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I stopped and turned to him. “They've always been blue.”

“Boss, her eyes are green. Only when she yelled at ya did they turn blue.” He put his hoof under his chin and scrunched up his muzzle. “Ya really didn’t notice?”

“Maybe it was just the light or something.” I sat on my haunches as wiggled my hooves at him. “Or, maybe... you've been the crazy one all along!” My ridiculousness roused a giggle fit of laughter from Sandy, and a stinkeye from Caltrop. “Either way, they've always been blue.”

“Wait!” Sandy yipped out between giggles. “But I saw it happen as well!” She put a paw on her chest and tried to control her breathing. “Oh! Some of the older dogs were colorblind! Maybe you are too!”

“Sandy, unless you're green, I know what blue looks like.” I shrugged and turned back around. Walking again, I spoke to them from over my shoulder. “Besides, so what if they did. My Grandma’s weird. She’s over sixty, but doesn’t look a day over forty. She’s sneaky as all hell, she knows when ponies are looking at her, and above that she’s a goddess damned hero in Baltimare. I don’t even know why that is! No pony there will tell me!”

Following the edge of the fence, we curved around it toward the prison’s entrance. Two zebra slaves stood at the door, each one with a shotgun in hoof. The way that they looked at us approach, I didn’t trust them. I stopped and held up my hoof.

“You two, stay here.” I spoke softly. “Something feels off, and I don’t like it.”

“Ok, Boss.” Caltrop simply replied.

Slowly, I made my way up toward the prison doors. The guards eyed me with a pair of almost matching snarls. I tried to not think about it, but deep down it was bugging me. These slaves only managed to be released because of me. They should be thanking me for what I fucking did. Angrily, I pushed the doors open and trotted down the hallway. As I turned to corner, I was stopped by a fairly large looking stallion.

“Gin know’s why you’ve come.” He spoke in a stern tone, and I didn’t care to even meet his gaze. Seeing the grimace he wore on his muzzle was enough for me. “I will take you if you would follow me.” Turning, he hadn’t waited for a response. I followed, just wanting to get this over with and get the fuck out of here.

He lead me down the hall toward the cafeteria. As we approached, the double doors swung open and before me, sitting on a stack of tables, was a middle aged Zebra. He looked like he had been declared king, and that his steel throne of tables was his and his alone. If he had already set up some sort of hierarchy amongst the slaves, I’d had to give him credit. Once I stepped through the doors, something told me that he had been meant to keep my attention.

My vision knocked down as my head exploded into pain. I cried out and tried to run, but a great weight on my back prevented me from doing so. Looking up again, I saw the Zebra smile just before I collapsed to the ground. Looking to my left and my right, six ponies had me pinned to the floor.

“What the fuck is this!” I shouted up. “I helped you all, and this is how you treat me?”

“No, the Storm mare helped us.” The ‘king’ finally spoke. Slowly, he made his way down from the tables. “You are an outlaw now, Miss Cap, a piece of misplaced property like the rest of us. Do you not see the Irony imposed by your situation?”

“I am no ponies property, never have been, never will be.” I growled back. That knock to my horn made my head pound harder every time I tried to focus. “And if you want to keep that tongue of yours, I suggest never calling me as such again.”

He smiled a deranged smile. “Or you will do what? Kill us?” Letting out a deranged laugh, quite a few of the others in the room joined him. I took the moment to try to wiggle free, but it was no use. “No, I think not. Do you know why it is that I know of you?”

“Enlighten me why I should care.” I took a deep breath and relaxed. Focus doesn’t come easy unless I can just relax.

“Because when they took my family from our village, we had a hard time adjusting to the life servitude. My wife insisted that I find a way to take our son and run. I insisted against it, but her foalish words filled my son's head with ideas. And so he ran.” He hopped down to the floor and stepped up to me. Slowly, he reached out and cupped my chin, pulling my muzzle up to his glare. “A year I spent, trading favors to learn of where he went. To know what he did with his freedom. As a reward for my efforts, I was told that the six-gun mare had hunted him down, and murdered him.”

“The asshole made the mistake of running.” I snapped, smirking. Given the chance, until he tried to kill me, I wasn’t going to shoot this bastard. Storm would beat me if I did, but she never said I couldn’t provoke him.

“You are right. It was his mistake, and that is the only reason you aren't dead, Miss Cap.” He sighed and sat down in front of me. “Would you like to hear another story? I promise that you will like this one. It is somewhat relatable to all this.”

“I'd rather see you choke on your own blood.” I groaned.

“Let me start with a question. Does it hurt, Miss Cap? Knowing you'll never see the heavens above the clouds?” He canted his head and frowned. “Only one Zebra did not know this pain. Long ago he lived, much before even your kind settled these lands. He vowed to the stars that he would find a way to touch them, even if it killed him.” He paused and poked his hoof at me. “Do you know what he did?”

“He probably didn't bore me to death with stupid stories.” I rolled my eyes and tried to focus on #1. My magic unsnapped the holster, but somepony holding me kept the gun from sliding out. I’m pretty sure I know why he had six ponies holding me now.

“He grew wings, Miss Cap. His will to reach the stars was so great, that feathered wings sprouted from his back. The summer's thanksgiving festival in his village took it as a sign of divinity. Overcome with joy, he raced up into the sky to meet the stars he loved so much.” He stood up and held his forelegs out, flapping them like a moron. “But the sun, he saw this gift for the perversion it was. Out of spite, the sun turned his wings to ash, and the young stallion fell back to the ground where he belonged.” He spun and sank back to a seated position.

This was becoming torture. “Was there a point to all this?” I huffed. Trying to get the jump on them, I struggled and grabbed for any of my guns. They were all too well placed, and I ended up just wasting my time again.

“I see you aren't as perceptive as I'd been told.” He snorted and gave a wave of his hoof. The ponies on my back started to wiggle their hooves under me. I wasn’t sure what they were doing, but when part of my harness unsnapped, I knew I had to get out of here. Using all my strength, I managed to rise up a few inches. That was, until the big guy who I’d followed in came over and pressed the barrel of a pistol into the side of my head. The rest of my harness unsnapped and was dragged off of me. I had been disarmed.

“Ahem.” The zebra spoke up, getting my attention again. “In our culture, we have a name for those whose ambitions outpace their actions. Ekarus, the stallion who fell.” Giving another wave of his hoof, two of the bigger looking ponies hooked their legs under mine and started to drag me off. No matter how I struggled, their grip was absolute. “Farewell, my Ekarus. You should pray that we shall not meet again.”

“You son of a bitch!” I snapped and kicked the whole way down the hall. “One of these days, I'll fucking kill you. You hear me!” The doors to the cafeteria were shut and I was dragged back towards the entrance. I let loose a roar of frustration and heard the doors behind me open.

“Hey! Let her go!” Sandy growled out. The two ponies holding me did just that. Quickly, they backed away as Sandy ran up, holding her claws out. Even the two guards whined and retreated back inside, shutting the doors with a heavy slam.

“Boss, what happened in there!” Caltrop shouted as he trotted over. He tried to help me up, but I shook him off me.

“It doesn’t matter.” Shaking myself off, I turned north and started to trot. “We’re getting the hell away from this place before everyone inside regrets it.” There was nothing I could do about my guns now. "Sandy, can you cut down one of those fence posts for me? And maybe some of that razor wire as well?" I plan on making good on my threat eventually, but it was too risky now.

Going back in there would just get me killed. Unfortunately, the walk from here to up north was a long one, and I needed any weapon I could get. As clumsy as it's going to be, as a razor wire club was still better than nothing.

“So, what was it like?” Caltrop had a bounce in his step. He and Sandy had been chit chatting non-stop from the prison, and I’d slipped behind in our walk. For once, listening to them was fine. It kept my mind off of worrying about my mother. Letting out a yawn, I’d found it also helped keep me off how exhausted I was.

“Living in the den wasn’t too fun, but I did like how close we all were.” Sandy yipped. “The older dogs were always digging and collecting gems, and the few pups who could help did.”

“Did ya like ta collect gems?” Caltrop asked. “Sounds kinda borin ta me.”

“I…” Sandy’s smile dropped, and she kicked a loose pebble along the ground. “I wasn’t allowed to help.”

“Well dat’s stupid.” He spat out. “I bet ya would have found the biggest gems of them all!”

He words brought a smile back to her muzzle again, as if suddenly all was right in the world again. Friendship still didn’t make sense to me, at least, not in any meaningful way. I still didn’t know why anyone would outright seek it. Maybe it’s not friendship you want.

That thought jarred my mind and brought the rest of me to a grinding halt. Including the part that knew that stopping your stride halfway through ment gravity and momentum took over. I got out a half garbled curse before I found myself face down in the dirt. With a light sigh, I decided that it was time for a rest. My hooves felt like lead weights, and I was thirstier than I’ve ever been.

“Can’t I just catch one break.” I’d asked to the clouded sky. No guns, no home, and no hopes of getting either of those back anytime soon. Worst of all, if Storm isn’t fast enough…

“PC!” Caltrop cried out as he galloped back. “Are ya alright? Where are ya hurt?”

“Just my pride.” I grumbled out. “It’s the exhaustion getting to me. We haven’t had a break in what feels like years.” Climbing back onto my hooves, Caltrop gave me his shoulder to lean against. “Let’s just keep our eyes peeled for somewhere to lay low for a while.”

“What about there?” Sandy called out from up ahead.

My eyes followed to where she was pointing. A dark speck wavered along the horizon, awash in the midday heat radiating off the ground. Looking around, I didn’t see any other options anywhere. My instincts told me that we should keep going, and avoid it. You know what? Fuck that, my instincts have gotten me nothing but trouble. Besides, I wanted to rest somewhere nice.

“Yeah.” I nodded and stepped in time with Caltrop. “There looks fine.”

In dragging the barbed wire pipe along with us, I started to have to make focusing choices. I know it had been floating lower and lower in my magic, and when it scraped against a rock, I knew it was time to give it up. We were so close to whatever that thing was, I didn’t think we’d need it anyway.

One hoof in front of the other. Step by step, we trudged across the wasteland at what felt like a snails pace. For some reason as well, it was getting hotter. It’s hard to tell the seasons below the cloud cover, but it wasn’t supposed to be this hot. I started to have a bad feeling about it, and I lost myself in those thoughts.

What if somepony from the prison comes after us? I’m in no condition to fight, and as great as she is, Sandy is just a pup. I nudged my vision up to Caltrop, watching him as he kept his eyes pinned on our destination. Could he come through in a fight? He’s proven adaptable so far, even with me making things harder on him.

“Looks like a Cabin.” He spoke up.

Sure enough, it was a small cabin resting at the edge of what was once a lake. Now it was a wide bowl of dirt with a rotten dock sitting in it. The fenced yard of foals toys and a jungle gym at least told me that this place might have a good amount of supplies in it if it hasn’t been raided already. Which looked to have been the case, because the back front door was slightly open.

“Sandy, I want you to stay in the fenced yard until we’ve checked out the house.” I gave her a weak grin and pat her on the head softly. “Keep a look out for anypony, okay? If you see anypony, just yell and we’ll come to you.”

“Okay!” She smiled and wagged her tail before darting off towards the rusted jungle gym.

“Are ya alright, Boss?” Caltrop lowered his voice to a whisper. “I ain’t seen ya this bad before, even when I had ta run ya ta Novocain.”

“I’ll be fine, I just need to rest.” My voice probably carried more of my agitation than I should have let it, but I’m sure he understood. “Let’s search this place and see if it’s safe.”

With a nod, he carried us forward at a slow pace. Getting to the door, he opened it slowly. The door creaked loudly, and the sound sent a shiver up my spine. On the floor just inside the door were, as much as I could tell, four skeletal ponies. The fact that their bones were unbroken was a fairly good testament that nopony had been through here before. Carefully, Caltrop and I entered. The snap of dry bones under my hooves sent the fear of dehydration back through my mind. I’d hoped that my bones didn’t do that while I was still trying to use them.

Other than the kitchen, the main room consisted of two couches, an old busted up radio, and a large circular rug. Two separated bedrooms were viewable from where we were, and Caltrop knew that was where we should start looking. He kicked open the already ajar door to the first one, and walked me over to the mattress. With little more than a nudge, he pushed me over onto it.

Recovering from the flop, I glared at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Lay there while I search.” He snipped back, seemingly ignoring me to go about rifling through the wooden dresser against the far wall. “If I see ya get up, I’ll just push ya down again.” He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Got dat?”

“I could shoot you for that.” I sighed out and lay back down. Now that I was here, I didn’t so much object to it. “I just… wish it wasn’t so hot.” I whined and lazily wiped at my brow. The sweat felt so damn good against my foreleg that I almost didn’t hear Caltrop.

“What did ya just say?” He shook his head and turned around.

About then, a weird rhythmic metal noise came from outside. Both Caltrop and I scrambled to get back out there to see what it was, but he wasn’t as tired as I was. He was up and out the front door by the time I’d made it out of the bedroom. By the time I got to the kitchen window to look out, he had returned at a leisurely pace. Outside, Sandy was bouncing on an old trampoline that had been in the yard. The two century old rusted springs were making the annoying sound.

“Sandy, get off that before you hurt yourself.” I shouted out the window to her. “Or, at least before you break it and then hurt yourself.”

“I'll be fine!” She shouted back amidst her panting, jumping higher with each bounce. “See! it's still strong! Strong spri…”

There was a ripping sound as she came down, and she let out a quick scream before disappearing from sight. The sound of shearing metal joined the now muffled whines as both Caltrop and I broke for the door.

“Sandy!” I shouted as we ran. Only silence followed as we both pushed ourselves to see what had happened. Caltrop flipped the rusted and ruined trampoline away, revealing a small circular hole in the dirt. A few metal ladder rungs ran along the inside, along with sheared metal and concrete marks running down into the darkness. “Sandy, are you okay? Please, answer me!”

Slowly, her voice drifted up to us. “Ow.” She whined softly. “I'm okay. I landed on a soft square... thing. It smells like mold.”

“A mattress? I wonder what dat's doing down a hole.” he scratched at his mane. “Or what a hole like this is doin here at all!”

“I know it's a longshot, and that they are hard to find, but maybe it's a stable?” I knew it was a wild guess. The last one that I’d heard had opened was this ‘Red Eye’ stallion’s. Before that, it had been ages to my knowledge. Still, underground mattress ment it could be one.

“Nah, I don't think so. The one I used ta live next ta was big enough it had ta be built inta a cliffside. Had a big gear door for an entrance an everythin!” Caltrop shrugged and paused. “Could be just a regular shelter. Seein as Sandy fell in by accident, chances are it ain’t been looted yet!”

He had a good point. “Right. If there is some good stuff in there, I say we cover the hole and stay here for the night.” I reached forward and felt my head drag me down. I’d have fallen in had Caltrop not been fast enough to grab me.

“Geez PC, ya burnin up.” He grunted out as he yanked me back. “I think ya might be sick or somethin. Maybe… ” Slowly, he wedged himself under me and hoisted me onto his back. “I think ya side’s infected. Hang on ta me tight an I’ll take ya down and make ya good as new! How does dat sound?”

Simply nodding, I hooked my forehooves around his neck. I was becoming more tired by the minute, and I felt my strength fading as he lowered us down. At some point during the climb, he said something to me, but I couldn’t really understand it. Only when my grip slipped did I think that just maybe I should have been trying harder to listen. It didn’t matter now as I fell into a dark and cold slumber.

“You can’t protect her forever you know.” Storm snapped at mom. I had been hiding in my room, afraid of Grandma. She’d come home covered in blood. Her friend had died in front of me on the table, and I was so afraid of the visceral and violent end that I’d run back to my room screaming.

“That may be, but she doesn’t need to see the trouble you bring back.” Mom yelled back at her. “Goddesses, Mom. What if he was still dangerous? You can’t keep bringing these ponies back because you feel sorry you shot them one too many times!”

“Hey, everypony deserves a second fucking chance.” Storm yelled back louder. “That’s kinda my fucking thing, you know? Or did you forget what I had to do to give you yours? Wiping that raiders den out nearly got me killed.”

“Well I’m sorry that I’m not perfect. That I couldn’t be who you wanted me to.” Mom screamed out. “I’ll just be your little disappointment forever. Lever Action, Storm’s greatest shame!” Mom ran crying down the hall and into her room, which started me crying as well.

Storm had left us that night. I wouldn’t see her again for another two years. That was to pick up the job in New Pegas, before I’d gotten my cutie mark. I never got why mom lost the drive to bounty hunt, even after I got old enough to take care of myself. Now it makes a little more sense. Like mother, like daughter I guess. Failures through and through in Storm’s eyes.

“Boss?” Caltrop’s voice drifted into my mind. It shattered my dream and jolted me back to life. Alarmed, I sat up and reached for my guns with my magic. Only to remember I no longer had them. Caltrop’s hooves stopped me from getting all the way up. “Woah there, take it easy.” He smiled softly. “The fever’s passed, but ya ain’t better yet.”

The slow strumming of guitar music came from a small radio across the room we were in. I took a moment to look around. It was a fairly small domed room, lit up with a single lightbulb that glowed dimly on the ceiling. This shelter had been completely untouched since the days of the war. Sandy sat at a small table, playing with a stuffed rabbit doll colored like the Ministry of Peace. Behind her was a shelf completely stocked with canned food of all sorts. I was in one of three beds, and the farthest one from me had an opened foot locker on it.

“How’s Sandy?” I spoke in a whisper, my parched throat screaming at me. As if he knew, Caltrop hoofed me a bottle of what looked to be clean water. I guzzled it down before he could tell me to take my time. “She’s not hurt, is she?”

“Nah, other than a few scrapes, she’s fine.” Caltrop took the bottle back and set it down. He looked around the shelter again. “If it weren’t for her, I don’t know what we would’a done.”

“Find anything good down here?” I was happy that we were alright, but there was one thing in particular that was on my mind.

“A couple of smutty magazines, a few bits…” He trailed off and stared at the table Sandy was at. Propped up against it was a small, black lever action rifle. “Dat was about the most dissapointin thing though.” He caught my confused look and chuckled. “It’s a damn toy BB gun. Sandy asked if she could keep it and I said sure.”

I laid back down, feeling a sharp pain jab at my side. I gasped out and writhed for a moment, throwing back the blanket I’d been under to see a cloth bandage around my side.

“Oh yeah, they had a stocked med kit here as well. Used both potions ta heal ya side… mostly.”

“Both? For just a small cut?” I grunted as I tried to lay back down. Having spent however long sleeping, you’d think I’d be able to get comfortable again.

“Well, I forgot ta clean the dirt out of it. I’d remembered after it closed it up, and well I kinda had ta… cut ya back open.” He gave me a nervous shrug. “Good thing they had two potions in the kit, right! Too bad it wasn’t enough ta stop the soreness.” Laughing out louder, he took a step back as I raised my hoof.

“You may be a dolt, but I owe you. Much more than I could ever pay back.” I pat him on the shoulder. “Thank you.” Sighing, I finally found a nice and comfortable position to lay in. “Now get some rest. As soon as we are ready, I want to continue north. We need to get as far as we can from those asshole’s at the prison.”

“Uh, you’ve been sick for almost a day. The prison ain’t a problem anymore…” He smiled brightly. “The radio said dat Red Eye’s ponies went in and killed everypony! Those jerks got what they deserved.”

“Yeah…” I forced a smile. “Great.”

Even if that zebra douchebag got what he deserved, two things were still true. The first was that the other slaves there didn’t deserve that. Most of them were too weak to move out yet, let alone defend themselves. Hell, the unicorn who healed me there, she had just wanted to help.

As sad as that was, the second truth was the more painful of the two. For all the bullshit he spout, he was right. Both he and Storm saw the flaws in me, that I let my hubris and ambitions get in the way of living. There will come a day where I hope to be even a fraction as skilled as I’d once claimed I was, but it is not today, nor tomorrow.

No. For me, it’s back to square one.

--Chapter End--
“Sometimes, second chances are best taken alongside a clean slate.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

Thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, Hetnu, Xjuan, Relyet, and a TON of others who would take far too long to name. Without these author's stories to inspire me, there's no way I could bring you all my own.

Chapter 22 - Why they always run

“A Gardener? Really? Out of anything you could be, you want to grow food?” Caltrop spat his beans out in shock. I raised my eyebrow to him. “I’m mean, there ain’t nothin wrong with dat. It’s just…” He drifted off.

“It’s just what?” I shot back to him before taking a bite of my spinach.

“Ya don’t exactly seem like the type suited ta growin stuff.” He shrugged and looked down at his plate. “Figured ya would want somethin with more excitement, ya know?” He pushed the beans on it around with his hoof. “Though, I guess ya get enough of dat already.”

He was right. I think I’d always wanted to garden because it was peaceful. It helped that I could do it on my own, and support myself. Just till up some land, plant some seeds, and care for them. No danger, no rent. Just me and the land. Maybe someday I still can...

“Well, what about you?” I broke off from my train of thought. “If you could do anything for a living, what would it be?”

“Oh, dat’s easy. I’d sing.” He smiled to himself and dove back into his plate of beans.

“I’d be an explorer!” Sandy shouted and bounced on the bed she’d claimed. “Maybe I’d go to the stars and get to meet Laika even.” She smiled and carefully squeezed the bunny plush she’d found down here.

“Sounds about right.” Smiling, I pushed myself up from the table, leaving the spinach for later. I stretched out before allowing myself to flop into my own bed. I knew that we should really be moving on to the hiding place that Storm Suggested, but even if she had carried on home overnight, she’d just be arriving in Baltimare now. Not only that, I was still not good enough to travel. Another night here, that should be enough.

“Really? Dat’s it?” Caltrop asked as he too got up. “Just… why is it so easy ta believe dat I’d sing?”

“Well,” I started. “Your voice is clear, so that much makes sense. You sang to me before...” I paused as a smile crept across my muzzle. “That and plenty of mares did it before the war, it’s only natural you’d want to do the same.”

“I’ll take dat as a compliment.” He snipped as he walked in between our beds. “And I don’t see how ya keep judgin me fer bein so mare like!” He clenched his bed’s pillow in his fetlock and swung it at me, pomfing me across the muzzle. “Ya should try it some time, maybe ya’d like it!”

“Oh, I’m not mare-like enough for you?” I giggled like a filly and wrestled against his blows to get my own pillow out from under me. Wrapping my magic around it, I fired it at him like a missile, smacking him in the head.

“No! I’ve been with stallions more mare-like then ya!” He hoofed the pillow into his muzzle and shook all about, flailing the old feather filled sack at me. I couldn’t defend against his flurry of blows, but it ended abruptly when one end caught my horn. One ear flattening rip later, we were all covered in two century old feathers.

Lifting the old pillow case from my head, I found Caltrop shiftily looking any direction but me. My eyes drifted to Sandy, who was staring wide eyed at the fluttering, off white feathers as they wafted down through the air.

“Is this… snow? They said it was white and fluffy, so...” She gasped, going cross eyed as one of them dropped right onto the end of her nose. It hung there for a moment before Sandy let out a sudden sneeze. She wiggled her nose and wiped it furiously. “Snow makes my nose itchy.” Caltrop and I turned and looked at each other as I could feel more giddy laughter bubble up from inside me.

I groaned in between laughs as my side started to hurt again. Calming ourselves slowly, Caltrop flopped down onto his bed as I rolled over onto my back. From everything that’s happened, laughter was the last thing in my mind I’d thought to have felt recently. I took another look around the shelter. Fully stocked, power that could run for a good long while, and enough room for all three of us.

Sorrow peaked it’s head in to whisper a grim truth amongst our enjoyment. This place had been meant to save ponies in the war. Somepony’s family made this their escape from the hell that became the world, and they never made it. The doll that Sandy had found, was it for a foal that would have been born in this shelter? Or did somepony so young leave it here so that at least it would never view the horror’s of the wasteland? So that above all else, it would be safe?

My eyes drifted over to both Sandy and Caltrop. Three beds, to save three from the wastes. If it weren’t for the fact that Storm had told us to go north, maybe we could have stayed here. It’s no farm, and the food wouldn’t last more than a few months, but it’s peaceful. Down here, there’s no hate, no danger from raiders or slavers.

“Ya alright there, Boss?” Caltrop asked, staring at me as I realized that the room had fallen silent amid my wandering thoughts.

I wanted to tell him that for once, everything was perfect. That I hadn't felt this good in years. The only thing that kept it from coming out, was Sandy’s ears twitching before she spun around toward the exit ladder.

She turned and looked at me with fear in her eyes. “Someone’s outside.”

My instincts took over and in one fluid motion, I’d rolled out of bed and was nearly halfway across the bunker. When I got to the concrete tube that rose to the surface, I tilted my head up to listen. The mattress that Caltrop had dragged out of the house blocked most of the sound coming from the outside, which was probably a good thing. We hadn’t exactly been quiet down here.

“You’re sure?” I dropped my voice to a low whisper and shot a glance back to Sandy. She nodded her head and pulled her bunny doll close.

Hooking my hooves around the old, rusted ladder rungs, I climbed upwards. The musty mattress that lay flush against where the hatch used to sit, did little to muffle the sound of the wind. Pressing my ear against it, I realized it wasn’t the wind at all.

“Come on Flak, we've still got a job to do.” A voice spoke up, accompanying the steady beat of wings. Ever so slightly, I lifted the mattress just enough to peek out from. A small gust pushed some dust through before the sharp yellow talons of a gryphon landed just feet away from our sanctuary.

“No, I saw a zombie heading this way, and I want to at least have some fun today.” Another voice spoke up. The voice circled around, seeming to change directions a few times before another griffon dropped onto the dirt. This one was far enough away that I could see him. A tawny yellow griffon crouched imposingly in the dirt, his silver eyes scanned the surroundings before he looked over to the old cabin. His sleek black combat armor looked brand new, as did the simple combat rifle slung against his side. “I bet it’s hiding inside over there. Cornered like a rat in a trap!”

“Leave it. I promise I'll let you shoot any prison slaves that escaped, but we're not going to waste our time with this.” The voice next to me sighed in agitation. “We’re heading back. Now.”

There was something about the voice of this one that made me sure that he was the one in charge between them. Strict, logical, and dedicated was just how all Talon mercs were. Well, if the other one is any example, then it’s not as well taught as I thought.

“Any of your previous wingmates ever tell you you're as annoying as Captain Gavii?” The other griffon shook his head and unslung his rifle. “Besides, it will only take a minute.”

“Oh, people tell me I sound like Captain Gavii all the time! You know why? Cause we've got fucking work to do. The only reason I haven't beaten your ass is because you're from Vanhoover, and you know my Mother.” The talon close to me ground his talons into the dirt. “Now, holster that fucking weapon, and fall in line.” He growled. “Initiate.”

“Fine.” The other one sighed, slinging his gun back across his chest.

“Fine, what?” The closer talon snapped.

I felt a tickle at my side and I bit my lip to keep from making any noise. Caltrop pushed his way up the rungs, shoving me over to one side of the small tube. In the limited light, I made sure he saw my agitated glare. What if they’d heard him? He could be such a moron sometimes.

“Fine, sergeant Surnia.” The far talon rolled his eyes and spread his wings. With a kick from his hind legs, he jumped into the air and took off. The talons in the dirt next to us spun to follow the noise of his beating wings. Slowly, they walked a few feet from us before stopping. What stood there was a fairly plump looking Griffon. His plumage fluffed out of every opening in his outfit, and the tan accents to it almost looked like stripes that ringed his body. A short, hooked beak and piercing yellow eyes kept their gaze along the horizon.

“I know you are there. You can come out and I won't hurt you. Talon's keep their word.” The griffon in charge spoke in our direction before looking down to the slit we viewed from. Slowly, I turned to look to Caltrop, who had the look of utter confusion on his face. I didn’t know how he’d figured it out, but we were unarmed and unprepared for a fight. “I just want to ask you some questions. Mainly if you've seen any escaped slaves.”

I was about to speak up when Caltrop beat me to the punch.

“We don't want any trouble.” He raised a hoof and pushed the mattress up, sliding it back so he could climb out. “My wife was sick from a rad scorpion sting... we were only restin here until the fever passed.”

I’d have to smack him for that. I needed to have a bit of a talk about how we’ll deal with shit like this in the future. Whether or not that lie gets us out of that jam, and even if it worked on Novocain, it won’t always fool somepony. My eyes turned to the griffon, who studied Caltrop for a moment before raising an eyebrow to me.

He pointed a talon to me. “Step out into the open and I'll let you go on your merry way.” His other talon slipped down along his side towards a holstered pistol, watching as I slowly did as he asked. As I pulled myself all the way out, he froze and stared at me. “Ah, not a slave, but a prisoner. I've seen your face on a bounty, and I will report you.”

I wasn’t expecting that. After only a moment, he ID’d me from a crude sketch? No, this was now too dangerous. I had to act. I focused lightly around the pistol on his side, about to unsnap the holster to draw it when he held his talons out towards us.

“But…” He paused, wagging a talon as he made sure to glance at his gun. Even now he’d known what I was doing. “It's not my job to bring you in. My Contract says I'm just here for slaves. Rest assured though it is not your lucky day, as somepony else will be along shortly to claim you. I suggest you save the trouble by turning yourself in.”

“Sorry, but I can’t do that.” I kept my eyes locked on his, slowly releasing my grip from his gun. In doing so, he visibly relaxed, slowly unfurling his wings.

“That is your choice to make.” He replied, standing up on his hind legs to an impressive height, spreading his wings wide as he pointed down to me. “Know any who shelter you are in danger.” He shifted his talon to Caltrop. “And for their sake, hope they don’t give a talon the contract.”

With a great heave, he lifted off into the air, his judgemental eyes glaring down upon us as he turned away. When he finally rose high enough we couldn’t see them, Caltrop gave out a sigh and collapsed. Slowly he looked up to me with a small smile.

“I think I liked it better when we weren’t on the run.” He shook his head and wiped at his forehead. I didn’t like that. He spoke of ‘we’ as if this were a problem we shared. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“Yeah…” I sighed and looked out towards the northern mountains. “Gather what you can. We can’t stay here any longer.”

He nodded and pulled himself up. Carefully, he lowered himself back down into the shelter. This feeling inside was one that I knew intimately even though I’d never experienced it. It was something I’d inflicted upon countless others through the years. Ultimately, it was that which got us into this situation. It was the fear that came from being hunted. The urge to constantly look over your shoulder, and knowing that if you ever stopped, you were dead.

“Aww, do we really have to leave?” Sandy’s voice echoed up to me, sending a chill down my spine.

Neither of them needed to know this sort of suffering. They had been drawn into my life through my mistakes. They didn’t need to be put in danger by me. Much like this bunker, I’d used them for protection. They had both filled a void when I had become hopeless and needed help. I have grown fond of the interactions I’ve had with them, and for the sake of what I now understand friendship to be, I need to leave them. Caltrop can take care of Sandy, or the reverse most likely if necessary.

“Make sure ta grab as much of the food as ya can.” Caltrop spoke in a slow and disappointed tone. “Shame we couldn’t have stayed longer.” He sighed and knocked a hoof against the bars below me. “Heya, PC. Ya might want ta put these back on.” With a grunt, I found my coat and hat tossed up and out of the hole. The cloth landed at my hooves and I could do nothing other than smile sadly.

Tonight then will be when I go.

Spending time in the bunker had thrown our perceptions off, and it was late afternoon when we had finally gotten our supplies squared away. Leaving the comfort and security of the bunker was hard. Storm always told me how the Stable dwellers she’d seen had been hesitant to leave, and I never got that. I guess that point of view is one of the things I’ve changed my mind on.

I had mixed blessings about wearing my coat and hat again. On one hoof, it had felt so damn good to wear again. Even though it never offered me much protection, anything is better than nothing. It just felt… odd to wear it without my harness underneath. I missed my guns, but in truth, I’m just glad I still had my life.

We followed north along the cracked and uneven old pavement of a prewar road. It didn’t offer us much cover, but then again, these plains were just empty. Flat and open made for quick travel though, so it didn’t bother me. Unless somepony came from above, we’d see them coming from a mile away.

“We’re off on an adventure, Mr. squeakers!” Sandy had been speaking playfully to her newfound toy of course. She’s been so ignorant to just how dangerous things in the wasteland can be, but I can’t take her happiness away from her. That wasn’t my job, the only thing I needed to do was to protect them. “Do you want to sing a song?” She asked the stone silent doll. Singing wasn’t the best idea when we were on the run. It was too dangerous, so I was going to have to say no.

“I’ve got an idea.” Caltrop spoke up from beside me before I could. “Sandy, do ya want ta play a game?” He waited until she nodded, which she did furiously. “It’s called ‘I spy’. I tell yah somethin I see, and yah look for it until yah find it. Sound fun?”

“Yes, Mr. Caltrop!” She smiled brightly and bounced on her hind legs.

“Alright…” His words drifted off as he looked around the horizon. A smile stretched across his muzzle as he looked to me. “I spy, a pony in the distance.”

“Alright, Mr. squeakers! Keep your eyes open!” She giggled and kept her head on a swivel. Of course from how he looked at me, I knew that there wasn’t any pony out there. He knew as well as I did we needed to keep a low profile. Putting her to work as a lookout however, was something I wouldn’t have ever thought of.

“Smart thinking.” I lowered my voice down a bit. I knew Sandy would be able to hear me, but so long as we’re being careful, it’s best to take every precaution. “We should also be on the lookout for another place to stay. It will be dark in a few hours, and I have no idea if we’re even close.”

“We can look for that too!” Sandy joyfully squeaked out. “Isn’t that right?” She looked down to her doll again and pulled it into a hug. Farbeit for me to understand how she can ‘accidentaly’ rend a pony’s leg from their body, but she doesn’t pierce two century old fabric.

“It may be a bit out of our way, but I think there’s a warehouse around here somewhere.” Caltrop shrugged and kept his eyes to the road ahead.

“What makes you say that?” I scanned the horizon myself, not sure how he figured he knew. To be honest, it didn’t matter where we stayed the night, I wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. They knew the path north, and they knew what to look for to be safe. My direction would be home. I know Storm doesn’t want to risk it, but with this much heat on my own head, we’re going to need to work together.

Caltrop stopped walking and pointed a hoof back to the dirt. Laying flat and fairly rusted, was a dusty old sign. The faded words were half obscured and partially missing, but what it did say was M. Distribution Wareh.

“Listen, PC…” He said softly, walking forward again with his head held low. “There’s somethin I was hopin ta talk ta yah about tonight.” Kicking a rock as he caught up along side of me, I’d hoped that it wouldn’t be about that kiss. Even though you enjoyed it. My mind really didn’t know when to quit, did it? As if to read my thoughts, he cleared me of that worry. “Don’t worry, it ain’t about anything between us. Just… got some things dat I think yah should know.”

“Look, just focus on finding us somewhere to stay.” I shook my head and watched as Sandy scampered around on the road ahead of us. For some reason, she stopped fifty feet ahead or so, keeping her eyes locked on a mass of dried up shrubbery. No more than a few feet into the ditch alongside the road, it wasn’t big enough for anything dangerous to be in. “Sandy, what is it?” I called out to her.

“I… dunno!” She looked back at me hesitantly. “It’s pretty…”

“Well, don’t touch it then.” Caltrop said before trotting ahead of me. I didn’t believe him when he told me it wasn’t about that kiss. He damn well know’s what my rules are, and if he wants to dance this dance again, I’m just going to have to keep smacking sense into him. “Shit, Sandy!”

His alarmed shout pulled me out of my thoughts just in time to see her double over and throw up. I galloped over as Caltrop hooked a hoof around her and dragged her off the road away from the bush.

“I don’t feel so good.” Sandy groaned and curled around his hoof, wrecking and dry heaving weakly.

“Fuckin radiation!” Caltrop shouted, pointing to a hollowed out section of the dried bramble. “Pc, I don’t know how bad she is, but she needs medicine.”

Even as I trotted closer, I could see the shimmering from the multicolored egg that sat inside. The crack that ran down one of the sides undulated with magic. The closer I got, the more I could feel it’s pulsing at the tip of my horn. Mom never kept these kind of things in the shop, something about them being dangerous and unstable. What I didn’t get, was that somepony just left it out here. A terrifying screech tore through the air above us, and I looked up with just enough time to see a balefire phoenix diving down at me.

“Run!” Was all I could shout as I flattened and rolled myself to avoid the angry creature. Caltrop didn’t need to be told twice, bursting into a hobbled gallop. He’d pulled Sandy as close as he could as he ran. Once I got back onto my hooves, I took off after him. I focused my magic to feel down his leg, slowly wrapping it around Sandy’s groaning form. With her now floating to his side, and me catching up quickly, he shot his gaze back and forth before peeling off from the road.

There was another piercing cry from the phoenix before it dove. I cried out as my back erupted into pain. It felt as if it was boiling, the smell of charred flesh rose through my coat to my nose. The bright green light of it zipped forward and dove at Caltrop. It raked him across the back, and he too let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Over there!” He screamed out.

Just on the horizon was a low dark rectangle. It had to be shelter, but would it be enough protection from an angry phoenix? I told myself it would have to be as we kicked up dust from our beating hooves.

As fast as it had appeared, the phoenix seemed to lose interest. It gave a shrill call as it flew away, and I knew that we’d be alright. I dug my hooves into the dirt and skidded to a stop, curving Sandy back to me through the air so it wasn’t as abrupt for her. Looking back, I saw the green bird circle the bramble a few times before descending. The thought that it was protecting the egg cropped up in my mind. It was just a mother protecting what it thought was important.

Looking back ahead, I saw that Caltrop had slowed his pace considerably, but still continued toward the dark shape on the edge of the horizon. Without another thought, I lowered Sandy onto my back and trotted with him toward shelter. It had only taken another few minutes at a trot to get up to it, and it wasn’t as welcoming as I’d thought from a distance.

With the darkening skies, the looming concrete ribs attached to the crumbling metal of the warehouse walls made this place look more like it was decomposing than falling apart. The half worn mural painted on the large double doors on the other hoof, was a warning we needed to heed. Too many stories had made their way from ponies lips about the horrific things found inside a Ministry of Morale building. That if you ever see the face of the smiling pink mare who ran it, you should turn around and leave it be.

Problem was, I couldn’t do that. Granted I didn’t know how hellhounds reacted to radiation, and I knew they were tougher than us ponies. Sandy had it pretty bad, and I knew that as close as Caltrop got to get her out of there, he’s even feeling the effects. He’s been sweating and grumbling about his stomach for the last few minutes.

“Stay out here.” I broke the silence and used my magic to pass Sandy to him. Before he could even answer, I’d walked up to one of the large warehouse doors and pushed it open just enough to get through.

Along with the low light coming through the various holes in the roof, row after row of dimly lit bulbs still glowed above the warehouse floor. Row upon row of crates, chemical tanks, and large wrapped frames lined the long concrete corridor. At the far end, sat what looked to be a small office, or employee’s area.

“There has to be a first aid kit in there. if not…” I mumbled to myself, turning around to get the others. Instead, my nose smacked into the rusted muzzle of what looked to be a protectapony. “FUCK!” I shouted and fell back onto my haunches, pushing myself back away from the menacing machine as it lumbered to the side.

I wasn’t sure why at first, but instead of stepping, it fell over. The sharp tearing of rusted metal filled the air as the rusted and ruined internal components of it spilled out onto the floor around it. It probably hadn’t moved in years, but I just happened to miss the fucking thing coming through the door. The same door which whined as it was pushed open in a hurry.

“PC, are you hurt?” Caltrop exclaimed loud enough I was afraid his voice might tear the fragile metal and bring this place down for good. His abrupt appearance threw my brain for a loop, and it took my eye twitching to get it going again.

“The fuck are you doing?” I shouted. “What if I was hurt? Who would keep Sandy safe if you just burst in here and got killed too, huh?” Snorting, I got back to my hooves and kicked the rusted head straight off the protectapony’s body.

“I… I’m sorry.” He stammered, looking guilty as he glanced back toward the door. “It’s just, yah screamed, so…”

“So what? You rushed in here to save me?” I forced out a laugh at that. “I’m not going to always be around. You need to take better care of Sandy.” Yanking the door back with my magic, I trotted back out to get her. Carefully I floated her off the ground and closer to me. She whimpered and cried softly, curling up tighter as I set her down.

“I didn’t mean ta.” Caltrop spoke at barely a whisper, turning sadly towards the other end of the warehouse. Between how she spoke up before, and how I knew I should be treating him, he didn’t need me snapping at him like that.

“I know, I’m sorry.” I grumbled as I took my place beside him. “After we find some medicine, we can talk.” I’d hoped that would spur some more life into him, but he continued to look just as gloomy. “Alright?”

“Yeah.” He sighed out, looking up to the office as we approached it.

The door had folded underhoof at the slightest pressure, and my plan to lay sandy on the table ended when it collapsing under her weight. Caltrop made quick work of searching the few rooms attached to this one. He was quite thorough, finding a hooffull of caps, an old can of spaghetti that seemed in better condition than the rusting walls, a random memory orb wrapped in notepaper, and a cracked but intact sparkle cola. I sat with Sandy as we all prayed that the first aid kit wasn’t stored in the manager’s office upstairs. There would be no way the flooring up there would last.

“Found it!” He shouted from the bathroom. Turning the corner, the soft yellow ministry of peace box rattled in his muzzle, telling me it was still stocked. Setting it down, he flipped up the latch and pushed it open. Inside, was a healing potion full of black liquid, a syringe filled with black liquid, black spotted bandages, and a single packet of Rad-Away.

“What the fuck is wrong with this stuff?” I asked as I tried to grab my magic around the bottle. The moment my magic touched it, I felt a spark kick back through it and into my horn. My vision went white for a moment and I tasted an odd flavor in my mouth. Slowly, I shook it off. “Something isn’t right here. This place is falling apart while every other building in the wastelands refuses to fall down? Medical supplies that have a weird magic to them?”

“Like yah said, what choice do we have?” Caltrop said as he picked the Rad-Away packet in his fetlock. Bringing it up to his muzzle, he tore the edge of the packet off. Slowly, he took a small sip of it. Almost immediately, he choked and sputtered a few times.

“I assume that it’s bad too?” I sighed.

“No. I just fucking hate orange flavor.” He put his other hoof over his mouth and continued to choke on the drink. Holding the packet out for me to grasp. “For some reason, it’s still good.”

I found I could hold on to it with my magic, taking it from him. I brushed Sandy softly with my hoof and it got her to uncurl. Carefully, I helped her to drink the whole packet. Surprisingly, she guzzled it down without a single complaint. Hopefully it would be enough to get rid of the sickness.

“Alright, we should be safe, so we’ll bed down here for the night.” I looked over to Caltrop as he wiped at his muzzle, sitting completely still as a low groan came from the metal walls of the warehouse.

“Dat is…” Caltrop looked around nervously. “If this place stays standin dat long.”

--Chapter End--
“10 tons of slowly disintegrating sheet metal, still weighs 10 tons.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: Bounty-ful prospects
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

Chapter 23 - What the heart wants

From the lack of whimpering, I guessed that Sandy's condition had improved in the last few minutes. I’m glad she was finally able to get some sleep after everything that happened today. This whole trip wasn’t going anywhere near as well as planned, but that fit with my whole week. Scratch that, my whole fucking life.

Caltrop and I took a minute to look over the wounds we’d received from the balefire phoenix. For me, my leather trenchcoat stopped most of the searing heat. My back was tender to the touch, but no worse for wear. Caltrop on the other hoof, had it pretty bad. Two cracked and blistered lines ran along his back, the flesh around them looked crimson and knotted.

Even though it looked bad, he should be fine for a few days. Any longer than that and he risked infection. In leaving, I was relying on them to continue to the safehouse. If they do, I’m sure Storm has it stocked with enough to keep Sandy and him alive until she get’s there. It’s a leap of faith on my part, one that I’m not happy to make. I know they’ll be safer without me, but I can’t help but feel like leaving is a bad idea.

“Ey, PC?” Caltrop spoke up and ripped me from my thoughts. “There's something we need ta talk about.” He didn’t sound too happy to talk about whatever, but he first twisted around and hoofed at his saddlebag. Slowly, he folded the flap of it back and bit down on something. Within a few moments, he’d pulled out the note I’d found in the prison. It hung from his muzzle as a very solemn look fell across his face.

“Is that what you’ve been all gloomy about?” I huffed and laid down. Credit where it’s due, he wanted me to know about his past. Problem is that knowing it was just going to make it harder to leave. “You didn’t do a very good job at hiding it. I found that a while back.”

“And yah never said anything?” He snorted, sending the note fluttering through the air and to the floor. “Yah never once wondered about anythin I'd written onta it? Did yah even care at all?”

“I figured that your past was in the past.” I grumbled and flopped onto my side, doing my best to curl up into my own coat. He just needed to drop this conversation, because I didn’t want to have to yell. “I never asked because I assumed that you didn’t feel that way anymore. You seem perfectly fine now to me.”

“Oh, and how did yah figure dat!” He groaned back in annoyance. Obviously, I’d hit some sort of nerve with this topic. I didn’t need this, not when it would be that last thing he’d say to me. There was no reason to end this any way but swiftly.

“Because you love me.” I snapped at him. “You’ve been too busy with that to care about your issues, or did I miss something with that kiss?” His muzzle scrunched and his muscles locked up as soon as he’d processed that. He knew I was right, and I knew it would shut him up. “Now, shut up and let’s get some rest. I want to get to that safe house before midday and before somepony else finds us.” I used my magic to pull my hat down over my eyes.

That was just another reason to leave, and another way I’d be protecting Caltrop in particular. These feelings he had for me served no purpose but to complicate everything. Even if you feel the same? The last thing I need tonight is for my mind to fight against what I had to do.

I’d already gotten Caltrop mixed up in the mess with Brightshine. If there’s a contract out on me, then it won’t be two-bit bounty hunters looking for me. No, they’ll all be just as good as Brightshine or better. There was no need for both he and Sandy to live through another one of my mistakes. This way would be better for everypony. I just needed to wait until He fell asleep.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long for that. Within a few minutes, Caltrop was fast asleep. Both he and Sandy laid peacefully next to each other, and for some reason, I felt good about seeing them together like that. They should be able to watch out for each other just fine. I spent a few minutes waiting, just to make sure they were actually asleep. I found my thoughts drifting in that time, and after a while, I realized I was just staring at Caltrop. With that, I knew it was time.

Under the cover of darkness, I’d slipped out of the warehouse. The softly pulsating light of the Balefire egg in the distance helped me reorient myself, and I got moving. Instead of following the road north, I’d pointed myself east and continued at a canter. If we were where I thought this place was, there should be an old Hotel and Resort only a few hours trot away. A change in direction to put some distance between us would do a lot to keep them safe till morning.

Being by myself, I thought I’d made good time under the cover of darkness, but there was always the threat of wildlife. Though, I don’t know how long it took, seeing as I spent most of the trip out this far lost in thought. The open plane near the road eventually gave way to rolling hills that were just big enough to hide something dangerous. The resort area in particular was known for hosting a few manticores and even the occasional bear. I didn’t want to run into either of them unarmed, so I’d slowed myself down. At somewhere between a trot and a walk, I had weaved my way towards the ruined resort grounds.

I was crossing what used to be a golf course when I made out an old shack with a dim light inside. It sat at a slightly canted angle in a cluster of dead trees, the whole area looking like a miniature forest among the dusty golf grounds. The thought that there might be somepony inside ran through my mind and I turned to avoid it.

I stopped when I looked up to the Hotel. Through more than a few of the window’s, I saw a sort of shimmering light. It was dim enough that had I not stopped moving, I might not have seen it. This place was a bust. Now I needed to backtrack for an hour just to get around here. Fucking waste of my time.

There was the creaking of a door behind me, and instinctively I flattened myself to the dirt. Slow hoofsteps drew closer to me. It wasn’t until I tried to slow my breathing that I realized something. Flattening in the middle of a dusty, grassless golf course was a really shitty place to hide. The hoofsteps grew closer and closer, walking at an almost casual pace. They walked right up beside me, turning and stopping just at the brim of my flattened hat.

“Hey there friend!” The pony standing above me spoke with a raspy whisper. “It’s not safe out here. Come with me.” The voice was familiar, though I couldn’t place it.

I was at this ponies mercy. They hadn’t killed me yet though, so I guess I could allot that much to this not being some sort of trick. Slowly, I glanced up. A set of softly glowing hooves of a ghoul greeted my eyes. The rotting and fetid flesh brightened and dimmed in time with his slow breaths. I couldn’t tell the color of his coat in the dark, but the two puncture wounds on his chest ran lines of dark ichor down along it. As my sight rose to meet his eyes, I realized that this was the same pony I’d met in Sandy’s caves. He smiled to me in an eerily friendly way and waved his forehoof.

“Come quickly, or she’ll notice.” He spoke again quickly. Not even waiting for a response, he trotted back past me toward the small shack among the trees. I didn’t know who ‘she’ was, or if he was even safe to trust. Every part of the old me knew I should just cut and run, but I was out of options. This was a chance I’d have to take.

With the knowledge that we weren’t alone out here, I quickly picked myself up. I trotted after him and ducked between the old trees around the rustic shack. Once inside, he shut the door behind me. The inside of the shack was quite small. A large collection of rusting cans and cracked cleaner bottles took up half of the place. This must have been where they kept the ground maintenance supplies. It was barely big enough for the two of us to stand without touching each other.

“There, now that we’re in here, she won’t hurt us.” He said with a sigh. As he did, he dimmed all at once, brightening as he drew another breath. His glow is what I had seen lighting the shack before, and I couldn’t look away from it now. The effect was oddly entrancing, like watching somepony stoke a fire. There was something primal to the look of fire. Storm spent a lot of time looking into it as if she could see something in it, even if I never did. Oddly, for some reason it helped to calm me. “... night, don’t you think?”

“What?” I stammered. Damnit, this one reason why I hated company. “Sorry, you were saying something about a Mare?”

“I was telling you that it wasn’t smart to move around the wastes at night.” He looked me over as if to study me. After a moment, he huffed and crossed his hooves on his chest. “And it’s not really a mare. Those abominations are nothing like the princesses I knew.”

Princesses?

“One of those alicorn monsters are around here?” I asked at a whisper. He gave me a simple nod back. Shit, this was bad. From the stories I’d heard, they had a lust for unicorns. I’d been lucky to have never run into one outside of home, but they were all over bad news. We needed to leave.

“Three of them are in the hotel.” He said as he raised his hooves toward me. “I know what you’re thinking, but we can’t go yet. They can see in the dark, and it’s a miracle you made it here unseen. When the sun comes up they’ll be more hesitant to give chase. Until then you have to trust me and sit tight.”

I didn’t like that. The thought to just push past him and make a break for it weighed heavily on my mind. No, it was the old me that was pushing to go. I have to go under the assumption that all of my instincts are wrong. This pony was a ghoul, and he probably has far more years of experience under him than even I do. If he says to wait, it’s probably the best idea.

“Did you find your friend?” He asked casually with a smile. The tone he used had switched completely. The seriousness of the situation now seemed lost on him. He turned and peered between the edge of the door and it’s frame. “I didn’t see him out there with you.”

“I… I left him behind.” I found it hard to say. “I mean, I found him, but it’s better this way.”

“Really?” He rasped before he started to chuckle. “You think you’re protecting him, don’t you?” Without warning, he broke out into full on laughter. If they heard his laughter, we were done for. I wanted to beat the unliving hell out of this asshole to shut him up. Instead, I stuffed my hoof in his rotting mouth. It was disgusting, but if muffling him meant I was alive tomorrow it would be worth it.

“Hey, asshole. I know it’s funny to you, but I’ve fucked up enough in his life.” I snapped at him. That seemed to catch his attention quite quickly. “Worse off, I know he loves me. Leaving is the best way to protect him.”

Slowly, I pulled my hoof from his muzzle. Running my hoof along my coat, I sneered at the filth that coated my hoof. Likewise, he seemed to take a moment to get the taste from his mouth.

“Is that what you told yourself before you left?” He asked, still working his tongue around in his muzzle. “Living in the wasteland as long as I have, you end up learning how it treats ponies. No matter how hard you try to protect them, everypony out here will suffer. It's who you have next to you that makes the difference.”

“And if that get’s him killed?” I asked. He has more experience, that’s why I was staying here. I know that acting on instinct is bad, and that he knows more than me. Even so, why is it so damn hard for me to accept that I should have stayed? Now that I’ve taken even a few minutes to think about it, It all feels so wrong to have run. I know I messed up again in leaving. I trusted my faulty instincts and now I’m here.

“In leaving, did you not hurt him? You may not think of it that way, but loneliness is far more painful to friends than anything else in the wasteland.” He shook his head as he spoke.

That was why Caltrop had been out in on the rock that day in the first place, wasn’t it? He was alone out there. He told me he’d stayed because I saw him as a pony. My friendship was his cure, and I’d just stripped him of it to keep him from getting hurt? Why is it that it didn’t sound so fucking ridiculous until somepony else said it?

“On the other hoof…” The ghoul spoke up again. “I’m fairly certain that it’s not him you were trying to protect.” Holding his hoof out, he put it on my chest. “You said he loves you, do you not care for him the same?”

“I…” I couldn’t answer that. He was a stallion I barely knew, and literally my only friend in the world. I couldn’t argue that I didn’t have my issues with his poor decision making skills. He’s only acted in your best interest. Then again, my own have been worse. The fact that he’d proven himself capable of protecting me had to count for something as well. He doesn’t want to see you hurt. For some reason, I can’t get him out of my life or my head. Because you never want him to leave you. My cheeks felt warm, and I paused to wonder if I’d actully been blushing at the thought. “I do.” It felt like the words slipped past my lips, as if somepony else had spoken. It was unreal.

“Tell me, if you are willing to protect him, are you also not to trust in his own decisions?” He shrugged and put his hoof on my shoulder. “Sometimes, we must risk losing who we care for in order to best protect them.” He gave me a pat as I sat there not sure of what to say. “So, by first light, you’ll go back to him.” The ghoul spoke up as a smile pulled across his muzzle. “Until then, why not rest and share a few stories with me?” He sat down and scratched at his neck. “What’s your name young lady?”

“My name’s Percussion Cap.” I replied slowly. My mind felt sluggish, and even though I was still focused enough to converse I was stuck. I was in love with Caltrop. The stupid, clingy, annoying, feminine dolt of a stallion. Of everypony in the wasteland, I had to like him. At least you didn’t fall for ash. Compared to Ash, Caltrop actually wasn’t so bad.

“Well miss Cap. As much fun as adventuring with friend’s is, it’s getting harder to find ponies willing to do it.” He continued to scratch at his neck until the dry skin started to peel back. I averted my eyes and stared at the rusting cans next to me instead. “Most adventurer’s have nothing left. Don't you have family wherever you call home?”

“Just... my mother and grandmother.” I sighed out. That is, I’ll still have them if Grandma got back in time to save mom.

“No brothers or sisters then? A shame. It's nice to have siblings.” He replied and put his hoof back down with a soft clop.

“Did you?” I asked, feeling safe enough to look up at him. That was another mistake I’d made tonight. He was still smiling, but the skin he had rubbed on his neck had torn and folded forward. The glow he gave off was brighter on his bare muscle and tendons. “That is, before you were… this.” I pointed my hoof at him, holding it where I couldn’t see the open section of his neck.

“One brother and one sister. My brother lived out in Vanhoover when everything ended, I went and found him after the war ended.” He nodded slowly. His smile started to droop, as did the look in his eyes. “He and I both became monsters, but he wasn’t like me at all. He took to using drugs to form a gang there. He kept the supply up by stealing them from the innocent survivors he’d murder. I… killed my own brother because he beat some stallion to death in front of his filly.”

“Oh, I see.” That was kind of depressing. Then again, I don’t know what I expected. Nopony made it out of the war intact, even the ghouls. “ And your sister? That is... if you don't mind.” If I was stuck in here, the least I could do was pass the time with stories.

“Fluorescence…” He shook his head and shut his eyes. “I was four when my parents took her in. She was a unicorn orphan from neighpon, and as such got a lot of looks living with a family of crystal empire earth ponies. Even if she stood out, she was my sister and I loved her as such.”

“You’ll have excuse me. I have no idea where neighpon or the crystal empire are.” I blurted out. Social intricacies aren’t my strong suit. “But please, continue?” He seemed to understand my interruption and resumed his story.

“My parents always knew she would be the one in the family who’d do the best. They gave her everything, all their love and support. When the war started, she wanted to enlist and do her part.” He paused for a moment and let a shiver run down his body. “My parents, they did what they could to stop her. When a slot opened up, they forced her to apply at Luna's school at Littlehorn…” He trailed off his words, staring blankly at the floor.

“I... I'm sorry.” I said softly. Of all the stories Grandma told me about the war, what happened at Littlehorn always stuck in my mind. I grew up with the thought that was where all unicorn fillies and colts went if they disobeyed their mother. To know what happened there was a nightmare is the understatement of the century.

“I am as well.” He sniffled as a few glowing tears ran down his cheeks. He smiled and looked back up to me. “It’s been so long since anypony has made me remember my family. It’s hard sometimes, to keep the memories straight in my head.”

He stood up and stepped towards me unexpectedly. I tried to lean back, but in the limited space of the shack, I didn’t have anywhere to go. He held his hooves out and wrapped them around my sides. He leaned in and sniffled, giving me a very uncomfortable hug. His skin felt like he had been baking in the summer sun, mixed with the squishy consistency of a Fancy Buck snack cake. Not to mention, who know’s how many rad’s I’m taking. Thankfully, he let go of me and took a step back after a few moments.

“I believe we have both lost enough ponies we care for in our lifetime.” He raised a hoof and wiped away a glowing tear that ran down his cheek. “Your friend’s, where did you leave them at? I hope it was a safe place.”

“Some warehouse to the west, though I'm not sure it's exactly safe.” I shrugged and looked myself over. There was a large flake of skin that stuck to my chest, and I quickly hoofed it off. “It looked like it really could collapse at any moment. Not like we had a choice, Sandy had Rad sickness from that egg and there was medicin inside.”

“Oh dear, that changes things.” He spoke in a stern voice. “If it’s the ministry warehouse, I’m afraid they are less than safe.”

“What?” I snapped. If that place is what get’s them killed, so help me…

“The reason that place is falling apart is a damaged radiation cleansing talisman.” He stated rather matter-o-factly. “The facility is solar powered, and when the sun comes up, the talisman will turn on. We must leave, right now.” He pushed himself up and hoofed at the door to open it.

“Oh, well that’s a relief.” I sighed out as I relaxed. “Clearing the radiation is a good thing then, seeing as they both got pretty close to that balefire egg.”

“No no no no! it's terrible!” He waved a hoof at me frantically. “The talisman is broken. When it fires, the spell will remove anything around the radioactive particles, but not the particles themselves.” He was talking faster than I think he was thinking. What he was saying made no sense. He pushed the door open with his hoof, practically throwing it against the outside of the shed. “Don’t you see? Organic, inorganic, it won't matter at all! Unless we get them out of there, it won't clear the radiation from them, it will clear them from the radiation!”

“Oh…” Was all I gave him. Yeah that was definitely bad. We still had hours before sunup, but we needed to get back to them.

“Come on, come on!” He dropped his voice to a whisper as he still spoke frantically. “No time to waste!” He turned and trotted off into the trees around the shack, not even waiting for me to scramble to my hooves. As I stepped out of the door, I looked over to the hotel. The shimmering lights still waivered inside, and I prayed that the Alicorns inside wouldn’t see us trot across the open terrain.

It wasn’t much consolation, but I realized something now. If I hadn’t left, I’d never have known that place was dangerous. At first light, if we hadn’t all somehow magically known to leave, I’m sure none of us would have left that deathtrap at all. I could still fix this mistake. There was still time!

I was getting tired. We’d been moving at a trot, but I already felt like something was wrong. We were taking far too long to get back. Time felt like it was whiplashing back and forth. The more I worried about them, the slower it felt we walked. Every time I looked over my shoulder however, it felt like the sun would race right up over the ever brightening horizon.

“Are you sure you took us the right way?” I asked, following just behind him. He’s old, and who know’s how sane he is. What if he’s lost? A yawn slipped out my muzzle, and I had to consider the fact that maybe I was just too tired. Caltrop had said I still wasn’t completely better from the infection, and my body felt completely worn down. Either way, we needed to pick up the pace.

“My dear, I’ll never forget how to find that warehouse, or anything about what happened inside it.” He sighed as he strolled along. “There was a time after the bombs, when the first glowing snow’s fell. Those who weren’t ghouls fled to the cover of any building they could take shelter in. This warehouse served as a fairly popular spot, once housing a small community. So long as they didn’t open the boxes, the protectapony robots there served as protection.”

“But if one trait amongst ponykind shined brighter than ever in those days, it was greed.” He shook his head, and kept his eyes locked on the darkness that stretched out before us. “Nopony knows when, or how many were there when it happened. The story goes that somepony opened a box. When the protectaponies opened fire, the talisman was damaged, and wham! The inhabitants, parts of the protectaponies, even panels of the warehouse disintegrated in a flash.”

“Well, ponies always are and forever shall be, a big bunch of assholes.” I grumbled. It wasn’t even the wasteland trying to kill them now. “So my friends might die because one fucktard two centuries ago wanted to open a box.”

“To put it into simple terms, yes.” He nodded. “Don’t worry though, we are only a few minutes away. I can already see the warehouse.” He looked back at me with his glowing green eyes and flashed a smile. His happy look faded when he looked past me.

Our timing hadn’t been a moment too soon. I turned to take another look, and the horizon had just started to show the faintest hint at brightening. We were going to cut it close, but we could still make it!

“Feel up for galloping?” I asked as I sped my stride up to a canter. His response was to bolt, and I followed hot on his hooves. “How much sunlight will it need?” I gasped out while I still had the breath to do so.

“It works on… charged batteries.” He replied, wheezing heavier than normal. His body worked as a strobe light in the darkness. His quick breaths flaired the light he gave off bright enough that I could see the rocks and dips before I hit them. If anypony had missed the sight of him before, then they knew he was out here now.

“What does… that mean?” I pushed myself, hoping to stay just a bit ahead. There was no way I’d lose them now, not after everything.

“As soon as… the light hits… the charge from yesterday...” He shouted. I guess it no longer mattered if we were stealthy, the Hotel was hours behind us anyway. “Will activate… we have minutes… from now at most!”

Our hooves beat at the dirt as we raced across the flatlands. As soon as the warehouse was in view, I was going to scream out for Caltrop as loud as I could. I looked back as we ran, and in horror, I was forced to squint as the smallest sliver of the sun peeked above the horizon. Of all the mistakes I’d made, looking was the one I now regretted. My hoof caught on a rock and I was pulled hard to the ground. I cried out as I slammed into the dirt. The rough gravel tore and gouged at my chest as I skidded more than a few feet.

“They’re going to make it!” The ghoul shouted to me as he continued. I didn’t care as I got up. My mind was locked on the sight of the narrowing points of darkness on the ground. Even as I pushed myself to my hooves, I screamed out in fear. I used that fear to push me forward towards the warehouse that was becoming more and more clear. I’d fallen behind, but even he was more than a thousand feet away. It was then the unthinkable happened.

The light from the rising sun glinted off the rear of the warehouse like a prism. As if I knew what would come next, my legs locked and I ground to a halt. The line of sunlight shimmered for a moment along the solar panels. The most distant sound of archanotech hums met my ears across the morning air. Then, a sharp snap like a spark battery cracked through the morning silence. The air around building sparkled for a moment before dissipating into nothing.

“Sandy…” My hind legs collapsed out from under me. I’d failed. I’d wanted to protect them, and they were dead because of me. My stomach churned and I threw up the remains of yesterdays spinach. “Caltrop!” I screamed out. There wasn’t any point to anything anymore, so I did the only thing I could. I broke down and cried. “I’m sorry…”

A high pitched scream filled the air. I froze when I wasn’t sure if I’d actually heard it. I held my muzzle shut to quiet my whimpers as I listened.

“Monster!” Sandy screamed out.

“Sandy!” I shouted. She was still alive. Somehow, someway, she was okay. I pulled myself up and burst into a gallop. When I looked, I could see the Ghoul running erratically across the dirt. Right behind him was Sandy, who growled and swiped at him whenever she got close. “Sandy, no. He’s a friend!”

She skid to a stop and looked over at me. I’d never been happier to see those big pink eyes staring at me. As she had stopped, so did the ghoul.

“I told you… they’d be alright!” He shouted to me with a smile.

“Where the hell did yah go last night, Boss?” Caltrop spoke up from right next to me. I’d been so startled, I’d tripped over my own legs and fell down. “Whoa there, easy. Are yah alright, PC?”

“Yeah… fine.” I stammered. As I looked up at him, everything I’d talked about in that shack ran through my mind. “How did you know to leave?”

“Sandy told me she heard somepony yellin, and when we couldn’t find yah, we went outside ta look.” He scratched at his mane and looked back to the warehouse. “I still ain’t sure what all the noise from there was, but I’m guessin it wasn’t good.”

“More than you’ll ever know.” I smiled and flopped my head down to the dirt. My body cried out for rest, but we had to keep moving. Caltrop held his hoof out to me and I took it. He pulled me up to my hooves, and right up to his face. For a moment, I just looked at him. This was the stallion I cared for, and I never wanted to leave his side again.

“Yah sure yah alright?” He asked with a blush on his cheeks.

“No, I’m not alright.” I sighed out. Just tell him the truth. I had to, but it wasn’t going to be easy. “Why do you have to be so damn likable?”

“Oh, this again.” He frowned and looked disappointed. “Listen, Boss. I know I was the one ta agree to yah rule, but yah sendin me some mixed signals here.”

He trailed off his words when I cupped his chin with my hoof and pulled it up. If I couldn’t find the words, then maybe I could show him in a way he’d understand. I leaned in and kissed him softly. His cheeks flushed as brightly as I was sure mine had from the first kiss we’d had.

I took a step back from him. We both needed a moment to make sure that really happened. After this, I had no idea what he would do. I’ve never cared for somepony like I did for Caltrop. The old me screamed in my head that I’d just made a huge mistake. Going against my instincts though? It’s never felt so good in my life.

“I…” He struggled with his words. I’m fairly certain I’d broken some part of him just now.

“You love me.” I spoke for him. “And that’s alright. Because I think I love you as well.”

--Chapter End--
“Survivors aren't always the strongest. Sometimes they're the smartest, but more often simply the luckiest.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

Chapter 24 - Everypony hates unexpected guests

“Are you sure you don’t want to travel with us?” I genuinely asked the ghoul who’d just saved Caltrop and Sandy. “We aren’t going that much further, just a few more miles northwest. There’s another safe house we can lay low in for a while, you’re welcome to join us.” For once, I didn’t mind asking somepony to come along. Both Caltrop and Sandy had been good to travel with so far, but with as bad off as we were, more potential friends could always help.

It had taken a few minutes for Caltrop’s brain to start up again after the bombshell I’d dropped on him. At least it was finally out in the open. I looked back to see how those two were doing. Sandy had said she smelled something weird in the ground, and Caltrop told her to go get it. Sometimes, I wondered just what I saw in those two. Even so, having another pony along who could help us avoid places like this damned warehouse would be kind of nice.

“Nah, I always travel alone.” He wheezed out through a laugh. That was an odd response, seeing as he kept on spouting things about how friendship is magic. “If I stick around too long, bad things tend to happen.” He shrugged and got to his hooves.

As he did, a black dot caught my vision from in the air behind him. I couldn’t stop the rebar lance that sailed through the air. It curved down and easily punched it’s way through his hide. It slid in until the tip barely pushed through the center of his chest. The ghoul winced and looked down to the new protrusion that adorned him. He raised a hoof and poked at it while black ichor seeped from the wound.

“Oh, look at that.” He remarked calmly with a smile. “I’ve been impaled.”

Slowly, he tilted to his side and flopped over into the dirt. Three small unicorns approached us quickly from road. I felt naked without any of my weapons, but I gripped my magic around the rebar spear to keep them from retrieving it.

“Hah! I told you I could hit it!” The unicorn mare in the lead shouted. “You see that? I fucking saved their flanks!”

“See, this is what I was talking about.” The ghoul grunted out from the ground. He looked up to me with a pleading look. “Just, go easy on them.”

“What the hell!” Caltrop shouted as he knelt down next to our ghoul friend. “They just fuckin tried ta kill yah!” He raised his gaze up to me. “They’ll be lucky if PC just rings their little necks!”

That stopped the trio from advancing. The lead unicorn had a dusty pink coat, brown and white striped mane, and a pair of angry looking blue eyes. The small twin colts beside her, stepped behind her with those words. Their apple green eyes peered out from behind her. For a moment, everypony just glared at each other in silence. The pink unicorn’s eye twitched in irritation.

“Fucking ungrateful assholes!” She blurted out with a startling amount of force. “We do the work to kill that monstrosity, and this is how you repay us?” She snarled and reached her magic out for the rebar spear. My magic held tight onto it as she tried to pull it back to her. The tug of war made the ghoul whine. “Best fork over some caps for our work!”

“I’m not dead!” He moaned out. It was still far beyond me how he could even maintain focus with a spear through him. In the end, I’d decided that it was just something ghouls could do.

“You will be soon. I got you right in the heart!” The filly snapped, tugging harder. “Why won’t this thing budge?” Try as she might, she just couldn’t compare to my hold. Funny though, I wasn’t sure why she couldn’t feel my magic holding it there.

“I’m getting better!” The ghoul whined again.

“No you’re not, you’ll be stone dead in a moment.” She retorted before she took a step toward him. Both Caltrop and I figured that this had gone on long enough. We stepped forward as well and imposed ourselves upon them. To her credit, the pink filly didn’t budge.

“Look, kid. Yah lucky yah didn’t kill my friend there.” Both Caltrop and I glared at her. She kept her eyes pinned to just me though. Even from under the brim of my hat, I couldn’t help but think she knew who I was. Might have just been paranoia though. “Just take yah friends and leave.” He lifted his hoof and pointed to the road. “Go back home ta yah parents.” Even as those words left his mouth, I knew what would come from her muzzle in response.

“They’re fucking dead, you dick.” She snarled and pointed her hoof at me. Sad, yes, but not anywhere unheard of. “Now, unless you move your fat flank so I can retrieve my spear, I won’t be able to hunt for food.”

I tightened my grip on the spear, slowly drawing it out of our ghoul friend. He gave a long whimper as I did, but seemed to relax a bit once it slid all the way out. The pink filly in front of me looked mortified as my magic swung the spear through the air. I held it level in front of her and dropped it. It struck the ground at her hooves with a soft thump.

“If you’re going to kill somepony, you might want to learn where their heart is.” I said loudly. Another angry twitch played across the young filly’s face. “If you’re looking for supplies, there’s a half stocked survival shelter a few hours south.” I paused as I watched her angry expression change to one of confusion. “It’s well hidden and has three beds. As well as enough power to last a while.”

“You’re lying.” The filly regained her angered look and snarled.

“Why would I waste my time when I could kill you with a thought?” I snapped back at her. “Now take your spear, forget you ever saw us, and go.”

“Even if I believed you, why the hell would I trust you?” She grunted and hoisted the spear back up in her magic. Her gaze faltered from me and looked to my side. Whatever she looked at, caused her to take a single step back.

“Because she’s a friend!” Sandy shouted as she ran over. Just like she’d had since she joined us, she wore a wide smile across her muzzle. “Maybe we can be friends too!” She walked forward and held her paw out. “My name’s Sandy, what’s yours?”

The filly panicked and swung the spear around. I caught it in my magic and held it steady. She gave me a death glare to which I simply shook my head slowly. Finally, she figured out that she had no choice but to give up. With an annoyed grunt, she relented and pulled the spear toward her.

“My name is Javelin.” She averted her eyes as she begrudgingly spoke. “These are my brothers, Lance and Glaive.” Who at her words, revealed themselves from behind her. “Just… who are you all?”

“Let’s just leave it at friends.” I said. I used my magic to push the tip of her rebar spear to the dirt. “No need for such hostilities.”

“Yah just gonna trust her like dat?” Caltrop spoke up. “I mean, come on Boss. Yah told me dat we shouldn’t trust anypony and yah were right. We don’t want her ta be another Brightshine, or another one like dat zebra douche at the prison.”

That sparked a look in Javelin’s eye.

“I knew it!” She shouted and lifted the rebar again. “You’re that mare that’s all over the fliers!” She grinned. “You’re worth far too much to let go. My brothers and I could eat for a year with that many caps!” Her magic thrust the spear forward at me, but she just hadn’t learned. I torqued it from her grip and drove it back into the dirt. Javelin whined and tugged at it with her magic.

“Sandy, please cut this spear into tiny pieces.” I sighed. She’d gotten her chance, and she made her choice. If I were still the me of a month ago, I’d have killed her without a second thought. Today, at least she got to leave with her life.

“But…” Sandy looked up to me with a confused look. “How will they hunt?”

“They won’t have ta.” Caltrop spoke up again as he looked at me. He turned his gaze down to Sandy and smiled. “As long as they go ta the shelter we left, they’ll have food for a few weeks. Or even some ta trade for a better spear.”

Sandy nodded and jumped onto the rusted rebar. With a few growls and swings of her claws, the rusty bar split into a dozen or so short metal rods. Javelin’s face twisted between rage and sorrow as Sandy took a step back.

“You fucking cunt!” She screamed out and dropped to the ground in tears. “What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Her brothers moved to her side and hugged her. “I’m sorry you two… I tried.”

“Why should you feel sorry?” The wheezing voice of the ghoul said as he hoisted himself up from the dirt. “This mare has done nothing but try to help you, young miss. All you’ve needed to do is to listen.” He groaned as a line of fresh ichor dripped from the slowly closing chest and back wound. “You have all the information you need to keep your brothers safe. Why not take a chance and use it?”

“But... I tried to kill you.” She sniffled. “Why don’t you hate me? What’s wrong with all of you?”

“Because I am much too old, and know far better than anypony else what hate has cost this world.” He pushed between Caltrop and I. The way his body pulsed softly as he walked in front of us was entrancing. I found that I couldn’t look away from it again as he continued. It felt just like last night at the shack. “Why not give friendship a chance? I know the sorrow of being left alone in this world.” He paused and looked back at me with a smirk. “I also know what the kindness of another can do if you feel lost. If you want, I could help you along the way to this place they speak of.”

“I don’t even know you…” She looked up and furiously shook her head. “Just… leave us alone!” She screamed and backed away. She did so fast enough that her rump rode up into the air and almost flipped her over. It caught her by surprise, and she fought to regain her hoofing. “Wh…what?” She stuttered.

Without any warning, I felt it in my horn. The slightest twinge of some sort of magic nearby. I looked around and tried to find its source, but couldn’t. A metallic twang filled my ears, one that I had infact heard all too recently. Just as it happened before, I felt a prick in my chest. My exhaustion, combined with the dart in my chest dragged me down into the dirt. As my eyelids shut, I was at the very least glad that I could finally have a good long sleep.

I woke again with a constant low ringing in my ears. As I started to get my senses back, I felt like I was being bounced softly against the back of a pony. I opened my eyes and was met with the scratchy feeling of something tied over them. The rhythmic breathing of a pony as they trotted gave me an idea as to what had happened. I wiggled my hooves, but couldn’t move them almost at all. They’d been tied when I’d been captured.

“It is funny, not all ponies can overcome a manticore’s venom so fast.” The voice of a stallion met my ears. That was an all too familiar point, and it did nothing but unsettle me. I wanted to respond, to ask what happened to the others, but I couldn’t even open my muzzle. The same feeling of being bound met me, and I started to panic. Lucky for me, this stallion couldn’t keep me bound for long! I focused on my magic and…

Nothing. I couldn’t cast anything at all! Not even my levitation would obey me. Did… did he do something to my horn while I was out? I accidently let a whine slip from my muzzle as I thought about it.

“Ah, unsure why you cannot cast. Please, allow me explain.” He replied. Now that I listened, he had an odd accent to his voice that I’d never heard before. “I take things. You see, this is my purpose in life. Whenever someone needs to remove something that belongs to someone, they call me. It is unfortunate for you however, that today that something is you.” He gave a chuckle. “My given talent has suppressed your abilities so that you will not fight. Once you are delivered, I shall return your magic to you.”

His stride was even and unbroken, the sound of dry dirt under his hooves didn’t change at all. We were traveling across the flatlands still, but in what direction I was unsure. I should have seen that this would happen right when I let my guard down.

“If you are curious about those you were with,” He spoke up again. It switched my attentions off my thoughts and back to him. “You need not worry. I have left all of them but the ghoul untouched. When they wake, they will find you long gone and move on. The ghoul on the other hoof, might have a slight headache.” He let out a sigh. “A pesky trait that ghouls have. They are immune to most toxins and poisons. Not so much to blunt force though.”

At least they were safe. I know they wouldn’t give up on me, but they needed to at least be smart enough to continue to Storm’s safe house. If everything went as planned, Both she and mom should have made it there by now. Once they got there, Storm could just leave and rescue me like always, right?

Right?

“You know, you seem fairly alright with this whole situation.” The Stallion sounded like he turned his head towards me when he talked. “If I could trust you not to scream, I would remove your gag. However, I do not see the harm in letting you see.” His magic twisted and unbound the knot that held my blindfold on. “As they say for lookouts,” He lifted it away, letting me gaze into his eyes. “two heads are better than one.”

I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted to the light do day again. As I looked at the stallion, a pair of strange things popped out at me. First of all, he was a zony. A fucking unicorn zony with their second rate casting abilities, had taken me hostage. Second of all, he was fucking blind. The scared and discolored pupils of his purple eyes stared back at me without focus. He smiled widely to me and gave a laugh.

“With words I could never truly speak of myself, now you see the nature of your capture.” He turned his head back towards where we were going and continued. “I must advise you. Though I am blind, it does not mean that I cannot see.”

With him just the chattiest mother fucker I’ve met since Caltrop, I took a minute to look about. First, I swung my head up and out to see if I could tell where we were going. Almost immediately, I tried to warn him, but my words only came across as whining noises. We were headed straight for the hotel I’d seen last night. Captor or not, he needed to know what waited for us in there. I could only hope that those monstrosities hadn’t already seen us.

“See, this is why I did not remove your gag.” He frowned and gave a quick glance back to me. Which was odd, seeing as it served no purpose to him. “Unless, you are discomforted by something that you see?”

He struck the nail on the head with that one. I gave him a quick nod. Then I felt stupid as I remembered you can’t hear a nod. He cocked an eyebrow and turned his head toward the Hotel. For a blind zony, he sure seemed to understand his surroundings.

“Ah, the structure. Yes, I know of what waits inside.” He replied calmly. “Do not worry, they will not harm you.” He paused. “Though, of your friends, I cannot give the same assurances.”

I had to get back to them.

With one great torque of myself, I used the bounces from his stride to throw myself from him. I landed in the dirt with a thud and a grunt. He simply stopped and turned his amused gaze to me. I didn’t care what this asshole thought, I wasn’t about to leave Caltrop and Sandy in that position. He’d have to keep me sedated the whole fucking way if he wanted to stop me.

“Go ahead.” He said with a chuckle. “I am curious. Do you plan to hop all the way back, or only as far as it takes to get your hooves free?” As he continued with his incessant talking, I did just what he said. Slowly, I hopped back towards the others. A small beep from behind caught my ear and I turned my gaze just enough to look. My captor raised a forehoof and looked at it. I recognized the small tube strapped around his leg as something Bluejay and Grandma always held over me.

“Well, that is disappointing.” He sighed and shook his head. Because I’d paid attention to him, I misjudged my next hop. I stumbled, and without any way to compensate, I fell into the dirt. He walked over to me as I did my best to recover. “As much as I am curious how far you would hop, I have other business.” Even blind, he looked right at me as he said that. “I am sorry for the inconvenience, but if you would kindly watch this.” He flipped open his saddlebag with his magic and drew out a memory orb. “It is yours, so you needn't worry. I will return it and the newspaper it was in to you when I have delivered you. As interesting as these oddities are, I have no need for any memories but my own.”

He smiled and brought it up to my horn. Even with my own magic gone, I could feel it’s magic held inside. Without much of a choice, it was pressed against me. My mind grew hazy as the orb took control. This time the transition was much smoother, but I couldn’t help but worry for what I’d find inside.

OOOoooOOOoooOOO

As I sat in the darkness and nothingness of my own mind, I frowned. I didn’t like being kept this way. A part of my mind clawed at me and reminded me of what happened last time I had no control. Had it not been for the fact that I couldn’t actually breath or feel my heart, I’m sure they would have jumped out of my chest. It wasn’t until blobs of light, color, and movement filled my vision, that I calmed down. At the very least, if I immersed myself in the memory, I could keep my mind off those clawing feelings.

Almost immediately after my senses became clear again, I knew I wasn’t a unicorn. The alien feeling of a hornless forehead wasn’t the only thing that felt out of place. Strange muscles on my back tensed and tugged as I walked down what looked to be an old medical building’s hallway. For a moment, I thought my host’s vision was bad, but I shortly realized that I was viewing everything from behind a pair of sunglasses.

I was definitely a mare again, which was for some reason relaxing for me. My body felt good though. It was toned and athletic. All the muscles she had felt like they were full of unused energy, just waiting to be tapped. When my host approached a door, she reached out for the handle. She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. It wasn’t until then that I felt the tight fitting clothes that she wore. My curiosity hoped that she’d look down so I could see it, but the rest of me didn’t care.

After the moment of hesitation, her yellow forehoof opened it with one fluid motion. Inside was a very homey looking office. A desk sat off out of the way in a corner, while a couch and a pair of chairs filled the majority of the room. A small table sat between the furniture, and a pair of mugs sat on opposing sides. In one of the chairs was a unicorn stallion who sat up when she walked in.

“Ah, there you are.” He said as he used his magic to push his glasses up his muzzle. “I’m glad that you could find time for our session today. I know how busy you’ve been, and that you’d had your apprehensions when first you first came to me last week.” He held his hoof out toward the couch. “Please, take a seat.”

“Thank you, sir.” My host spoke with a scratchy tone. It was nowhere near as bad as Mrs. Florentine had been last memory, but it was still uncomfortable. She moved to take her seat across the room. I’m not sure if it was just something that all pegasi did, but she tensed her wings and pulled them closer as she walked. It felt so… restrictive.

“Please, you can just call me Horse.” The stallion said with a smile. “Remember, I want this to be an open environment for you, Spitfire. I want you to feel comfortable with speaking to me about things.”

“Sorry, Doc.” She said as she sat down on the couch. “Just the whole wonderbolts mindset. Can’t really just leave it at the door, you know.” She sighed and pulled her legs under her. So this is what a couch felt like before the war? Maybe we wouldn’t have fought so much if everypony had one of these!

Then again, those pre-war assholes took everything for granted.

“I completely understand.” Doctor Horse chuckled. “Now when we spoke briefly last week, you’d said that you had something on your mind. Would you like to open with that, or would you rather wait until you were more comfortable?”

This made my host tense up. For the next minute, she sat almost rock still. Her gaze just sat looking down at the table between them. She’d been willing to walk in here for help, why the fuck didn’t she speak?

“Can I be honest, doc?” She finally spoke up.

“Please,” He said as he shifted his position in his chair. “Be as candid as you feel comfortable with.”

“I... I hate flying now.” She hesitated with each word. I could feel how hard it had been to form them, and how her heart raced in her chest when she did. She looked up to him, only to find that he had simply raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “I mean, I'm still the best at it, I just…”

“Take your time. No need to rush an explanation.” He nodded slowly. Both cups lifted off the table in his levitation. He brought one to his own muzzle, while he floated the other one in front of Spitfire. She raised her hoof and pushed it away softly.

“I used to fly because I loved it.” She forced herself to say. “Soaring through the air, that feeling you get inside when you pull a perfect turn?” Even as she spoke about it, her wings torqued and twisted in unison. For a moment, I knew she was thinking about a time she’d flown. I took my own moment to imagine it myself, knowing this was the closest I’d ever get to it . “Everything about it used to feel great.”

“And now, it doesn't?” He replied with a lick of his lips. He set both mugs down and floated a clipboard and quill over to him from his desk. As soon as he grasped the clipboard, he’d begun to write on it.

“Now when I fly... I can't help but be worried. That somepony is going to come diving down from above, or that a dragon is going to be just beyond the next cloud. Or that I…” She paused and I felt her chest tighten. “That I'll have to kill again.”

That was it? I realize that back then, killing might have been something uncommon. Still, killing to win was something that fucked her up this badly? No wonder so many ponied died right after the bombs! The whole world was filled with fucking pansy ass mares who once again took everything for granted. With my mental rant finished, I listened again when she found the courage to continue.

“Don't get me wrong, I love Equestria, and that will never change. I just hate what I have to do to protect it. Every night when I sleep, I re-live that rescue mission with the rest of the wonderbolts. How it all went so wrong. Then I see the faces of those in the first few days of this war. How if only something had gone differently, they might not have died because of me.” Her voice trailed off. She was almost shivering as she sat there.

That… was something I didn’t know so much about. I remembered very few of the faces to those who I’d killed. It was such a common thing, it’s not something I cared to remember in the first place. The faces that I did remember though, sometimes they would haunt me. Still, it was never that bad. It was just something everypony had happen to them in the wasteland.

“I see.” Doctor Horse sighed as he continued to scribble things on his clipboard. ”I think I know what the problem is, Spitfire. You've started to suffer from Wartime Stress Disorder.” With and sorrowful look, he finished writing and set the quill down next to his mug.

“I... think I've known for a while.” Spitfire stuttered out. Once she had said it, if felt her relax a bit all over. “Please, Doc. Don't make an official report. They'll kick me off of the wonderbolts if this got out, and they need me fighting for them. I can't abandon Equestria like this, not when the war is this bad.”

“I'm sorry Spitfire, but my hooves are tied.” He let out a sad sigh and looked over to his desk. A large rectangular red stamp floated up and over to him. “In my medical opinion, Wartime Stress Disorder means you are no longer in control of your mental faculties.”

“I know that, but I'm second only in my squad to Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire watched that stamp like a hawk. “Think of the emotional impact it will have if I quit the fight to take care of myself? I can't abandon the element of loyalty like that, you know?” She tensed up again. Her body almost vibrated with energy as it felt like she’d jump at that stamp any moment. “I promise, as soon as the war dies down a bit, I’ll resign. Just please… not like this.”

The doctor stopped as the stamp fell into his hoof. The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Spitfire’s gaze met Doctor Horse’s for only a moment before he closed his eyes. With a sigh, he set the stamp down on the table.

“Doctor, Rainbow Dash said you've patched her up back in ponyville hospital more times than she could count.” Her vision became fuzzy as I felt hot tears start to run down her cheeks. She quivered as she strained to get the words out. “Please, there's gotta be another way to fix me.”

“I'm sorry Spitfire, but Wartime Stress Disorder is not something I can just prescribe something for.” He said in an annoyed tone. “But.” With that word, Spitfire stopped breathing. She waited until he continued before she drew in another breath. “I'll get in touch with Miss Pie at the Ministry of Moral. It isn’t a guarantee, but I've heard that they have a method of treatment that may help.”

“Whatever it is, I'm up for it.” She whimpered and laughed at the same time. “So long as it means I don't let Equestria down, I’ll do anything Doc.” I felt as my host flopped back against the couch and sank into it. The plush furnishing hugged her sides, and as she closed her eyes, I could tell she felt at peace.

The feeling of her body slowly slipped away, and the sounds of her joyous weeping disappeared. I was left in the hazy fog of my own mind once more. Thoughts buzzed around me as I reflected on what I’d just been a part of. This mare didn’t want to give up who she thought she was, even when necessity said she’d be forced to. That refusal to change really screwed her up inside as well.

Am I not the same? I tried to cling to my old ways, fighting it tooth and hoof the whole way. Had I seen this orb before all of this, how much pain might I have spared myself? Would I even have given it a chance? Then again, how many more faces would then find me in my dreams? How many still might?

--Chapter End--
“No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by the unexpected.”
Quests Finished: Bounty-ful prospects
Quests Started: Contract Nullification
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: Explorer - This perk adds +10 to survivalism and traps! It also grants +2 Luck for the purposes of finding special encounters and hidden places.

Chapter 25 - Beam me up

The soft crackle of a fire met my ears when I’d woken from the orb. Despite the warmth the fire gave off, the floor under my body felt cold. I’d been stripped of my jacket, and from as far as I could tell, my hat. The bindings that had been placed around my eyes and muzzle were still as secure as ever, though I wasn’t sure what had become of my abductor. I twisted my ears around in the hope that I heard any distinguishing sounds. Unfortunately, it was dead silent.

“You are awake.” My captor spoke up so suddenly that I yelped and flailed my strangely unbound hooves. Why do ponies have to sneak up on me all the fucking time? He chuckled at my fear. “Ah, I am sorry. I did not mean to startle you.”

The knot that held the bandana loosened and it slipped off. The light blue aura of the Zony drew it away from my eyes and nearly blinded me with the what I could best guess was the light of mid-day. As I looked around, I had to squint my eyes until they adjusted properly. On the horizon sat a dark dot that I’d assumed was the hotel.

“Because we are no longer in danger of being heard…” He spoke up again as I felt a tug on my muzzle binding. It loosened and dropped off me as I lolled my tongue. “I would hope you might still be civil and avoid needless screaming.” He levitated over a bottle of dirty looking water to my muzzle and waited for me to grab it. With little hesitation, I fumbled with my hooves to pull the bottle to my lips.

I guzzled down the gritty liquid so fast I nearly choked on it. It could have contained a sedative in it, or even poison for all I knew, but I didn’t care. I was thirsty as fuck from the previous day’s exploits, and this was a gift I couldn’t refuse. As I coughed and sputtered, I caught a glimpse of him smiling at me. Even though he was obviously blind, why did it feel like he was still looking at me?

“Why?” I said as I wiped the dripping water from my muzzle. “Why untie me now?”

“Because I have to trust that you know you can not run.” He simply smiled and stared as he spoke. “From one hunter to another, we both know what happens when a contract becomes more trouble than it’s worth.”

For a moment, I thought about how this mess all got started.

“Not so much. I never take contracts for living targets.” I felt smug in my response. His words were a thinly veiled threat, and he knew that I understood what he had insinuated. Still, there has to be a way to get the upper hoof on this Asshole.

“I will not harm you. Your are too important to kill, but I do not wish to sedate you for the rest of our journey.” He laughed again. “As for what you said, that’s not the story I’ve overheard.” His muzzle grew into a fiendish smile. “It is amazing how fast a story can spread when you attach this high of a bounty to it.”

“Tell me then, what have you heard of me?” I’d always wondered what it would be like to be a legend, I just never thought I’d become a legendary outlaw. Then again, I could be the laughing stock of the bounty hunting community.

“One such story talks of a highly charismatic gunfighter. Another talks of the meanest mare from Baltimare. Yet another only describes only the latest case of misfortune in the wastes.” His smile dropped and he rolled one of his shoulders. He leaned back with a sigh, pressing against a moldy bag filled with rock hard potatoes. “Then again, I do not care for such gossip. All I know is what is before me.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s that?” As he laid back, something caught my eye. It was a small, lemon shaped green energy pistol. It sat atop his saddlebags neatly and untouched. Instinctively, I reached out for it. In return, I felt a painful shock run straight from my horn down through my body. It was enough that I screamed momentarily.

“I told you, I have inhibited your magic.” He taunted. “Any attempt to use it will convince me that you have become uncooperative. You will receive no more warnings.”

Fantastic. Why couldn’t this have been the one time Storm inconveniently showed up? Even if she did, she’d only have lectured me on how much of a failure I’ve been. I slumped back into the ground, more so than I already was. If anypony had to find a way out of this, it had to be me. Come on, PC, you have to have something up your sleeve.

I took a minute and looked around again. We’d camped out on the flat concrete foundation of a building long destroyed. The sad thing was I’d known exactly where this place was. I liked to use this spot on my travels now and again because nopony ever wandered out this way. There was nothing around us in the rolling hills for miles, except for that hotel.

“You still haven’t answered my question.” I spoke up. “What is it that you see me as?”

“A mare who took a contract above her skill level.” He barely hesitated when he answered. “And a mare who was unfortunate enough for me to go after her.” He groaned out with that and got to his hooves.

“Just who are you?” I asked. The old water bottle crinkled in my hooves as I turned it over. I stuck out my tongue as the last precious drops rolled off and into my muzzle.

“My name is Null. I am one of Flint’s personal hunters.” Null smiled and sat down. “He sent us after you because you have proven quite hard to take down. He has an exceptional talent at finding the brightest minds from those around him, you know. After one look at me, he knew I was not fit to be the slave I was sold as. He knew how to motivate me to hone my sight, how to focus on my own talents.” he paused for a moment and floated himself out a can of green beans. “This is why he has chosen you.”

“Chosen me?” I replied in annoyance. “You know he’s the asshole that put the contract on me. If he had ‘chosen’ me, he could have at least made it just capture alive.”

“Ah, yet you are still alive.” Null laughed as he pulled the tab off the can. “Should you have died by this point, he would not care. Resilience however, is a rare trait to find.” He levitated out a glob of heavily preserved green beans. I could feel the saliva as it dripped down my maw. I’d just realized that I was hungry as all hell. “If we make it back in one piece, you might get the same offer the rest of us did. He is a fair stallion to work for if you sacrifice a few things.”

I wasn’t sure how, but he saw my gaze at his food, and mercifully he levitated it over to me. With as much vigor as I’d had with the water, I attacked the two centuries old vegetables. I didn’t even get a taste as I guzzled half of them down, only happy that I wouldn’t hear my stomach grumble again today. With that out of my mind, my vision crept back up to Null’s peculiar eyes.

“You would ask about my eyes then.” He shrugged and laid back. I hadn’t planned on getting his life story, but I might as well learn everything I could. Who knows, I might need it to kill the fucker. “As I said, I am not blind. Merely, I see only what most unicorns can feel.” His horn flashed, and a spark flew from my horn. I winced and rubbed at it before I noticed a thin trail of red that linked out horns.

“You can see magic?” I asked, quite unsure of how that would even work.

“That is correct.” He smiled widely. “Not only can I see the radiation in the dirt, or the magic in my pipbuck…” He held his toy up on his wrist and shook it. “I can see and cancel out the magic in other unicorns.”

“Hense the name.” I nodded. It made sense at least. He was suppressing it, so that’s why I couldn’t do anything with my own. How the hell is a pony even supposed fight that! Storm would be peachy-keen with her earth-ponyness, but come on! How do I contend with this shit! My ears perked as a soft beep emitted from his pipbuck. It drew his attention for only a moment,

“Rest time is over. We have much ground to cover until...” He froze mid sentence, twisting his ears to listen around us. I’d done that enough times to know what it meant.

“It is… music?” Null spoke up.

“Probably just some stupid spritebot.” I retorted and went back to eating my beans. On the off chance that I was wrong, I kept my ears perked towards it.

Sure enough, the sound of singing carried across the hills. I cringed as I realized it was another pre-war upbeat song, not unlike the record that I listened to in the Prison. Both Null and I kept our eyes peeled at the hills that the music resonated from. It was much louder than any spritebot I’d ever heard for the distance it had to be at.

At an almost non existent pace, a dark sphere lifted above one of the hills a good distance away. I thought almost nothing of the spritebot sized object as it continued to climb up. I could tell it was slightly oblong from the way it panned back and forth across the hills. Just another pre-war nuisance. I can’t tell you how many times one of these sorts of things had ruined my hunt.

Then from below it, rose a larger object.

It was almost hulking in size, damn near as big as a skywagon if you asked me. The spritebot was connected to the lower box section by some sort of mast. It made it look more like it was a set of raised binoculars for a tank than the small, harmless archano-tech robot I’d grown up around. The whole mass sat propped up on stilted wheels that slowly dragged the massive vehicle towards us. It wasn’t fast, but robots like this? They were built to be relentless. As the song ended and left us in silence, another odd sound met my ears.

Null muttered something in zebra which ended with a word that sounded like ‘shazbot’ or something. Whatever he said, I’m pretty sure it ended in some sort of zebra curse. Which pretty much meant that we were fucked.

“You know what that thing is?” I spoke up, only to have him whirl around on me. He scrambled over to me and put his hoof over my mouth.

“Shhh.” He whispered so quietly. “It hunts. We mustn’t let it make the first strike.” As he uncovered my mouth, he got up and tapped on his pipbuck. He floated out an odd looking device and pushed it against his pipbuck until it clicked into it. After a moment, he shimmered and disappeared before my eyes. I’d never seen a stealthbuck before, and had only heard the tales of the wondrous device from Storm and Bluejay. It was a shame I had more pressing things on my mind than figuring out how I could use it once I killed this asshole. That is… if I didn’t die now.

“Wait!” I gave out a harsh whisper. “What the hell am I supposed to do!”

The music got louder with each passing moment. I took a risk and popped my head up to see how close the machine was. To my surprise, it had covered more ground that I’d thought it would. How did something that moved so slow while being this noisy get the jump on us?

Maybe I’m not the only bounty hunter who overestimated themselves.

A loud zap sounded from over my shoulder, and for a moment, I could see Null. He held the weird energy weapon in his teeth with wide, fear filled eyes. There was a loud boom from the robot’s direction, and when I looked, half the spritebot head was gone. It showered sparks for a moment, and the whole machine came to a stop, song and all.

Then the head reformed. With a grinding shudder, the whole machination returned to life again. The song blared louder than ever, as the head turned towards us. A pair of miss-sized red eyes glowed on it. They peered right towards us. With a clack, Null’s pistol fell to the ground as he returned to invisibility.

“In the valley of the sun, I've met my only one
while rolling down the lovely desert trail.”

“No… the fool could not…” Was all I heard before his swift hoofsteps turned thudded away from me. “It is on automatic! Run!” His voice was almost drowned out by the song, but I knew if he’d turned tail, this had just become another of my legendarily bad days.

I tried to focus on the pistol, but my magic still wasn’t under my control. A loud zap came from the robot. It heated the air just off my shoulder as it narrowly missed me. I ducked off towards the pistol and rolled along the concrete foundation. I knew it would have to dip below the next hill soon. I hoofed the foul tasting energy weapon into my muzzle and steadied myself. Granted, I had no idea how to use a weapon like this, I assumed it was as easy as any other gun. It was lighter than I’d expected it to be, and it had no semblance of any kind of iron sights on it. Overall, I would most likely get myself killed.

“Navy air is on the sky, I saw that cuty-pie
there she was so sweet and so friendly”

I popped myself up when I’d assumed I could get a good shot in. Once again, I’d misjudged it’s speed, as it was already dipped down over that hill. Unfortunately for me, this was probably the reason it had it’s head up so high. It’s eyes glowed as they tracked my jump. A boom arm unfolded up above the hill and arced toward me. Red beams of death traced through the air from it in a haphazard spray. Most of them struck the ground behind me, but a few seared at my coat.

I whined out as I struck the ground and rolled. They were low powered magical energy weapons, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t ignore them. I let out a grunt and got to my hooves. I broke into a gallop and turned my head. I fired a few wild shots from the odd pistol in my muzzle, scoring one lucky hit to the boom arm. It fizzled and cracked with energy before it melted off and dropped into the dirt.

The robot didn’t seem to notice as it turned to follow. It’s six massive metal wheels crushed the boom arm under it as it pursued me. I didn’t care though, it had no weapon now, and I could outrun this thing on hoof. It may have been faster than I gave it credit for, but…

My own thoughts were cut short by a burst of machine gun fire from behind me. The shots were of raider quality accuracy, but I knew they came from the robot. It might have had another weapon, but I guess two centuries really does a number on targeting talismans!

“her eyes like were the velvet stars
that show from up above”

I growled in aggravation from around the bit of my weapon and dug my hooves into the dirt. I skid and kicked myself into a turn. The machine gun that protruded from a now open hatch in the front of the robot chattered out at me. I felt one of the rounds dig into my side, but I couldn’t stop. If I faltered now, I was dead. For as big as it was, maybe I could use my speed to get around behind it.

It’s piercing eyes followed me as I made my way around to it’s side. Which of course, also opened up. A rectangular hatch split along it’s side, and the metal flopped down losely against the body of the machine. A long silver tube extended from it’s end, and it raised onto it’s own short boom. Even if the machine couldn’t turn, the gun on it’s back was more than fast enough to traverse around.

A short burst of thuds sent several black objects hurtling through the air towards me. I changed my direction as soon as I saw it fire. The black objects sailed overhead and hit somewhere behind me. They exploded with a ferocious blast that knocked me from my gallop. I tumbled for only a moment before I found my hooves again. As I looked up, the large breach on the cannon slammed back into place, and it corrected it’s aim.

“All I took was just one look
I knew that this was really love”

I fired first. I squeezed the trigger as many times as I could. Scorch marks flared against various sections of the robot’s white armor, but one found it’s home. The gun exploded as the energy shot set off the explosive ammo in the cannon. The entire rear of the vehicle twisted and buckled, and the forward facing machine gun blasted out into the dirt. Flames shot out of the various seams in it’s armor, and it listed back with a groan. It’s hate filled eyes slowly dimmed, and the song slowly trailed off into silence.

My muzzle burned suddenly and forced me to drop the pistol. I looked down at it to find that the rounded front of it glowed red from overuse, and had started to slough off the rest of the frame. It doesn’t matter, at least it was over.

“Now my life has just begun
the two of us are one”

“Oh, come on!” I screamed out as I turned my gaze back to the machine. Of course that couldn’t have taken out the repair talisman! A golden line traced itself around the twisted hulk of it’s rear. With an ear shattering sound, it sheared itself free from the wreckage and spun its wheels. It pulled away from it’s back half on four wheels and stopped. It waited until I looked up to it’s head again. It’s eyes glowed brighter than burning steel now.

“Spending all our days
in the valley of the sun.”

I turned to run, but a brilliant light flashed across the dirt around me. I pushed myself to move, but I toppled over instead. The faster my heart beat, the quicker I tried to get my hooves under me. I felt like my heart would explode if I didn’t move. If my legs didn’t want to run, the least I could do was crawl. So that’s what I did.

The machine itself crawled towards me slowly. I could hear as it’s immense size and weight crushed the small rocks behind me. The pain from my injuries started to catch up to me. The burns from the shots in my forelegs kept my reach short, and the stabbing pain in my side kept me at a slow pace. My legs didn’t help either, and felt like it was on fire from my flank down. The time came after only a few more grunts, that I couldn’t go any further.

The music turned off as the machine got within killing distance. I figured that I might as well look this thing in the eye as it came for me. With as much effort as I could muster, I rolled myself onto my back. Then I made the mistake at looking down at my torso. My left hindleg wasn’t there, having been cut off cleanly just below cutie mark. My right wasn’t much better, and ended just above the hock. They had been cauterized when the last attack had actually hit me.

The machine stopped a few feet from me. It towered over me, a monolith to the effectiveness of the old world. It’s miss-sized red eyes peered down at me. They burned brightly behind the glass lenses that protected them. For a moment, I wondered if there was somepony on the other side of them. There was a chirp from inside of it, and the eyes moved from me. They quickly turned and swiveled up across the hills beside us.

It’s wheels ground against the dirt as they shifted, slowly turning the lumbering vehicle towards the hill it gazed at. I panted heavily as my heart raced in my chest. This was my chance to get out of here. If I could just crawl to freedom…

A grey figure appeared above me in a flash. In a moment’s notice, I was enveloped in a blinding light that felt like it heated the air itself. I felt it’s magic course through my horn, and I felt the resort hotel lobby in my mind. With an arcane snap, we shifted locations. I was unceremoniously dumped a few inches onto the moldy carpet of the lobby, and screamed out in agonizing pain. My scream however, was cut short as somepony stuck their hoof in my mouth.

“If you stay quiet, you live.” It was the voice of the mare above me. I bit down on her hoof and writhed in agony. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks as I was truly hit with a realization. My fucking legs were gone. That was it, my life was over. Normal ponies hardly have a chance in the wastes. Crippled ponies don’t even stand a ghost of a chance. The heavy steps and labored pants of another pony echoed through the room for a moment. It at the very least let me focus on something other than how utterly fucked I was.

“What the hell was Synchro thinking?” Nulls voice resonated through the air. “That fucking moron nearly killed the both of us.”

“You’re welcome for the assist.” The mare above me snarled and yanked her hoof from my muzzle. She stepped over me and swung a forehoof at the air. The soft thump of hoof against flesh met my ears, and Null materialized for a moment. “What the hell were you two doing out there in the first place? Fucking chased off my god damned contract.” She kicked at the old carpet and snorted in frustration.

“Fuck off, Specter. This mare is the highest priority. Flint’s orders.” Null angrily retorted. With a soft click, he shimmered back into sight. “Do you know what he would have done to me if Synchro’s toy had killed her?” He walked over to me and gave me a once over. I decided it was worth a chance and took a swing at him. Not only did I miss, but I screamed out as the bullet wound in my side felt like it was tearing me apart.

“If you want to get the bitch there alive, I suggest you keep her from bleeding out.” Specter fired back. She was hard to see in the shadows, but I could tell when she turned to look at me. Her violet eyes almost glowed in the dark corner of the old ruin. She gave me an all over eerie vibe, but that wasn’t much of a concern when I felt something jab into my side.

“Yeah, yeah.” Null said as he used some sort of kit to clean out my bullet wound. He grabbed the slug in me with his magic, and slowly worked it out. I writhed in pain, and as I opened my mouth to scream again, I found the gag shoved back into it. “I am just lucky that it did not seem to hit anything vital.” He pressed his horn into my side, and a wonderfully numb feeling washed over me.

“You know what, never mind. Let her bleed out.” Specter scoffed. “Really, how much usefulness is the bitch with no legs? Flint isn’t even going to waste his time with the likes of her.” She held up a suppressed pistol in her magic and pointed it at me. “Might as well save you the weight when you bring him the bad news.”

“No, you will not harm her.” Null snapped. “Her legs were Synchro’s fault, not mine.” He paused to focus on wrapping my wound. “Besides, we still have to call off that infernal machine.”

“Like usual, you’re one step behind. Why do you think it didn’t kill her?” Specter Rolled her eyes and lifted her hoof. Attached to it was a fairly well used looking pipbuck. It’s screen however was either too dim to see, or broken, because it didn’t show with the same intensity as Storm’s. “It’s like you’ve forgotten how to use your tools. And that amature move to fire first, was the only reason this happened in the first place. If you weren’t greedy for the contract, you wouldn’t have been in this mess.”

“Flint forbid him from putting a repair talisman in the thing for exactly that reason. What if it goes rogue? It is too dangerous to have even been built.” He snarled and yanked the bandage tight. I whined out in protest, but was more trying to focus on his voice than anything. “Besides, I would not have shot it if I knew it was not going to knock the fucking thing out.”

“Well, that is your problem now.” Specter sighed. “Thanks to you two, I have to catch the other mare’s scent again.” Her eyes narrowed as she growled. “And you better hope that I do.”

“Oh no, you are going to help me carry her.” Null stomped a hoof and pointed at her. “Better yet, you can teleport us almost half way before sunset.” Call it a hunch, but I was pretty sure she wouldn’t go for that.

“Yeah, fuck that.” She let out a hearty laugh. “You two can ride Synchro’s toy back for all I care, I don’t owe you shit.” She paused for a moment and tapped her hoof on the floor. “However, because of the trouble you’ve caused, you now owe me.” Her eyes shifted down to me. “Both of you do.”

I tried to get out a ‘fuck you’ through the gag, but it just came out muffled. Her horn glowed slightly for a moment. I could see the slender outline of her muzzle for just a moment before she teleported away. The jarring of rocks under metal gave away the robotic monstrosity as it finally closed in on us. Without their conversation to distract me anymore, my thoughts began to drift back to the realization of what I now was.

My legs were gone. Cauterized as they were, not even hydra would be able to bring them back. That Specter bitch had at least one thing right. I would be useless to pretty much anypony now. I’ve never seen anypony recover from wounds like these unless they had connections. So I stared at the stumps. A lasting reminder of all my failures.

“Don’t worry about them.” Null spoke up. He spoke in quiet, almost remorseful tones. “Flint will still want you when we get there, I’ll make sure of that. Synchro can fix you up or something. If he doesn’t, he’s going to find himself owing me a whole lot of favors.” He sighed and lowered his head. His horn gave off a flare as he wrapped his magic around me. I felt myself lifted off the floor.

“You see, that’s what’s great about working for Flint. You don’t have to worry about needing something.” He smiled as he maneuvered me onto his back. “We all get paid in favors. As long as you’ve saved enough favors, you can ask for anything and Flint will acquire it for you.” He used his magic to remove the gag from me. The numbing magic was the best thing I’d ever felt in my life, and I had no more reason to scream.

“You said I’d have to sacrifice something before.” I lolled my tongue around in my muzzle. The taste of leather clung to it, but it wasn’t all that unbearable. “What do you mean?”

“Well, your freedom to leave, for one.” He spoke up as he carried me towards the front door. “Technically, we are still his slaves. If we don’t have a favor to spend on free time, you are working.” As we walked out, the Robot rolled up to the edge of the building and stopped in front of us. “Your freedom of choice also goes out the window. The different jobs you will receive will offer different amounts of favors. But you must accept any job you are given if you don’t already have one.”

Even with a repair talisman, the machine looked a lot worse for wear than it did before I fought it. The miss sized red eyes watched our every move as we approached it. The closer we got, the more my heart pounded in my chest. I felt like at any moment, it might recognize me and decide that it would finish the job it started. I needed another distraction.

“You said your friend could fix me.” I closed my eyes and sighed. Even though I was numb, and I knew they were gone, I could swear I still felt my legs as they dangled. “How?”

“First of all, he is not my friend. Secondly, I did not promise that he could.” He wrapped his magic around me again and hoisted me into the air. I kept my eyes shut tightly as I floated past him. For a moment, I seemingly hung there before I felt the cold steel plates rise up below me. “But… Synchro is supposedly a prodigy with arcano-technology. His sign up bonus was to learn everything he could from some doctor who works with Red Eye himself. If anypony could help, it would be him. I just hope Flint lets me cash in some favors for your mission in advance.”

So then there was still a chance to live a normal life. All I’d had to do, was sell away my freedom. Then again, this was exactly what I’d wanted to do. To get back to bounty hunting again, with guaranteed jobs and the pay being exchangeable for anything I could want. On the other hoof, I really doubt they’d let Caltrop and Sandy work with me. More so than that, I don’t think these ponies are anypony they could even exist around for more than they’d have to.

“Let me ask you something.” As bad as it was, I didn’t have any choice left. “That sign on bonus. Could it buy me some legs?”

--Chapter End--
“Might be time to cash in some of those saved karma points...”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: Tag! - Adds a fourth Tagged skill. (Magical Energy Weapons +15)

Chapter 26 - Double Edged Sword

More than anything, they fucking itched.

The stumps where my rear legs once sat didn’t even hurt thanks to Null’s numbing spell. Unfortunately, the non existent limbs still itched like crazy. The fact that they were gone was still something I hadn’t completely accepted yet I don’t think. At the very least, I could still sit on the stumps.

Still, the trip back to wherever we were going wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Sure, riding atop the machine that mercilessly beamed my legs off wasn’t at all comfortable, but it would have been faster than walking. Had I still been able to do that, that is. Still, Null had become somewhat more of a chatterbox now that I was willing to go see this ‘Flint’ fellow. Though, he didn’t seem to trust me enough to give me back my magic.

Specter, the mare that had saved my flank, was apparently the closest thing Null had to a friend among the other hunters. She came from way up north, from a settlement just outside the ruins of the crystal empire. On top of having some sort of radiation mutation that made her semi-translucent, Flint saw an exceptional ability in teleportation from her and signed her on. However, as her first mission, she had to help capture her own family. She’s apparently been a raging bitch ever since.

“So, just try to stay out of her way when she gets like that.” He rolled his eyes. “I am not even going to tell you about Synchro. He is annoying enough to talk to, let alone ask why he is the way he is.” He levitated a half empty bottle of water over to me, which I took into my hooves gladdly. “Let us see… there is also Brushfire. One of those insane raider types. She killed, burned, and ate her whole tribe before Flint stumbled onto her. She only ever spends her favors on two things. Flamer fuel, and a fresh slave to cook up.”

“Wow, that’s genuinely terrifying.” I grumbled. It was hard to care about the others. Caltrop and Sandy were still out there, and I had no idea if they’d made it to the safehouse. On top of that, I have no idea if Storm had made it back to Mom in time. I drank up the water in the bottle and tried to forget all of it for now. No distractions until I can get myself set up for this.

“There’s our little filly, Dykem Blue.” He continued on. “She got her cutie mark working in the Fillydelphia pits. Somehow figured out how to imprint spells into normal objects without needing a gem. Killed four guards with an air compression spell she hid in a girder. From what I heard, they had more shrapnel in them than a whole minefield.”

“Wait, that’s impossible.” I spoke up. “Spells can’t be stored in anything but a gemstone or one of those archanotech spell matrix thingies.”

“Well, the spells she stores are extremely unstable, and destroy the object in the process of resolving the spell.” Null shrugged. “Believe me when I say I did not think it possible as well. It was a unique enough talent that Flint ‘requisitioned’ her from his brother.”

“Huh, learn something new every day.” I gave a snort and looked up to the sky. The sun was dipping down towards the edge of the cloud cover behind us. We were hugging the mountains on a dirt path east towards Filly, but that was all I knew. “Not that this isn’t fun and all, but I really don’t give two shits about you or your fellow ‘hunters’. If I work for Flint, it won’t be with any of you.”

“Suit yourself. Only one left to talk about was the new guy anyway.” He sighed in annoyance. “Don’t know much about him, but Martial is the biggest prick I think I’ve ever seen.” Hearing him say that name almost made my forelegs slip out from under me. I had to look for something to hold onto as my heart rate jumped.

“Say that again.” I perked my ears forward to make sure of what I’d heard. “What was his name?”

“Well,” Null rolled his eyes again and facehoofed. “He prefers the name ‘Ash’, but...”

“That stupid son of a bitch!” Just thinking about that little shit made my blood boil. I turned my anger on Null. “When we get there, you are going to take me too him. Then, you are going to sit there and hold him down while I beat all the life from his cold heart.”

“Woah there now. You will not kill him.” Null held his hooves up defensively. “Flint has a strict ‘no-violence’ policy amongst his employees. You have an issue with him, you have to take it up with Flint. Even that will cost you a few favors to do.” He eyed at me curiously. “If I might ask, what did he do? I know he was originally tasked to bring you in, but he has not returned since his failure.”

“He went to Baltimare to kill my family.” I grumbled. “And I have no idea if he has or not. I was on my way to meet up with my grandmother to find out what happened when you arrived.”

“I see.” His response was simple, but a puzzled look fell across his face. “Why would he attack your family?”

“My grandmother killed his whole tribe for raping my mother.” My muzzle twitched at the memory of the train car as it slipped through my mind. “I never knew, but he’s been around for years just waiting for the right moment to get his revenge.”

“Oh, that is a different story then.” Null tapped his hoof against his muzzle. “Grudge missions are forbidden. When you join Flint, you cease to be who you were. Your name stays the same, but all family ties and history must be forgotten. No exceptions.” Null looked at me with a grimace. “The only family you will have again is Flint and us.”

“What if I want to get married?” I asked mostly out of reflex. First I wrestled with my feelings for Caltrop, and now I blurt out about making it official? I don’t know why it mattered to me so much, but the suddenness of it left both Null and I silent for a moment. “Not that I will, but Ash said he was married.”

“You can…” Null was slow to speak. “But again, it will cost you favors to do. I am not privy to ‘Ash’s’ agreement with Flint, but she might have been included in it.” He paused again, but I could tell something else was on his mind. “And before you ask, yes, you will need favors to have a foal.”

The robot slowed down to a crawl as it came upon a forested section of road. The skeletal trees that lined this area were more clustered in this section than they had been anywhere else. They created mesmerising patterns as we crawled along at a slower speed. They looked as if they shifted side to side behind one another as we passed them. Then, as if somepony told them too, they aligned in just the right way to reveal a dirt path between them. It ran along a few of the hills that climbed up towards the eastern face of the mountain range before it disappeared around the other side of the largest hill. Slowly, the machine turned and started down the new path.

“Ah, we are almost home.” Null said through a sigh of relief. “The vineyard is just a few miles up this path. I normally like to take my time walking back, but I think this time it might serve well to stay with you.”

“What? You don’t trust that I’ll go?” I said as I wiggled my nubs. “Not like I’d make it very far.”

“No,” Null laughed. “I suppose not. But the others will know that you are not a threat if I am with you.” He leaned back and put his hooves behind his head. “Unless, you’d rather get shot again?” I’d been shot enough to last a lifetime already. Then again at that point, what’s one more scar to add to my collection?

The first thing I noticed as we closed in was that the ‘vineyard’ actually looked like one. Rows and rows of plants lined the hillside all across the valley on this side of the mountain. No oppressive walls or barbed wire fences sat near what I now realized was less of a single home, but instead was a large settlement. Dozens of slaves worked along lines of actually growing grape plants, tending to them at the gunpoint of only a few guards.

Above the fields were both shacks and small houses alike, most likely home to the slaves and the guards. Various generators kept a few lights running in them, and I could see a few ponies milling about tending to things. Further up the hill from those, were a pair of large buildings. One was three stories tall and ringed with balconies, while the other looked like a huge sheet metal barn. Both were brightly lit inside, but the large apartment-like building seemed oddly empty.

Finally, near the top of the ridge, sat a large, two story villa. It had a single balcony that ran along it’s entire second story, and even in the failing light, I could see a pair of ponies on it. It helped that they stood in front of a large open door that lead inside, but something told me that one of them had to be Flint. Once we got closer, the two ponies disappeared inside and shut the door.

The robot we were on was slow to make it along the path. The buildings crept closer at a dragging pace, but as the light of day shifted to an orange evening glow, we were nearly there. I perked my ears at an odd sound, as did Null. Another upbeat tune met our ears, not unlike the one the robot had been blaring. Null let out a grunt and shook his head.

“Why must he insist on listening to all of that racket?” He looked to me for sympathy. “Ever since Flint gave away half his collection, he has been playing his remaining records louder and louder.” He sneered when I didn’t give him the reaction he wanted. “Maybe he will turn it down now that I have reclaimed them from the prison.”

That made me sigh.

“I never wanted to hear that shit again.” I looked up to Null with a small smile. “Don’t think you’d be open to maybe just losing them again, do you?”

“Sorry, but he is paying me a good amount of favors for them.” He gave me a sly grin in return. Fucking typical.

For as run down as the barn building looked, I could see all sorts of shiny steel trusses running along the inside of it. Work Lights had been hoisted up and placed all over the scaffolding at various points to give the interior a brightness rivaling the sun itself. Assorted pony-high piles of scrap sat against a few rusted benches and tool cabinets. Parts of ponytrons, giddy-up buttercups, and even the hull of an ultra sentinel sat discarded and unused in the piles.

As we approached, a short and frail looking earth pony stallion climbed up and over one of the farther piles. His deep purple coat was stained with black streaks that I assumed were grease or oil, and his short, spiky teal mane adorned greasy black tips. The robot turned and pulled forward into the large barn, parking itself just inside. The mechanical hum shut off with a quick chirp just as the song on the record stopped playing.

He pushed up an old pair of glasses with his hoof as he looked at us. Null grunted and slid himself to the side of the machine. He hopped off and looked back up to me. He wrapped me in his magic again and slid me off the machine as well.

“What the hell did you do to her?” The new stallion snorted in annoyance. “You can’t just roll her in here with two legs missing and no explanation.”

“Well Synchro, your stupid machine did this to her.” Null shot back. “If you hadn’t put…”

“Not her you moron.” The new stallion cut him off. “You know how hard it was to replace the one missing wheel suspension leg when I found this bot?” He hopped off of his junk heap and trotted over to the robot. “I mean look at her! You took her whole back end off!”

“Fair trade.” I snorted. Not even thirty seconds in and I see what Null was talking about. I can tell this guy is the most annoying stallion I’ve ever met, and between Caltrop and Ash, that’s saying something. Without warning, I found Null’s gag pushed back into my muzzle. Fantastic. Now I couldn’t even tell this guy off.

“The fuck did you say, bitch?” The stallion wheeled around on me as Null lowered me down. Null walked over and placed himself between us. He levitated and presented the records he’d mentioned to Synchro. It took the young stallion’s attention for a moment, but I feel that it was what Null had wanted.

“Look, she’s the one the boss has been looking for, but your little toy damaged her.” Null held the records just close enough that Synchro jumped at grabbing them. Null of course, pulled them just out of his reach. “You, owe me for that.”

“Really? That’s how this is gonna go?” Synchro deadpanned and raised his hoof to me. “What the fuck am I supposed to do? I can’t magically grow her new legs, now can I?”

“No, but you are the self proclaimed ‘robotics prodigy’, are you not?” Null levitated the records closer again. “Just build her some new ones.”

“It’s not that simple.” Synchro groaned out, eyes still locked on to the floating records. “Do you know how complex a set of prosthetics are? You can’t just make them in a few minutes, not for a price you could afford anyway.” He reached out for the records, but Null once again pulled them back.

“Well that is disappointing.” Null sighed and shook his head. “I guess I’ll just have to give these records back to Flint,” He paused and smiled at Synchro. “Along with my report detailing the fact that your little toy here had an upgrade that helped take his prized mare’s legs clean off.”

“Alright, alright, alright.” Synchro snarled. “Fine. I’ll help you just this one time.” He prodded Null in the chest with his hoof. “But we’re even for both this and the records.”

“Deal.” Null said, hovering the records over to the short stallion. Synchro scrambled to hold on to them, hugging them tightly.

“You know, you’re lucky I have something here that might work for her.” Synchro called out as he walked back across the floor. He disappeared around the back of one of the larger junk piles for a moment. The sound of squeaking metal and grunting was all I heard as I sat there still helpless to do pretty much anything. Wait, he didn’t tie my hooves up again.

I’m a fucking moron.

With a little effort, I tugged the gag from my muzzle and tossed it at Null. He stood there like an idiot with an amused grin on his face. There was a loud crack from the other side of the junk pile. Synchro trotted around it again a moment later.

“These should be good enough to get the bitch walking again.” He said as he dumped the rear half of one of the Giddie up buttercup robotic mare toys onto the floor. “Now, I believe at the very least, a thank you is in order.”

“Those legs are a joke.” I glared at them. “You expect me to walk around on toy legs?”

“What would you know about robotics?” He half chuckled, half growled. “You’re just a stupid bitch with only two legs.”

“I can see the same fake as fuck toy legs right there!” I pointed a forehoof to one of the rusting Buttercup toys in the pile nearest to me. “Right. There. I can see it. I'm crippled, not fucking blind you asshole!"

“You can use these to walk!” He shouted back at me. “What fucking more do you want!”

“I hope you’re not trying to rip anypony off, Synchro.” A filly spoke up from behind me. I couldn’t turn enough to see her, but I was guessing that this was the filly that Null spoke about. “You remember what Master Flint did last time that happened.”

“Isn’t it past your bedtime, Blue?” Synchro rolled his eyes with an aggravated sigh.

“Staying up late doesn’t make what she said wrong.” A new voice joined in from behind. Synchro’s face went as pale as a pony could get as light hoofsteps made their way closer to me. Null’s concentration wavered as he avoided looking at the approaching pony. “I hope you weren’t planning on giving Null here a bum deal.”

If I had any certainty about these ponies, is that there would be only one pony they would fear enough to act this way. Both Null and Synchro cowered slightly more with each step towards us. The suspense could be cut with a knife, and all I wanted to do was turn to face the pony who had given me so much trouble over the last week.

“N-no, sir.” Synchro stuttered. “I… I can fix up some p-proper legs.”

“There, now was that so hard?” His voice was as slick as oil. That worried me, seeing as silver tongued assholes had talked their way around me in the past. Then again, none of those ponies were probably as intimidating as he is. With a few more steps, he walked around to where I could see and smiled down to me.

He was as gorgeous as Ash thought himself to be.

Why the fuck did he have to be so damn good looking? Why are all the stallions that ruin my life so fucking good looking! His platinum coat didn’t have a single hair out of place. The blond mane he wore down the sides of his head perfectly framed his gentle looking fuchsia eyes.

“Miss Percussion Cap, I presume.” He spoke as he leaned down. “You are a particularly hard pony to find, you know.” A little chuckle escaped his muzzle from that before he turned his gaze to what was left of my rear legs. “Oh, that certainly is a shame.” He frowned and shook his head softly.

“Null said that you could fix me...” I said softly. As soon as he gazed back into my eyes, I lost my train of thought.

“Yes, I certainly believe I might be able to help.” A smirk crept across his muzzle as he looked back at Synchro. “A mare of your talent would be a shame to let go to waste for something as unfortunate a situation as this.” He cocked and eyebrow and shot his glance back to me. “However, I assume you’ve been told my help comes at a price.”

Something about the way he looked at me then made my skin crawl. Was I ready to trade away my freedom for something like this? Null said that sometimes I don’t have a choice on my contracts. What if he sends me after some pony like Storm? Could I even accept the fact that I’d have to try to kill her, let alone pull the trigger?

“I have a few terms of my own.” I shut my eyes as I spoke. I didn’t want to get distracted by anything. This was too important. “One, is that my family gets left out of your contracts.”

“My dear,” He chuckled again. “You must know already that I am not the only pony in the wasteland to place bounties. I cannot guarantee…”

“Just your bounties.” I cut him off. From the gasp that I got from the other hunters around me, cutting him off might not have been the smartest thing to do. Though, he wanted me enough to go through the trouble of bringing me here, so I figure I can push the limits a little bit.

“Okay, that is agreeable.” He replied sharply. I could tell that he’d already become frustrated. “Is there anything else?”

“My friends. I work better with them than without.” It was a simple request. I just wanted to make sure that Caltrop and Sandy could be kept safe and close by. Assuming, that they had arrived at the safehouse in one piece, like I hoped they would have.

“That's not the story I've heard. Though, I do have to thank the bumbling stallion you were with. His mistake gave me the perfect chance to set this all up.” He had a bit more of a general tone to this. I’m sure he’d entertained the possibility of me asking, which made his answer all the more expected. “Sadly, my offer only extends to you.”

“I’m told that for an amount of favors, a hunter can buy anything from you.” I opened my eyes and looked up at him. He wore a smug smile now, but it was shrinking as I spoke. “How many would it take?”

“Well,” His smile returned as he let out a good laugh. “lets not get ahead of yourself.”

“You want me to work for you, I need my friends to work.” I simply glared at him. This was something I needed to have. I’m bartering with one of the most powerful stallions in Filly. If he didn’t accept, he’d kill me without a second thought, I’m sure of it. So why not go for broke?

“Well,” He said as he curled a perfectly kept forehoof under his chin. “I guess if you're willing to go into debt for them, I can't argue.” He looked around to each of the others around me. He dragged the silence out before he returned his gaze to me. “I guess I could for… let’s say, one hundred favors.”

The room became deathly silent. Nopony moved a muscle as each held their breath.

“Deal.” I held my forehoof out to Flint with a smile. If I was going to sell my soul to him, I might as well have gotten everything I wanted out of it.

“You sure about that?” His grin grew wider than ever. He was positively ecstatic. “I don't think you fully grasp…” He paused as I kept my eyes determined and locked on to his. “Alright, if you're sure.” Slowly, he took my hoof with his and shook. “Welcome to the family.”

“What?” Synchro whined and stomped a hoof. The suddenness made me flinch, and it wiped the smile from Flint’s muzzle. “That's not fair!”

“Yeah!” Blue joined in. “I can't even get an advance on five favors, let alone a hundred!”

Slowly, Flint pushed himself back up to full height and shifted his gaze between them. He wore a look that read both astonished and offended at the same time. Both Synchro and the filly took a step back unsteadily.

“Tell me, is there something wrong with what I've done for you two?” His voice was soft, but commanding. He glared over at Synchro, which made the lithe stallion shiver. “Do you not have your toys? Or enough free time to yourself?” He turned his gaze to the filly behind me. “Maybe you've forgotten the hospitality that I've granted you with hot meals and a roof over your head.”

“It’s just…” Synchro tried to speak up.

“Silence!” Flint shouted. From down on the floor, I could feel his voice resonate through the cold concrete. He had the voice of a leader, and I’m not going to lie, but it was a bit terrifying. “To look on another pony’s things and covet them is greed! How can you want for more when I have already given you so much?”

“You should instead look up to this mare and not ask what she has, but what you can give to her.” He dropped his voice and lowered himself to the floor again. He slowly reached his hoof out and stroked it through my mane. I was conflicted, not sure if to let him or do it or pull away. Now that I’d agree’d, I had no idea what he’d do next. But he continued talking. “She has been granted a place in my family, in OUR family. Any you will not be jealous of her.” He looked back to Synchro. “Is that clear?”

“Yes, Master Flint.” Both Synchro and Blue spoke at the same time.

“Excellent.” He said as the smile returned to his muzzle. “Synchro, I expect her to have ACTUAL working legs by tomorrow afternoon. For now, I have an old medical wheel brace she can use. I will have it brought down from the Villa shortly.” He got back up and turned to face Blue. “And you, little missy, have to get to bed. It's a big day for you tomorrow. Even though he just returned, I’m sending Ash and you out early.”

“That’s fucking right!” I blurted out. Flint looked down to me in confusion, only to meet my anger head on. “That asshole is going to answer for what he did.” Just as I finished, Null shoved his gag back in my muzzle and held it there tightly.

“What she refers to, Master Flint, is that Ash took up her contract as a means to exact vengeance on Miss Cap’s family.” The way he phrased it left out a whole lot of adjectives that I would have used, but if what he said was true, Flint wouldn’t stand for it.

“Oh dear, that just won’t do.” He looked down to me with a frown. “As Null might have explained, your past ends when you become my property.” He paused and canted his head. “With your prior requests as the exception, of course. But that is not important right now. No need to worry, I will send the wheelchair down for you.” He let out a disappointed sigh and turned to Null. “Please bathe and clothe Miss Cap, I’m sure being on the run has left her quite uncomfortably dirty. Then you may escort her up to the Villa when she is ready.”

“Yes, Master Flint.” Null spoke and removed the gag from my muzzle. I was really beginning to hate the taste of leather. With the ability to speak restored, I felt something else come back. There was a particularly tingly feeling to it, but I could feel my horn almost hum with my magic again. Just after that, my coat, hat, and saddle bags were dumped onto me as well.

“I must take my leave for the moment, Miss Cap.” Flint said as he stood in just the corner of my vision. “But I do ask that you bring your appetite to the villa, I’ve been waiting to hear all about the last few weeks from you over dinner.” He took a half step forward before pausing. “Oh, and one last thing. With this unfortunate news you’ve bought, I’ll have to arrange for some entertainment afterward.” Even without being able to see all of him, I could tell he was nearly vibrating with enthusiasm. “I’m sure you’ll love it. I mean, what kind of host would I be if it wasn’t just to die for?”

As he walked away, he belted out a long string of giggling laughs. With the stress of the moment over, I felt my mind clear in an instant. Everything I’d just done hit me at once. While my agreement with Flint over Storm and Mom kept them safe, I screwed up with Caltrop and Sandy. Flint isn’t going to let them simply exist here. Effectively, I just sold myself into debt in order to make them his slaves as well!

Fucking smooth. My life is just as I wanted it, all it cost me was the freedom of the three of us. Storm was right, I’m just a fuck up. It doesn’t matter, so long as I got to be a fuck up with new legs and my friends around. I mean, other than ‘technically’ belonging to Flint, everything isn’t so bad here, right? As I sat in thought, a cold breeze swept into the barn and sent a shiver up my spine. Who was I kidding? Like always, I’d probably just dug myself another foot closer to the bottom of my grave.

In the last moments of evening sunlight, and arguably the only good moment of the day, my missing legs finally decided to stop itching.

--Chapter End--
“Looks like you've made your bed. Unfortunately, now you have to lie in it.”
Quests Finished: Contract Nullification
Quests Started: The Hoof that Feeds You
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 27 - The Dinner Party

Once the wheelchair had been delivered, I’d spent a good few minutes getting used to it. Funny. It wasn’t so much a chair, than a set of wheels I tied onto my flank. But at least I didn’t have to be carried anymore.

When I rolled, I still moved my legs as if I they were still there. It threw me off balance more than I’d like to admit, and I could tell even Null’s patience in helping me was wearing thin. When I’d actually been able to get moving, he’d taken me back to ‘the complex’ as he called it. It was an old world condominium before the bombs, and since Flint claimed this place, it’s been the residence of his Hunters.

I was shown to the back end of the first floor, where I was given my own room. The peeling wallpaper and musty furniture wasn’t anything too spectacular, but what I did like was the large windowed wall and patio that faced down the mountain to the east. Looking across the valley below me in the calm night air left me feeling like maybe this is what it felt like before the war. There was no violence, no mutated creatures, and for once it was quiet other than the sound of a small party going on in the slave shacks.

The whole experience left a small smile on my muzzle. I turned around to ask if this was really my own place, but I found Null had slipped out at some point. On the molding couch by the door was with a basket of assorted supplies. I rolled myself over to it and carefully sat down. Several small things were wrapped up in the most smooth fabric I’d ever laid eyes on. When I tried to unroll it, a small note tumbled out. I snatched it in my magic and brought it up to read.

‘Master Flint kindly requests that you use the included gifts of shampoo and conditioner while you shower. He has also requested that you wear the dress provided for your dinner outing. When you are ready, you are to ask Null to accompany you up to the Villa.’

I unrolled the rest of what happened to be a silky, cream colored dress. As I did I found a pair of bottles had been tucked inside. Shampoo and Conditioner. They were both almost empty, but they were a luxury I’ve always wanted to afford. The dress however, was something I’d never really pictured myself wearing. I looked back to the note, seeing as I’d only read half of it.

‘P.s. That is my dress, not yours. You get so much as a stain on it, and I’ll slit your throat in your sleep. You already owe me for letting my contract get away, and you don’t want to owe me any more than that.

- Specter.’

I snorted and tossed the note onto the couch. Yeah, what a fucking bitch. Seeing as Flint barred conflict between his hunters, I doubt she’d even carry through with the threat. That’s not what made me laugh however. It’s the fact that she blamed me for her own mistakes. Maybe if she were a better hunter, she wouldn’t have lost…

“I’m turning into Grandma.” I sighed and hung my head. “Whatever, a shower sounds like heaven right now.” I hoofed at my mane and wrapped my magic around the ‘gifts’ before trotting off into the bathroom. The tiled floor clopped loudly underhoof, but I ceased to care when I spotted the tub. It was a large, claw footed tub that sat right next to the window. Images of future baths in the summer evenings floated through my head.

Immediately, I used my magic to turn on the hot water handle. Without so much as a single groan, water burst forth from the brass head. Immediately, steam started to rise and waft out the window. In a panic, I used my magic to swing it shut with more force than I should have. I wasn’t going to waste a single ounce of that heat if I could. With a foalish smile and a little giggle, I levitated off my coat and gear, and went to pull myself into the tub.

Except, I’d forgotten I had a wheelchair strapped to me.

The tires bumped up against the edge of the tub as I climbed in. The awkward motion threw my forehooves out from under me, and I slid face first into the tub. I writhed against the near scalding water, trying to turn myself over onto my back. The wheels just kept bumping against the tub, so I couldn’t actually maneuver myself. I reached out with my magic and quickly undid the straps to it.

With a thump, the heavy chair dropped onto the floor. Without the weight, I quickly pulled the rest of myself into the tub. I flipped myself over and pushed my back against the sloped far side of the tub to catch my breath. As the hot shower rained down across my matted and muddied coat, my vision drifted along my body until I got to my legs. Even with as little as I’d had them on, the straps had left slight ropeburn around my stumps. A little voice in my head told me to suck it up and get used to it. I think it was then that the finality of my injury came crashing down onto me.

I cried. I wailed and balled my eyes out in the shower. I had been broken by the wasteland. Left incomplete and never again to be whole. I’d never thought of my legs as their own entities, but seeing them gone? I mourned over them like they were family. What would Caltrop think of me now? What would Storm? How can I even face mom again like this?

It wasn’t until the hot water had become cold that I finally collected myself. I had to stay strong and move forward. This was my life now, nothing could change that. I had been hired to do a job, and that was good. I would no longer have to worry about work again, and that too was good.

I ran my forehooves down along my hind legs. I winced as the pressure against the dark stump shot pain through them. They were just gone. The sooner I accepted this, the sooner I could get back to doing what I was good at. I looked over to the wheelchair and simply glared at it. It wasn’t some ‘thing’ that I needed. It was a challenge meant to be conquered, another one of Grandma’s tests that I knew I could beat.

I used my magic to levitate the small shampoo bottle over and got to work. It was hard to clean myself now, but I will get better at it over time. This dinner was just like any other job, and though I didn’t know what to expect, I should at least be presentable.

As I washed myself, I found my thoughts drifting to work. What would Flint have me do? For as generous as he looks, he seemed a bit unstable to me. Then again, who in the wasteland isn’t? Still, dinner would be my best time to map out his mannerisms and personality. If this whole arrangement didn’t work out, I’m sure he wouldn’t be nearly as forgiving as he was back in the barn. I’m his property now, so if I were to go, I’d need to know where he was weak.

By the time I’d finished my shower, the burning sensation that dully ebbed in my stumps changed. I’d managed to drag myself out of the tub and over to the large sink across the room. As I used an ivory comb I’d found in my bathroom cabinet to untangle my mane, my legs slowly felt like they were being lowered on to a bed of hot coals. I looked back at my discarded wheelchair with the thought that maybe I should go get Null.

It felt so good to have my magic back again. No more weakness from burn out, or suppression magic to keep it from working right. My heat spell came back to me with little effort, and I focused it’s effect all around my head. The heat dried out my hair as I ran the brush through it. I got to thinking about how long I’d been in here, and how it was probably a bad idea to take so long. With that thought, I increased the heat to get this done faster.

With the extra heat, my hair dried faster than I’d thought it would. The comb hit a snag and I flinched as it tore a hair or two of my mane out. I looked back to the mirror that had started to defog as the steam in the room. My mane stuck out every which way in a big red frazzle. Seeing it made me forget all about the last twenty four hours. A smirk found it’s way across my muzzle and in a moment of weakness, I giggled.

“I look ridiculous.” I muttered to myself as I pulled the comb from my mane.

“I think you look stunning.” Null spoke up.

I let out a yelp and panicked. I tried to turn and get into a more defensive position at the same time. Without hind legs, that did little more than hurt like hell and leave me on the floor in pain.

“I am sorry. I did not mean…” He tried to speak up.

“Get the hell out of here!” I snapped at him. I threw the comb at him, which he dodged with little effort. The comb bounced off the wall and clattered noisily against the tiled floor. “What are you doing just standing around and watching me?” I shot him a glare that I’d hoped would punctuate my anger. All he did was shift a bit and stand there awkwardly.

“Well…” He darted his eyes about anyplace but me. “You were taking quite a while…”

“Yeah.” I yelled. “Kinda hard to do a lot without these.” I hooked my forehoof around my right rear leg and pulled it up so he could get a good look at the stump. “Leave me alone.”

“As you ask.” He shrugged and turned around. “I will wait in the main hall, but be warned. Master Flint does not like to be kept waiting.”

I slammed the door on him as he walked out. I took a few deep breaths to try to calm my racing heart. The nerve on some ponies. Is every hunter in this damned place just going to spend their time sneaking up on me? If so, one of these days one of them might just get ‘accidentally’ shot. Which reminds me that I have no equipment. My coat, hat, and bags were returned to me, but I don’t have my guns anymore. Then again, what do I care? If he wants me to do jobs for him, he’ll have to give me something to use, right?

Still, Storm is going to kill me when she finds out that I lost her prized revolver. I picked the brush back up and ran it along my mane again. I stared at myself in the mirror. The mare that stared back was not the same one who stared back at me two weeks ago. There were heavy bags under my eyes from the exhaustive events, and too many new scars on my head and neck to count. Then there was the large gouge that sat on my horn from Sandy.

As I continued brushing, I wondered what they were doing about now. No doubt that by now, Storm had caught up to them. Hopefully, she’d be able to keep them safe until I could meet up with them again.

Once I’d gotten my mane back under control, I worked at getting that damned chair back on. It wasn’t comfortable, and each strap was both a physical and mental nightmare to figure out. With each strap I locked into place, the pain in my legs grew. I had no idea if it was because I was doing it wrong, or if that was just the pain my legs would always be in now. I struggled to get back up to all fours, but when I did, it helped to relieve the pain a little.

“That wasn’t so bad.” I gave a low whine as I opened the bathroom door and rolled out. “I just need to put on the dress, and I can get this whole night over with.” I levitated the silky smooth dress off the couch and over to me. With a quick inspection, I wasn’t quite sure how one was supposed to get it on.

“How hard could it be?”

About halfway through getting the dress on, my cries of agony had attracted the attention of Null. His anesthetic spell was something I would need to learn if the pain was always this bad. If it came down to the fact that I couldn’t learn it, I’d fall back on Med-X. That wasn’t a pretty thought, seeing as I’ve seen too many Med-X junkies suffering. I shook that thought from my head and tried to focus on the events ahead. While I did, Null helped me the rest of the way into the dress and lead me out of the building to the gravel path that lead up to the villa.

The first thing I noticed on the path up to the Villa, was the sky. Being as high up as we were, the cloud cover seemed to hang low overhead. Funny. In my travels, I'd never really seen them so low. I've been close, like up in Timber, but never this close. It was probably another thousand feet up the side of the mountains, but I wondered if there was a way to get above them from here. Maybe one day I'd try and find out what the sky truly looked like.

The sun had long since gone down, and the dark of night was all around the valley. The only place that the darkness could not touch, was the villa itself. Dozens of floodlights adorned the edges of what at one point must have been a lush, green lawn. The rocky, pitted ground made the near pristine structure look all the more alien to me. It was much bigger than it looked from afar, and I had to wonder just how many ponies lived inside.

Null had been completely silent as we walked up the path, but I could tell that he’d stolen a glance or two at me. Normally, I’d knock him flat on his side for that, but my annoyance kept my mind off my legs for now. That and I’m not sure if he could even see my flank with his sight. Generally, the whole seeing magic thing was confusing as all hell to me.

As we approached the front doors, they were pulled open by a pair of lithe looking mares with leather collars on. They kept their heads low and did everything they could to avoid eye contact as we entered. My attention was stolen by the sheer cleanliness of the entryway room. The walls, ceiling, and even the marble tiles sparkled as if they were brand new. I’d never seen somewhere in the wasteland so remarkably well preserved then this. I’d say it would take a small army to maintain, but I’m sure Flint has one.

“It’s alright to admire my villa, but make no mistake…” Flint called as he walked down one of the two stairways the lead up to the second floor of the villa. “You are the most stunning sight tonight.” His flattery wouldn’t get anywhere with me, but I have to admit that I could see the blush I had on my cheeks. He reached the landing and walked over to us. With a simple nod, he dismissed Null, who walked out and closed the doors behind me. “Please, this way. Dinner has been served.”

With each step, a squeak came from my wheels as the old rubber rolled across the marble flooring. I followed him down one of the hallways and through a pristine room that contained plush couches, marvelous oil paintings, and a polished silver tea set on it’s own cart. This place hardly seemed possible in the midst of the wasteland, even with an army of slaves.

Through there, we arrived at a large, open room with a rectangular table that was absolutely packed with food. I’d never seen so much food in one place in my life. Sure, I could mostly tell what canned food each dish was made with, but some things had me baffled. I was so distracted, that I nearly ran into Flint as he stopped near the chair at this end of the table. With a fluid motion, he pulled the chair out and used his other forehoof to show me my seat.

“Please, I’m sure you are famished from your journeys.” He sounded far too nice, and the way he said it sent a shiver down my spine. All creepiness aside, he was right. I wiggled myself so that my wheels rolled under the table and I sat my rump down on the plush seat. Impatiently, my stomach gurgled in anticipation of the feast it was about to receive. Flint pushed me closer to the table and took a step back. “Go ahead, dig in.”

I did just that. It was all so good that I dove in and didn’t look back. Somewhere between the candied radhog meat, vintage hay fries, and the quiche, I’d felt good enough to look up at Flint. He’d taken his place at the other end of the table, and simply sat there. He watched me with that same nauseating smirk, and his hooves pressed together as if he were waiting for something. It was unnerving the hell out of me, so I decided to break the ice.

“So…” I spoke between mouthfulls of sweet peas. “Tell me about your other hunters.”

“What would you like to know?” He asked as he cocked an eyebrow. “Or would you just like me to break this dreadfully awkward silence?” Wow, he hit the nail on the head. Of course, he got the answer he wanted from my silence. “Well, I guess I’ll start with Spectre. Spectre is... a special mare. She's not really my daughter, you see, but close enough I guess you could say. I acquired her years back when she was just a young mare. I learned she'd teleported outside from her slave re-education facility in a mine out west.”

“So? I thought that sort of thing was a common problem.” I took a moments pause to swallow my food. “Things like that are why I chose to work with Filly, it's just good job security.”

“Yes, well…” He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “In her case, she not only teleported out of the internment facility, but outside of Red Wing altogether. She has a remarkable talent at teleportation, more advanced than any unicorn I've ever seen.”

“So, if she can teleport anywhere, what's with her sticking to the shadows?” I asked. That kind of distance is pretty crazy, seeing as the most I’d ever seen any other unicorn teleport was maybe a hundred feet or so.

“Yes. You see, about a year into my employ, she teleported into a patch of killing joke. She's never told me what the joke was, but now she can't fall asleep or she'll die. So I supply her with a special type of drug to keep her awake.” He sighed again, but still he held onto his smile. “The ghoul doctor who cooked it up said that the Shadowbolts used to use this in place of dash when their mission was long endurance, but too important to risk failure. Problem was, a common side effect of even a small dose was a sensitivity to light. With as many years as she's been taking it, it's culminated into quite the condition.”

That… would make sense then. Between Brightshine and Spectre, suddenly my legs didn’t seem so bad. It would also go a long way towards explaining why she’s a colossal bitch.

“I know that you must be enjoying your meal, and I know you'll enjoy the entertainment. But I hope you don't mind that we talk a bit of business.” His grin didn’t falter, even as he spoke. He hoofed at a manilla folder next to his hoof, and held it up at me. “I've selected your first assignment for when you are rehabilitated. It's a long list, but they're all in the same place, so it shouldn't be hard to eliminate them all at once.” He wiggled it at me, insisting that I look at it now. “Take a look. I would like to know your thoughts on it. Maybe hear a preliminary plan or two.”

I levitated the manilla folder over and opened it up. Inside was a list of names, and a few sheets of hoof-written notes. As I hoofed through them, I didn't take the time to read them as there would be time for that later. When I got toward the end, there was a small picture that slipped it's way free from one of the pages. It fell out onto the tablecloth next to my plate, and into the center of my attention. It was a picture of Keg Tap at his bar in Steel Junction.

“Keg?” I looked back up to ensure that this was really supposed to be in here. “What did he do?”

“Well, word is that you had a deal with him to sell out some of the slaves that ran through.” He shook his head as if he were disappointed, but that smile never left his muzzle. “Turns out, you were missing a large chunk of the pie. My information claims that he is hiding a large safe house for slaves in his bar. You are to make your way to Fillydelphia, where you will be given your equipment. For reasons you most likely understand, your weapons will not be entrusted to you until you get there.” He shot a quick glance at me. I know if I were in his position, I wouldn’t trust his new recruits with a weapon either. “You will then head north to the den, destroy it, and kill any slaves or sympathisers who exist there.”

“Just... go in and wipe them out?” I asked. He implied it would be just that simple. Not only does it seem over the top, I’m sure that killing Keg Tap is completely unnecessary. “I'm a bounty hunter, not your personal assassin.”

Out of everything, that had been what tore the smile from his muzzle. He tensed up as he pushed his seat out. Slowly, he walked around the table to me. I couldn't do much more than sit there without knowing his intentions. Though, I noticed that he had an odd gait to him. When he got close enough, I saw that he wore a ballistic hoof on his right foreleg. That was a mistake, as I should have been paying attention to that fact that he was so close.

He hit me in the head with a heavy swing of his other hoof. I flopped out of the chair as I saw stars. My muzzle stopped my head from smacking into the floor, but I could have sworn I felt my nose break when it did. Without a chance to react, I was pulled back up and pinned against the table.

“I will forgive you only this once. You would do well not to forget your place around here. You are MY property.” He growled as he pressed the ballistic hoof against my neck ever so lightly. “That means you do whatever I say. If I ask you to get out of my sight, you go. If I ask you to bring me another slave to kill, you bring them to me.” He paused and lowered his other hoof down my side. “And, if I ask you for a ride, then you better raise that pretty little tail of yours. Understand?”

I couldn’t do much else but nod. When I did however, he pushed himself off of me.

“Good. I'm glad you find my arrangement agreeable. Please take your seat.” He brushed himself off for a moment and then returned to his side of the table again. I did as he asked and levitated my chair back over. My heart was pounding, and my mind was racing. Everything had been a distraction. The cleanliness, the feast. I’d let it get to me, and it lulled me away from the fact that I was helpless here. “You must excuse me if I say that this 'conversation' has left our joyous dining mood soured.” He put his forehoof to his muzzle and gave a loud whistle. “But! The solution to this would be to bring on the entertainment early! Don’t you think?” His smile crept back along his muzzle like nothing had just happened.

There was a click from a set of double doors to my left. They swung open slowly as a large earth pony stallion came through. He wore a thick leather harness, with heavy chains wrapped around them. Scars adorned almost every inch of his teal coat, and his yellow eyes had an angry look to them. He sneered as he came through. With a squeal of protest, the pedestal the chains were attached too rolled slowly into the room. On the pedestal, was a very beaten and bloody stallion. He was almost unrecognizable, but he groaned and looked up to me. When I saw his one unswollen eye, I knew.

“P… PC?” Ash muttered through his bloody muzzle. He tried to stand up, but not only were his legs bound to the pedestal, but they’d been broken as well. “Wh… why?”

“Because.” Flint spoke up and hoofed an overly ornate Ironshod hunting revolver with ivory grips onto the table. He kept his gaze on me as he pushed and slid it across toward me. “You knew the rules, and now you pay the price.” A sly smile crawled it's way across his muzzle as he glanced over at Ash.

I took the heavy revolver in my magic and brought it to me. After what he’d told me about my own guns, I opened it to see if this was some sort of trick. Surprisingly, it had one round loaded in it. With a crisp snap, I pushed the cylinder back in and locked it. Is this really what I want? I have lived for years under the code that I didn't kill ponies like this. An escaped slave was a nopony, I didn't have to give a second thought. But now he was asking me to kill both Keg Tap and Ash. He was asking me to bring pure emotions, and hatred into killing. The thought of it disgusted me, but even so, the want to do it burned deep inside.

I spun the gun in my magic, twirling it through the air. For as heavy as it was, I found it easy to influence. I took a risk and spun it to face Flint. His smirk dropped even faster than it did before. His gaze dropped to a scowl, and I swear that I could see a single bead of sweat drip from his perfectly coiffed mane. For some reason it made me feel so much better. I tipped the barrel up and smiled across the table at him. He can feel fear, which means he knew he could be beaten. That’s good enough for me.

As tempting as it was, I couldn't make a move now. I wouldn't make it more than five feet out the door before I was gunned down. Even so, I'm no where near ready to fight any of the other hunters. This is of course, if this line of work doesn't turn out to be all it's cracked up to be, or if he breaks anything in the contract. For now? I think I can manage to take a chip at my morals for once. I had time to rationalize the fact that I have to murder Keg, but Ash? At least he’ll never be able to hurt us again. With a quick flick, I turned the revolver on ash. He simply went wide in his one good eye and let out a whimper.

Then I pulled the trigger.

The round found it's home in his one good eye, which erupted in a small shower of gore along with the back corner of his skull. His head slumped down against his bindings and just sat there lifelessly. I took a moment to let out a breath I didn't realized I'd held. Ash, the misogynistic asshole and rival bounty hunter who'd plagued me for years, was dead by my own hooves.

“Splendid!” Flint clapped his hooves together giddily. “I can already tell that you will make a fine hunter.” He giggled like a colt as he pushed himself out of his chair again. He pressed his forehoof to his chest and seemed to calm himself down a bit. “Now, that is quite enough fun for one night, don’t you think? You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow, and I’m sure you are exhausted.”

“Big day?” I asked naively.

“Why yes, you’ll get your legs back tomorrow. Or have you already forgotten?” His smile widened further than it had been as he said that. “And I can’t wait to see how magnificent you look with them on.” He whistled again, and there was a sharp prick in my neck. I used my magic to feel around, and once again, I pulled a dart out of myself. I looked around to see who fired it, but I became light headed and dropped out of my chair. Flint’s smooth voice serenaded my slowing mind, ushering the darkness around my vision to come take me away.

“Sweet dreams, my dear Percussion Cap…”

--Chapter End--
“Every guest hates the others, and the host hates them all.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 28 - Clean Slate

The short ring of the old fire alarm bell outside of my room was the signal to wake up. With a groan, I tossed the covers off of my bed and wiped at my tired eyes. Today was the start of week four of my rehabilitation, or, ‘a big milestone’ as Flint put it.

I didn’t look forward to it.

I started out by doing my stretches. The two metal caps that sat where the upper parts of my legs used to be ached heavily after the workout I gave them yesterday. The pair of matching stumps were less trouble than I thought, but I’d still rather have my flesh legs back. Thinking of it, I regretted letting that tiny asshole take the rest of my right leg. Synchro argued, saying that supposedly it would make my recovery faster if the cybernetics were ‘mentally balanced’. I had half a thought that he was just being an asshole after what I did to his ‘Lily’. Who names a monstrous death machine, Lily?

Groggily, I looked over to the nightstand next to my bed and reached out with my magic. I levitated over the small cleaning rag I’d been given, and started to wipe down the ports and hookups. This had been quick to become routine. Every morning we woke up at dawn. Those of us who didn’t have missions to prep for normally did a bit of exercising or training. Me, I got to head over to Synchro’s workshop so he could do a calibration check on my legs.

Then it was onto the daily challenge. Apparently, Flint wanted us flexible on the job. Each day he gave us a different skill to practice. Today, was going to be lockpicking. It was something I’d wanted to try, but instead I get to try to master the same skill as everyday these last weeks. For as much as I’d done it, walking was something I’d taken for granted. Learning again was a chore I couldn’t take lightly.

With a sigh, I used my forehooves to spin myself in my bed until my stumps dangled over the edge. From there, I used my magic and grabbed my legs. The skeletal cybernetics were apparently no where near as advanced as Synchro made other models sound, but he told me that these models were both easy to maintain. Not only that, but he said that they were also easy to upgrade. In a move I should have seen coming, he tried to pawn off sexual favors in return for said upgrades. That’s when I learned that at least these mechanical legs can still buck fairly hard.

There was a slight pinch along the edge of my stumps, and a sharp shock as the contacts of the legs linked with the ports on my stumps. It always sent a shiver down my spine, but I assumed I’d get use to that as well over time. Next came the harness. Out of everything, it was surprisingly the heaviest. I used my magic to weave it’s straps down under me and through the slots in the legs, yanking them down as tightly as I could. I hated the feeling of the large battery weighing me down on my left. Synchro said it should last a week without a charge, but I can’t imagine wearing this thing for a week straight.

I grabbed the power cord with my magic and uncurled it out of the battery bag. I looped one end over my flank, and hovered it over the port to my right rear leg. I got the left jack in the correct position and hesitated. I always hated this part. If either jack hit the metal leg, I’d get a nice shock for my inaccuracy. Needless to say, I got good at this part fast. I pushed both cords in, each one clicking into it’s correct place flawlessly. I twisted them to make sure they latched in, and when I was satisfied, I gave them a small tug. They stayed put, and I was once again ready to walk another day. With a grunt, I pushed myself off my bed and tried to turn around.

Only to fall flat on my face.

With a pained sigh, I used my magic to toggle the ‘On’ switch along the top of the battery. The cybernetics whirred to life, and I slowly pushed myself off the floor. I knew I’d been forgetting something.

“Well well.” Null spoke from across the room. He was invisible again of course, but I hated when the sneaky bastard came in unannounced. “Looks like somepony is getting better at this.” He paused and pulled the stealth buck from his pipbuck. “Though, you are not quite there yet.”

“What did I tell you about breaking into my room?” I grumbled and shook the drowsiness from my head.

“Ah, but I did not break in. Your door was unlocked.” He gave me his stupid smug grin and a small giggle. “I am simply…”

“An asshole?” I cut him off with a smirk of my own. Slowly, I stretched out each of my cyberlegs, testing the range of motion in them as Synchro had told me to.

“Trespassing.” Null shook his head and squinted at my flank. “I can see an energy drain in your right leg. You might want to inform Synchro of that.”

“Is that all you came in to tell me, or is there something of actual importance on your mind?” I said as I set my rear hoof on the floor again. I waited for an answer from null, but he only stared at me with his stupid smirk. It wasn’t until he held his leg out and rolled his hoof expectantly that I remembered what he was doing. “Wait… you have news for me?”

“Yes!” He smiled and nodded. “But first, I require my payment.” He reached his hoof back to his saddlebag and pulled out a box of 9mm rounds. I took it in my magic and opened it up, sliding the tray of old rounds out. They were corroded to hell and back, but that was nothing for me. I pulled out each one and basically lathered it in my magic. I made sure to saturate them well enough that they’d be guaranteed to go off for at least another twenty four hours.

Funny how I’d never thought to use my spell like this before. I’d already made back four favors by doing this. Six if you count the information Null has yet to give, and the one I owed to Spectre for getting tire marks on her dress. With each round saturated, I placed them back in the box and returned them to him.

“He has gotten a job at the platinum lounge in Filly. Story is that he is using the caps to fund his drinking habit.” Null leaned in and cocked an eyebrow. “Supposedly, he is pining over the death of somepony he loved.” Null spoke, eyeing over the box before he placed it back into his saddlebags. “Funny. I never thought him the type you would go for.”

“Neither did I.” I remarked and tried to keep from blushing. Four weeks is a lifetime in the wasteland. I’m hardly surprised to see that he’s moved on, but the alcohol was going to be an annoying habit to kick. “Any news about Sandy?”

“Sadly, only rumors.” He shrugged and looked out the window. “Some say a hellhound is traveling the wastes with a mare, but no names are given.” He scratched at his neck and pulled his stealth buck out of his bags again. “I am sorry I do not have anymore, but it has been a pleasure, as always.” Null smiled and clicked his stealth buck back in. He shimmered away, and like that, he was out of my room.

I hoped…

No more time to worry about the pervert, I thought. I’d already spent too much time dawdling about. Synchro was probably tapping his hoof impatiently as he waited, and if I kept him too long, he’s just take it out on me. With both a sigh and stiff steps, I walked my way to the door.

Walking was easy, albeit awkward. I thought about each and every step when I did, and the legs reacted slower than I’d like. Synchro told me that I’m supposed to just act natural, and let the nerves give the commands. Well, he’s obviously never worn a set of weights under him as he walked. It get’s real damn hard to ignore.

Even though walking was a problem, trotting was something that seemed to come naturally to me. I don’t know if it was the pace, or the sound of it. All I knew was that once I got going, I could just keep going. The only time I’d misstep, is when the rubber hoof pads slipped on loose dirt or gravel. Which of course, happened to be all over the wasteland. It wasn’t going to be easy, but it was a challenge I could overcome.

I pushed myself up to a trot and left the old brick building behind. The sky was dark with rain this morning, and I cringed instinctively because of it. I hurried over to Synchro’s workshop, picking my pace up to almost a canter. The last time it rained, the water got into the contact points for the battery and shorted it out. If something like that were to happen in the field, I’d be a dead mare.

“Geez, you took your freakin’ time, didn’t you?” Synchro snorted as he dug through one of his piles of scrap. “You know the drill, on the bench.” He said dismissively without giving me a second thought.

I walked over to one of his workbenches and hoisted myself up onto it. I hated sitting up here. The grease and oil from his tinkering always got into my coat, and it was a pain to scrub out at night. But, I guess it’s a small price to pay for being able to walk again. Well, one of many small prices I paid.

“Any pain or discomfort around the connection areas?” He asked, still not even seeming to pay attention to me. “Or stiffness in the joints?”

“No.” I wanted to do this as quickly as possible. “Null said there was a power drain in my right leg.”

“What!” Synchro shouted abruptly. He growled and threw down a piece of scrap like I’d just insulted him. “Impossible.” He snorted as he angrily stomped his way across the shop to me. As he passed another of his junk piles, he quickly hoofed a screwdriver out of it and straight into his muzzle. “muh whurk ish perfecht.” His slurred words were nothing but annoying, and I could already feel the headache coming on. He made quick work of the plate that covered the spell gizmos and wiring on my right leg.

I missed having Caltrop and Sandy around. I could stand to hear a question about something curious that Sandy pondered. Even one of Caltrop’s annoyingly obvious observations would be welcomed. The ponies here, while skilled at what they do, were all less than personable. Well, all besides Null, but he’s been a little too interested in my flank since I signed on.

“Thots shodd?” Synchro muttered before he spat out the screwdriver. He looked up to me with an accusing look and poked a hoof into my leg. “What did you do to my work?” He rooted around the outer edge of the leg’s interior. “I swear, if you…” He was cut off by a loud zap of electricity arcing into his hoof. He yelped and pulled his hoof back.

I used my magic to flick the power switch on the battery to the ‘off’’ position. This whole power thing was going to bite me in the flank one of these days. Still, I couldn’t help but give him a small smirk for his trouble.

“Yeah, very funny, bitch.” He snapped at me. “As I was saying, I don’t know how you managed to rip one of the grounding wires off it’s mount.” He shook his singed hoof out for a moment before he picked the screwdriver up with it. “But if this comes undone on a job, you’ll be the one getting zapped when you try to fix it.”

“Huh.” I put a forehoof to my muzzle and dramatically pondered something. “It’s almost as if you’re forgetting something.” I rubbed at my chin before moved my hoof to my horn. “Gee, it’s almost like I don’t need my hooves for things like that.”

“We’ll, if you don’t need them, maybe I’ll just have Lily take your front two off as well.” He grumbled as he continued to fix the issue. “You know, I can fix half of these annoying issues for you.” He eyed up along my side slowly as he spoke. “My offer’s always open.”

“Unless you can give me back my old legs, the answer is still no.” I growled. In some ways, he was worse than Null. At least I only had the feeling Null was looking when I was alone. Synchro didn’t even try to hide what he wanted.

“For a few good nights with you, I’ll do anything.” He gave me a smirk that made me shudder in disgust.

“Now now, Synchro.” Flint called out as he trotted into the workshop. Today, as like everyday, he was positively radiant both in attitude and cleanliness. “She needs to be ready for her job, so I expect her to have those legs in good enough condition for the journey next week.”

“Yes, master Flint.” Synchro grumbled and got back to tinkering in my legs.

“So, PC.” Flint turned his attentions to me with a bright smile. “I expect that progress has been steady?”

“I still can’t Gallop yet, but I’m no longer tripping over myself when I try to get around.” I said with a little bit of disappointment. “With your permission, I’d like to get working on my first job tomorrow. No offence, but this sitting around isn’t helping either of us.” In truth, I’d expected to be much further along by now, maybe back in the field even. Sitting around and working on walking was more of a chore than anything. I didn’t need to gallop to kill anypony when nopony out there can outrun a bullet. Don’t lie, you know why you’re impatient.

I wanted to get back to my friends.

“Splendid!” Flint said as he clopped his hooves on the floor in excitement. “How I do admire your work ethic!” He shook his head as his grin grew even wider. “I don’t know how you do it.” That was funny, coming from a stallion who looked like he’d never worked a day in his life. “So long as Synchro makes sure your legs will make the journey, you may go.” He paused for a moment. “Of course, there is still the matter of who to send with you.”

“What?” I didn’t understand, he owns me. He chose to take me, and I voluntarily agreed. If I were any normal slave, I’d understand the trust issue, but he sought me out. Flint merely closed his eyes and chuckled.

“You’ll have to excuse my laugh, but all first time missions are supervised.” He opened his eyes and looked at me with a glare. “It’s only a precaution to protect my investment. Not that you will need any help, of course.” The way he said that chilled my blood. I’d been so close to forgetting that I was ‘his’ property that I’d actually felt good. It didn’t annoy me that much, but I hated the idea of not having control over my own life. “I can guarantee,” He continued, “My daughter will...”

I at least needed the illusion that I was my own mare.

“May I request that Null goes?” I spoke up. Synchro tensed up as I again cut off Flint, but he didn’t stop working. Flint himself on the other hoof, looked annoyed at the interruption. “Null was the one to bring me in. If anypony know’s how I work, it’s him.” As I continued, Flint cocked an eyebrow and canted his head in thought. “With all due respect, I trust Null.”

Truthfully, I trusted all the hunters about as far as I could throw them. Specter however, was the one I trusted the least. Maybe it was the no sleep thing that just unnerved me, but every time she was around I felt I needed to keep one eye over my shoulder. I’d rather go with a pervert who wouldn’t dare touch me without permission from Flint, over that psycho bitch.

“So long as he has no previous contract.” Flint said as he continued to mull it over in his head. He looked back to the doorway of the Workshop and nodded. “What do you say, Null?”

“If that is what you ask.” Null replied from the blank air he hid inside. Of course he was here. One of these days, I’d have to learn just how everypony else seems to know when he’s around.

“Excellent!” Flint nodded and looked back to me. For a moment as he did, his expression cracked. Behind his eyes, I could see his anger. For as much as I hated losing control of things, Flint had proven to be much less forgiving than I ever was. In my talks with Dykem Blue, Ash had only been the latest example of his instability. “Then I won’t take up any of your time.” He turned away, but stood for a moment before he looked back.

“Remember,” He spoke softly. “I don’t like to be disappointed.”

The rest of the day went by just like the twenty or so before it. Just like every other day, I ended it on the patio. In the failing light, I looked across the peaceful valley that shielded this place from the horrors of the wasteland. My thoughts drifted as they normally did. I’d remembered my early bounty hunting days. The good years when mom looked happy for me, and wore less stress across her face.

Then my head turned to recent times. Sandy, Brightshine, and Caltrop played in my head over and over. I ripped one from her home, put another one in the grave through my actions, and saved one’s life with friendship, just to destroy it. Before me sat the fruits of my labor. A safe heaven for the demented, deranged, and psychotic notions of a few.

“Thinking about him?” Null startled me.

I nearly jumped out of my legs. My instincts took over and I grabbed the nearest heavy object in my magic. As I swung the brass candlestick holder, Nulls magic kicked in and suppressed the attack. It allowed me the moment I’d needed to remember he wasn’t a threat.

“Don’t fucking sneak up on me!” I nearly screamed at him. He still wouldn’t show himself to me. Smart move, seeing as I’d probably beat him for trespassing again.

“Ah, I see.” His voice came through the air clearly, but I couldn’t make out quite where he was. “If I were to knock, you would have willingly let me in then.”

“Yes.” I snapped. “Well… no.” This was the pony I trusted out of everypony here, and that’s saying something. “In fact, get out of my house.” I raised my hoof to point to the door, but it caught on what I think was his snout.

“Okay, okay, no need to be hasty.” He said as he backed away from my hoof. “I just came to ask you a question, then I will go.”

“Fine. Ask.” I grunted and lowered my hoof. If he does this the whole journey, it’s going to take all of my strength to not have an ‘accidental discharge’ of my gun pointed in his direction.

“Why did you chose me?” He asked simply.

“Because…” I paused to think of a better way to put it other than ‘I trust you more than the others’. Unfortunately, an easier way to explain it wasn’t coming to mind. With a click, he unhooked his stealth buck and shimmered into view. He looked at me solemnly, and it sent an odd feeling through me. Not disgust or fear, but more like I felt sorry for him. “I guess, because you were the one who brought me in.” I sighed and turned back toward the railing of my patio. “You were kind enough to me then, even if you did leave me to the mercy of that fucking robot.”

“So, it is because you like me?” He sounded hopefull through his sad expression.

“No.” I replied sharply. “I just happen to like Specter a whole lot less.”

“I…” He sounded so wounded at that. “I see.” If Caltrop were here, I’d point out that this was exactly the shit he pulled on me. Null sighed softly and walked up beside me. He put his fore hooves on the railing and leaned onto it, staring out into the darkening hills. “I was hoping… you know, because I like you.”

Tough luck.

“Why even ask when you know I’m not interested in anypony else.” I rolled my eyes and looked at him. “Caltrop… he’s a special kind of idiot. I don’t know why, or how, but he’s the one I care about.” I looked over to Null to find him with a frown across his muzzle. “There are plenty of other mare’s out there. Why me?”

“Because you remind me of my wife.” He sighed sadly and kept his gaze off into the darkening skies. “Do you know why it is that I ran from that machine?” It was an odd question that I wasn’t sure how to even respond to. It was a giant rolling death machine, why wouldn’t anypony run from it? “Robots were always a problem in my life before Master Flint.”

“I hate machines.” I snorted.

“The settlement in which I lived was built near an old Robronco factory by the coast.” He closed his eyes and lifted his muzzle up. A soft breeze blew up the hills and washed over us. “We would scavenge it for scraps to sell in the Fillydelphia markets. One day, we found that somepony had restarted it. The automations started to run on their own, and soon, even started to build more of themselves.”

“That’s pretty horrifying.” I nodded and shrugged.

“Yes. When it started, every night, one would walk over from the factory and enter the settlement. It would choose one of the shacks on the outskirts and start to tear it down. The first night, we resisted. When it returned the second night, it fought back. When our shack was finally the one selected, my mother fought back.” He opened his eyes and just stared out into the distance. After a long moment, he asked me something I knew all too well. “Do you know what happens to a pony who’s been hit too many times with a magical energy weapon?”

‘They turn to dust.” I almost choked on the words to get them out. Immediately, my mind shot back to Brightshine. What she did saved us all at the prison, but I still feel that she shouldn’t have died there.

“She blew away, just dust in the wind.” Null spoke at a whisper. “No fear, no hate, no remorse.” A small smile perked from the corners of his muzzle. “Jala was just the opposite.”

“Jala?” I didn’t know if I’d ever heard a pony with that kind of name before.

“My wife. Unlike me, she was a full blooded zebra, and the most beautiful mare I’ve ever known.” Null nodded. “She was so full of life, both the good and the bad parts of it. We found each other the day my mother died, and shared the bond of lost family. So we promised each other we would stay together. We turned from our home and ran, never looking back. She was my greatest friend, and in time, she became the love of my life.”

“Where…” I started to ask. Null shifted his vision over in an angry glare. He knew what I was going to ask, and it had hit a nerve deep down. I already knew the answer, but I just wanted to know how it happened.

“She…” His glare softened up. “We had been away from home for so many years.” He shook his head and returned his gaze out to the wastes. “I had always been curious as to what became of our old home. She was against it, but I finally convinced her to travel with me to find out.” He sat down and dropped his gaze. “The settlement was gone, and the factory laid dormant. But all that time away, all the effort spent to get there. I felt cheated. It was all gone, as if it had never even existed in the first place.”

“Jala, she tried to convince me to go.” He growled as the waterworks started. “She kept begging me to leave, but I wouldn’t listen. I wanted to burn that factory to the ground. Maybe then, I told myself, it would know how it felt when my mother was taken from me.” He sniffed and rubbed his eyes as I couldn’t do anything but sit and listen. “The factory wasn’t dormant, it was just waiting for me!” He shouted. “Waiting to take away the only other thing I had in the world as I burned it down.”

He broke into deep sobs and threw himself at me. I couldn’t fight back as he wrapped his hooves around me and cried. I don’t know why, but even though this shit happens every day in the wasteland, I felt sorry for him. It had never been my ‘thing’ to care, but Caltrop changed that somehow. Slowly, I put my hooves around him and hugged back. It wasn’t as comforting as Caltrop’s hug had felt, but it did help me feel a little better about everything.

“I…” Null spoke up as he tried to get a handle on his emotions. “I am sorry about this. I have never told anyone about her, and it is still an open wound in my soul. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine.” I sighed. I’ve had my share of fucked up things in my life recently, and I’ve cried over them more than once. And odd enough, this is the first time since the train where I didn’t feel afraid of another stallion getting so close. Null pushed himself off me slowly and wiped the tears from his cheeks.

“When Synchro’s toy showed up, all I could remember is what happened to Jala that night.” He sounded so ashamed of it. Honestly, knowing what I know now, I should have run. “I panicked. I couldn’t face the same thing happening again, and I ran.” He looked up at me again and smiled. “You were just like her in that moment. You were not afraid to face the machine, determined to survive.”

“I see.” I grumbled and shrugged. “Though I’m sorry about your wife, I’m not her.” I reached up and patted him on the shoulder. “I have my own life, with a stallion I’m already interested in.” I cringed at what I was about to say, but it just felt like it was the only thing I could say at the moment. “You seem like a good stallion, Null, and maybe one day I can call you my friend. But right now? I think we both just need to focus on the mission tomorrow. We could both do with a little sleep, don’t you think?”

His smile deflated, and his sad look returned. He simply nodded softly and pushed himself up to his hooves. He walked back inside and stopped. He waited for when I got up and looked over to him before he clicked in his Stealth buck and shimmered away. My front door opened and closed silently as he let himself out, and I couldn’t help but feel that I could have handled that better.

Unfortunately, the mission was tomorrow, and I really couldn’t be pressed to get caught up in all of his past issues. As I walked inside and over to my bed, I started to strip my clothes off. With a quick hop, I jumped up onto my bed and flopped over. I used my magic to unhook myself from my cyber legs and store them away as I had the last few weeks.

In the last three weeks, I had resolved everything that weighed on my own mind. So I laid there in my bed. I tried to clear my mind, to be ready for tomorrow. I’d come to terms well enough with my actions and consequences, and I looked forward to finally getting a fresh start. Tonight was the end of my recovery, and I could finally relax and just pass out for once. Soon, I’d be back with my friends, and everything would be perfect. I just needed to drift away to sleep like I had every other night. Easy as pie.

Problem is, if I was so ready for this, why couldn’t I stop thinking about Caltrop hating the mare I’ve become?

--Chapter End--
“Love, respect, friendship, do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: Heartaches by the Dozen
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 29 - Back to Work.

Finally, it was my first day back out in the wastes.

"Just fucking kill the bitch!" A raider screamed from his cover across the road.

Yes, it certainly was good to be back. Just some asshole raiders sitting in cover, waiting to get killed for being so damned stupid. Though, it might have been going better if I had a gun. Or any weapon for that matter.

“Anytime, Null!” I chimed from the drainage ditch I’d ducked into. Null had been invisible since we both saw the clues to this ambush when we were a ways off from it. One skycarage sitting in an open section of road, right next to an old drainage pipe? It was about the most obvious ambush I’d ever seen. If this part of the wasteland wasn’t so open and flat, we’d probably have just gone around.

“Get her!” Another of the raiders shouted as they scrambled over the cracked asphalt. Of course, in their hurry to get across, they ran right into Null’s sights. With a soft click, one of the poison darts found it’s way into the raider’s neck. The toxin worked fast on somepony so scrawny. He flopped down into the ditch like a ragdoll and slid to my hooves. Poking out of a sheath on his leg, was a very shiny and well kept old world combat knife. I grabbed it in my magic and pressed it against his throat, dragging it across in one swift motion.

Still sharp too.

“What the hell are you doing over there, Shank?” The raider leader called out. “How hard is it to stab her?” The pathetic look in this stallion’s eyes dimmed out as his blood drained onto my coat tail and into the dirt. Normally, I wasn’t one for knives, but I’ll just have to make due I guess.

“One down.” I called out. “Who want’s to try next?” Normally, this sort of thing would have been little more than an annoyance to me. I have worked too damn hard to get back out here, that I’m going to enjoy killing these assholes while I can. They haven’t fired any shots at us yet, so it was relatively safe to assume that they didn’t have a gun, or that they only had a gun with limited shots.

“What are you waiting for?” The lead stallion shouted and scuffled with one of the other raiders. “Get out there and smash!” A bitch with an invisible friend had already killed one of his own. It wasn’t his lucky day, and he knew it.

Heavy hoofsteps came across the pavement next. The twang of Null’s crossbow hit my ears, but the steps kept coming. I barely had enough time to react before a rusty sledgehammer pulverised the dirt next to me. A mare that looked like she’d eaten a bottle of buck for breakfast let out one hell of an angry roar before she swung again. I pushed off from the dirt and dodged back. The head swung past my muzzle, missing me by nearly an inch.

“Shit! Move!” Null yelled from the safety of his invisibility. A pair of shots rang out from the raider’s side. They sounded like pistol caliber, but I didn’t care right now. The mare swung again. With the combat knife ready, I ducked low and rolled, reading myself to dodge yet again then strike. Annoyingly, my cyber legs didn’t respond fast enough, and the handle of the hammer slid along my side.

Even through my coat, the shaft managed to get hooked right through the cable of the battery. As the mare’s swing carried through, it tore the cable from my leg. Off balance, I couldn’t recover. The mare gave me an angry glare as she took the hammer in her hooves and raised it up.

Remember, when fighting a unicorn, never give them a weapon they can take using leverage.

I wrapped my magic around the sledgehammer and slid it out from between her fetlocks. It was heavier than I’d expected, but that’s what made it such an efficient weapon. I simply let go of the head and let my magic turn the end of the shaft into a hinge. Gravity could do the rest. The moment in which she tried to understand what had happened, the weighty weapon swung down, around, and planted itself right under her chin. Her head snapped back with a crack, and she went down.

She was out cold, but I slit her throat as well for good measure. As I wicked her blood from the knife, I glanced at her cutie mark. It was a cylinder of barbed wire, with a pony shredded and dismembered among them. How sad a raider’s life must be to have their special talent be so barbaric and useless. In that moment of downtime I had, I lifted my coat. The battery contact had been simply ripped out of it’s socket, no damage had been done to the leg or the connector. With a whine, I shoved the cord back in and wiggled my repowered hoof.

That was about when I realized that it was dead quiet. I got back to my hooves and looked around. Null was still nowhere to be seen, and two raiders lay dead next to me. With a deep breath, I brought the combat knife up. As quickly and quietly as I could, I made my way back to the drainage ditch.

“Good work with the two over there.” Null spoke up from the road above. “The other two were just as easy.” He reached out with his magic and nullified my grasp on the knife. “I assume this might be a bit more to your liking.” As he spoke, he floated a shoddy looking combat pistol over to me. The thing looked like it was held together with wonderglue and spit. Ejecting the magazine, I found that it only had two rounds remaining. I looked back at the knife, then over to the sheath still on the other pony.

“I’m taking both.” I grumbled out. Two shot’s weren’t going to do much, especially so if the gun exploded when I fired one. I used my magic to bring the sheath and knife over. Flint had never told me what he meant by ‘I’d get my weapons in Filly’. If it was anything like that revolver I killed Ash with, I don’t think I’ll mind too much. Hell, even if it wasn’t that great, it would still be better than these.

“Suit yourself.” Null sighed. “We’ve got a long way to go yet, best not to dawdle.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I tugged on the straps to make sure the sheath wouldn’t come loose from my leg. “Not like somepony else is going to do my job for me.” With a soft click, Null shimmered into view in front of me.

“Well,” He sighed. “That is not exactly true. If there is another job uncompleted, and you are in the area, you are free to complete the job first. For example, Brushfire was on a job north of manehatten just a few days ago.” He rolled his eyes and turned to face down the road. “With a pyromaniac like her, what’re the chances she would care to burn down your building and claim the contract as her own?” He flicked his tail in arrogance. “But you are right, what is the rush?”

I simply grumbled and trotted up next to him. The whole time I’d been recovering, he never treated me this way. He was probably just angry because I said I didn’t like him. Well two can play at that game. Not that it means anything to me, but I liked him better when he was just some perverted stallion I had to worry about.

“Why would I rush when you haven’t even told me where we’re going in Filly?” I’m not sure I even wanted an answer to that. There are some places in Filly you just never found yourself, and there were places in Filly that not even the slavers and raiders found themselves. I was just hoping that we weren’t going to deal with that. “Also, we have to make a stop to pick up Caltrop.” Thinking of it finding things, Null knows where Caltrop is at. Good thing I convinced Flint to have him come with me.

“You need not concern yourself about him now. I will lead you to where he is after we have completed the contract, not before.” He nearly snapped at me. I could hear it through his voice, see it in his body as he tensed. I was getting sick of his attitude.

“That wasn’t the deal I made with Flint.” I growled and stopped. “We pick him up before the job.”

“Why?” He seethed and glared at me. “Why would you want that inept stallion to go with us. He has no valuable skills, and is liable to distract you from the job.” He was fuming and more angry than I’d ever seen him. “He is dead weight, and he should be left to rot with the other filth in the wasteland.”

“You know what?” I shook my head. “Turn around and go back to Flint. Tell him that after all the work he did to get me on board, I cancel our agreement.” The moment I said that, I swear I could see his blood boiling.

“You would not dare.” He hissed at me and drew his crossbow. I knew the cost that canceling our agreement would have, and I had no intention of breaking it. A job is a job. This? This was all to prove a point.

“Go back and tell him it’s your fault.” I returned his burning gaze with one of my own. “That it was all because you were too jealous to accept that fact that I’m not your wife.”

“Fuck you!” He roared. He spun around and used his magic to throw his crossbow at the wrecked skywagon back down the road. In a blind rage, he stomped at the cracking pavement. He gave a few haphazard bucks and shouts, but those soon gave way to whines. “Fuck you.” He said in a more defeated tone. He sat down hard and sniffled. There it was, the point had finally made it into his stubborn head.

“Your wife is dead.” I said as coldly as I could. “Your fault or not, I am not her replacement.” I paused and waited for him to say something, but he was too busy wallowing in his sorrows. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes.” He spoke softly. “I am sorry.”

“Get your shit together.” While we didn’t need to push ourselves, I didn’t want to sit around all day when we could at the very least be walking. “I want to at least make it halfway before sundown.” Yes, it certainly was good to be back out in the wasteland.

The rest of the day had passed by without much incident. Null hadn’t spoken at all since his breakdown, and spent most of the rest of the trip invisible. Most of the walk I had to myself, and I spent a lot of that time trying to remember how to travel the wastes safely. We’d hidden from a caravan, avoided a roaming horde of feral ghouls, and found a bottle of dirty water in a rucksack hidden in a tree stump.

As the sun set, we’d made camp at the base of a short cliff face. A jagged indent into the rocks provided us a place to cram ourselves into for sleep. Null used a portable magical energy stove he’d brought to cook the water we’d found into something drinkable. He’d also added some dried lily dust from an old tin container into the water as it boiled. Tea was a rare commodity in the wastes, and I made sure to savor the drink long into the night.

Before we’d gone to bed, we’d stripped down our weapons and gear to clean them. He had to repair his crossbow, as some components inside of it had snapped when he threw it. The firearm I’d gotten off the raider was a completely different story. In my attempt to clean it, the heavily corroded slide stop sheared off and made the pistol completely unusable.

Feeling secure in the choice to bring the knife with me as well, I’d tossed the pistol away. In the soft glow of Null’s pipbuck, I’d removed my legs and checked them over. They’d gotten through the day with more or less no damage whatsoever. Satisfied with that, I curled myself up in my coat and gone to sleep. We’d made good time to here, and would be at Fillydelphia by the end of tomorrow. That is, if all went well. As was my life now, I’m sure something would come up that would undoubtedly ruin what should have otherwise been a smooth trip.

The trek towards Filly continued to be long and as uneventful as I’d hoped it would be.

The closer we got to Filly, the darker the skies grew. I could see the great plumes of soot giving the city it’s dark aura. Maybe that’s why I’d always gotten into a foul mood whenever I came back here. From the get go, I’ve had the wrong idea about a lot of things. Maybe I only started hating my trips here after they started some of the factories up again. Then again, I’ll probably never know. The buildings were shit, the ponies were shit, the whole place was just bad news. Yet, somehow I always found myself right back here.

Then again, I wasn’t the only one.

I should have been more attentive, but seeing as it was prime ambush territory, I shouldn’t have been surprised. From among the rocks that dotted the landscape, somepony shot me. The impact didn’t kill me, but it knocked me off my hooves. I let out a loud gasp as all the air was forced from my lungs. As I hit the pavement, a small red square flopped down in front of me. It was a non lethal bean bag round. Looking down at the welt on my chest, I was relieved that I hadn’t been mistaken.

Null tried his best to go invisible, but the next shot came sooner than even I’d thought was possible. With a loud gasp, he too collapsed to the ground. It was almost too fast for a normal pony to shoot. As I finally was able to draw in a breath, the sound of quickly approaching hoofbeats filled my ears.

“See little one, that’s why a pipbuck makes all the difference.” Bluejay gloated. Never before had I been happier to hear her voice. “Now let’s go see if they’re friendly or not.”

“That was super neat!” Sandy squeaked. I was wrong before, this trip was actually looking to go my way for once. Sandy interrupted my thoughts with an excited gasp. “Friend! It’s you!” Without further warning, she jumped onto me. She kept her paws curled tightly as she hugged my neck, which let me relax slightly. “You’re alive!”

“PC?” Bluejay said as she strolled over. She leveled her pump shotgun at Null and stared in bewilderment at me. “How are you…?” She canted her head and looked down at my legs. “Where did you...?”

“It’s a long story.” I grunted and pointed over to Null. “Don’t shoot him. He’s with me.”

“What? Why not?” She sneered at me. She opened the chamber to her gun and slid in a regular shotshell. “He’s with Flint.”

“You won’t shoot him because you owe me.” I glared at her as I pushed myself up. “Or do you want me to explain to you what it cost me when I distracted them from chasing you.” I knew I was being dramatic as I angrily pulled my coat back over my legs, but I wanted this to go smoothly. I don’t need Flint after me because he thinks I killed Null.

“Fine.” She said, putting her shotgun away. Null gasped and drew in as much air as he could. He was going to owe me quite a few favors for that.

“I knew that other friend was wrong!” Sandy smiled brightly. “She lies to me a lot about things, so I knew when she told me you were gone forever, that she was lying then too!” She giggled. “Mr. Caltrop is going to be so happy she was wrong!”

“Trust me, nopony is happier than me to know that Storm was wrong.” I grumbled. “What are you two even doing out here?”

“We’re looking for work!” Sandy chirped.

“By shooting at random ponies?” I didn’t quite get that logic.

“If we got the jump on somepony, they’d be more inclined to hire us on as bodyguards.” She shrugged and slung her shotgun across her back. “It’s worked for me a few times in the past.”

“Yeah, but Flint still want’s your head.” I facehoofed. “Why not do this outside Manehatten? You know, where you’re not shooting me.” I don’t know if she’d been taking lessons from Storm, but I guess as the very least I’m glad it wasn’t somepony using real ammo.

“Because.” Null finally found the will to join us in the conversation. “She has friends here who shelter her, isn’t that right?” All she did was nod and smile at him. Null deadpanned and looked over at me. “Why am I certain that you’re going to tell me we aren’t bringing her in?”

“One, because we still have a job to do.” I smiled at him. “And two, you owe me for not letting her shoot you in the face.” Well, there go all those favors I could have gotten. Still worth it if the rest of this trip goes as well as this has.

“Wait, you took up Flint’s offer?” Bluejay blurted out and wore her most outraged expression. “That stallion is a monster!” She walked up to me and shook her head in disappointment. Funny how much like Storm she sounded right now. “How could you even stand for it?”

“Stand?” I laughed. “He may be a monster, but he’s who gave me back the ability to walk.” I prodded her chest with my hoof. “Who agreed not to ever mess with my family, and who is going to pay me so much more for the same job I’ve always done than I’ve ever had.”

“By killing innocent ponies?” She stammered.

“I’m a bounty hunter. I do the job I’m paid to do.” I turned away from her and started to walk toward Filly again. “It’s not my job to judge.”

“No, you are an executioner.” She hissed and trotted up beside me.

“Tell me, you have killed ponies, yes?” Null asked her as he fell in line behind us. “Were all of them truly deserving of it?” I watched as his question made her expression shift to guilt. “What is justice other than the morals of the time. Had we been together during the war, you would have likely shot me down already.”

“But, I’m trying to do better.” Bluejay muttered weakly.

“And I’m just trying to survive.” I remarked.

“Why can’t you do both?” Sandy barked. “In the den, the old dogs kept telling us that the ponies up above were not to be trusted, but we were not to hurt them so long as they did not hurt us.” She looked up to me with his sad eyes. “I didn’t see it happen, but a pony came down to us once. Daddy killed them before they could hurt us. He said that they looked dangerous, and that it was for the greater good of the pack.” She looked over to Bluejay. “Even though they didn’t hurt us, it was still alright that they were killed, right?”

“I don’t know.” Bluejay shook her head softly. “It’s possible. But this stallion, he’s not like that.”

“He is simply maintaining the balance of the wasteland.” Null chimed in again.

“And balance keeps everyone happy, right?” Sandy smiled and bounced as she walked. “When everyone is happy, how can it be bad?”

“Kid.” I chuckled. I really did miss this. “You are going to grow up to be one smart cookie.”

“But…” Sandy looked horrified at that. “I don’t want to be a cookie…” Then she scrunched her muzzle up. “Wait, what’s a cookie?”

A month’s time is a lifetime in the wasteland, but some things just never change.

The northside entrance to Fillydelphia was just as busy as it always was. Even though the volume of ponies were the same, the common look of them were not. Just at a glance, I could tell that there were many more slavers here than there had been last month. With the caps this ‘Red Eye’ was offering, it’s no surprise that the slave trade had boomed. With this kinda crowd, I bet Horus was making a killing.

Null had taken the lead as we dove in. Bluejay fell behind us and disappeared amongst the flood. I didn’t blame her. She was smart, and could find us later if she needed too.

“Wow…” Sandy spoke into my ear. Her voice came across like a whisper amongst the roaring sea of noises. “I’ve never seen so many ponies!”

Huh, maybe today was just a high traffic day then. No matter, as we wouldn’t be staying long I hoped. Well, any longer than we had too seeing as we had to go get Caltrop. I just hope we didn’t have to go through too much of this city to get my weapons back. Still, I followed Null through the familiar path I used to trace on my way back to my motel home.

Even though it was the same path, it now somehow felt more oppressing. I felt like all the ponies at the bars were watching me. Sandy let out a whimper as well, and I knew my feelings weren’t unwarranted. The city had turned mean in my absence, and that just made me hate it even more. When we turned on to the street where Horus’s motel was, I felt like I could maybe relax a little.

“Hey there, sweet thing.” A well muscled red stallion spoke up as he stepped between Null and I. “How about you let me show you the best night of your life.” I didn’t even bother tipping my hat up to see his face. I wrapped my magic around the combat knife as he lifted a hoof in a move to touch my cheek.

“Let me tell you about what mistake you are about to make.” Null said as he hooked his forehoof around the stallions hoof. “See, we both belong to Mr. Flint.” He paused just long enough for the stallion to tense up. “Yeah, that Mr. Flint. If you lay a hoof on her, you better have your will in order.” He stopped again as the other stallion jerked his leg back. “Is that clear?”

The buff stallion grumbled and stepped aside without arguing. I took a single step forward before he turned and swung his massive hoof at Null. The hit was powerful. Null toppled over and hit the dirt hard. He went rigid as he did, and he didn’t get back up.

“I don’t believe you.” Was all the large stallion said before he turned back to me. I drew the knife from it’s sheath, only to have it tossed away. By a more powerful magic than my own. I looked up finally to find that he too was a unicorn. Bald, covered in scars, and missing half his muzzle, this guy was uglier than half the ghouls I’ve ever seen. His magic wrapped around my neck and squeezed. “You’re mine.”

“Sandy…” I gasped out as I started to panic. I didn’t want to have to do this, but it was the only option I had left. “Kill.”

She hadn’t needed to be told twice, she just did as she was asked. She was just a blue blur for me. She made several passes at the stallion before circling his flank and running back under it. When she came to a stop in front of me, the stallion’s grip loosened. With a grumbling groan, his belly split open. His entrails and a whole lot of organs I didn’t even know the names of spilled out into the dirt. She must have gotten more than a few arteries with that as well, cause he bled faster than anypony I’d ever seen.

“Did I do well?” Sandy squeaked and smiled. His magic faded as the stallion collapsed in a bloody heap. When he gave his last breath was when I felt safe to breath normally again. I nodded down to the pup in bewilderment. “Yay! Another bad pony gone!”

It looked like I wasn’t the only one who’d drastically changed in the last month. Sandy smiled brightly, even with blood coating her claws. The fear of killing was completely gone from her eyes. So long as she thought the ponies were bad, it’s like she didn’t care. She’s either smarter than I thought, or somepony taught her well.

“Ugh.” Null groaned from the dirt. Both Sandy and I stepped around the fresh corpse to help him up. “What happened?”

“You got knocked the fuck out.” I found it hard not to smile as I did my best to hoist him up. My cyber legs gave a bit of a whine as I did, but didn’t seem to have any issue once he was up. He looked over to me in confusion with blood dripping from his muzzle. “You’ll be fine in a few minutes.”

He nodded limply and blinked a few times. He raised his hoof and pointed up the street. Even after all that, he still wanted to continue. I had to laugh. He was a trooper, I’ll give him that. We took it slow for the first few steps. After that, he seemed to become more coherent. As we walked, he looked back at the corpse a few times. Then he looked down at Sandy and her paws.

I just kept my head on a swivel. One asshole trying to have his way with me was good enough for one day. Though, another asshole was distinctly out of place. I looked up the street to the Silver Linings Motel. Even for it being late afternoon, the place looked dark. Normally, Horus had turned on the lights by now.

“That’s odd.” I spoke my mind, hoping to get Null’s opinion on if something was off. “Horus’s motel is darker than usual.”

“Who knows.” He said as he squinted at it. I wasn’t sure if he could even see it without it’s power on. My guess was he still could. “Who cares. Leave your past in the past.” With just the way he said that, something was off with him.

“Oh, I know!” Sandy jumped ahead of us and bounced on her hind legs. “That's where a bad pony had a shootout was last week!”

“A shootout?” I asked. She nodded excitedly and beamed a smile at me. “In Filly?”

“Come on, we don’t have time for this.” Null said, finally coming to his senses enough to walk on his own again. “We've got a schedule to keep.” Now I knew he was hiding something.

“A bad pony robbed the nice bird there.” She spoke in a tone too upbeat for the topic. “Miss. Blue and I tracked him down and sent him away two days ago!” She sounded so proud of herself. “Miss Blue said that I did a good job then too!”

“You tracked him for days? How?” I’m no master at scent tracking, but I would think that is a bit of a stretch. With how much shit I’ve stepped in, and filth that I just seem to pick up, I would think it impossible. Well, without something really unique to follow.

“Through the blood on him, silly! From the bird guy.” Sandy giggled.

I didn’t even care about him. Horus had been nothing but an asshole to me the whole time I’d rented from him. Still, he’d been the closest thing to a friend I’d had before Caltrop. I found myself wandering over to the office of the motel. Maybe he’d still be angry that Caltrop stole his caps, but at least a ‘friendly’ face might be good for him.

“Miss Cap, don’t go over there.” Null tried to order me in his best authoritative voice. Null was a lot of things, but a leader he wasn’t. I got to the door and opened it with my magic. I stepped inside and found myself in a dark front office. Sitting in a chair by the reception desk, was a griffin I’d never seen before. She wore heavily beat up Talon company armor, and the purple highlights ringed a pair of familiar emerald green eyes.

“Who the fuck are you?” I said rather bluntly. “Where’s Horus?” She didn’t seem too amused by my intrusion.

“Listen, if my dad owed you money, then you can fuck off like everypony else.” Her voice was shrill, like a hoof dragged down a chalkboard.

“Dad?” I muttered. There was no fucking way that someone as unlikable as Horus could have had a relationship with anyone, griffin or not. “Funny, the entire time I stayed here, he’d never even mentioned a daughter.”

“Don't worry, I barely even knew I had a father. He left after he knocked up my mom. Only met him once when he came to headquarters.” She cooed and rolled her eyes. Now that sounded more like the Horus I knew. “And now that he’s dead, everypony wants a piece of him.”

“He’s dead?” I didn’t really know what I had expected coming in here. If he fought in close quarters like here, a fatal wound isn’t uncommon. I guess part of me didn’t want to think that he could be gone. “I’m sorry.”

“Pft, not like I care.” She shook her head and looked at me. She studied me for a moment. “You wouldn't happen to be the bitch who stayed in number six, would you?” She reached into a satchel bag she had strapped under her wing and pulled out an envelope. “Here.” She held it out and allowed me to take it in my magic. I read the inscription on the front outloud.

“To be opened on the event of my death, let the mare from number six read my last will.” Weird. I looked back up to her only to have her shrug. I opened it and read the letter inside. “In the event of my death, I hereby bequeath all of my belongings, including the Silver Linings motel, to my only daughter, Margret. The deed to it is written on the backside of this note, and contractually binds the owner to this property.”

“Yeah, fuck this dump. I've got contract work to do.” She groaned in annoyance. She stretched her wings out and walked over to me. “It’s cool that you were cool with the asshole I guess. Keep the place, I don't fucking care. I just came to pay my respects to the asshole.” With that, she continued past me and walked outside. Before I could say anything else, she took flight and was gone. Null stood there looking unimpressed and bored as I glanced at him.

“I like her. Seems she’s an asshole, just like her father.” I smirked and looked back to the letter. There was more it seemed. “In the event that my daughter refuses ownership, I leave all I own to the mare from number six, Percussion Cap.” I paused when I hit the end there. He left this place… to me? I get that we were ‘friends’ and all, but what did he expect me to do with this place?

“Unfortunately, as a hunter for Flint, you can't own any property.” Null said as he held his hoof out expectantly.

“I understand, but I'm keeping this on me till we get back anyway.” I shot back with a smile. I flipped my hat off with my magic and tucked the letter into the lining. Null frowned and cocked an eyebrow at me. If Flint wanted it, he could ask for it. Besides, who knows. A motel of my own could come in handy. “Now, where are these weapons at?” I smiled at him like the asshole I was at that moment.

Yup. It felt damn good to finally be back.

--Chapter End--
“Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 30 - Reunion

I should have guessed.

As I stepped into the bank where Big Shot used to run things out of, a wave of dread ran through me. I almost expected that he’d pop up from behind the counter where he’d always sat. Unfortunately for him, he was dead. Well, I assumed he was from how Ash had referred to him. He’d lied about a lot of things, but that didn’t matter now. All my past debts had been absolved, and I didn’t have to hide anymore. What I didn’t miss from this place was the annoying buzzing of the overhead lights.

Null reached out with his magic and tapped on a small bell. It gave off a soft ring that hung in the air for a good while. Then, slow and soft hoofsteps of somepony behind the counter drew close. With a groan, an elderly looking mare crawled up onto the chair behind the counter and squinted at us. She hoofed a pair of cracked glasses up to her muzzle and scowled.

“Name.” Was all she said.

“Percussion Cap.” Null replied. He nudged me with his hoof to approach the bench. It was awkward enough just being back here. Dealing with new ponies wasn’t my strong suit.

“Very well.” She droned. She grunted and almost painfully arched her back as she leaned down under the counter. After a moment, she came back up with a brown box in between her hooves. On top of the box, sat a thin strip of paper with a very official looking stamp on it. She slid the paper out and set it down next to the box, before slowly taking the lid off.

“What’s in the box?” I asked. She simply cocked an eyebrow in annoyance and grunted again.

“Mr. Flint has seen fit to equip you with the following items.” She replied as she reached in. “One Scoped, Short Barreled .44 magnum revolver.” In her hoof, she drew out Storm’s revolver. It had been well taken care of, and even worked on a bit. The rough cut of the barrel had been ground and sanded down to a blunt edge, and the whole gun shone with cleanliness. “One holster for said .44.” She reached back in and pulled out a well worn leg holster for it. It wasn’t my harness, but it looked like it was built for a revolver of a similar design. “And one full box of .44 magnum rounds.” She grabbed the box and turned it over, sliding the worn box of shells out onto the counter.

“Oh I’ve missed you!” I muttered as I picked #5 up in my magic again. Even as I sat there and admired it, part of me couldn’t wait to see my other guns again. “So then, where’s the rest?”

“That’s it.” She sounded insulted. She looked down at the paper again and read it over with a squint. “These items are all that were on the register.”

“There must be some mistake.” Okay, so they misplaced my other guns. It’s fine, because they can just find them again. For years I’ve worked with six guns. While #5 was my favorite, it can’t do everything on it’s own. “This was only one of mine. I had 6 guns before.”

“And I was young once.” The mare angrily retorted. “You’ve gotten what you came for. Complete your mission and return to Master Flint.” This mare was pushing all the wrong buttons, and it took a lot of effort to not shoot her in the face. Lucky for her, I didn’t kill ponies without a contract. I simply took my things and left. As we walked out from the bank, I tried to calm myself down, but that whole exchange had soured my day.

“Who the fuck does she think she is?” I mumbled as I tightened the holster onto the leg opposite of my combat knife.

“That is Lockbox.” Null replied. I don’t know if it was how fast he answered, or the fact that he did at all, but I felt a headache coming on. “Flint recruited her to keep track of the parcels being passed between himself and his brother. She is quite good at it, and as I have heard , has never misplaced a single item.”

“She was weird looking.” Sandy chimed up from on Null’s back. “Was she ‘old’?”

“She lost my guns.” I mumbled. “All I have left is number five.”

“It is a silly name.” Null laughed. “Can it really be number five if it is your only gun?” Did he think this was a joke? I wasn’t sure if it was to be more annoying than I’d thought possible, or if he just wasn’t thinking it would piss me off. “Of course, you may still call it by whatever designation you’d like.” I let out a sigh at that. I was reminded that Storm had already given the gun a name.

“It’s not it’s name.” I sighed and pressed on. “It’s just it’s designated place.”

“Oh! I know this one!” Sandy gasped and wagged in excitement. “Bon… Bon…” She scrunched up her muzzle in thought. “Something…”

“Bon Appetit is it’s name.” I nodded. Yes, that was the horrible name that she’d picked. “Don’t ask. It wasn’t something I chose.” I looked over to Null, who seemed content not to pry further for once. That was something I liked about Null. Unlike Caltrop, he knew when to keep his muzzle shut. Which reminds me. “So with my weapon back, all I need is Caltrop.”

That forced Null’s face into an exasperated look.

“I told you…” He began.

“Hear me out.” I interrupted. “You said Caltrop was here in Filly. Steel Junction is two days north from here. Why not pick him up now, do the job up north, and then cut west straight back to the compound.” I wasn’t sure he’d go for it, but for somepony who keeps going on about being on a schedule, it only made sense. “It cuts a whole day off the trip.”

“Ugh.” He hung his head in defeat. “Fine. But we aren’t going to have any more stops once we get him.” He eyed up at me and looked into my eyes. “Then it is straight on to the mission. No more distractions.”

“I’m perfectly fine with that.” I smiled and slowed my pace. “Lead the way then.”

“Yay!” Sandy cheered in an ear-shatteringly high pitch. “We can all be friends again together!”

“Yes.” Null grumbled. “Yay indeed.”

It was an hour later, and down so many twisting and turning alleys and streets that I had almost no idea where we were in Fillydelphia. My only real idea of our location was the edge of the roller coaster ride in the work zone sat behind us. The old apartment buildings and crumbling storefronts were nowhere near as well kept as Northern Filly. Didn’t keep the assholes away though. Slavers were out in droves here, and most of the apartment buildings looked like they were re-enforced as makeshift prisons.

The storefronts had been converted into a jumble of different things. Some of them were Slaver barracks, other places were metalsmithing and leather working. Most of the shops catered to something any slaver would need. Up ahead was the only place that stood out from the rest. At the point the main street split, a corner building stood bright and proud. The flashing yellow lights outlined a neon sign that read ‘Palace’.

It was a four story brick theater building that despite the state of the neighborhood, sat nearly untouched by the balefire apocalypse. Numerous flashing light fixtures and velvety drapes over the first story windows made me want to find out what was inside. The darkness that was cast over the city meant that even during the day, the building shined like a beacon.

Null stopped walking abruptly, and because I wasn’t watching, I ran straight into him.

“Hey.” He snapped and jumped aside. I looked at him and was about to apologize when he spoke up anyway. “He’s there, inside the Palace. You want him, so you will retrieve him.” He huffed and sat down in the middle of the street. “I will watch the little one. The Palace is no place for one such as her.”

“Why?” It really was an odd thing for him to say. If I was going to walk into a den of chaos, I’d like to at least have a heads up. “What’s in there?”

“Nothing but regret and sin.” He shook his head. “Do not take to long. We must leave the city by sundown.”

Whatever. If he wanted to be cryptic, I’d just have to go in with my head on a swivel. We still had a few hours before it got dark, so I could afford not to rush this. Sandy jumped off me and went to sit by Null. I straightened up my coat and made sure I had my hat on well enough. With a deep breath, I walked toward the theatre.

The closer I got, the more I tensed. It couldn’t be too bad inside, right? I took another look around town and found a few lounging Slaver’s eyeing me. Null only told me that Caltrop had taken a job here, but not why he had to be here. The thought that he was already owned by somepony ran through my mind. What would I do if he was?

I perked my ears as I stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the decadent building. A voice floated through the air from inside. It sounded like a stallion’s voice. Somepony was singing along to a band that played with them. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and relaxed. I got my nerves worked up over a nightclub it seemed.

Without another ounce of hesitation, I walked up to the doors and opened them up. I slipped inside and found myself in a dark entryway. From here, I could see that the main hall also happened to be a bar. The stage must have been a small one, being set so far back, but the place had amazing acoustics. I normally hated anything loud, but this music was for some reason something that soothed me. The bar section was mostly empty, but the tables that faced the stage were packed with every sort of slaver I could’ve imagined.

The music played, and the stallion kept on singing.

“I said that's life, and as funny as it may seem
Some ponies get their kicks, stompin' on a dream
But I don't let it, let it get me down
'cause this fine old world, it keeps spinnin' around”

I found myself entranced with the song, even from where I stood. The words came to me with a feeling and sincerity that I’d never heard before in music. It made me feel warm, like Caltrop’s hug had. As much as I’d wanted to keep listening, sadly, I needed to find the Dolt. With a sigh, I walked forward into the main hall.

“I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out and I know one thing
Each time I find myself flat on my face
I pick myself up and get back in the race”

My curiosity peaked as I kept listening, and I took a look up to the singer. My legs locked up and I froze in place. I couldn’t really process what I was watching, but part of me wanted to turn and hide. The stallion singing was Caltrop. His voice was crisp and clear, his ridiculous accent completely absent. He stared distantly over to the bar as he sang to the crowd, and he looked both exhausted and depressed. Curled in his fetlock, was a half empty bottle of scotch.

I didn’t know whether to run up and hug him or to turn around and go. You know you want to go to him. My conscience was back with avengence. I know that I’d put him through hell the last couple of months, but he’d said that he always wanted to sing. what’s the harm in letting him do what he wanted? But he’s not singing about anything good. You can see he’s in pain.

As I wrestled myself in my own head, the song came to a close. As the band trailed off with the last few notes, the room exploded into applause. Whistles and cheers came from the crowd, mostly from mares who were drunk.

“Come on down, hot stuff!” One of them called out.

“Do us a twirl, pretty boy!” Another laughed out.

None of it phased him. He simply stood there staring blankly at the bar as he took a long draw off of his bottle. Maybe Null was exaggerating about his drinking problem. After only a moment, he lifted it again and finished it off. He wobbled shakily and blinked a few times. Without even looking, he tossed the empty bottle over the edge of the stage and into a pile of other empty bottles.

“This isn’t going to be easy.” I mumbled to myself. I watched as Caltrop tried to wander to the stairs at the edge of the stage. With a single missed step, he tumbled forward and crashed into the floor. Laugher flooded the room as the mare’s hurled insults and more vulgarities at him. In truth, it made my blood boil. As much as I wanted to kill them, I made my way over to him as he whined and made an attempt to get back up. I extended my hoof and was glad to see him grasp it strongly.

“Tanksh.” He slurred as he got up. “Ish told them ta fish da stepsh…” He raised his gaze to me and stared at me for a moment. I was waiting for the light of realization to hit him, but it never came. Actually, what had come next was a left hoof from seemingly nowhere. It wasn’t enough to knock me down, but it did surprise me. “No!” Caltrop raised his voice. “Yah dun get ta wear her faysh!” He glared angrily at me. “Get yashelf outta my shight.”

“Caltrop, it's me, PC.” I said as I rubbed at my cheek. He was either too drunk to hit right, or I never realized how weak he was. Either way, his crystal clear voice was gone, and I could hear more of the old Caltrop I knew coming out. “I know it’s sudden, but we need to talk.”

“Yah ain’t Peeshee.” He squinted and poked at my chest accusingly. “Shur ah ghosht. Crawl back inta shur grave where yah belongs.”

This wasn’t going as smoothly as I’d thought. Him being drunk was really proving to be quite the problem. It hit me that I knew exactly what to do in this case. The first time Storm caught me drinking, she’d done the same thing.

I stepped to his side and hit him with my forehoof as hard as I could in the gut.

Immediately, Caltrop doubled over in pain. The room fell silent for a moment. I didn’t care if they watched. Caltrop was my friend, and the pony I still loved. I was going to do whatever it took to make him see that I was still here. With a racking cough, he threw up all over the floor. For almost a minute, he writhed and expelled nothing but the alcohol he’d drank. He didn’t look like he’d eaten anything in a while, and I figured that it would be a good place to start.

As he sat and whimpered on the floor, I grabbed his hoof and yanked him up. He didn’t fight as I pulled him over onto my back. Lightly, he sobbed as he lay on me. I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain, or all of the emotions he’d probably been trying to suppress with the alcohol. In reality, it was probably both at once.

I walked him up to the bar and helped slide him onto a stool. He slumped forward against the bartop and whined. I used my magic to bring over a bowl of nuts that had been put out for patrons, and fed a clump of them into his muzzle. He ate them, but he cried as he did. Hearing him whine and cry wasn’t something I’d been ready for. It hurt to know that I was the one who’d caused this pain in the first place. It was a new feeling, and one I could only think would be caused by the fact that I truly did love him.

“I’m shorry.” He muttered through his tears from the bartop. “I’m so shorry I couldn’t shave yah.” He sat and muttered to himself over and over. The bartender didn’t even give us the time of day as he wallowed in his sorrows. What she did do, was levitated a fresh bottle of scotch in front of him.

“I think he’s had enough.” I snarled at her. She meerly rolled her eyes and pulled the bottle away. Caltrop didn’t even look up at all. He just kept his head down on the bar and whimpered. His mumbling apologies did start to sound more lucid however, which was a step in the right direction. After another minute, I dredged up the courage to try to comfort him again.

“Shhh.” I said and reached over to him. “I’m not dead, I’m right here.” I pat him on the shoulder, which made him jump. He stared at me in disbelief, but with the same accusatory eyes he’d had before.

“Ya Gramma said she buried what was left of ya!” He nearly shouted as he squeezed his eyes shut. He scrunched up his muzzle and wrapped his hooves around his head. “Why’s everythin’ have ta hurt so much and be so loud?” At least I knew that kicking that alcohol out of him had done some good.

“Obviously, I didn't die though, did I?” I couldn’t help but frown and hope that he hadn’t pushed me so far away in his mind that he hated me. I felt the flame of that fear deep inside. What if he didn’t want me anymore? What if he hates the mare I’d become? I’d thought I’d put these thoughts past me, but I couldn’t help but think about it right at this moment.

“No!” He snapped and slapped me right in the muzzle. It wasn’t a hit like before, but again it had caught me off guard. “Ya don't get ta do that ta me.” He kept his eyes locked onto my own. “Ya don't get ta say ya love me, then just disappear like dat!”

“I’m sorry.” I felt ashamed. I hadn’t meant for it to all go so wrong. “I…”

I found myself cut off as he wrapped his hoof around my head and pulled me against his muzzle. I tensed up at the suddenness of the kiss, but slowly I melted into his grasp. My head spun as he pressed himself against me, and I was in heaven. All the fears about what he might think were snuffed out in that moment. Nothing else in my life made me feel better about being wrong than having him hold me. He pulled back with a sigh and smiled through his teary eyes.

“It wasn't my choice to go.” I spoke up when I finally found the words to do so. “It's alright now. I'm here, and we don't have to worry about anything anymore.” A confused look flushed over his face as I said that. Between that and his smile, I didn’t know what he was thinking. “The guy who put the bounty on me? He didn't want me dead. He wanted me to work for him.” I tried to elaborate, but it only made his confusion worse. “He wanted us to work for him.”

“Wait,” Caltrop took a shaky step back, still not quite ready to move just yet. “I've been thinkin’ yah've been dead this whole time, an’ you've been workin’ for the douchebag who wanted ya dead instead!?” He shook his heat and growled. “An’ Yah nevah thought ta even come see me? Ta at least tell me yah still alive?”

“It wasn’t that simple.” If only I could just put my memories into his head like some sort of memory orb. “It's... a long story.” Once we met back up with Null, I’d have to censor what I’d say. I wanted him to know my fears for working with him, my opinions on who I think they really are. As much as I want to, I can’t say in front of Null that I thought Flint is a madpony and that the other hunters are all broken down psychotics.

“A whole month of not so simple?” Caltrop snorted and climbed back onto his seat. “What did he have ya doin dat ya couldn't have taken some time off so we could know ya were alive!?” His eyes shifted from me to something behind me. He looked more confused than anything. “Storm, yah back early?”

“Yeah, any you’re looking sober for once.” She snapped at him as she walked right past me. It’s like she didn’t even care to see me. “A day late and two bits short. My acquaintance is gone somewhere and he didn't leave any clue behind. He cleared out completely though, so my guess is he's headed out west.”

“Storm, is mom alright?” I asked. Why didn’t she even want to look at me? Had something happened? “Storm? Did you get to mom in time?” She kept ignoring my question. I pushed my stool back and went to forcibly turn her towards me. As she always did, she spun around and grabbed my hoof between hers and twisted. A sharp bolt of pain went up my leg as she held it tightly.

“Your mother is safe, no thanks to you.” She nearly growled at me. Her angry blue eyes brought down what felt like a whole building’s worth of judgement and anger onto me. With a grunt, she let go of my hoof and took a step back. “If you hadn't put your pride first, she'd never have been in that situation. It was a tough fight, but I managed to pull her flank out of the fire. It's too bad that little raider jerk got away.”

“Ash?” I shook my hoof off and gave her a glare of my own. “Ash is dead.” A smile crept over my muzzle as I spoke the words. It felt too damn good to say for me to keep my anger focused anymore. “He wasn’t the only one who Flint had under his hoof. He was a gift to me, and I made sure he’d never hurt our family again.”

“A gift, just like the legs. I knew as soon as I saw them laying out there in the wastes that you were with him.” She snorted in disdain. “I’m right, aren't I? You don’t understand just how dangerous that stallion is, do you?” She shook her head and sighed. “You said you were getting out of this slave shit. Now you’re in bed with the most powerful slaver on this side of the wastes.”

“Legs?” Caltrop muttered. “PC in bed?” He wrapped his hooves around his head again. “Can’t eather one a yah make even a bit of sense?”

“Just like Storm said, she buried what she found of me. It happened when I was being brought back to Flint.” I used my magic to hike my coattail up. Caltrop’s gaze froze on the silver limbs. The sad look he wore on stage returned, and I could tell he was disappointed. “Most of the last month I’ve been learning how to walk again.” I found myself speaking softly. “I wanted to come back to you, but I couldn’t make the trip until today.” He simply looked at me with a frown. More than listening to him crying, or seeing what’s happened to him, that look hurt. “I'm still not quite used to them even, but even so, I’d thought this might be the way you thought. I can see how much I’ve hurt you already, why wouldn’t you hate what I’d become?”

He stepped forward and threw his hooves around me.

“I could never hate yah, PC.” He said through his warm embrace. “Disappointed as I am, I’m just glad ta have yah back.” He squeezed me tightly and rubbed at my back. Just like that, I was the one who was crying. “I love yah.” He whispered softly into my ear.

The words sent an electric tingle down my spine. I laughed and hugged him as tightly as I could. A pair of lost legs, a deal with Flint, plenty of fear, and a whole month later. After all that, I was finally back with him, and he still wanted me. I hated to get all sappy in this moment, but I couldn’t care anymore. All was right in the wasteland again.

“Ahem.” Storm cleared her throat to ruin my perfect moment. “Hate to break this up, but we need to talk.”I pulled my eyes off of Caltrop and looked over to her. She had a sly smile, and that was never good. When she smiled like that, she was cooking up something I probably wouldn’t like. She walked up and basically pried me from Caltrop’s grasp. “We need a minute alone.” She said to him before she dragged me off to the nearest empty corner.

“What do you want?” First she can’t stand to look at me. Now that she needs something, of course she can just drag me away from whatever I’m doing. “And don’t give me the runaround. Just say whatever you want to my face so I can get back to my job.”

“Flint.” Was all she said back.

“What about him?” I asked. She smiled wider the longer she thought about whatever it was she was planning.

“Flint. I want him.” She craned her neck until it gave a soft pop. “Nopony know’s where his base of operations is.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “There was a slave who knew once, but you happened to blow her up. Good thing too. If you brought her back, her source would have been found out.” She cocked an eyebrow at me. Brightshine’s sister had the information on where his villa was? That’s why they wanted me to bring her back? “But better than a description, you’ve been there.”

“So, wait. You want the location?” I scrunched my muzzle up and prodded her. “Why? So you can charge in there and get yourself killed? Weren’t you supposed to retire?”

“I thought about it.” She bobbed her head back and forth. “But I figured that I could do this one last good thing before I quit.” She stared at me for a moment before she brought her pipbuck up and pushed a few buttons. “So, tell me. Where is it?”

“It’s on a mountain. In a valley of said mountain.” I wasn’t quite sure what she expected from me. “Next to some trees?” She looked up to me and deadpanned. “The fuck do you want from me? I’m not a fucking map.” I seriously didn’t know where it was really, and had no real idea of a location for it.

“Look, I’m not going to keep you any longer.” She rolled her eyes and pulled me back toward Caltrop. “I know how angry Flint can get when things take too long, so I won’t keep you here.” She looked over to Caltrop, who had already gotten a glass of alcohol in our absence. “I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, but you need to stay sober enough to remember shit for me.” She gave a nod over at me. “Not to mention you need to keep an eye on her.” With that, she gave me a glare I didn’t feel I deserved. “Make sure she doesn’t make any more bad decisions.

“Alright…?” Caltrop shrugged and downed the whole glass. “I love PC, but she’s a tough mare, yah know?” He set the glass down and gave a soft belch. “I’ll do what I can, but you know I ain't strong like she is.” He sounded a little bit disappointed in himself when he said that.

“Hey, you’re plenty strong.” I snapped at him. “And you don’t need the alcohol anymore to comfort you.” I walked over and pushed the glass away from him. He couldn’t go for more than a few minutes without a drink? This is going to be much more trouble than I’d thought. Then again, that tends to be a pattern for my expectations.

“Here.” Storm grunted as she un-slung her rifle. “You get one scratch on her, and I’ll make good on my promise to remove your stallionhood.” She held it out to Caltrop, who didn’t look like he wanted to touch it with a ten foot pole. “Go on and take it.” She pushed it toward him more. “Take it, or I’ll do even worse than to take your dangly bits away.”

“Fine!” He nearly shouted. He swiped the gun from her quickly. As he did, the strap caught on her fetlock. The gun flipped up into the air as Caltrop fumbled for it. He nearly caught it several times, each time knocking it another direction. With a leap from his stool, he caught it and crashed onto the floor.

“See, I know you won’t disappoint me.” Storm said with a smile. “Now if you don’t mind, I must be going.” She cocked an eyebrow to me as she smiled at me. “Bluejay and I have quite a bit of fun to plan.” Her expression flattened out in an instant. “Don’t fuck anything else up for him. We all only get so many chances to start over.” With that, she walked to the doors and left.

“So, love.” Caltrop said as he groaned and picked himself up off the floor. “Where are we goin’ now?” He brushed himself off and walked up beside me. Just like that, he was back with me, as if he’d always been by my side. From now on, I don’t think I’ll ever leave his.

“Funny enough,” I sighed and wrapped my hoof around him. “back to where this all started.” We both walked toward the doors and leaned against each other. “We’re going to pay my friend in Steel Junction a visit.”

--Chapter End--
“Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 31 - Bystanders

Yeah, I knew this was going to be a problem.

“Hey! I wasn’t done with dat!” Caltrop snapped as I levitated his bottle of whiskey away from him. He squinted as he pushed my hat over his eyes and looked over to me in confusion. Even though he’d been alright in the bar, the second we got moving he’d been in a state of a blissful buzz. I’d told him that he could still have a few bottles on him because I know you have to ween off an addiction like this. I should have carried them though, and that was a mistake that I’d now correct.

“You already drank almost half the bottle in the last half hour.” I grumbled. We’re only a couple hours out of Filly and I didn’t need him tripping over himself when any raiders showed up. I reached into his saddlebags with my magic and pulled the other bottles out. “You’ve had enough.”

Up ahead was the mined canyon from months ago. Walking through the jagged walls sent a shiver down my spine, and I glanced along to the worn rocks at the top for trouble. Seeing this place again brought back a mix of memories. It felt like so long ago that we were here. Caltrop almost died then, and honestly I’m not sure what I would have done if he had. I’ve relied on him for so much since then, and he on me. While I wouldn’t have been in half of that trouble because of him, I wouldn’t be the same mare I am. I didn’t want to go back to who I was.

“How the fuck would yah know when I’ve had enough?” He snarled and swiped at the bottles. The fact that he’d had that much already made his reflexes just that much slower already. After a few swipes, he stopped and just sneered as I put them in my own bags.

“The same way I knew where you were.” I sighed and continued walking. I watched as Sandy wandered along the path ahead of us. At least with her, it’s almost like she’d never left my side. She was just as curious and talkative as ever. Still, I hate to call her mindless, but it scared me to know that she didn’t give a second thought to killing that stallion when I told her to.

“Yeah? And how the hell did yah even manage dat?” Caltrop grunted and took his place back along my side.

“With my help.” Null spoke up from the other side of Caltrop. He’d kept his steathbuck on even before I’d returned to him and Sandy. I didn’t mention it because I wasn’t sure of what Caltrop’s reaction to him would be. You know, as he had been the one to take me away and all. At least one thing I’d predicted would happen actually did.

Caltrop could still scream like a filly.

“What the fuck!” He cried out as he nearly jumped over me to hide. I say nearly, because he came down on my back fairly hard. My rear legs might have been stronger now that they were metal, but my forelegs gave out under the added weight. We both flopped into the dirt hard. Caltrop at the very least had the sense to roll off of me before I jabbed him with my horn. I just let out a sigh and laid there for a moment.

“See? I told you he wasn’t imaginary!” Sandy chimed with a bright smile on her muzzle.

“I know yah!” Caltrop growled as he pushed himself back to his hooves. “Yah the one who took PC!” He sputtered as he wrestled with the sling to Storm’s rifle. Though I liked his initiative, I didn’t need him attracting all the raiders from five miles around. With a roll of my eyes and a strong grasp of my magic, I tugged his chin until he looked down at me.

“Yeah, he’s the guy.” I said sternly. “No, you can’t shoot him. We work with them now.” I pushed myself up and dusted myself off. “So stop fucking around before you attract every raider from here to manehatten with that thing.”

“Hey, look!” Sandy squeaked. “Friends!”

We all stopped in place as our attention was drawn forward. I looked up to see more than a few raiders standing in the roadway blinking at us. A couple of them had shovels in their muzzles, and a couple others had mines. I’m not to sure how they hadn’t heard us coming, but everypony stood as still as statues.

Entering the mined canyon to find somepony already there was an uncomfortably familiar situation, and this time we were on the side that had exploded last time. The air whistled through the canyon with a low drone. I wasn’t sure why none of us had gone for our guns. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was reminded to look down at the dirt at my hooves.

Yeah, fuck me.

I don’t know how we’d gotten that lucky in the first place, but there were freshly filled in mine holes everywhere around us. Caltrop let off a whimper as he looked down to find his hoof inches from a trigger to one of them. Wait, that one looked older, dustier. Were these assholes burying new mines without even noticing the old ones were still here? I’ve said it before, but this time I mean it. I am literally surrounded by morons. At least the raiders knew not to shoot at us.

“PC, can’t you just… you know, shoot ‘em?” Caltrop whispered to me, so close to having kept my respect towards his intelligence. Seriously, he was such a dolt.

“No.” Null answered for me. “The explosives are too close.”

“Is yah name PC?” Caltrop snapped in his harsh whisper. As lovely as it was to have them fight, I wasn’t sure what we could even do about this. If I’d been a smarter mare, I’d have just opted to go around this place like we should have both times. Goddesses, sometimes I wanted to just beat the crap out of myself for the shit I got into.

“Hello, friend!” Sandy smiled as she hopped through the dirt. Each step brought a cringe from everypony who watched. Sure, Sandy could walk through those mines by the prison safely, but hopping? My heart stopped every time her paws hit the dirt. “What are you digging for?” She smiled at one of the more imposing looking stallions, who never looked more scared in his life. His gaze slowly shifted to one of his compatriots. The stallion gave a nervous grin as he held a mine in his muzzle. “Oh, neat!” She exclaimed. “I used to dig up mines sometimes as well!.”

“That’s… great… kid.” The gruff stallion next to her replied. “Listen, we’re kinda busy…”

“Do you need any help?” She chimed before bolting across the dirt to one of the fresh mine holes. Both the Ganger stallion and I reached out in silent horror as she skid to a stop in front of it. With a growl, she grabbed and tugged it out onto the flat ground again. Then she held out a claw and punched it right through the primer housing. “See, all safe now!” She beamed a smile to him. “I can help!

“Sandy, why don’t you just come back over here where it’s safe.” I called out to her. Safe? That was a lie big enough that anypony but Sandy would have seen through. If I could get her to disarm the ones around us, then maybe we could’ve just turned around and left. My life had unfortunately never been that easy.

“Actually,” The raider stallion grinned at her and waved his hoof. “Come over here and show me how ya did that.” The moment he said that, I saw his intentions clearly in his eyes. She may be one hell of a weapon in combat, but her innocence and curiosity would get her killed at this rate. I had no intention of letting Sandy walk right into his murderous hooves.

“Sandy, stop.” I ordered. She froze up on the spot and looked over to me in confusion. “Remember those ponies on the mountain? The ones that attacked Storm and I?” I waited until she nodded. After a moment, she made the connection as to what I’d tried to get across.

“You’re bad ponies.” She growled and dropped down onto all fours. I watched in horrid fascination as everything about her seemed to change. Her pose, her face and expression. In a moment, she’d lost the spark of innocence she just had. What sat between the raiders and I was a tiny blue death machine, nothing more. One of the raiders dropped his shovel in favor of going for the shotgun on his side. Sandy simply barked and lept at the raider who’d talked to her.

Things went downhill fast. Wrapped in my levitation, out came my revolver. I aimed and got a shot off at the earth pony who had the shotgun. The round punched through his side, but he seemed unphased by the hit. Just my luck, he was probably on drugs. A correction and another quick pull of the trigger, I put his brains all over the pony behind him. Unfortunately, that pony was a unicorn mare with a mine held in her muzzle. She simply grabbed the shotgun from her cohort and pointed it at me.

A shot from Caltrop rang out. His first time using the thing, I wasn’t surprised he missed the mare. I’d just wished that he could have missed the mine still in her muzzle. A furious blast erupted through the air, and both Caltrop and I were peppered with shrapnel. Luckily, the blast didn’t trigger any of the other mines. The bloody and lacerated pony that Sandy had attacked looked like one of those pre-war pinatas. From his back, tumbled Sandy. She flopped onto the dirt behind him and lay there.

As I stared, I’d forgotten about the last pony. He took a few shots at us, one which zipped along my shoulder. In the midst of all the chaos, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I kept hoping that she’d get back up, but she didn’t move. Another shot came from Caltrop. The muzzle flash went off right next to my face, and shocked me back into the fight. No, Sandy wouldn’t die. I refused to lose someone to this fucking canyon.

I whipped my revolver around to the last pony. I fired at him again and again. At this distance, it was hard to miss. Each shot found a home in him. I wasn’t sure which hit had killed him, but as he slumped to the dirt, I didn’t care.

“Sandy!” I cried out as I took a step forward. She needed help, and I wouldn’t let her down. As I tried to move though, I found a pair of hooves restrain me.

“If yah move, we might explode.” Caltrop whined as he held me back. “Who know’s how many mines are still here from the last time.” He spun me around to look at him. He looked like he’d been through hell. More than a few deep cuts bled down his head and across his chest. There was a sick sucking noise as he breathed in labored breaths. A bloody hole in his side where a bullet had stuck nearly stopped my heart. He gave me a bloody smile and held on to me. “I’m sorry, but ain’t nopony helpin’ her without havin’ any idea where the mines are.”

That was it!

“Null.” I snapped and tore my gaze from Caltrop. As I looked around, I didn’t see him at all. That bastard better not have fucking left us here. “Go fucking help Sandy.” I glared angrily at the air around me in hopes that he’d get the point. For what felt like forever, only the low drone of the wind and Caltrop’s ragged breathing met my ears. “Null, if she dies, it’s on you.”

“She is still breathing, but only just.” Null’s voice came from over by Sandy. With a soft click, he shimmered back into sight. From his saddlebags, he floated out half a healing potion and kneeled next to her. Carefully, he poured a little at a time over her. Gingerly, he took his hoof and turned her head over a bit. All I could do was watch as I left Sandy’s fate up to the same pony who’d brought me nothing but pain and suffering.

“PC?” Caltrop wheezed. “Could you grab the…” He paused and wobbled a bit before sitting down hard. “the bottle in my bag?” He looked pale and on the verge of passing out. I hoped that he wasn’t asking for more booze. Turns out, I found a health potion he’d had tucked away in there. Quickly, I opened it and forced him to drink some. Once the lacerations on him sealed up, I lowered the bottle and pressed it against his side. He let out a whimper and bit his lip from the pain, but he knew he had to endure it. I got through almost half the bottle before his side closed up.

“How the hell did you get shot, anyway?” I asked, as his breathing became less ragged by the moment. Putting the cap back on, I stowed the potion back in his bags. If he had one helpful item, maybe he had more? I rooted around a bit more until I found a soft and flat cylinder. As I pulled it out, I was annoyed to see that it was a roll of duct tape. I was really hoping for some bandages.

“Here, get patched up.” Null shouted as he tossed a roll of dirty looking cloth to me. From the way it smelled, it probably came right off the raiders themselves. “Your friend will be alright, but I am sure she’ll be out for some time.” Null sighed and picked her up in his magic. “Once you two are ready to go, I can guide you through to the other side.”

“No, we’re going back out and heading around.” I didn’t want to try our luck going through this place. “We’re all still alive, and the last thing I need to do today is lose another limb.”

“Fine, but it will cost you five favors.” Null shook his head and looked particularly annoyed.

“Whatever. At this point, I don’t care.” I shoved my revolver back into it’s holster and sat down. If this was how a normal contract goes, maybe I should invest in some healing items for the next one. “Caltrop, you alright?”

“Yeah.” He smiled up to me and flopped his head against my side. “Thank’s for savin’ me.” After a moment he squinted in pain and whined. “I think dat potion gave me a hangover.”

“Pretty sure that’s the booze.” I sighed.

Amazingly, we hadn’t seen another pony since the mine incident. Sandy was healing up fine from her injuries, and wouldn’t have more that a couple of scars to show from it. What worried us was that she hadn’t woken up yet. Null told us not to worry, and that she would wake in time, but Caltrop and I still still did anyway. Sandy had earned her friendship with us back at the prison, and I didn't want to think that we might have gotten her killed. We’d camped out on the same hill that Caltrop and I had used after we left Novacain’s medical clinic. Being back there was eerie, but I was glad to have had Caltrop close this time.

It was late the next day before we’d arrived at Steel Junction. We were up in my overlook outcrop on the hill above town. I looked around using some binoculars that Null had brought with him. Of all the nights we had to do this job, of course it would be one that Keg Tap would throw one of his parties. It looked as if everypony had shown up, and I felt a pit in my stomach form. Doing this sneakily would be a doozy of a task.

“So, what is your plan?” Null spoke up.

“For now?” I lowered the binoculars with a sigh. “We wait. There’s too many bystanders.” This had the potential to get messy if we went in now. Not to mention, if one of them got mixed in the crowd, I don’t think I could sort them out. “Our best option is to just wait for tomorrow.”

“We’re already behind schedule.” Null groaned and fidgeted with stuff in his saddlebags. “I’m going down to at least confirm our targets are still there.”

Right when he said that, I wanted to speak up. The way he said it made me want to warn him not to make a move yet in case somepony noticed him. With a soft click, Null shimmered into thin air and left us behind the rocks.

“Yah know,” Caltrop sighed as he flopped down next to Sandy. “I think I’m startin ta hate workin’ with these guys.”

“Trust me, I know what you mean.” I grumbled and brought the binoculars up again. The party was in full swing down there. Ponies were singing along with whatever music they had down there, and stumbling over each other drunk. Hard to believe that in another day I’ll have to kill Keg and parties like this will never happen here again. “You want to know what’s worse?” I glanced back over to Caltrop. He had a look on his muzzle like he didn’t want to know. “Null is the most likeable of them.”

“Fuckin great.” Caltrop grumbled and summarized the entire last month for me.

We both spent a few minutes just thinking in silence. I wasn’t going to say it was the first time I had my doubts about working for Flint, but this was definitely the worst I’ve felt since I agreed to do it. Even though I’ve got Caltrop back, I’m not sure I’m making his life any better. Sure, I can fix his drinking issue, but all I did was trade one shithole for another. Even if one is a whole hell of a lot more polished than the other.

“Alright, we are good to go.” Null spoke up as she shimmered back into view next to Caltrop and I. He brought his pipbuck up and started fiddling with it intently. With another click, he plugged in some other kind of hardware to the arcane device. “Now where was that frequency?”

Frequency?

A short beep emit from his pipbuck before his gaze popped back up to the town. In that moment, I felt like a boulder plunged into the pit of my stomach. There was a bright, multicolored flash from down the hill. A near deafening roar pierced the air. I turned toward the town just in time for a rush of air to blast a hefty amount of dirt and dust into my eyes.

“What the hell did you do?” I coughed and choked on the dirt. I rubbed my eyes clean enough that I could see again. What I found was horrifying. A small mushroom cloud billowed up from where the pub had once stood. Nothing but a large ring of splintered and burning wood debris could be seen among the thick smoke. They were gone. Most of the town had gathered and they were all just… gone.

“Master Flint feared that you might have reservations about your mission.” Null stated abruptly. “He asked that I show you that backing out isn't an option. He also want to show you that anypony who is associated with those who shun the rule of Red Eye, run the risk of paying for that crime.”

“Fuck dat asshole!” Caltrop shouted as he sprung to his hooves. Null was fast, but he wasn’t that fast. Caltrop lunged at him and brought a hoof right across Null’s cheek. The zony went down into the dirt hard, but didn’t seem to stay down. “Yah just killed the whole town!” Caltrop screamed. “How can yah justify dat?”

“This was my mission, Null.” I snapped as well. How could he have just done something that stupid was beyond me. “I don't fucking care what Flint told you. My mission is done my way.” I drew out my pistol as he picked his sorry flank up off the dirt. “That means you listen to me, not go off half cocked because Flint told you I wouldn’t be up to it.”

“It wasn't my call.” He said as he shook off Caltrop’s hit. With a flash from his horn, he cut off my magic. He caught my revolver in his own and spun it around at me. I felt like a dumbass for forgetting in my anger that he could do that. “I didn’t want to kill them, believe me. At least the balefire egg made it painless.” He almost sounded genuine, but it was hard to care when he was pointing my own gun at my head. “There was no other way to guarantee the death of everypony involved.”

“The fuck there wasn't!” Both Caltrop and I said at nearly the same time.

“I don't care if Flint told you to go kill yourself!” I snapped and took a step forward. The barrel of my own revolver pressed up against my temple as Null didn’t give a single inch. I reached up and bat the gun away from me, not moving my glare from him. “There would have been another way.” I wasn’t sure a single word I said would get through his fucking skull, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t have to beat it in. “You may be alright with it, but I don't kill innocent ponies.”

“Oh really?” He spat back as a smile crossed his muzzle. “What did you think this job would be like? Hunting down criminals?” He gave a hearty, but forced laugh that did nothing but piss me off more. “Were the thirteen slaves in the building not innocent?” He paused and grimaced again. “What about Keg Tap? Did he deserve to die?”

“I don’t care what PC said before,” Caltrop chimed in. Just by doing so, Null turned the revolver on him. “Yah a fuckin monster.”

“You better stow that attitude before we return. Flint is not going to be appreciative of your words.” Null sneered and glanced back over to me. “You know what happens to disappointments.” He spun the revolver over and tossed it into the dirt at my hooves. I felt my own magic trickle back into my horn He spun around and looked back at me from over his shoulder. “We are still on a schedule. It is time to go home.”

“No.” I said as levitated my gun up and put it in it’s holster. “We aren’t done.”

“What did you say?” Null’s expression went from stoic to downright pissed.

“You fucked this up.” I growled. “Tell me, what happens if I get back, and your fucking bomb didn’t kill all of them?” I watched as he seemed both surprised and insulted by the idea. “If just one of them ghoulified, what would Flint do? Hmmm?” I trotted forward and forcibly pushed past him. “I’m going down there to check for survivors. Leave if you want, but if anything happens to me down there, it’s on you.”

Without another word, I trotted down towards the town. I didn’t understand why I cared so much other than I didn’t expect this to happen. Needless death has always pissed me off, but this was so much worse than before. Probably because I had been the only pony who could have stopped it. Null may have pushed the button, but in the end it was me who killed these ponies.

“PC, wait up!” Caltrop called out.

I didn’t wait. I took a good look around at the results Null had achieved. The few who weren’t at the party had emerged from their homes to find out what happened. More than a few of them cried out for their friends and family who’d been at the tavern, but enough of them simply stared at me in anger as I passed by. I didn’t know how they knew, but I’m sure they blamed me for everything.

The tavern itself was a complete loss. I stepped over a few charred boards and the scattered dismembered limbs of the patrons as I approached it. The smoke burned my eyes, and the scent of charred flesh stung in my nose. The whole building had been reduced to a pile of wooden refuse around two ponies high. Most of the place must have collapsed into the basement when it went, and most of the patrons had gone with it.

Even if the survivors and remaining towns ponies were to start digging, it would take days to get them out. And that would have been long enough to kill anypony who managed to survive. Still, buried alive for days is a bad way to go, fairly high on my list of ‘ways not to die’. I lifted a board that was still crackling with balefire and traced it around a few of the sections of rubble. Each section caught slowly, but grew fast.

“PC…” Caltrop said at almost a whisper as the fire grew. “You know there could be survivors in there.”

“I know, but it’s too late to help.” I looked over to him and shook my head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think…” I don’t know why, but I felt like because of this I was a monster. Caltrop knew what I meant, I think. He simply hugged me tightly as the balefire funeral pyre grew to a raging blaze. “This isn’t how I’d thought it would be.”

“We’ll just do it better next time.” Caltrop said as he brushed my mane. “We’ll do it the right way.” A clattering of boards and rubble came from the pile as it burned. We both looked and watched as it shifted under the fire. Smoke poured from lower and the fire grew, and we simply stood there as the town looked on in horror. Then one of the piles moved again.

With something between a grunt and a scream, a few of the smoking boards were pushed aside. With a gasp from the ponies watching behind us, and to our amazement, a half charred form crawled out from the wreckage. Wearing more stripes that any zebra I’d ever seen in my life, a zebra stallion rolled down the wreckage and cried. Nearly half of his body was blistered and burnt, but he simply picked himself up and let out a pained cry.

As he did, I un-holstered my revolver. I had no way to tell if he had been one of my targets, but this town didn’t have the capacity to treat burns like his. Even if they got him help, he wouldn’t have lasted the two days it would have taken to arrive. It would be the first truly innocent life I’d have to take, but it would at least be out of mercy.

“You.” The Zebra half gurgled in anger. He brought his gaze to a rest on me and charged. “You murdered them!”

I answered him with a pair of shots from my gun. Both rounds struck him in the chest, but he refused to go down. With only a second to act, I pushed Caltrop away from my side. I hadn’t been ready for this, and in my panic, my cyberlegs didn’t act fast enough. They tripped me up, and I flopped down into the dirt. I hit my head as I went down and lost my grip on my gun.

“You ruined everything I’ve worked for!” The zebra growled before he started to pummel me. My vision went blank from the pain of the onslaught, but I could imagine every hit. I had no idea how he could move as fast, or hit me as much as he did. Bones snapped, and my organs pleaded for me to get up and move. The only things that reacted were my cyberlegs, and even then they didn’t do much.

I wouldn’t go down easy at the very least. Even blinded by pain, I fought hard. With one good buck from my rear legs, I felt something snap in him. The force of the kick pushed him off me, but only momentarily. Even so, it was enough to gather my senses and look around again. Part of the zebra’s chest had caved in, but he simply came back at me. I readied my legs again, but he was smarter than I gave him credit for.

With a low sweep that required more flexibility than he should have had, he kicked the power cable from my leg. With a yell and a flip, he did the same to my other leg. I was officially defenceless as he stood over me. With a yank, he pulled my right leg off of me and held it high in his hooves. I panicked and looked around. I just needed to find my gun again…

The familiar report of my revolver sounded through the air, and the side of the zebra’s head blew outward. He collapsed into a heap next to me as Caltrop rushed to my side. He spit my revolver down into the dirt and scooped me painfully into his hooves.

“Nice shot.” I weakly whined. Fuck he’d done a number on me. It would take more than just a healing potion to fix all this. I looked down at my chest to see one of my ribs poking through my skin. Then again, a healing potion would be a nice start.

“I was aimin for the leg.” Caltrop muttered with a weak smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll get yah patched up, I promise.” He pulled me close and hugged me painfully. I didn’t care though. I was still alive, and I felt better knowing that he was here with me. Fortunately for me, the pain started to fade as the darkness of unconsciousness took me. I just hoped that when I woke up, I wouldn’t still feel like a monster for what we did here today.

--Chapter End--
“We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment.”
Quests Finished: Heartaches by the Dozen
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: How we do it down on the farm - In combat, your critical hits are more devastating. Your damage from critical hits, including Sneak Attack Criticals, is increased by 50%. This does not affect the chance to cause a critical hit.

Chapter 33 - ...is new again

Both of us were bloodied, out of breath, and in pain, but I wasn’t sure what we were looking at.

“Why are they all just… standing there?” I whispered. We’d been in what looked like a small office for no longer than a minute catching our breath. In that time, the ponytrons had stopped their advance. They simply stood there. The double doors behind us were our only way out, but I didn’t know what lay beyond them.

“The hell if I know!” Caltrop shot back sharply. “Oh goddesses…” He groaned and keeled over again. With a few heavy heaves, I got out what I hoped was now the last of his booze. Between the shrapnel he’d taken, and all the booze, half of his side was red with blood. How much alcohol had he gone through while I was out?

After he wiped the sick away from his face, Caltrop limped forward to the door and stared at them. Slowly, he put his hoof through the doorway.

Nothing.

“Well, dat’s odd.” He said as he took a step out. The moment he did, the ponytron’s jarred back to life and continued towards us. He whined and quickly shuffled back inside with me. The second he was through the doorway again, they froze where they were again. “What the hell is goin’ on?”

“What the hell are we even doing in this place?” I sighed as I kept one eye out the door. There’s more to this than them just giving up. If it’s one thing I know from the lack of feeling in my rear legs, it’s that robot’s don’t give up.

“Well, after ya passed out,” Caltrop squinted and rubbed at his head. Hopefully the dolt wouldn’t hurt himself thinking to hard. “We walked for a while. Null said we could bed down in this warehouse for the night.” He shuddered and rubbed at his shoulders. “Said he’d stayed here before.”

“Good.” I grunted as I kept my eye on the now static machines. “That means I can kick his ass for getting us into this mess.” When I turned back to Caltrop, I raised an eyebrow as he started to shiver. “Next question. I was in a memory orb. How did I get in there?”

“It’s a bit fuzzy,” Caltrop blinked a few times and looked at me. His pupils were bigger than I’d ever seen them, and as unfocused as Null’s. “He tried to heal you a bit. Needed to keep you out.” His shivering grew worse as he spoke. “Is it cold to you in here?”

“No, you’re going into shock from the fire earlier.” I sighed and pulled myself to my hooves. “You need to lie down.” I didn’t think the fire had been that bad. Unless, something else had happened while I was out.”

“What?” Caltrop whined and shook his head wildly. As he did, his legs gave way and he crashed down onto the floor.

“Just stay still.” I slowly dragged myself over to him and put my hoof against his neck. His pulse was racing, and he was beginning to look pale. It wasn’t good, and it scared the hell out of me. “I’ve seen this happen to other wastelanders.”

“I-I’ll be fine, right?” He gave me a weak smile as he shivered on the floor. I didn’t know what to tell him. Everypony else I’d seen go into shock, was dying from something I’d done. I wasn’t sure if anypony could survive this, but they had to have a chance. Right?

“Please, PC.” Caltrop was smart, and I think he figured it out on his own. “Just... tell me I’m fine.”

“You will be.” I simply replied. I would fix this. He wouldn’t die, not now if I could help it. “Something is wrong with you, but I don’t know what.” I looked him over carefully, trying to find some injury that would do this. “What hurts on you?”

“Besides everythin’?” He gave out a wheezing chuckle that quickly turned into a whining gasp. “It’s getting hard to breath. I think somethin’s wrong with my insides’.” He clamped his eyes shut and tried to take a few deep breaths. As he did, I saw something odd in the blood on his side. Bubbles came from one of his small cuts.

“I think I found something.” I said as I reached my hoof up. As carefully as could, I wiped the blood away. I wasn’t careful enough, as just the lightest touch made him flinch and cry out.

“Ah, fuck! Dat’s tender.” He gasped and looked up at me. “What is it? What’s wrong?” As he breathed in and out, more bubbles came out of one of the shrapnel wounds. He squinted and watched as they almost frothed out with every breath. “Fuck me.” He flopped back down. “Why did it have ta be dat?”

“What do you mean ‘that’?” I don’t know why he’d know, but if he did, maybe I could fix it! “Do you know what’s wrong?”

“There’s metal in my lung and it’s most likely collapsed.” He sighed. Immediately he whined from even something like that. “If we don’t fix it, I aint goin’ ta last much longer.”

“Maybe there’s a potion around here?” This was a military facility after all, there had to be something that could help.

“No.” He spat out. The whine that followed quickly became a sputtering cough. “The metal needs to be taken out. A potion would just seal it in.” He gave me a weak, but sad smile. “I’m sorry, PC.”

“You will be once I fix you.” I was back at square one, but I wasn’t going to lose him. There had to be a way to get that metal out. “Just wait, I’ll kick your ass for drinking so much.” I said in a half hearted laugh. I wanted to cry. I didn’t want to lose him, not after we’d come so far. Desperately, I did my best to hold back the tears.

“You need to find a way to get out of here.” He groaned. “Go find Null. He can get help.” Lightly, Caltrop reached over and hooked a hoof around mine. “I’ll hold on as long as I can.”

“I’m not leaving you here.” I couldn’t hold back anymore. My tears came down across my cheeks on their own, and I was helpless to stop it. “You never gave up on me, not once when you thought you could save me. So you listen to me when I say I’m not going anywhere without you.” I’d been through too much to see him die. “You know what this is, so you’re going to tell me how to fucking fix it.”

“I only read about it in one of my books back home.” Caltrop coughed out. To me, he looked paler by the moment. I didn’t even want to think about how long he had. “It’s only a guess anyway. I’m no doctor.” He closed his eyes again and kept still. “Ya aren’t one either, so even if there was a way ta fix it, I’d still be done for.”

“But you are my friend. My special somepony.” I growled. “I don’t care if you read it in a book, or guessed, or even saw it first hoof.” I wanted to strangle him for being so difficult “You are going to tell me what to do.”

“I don’t want ya ta go either.” He grunted angrily. “Before we met, I didn’t think I could love again. I missed him so much.” Tears came from his own eyes as he spoke, and he gave whining sniffles as he talked. “But then I saw you, and you saw me. Even if ya didn’t feel the same, you cared enough ta take me with ya. I just couldn’t give up.” He smiled in earnest and tightened his hold on my leg. “I love ya, PC.”

“Oh, quiet.” I sniffled and wiped at my nose. “It’s not like I could get rid of you. You just kept clinging to me.”

“Wait!” He gasped. That turned out to be a bad idea, because it sent him into a hacking fit. “We need magnets. More So, an electromagnet.” He tried to sit up, but I knew he shouldn’t be moving around, not in his condition. With a stiff shove, I pushed him back onto the floor. “Goddesses, that fuckin’ hurts!” He cried and squirmed under my hoof.”

“You need to stay here. I’ll find what we need.” I grunted and did my best to turn myself back towards the door. Even if I had to drag myself across this stupid base, I’d find what he needed. I just wish we still had the battery for my legs. At least then I’d be able to fight. “You just need to hold on until I can fix you. Now, what am I looking for?”

I looked around the room for anything that might be useful to remember. When this place was still running, I think this area might have been used for planning or something. Against the back wall was worn chart after chart. Files had been strewn all over, and the skeleton of a pony was curled up underneath a desk that sat nearby. A unicorn’s skeleton lay slumped in an old rolling office chair. It had a hole in it’s skull, and a rusted out pistol against it’s ribcage. The file cabinet I’d crashed into when we came in sat beside that, rusted and what looked to be locked shut.

The table that Caltrop had crashed into however, held a rusted red tool box on it. A rotten ladder lead up to open ductwork above us, and a boney hoof hung out of it caked in dust. I wondered, how did he die during maintenance? This place didn’t seem touched by a balefire bomb, so maybe radiation? It didn’t matter. All that did, was making sure Caltrop stayed alive.

“Ya need a metal tube or spike, preferably iron or steel. Next, wirin’, as much as ya can grab.” He wheezed as he spoke. As he finished, he curled up in another hacking fit. With a heavy wretch, he spat out a glob of frothy blood onto the floor under his muzzle. “Last, ya need ta find a good battery.” He gasped and whined. “Oh, and a potion fer after could help as well.”

“Iron spike, wire, battery, and a potion.” I repeated, just to cram it into my head. Four things wasn’t much to ask for if it would save Caltrop’s life. As I repeated the items in my head, I looked around to see if anything was already in here.

“What does it matter?” Caltrop snorted and spit up some more blood. “Ya ain’t goin’ to be scootin’ around out there without ya legs. Those bots will tear ya apart!”

My eyes fell upon the office chair with the unicorn bones in it. The rotten and worn down cloth seat sagged on each side of the skeleton, and it gave me a really neat idea. Using my magic, I dragged it over to me. I tossed the old bones aside and popped my mechanical legs off of my stumps. As I looked back and forth between the seat and them, I was convinced this could work.

“Don’t worry, Caltrop. I’m going to get those parts.” I said as I levitated the old toolbox off the table, and storm’s rifle from right next to him. “You just need to be alive when I get them back in here.”

A new coat of grease might have helped the wheels be quieter, but the bots were back on me from the get-go. All around me, I held the various tools from the old toolbox suspended in the air, along with Storm’s rifle. My head pounded from the strain of it all, and I panted hard as I dragged myself around the concrete floor.

The old chair squeaked as I dragged it along behind me. The duct tape I’d used to secure my flank to it stung as I tugged against it. The pain was of little consequence as I stuck close to the rusting vertibuck hulks. It was of little help that each of the maintenance stations here were still stocked with things. The station we’d been near was nearly in the best condition of all of them.

“Come on,” I muttered between pants. “There has to be something useful here.” I’d only just now gotten to the first workbench. With my hoof, I hastily sifted through the scraps and junk for what I needed. Oily cogs, busted spell matrices, and a socket wrench were the only things still even intact here. “Fuck.”

The heavy, mechanical stomps that filled the air resonated through the cavernous building to make the approaching robots sound like a marching army. A short whine was all the warning I had as one of them found line of sight to me from behind.

A red streak cut through the air just to my side. I gave a grunt and took off again. Rolling around the front of the old wreck for cover, I started toward the next station. Passing out into the open was a bad idea. Three of the robots could clearly see me, one of them directly beside where I was headed. They fired without hesitation. One of the bolts struck the back of my improvised wheelchair. It wasn’t me however, so I pressed on.

I brought the sights on Storm’s rifle up to my eye. It was hard to see through the scope as I ran, but I knew I had it generally on target. With my magic, I worked the action, and pulled the trigger.

Sparks traced across the chestplate of the robot as the round ricocheted away. Without that ponytron down, I didn’t have a choice. As it charged another shot, I swerved sharply. The targeting talismans on these machines were nowhere near as accurate as Synchro’s monstrosity. The ponytron couldn’t compensate for the sudden change and singed the floor to my left.

I shot a glance back as I ran, and watched the bot I passed take it’s sweet time turning around. The one thing I had on my side, was that these machines were slow. At a gallop, I’d crossed half the hanger in a short period of time. If I started at the other end and worked my way back, it would take them a while to make it back to me.

I should have been watching where I was going.

With a crash, my chair hooked on a cable that had been laid across the floor just past one of the rusted hulks. In an instant, I was twisted and pulled down onto the floor. Everything in my magical grasp went flying, and scattered ahead of me.

“Fucking damnit!” I swore as loud as I could. With a grunt, I pushed myself up. My stumps refused to pull the chair upright under me, and when I looked back, I found that the cables had somehow become tangled in the wheels. Angrily, I torqued, yanked, and pulled at the chair. I was afraid that the duct tape would rip before I could get free, but I was wrong. The post that connected the seat to the wheels gave first.

“So much for that plan.” I grunted and hoofed at the duct tape. Sadly enough, I was sure then that the duct tape was the one item still in this place in any sort of good condition. With the unrelenting steps of mechanical death still marching steadily toward me, I had to make a tough decision.

Next to me, I looked over and found the long, flathead screwdriver from the toolbox. Angrily, I slashed at the bindings holding me to seat. The adhesive on the old tape fought hard, but finally my slashing did the trick. I flopped back away from the seat, free of it’s hold. As I sat on the ground, I looked over to the screwdriver. In worn letters, it said something on the metal near the handle.

Stainless Steel

“Of course.” I smiled. That was one part down, and one step closer to saving Caltrop. Too bad I just took six steps backwards with the loss of my mobility. I wiggled my legs, cringing as the tape still on them pulled at me painfully.

“Okay, this is going to suck.” I cringed just thinking about it. The duct tape was sitting between me and the ability to at least attempt to drag myself anywhere. With my magic, I grabbed the two ends of the duct tape on my legs. “One, two…” I wasn’t sure why I’d even counted.

I screamed as I ripped the old strips from my legs. It hurt less than getting shot, but only just barely. I flailed in pain and let loose nearly every profanity that I knew. I grabbed what was left of the seat and used my magic to hurl it as far as I could. Turns out, that was pretty far. It sailed over to the other side of the hanger and crashed into one of the heavily rusted hulks. Of course, that made it explode.

The blast wasn’t that big, but it nearly tore the old hulk in half. A large piece of the machine was propelled across the floor. I watched from my vantage point under the hulk next to me as it tumbled straight into one of the following bots. The heavy debris tore the rear of the ponytron straight off. The front half collapsed onto its sides and gave a shrill whine before it’s electronics gave out.

It was poetic justice for my legs if I’d ever seen it.

A slight glint was cast off of something under the front of the vertibuck I was next to. It took a moment for my focus to recognize the outline, but it was a welcomed sight. I grabbed the old mechanics cart and dragged it out. It was missing the front two wheels, and I wasn’t sure if it would hold my weight. Again out of options, it was better than any alternative.

With a grunt, I pulled myself onto the back end of it. It bent more than I’d like with my weight on it, but it held. I twisted myself and got to where I sat facing the back. With shorter steps than I’d been using with the chair, I was off again. These wheels were surprisingly quiet, and didn’t add to the already annoying pounding my horn was doing.

As it had, a crackling whine preceded another shot from a ponytron. This one struck home on my lower back. Another horrendous scream erupted from my muzzle. It’s energy surged down through my legs and concentrated down at the caps over my stumps. The wrenching pain only made me work harder to get away. I didn’t have the focus to pick up anything I’d dropped, only enough to get myself out of their targeting range.

“Come on, PC. Look for what you need!” I’d just started speaking out of frustration.

Every time I’ve been close to dying, Caltrop has been there for me. I swear to the goddesses, if I don’t save him now, I’ll never let anyone forgive me for what I’ve done. Not wanting to make the same mistake, I scanned the ground ahead as I rolled. Another wire, a loose piece of scrap, anything else that got in my way could mean that Caltrop didn’t make it out of here.

“Never Mind that you couldn’t keep Brightshine alive.” I muttered as I rolled toward the last Vertibuck hull. “Or her brother, for that matter.”

I rolled to a stop at the still intact workbench and let out a sigh. My heart was beating a mile a minute, and my hooves just wanted me to quit. I couldn’t think. We’d both come so far for him to…

I slammed my head down against the rusty table.

“Stop it!” I yelled out to the uncaring robots. “I can do this.”

Something rolled from the lower shelf of the bench. It tapped my hoof just hard enough to get my attention. I looked down to see it was a spool of black wire. Some of the spool looked heavily corroded, but there was more than enough there, I was sure of it. I picked it up in my magic and held onto both it and the screwdriver tightly.

“Okay. A battery. That’s all I need.” I nodded to myself and looked across to the other side of the hanger. “I can do this.”

I ground my hooves against the concrete to get myself moving again. With the bench across the way in sight, I pushed myself to go faster. I spared a glance across the hanger as I crossed out into the open. There were six ponytrons now making their way toward me. I really started to regret leaving Storm’s rifle behind about now.

At the very least, the cart I was on seemed to hold together. There was something to be said of small miracles, but as I approached the cart, I found myself another dilemma. This bench had once held a battery on it, but it was far bigger than any battery I’d ever seen before. Large enough in fact, that it was nearly half a pony in size. I’d never imagined a spark battery so large, that it’s weight had dropped it through the rusted lower shelf.

I cast my glance down to the old cart. It barely held together with just me on it. With a grunt, I wrapped my magic around the battery and gave it a tug. It didn’t even budge.

“Fuck me.” I leaned over and glanced back into the open. Most of the ponytrons were closer to me than the office now. Carefully, I set the screwdriver and wire spool down, shifting my whole focus onto the battery. My head pounded, and my horn emitted a quick spark. Slowly, the battery began to float up off the floor.

The strain was enough that by the time I had lifted it out of it’s rusty prison, I could barely keep ahold of it. It would either be the battery, or the wire and screwdriver now. I’d have to come back for whatever I left behind. Might as well get the tough stuff over with.

I set the battery down momentarily and tried to catch my breath. Sure, my magic had been put through it’s paces before, but this was a whole new level of strain. I was risking another burnout as is, and I’m not sure what Flint would do if I couldn’t use my magic.

Magic can recover through rest, Caltrop cannot.

I really needed to listen to my conscience more often. Just like with Caltrop, it was only trying to point out things I should have accepted long ago. I hated when a pony proved me wrong, but I’d begun to hate lying to myself even more.

With a groan, I wrapped my magic around the battery again. With it held just far enough off the ground I could move, I pulled myself forward. I didn’t hesitate when I’d rolled around the front of the next hulk. The fact that a ponytron stood between me and Caltrop meant nothing. I just pushed off and kept going.

Each shot it fired at me made me cringe. Every red beam that it sprayed could have been the end of me. All I did was scream and charge forward. A few beams got close, and one lanced just across my shoulder. I kept my speed up and did my best to not let go of the battery.

By the time I’d passed the advancing ponytron, I was wearing thin. A few more sparks from my horn flickered against the old hulks as I passed them. Just a couple more steps, that’s all that I’d need! With all of the might and strength I could muster, I rolled myself straight at the office doorway. I whined and aligned the battery ahead of me so it would go through just before I did.

The cart hit the carpet and abruptly stopped. Of course, that meant I kept going. The sudden change of speed shattered my grip around the battery. The heavy object, and one of the most important pieces of saving Caltrop, tumbled along the floor. With a heavy slam, it crashed against the double doors on the other side of the room. Thankfully, the weight of the doors slowed the battery enough to where it only slid a few feet into the dark of the next room.

From the floor next to me, came a wheezing gasp. I didn’t want to look, because I knew what I’d see. Unfortunately, that’s why reflexes are so useful. We don’t get to choose what we do sometimes. Instead, as I swung my head over, I shut my eyes as tight as I could.

“Don’t worry.” My quivering muzzle hesitated to draw up a sad smile, but I forced it to. “I left the other two parts back out there. I’ll be right back.”

I didn’t give him time to even try to mutter any answer. I simply turned myself to toward the door and opened my eyes. Out in the main hangar, the ponytron’s had once again frozen in place. I must have really been flying, because they hadn’t made it that far back toward this end before they froze up. From what I could see as I clambered to my cart, was that they had all stopped close by where I’d left the last two pieces.

The moment I stepped my hoof out the door and onto the cart, they whirred back to life. With a tired groan, I dragged myself up and on my ride. There was a slight groan, and the sound of bending metal. As I pushed off, the cart listed back and began to drag on the floor. I looked down to see why, and as it turns out, I lost two wheels when I hit the carpet.

I don’t know why, but I was angry. I guess I was just so tired of things always getting worse. Maybe it was because I never wanted this in the first place. Most likely, it was because I couldn’t stand to see myself so close to losing the only thing of value I’ll ever have in this world.

Busted cart or not, I rode forward. The three remaining wheels protested with every step. In the midst of everything, I found my focus. I locked my eyes on the rusted hulk I needed to get to and didn’t let them wander. The anger mixed with my fear, and the combination of the two is a feeling I’d never forget. I felt strong, fast, and invincible.

With a furious squeal of grinding metal on concrete, I raced my cart toward the uncaring swarm. It didn’t take long before I was in range for them to fire on me. Red rays of painful death swarmed the air around me. Thier old talismans couldn’t keep up with me. I was a mare on a mission, and I was unstoppable.

One of the beams struck the frame of the cart and suddenly I was listing further to one side. I could feel the heat that the old metal gave off as it deformed under my weight. Stamping my hooves down, I skid to a near dead stop as I reached the hull I needed to be at. Another beam struck just below my tail, this time setting the old cloth padding on fire.

I rolled off the cart and looked around the floor. Sitting where I’d left them were the wire roll and screwdriver. I reached out with my magic to grab them…

...and my horn only sparked.

“No, no, no!” I whined and tried to focus. As much as I strained, my magic was simply gone again. “Fuck it!” I yelled and angrily began to drag myself over to them.

I didn’t have time for any more bad luck. I ground my stumps against the floor and threw myself into each drive. Losing a precious few seconds, I’d made it over to them. One way or another, I would get these back. I bit down on the wire spool and wrapped the screwdriver in my fetlock. As I went to turn around, I found something odd. The sound of the ponytrons had gone. They’d stopped.

“Don’t move.” A gravelly voiced stallion spoke from behind me. Echoing in the silence, the sharp click of the hammer of a gun being drawn back made me freeze. My anger drained out of me almost as fast as the blood from my face. My hooves felt weak without the will to push on, and the pain all over me made itself abundantly obvious. Carefully, I let the wire spool slip from my muzzle and flop onto the floor.

“Please,” I was at the mercy of this stranger. The fact that they hadn’t just shot me was good enough for me to at least try to plead. “He’ll die if I don’t get back to him.” Slowly, I started to turn around. Maybe if he could see I wasn’t lying...

“I said don’t move.” He growled. I felt what had to be the barrel of a gun press against the back of my head. “How many of you are there? What was your plan?”

“It was just the two of us! We were simply looking for a place to lay low for the night.” I stuttered. Though I don’t know all of it, that’s what Caltrop said we’d done. I could only pray that this stallion believed me. “Then the robot’s attacked and nearly killed my friend.” As I spoke, he took a step closer behind me. I swore I could feel the heat he gave off onto my back. A sharp tingle ran through my spine as memories of the train ran through my mind. “Please, I… I don’t want to lose him.”

“If that’s true,” He lowered his voice. “Why aren’t you in there doing just that?” He pressed the gun against my head more firmly than before. “Doesn’t matter. The stallion back there is dead. My friends will make sure of that.”

“No.” I lost my words. At a time this important, I couldn’t be more powerless. If he really is gone, what’s the point? What could I even do? Fight. With Horn and Hoof, I could fight to the bitter end. If Caltrop had any chance, killing this pony might be my only option.

“The question is, do you want to join him?” He jabbed the gun against the side of my head a couple of times.

“If you let him die,” I growled and turned my head again. If he were to shoot me, he would have done it by now. “There is no end to the pain I will cause you and your friends.” As I got a look at him from the corner of my eye, I almost thought it could be the ghoul I’d seen before, but a different pony came into focus.

He was nearly the same orange color as the ghoul I’d met before, but this stallion looked younger and had more of his bright blue mane left. He wore the tattered remains of an old military flight suit, and held a rusty revolver in his magical grip. Pinned to his suit, was a faded security keycard. Probably the only reason that the ponytrons stopped this time. As I looked him over, a yellowed grin drew across his muzzle as he leaned in close.

“How’s a cripple like you going to do that with no magic?” He was so close when he whispered that I could smell the stink on his breath. He was smart to keep out of my horn’s reach. Not far enough to avoid the screwdriver.

“You know what?” I said as I relaxed myself for a moment, thinking about the risk. It was worth it for Caltrop. While he waited for me to continue, I made my move. I flicked my head to the side. Using my horn, I parried the gun out of line with my head. He was fast on his refocusing, but he was so intent on holding up the gun that he missed what my hoof was doing.

Continuing with my perry’s momentum, I torqued my body. The movement carried my thrust, punching the long, screwdriver through his eye and into the back of his skull. In an instant, his magic faded. He collapsed onto the floor, no longer in between Caltrop and I. As the ponytrons whirred back to life, I quickly hoofed his badge off his uniform and painfully pinned it right onto my chest.

They stopped moving again and just sat there dormant. Finally, I could get my thoughts together. We weren’t alone here, and fixing Caltrop was no longer my only objective. They wanted him dead, so I would murder every single last one of them. Looking down, I pulled the screwdriver out of the Asshole’s eye socket.

“Screw you.”

--Chapter End--
“Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 34 - Respite

“Let’s keep Caltrop around, just to teach him a lesson.” I scrapped my hooves against the cold pavement in an attempt to get back to the other side of the hanger. “Lets go break him out of prison!” I wasn’t trying to do anything other than put the fact that Caltrop was dying in the other room out of my mind, and it wasn’t working. “Let’s just go and fucking fall in love with him!”

The wire spool ground against my horn. Without my magic, hanging it there was really my only option. The same couldn’t have been said about the bloody screwdriver though. I clutched it tightly in my fetlock and prayed to the goddesses that there was still a chance that I could save him.

However, the sound of approaching hoofsteps hammered any hope of that into the ground.

“Hey, Jerry Can.” The gravely voice of another stallion came from just past the next rusting hulk ahead of me. “You done with that bitch yet?” At this point, I’d really wished that I’d brought that rusty-ass revolver with me. “Because Cocoa is tryin to save the other…” He trotted around the corner and stopped as he saw me. Another unicorn ghoul in old military garb. Around his chest, hung a not-so shoddy looking hunting knife.

For a moment, he just stood there staring at me. Slowly, his eyes drifted back to the body of his friend. The knife lifted out of it’s leather sheath, and his expression of hatred had become just as sharp as the silver edge that he levitated toward me.

The knife wavered in the air. He lost control of it in his magic, and it clattered to the floor between us. I didn’t waste my chance. With a tired cry, I gave everything I could to crawl my way to the abandoned knife. Amazingly, I’d gotten to it before he even moved a step. With a flick, I tossed the screwdriver aside and grasped the knife in my fetlock.

“W-who are you?” The stallion stammered. His suddenly panicked voice drew my attention. He stood, wide eyed and shaking. It wasn’t me he was looking at however, and it definitely wasn’t my knife now at his throat.

“We work for Flint.” Null’s dulcet tones were a gift from the goddesses, even if this was all his fault. “And I am sorry to say that in attacking us, you have made a fatal mistake.”

“Wait!” He cried out. With a simple flick, Null drew the knife around, and shoved it up under his chin. With a sickening sound, the knife speared up and into the stallion's head, silencing him forever. His body slumped down to the floor, letting me breathe a small sigh of relief.

“Had I known that you were always getting into fights,” Null sighed. “I might have urged your stallion friend to bring you with me.” His bloody knife flicked through the air, splattering the black ghoul blood and brains onto the ground.

“Instead, you left me with a drunk who'll die if we don't get these things to him.” I snapped at him. I tossed the knife and frantically looked around for where I tossed the screwdriver. I spied it a few feet behind me, and tried to turn myself around. As I did, I felt Null’s magic wrap around me.

“Tell me what happened.” He sheathed his knife in his saddlebags and gave me a judgemental look that I didn’t fucking deserve.

“No, grab that screwdriver, and take me to Caltrop.” He didn’t have time for this shit, as I’d been slow enough as it was. “Get us to the office, now.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He grumbled and lifted me onto his back. “I do not know what is so hard about explaining as we go.”

“You want the short version?” When he set me down, the last of my adrenalin drained out of me. I’d once again become fully aware of all of the injuries I’d acquired. “You abandoned us. Caltrop got drunk. Robots attacked, and Caltrop got hurt. Good enough?”

“Is there a long version?” He smirked and glanced back at me. It was enough that had I not needed him, I’d have stabbed his stupid smiling face with my horn. “I did not abandon you.” He moved to a slow gallop towards the other end of the hanger. “Your small companion's condition worsened, far beyond my abilities to help. I took her to a clinic a few hours from here.”

Even if he had a good enough reason to leave, he still knew about this place. With murderous ghouls and robots around, I could hardly even begin to fathom why he’d chosen for us to stay here. So long as he helped to save Caltrop, I guess it didn’t matter.

None of the machines made a move on us as we grew ever closer to the office area ahead. The lights inside had gone dark, and I couldn’t help but think that it was not a good sign. Each bobbing gallop was a symphony of pain, balanced on a single repeating beat of hope. With a flash of his horn, he threw the door to the office open...

…just in time to see a ghoul stab Caltrop in the chest. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face looked like it had lost all it’s color. Out of his chest, and still in the hooves of the lab coated mare, was a thin silver pipe.

“Wait!” The ghoul mare cried out with the most gravel filled, cringe inducing voice I’d heard in the wastes. Wided eyed and in fear, she recoiled Null’s blade slipped from his bag. “I let him breathe again!” The mare cringed and cowered as she stepped back from the light of the door. I hadn’t gotten a good look at her, but her retreat had bathed her in the darkness of one of the corners.

With a wet gasp, a bubbling spray of blood burbled up through the pipe, and Caltrop drew in a shallow ragged breath. He shut his eyes and gave out a low whine, but he was alive.

“He had a collapsed lung and had begun to suffocate. I had to open it up to help him breath.” The mare spoke in a scared tone. Something about the way she spoke though gave out that she knew what she was doing. That, or it was the fact that I’d just barely spotted the Ministry of Peace logo on her still marginally white lab coat.

“You saved him?” I asked, trying not to hold my breath. Knowing my luck, we weren’t past the danger yet. “Why? You don’t even know us.” Null’s knife wavered in the air, hanging for the decision to be made as to if this mare was a threat or not.

“I may not know you, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve help when it’s needed.” She said, sounding more resolute. That was enough for me, and I nudged Null in the side with my hoof. He hesitated, but lowered the knife.

“Before I left, he told me to find some things for him.” I hoofed the spool of wire off my horn and tossed it next to the battery. “This wire, that battery, and this screw driver.” There was something else he’d needed, and in the flurry, I’d forgotten what it was.

“His injuries, did it come from shrapnel of some sort?” Null perked up, gazing back at me. I gave him a simple nod, and he got to work. I don’t know how he knew what Caltrop had wanted, but he worked fast. He used his magic to unspool the wire, just to respool it around the length of the screwdriver. With his knife, he cut off a bit of the wire and frayed both ends of it.

“Yes, I see.” The ghoul spoke up. She stepped forward again, back into the light. She was a fairly worn ghoul if I’d ever seen one. More gaunt than some of the old corpses in the wastes, her near coatless brown skin looked as dry as paper. Bare patches of muscle coated most of her neck as well as her cheeks, and half of her muzzle had been scraped back to bone over time. Her eyes however, were still as vibrant and yellow as any still living pony. “A magnet to remove the debris.” She reached her hoof back and reached into her saddlebag.

“Yes.” Null simply replied, levitating the screwdriver over Caltrop’s chest. With a quick jerk, he pulled the silver breathing tube from his chest, and impaled the crude device through him. Caltrop gave out a whine and thrashed, but was silenced when Null touched the splayed wires to the battery.

A series of loud snaps pierced the room, and Caltrop convulsed sharply. As he did, Null slowly pulled the screwdriver out. The smell of cooking flesh and singed fur filled our nostrils, and the sight of the many metallic barbs sticking to the coiled wire made my stomach do flips inside me. The sheer amount of metal that Null pulled from his chest was something to behold, and something that burned into my mind. Caltrop had taken the brunt of the hit to save me, and I almost let him die.

“He’ll need this to close the wound.” In her hoof, she presented Null with a nearly empty potion. It was the last thing that he’d asked for, and though it wasn’t full, it would have to be enough.

Null used his magic to grab the bottle and float out a roll of what looked to be magical bandages from his bag. Quickly, he got down to work. As he did, a metallic hoof stretched out toward me. At first I thought it was one of my rear hooves, but this one moved with the Ghoul.

“That should stabilize him for now,” She rested her own cyber hoof on my shoulder, “but he’ll need proper treatment.”

“I know a doctor who resides in a town named shell.” Null grunted as he unraveled the roll of bandages. “I just came from there. He’s not far, but it’s still dark out.” He glanced over at me and used his horn to gesture me toward the door. “Find your battery and get your things together. We leave in five minutes.”

“You really think he’ll help you again?” The ghoul asked hesitantly. Her name was Cocoa, and over the last five years, she’d been held prisoner to the two psychotic ghouls that had occupied the hanger. I expected that her time with them was unfathomably worse than my time at the prison.

“Years ago, he was attacked and I saved him.” Null grunted under the weight of Caltrop. “He owes me his life.”

After the fiasco in the mountain hanger, it felt good to be walking on my own again. The battery on my left chafed against one of my bigger bruises, but it was manageable. Even with that, I’d offered to carry Caltrop. It seemed ,however, that Null was even more stubborn than Grandma tonight.

“Oh, miss Cap?” Cocoa smiled and stared at me brightly. “In the hanger, when I helped you retrieve your power pack, I noticed that you had viewed one of my memory orbs.”

I glanced ahead of me to see Null try to hide his guilty gaze. “Not by choice.”

“Oh, by no means was it wrong. I was just curious if you wanted to view the others in the set.” She shrugged and waved her hoof in dismissal. “Some unicorns love watching orbs, so I thought I might offer the others.”

“Thanks, but I don’t care for them.” I sighed and recalled the orbs I’d seen. Mostly just boring talking with a bit of a twist at the end, that’s all.

“Well, I have them if you change your mind.” She went back to scanning the road ahead. “Ever since my recolector broke, they’ve just been collecting dust.”

“Funny. It is an accurate description of the world we live in.” Null gave a bit of a smirk. “Though, there is something more to be said about giving away unused things.”

Cocoa cantered up next to him and gave a puzzled look. “Well, if they help somepony…”

“Sometimes unused things are best left alone.” I chimed up, hoping this wouldn’t turn into a pity party for Null. I understand that what he went through was bad, but honestly? I think I’ve dragged us all down enough in dwelling on my mistakes.

In the soft light of Null’s horn, an odd shape took form in the darkness. It looked like a hill, but it was flat on the side facing us. The closer we got, the more this side resolved into the front of a concrete bunker. It sat tucked neatly into the hillside, hardly a ponys’ height in size. A rusted metal sign hung above the door. It used to read ‘Air Raid Shelter’, but like everything, it had been corrected to fit the wasteland. Air Raid had been painted over to say ‘No Raiders’ and the rest of shelter had worn away over time, leaving only Shel.

Sometimes part of me wondered why ponies can’t just name things on their own, instead of reusing the same shit they find in the wastes. The better question had been, why did I care at all? I pushed the useless thought from my mind as Null tapped his hoof on the sealed metal door. A slot in the top of the door slid open. Lantern light poured out at us and cut through the dark night. Annoyingly, I had to raise my hoof to avoid being blinded by it. Slowly, the silhouette of a pony peered out at us.

“Let us in, we have wounded.” Null grunted.

The slot shut, and a there was a quick clang as the door was unlocked. Slowly, it swung open, and we were bathed in the light pouring up from a stairway that led deeper into the ground. A mare darker than the night itself waved us in, looking quite annoyed that we seemed to have bothered her.

I could care less as we filed in and walked down into wherever Null was leading us. The hallway was only the width of a single pony, and the ceiling was low enough that I had to hold my head down or I’d scrape my horn against it. The lack of space was something I’d have traded away for the old shelter Sandy had literally stumbled into, anyday.

“You know, this place was built to house almost a thousand ponies from the town just to the north.” Null spoke to us as if either of us cared for a history lesson.

“How fascinating.” Cocoa chimed up cheerfully from behind me. “Do you know how many made it in on the last day?”

Well, at least I hadn’t cared to know this shit.

“They say that only three hundred managed to get in.” Null picked up the pace as we walked down a seemingly endless set of stairs. “They locked the door behind them, even though there had still been time for others to make it.” I didn’t want to know the entire history of the Wasteland before we reached the bottom.

“Are you sure this doctor will help?” I sped up until I was nearly on his flank. My legs whined under the odd pace and heavy steps down, but they felt like they were holding out. “You said you saved him, but adding another favor on would make any pony angry.”

“Cast will help.” He simply threw back at me. “He has an agreement with Flint.”

“Of course he does.” I sighed. A hidden villa in the mountains, a half dozen private assassins, and nearly an army of slaves and grunts? Who doesn’t this guy own in the wastes?

“Flint pays a number of various doctors around the wastes to patch us up in the field if we need it.” He slowed his steps down slightly, forcing me to slow down in turn. It was hard to see past both him and Caltrop, but it looked like the way down opened up soon. “Funny, because it is rare that we ever need to visit any of them.”

“With my luck, you might as well get used to it.” I grunted. If things didn’t turn around soon for us, it wouldn’t be long before one of us went down for good.

We’d reached the bottom of the stairs in another few steps, and we met with a much larger passage, with a much larger metal door sealing it off. As we walked, I kept my eyes on Caltrop. His coat was matted with both his own dry blood, and the dry sick that he’d spewed all over himself. He was a mess, but he was my mess, and we’d have him fixed once we got through that door.

There was a short and alarming ring from a bell that I hadn’t noticed drooped from the ceiling above us. A heavy metallic thunk greeted our ears before the door started to slowly open. With as much time as any wastelander had spent in ruins, it’s really easy to miss things like that. Difference was while this was a door alarm, out in the wasteland if you missed something like that, you were dead.

Coming out of that thought, I looked at the large door in front of us. It crept open slower than any other door I’d seen in my life. We’d been standing around for all of ten seconds and it looked only almost a hoof’s width open.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” I sighed and rubbed at the base of my horn in annoyance. “Can’t this thing open any faster?”

“No.” Null retorted with another of his assholish grins that I wanted to slap off his face. “But you can try pulling if it will make you feel better.”

“Smart ass bastard.” Yup, it certainly was just about on par for my luck. Maybe one day down the road my luck will change up and I’ll have a perfect day. Then again, I’d probably die the day right after that. At the very least I’d fucking die happy.

After another grueling minute, the door was finally wide enough for us to get through. The room on the other side actually gave me pause from it’s size. The half cylinder shape that arched above us was a good forty feet high at it’s peak. It had been painted a fairly light blue, and had splotches of white that I guess were supposed to emulate clouds. Overall, it did give the impression that this space was even larger than it already was.

The floor of the place had been split into two sections. The half we’d just walked into looked to be some sort of market. Sheet metal shacks that had crudely painted signs hanging on them stood closed up in rows. It wasn’t at all out of place to see this sort of trading set up at any settlement in the wastes. What did stand out, was what filled the other half of the floor space.

Corn.

Row after row of stalks that stood two and a half ponies high sat in the light that filtered down from a line of heat lamps hung from the lower half of the ceiling. This wasn’t the same, sickly crops that I’d seen farmers struggle to grow on the surface. This was honest to Celestia, corn.

“This way.” Null trotted along without waiting. “Cast’s clinic isn’t far, just one level below.”

I tore myself from the golden crop and focused on Caltrop’s limp body. He was more important. So long that he got the help he needed, the corn could wait.

Cocoa and I followed Null to a brightly lit stairwell that sat halfway down the rows of trader shacks. To my great relief, it wasn’t another near endless stairwell. The wide stairway looked well worn, and doubled back around on each side as it descended. The next level had several illuminated signs on the wall that flickered as we walked past.

One of them had a red cross next to the word Infirmary, which is where I assumed we were headed. Another had the shape of a shield and Administrative and Security Offices next to it. The last two signs read Dorms and Maintenance. They were of little interest to me as they had arrows pointing down, but I really doubted that we’d be in and out with Caltrop and Sandy.

The halls that Null walked down were simple, grey hallways. Each of the rooms in this place had doors that looked exactly the same. I wasn’t sure why, but the sheer amount of ‘sameness’ that existed on this level was disturbing. Maybe it was the contrast to the crops above that threw me off, but I was no longer comfortable enough to spend more time than we needed to in here. Thankfully, we walked up to one of the doors that sat along the far wall from where we’d come in. Null didn’t even knock, he simply turned the door and walked in.

Inside was a room that felt oddly similar to the waiting area in Novocaines’ clinic. The waiting room was quite spacious, and had false windows along the back wall. The light that came through them shimmered and flickered as if there were trees blocking them, and the sounds of birds chirping came from behind the windows. Coming from the wasteland, it was a very convincing, albeit futile attempt to convey the old world.

“Just one moment!” The scratchy voice of a mare called out from an open door behind the reception desk. It lead to another room that I assumed had been like the store room that also existed in Novacaines’ clinic. Part of me feared that I was unprepared to pay for our service, but Null had mentioned that Flint covered everything.

Another part of me itched to trick Caltrop into the same situation he’d dumped on me, but I didn’t think that it would be of much concern. I just wanted him alive at the end of today.

“Now, what can I help you with?” The mare from the other room sighed as she trotted in. The scratchy voice had been a giveaway, but I tensed up when I saw her. The light teal earth pony mare was in much better shape than Cocoa was. However, most of her coat had fallen out, and her skin sagged unnaturally off most her body. I never expect to see ghouls who aren’t trying to gnaw my face off, but if that’s how I looked, I’d want to gnaw my own eyes out.

“Spring?” Cocoa squeaked from behind me. “Spring Jamboree, is that you?”

The ghoul blinked and stared at Cocoa for a second before a smile crept across her flabby jowls. “Cocoa?” She let out a wheezing giggle. “Small world, huh? Been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

“Yeah, since the camp outside Whitetail Wood, right?” Cocoa pushed past me and walked over to the mare. She threw her cyber leg around her and pulled her into a hug so tight I could hear their flesh squish together. “It’s good to run into a familiar face after so long.” She raised her other hoof to her own muzzle with a smile. “Or half of one in my case.”

“Yeah, it is.” Spring sighed and gave her a pat on the back. “But, I assume you all came here for a reason.” She looked over to Null, and then down at Caltrop. Cocoa released her friend and took a step back, letting Spring walk over and transfer Caltrop to her back carefully. “Give me a moment to get this patient situated with the other one and have Doc Cast prep for his work.”

“Take all the time you need.” Cocoa sighed and nodded. “Tend to them. Knowing you’re here, I don’t plan to go anywhere anytime soon. Might be good to catch up a bit.”

Spring nodded and headed off into a set of doors across the room from us. The second she disappeared through it, I breathed a small sigh of relief. Caltrop was going to be alright. We were going to be alright.

We’d been run ragged, and it showed with how we all stood there. For what must have been minutes, we all just stood around in the lobby in silence. Null had his eyes closed, breathing in and out rhythmically and in a way that if I listened much longer, it would put me to sleep. Thankfully, Cocoa broke the quiet.

“Thank you for saving me at the hangar.” Cocoa spoke softly. “I’m not much of a fighter, and I only wanted to help those poor souls.” She locked onto my eyes as I looked up at her. “I don’t know how, or when, but I will repay you for bringing me here.” She squeaked once again before digging through her saddlebags. From it, she drew out a small rectangular wooden box. “I know you didn’t particularly want them, but you should have those memory orbs. At the very least, you might figure out the puzzle in them.”

Before I could do anything, Null floated them over to his saddlebags and dropped them in. Whatever, he could keep them for all I cared. That is, so long as he didn’t force me into any more of them without my consent.

“Don’t worry about it.” I sighed, suddenly feeling very tired. “You saved Caltrop’s life and got him stable enough to bring here.” My cybernetic legs shook as I tried to get them to sit down, not cooperating as fluidly as I’d like. After a quick adjustment with my forelegs however, I managed to get my ass on the floor like I’d wanted. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re even.”

“Yeah, but we aren’t even close to even.” An annoyed stallion snorted from the doors Caltrop went through. The shit brown unicorn that stood before us walked in wearing a bloody apron and a stained paper muzzle mask. He used his magic to float it down, revealing his grimace as he approached. “I've stabilized the both of them for now. I also gave the stallion some chems to fight whatever the hell he's addicted too. But I'm not doing anything more until I get paid.”

“You know Flint will replace your supplies and repay you for your time.” Null replied calmly without even shifting his stance or opening his eyes. “What more do you require, Doctor Cast?”

“Lets just say that the rates for helping folks like you have... gone up.” He snorted and shifted himself on his hooves, leaning forward as he smirked. “Flint only sends enough every month to treat one of you, and yet, I have two patients to treat. I’m going to need more to cover my losses this month.” He paused and glanced at me, giving me just the hint of a snarl. “Unless that is, you don't mind only saving one of them.”

“And you call yourself a doctor!” Cocoa hissed in a tone of pure loathing. “He said he saved your life! How can you justify asking for more before you help? Refusing to save a life is the worst kind of extortion.”

“Hold your tongue, bitch.” Cast snapped back. “Yeah, he saved my life, so what? Most days, I still wish he hadn't.” He reached up and tore the paper mask from around his neck, throwing it on the floor. “I lost my wife. I lost my home.” He trembled as he glared at Null. “I lost my little girl…”

“And I’m sorry,” Cocoa’s tone swapped to a softer one. “But that is no excuse to take the lives of others and hold them for ransom.”

“I’m sorry.” Doc Cast sighed, his rage bleeding off. “Things the last few months have been tight, and some of our regular shipments of supplies haven’t been coming through.” He sat down hard and hoofed across his face. “We just need a little bit more to cover the gaps in care for our own population.” He looked up between Null and I, remorse plastered across his muzzle. “I’m sorry, but we need more.”

“The rate stays the same,” Null didn’t even seem phased by the exchange of words. He opened his eyes and gave a hard glare at Doc Cast. “You will keep your normal payment and treat the patients as required, or face the consequences of breaking a contract with Flint.”

“You know what?” Any sense that Cocoa had forced into Cast went out the window. He turned positively red with anger and shot back up to his hooves. “Fuck Flint! Take 'em and find somewhere else to patch them up.” He reached over and hooked his magic around a chair that sat next to him. With a great heave, he threw it against the wall and shattered it into tinder. “If you aren't going to pay my prices, then you can find yourselves another doctor.”

“Then it is decided.” Null stretched himself as he looked back to me. “Retrieve our companions and get ready to leave.”

“You’re damn right you’re leaving.” Cast shouted. “After tonight, I’ll make sure none of Flint’s goons are ever allowed back in Shel again!”

“Know this however,” Null turned and shot his hoof out toward Cast. “Flint does not take kindly to those who go back on their word. There will be a cost to your actions tonight, and for your own sake, you best pray that they aren’t too harsh.” This was another side of Null that I’d yet to have seen. I have to say, he was pretty damn scary like this. Doc Cast had to have balls of steel to not flinch at that.

“Take your friends and get the fuck out of my clinic.” He spat on the floor and gave us both a glare that could melt steel. “Take your threats and shove them where the sun don’t shine. I ain’t afraid of you, or Flint.”

Null nodded for me to head for the door to the back room, slowly walking forward. Treading lightly, I followed along with him.

He gave a devilish chuckle as we reached the door. “That is where you are wrong. You should be afraid, Rough Cast.” He looked back at the doctor with a gleam in his eye that I hadn’t seen since Ash back in Timber. “You should be.”

--Chapter End--
“Well, the saying goes that walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light. Well, where you’re going, it’s pitch black.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: Collection Agency
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: Fast Metabolism - Your body is adept at healing the numerous wounds you are always receiving! You gain extra healing from magical healing sources such as potions, spells, and magical bandages.

Chapter 35 - Dichotomy

“And you are certain that is what he said?” Flint sounded as if Null’s explanation bored him.

The walk back had been slow and tedious, but we had made it back to Flint’s compound. The walk, while easy, had also been unnervingly quiet. For as chatty as Null had been headed out, he’d been stark quiet since we left Shel. Only once we’d gotten back to the compound did he say anything, and that was just to order help for Caltrop and Sandy. The walk had given me a lot of time to reflect on what happened in Steel Junction. I still wasn’t alright with the way things had gone down, but I think what Caltrop said could hold true. We can do it right for the next job.

“Yes, Master Flint.” Null nodded respectfully while he also kept his eyes averted.

“Well, I just can’t stand for such disrespect.” Flint let out a disappointed sigh and shifted himself uneasily on the plush red couch he had himself sprawled out across. He closed the old book that he’d been reading and gave a cursory nod to one of the chained unicorns standing by the door. An aura of magic wrapped around the book, and it was soon levitated back onto the bookshelf that nearly ringed what Flint had referred to as his ‘study’.

“I am ready to depart back to Shel if you wish.” Null cracked a weary smile as he spoke.

“That will be unnecessary.” Flint gave out another sigh and hooved off the cracked pair of reading glasses that adorned the end of his muzzle. It was odd. Everything in this house was perfectly pristine, untouched by the wastes. Everything, but his glasses. “You look weary, my friend. Please take the next day off to rest up and regain your strength.”

“I-if it is all the same,” Null stuttered as his smile disappeared. “I would like…”

“Do not mistake the time off as a request.” With a sharp jab, Flint thrust his hoof toward the door. “Go and rest. I will fetch you when I have a job for you.”

Null stood stiffly in silence for only a moment before giving his answer. “Yes, Master.”

With a quick bow, Null dismissed himself and trotted from the room. That seemed to have let Flint relax a bit, as he stretched out his hooves and slid himself from his couch. With an effortless swing of his neck, he tossed his blond from in front of his eyes.

“Well then Miss Cap,” Flint turned his soft gaze to me and smiled. “It looks like I have a new task for you to depart on.”

“If I may ask,” I had something I needed to make sure of before I did anything else. “What about Caltrop and Sandy? What will you do with them in the meantime?”

“Your companions?” Flint almost seemed surprised that I’d mentioned them. “They will be cared for, of course! You needn't worry about their care, they are in very capable hooves.” He put a hoof around me and gave a nod toward the door. “I am quite curious about them, will you walk with me?”

“Sure.” Honestly, more walking was not something I’d wanted to do tonight. Hell, spending more time with Flint was something cringe worthy all on it’s own, but as we were only an hour away from dawn at most, I just didn’t care. So long as it guaranteed Caltrop and Sandy’s safety, I could endure whatever it took.

“You desired their company so much, that you sold them to me. You had to have known that their lives were not yours to sell, but you still made the deal.” Flint pulled me along with him. We walked out into the main Hallway I’d taken before and headed toward the dining room. “Tell me, what do you think would make them worth one hundred favors?”

“I'm not really sure what you're asking…” What did it matter to him so long as I did the jobs he wanted done.

“We'll call it my own curiosity.” He gave a lighthearted chuckle as he pulled himself from against my side. I had to say, hearing him laugh was a slightly unnerving experience with how unstable he felt to me. At the very least, I was glad to have my personal space back. “But you see, it really boils down to the fact that with the deal you made, I invested in their employment. I am simply trying to understand what useful talents it was that I purchased.”

“Oh, I see.” I guess that made sense. You’d want to know a bit about the gun you just bought before you trusted your life to it. “Well, Caltrop is a bit of a dolt, but his talent is in his speech.”

“Ah…” Flint cringed. “I have no need for an common orator. I speak with the only silver tongue that matters around here, and adding another simply complicates things.” He certainly seemed damn sure of himself about that. While the others respected him because they knew him, I didn’t see anything but an asshole with more resources than a goddess walking next to me. “What about his speech makes him so unique?”

Now that was a good question. “I don't know how he does it,” I started, unsure of how to put his ‘effect’ into words. “but whenever he talks, you just kinda... zone out?” I’m no good with words, but Flint would just have to deal with it. “He's used it to pickpocket things, and I'm sure he could use it for more.”

“Interesting.” That was putting the oddball that was Caltrop, lightly. “Not particularly useful, but I might have a need for a pony like him.” He nodded and cocked an eyebrow. “And tell me, what about the hellhound?” He asked as we continued through the dining room and towards a set of double doors at the back of his villa.

“Sandy?” Of any of us, she was probably the one who could be the most useful to Flint. Point her in the right direction and she might just be the most dangerous one in this whole compound. I think that if I’d let Flint hold all the cards, I’d let him take us for all we’re worth. Sandy’s potential was too useful if things went bad to not hide up my sleeve.

“She's pretty much your run of the mill Hellhound to my knowledge.” I shrugged and brushed off his quizzical gaze. “Nothing special. She’s proved useful to me is all.”

“Oh, I see.” He sighed and flipped a hoof to the ponies at the doors ahead of us. They gave a grunt and pulled them open, revealing the terrace that sat under his expansive balcony. “Such a shame that she is so ordinary.” His disappointed tone didn’t sit well with me, and I didn’t like where I’d thought it was heading. “Tell you what. Since you've been so forthright with me, I will grant you amnesty for your mistake.”

“What do you mean by that?” I nearly tripped as he’d said that. If I were a smarter pony who had any idea where he was leading me with this conversation, maybe I’d be able to follow without giving ground at every turn. “What mistake.” Sadly, a smarter pony I was not.

“If she is just an ordinary hellhound, then I have no use for her.” He shrugged as we stepped out on the marbled terrace tiles. The soft glow of the sun lay on the sliver of sky I could see at the horizon. “Your mistake was to bring her here. Revealing this location is forbidden, and I cannot allow a breach of that.” A twisted smile curled on his lips. “My deal, is once I have her killed, I will remove her half of your debt. Why should you pay for nothing?”

“What?” I spat out and trotted ahead. The smile on his muzzle grew even wider, and I knew I’d played right into his hoof. “You can’t just kill her.”

“Why not? You sold her to me, and I can do as I please.” He stuck his hoof out and motioned to one of the Slaves standing on this side of the doors we’d walked through. The mare quickly made her way over, holding her gaze at the ground as she did. “If it pleases me to watch as Brushfire bakes her into a meat pie, then that is what will happen.” He turned his head toward the slave, but kept his piercing eyes on me. “After I’m done here, tell the good doctor to heal the stallion, but to kill the hellhound pup.”

“Wait.” I spoke up.

“You would be smart to hold your tongue, Miss Cap.” He snarled at me through his disgusting smile. “Unless, that is, you haven't been so forthright after all…”

I shot a glance to the slave, who at my interruption, had cast her gaze to me. She looked up at me with sad and fear filled eyes. It wasn’t until I’d looked into them that she then shot her gaze back to the ground.

“I haven’t told you everything, no.” I sighed.

“As I thought.” Flint huffed and flicked his hoof at the slave. “Dismiss my request and retake your place.” With that, the mare shuffled back to the door silently. Flint shook his head as he started walking forward again. “Please, continue.”

“She didn't act this way when I'd met her. In the month that I’ve recovered here, she became different, colder than she’d been before.” I felt like saying this was signing her life away so he could turn her into nothing more than a killing machine as soulless as the one that took my legs. “So long as she thinks somepony is 'bad', the sandy I knew disappears. If I so much infer that I want somepony dead, she'll tear them to ribbons for me without hesitation.”

Then again, hasn’t that been what you’ve used her for?

“My, that is quite unique. A trained pet with claws that rend even steel.” I could hear the mirth on Flint’s words. “Then that changes things.” I walked forward and joined him at the railing of his Terrace. The valley was still in the early morning, deceptively peaceful for the twisted ponies living inside it. “I'm sure your companions will make a splendid addition to our little family here. When you return from your new task, I would see that you orient them with the way things are run around here.”

“If I assume correctly, you would like me to kill the doctor in Shel?” This was exactly the kind of job I’d wanted from Flint, and it’s something that I was at least good at. Hell, after the way he’d been about treating Caltrop and Sandy, I’d almost have considered refusing any kind of payment for it. Almost…

“Not quite.” He cringed as he talked, only giving me the slightest of glances. “With how the last task treated you, I fear you won't have recovered enough to work efficiently.” Well, if that wasn’t the most insulting thing I’d heard since dealing with Big Shot. “I will be sending you along with Spectre to complete the task.”

Of course, the deal got worse. “Can't I just go with Null again?” I didn’t even care to hide my grumble as I spoke.

Flint stiffened up and clenched his jaw as he spoke. “You seem to forget just how lenient I have been with your requests.” Instead of casting his gaze at me, Flint stared at the brightening skyline on the horizon in his anger. The dark storm clouds that hung overhead seemed to follow his gaze, looking to swallow the sun itself. “You will be second to Spectre on this task, no exceptions. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes.” This would definitely be fucking hell to deal with, but a job’s a job I guess.

Flint flinched at my response. “You have the compliance, but you still lack etiquette.” Now he turned his burning glare at me, and it shot a wave of fear through me. “Yes, what?”

“Yes, Master Flint.” I quickly corrected myself and looked down at my hooves. Just because he wanted me to say it, didn’t mean I had to enjoy it. Though, at the very least I learned why ponies didn’t like to look him in they eye.

“You are most welcome, Miss Cap.” With that, he was appeased enough that his anger was no longer present. It was a jarring switch in tone that reinforced just how unstable he seemed to be. Still, I kept my eyes locked on my hooves for good measure. “Because you are adapting so well to your place, I will grant you one days recovery time before you must depart.” He pushed himself away from the banister, stopping for a moment to let out a long yawn. “Use your time to relax, and have synchro give those legs a look over.” His yawn was the catalyst that reminded my body just how tired and worn out it was.

“Yes, Master Flint.” I just wanted this to be done with so I could get some rest.

“I am simply exhausted from this talk, and must get some rest.” He lifted his hoof to his chest and from what I could tell, gave me a short bow. “It is time for us to part ways for tonight. I wish you a restful slumber.”

“Thank you, Master.” I said as genuinely as possible. Maybe in time I’d get used to saying it enough that I’d just forget I was saying it at all.

Flint turned back towards his Villa and walked to it. I stood there, staring at the ground until I heard the doors shut behind him. Only then did I feel confident enough to look back up. As I did, I had to squint when the light from the rising sun struck my eyes. I stood there for a minute to watch it pass. The sunrise under the cloud cover lasted only that long, but a place as beautiful as it was, it felt like it passed so much faster. I took it as my small reward for making it back with Caltrop and Sandy intact. When I wake up, I could deal with everything else, but right now, I could just enjoy my win.

With the sunrise past, I turned to leave and promptly fell right onto my face. With a grunt, I felt as the rest of me fell over as well. My legs didn’t respond when I told them to move. A quick toggle of the power button on them revealed that they had run out of power.

“How much worse could the end of my day get?” For once, Flint was right. I should have held my tongue. With a flash and a rumble, the dark storm clouds above finally released their cold payload and poured themselves upon the valley. “Of course.”

It felt like I’d just fallen asleep when I opened my eyes again. My room was bathed in the golden light of sunset, and the warmth that pressed against my back made me smile. With a yawn, I resolved myself to get up and actually do something with my day. In stretching myself out, I found a hoof wrapped around me tightly.

“Evening, Love.” Caltrop’s voice was as sweet as honey. Honestly, I couldn’t have imagined a better way to wake up than to have him laying here with me. “I hope you’re well rested, hun.”

“Hun?” I smiled and thought to myself that he certainly was pushing his luck. I knew I’d told him I loved him and all, but it was still a ridiculous notion to start calling me things like hun, or babe, or love. With a giggle and a blush, I guessed that if somepony had to call me those things, he’d be the one exception in my book. “You are just too damn charming, you know that?” I scooted off the bed and got onto my hooves. Immediately, I knew that something was wrong. I still had all four of them.

“What the hell?” I asked, turning around to maybe get an explanation from Caltrop. Only now, he was absent from the bed. “Caltrop? Where are you?” None of this made any sense!

“Don’t you remember?” The voice of Storm came from behind me. I spun around defensively, and held Storm’s rifle in my hooves. “You sold everypony you care about to Flint. They’re all dead, PC.” No, that wasn’t true! Caltrop and the others were still alive, he was just here! “They’re all dead because you were too selfish to care about anypony but yourself.” I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t stop myself from bringing the rifle up.

“I can’t stop…” I cried, “Please, run…” I was interrupted when the gun went off.

I whined and jarred awake, flailing at the sweaty blanket over me. The moldy cloth slid off the bed and down to the floor as I panted heavily in my bed. The muted gray daylight that lit the wall I faced stung my tired eyes, and my body ached from the various injuries I still had from the last few days. With the slight itching from my metal stumps, I sighed, finally reaching the realization that the whole thing had just been a bad dream.

A soft creak from the floorboards in my room prompted me to roll myself over. My mind recoiled at the thought that I’d see Storm laying there, dead by my own hooves, but an even more horrifying pony stood at my bedside.

“Wake up, you’ve rested long enough.” Spectre’s resentful words matched the murderous gaze that she shot at me. This was perhaps the first time that I’d seen her this close to me, and for this long. Under her twisting and thick grey robes, I could just barely make out the yellowing bandages that wrapped around her underneath. “You’ve wasted three hours of the day already, and I’ve got shit to do.” I’ve only been asleep three hours? I realized that she couldn’t sleep at all, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t need to rest either.

“Then go fucking do it.” I groaned and turned myself back over. With a heavy flop, I pressed myself back down against my bed. “Flint gave me the day to recuperate, so fuck off.” I’ll take nightmares of the likes of her anyday.

“He gave you the day, which is why we leave at sundown.” She spat at me. “Get off your ass and get your gear sorted.”

“Why can’t you just lay off me?” Seriously, she had been nothing but hostile to me since I’d been brought here. Even before, if you counted the fact that she offered to kill me to save Null the trouble of bringing me back. “What the fuck did I ever do to you?”

“You are the most incompetent, lazy, and pathetic pony I've ever seen. You are the least deserving of Flint's favor, and I hope to see you dead by the end of the month due to your own failures.” Wow, that was a bit harsh. Not that I expected any less from her, that is.

“You really know how to motivate a mare like me, don't you.” I sighed and tried to make myself comfortable again. “Now, unless you want to kill me yourself, I suggest you let me get more rest.” I closed my eyes and nuzzled against my pillow, really missing the thought of Caltrop’s warm embrace in the dream. “You don’t have to keep me up just because you’re jealous that I can get any sleep at all.”

Again, my big fat muzzle should have stayed shut.

Her magic wrapped around me, coursing through my body as the thought of Synchro’s workshop was forced into my mind. With an arcane snap, the world around me shifted, and I was floating. That is, until gravity took over and slammed me against the concrete in Synchro’s workshop.

“What the fuck!” Synchro screamed out in utter surprise.

“You’re lucky that I didn’t teleport you another hundred feet into the air and let you fall.” Spectre hissed in disdain before she turned herself toward the still startled Synchro. “Make sure she is able to leave by tonight.” Before she’d even given him a chance to respond, she disappeared in a flash.

In probably the only moment I’d ever agreed with Synchro, we both spoke at the same time.

“What a bitch.”

It wasn’t the waiting that I hated. It wasn’t even the fact that I was still exhausted that made my head pound. It was straight up the fact that while he worked on my legs, I couldn’t do anything but sit here and have him eye me over like I was the rarest treasure in the wastes. Even worse, was the fact that he’d alternate between yelling at me for breaking something in the legs, then go back to eye fucking me for three minutes.

“There.” he snorted as he snapped a metal plate closed. With a grunt, he hoofed the leg onto his own back and walked it over to me. “I’ve done what I could. I’m damn good at my job, but I’m not a fucking miracle worker.” He nodded to the leg, which I then took in my weak magic. I maneuvered it into place, and shoved it on. The slight discharge it gave forced a short whine from me, but all in all was good to feel. “Now I just have to fix the other one.”

“Thanks. I’ll try to take better care of them.” With a grunt of my own, I shifted my position on the workbench.

“You better. I ain’t going to do this shit every time you come back.” Synchro sneered and shot me an irritated glance as he propped himself up on the workbench with my other leg. “Not to mention, some of these parts are extremely hard to find. You break them, it’ll cost you big time to have me get new ones brought in.” And with that, I knew where this was going. “Though, I’d be willing to wave the amount of favors…”

“You are nothing, if not persistent.” I rolled my eyes and sighed. “You do realize that I’m with another stallion, right?”

“Yeah, but who know’s for how long.” He shrugged and hoofed an oily looking wrench into his muzzle, continuing to talk from around it. “Ackshidents happen” If he was incurring in any way that he’d hurt Caltrop, then the Goddesses above wouldn’t be able to save him. With a few quick torques of his neck, the casing to my other leg popped open. He spit out the wench and hoofed a screwdriver into his fetlock. “Flint owns us because we’re the best hunters out there. That doesn’t mean that the wasteland still can’t touch us, however.”

“Oh, like you’d know.” I get that none of Flint’s hunters started out here, but from what I know, Synchro’s always been sheltered. “You work on your toys in here, then send them out to do the work for you.”

“You’re fucking right I do.” He gave me an angry glare before returning his concentration to working on my leg. Within a few moments, he’d pulled out a small spell matrix circuit and hoofed it to the side. “It’s because while we’re both smart, we both know I’d never last ten minutes outside of this place. Hell, it’s the only reason that I’m the second oldest Hunter Flint’s got.”

“How long have you been with him?” For somepony just younger than me, Synchro didn’t strike me as the kind of pony to have any real ideas of what the wasteland was really like. It made me curious to just how long he’d been owned.

He seemed suspicious at my question, taking a moment before answering. “I was his before that Red Eye douche got set up in Filly. He’s owned my mom and I since I was just a colt.” He scooted himself over to the other end of the workbench where he’d pushed the spell matrix to. “I’ve seen plenty of Hunters come and go, you’re just the newest of his toys.”

“So then others have left before?” None of the others had so much as talked about the idea of leaving. True, this place offers safe haven from the wastes, and steady work, but I don’t plan on working for Flint forever.

“Not by choice.” He sighed and hoofed a soldering iron into his fetlock. He leaned closer to his work, and began repairing the board. “Jackstand, Quick Quill, and Motormouth were all killed by raiders or gangers.” He barely even changed his tone as he listed the names off. “Slim Fit was killed by Flint for insubordination, as was Hub Cap after her ghoulification left her weaker than he’d wanted. Taproot died of pink cloud exposure, and Fizzlepop was taken by those Alicorn abominations. Though, that was before Red Eye had his deal with them or whatever.”

Wow, that was less than encouraging. I looked down over myself and had to wonder why Flint had gone through all the trouble to pick me up in the first place. Even so, I had to wonder if one of those ponies had gotten a better deal than me, or if they’d been better that I could ever be. The fact that they were dead and I was effectively their replacement scared me, doubly so with my recent run of bad luck.

“Yeah, you don’t feel so special anymore, do you?” Synchro interrupted my thoughts with a blank look that garnered more sympathy than anger from me. With a sigh, he went back to work. “I know I might be annoying to you, or that you feel I’m far too forward with my requests.” He put a few last touches on the board before he put the soldering iron down and pushed the board back over. “Can you really blame me?”

“I suppose I can’t.” I didn’t want to admit it, but he had a valid point. Shit went down too fast in the wastes to be reserved. I’d finally figured that out with Caltrop, and I’ve been playing nothing but catch up since then. “Still, doesn’t change my answer.”

“Just keep an open mind for me.” He gave me a chuckle and eyed me over again. “Who knows, one day you might be alone and I might not sound like such a bad option.”

“So long as you keep my legs working, I don’t think I’ll be alone any time soon.” I wasn’t going to lose anypony if I could help it. Things were finally as they should be in my life, and I wasn’t going to let anything change that. “Goddesses help me if I get another of my friends blown up.”

“I dunno, Boss.” A relaxed voice came from the door to Synchro’s barn. “I’m used ta it by now.” Caltrop stood leaning against the doorway like a knight in shining armor. Though, he was covered in bandages and he looked almost as tired as I felt, he was here for me, and that brought the widest smile to my muzzle I’d had in days. “Dat’s the smile I’ve been missin'!”

I was so excited to see him again, I pushed myself off Synchro’s workbench without thinking. Turns out, that off center tripods down stand so well, so I immediately smacked down onto the floor. It hurt, but it just proved to me that I wasn’t dreaming this time.

“Woah, woah. Easy there.” Caltrop snickered as he trotted over to me. He gently pulled me get back up on my hooves, helping to steady me before pulling me into a warm hug. Flint, Spectre, even Synchro’s issues disappeared in his warm embrace. I pressed into him so hard that I got a whine from him, but even that couldn’t kill our smiles.

Even with as good as it felt to have him back, the regret for everything crept back in. “I’m sorry about everything at the hangar. It all went so bad so fast.” I looked at him, staring into his teary eyes that showed me nothing but love.

“Shhh.” He put his hoof to my lips. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

“Yeah, you are.” Synchro butt in with an annoyed grumble. “The two of you getting all lovey and shit is throwing my concentration off. If I’m going to have her legs fixed in the next hour, I need silence to work.” I had half a mind to call bullshit on that because of those creepy old records he always blares, but I could respect the idea of needing to concentrate.

“Hop on, Boss.” Caltrop smiled and got to his hooves. He gave me a smile and wiggled his hips at me. “Show me where yah stayin and we can talk. I know how much yah missed me doin’ that.” His sarcasm was just oozing out with that, but I think we both knew that it was true. I missed him more than I’ve missed anypony in my life.

Synchro dropped his wrench with a loud clang. “No, you misunderstand.” He sighed and pointed out the door. “You,whoever the fuck you are, you can go. I need her here to do calibrations.”

“Go, to the condominiums right next to us. First floor, last door straight down the hall is our room.” I leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. I blushed brightly when he returned it along with another quick hug. “Get some sleep.” I sighed and pat him on the neck.

“You got it, boss.” He smiled and turned away. “Just so yah know, the doc says Sandy’ll be up soon.”

“Good to know.” I nodded and did my best to drag myself back to facing the workbench. “I might be gone on a job when she wakes. If I am, can you watch over her until I get back?”

“S-sure thing.” The hesitation in his voice was painful to hear. “You’ll come see me though, right?”

“Go away.” Synchro growled.

I gave a look back to Caltrop as he trotted off. He met my gaze with a frown, no doubt worried about what exactly I’d be doing. Reassuringly, I gave him a small nod and a forced smile. I wasn’t sure if I could tell him about it when I was done here, because I wasn’t sure if he’d understand. The Doc in Shel nearly cost Caltrop his life with his greed, and that was something I would more than gladly kill him for. Caltrop however might not see it the same way.

As I climbed up onto the bench again, and Synchro got back to work, I had to wonder again if this was really a life he’d be alright with living. Grandma always said that her relationship with Grandpa was a chore, and that you had to make compromises every single day. I just hoped deep down that this was both one he’d make for me, and one that would be the right fit for us.

Us. I still could hardly believe that was a thing. I’d gone from being alone, to having my first friend, to then falling for him. I’d thought that maybe admitting it would keep him off my mind more, but it hasn’t. It’s even worse now than ever before! I couldn’t stand the idea of being apart, and all of me wants to just be with him. I don’t know how, or why the goddesses ever planned all this out, but I accept it now. I’ve finally made my choice, and it’s Caltrop. He’s the stallion for me, and that’s that.

I would follow him to the pits of Tartarus and back if he so much as asked. With that in mind, Flint would be an issue if Caltrop turned out in favor for leaving. I’d like to avoid it, but if it came down to it and he asked me to stop, I’d give it all up and leave this place forever with him.

Just watch me. Synchro’s list be damned, I’d be the first mare to get out of Flint’s employ alive. If he tried to stop me, then I’d burn this whole place to the ground, him with in it. For now though, it wouldn’t have to be that way. Who know’s, maybe I’m just overthinking this, and he’ll be on board with it. For now though, I just needed to get my legs working again, and then we could sit down and have a nice, adult conversation about it.

--Chapter End--
“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep, because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
Quests Finished: Broken Bonds
Quests Started: Mighty Fine Shindig
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 36 - Undivided Attention

With Caltrop waiting for me, it took what felt like an eternity of anxious waiting to finally have Synchro finish his work. As I’d become accustomed to seeing from him, it was solid work. Again, as I’d become accustomed to, he propositioned me one last time. This time was different though, I didn’t hear him. There was only one stallion on my mind now.

With my legs all fixed up, I left back to my room to have that adult conversation I’d wanted with Caltrop. No frills or distractions, just a straight up talk about our future together. Funny thing about that was that when I got there, something inside my mind just gave way. The moment I saw him laying there, my brain was done. With no robots, raiders, or anything to bother me, I could finally just shut off and relax with him. If even for only a few hours, that is.

So, of course, this is when my repressed urges decided to flare up. More than a month without having gotten myself off once made me ravenous. I’d be leaving at sundown, and I couldn’t afford to still have this on my mind the entire job. I’d been with stallions before, and I’d been with mares when I needed to just release. It was something I’d take forcefully if I’d had to, and as much as I respected Caltrop, I needed this whether or not he was interested. Thankfully, He turned out to be less excited about conversing as well, and more all about skipping right to the adult part of the idea.

Caltrop was more than I'd ever imagined he’d have been. He'd shown me another way to appreciate his company, one that I'd been deprived of for too long. How he looked when he stood over me, how he smelled as he pressed against me. He knew how to treat me like a mare, and I loved every moment that he took to ravish me. Little licks and nips in just the right places, and a sensitive touch had me melting under him. That is, until we got to the main course. He wasn't anywhere near extra large in the size department, but he hit me in all the right places. Most of all, what I loved is how much he'd fill me.

Every nook and cranny in me, every single nerve. All of it felt like there was nothing but explosions of pleasure running all throughout me. I was lost in a sea where every crashing wave made me gasp for breath. I didn't know if it was more intoxicating because I loved him, or if he was just that damn satisfying. No pony I’d ever laid with before had ever been this good. His endurance, his knowledge of just how to go at me the next time, it was overwhelming. I’d been with boring stallions, and stallions who could rut you until you screamed out their name in ecstasy. Caltrop was different. He moved with me, whispered sweet things that sent my mind reeling in pleasure with the slightest touch. Most of all, each and every action felt like it was just for me.

It felt so surreal to be with him, and before I’d known it, the midday sun had started to dim. After the hours we'd spent together in the sheets, he was ultimately the one who made sure we had to shower after we finished. I’d lost count of how many times we’d both finished, but it was enough to soak the bed sheets through and through. Sure, cleaning and drying the sheets would take a lot of time, but he’d made it oh so worth the time.

With little remorse, I’d stolen use of the shower first. The failing daylight coming through the bathroom window was a reminder that my time was short. Even though I hadn’t had any proper rest, the afternoon’s vigorous activities left my mind crystal clear. With little effort, I used my magic to start up the shower. Immediately, the steam from the hot water started to waft around the room before streaming for the open window.

Unlike when I’d first arrived, I didn’t rush to shut it. The talisman’s that heated the water here were second to none, so I never had to worry about running out of hot water. Instead, I focused myself on getting my cybernetics off. I sat on the edge of the tub and used both my hooves and my magic to get them detached. Already, it had been a month with these legs and they’d been to hell and back. Already, taking them off and putting them on was second nature.

With a heavy clunk, I let my artificial limbs hit the floor, and I slid myself backwards into the steaming tub. The hot water felt luxurious as it ran over my coat and mane. I let out a gasp of pure pleasure as I took just this moment to enjoy it. This may not have been the life I’d seen myself living months ago, but damn if it wasn’t better than I could have imagined.

“Enjoying…” A voice from my side startled me. I let out a yelp and moved to defend myself. It was about the time that I’d lowered my head to stab the intruder, that my forehoof slipped and I cracked my jaw against the porcelain tub’s rim.

“Woah there, easy.” Null chuckled as he removed his stealthbuck. The asshole stood next to me with a mile wide grin across his muzzle. “I did not intend to startle you. You really should close that window though.”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I snapped at him. About the same time, I heard Caltrop shout my name through the door in alarm. He fumbled with the locked door for a moment before he felt content to try to break it down. With a single slam, I figured that enough was enough and I opened it for him. When I had, he couldn’t stop himself from his next ram, and ended up throwing himself onto the bathroom floor muzzle first.

“What the fahk!” He muttered as he clambered back to his hooves. He held a hoof up to his nose, a thin line of red ran down and dripped onto the floor. “Get da hell away from PC.”

“Caltrop, it’s fine.” I glared at Null and hoofed at my sore jaw. It didn’t feel like I was missing any teeth, and it wasn’t broken. “So long as he actually has a reason to be here.”

“I came to apologize.” He started to say before casting his glance to Caltrop. “To the both of you, actually.”

With an annoyed wave of my horn, I used my magic to shut off the water. “What was so important that it couldn’t have waited until I was done in here?”

“With the expediency of your trip tonight, I feared I would not have the time to speak with you before Spectre took you.” He let out a sigh and sat down. “I realize that what happened in Steel Junction might not have been the way that you had planned for things to go down. While I should have given you the chance to act first,” He leaned forward and put his hoof on his chest. It was supposed to make him look sincere, but Ash had pulled that trick one too many times for me to care anymore. “And I do apologize for that, know that Spectre moves a great deal faster than me. If you don’t plan to be ready for anything with her, you are going to cause a great deal more trouble than she cares for.”

“So?” I sighed as I gave a slight shiver. Why couldn’t I just have had my nice, hot shower in peace? “If she changes shit, it’s not my problem. I’m just her back up, and from what I’ve seen her do here, there’s no real reason for me to go other than Flint’s orders.”

“Because,” His smile shrank and he returned a serious gaze at me. “I was there when Synchro spoke of the other hunters Flint has lost.” Of course he’d been there. I hate assholes, especially invisible assholes like him. “Not all were so simply put down.”

“What do yah mean?” Caltrop took a step closer to me and eyed me like he was afraid. I realized that us loving each other meant he could be protective of me, but I’m a fucking grown mare who did just fine before meeting his sorry flank. If anything, I’m just afraid of what Flint will do to him if he steps out of line.

“What I mean, is that both Taproot and Motormouth were escorting her when they died.” He looked out the window and toward the sun just as it peeked out on the horizon. “You do what she says, you adapt when things change,” He got to his hooves and used his magic to click the stealthbuck back into place. “Or she might just leave you behind like the others.”

He shimmered out of sight, and from the quiet click of the window closing a minute later, I assume he’d left.

“I shoulda listened.” Caltrop sighed and flopped against the side of the tub. “Dis place really is run by a bunch a grade A assholes.”

“Yeah, well it’s nothing new in my life. Besides,” I sighed and hooked my forehoof around his neck. “I grew to like one particular dolt, didn’t I?” I smiled and wrapped my magic around him. With a quick pull, I’d made him light enough to bring him into the tub with me. He squirmed and seemed surprised, but relaxed once I’d set him down across from me. “Now, let’s get ourselves cleaned up.”

“Yeah, but PC, aren’t yah worried she’ll leave yah ta die?” Caltrop slumped against the back end of the tub as he spoke. “Yah sure yah have ta go?”

I used my magic to flick the shower head into a downward direction, and turn it on. With a hiss, the water flowed out and rained down onto him. With the window closed, it only took a moment for the heat of it to hit me again.

“Come on.” I spoke with a smile and let myself lay back against the tub again. “I’ve been blown up, shot, stabbed, nearly boiled alive, and had my legs lasered off.” Saying that list shouldn’t have brought a smile to my muzzle, but I couldn’t have helped it. “Other than some asshole getting a lucky shot, or pissing off one of those tin can soldiers, I’m sure I’ll make it out of anything I could get caught up in.” I could almost feel as Caltrop cringed across the tub.

“But…” He began, but was silenced when I raised my forehoof.

“Look, Caltrop, I’ll be fine.” I used my magic to force the shower back onto me. “I’m following her lead on this, and while she is a colossal bitch, we just have to kill one pony and then we’re out of there.”

“Yeah?” He snorted. “An how is killin’ just one pony fine?” He crossed his forehooves in a huff and gave me a judgemental look. “What did this pony ever do ta yah, anyway?”

“He’s a doctor that Flint pays to keep his hunters alive.” I understand his suspicions for kill orders after Steel Junction, but he should know me better. “He tried to extort Flint in order to get rich.”

“And what if he had a good reason for it?” Caltrop snapped. “Geez PC, yah gonna kill him just because some Jerk who pays yah told yah so?”

“He was trying to bargain for more money with your life.” I snapped back. At that, he shut his muzzle and stopped, if only just to listen. In my anger, I twisted the shower knob into the off position and levitated my towel over. “I regret what happened at Steel Junction, I really do. But bargaining with something that doesn’t belong to you is stepping way over the line, expecialy when it’s useing Sandy or you to get what you want.”

“PC…” Caltrop winced and shook his head.

I didn’t want to let him speak. “So you’re damn right I’m going to kill him.” I twitched in annoyance as I remembered that wasn’t true. I’d gotten so flustered that I’d forgotten that I’m not the one in charge of this. I crumpled the towel up and shoved it against my face. “Fuck.” I grumbled into it. “Spectre is the lead, so I’ll just get to stand there until it’s done.”

“I’m sorry.” Caltrop sighed and smacked his head back against the brass shower pipes. “I’m such a moron.” When I removed the towel from my face, I found his eyes gazing at me sincerely. “It’s been so much these last few days. First, I find out that yah alive, then Steel Junction’s explodin’. Next I nearly got us both killed at dat hanger, and I only make it cause yah saved my flank yet again.”

“Look, I know things are moving fast, but things are stable for us for once.” The sun had already dipped down below the horizon, and the darkness of night was approaching fast. “I just need you to trust me on this, alright? I’ll be back soon, and both you, and Sandy can sit down with me to talk about everything. Flint may have a lot of rules, and sometimes the jobs won’t be the ones we want,” I toweled the rest of my front off before hooking my forelegs over the lip of the tub. “But I’ll take that over wandering from town to town looking for work.”

“I guess yah right.” He nodded and gave me a small smile. “ And I trust yah because, well, I love yah.”

“It’ll just take some getting used to is all.” I said as I tried to pull myself out of the tub. Even with something like this, I found a way to screw it up when the metal caps on my stumps got hung up for a moment. Then i found that this position gave me a good chance to towel off my back. That was about when I heard Caltrop as shifted around in the tub.

“Well, dis place does give me a nice view.” I could feel his heated breath running across my rump and flanks. “I could get used to it.”

“Don’t you dare.” I whined, coiling the wet towel up in my magic for use as a makeshift whip. “I don’t have time for a quicky, you dolt.” He let out a small sigh as he backed off. “Now, give me a hoof with my, well... hooves.”

I had been double checking all my gear when there was a knock at the door. I say knock, but it had almost been loud enough I could believe somepony was trying to break in.

“I’ll get it.” Caltrop chimed happily as he pulled himself up off the bed. I hadn’t really seen him this relaxed before. Sure, I’d seen him happy, but this was a whole different kind of radiance he gave off. Funny enough, I felt the same way.

The door swung open before he could even get to it. Without the evening sunlight, the darkened hallway made Spectre’s violet eyes glow even more than normal. Her eyes weren’t normally something I spent my time wondering about, but as she stood there keeping them peering at me, I couldn’t help but wonder why the hell they were that bright.

“Don’t focus on anything. Just stand still and be useless.” She spat while the fuzzy tingle of magic spread down my horn. The comment came so suddenly, my mind locked up as I tried to think of why she’d opened like that. By the time it hit me, I found an image of a patch of dirt in the wastes shoved into my head.

With a flash, and an uncomfortable arcane snap, that patch of wasteland materialized around us. The wind howled across the dark and barren wastes. Without the sun, I couldn’t see anything around us, let alone Flint’s compound. With an annoyed sigh, I was about to complain when I felt the tingle in my horn crop up.

“Again.” Spectre snapped at me. Another image was shunted into my brain, this time of a rotting farmhouse. The image was at least familiar to me, as it was almost a half hours trot from the base of Flint’s mountain. With another arcane shift, we both appeared in front of the house. Almost immediately after I felt my hooves on solid ground, did my head start to spin.

“Gah, goddesses my head.” I tried to say, but a dull whine had worked its way into my hearing. Things were muffled, and I felt like my muscles were burning under my skin. Once more, the sensation crawled into my horn. The image of Shel’s doorway materialized in my mind, and before I could complain, Spectre’s magic pulled us through the arcane void and out into the dirt beside it.

My body had decided that three teleports were as much as it had wanted to handle, and all of me gave out at once. With a groan, I’d collapsed onto the dirt as my stomach pushed it’s contents up. Momentary pain washed over me as my whole body convulsed, and my horn shot a few sparks out for good measure. I’d wanted to bitch her out for not giving me enough time to prepare for the jumps, but I was too busy choking on my own bile to breathe, let alone complain.

As if the way I felt hadn’t been bad enough, the metal slit on the door slid back, and a hostile sounding stallion called out of it. “What the hell is going on out there?”

“You alerted them. Fucking great.” Spectre muttered as she took a single step over me. The crack of a spell going off filled the air as she teleported away from me. A muffled thump came from behind the bunker door, and shortly after that, it squeaked open. The body of the door guard tumbled down into the dirt, and in the dim light coming from the stairway, I could see a deep gash across his neck. Above him, Spectre simply glared at me. “Fuck up again, and I’ll make sure you end up like him.”

Again, without warning, my horn tingled with magic and an image grew in my mind. This time, it was of the corn field inside the shelter.

“Fuck yo…” Was all I could get out before her magic displaced us, dumping me into the middle of the corn field unceremoniously. My stomach did another flip, but I had nothing left to push out. Still, Spectre’s hooves came down on my muzzle. She held both my muzzle and my nose shut tightly. I pryed at her hooves as I struggled to breathe at all, keeping my eyes locked on her burning gaze. I wanted to accuse her of enjoying it, but there was no pleasure in her eyes, just hatred. Only when it was evident I wasn’t going to hurl again, did she release my muzzle.

“Stay here and stay quiet.” She snapped in a harsh whisper. I gasped for breath, desperately trying to keep the noise from myself to a minimum. Even if she was a bitch, I still didn’t want to get caught here when we’d been banned. Her magic wrapped around my head and forced me to look at her. “This should only take a few minutes,” She narrowed her eyes as she spoke, the wrappings around her head tightening as she pulled them taught enough I could see her frown. “that is, if you don’t screw this up for me.”

“Sure, whatever.” I growled at her. Her horn let out a bright flash, and she teleported herself away. “Bitch.”

With a quick look around, I checked to see if there were any parts of the corn field that could offer better concealment. The radiantly yellow corn rows were packed so tightly that they might as well have been walls. Only on each end of the long rows could somepony glance down and see me. The bright lighting that hung above left no shadows for me to sit in, and really brought out the red in my trench coat against the dirt and yellow corn.

With as quiet of a grunt as I could give, I pulled myself up to my hooves. I needed to at least move back to the last row of corn. Sure, somepony could still see me there, but I might hear them coming if they came from the markets.

The soft soil stuck to my forehooves, feeling odd compared to the dirt you find in the wastes. Even when it rained, the mud in the wasteland felt… abrasive. This felt clingy, like the consistency of those fancy buck snack cakes Mom’s always craving. Maybe that was what made the corn so yellow? If I had actually been a gardener like I’d wanted to be, maybe I’d have known shit like this.

With a forceful shove, I pushed my way into the first row of corn. The thick leaves rustled loudly as I did, and the stiff stalks felt like they pushed back against me. I jerked to a stop as I felt the battery pack strapped to me tug to the side. I used my magic to lift my coat up, and I found that the power cord to my left leg had hooked itself around one of the pieces of ripe corn. Grumbling, I unlooped it and continued on my way.

Again, I pushed through the next row, and then the next. The smell of the ripe corn felt like it got heavier the farther back I went. My stomach grumbled loudly, and it made me stop. I’d lost everything I’d eaten today up top, and this corn was starting to seem like a damn good option to get something in me. As I stepped up to the next row, hesitantly, I leaned up to one of the bright yellow ears and took a big sniff at it.

Yup, smells like corn. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected. I guess I’d just been curious how they got corn that looked like this down here. Unfortunately, being so close and having taken that big of a sniff, my stomach grumbled loudly in protest again. It wanted the corn, and I was starting to think that maybe it was right. I leaned my muzzle in, and opened my mouth.

“I wouldn’t do that,” The raspy voice of Spring Jamboree chimed from a few feet to my side. With my muzzle still gaping open, just inches from the corn, I shot a glance over to the pony I had no idea had been standing there. “This corn is our trade stock here. If we let just anypony eat it, the whole town would go broke.” She had a soft, and forgiving smile across her saggy muzzle. In her hoof, she held a wicker basket filled to the brim with ripe ears of corn.

“Sorry, I’m just really hungry.” I found a nervous smile creep across my face. Shit, maybe I should have stayed back in the other row. Now I had to think of some excuse to why I’m still here. “Couldn’t sleep because of it, in fact.”

“Late night munchies.” She nodded and walked over to me. It was about then I decided to stop gawking at the corn and try to at least appear normal. I turned to her and sat down in the wet soil with a heavy plop. Similarly, she set her basket down. “Funny. I’d thought your group had left already.”

“Yeah, the others went on ahead,” I’d quickly spat out. Fuck me, making shit up on the spot was hard! I’d never been a social enough pony to know how to handle shit like this! “You know, to heal my friends.”

“Ah, yes.” She winced, “I am terribly sorry for how Doctor Cast acted. I hope that things can be worked out with him in the future.”

Smart. Get her to bring up the reason you’re here. Now she’ll be able to pin his death on you. Though, if Spectre is half as good as she thinks she is, she might make it convincing enough to make it look like an accident.

“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll get things sorted very soon.” I gave a shrug and practically threw my gaze over to the corn. “This is some corn, huh! But I don’t get it, why is it so yellow?” That had probably been the worst change in topic I’d ever forced, but anything is better than discussing why I was here.

“What we normally tell those who ask, is that we give it lots of sunshine and love.” She rolled her eyes as she scooped up a hoof full of the soil. “It always get’s a laugh from them, but they never really cared in the first place.” She paused and looked at me. “Though, from the way you look at it, I have a feeling you genuinely want to know.”

“Gardening was something I’d wanted to do as a filly.” I think that the changes in my life had really gotten to me. With Flint, I had everything set up just the way I wanted it, and still I felt out of place. Bounty hunting may have been something I’d been good at before, but I just couldn’t care for it anymore. It just felt… different now. Meeting Caltrop, going through all this with him, meeting Sandy. With how close I’d grown to them, and with how many times I’ve nearly lost them, I didn’t know if I could even see myself doing this anymore.

“Well, something tells me it’s more than just a passing interest.” Jamboree snapped me out of my existential moment by hoofing the soil she had onto the base of the corn stalks. “The answer you want is two fold. The first, is that this corn was stored down here before the war.” She hoofed an ear of corn out of her basket and peeled back the green leaves that clung around it. The further she peeled it back, the more I expected it to start to look like the sickly pieces of corn you see in the markets of Baltimare. Stripped bare, it was nothing but solid gold. “No radiation or blight, this is as close to the way corn is supposed to be as you’ll ever see in the wastes.”

“It’s quite amazing.” I’d nodded and felt myself drool a little just staring at it. “And the second part of how you do it?”

“Crap.” She snorted. “pure and simple.”

“What?” I couldn’t have been sure I heard her right, but I felt like I was missing something.

“This soil?” She stomped a hoof down into the squishy dirt. “Same as any you’d find up in the wastes.” That was a bit hard to believe. I hoofed at it in an attempt get my head wrapped around it. “The difference being,” She continued, “is that this soil is treated with the town’s… biological waste.”

That made me jump up to my hooves and attempt to stand on just the tips of them. It was not something my cyberhooves wanted to do, emitting a whine as I tried to maintain it. “So… I’ve been sitting in shit?” I muttered, hoping that she’d just been joking. The harder I tried to keep my cyberhooves up, the more they whined. The more they whined, the more I thought about them, which Syncro told me would confuse the neuro-sensors or some shit. Reluctantly, I figured standing hoof deep in shit would be better than blowing out the motors in my legs.

“In a matter of speaking, yes.” She chuckled and hoofed the ear she held towards me. “You know what, take it.” She gave me a bright smile and nodded. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”

“Thanks...” I hesitantly grabbed it with my magic, floating it over to myself. I looked the ear over, wondering if I should maybe save it to share with Caltrop. “So, why are you out here picking it?” I resolved that at the very least, I could save it as a treat for later when I could actually enjoy it. “I mean, ghouls don’t normally eat, do they?”

“No, we don’t tend to.” She hooked her hoof around the basket and bought it to her side. “Actually, Doctor Cast has a high intensity distiller he uses to turn it into medical grade alcohol.” She canted her head to the side with a smile as she spoke. “It’s really interesting how it…”

A soft pop and a quick flash interrupted her. I flinched as the both the corn and I were sprayed with a light mist of black droplets. Her happy smile left her as the spark of life in her eyes dimmed. Jamboree crumpled the the ground in a heap as the smoking barrel of a suppressed weapon snaked it’s way out of the corn row beside us. The fresh hole in her head sat out of place among the folds of her sagging skin, and the suddenness of her death left me unable to even rip my vision from her.

“Why…” I found myself asking.

“She was the nurse here, correct?” Spectre’s cruel tone from minutes ago was gone. Even shielded from the corn, I could’ve almost felt the radiance of the smile I’d been certain she wore. “She was part of the job then. Good job keeping her distracted, even if it was all you were good for.”

As Jamboree’s ichor-blood ran down the corn, a familiar feeling tingled in my horn. The image of the wasteland farm house was again shoved into my head, and again, I was pulled along with Spectre. Even as my body rebelled against the influx of magic, my mind had felt blank.

For years, Storm had warned me that this was how things would work if I started working for ponies like this. The memory orb I’d viewed with that pegasus mare had talked about it. Finally, working in bounty hunting, I hadn’t cared about the deaths of so many. I’d been so blind to think that those I had killed were deserving because somepony had told me it had to be done. My eyes had been opened with how Steel Junction went down.

Now? The ugly truth of working for Flint had my undivided attention.

In the few moments I had before we jumped again, I whispered out a small prayer for Jamboree. I had never been a religious mare, but it’d take a miracle to pull me out of the mess I finally realize that I’d gotten mixed up in.

--Chapter End--
“Wanting to be somepony else, is a waste of the pony you truly are.”
Quests Finished: Collection Agency
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 37 - Mighty Fine Shindig

After the night I’d had, and the two hours I spent sick on the floor of my bathroom, I don’t think anypony could have blamed me for removing my legs and crawling into bed. I’d tried to go to sleep, but even for as exhausted as I was, I couldn’t. My mind had been both racing and empty of thought at the same time, too much so to have slept. Instead, I laid there staring at the wall lost in the depths of my mind.

Caltrop was there for me every single minute after Spectre had unceremoniously dropped my convulsing flank on the floor. He offered more than a fair share of colorful remarks, but what helped the most was that he was there at all. I don’t know what I would’ve done without him.

My time these last few months hadn’t been easy. Just when I’d thought things had been going my way, everything flipped. Then they flipped again, and once more after that just for good measure. The only reason I’d been able to keep going, was because no matter what happened, he was there for me.

Caltrop had been the center of everything from the start. He’d anchored me down, helped to weather me through this stormy time. He’d been there for me, and I for him. Shown me friendship, shown me love. It’s been more than I’d deserved, and while I don’t understand what drew him to me in the first place, I couldn’t stand losing him.

So why couldn’t I just turn over and tell him that?

“PC, please.” He sighed from his half of the bed. “Talk ta me. Tell me what’s goin’ on.”

Of course, I didn’t. I simply kept going over what happened down there. What happened in Steel Junction. This business isn’t what I’d thought it was. It was supposed to be clean work. Work where I was just the middle mare in some pony’s dispute. I was an artist with my work, and I respected the job.

“Come on, I just want to help yah.” He sighed out with a whine. With a gentle touch, he ran his hoof through my mane.

This? It felt all wrong. It felt like somepony taking a sledgehammer to stone instead of using a chisel. Messy, brutish, and cringe inducing. It wasn’t how I worked, and it wasn’t what I’d signed on for. As much as Storm thought I did, I didn’t kill randomly. Sure, some ponies I’d been contracted to kill were innocent, but the contract marked them for death. If not by my hoof, somepony else would have ended them. But, I refused to believe that collateral damage was acceptable.

“Well,” He huffed and carefully laid down behind me. “When yah do wanna talk, I’m right here for yah.” With a careful wiggle, he slid up against me. He pressed his warm body up against me, and with a light touch, laid his forehoof over my side. “We can talk about it tomorrow if yah want.”

Tomorrow. The mythical land where everything will always be better. No, when I wake up, I’ll still be in this bed, I’ll still be missing my legs, and I’ll still have gotten those I care about into a situation they didn’t deserve to be in. Things don’t get better from here, not unless I make them better. While my decisions in the past haven’t been the best, I still owed it to them to try.

As I shut my eyes to give another attempt at sleep, eager to forget the day I’d had, Caltrop nuzzled against my neck and whispered softly into my ear.

“Never forget, I love yah.”

The warm, daytime air fluttered in through the open balcony. The stirring of pacing hoofsteps just a few from the bed met my ears. With a furiously long yawn, I stretched myself across my side of the bed, and brought my forehooves up to rub my tired eyes. Slowly, I strained to open them, fighting against the stinging daylight. Mercifully, a dark shadow moved between the bright balcony and me.

A pair of bright pink eyes hovered in the shadow, panting softly as I squinted in confusion.

“Sandy?” I barely managed to croak out horsely. My throat burned from all of the throwing up I’d done last night, and my body felt even more sore than it had yesterday.

“Hi, friend!” She squeaked. Abruptly, she jumped forward and wrapped her arms around my neck in a hug. “The pony in the white coat made me all better!”

“I can see that.” I wearily reached a forehoof up and gave her a soft pat on the back. Beyond Sandy and I, Caltrop paced nervously between the living room couch and the dining table. “Caltrop, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” He glanced over in panic. “How bout dat the little stallion who fixed yah legs just challenged me ta a duel?”

“Oh, well don’t worry about that. It’ll be fine.” I grumbled and flopped myself back down in bed.

“Fine?” If Caltrop complained any louder, I’d have thought it was his time of the month. “I’ve just been challenged ta a fight, and yah think I’ll be fine?” He snorted and held his head in his forehooves. “I’m gonna fuckin’ die...”

With a sigh, a focused myself on working my magic. My levitation spell grabbed ahold of my cybernetic legs and dragged them up onto the bed with me. Sandy simply sat there in awe as I prepared myself to put them on.

“So, every day here, when you’re not out on a job, Flint has us train in a skill.” I worked at pushing myself up to a sitting position, inspecting the hooves for any damage after yesterdays travels. “Sometimes it’s fighting, sometimes it’s survival training. The fighting also helps two hunters resolve frustrations that may crop up between them. It goes until one challenger submits or has no hope of winning.”

“So… he ain’t gonna kill me?” Caltrop spoke up with a spark of hope in his voice.

“Really?” I’d eyed over at him as I used my magic to align the right leg up with the socket on my stump. “Why would Flint ever risk the life of one of his hunters?” With a quick thrust, I shoved it in. The quick shock that I’d expected made me stop for a moment. With another quick glance at Caltrop, I realized that there were always two parts to the fightdome challenge. “Caltrop? What did you wager?” A ‘friendly’ wager was always made, and the participants could ask for literally anything as a reward. Flint would provide, and the loser would pay the equivalent amount of favors.

“I didn’t know what he meant by it. I told him I’d have ta think bout what I’d get.” He shrugged and gave me a puzzled look. “Yah said dat favors were good for anythin’, so I just said I’d give anythin’ he wanted.”

With a meaty smack, I facehooved myself. “Damnit. You know what he wants!”

“What?” Caltrop, the dolt he was, still didn’t see it.

“Well,” I grunted as I forced my other leg into it’s socket. “I’m going to nip this in the bud before it goes any further.” Carefully, I scooted myself to the edge of the bed and twisted myself to get my cyberlegs on the floor. Sandy just watched in ecstatic fascination from on the bed. “Unfortunately, I can’t retract your offer.” I sighed as I planted them on the ground and levitated their battery pack over. “So instead, I’m going to decide what you want in return.”

“What? Why?” He sounded so offended, even though he just auctioned me off for a night to another stallion. “Ain’t I the one fightin? Shouldn’t I get ta choose the reward?”

“Nope, not this time.” I jabbed the cables into my legs and was happy to hear the motors in them whirr to life. “Let’s just say that you forfeit your right to that sort of thing when you wanted to spend the rest of your life with a mare like me.”

“Oh, so now we’re talkin’ about gettin married?” He smirked. “Yah’ve really come around ta lovin’ me, haven’t yah?”

“As if the time we spent last night wasn’t proof enough?” I chuckled and looked over to Sandy. “Come on, pup. I’ve got somepony I want you to meet.”

She gasped loudly. “Is it another friend?” She bounced across the bed before hopping up onto my back. Though I wasn’t sure how she did it, but her claws never seemed to rend into anything she didn’t want to cut. It was something I was to no end thankful for.

“Sort of.” I muttered while I magicked my mane into a bun and tied it off. “As for you,” With a waggle, I walked over to Caltrop with a smirk. “I’d much rather spend another night with you then have to deal with a runt like him for hours on end.” I planted a soft kiss on the end of his muzzle that made him turn a brighter red than even my mane. Walking towards the door, I looked over my shoulder and shot him a serious look. “You’d better buck up and win that fight.”

I walked out the door and shut it behind me, not certain of exactly how I’d convince Synchro not to ask for a night with me. Maybe I’d just make Caltrop’s reward too costly for him to chance losing, so he’ll reconsider his request. Thinking about it, Synchro did say that my legs had a lot of upgrades that could be done.

“Wait…” Caltrop’s annoyed voice came through the walls. “Dat’s what he meant?”

“Such a dolt.” I simply rolled my eyes and walked down the hallway toward outside. “Alright, Sandy. Ready to meet somepony new?” She bounced on my back, and even though I couldn’t see it, I knew she was nodding furiously. “Good, because he really loves it when somepony climbs all over his stuff.”

“Hey! Get down from there!” Synchro snapped at Sandy, who for all intents and purposes thought this was all part of an elaborate game. “Can’t you make her stop? Tell her to sit or something?” Almost in response, she let out a giggle as she continued to rifle through his stuff.

“She’s a hellhound, not some dog.” I couldn’t deny that I was enjoying Sandy’s special brand of mayhem immensely. “Besides,” I was interrupted by the loud crash of something on the other side of one of Synchro’s junk piles. “It’s not like she’s doing any permanent damage.”

“What the hell are you here for?” He snapped at me this time, turning back to his workbench to work on what looked like a bent tube of some sort. “Your legs don’t need any work done, and I’m certainly not going to call off my duel.” He snorted before sitting back slowly from his work. “Unless…”

“Not going to happen.” I grunted and cringed as Sandy knocked over another loud piece of metal. “Seeing as I know what you’re going to ask for, and that it was wrong for him to accept your terms at all, I came to negotiate for Caltrop’s winnings.”

“Fine, what do you want?” He didn’t seem to take the much of an interest, simply getting back to his work.

“The upgrades for my legs.” Though watching Sandy tear up the place was fun, I wanted this over. “All of them.” He dropped his tools and gave out a heavy sigh. “On top of that, if he wins, you’ll never make a lude request of me again.”

He looked back at me at me with a smile. “Oh, is that all?” A elated giggle built up from him that made me uneasy. “Wow, I was expecting you to ask for so much more! But, sure, whatever.” He turned back to his work and laughed as he continued working. “I accept.”

“Do… do you not understand how much I just asked for?” The less he’d seemed to care, the more it made me worry. Something was amiss here, and I didn’t like it one bit. “You said it would be…”

“A couple hundred favors worth, yeah.” He shook his head and turned himself around. “How much do you think you’re worth to me? I mean, it’s not like there are any other mares around here for me to marry.”

“Excuse me?” I had to take a step back at that.

“Well, yeah!” He wore the biggest grin across his smug muzzle, and I just wanted to hold him down and tear it off his face. “What the hell did you think I’d ask for? Just one night?” Oh goddesses… “I know, I was just as surprised when he offered anything I wanted.”

“Well then you better hope that Caltrop beats you to the ground.” I growled and took one step forward. His eyes went wide and he shrank down in fear. “Because if you win, you won’t make it through your first night with me as a wife.”

After hearing that, he seemed to regain his composure quite quickly. “Don’t you remember the rules of the fightdome? The winner get’s his reward, guaranteed. So you can’t say no.” He sneered at me and prodded my chest with his hoof. “On top of that, what’s Flint’s number one rule? You can’t harm another hunter.”

“You aren’t a hunter.” I spat on the floor next to him. “You’re a cowardly colt who hides behind his machines.”

“Ahem.” A stallion cleared his throat behind me. I closed my eyes, and with a sight, turned to face Flint. “Miss Cap, may I have a word with you?”

“Yeah, sure.” I grumbled. From the back of my mind, I whipped myself and forced myself to correct what I’d said. “Of course, Master Flint.”

“Splendid.” He smiled when I looked at him. He looked as spotless as ever, and the light breeze that ran through his blond mane made it shimmer like gold. “Shall we take a walk?” He outstretched his hoof and nodded outside.

“Sandy?” I waited to see her bright eyes and smile pop up over one of the trash piles. I wasn’t disappointed when she literally dug her way through one to see me. “Stay here while I go, alright?” I looked back to Synchro with a smirk. “Watch after Sandy for me, will you?” We were far from finished with our conversation, but I had a sinking feeling in my gut that I couldn’t do anything about it. Instead, I’d pushed it from my mind and trotted over to Flint.

With a pleasant smile we walked along the gravel road that lead back up to his villa. I couldn’t help but wonder why he’d come down. The only other time he’d left his villa the whole time I was here, was the night I was first brought in. Then, it had at least made sense to come down. Our walk had to mean that something else was on his mind.

Even so, he didn’t speak at all. We simply walked at a relaxed pace along the road. He didn’t seem agitated today, nor did he seem to truly be happy. He seemed content, and that made me uneasy. I opened my muzzle to ask about it, but he chose that time to speak up.

“Do you enjoy it here, Miss Cap?” He didn’t shift his gaze when he’d spoken, simply staring along the road ahead.

“Yes, Master Flint.” I responded, uncertain why he’d ask something like that.

“And what about this place do you like?” Though I’m sure this had a point, I was lost as to what it was.

“It’s safe here.” To be honest, that was the only thing I liked about here other than it was a steady job. With so many guards and the resources that Flint has, this place could withstand anything the wastes could throw at it.

He nodded with a giggle. “And do you know why it’s so safe?” He stopped as he said that. In turn, I stopped and stood there as he turned to look at me. “It’s because ponies like you keep it that way.” He ever so gently put his hoof on his chest. “And I am so thankful that you do what you must to keep it that way.”

“If I may ask,” I spoke with as much reverence as I could force into my words. “Why do you ask?”

He turned back around and started walking again before he responded. “Do you know why it is, I asked for you to be brought here?”

I followed after him a few steps behind. “No, Master, I do not.” I’d just thought it was because I was a decent bounty hunter. I mean, technically I wasn’t the only one he’d tried to recruit, but Bluejay said no and had quite the price put on her head. If Flint couldn’t have her, than nopony would. Which was something that made me glad I’d said yes.

“Because I have an eye for talent, Miss Cap.” He stopped yet again and gave me a quizzical look from over his shoulder. “Tell me, your special talent, is it only good for making corroded ammunition work again?”

“Well, yeah.” I thought it an odd question, but it did get me to think. “What else could it even do?”

“Perhaps, it could be that your magic be used for making any sort of corroded object work.” He gave a short laugh. “Or it could mean that you are meant to help clear this corroded society of it’s filth to make it work again. Cutie mark magic can sometimes encompass more than just one aspect, my dear.”

“Huh, I never thought of it that way.” As eccentric as Flint was, he’s had some really interesting things to say during my time here.

“My dearest daughter told me of how you reacted to the death of that poor nurse. I know it can be quite distressing to see an innocent pony die,” His mannerisms changed as he spoke those words without a single note of sincerity to them. “but you’ll have to then trust in me that it is the right course of action, even if you cannot see it at that time.”

“Yes, Master Flint.” No, he was wrong. She wasn’t part of his job, and her death could have been avoided. There was no unseen benefit from taking her out. Still, I nodded my head like his good little slave, because that’s all I was to him.

“Good. I am glad that you are enjoying your stay here in my humble home.” He smiled as the charm practically oozed from his lips. “However, am I correct to have heard about the reward for today’s challenge?”

“Yes, Master.” I sighed. “Is there no way to change Synchro’s request?”

“I’m afraid that the rules are there for a reason, Miss Cap.” He turned and walked up to me with a look of pity. “While I am truly sorry it is not what you wish, I’m afraid that I must comply with his wishes should Synchro win the fight.” Well, that was that. My only hope was in Caltrop somehow coming out on top. “Though, as Synchro has no real combat experience, I should like to think that your friend would finish it quickly.”

“Caltrop?” I snorted. The mere thought of him in combat was laughable. Sure, give him a gun and he might hit the broadside of a barn, but non-lethal weapons only were allowed into the dome. “Yeah, he’s about as harmless as a bloatsprite.”

“Then it seems we shall have an interesting match on our hooves, wouldn’t you say?” He grinned and looked to the sky in thought. “You know, I think watching it could provide me with some valuable insight on my new acquisition.” He glanced down to me while keeping his muzzle height. “An offer for you and your hellhound companion.” He wafted his mane out of the way with a flick of his head and held his hoof out to me. “I shall have the fightdome brought up to the courtyard if you two agree to join me in observing it from the veranda of my villa.”

It was an odd request. He’d never observed the fights that had taken place before, not even the one that I’d failed to win. Though, I guess it would give me something to hold over the others here, especially when Caltrop kicked that annoying prick’s flank. He might be useless, but at least he’s survived the wasteland. That’s more than could be said about Synchro.

“Yes.” I nodded and watched as he nearly split his head off with the grin he adopted. “Thank you, Master Flint.”

“Splendid!” He giggled and nearly vibrated with excitement so much that I actually took a step back from him. “Then I will release you from my company. I must go prepare myself for the noontime affair.” He gave me a small bow and nod. “Until then, Miss Cap.”

As he turned and trotted off, he hummed a light tune as he went. I’d never seen him in this high of spirits before, and as I’d remarked before, it worried me. When he got to be far enough away, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d held.

“Hi, friend!” Sandy squeaked from behind me so suddenly that my cyberlegs didn’t know what to do. So, they instead just gave out and plopped me right onto the gravel. “Oops, sorry.” She giggled. “I know you said to stay there, but mr. friend back there said I had to go. I hope that was okay.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, Sandy.” I sighed and picked myself up. “First, we need to go get cleaned up. Flint needs us looking presentable.” She gasped and gave the highest pitched squeak I’d ever heard. “Then, we’ll go see if we can teach Caltrop how to win a fight.” Something that I’m sure even he couldn’t screw up.

“What the hell is going on in here?” I’d snapped over the blaring music when I opened the door from the bathroom.

Using my magic, I twisted the radio knob so hard toward the off position, that I think I nearly cracked it off. I realized that I’d spent nearly an hour making myself presentable in there, and almost a half hour washing Sandy, but to come out and see this?

“Ooo, shesh mad.” Null slurred as he groggily looked over at Caltrop. The both of them giggled incessantly as they traded looks over the four and a half empty whiskey bottles on the table.

“Shhh, shhh.” Caltrop attempted a whisper. “Mabeshe wun see ush if we shtay shilent.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” I screamed and focused my magic. I’d flipped the whole damn table in my anger, spilling both the bottles, and the assholes who’d had them, to the floor. “You have to fight in less than ten minutes! Where the fuck did you even get these drinks anyway!”

“Ish shis my fault.” Null raised his hoof in the air.

“Why the hell would you give him alcohol?” This… this was bad. Out in the wastes, I could pull both our weight, but in that cage it’s up to him alone. “You knew he was an alcoholic!”

“Ish wash ta calm my nervsh.” Caltrop said, ending in a little giggle. “Nullsh a pretty cool guy!”

“Shanksh.” Null smiled and looked at him. “I… I love yoush too.”

“What the hell am I going to do with you?” I grabbed Caltrop in my magic and shoved hard, sliding him across the floor toward the balcony. I needed to purge his system, but I wouldn’t do it in here. “Do you understand what’s at stake if you lose?”

“Ish fine!” He whined and dismissively waved a hoof at me. “You shaid it aint to da death.”

“He want’s to marry me, you moron!” I shoved him again, sliding him out the door and against the railing. From the floor, he simply looked up at me with wide, confused eyes.

“Wha?” Seriously, I’d kill him right now if it would change anything at all. Sadly, it wouldn’t.

Hauling him up with my own hooves, I spun him around. He flopped hard against the railing with a grunt. Without giving him a heads up, I spun and bucked hard with one of my cyber hooves. A meaty slap met my ears, before he gave a grunting whine that ended with him gurgling up all that he’d drunk.

Another minute of him expelling all the poison he’d imbibed, and he’d started to come back around into coherent speech.

“Sheriously, he can’t ask you to…” He cut himself off when a short heave prompted him to spin back over the railing. With nothing left, he just whined heavily as he dry heaved.

“Look, the rules here are what they are, and they can’t be changed.” I sighed. I couldn’t understate what I’d said next nearly enough. “I really don’t want to belong to that douchebag like he wants. So I’m going to need you to buck up, get out there, and kick his flank in.”

“PC, yah know I ain’t a fighter.” Caltrop sighed as he dangled his front half over the railing.

“Yeah, well he’s just as inexperienced as you are, and he’s smaller than you.” I grunted and pushed myself up to my hooves. “Come on, we have to go.”

“But, what if I can’t win?” He whined and pouted.

I wrapped my forehoof under his chin and sharply pulled his head until he could see my angry glare. “Stomp him, kick him in the balls, fight him like a mare, whatever. I don’t care what you have to do to win, but you do not get to quit.” He swallowed hard and nodded with a scared whine.

“Good, now let’s go.” I released him.

With Sandy on my back, I’d approached Flint’s Villa and was promptly let inside. Sandy let out a symphony of ‘Ooo’s’ and ‘Ahhs’ as she looked at all of the pristine artwork and furniture. We were lead upstairs by the same mare whom Flint had threatened Sandy with. She looked more afraid than she had before, and didn’t glance back at me more than once.

We were lead upstairs, and walked along the velvety carpets of the halls until we reached a dark wooden door. With a click, she opened it and stepped back with a bow. Across what looked to be a very ornate and open bedroom, sat an open doorway. In it, Flint stood with a smile, gazing down at the rusted metal bars of the fightdome in the courtyard below.

“Do come in. Synchro is nearly ready, as is Mister Caltrop I presume.” Flint’s voice still carried the tone of the song he’d been humming when he left.

“He’ll be ready.” I grumbled and trotted over toward the veranda. The breeze flowed up to us as I stood next to Flint, while Sandy seemed to feel content to stay on my back. In the corner, sat a silver cart lined with all sorts of small meats, cheeses, and other assorted edibles. One in particular that caught my eye, was a piece of bright yellow cornbread.

“Go ahead,” Flint whispered into my ear. “It is the most delightful that my cooks have made in quite a while.”

I was about to take him up on that offer, when Both Caltrop and Synchro came trotting across the marbled courtyard. Caltrop I’m sure was lucky to be standing at all, while Synchro had taken to wearing some sort of old metal armor. More worrisome than the armor, was the fact that the odd tube he was working on, was a model of pipbuck that now encased his whole right foreleg.

“Looking to be quite the interesting fight!” Flint giddily tapped his hooves on the floor.

“It’s going to be something alright.” I muttered. Still, a pipbuck and some armor doesn’t help if you have no idea how to use them. I just had to believe in Caltrop.

The two of them approached the large metal dome. Ringed by Flint’s slaves, the honeycomb of rusted rebar stretched up nearly past the height of us up here on the second floor. Even though that made it seem big, I could say from experience, it felt a whole lot smaller on the inside.

“So, you ready to spend the rest of your life with me?” Synchro snorted as he trotted down below me. He stood at the hinged wall for only a moment before one of Flint’s slaves opened it and let him inside.

“Big talk from a stallion who hasn’t won anything yet.” I retorted, eyeing over to Caltrop. He still looked nervous as he walked around to the latch on his hatch, but his eyes, while more focused still gave away just how drunk he was. He was a resourceful stallion, and I had to believe in him. The hatch on Caltrop’s side closed with a clang, and the match was on. Synchro circled around the outside, prompting Caltrop to do the same.

“So, prepared to lose your mare to a stallion like me?” Synchro spoke through a smirk that felt like it was an impression of somepony tougher than he was. For a moment, Synchro stuttered in his walk, stopping with a stumble that stole his smile. “What the hell? Where’s the assisted combat function.” He hoisted his leg up and started to fiddle with it, which seemed like a dumb thing to do in a fight.

“Dat der, ish a model 2500.” Caltrop smirked and continued to talk. “There washn't an assisted combat funcshun on the 2500 sheries. Ish a civilian shearch and reshcue model.” His random knowledge and pension for distraction through speaking was still working for him as well as ever, even while drunk. He’d continued to circle around on him, getting only a few feet away.

“The fuck would you know?” Synchro snorted, oblivious to the fact that Caltrop was right next to him.

“Stable Tecsh hishtory of pipbuck development. I read a lotta books growin' up.” Caltrop grunted as he spun and reared up. The hearty clack that emited from Synchro’s armor, and subsequent whine that came from his muzzle, made me smile. “Yah should try it shumetime, yah might learn shumethin'.”

“Fascinating.” Flint said through a snicker. “This is the talent you spoke of?” I gave him a quick nod. “And it works through his intoxication? Yes, I do believe that he will prove quite useful.”

“You sneaky son of a bitch!” Synchro flailed in anger as he scrambled to get back up. Unfortunately, metal armor was heavy, and it took quite a bit of strength to pick yourself up off the ground while wearing it. Another thing Synchro obviously didn’t think about.

Caltrop had the chance to end this quickly. He burst into a gallop towards Synchro, looking to buck him in the side again. I didn’t know if it was the alcohol that had caused it or his general lack of coordination, but unfortunately he stumbled as he did. His misstep caused him to barrel head first into the bars of the cage to the side of Synchro. The thwack of his head against it prompted him dropping into the dirt with a meaty thump.

From which, he didn’t get back up.

We waited for nearly half a minute before one of the slaves looked up to us and spoke in a straight to the point tone. “He appears to be unconscious, master.” Then he said something truly horrific.

“I believe Mr. Synchro has won.” The words hit me like a ton of bricks.

“I won?” Synchro shouted.

“He won?” I gasped before my jaw hit the floor.

"Congratulations are in order Mr. and Mrs. Synchro.” Flint laughed as he turned to me. “Through the power vested in me, I pronounce you Mare and Colt."

“Celestia, fuck my life.” I sighed and buried my face in my forehooves.

--Chapter End--
“The only thing this wedding seemed to be missing, was your shotgun.”
Quests Finished: Mighty Fine Shindig
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 38 - Uphill Battles

So, maybe things hadn't turned out like I’d wanted them to after all. Maybe having everything I’d wanted wasn’t what I really needed. While I could sit here and be mad at Caltrop for what he’d done, the thing was, it had all been my fault he was like this. Sitting here on my bed next to him as he slept the rest of the alcohol off just gave time to think about things. Thinking was something I hadn’t done too much of recently, and for that, we’ve all suffered.

A knock at the door made Sandy give off a low growl.

“PC,” Synchro’s muffled voice came through. “Are you in there?”

“Go the hell away, Synchro.” I snapped. Forced to marry him or not, no force in the universe could ever make me ever do anything with him.

“Look, can’t we just talk about this?” He sighed.

“You had plenty of time to talk about it before you went and made your challenge.” I shoved myself off the bed and hastily stomped over to the door. “And you wasted that time eyeing my flank.” He’d either willingly leave me alone, or I was very tempted to let Sandy give him no mercy.

Are you really thinking of using Sandy to murder him?

No, I suppose that even my conscience wouldn’t have stood for that. Still, my cyberlegs were more than enough to get him to leave me alone, even if I’d have to take them off to beat him with them.

With my magic, I grabbed the door handle and threw the door open. Before me, stood Synchro, cowering on the floor as I stood over him. On his hoof, he still wore the pipbuck he’d had on in the fight.

“Look, I know…” He started with a whimper.

“You have exactly ten seconds to explain why you’re standing outside my door.” I leaned down and stared right into his eyes. “Past that, I don’t care what Flint’s rules are. You will be screaming for any mercy, and I won’t give it.” He started shaking in fear, all the confidence he’d had in the last month, gone. “Speak.”

“I… I didn’t even want to win.” He whined and stared up with wide scared eyes. “I... “ He whimpered and hid his face in his hooves.

Then the waterworks started.

I wasn’t quite sure what to think. Caltrop had been this way before, and I’d wanted to smack him for it. Synchro crying like a foal on the floor just made me feel sorry for him. After our talk in the workshop the other day before I left with Spectre, I could see why he’d never left on any job. Like he said, he’d be dead in ten minutes outside of this place.

“Is,” Sandy spoke up from behind me, “is he alright?”

“Yes, Sandy.” I sighed and hung my head. “Synchro, if you really didn’t want this, why did you even set up the fight in the first place?”

“It’d just be easier to show you.” He sniffled and wiped his nose with his forehoof. He looked up at me with pleading eyes, and I felt like I was staring down at just a colt at my hooves. “Please, just give me a chance to explain.”

“Fine.” I didn’t fancy going anywhere with him, but if it helped to sort out this mess at all, it was worth agreeing to for now. “But if you try anything, remember what I said.” He’d simply nodded and pulled himself up off the hallway floor. I turned around and met Sandy’s frown with one of my own. “Sandy, can you stay here and watch Caltrop for me?”

“Okay!” She barked and hopped up onto her hind legs. Then, she stopped and stared up at me curiously. “What does marriage mean?”

“I’ll tell you later, alright?” I forced a small smile as I backed out through the door. At the very least, the smile that Sandy returned to me was genuine. With a soft click, I pulled the door shut, and turned down the hall. Standing at the door, Synchro waited for me. I wasn’t sure what sort of explanation he’d have for me, but I hoped for his sake, that it was a goddess damned good one.

He lead me across the compound towards his workshop, but passed it up in favor of trotting down the road. A few hundred feet down the path, he turned and trotted up the side of the valley. The path here would have been obscured to anyone simply trotting by, but once I traced his steps up, I could see the faint path under my own hooves. Higher and higher we climbed, doubling back quite a few times as the Valleyside rose up steeper and steeper.

“Alright, we’re here.” He spoke reverently as we reached the top of the hill. No more than ten feet across, the other side of the hill from the compound rapidly turned in the sharp, jagged rocks. At the peak, we’d stopped at a small outcropping with a withered and sickly looking tree.

I looked back down at the compound. From atop this hill, I could see just how big this place really was, as well as how snuggly it fit into the valley. Flint’s villa took up just over a third of the space in the valley, with almost another half being filled with the fields where his numerous slaves worked. The workshop, guard’s personal quarters, and my building taking up just a small amount of space in the grand layout before me. From here, it really made me feel like all us hunters were just a statistic to Flint, an insignificant part of his system.

“PC?” Synchro spoke up as he took a seat in the dirt next to the tree. He wore a soft, and sad smile that seemed all the sadder with his quivering muzzle and watering eyes. “I’d like you to meet my mother, Arc Lamp.” He pointed at the tree, and immediately I knew that this was a mistake.

“Synchro,” I facehooved with a sigh. “Don’t get me wrong…”

“Just hear me out, okay?” He cut me off, but it wasn’t forcefully like everyone else who did normally went about it. “I’m not trying to win you over with this. I just want to explain why I did this.”

I shut my eyes and sat up straight. “Alright.”

“I never wanted anything more, than to make my mother proud.” He started as he looked down at the dirt under his hooves. “She worked in the fields down there for me, each and every day while she raised me. She went hungry every other night, just to make sure I got extra food so I could grow up strong and healthy. She sacrificed her own sleep, just to sing me to bed.” His tears dribbled down his muzzle and onto the dirt.

“She’d tell me stories every night, saying that I wouldn’t be a slave all my life. That we’d once lived in a glorious stable on the west coast. Some nights, she’d talk about what life in our stable was like before it was raided. How she and dad dreamed that one day I'd grow up to marry a nice mare and give her plenty of grandfoals. But then dad died when the stable opened, and we were sold off because stable dwellers didn't know how to defend themselves against the wasteland. Eventually, we found ourselves bought by a pair of slavers on the east coast by the names of Flint and Steel.”

“Every day of my young life, she was there for me. She was there when I fucked up, and she took the punishment for me. When the guards wanted to take the gadgets I’d made from scrap away, she fought to let me keep them.” He shook his head and sighed. “This was when Flint first noticed me. He saw my potential, and brought me up to the barn. He encouraged me to build new things for him, to be more creative.” With a slumping sigh, he leaned against the tree. “But as I grew up, mom grew weaker. For a time, that was okay, because now I could comfort her when she was crippled with sadness, I could use the favors I was earning to help get her more rest days, or more food.”

“Then Red Eye showed up. He’d made deals with all of the slavers across the region. Flint and his brother, Steel, were the last to be recruited. He offered them caps beyond their already bountiful hordes for their services.” He grimaced and tensed. “Flint took the offer, and used his wealth to expand. He offered me the chance to become one of his hunters, dangling the ability to learn from Red Eye’s cybernetic expert on how to use and build archano-tech. I’d thought it was too good of an offer to refuse, so I took it without thinking.”

He glared up at me now, raising his hoof at me in judgement. “I should have been like you. I should have bargained for more than what I got.” He sniffled again and pulled his hooves up to his face. “Red Eye took her as part of his deal with Flint. He took my mother and half of Flint’s slaves to work in the pits of Filly.” He snapped at me. “I didn’t even get to tell her that I loved her!” He cried out and collapsed down on the dirt against the tree.

This was all way more than I’d been prepared for. I mean, this was nothing like how I’d seen him act around the compound. He’d always been so rude and abrasive, I’d never even considered he could have been this way.

“She died in that pit, three days later. All because I couldn’t be there for her.” He whined. “Nopony cared when she died. Not Flint, not any of the other hunters. She loved me, and I’m the only one who even remembers her name.” He whimpered again and looked over to the tree. “The day she died, I came up here, to this very tree. I wanted to throw myself down to the rocks on the other side, but I couldn’t because of this stupid, frail, and weak tree.”

“Because it reminded you of your mother?” I asked, getting a weak nod from him. “Why do you keep working for Flint then if you hate it so much?” I spoke without thinking. My hooves snapped up over my muzzle as my brain took an extra second to try to stop myself.

“Why?” He growled. “Don’t you get it? He owns me.” He jabbed at his own chest in anger. “I’m too fucking weak to last out in the wastes. This is all I’ve ever fucking known.” He scoffed and stiffly picked himself up. “Every day, I get up and work for the stupid fuck that owns me, because if I don’t, I’m dead. And if I’m dead, then no pony will know that a mare named Arc Lamp even fucking existed.”

“Then why did you set up the fight? Why marry me if you didn’t even want to?” He’d already shattered the illusion that he’d set up here. “Hell, why even tell me all this?”

“Because you’re different!” He wicked away his tears and dusted himself off. “Everyone else here feels like they belong with Flint, except you.” He sat down hard, looking down over at the compound. “I have to be annoying, to make the others hate me down there. That way, I know I’m not like them, and I see that you don’t want to be like them either.”

“Even if you are different, and you don’t want to be like them, I’m not yours.” Even though I got where he was coming from, I wanted to make this clear. “Caltrop is the only pony I’ve ever loved, and even I don’t understand why. You might not be the stallion I thought you were, but you aren’t somepony I love. Forcing me to marry you doesn’t change that.”

“I know, I know.” He sighed and got up. “But without it, you would have never even given me a chance to explain things. I thought maybe this way, you’d at least give us a chance.” With heavy hoofsteps, he started his way back down the hill. “Thank you for at least hearing me out. Now, I’ll leave you alone.”

I sighed, hating what I felt I had to do next. “Wait.” Like so many times recently, I wanted to stop myself, but I spoke without being able to stop. I shut my eyes hard and listened as his hoofsteps stopped. “Maybe I’m not your wife, but if you aren’t really the douchebag that you’ve pretended to be, then I don’t see why we couldn’t at least get to be friends.”

“Thank you.” Was all he said before he continued off down the trail.

I sat there, alone on the ridge as the wind picked up along the outer edge of the valley. It whistled up past me, making the tree groan and creak as Synchro’s hoofsteps grew distant enough that I didn’t hear them over it anymore. Again, I was left alone to my thoughts.

Even though I’d lived a life free of ownership until now, I don’t know if it’s been any better than what he’s been through. Everypony has seen their share of tragedy, it’s just the way of the wasteland. Synchro said that I had strength, but it’s a lack of it that landed me in this place to begin with. I wasn’t strong enough to beat Brightshine, nor was I strong enough to escape Null, or beat that stupid mechanical beast that took my legs.

What could be said about the strength of a pony, would probably never come from my lips. Storm is the strongest pony I’ve ever known, and even so, I’ve done the exact opposite of everything she’s spoken. Maybe if I’d listened, I’d be a different pony, a better pony.

I stretched out one of my cyberhooves and it filled me with doubt. Doubt that I could change this path I’ve set myself on. This is the life I’ve wanted to live for so long, and it is grand, but as I’ve realized here, I am not the pony I used to be.

“You know,” I spoke to the lonely, sickly tree sitting there on the hill. “Maybe it isn’t me who’s strong.” I felt stupid talking to a tree, but I needed to get the words out of my muzzle in some half baked attempt to believe them “Rather, it’s ponies like Caltrop, Synchro, and even Sandy who have real strength. They have to,” With a glance down the hill, I watched as Synchro trotted back into the large workshop. “they need it to carry on like they do every day.”

“Things need to change, and I’m going to need them to help me do it.” Getting up to my hooves again, I turned toward the path down the hill. With a quick glance, I took a parting look at the tree. “You know, even if it isn’t with me, I’ll make sure that once he’s out of this place, I’ll find him a mare to settle down with. I promise.”

Much like Synchro, I too have been hiding part of myself away for far too long. In talking with Jamboree, she could see that part of me in an instant. I don’t want to fight it anymore. I’d done my share of traveling places to get into fights, and in a few years, I’ll be thirty. It’s time I followed in my mothers hoofsteps and settled down. I have a future with Caltrop and Sandy, and that was something I intended to hold on to. But first, I’d have to get away from Flint.

With an arcane snap, Spectre appeared up on the hill with me. Before I could say anything or even react, the image of Flint’s study was shoved into my mind and we were whisked away by her arcane magic. With another stomach flipping snap, I had been unceremoniously dumped at Flint’s hooves.

“I’m sorry for imposing such an awkward and sudden meeting, but an urgent matter has just been brought to my attention.” Flint sighed as he swirled the wine in a glass he held in his fetlock. “You see, I have received very troubling information, and it simply has me in such distress.”

I tried my best to hold back from vomiting on either his hooves or his extremely plush carpet. It was a battle I would surely lose if I opened my muzzle to answer. Thankfully, I didn’t have to.

“What is it?” Null spoke up from behind me.

“If the intelligence that I have received is indeed true, then our humble home is to be besieged in the near future.” Flint paused long enough that I regained control of my lunch and could focus on what he was saying. “I suspect that both Red Eye and my brother’s greed will cause them to attempt a coup against me. I cannot confirm this, but what I do know, is that somepony just paid a hefty sum of caps to disrupt key waypoints in my trade routes within the next day or so. It might just be the work of those wretched anti-slavery nuts calling themselves ‘Celestia’s Angels’, but I tend to believe that it is more than just a highly coordinated strike.”

“So, what would you like us to do?” I muttered, quickly pushing myself up. It was odd, I knew I remembered seeing that name before, but I couldn’t quite place it.

“I am sending all of you out in teams.” His words made me shudder at the thought of being paired up with Spectre again. “That includes your companions, Miss Cap. Though, I will be sending them with Dykem.” He eyed me with a smirk. “As you remember, all first time jobs must be supervised.”

“Yes, master.” Well, how bad of a mission could it be if he’s sending her out? From what I understood, she got easy or surveillance jobs.”

“Spectre, you are to take Miss Cap and Null out to waystation fourteen, as it’s the farthest away. Then, please return to pair with Brushfire. You two will cover route eight.” He took a quick sip of his wine. I quietly thanked the goddesses that I’d been paired with Null, but who knew how far out this way station was. It could be a very long, and uncomfortable set of arcane jumps to get out there for all I knew. “I’ll send Dykem, along with your companions to Waystation six. That should cover all of the most likely targets.”

“What about Synchro’s machine?” Spectre asked boredly.

“I have it attending to other matters at the moment.” He emphasized it oddly, and when he gave us a smile, it sent a chill down my spine. “It is none of your concern, I’m afraid.”

“When do we leave?” I asked, hoping I’d at least get a chance to talk with Caltrop before I left. I should have known the response that came from him though.

“I’m sorry, did I stutter when I spoke of it as an urgent matter?” Flint rolled his eyes and waved his hoof in dismissal. “Go now and protect the future of our livelihood. I have many plans to make to protect our home. Return once it is secure and these filthy wastelanders have been dealt with.”

With that, an image on the barren wastes was forced into my head. I didn’t even fight it this time. I could tell already, that it was going to be a very long few days.

Once I’d stopped throwing up a half hour after Spectre dumped us in some stupid ruined mountainside building, I’d realized a fairly large flaw in not having been able to prepare. All my equipment was still back home.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do?” I grumbled to Null, who was too busy peering through a pair of binoculars while perched on the side of the collapsed concrete structure.

“Improvise.” Null snorted as he scanned the horizon.

“Really? Really? That’s your advice?” I sighed and flopped back against an old crummy mattress. The absurd amount of empty vials of dash around here made me think that either someone had been a real junky around here, or that they were manufacturing the shit before this place exploded. “Real great, coming from the pony who can turn invisible.”

“Fine.” He stiffly lowered his optics with an exasperated sigh, and lifted the flap to his saddlebag with his magic. “But I want it back when we are done here.” From it, he lifted something that both brought me joy, and enraged me all the same.

“Why the fuck do you have number six?” He’d floated my break open shotgun to me and dropped it at my hooves.

“Oh, was it yours?” He shrugged my question off so casually, one could have sworn he’d been sleeping with it. “I had wondered where I picked it up from. I’d thought I’d pulled it off some zebra during that prison break a month ago.”

“You’re a real son of a bitch, you know that?” I grunted and picked it up.

“And you have to be more inventive with names.” He brought the old binoculars up to his muzzle again and squinted. “So far, nothing. To get into this place, they’ll have to cross the bridge over the river.”

“What about scaling down the mountain behind us?” I sighed and wiggled number six between the straps for my battery harness.

“So they would hike over the mountain, and drop into a lake of taint to get to us?” He gave a short laugh. “I think not. Why do you think Flint chose this dump to keep slaves? No pony in their right mind would risk attacking from anywhere else but the bridge. We watch from that direction.”

Crawling over the rubble, I wound my way through this ruined building. To me, this place looked like it had once been a hotel, or sleeping quarters of some kind. Just outside of it, lay a road that lead down into what was once probably a bustling wasteland hub. The twisted remains of four towers stood charred and black, bowing away from the large multicolored lake that sat pressed against the mountainside.

In the middle of all four towers, and next to the edge of the taint lake, sat rows and rows of cages. All of them empty, no doubt by the order of Flint. Surrounding the cages, was an impressive amount of chain link fencing with razor wire woven through it. Even more so than that, around the fencing, were dozens of mines. It would be fairly imposing to any slave inside, but from here, it would be easy to get past.

“What are you doing?” Null groaned over at me. “It is hard enough to see through these optics with my kind of vision. It will take the two of us to spot anypony coming.”

“Yeah, and Flint said that they’d attack in the next twenty four hours.” I could tell that Null had never been someone to prepare for alternate ways things could go down. Then again, when you could just hide indefinitely with stealth bucks, why would you need to watch for other things? “We have the time to prepare, what’s the harm in making sure we know where they could attack from and alternate paths for us to fall back to if we get overwhelmed?”

“Because it is not time spent that you’re looking out for them.” Null pushed himself down from his perch and out of sight. “Look, I have seniority on this job, and I am telling you to get up there and look out for them.”

“And what are we going to do?” What did Flint even expect us to do out here? “I’ve got a shotgun with one round, and you’ve got the ability to play hide and seek.” I turned around and made my way back over to him. He was rustling through the rubble, and I had no idea what he was looking for. Peeking back over, I found him sliding a slab of rubble off a fairly new looking metal box. “What’s that?”

“Flint’s guarantee that after they come at us, they will never want to do it again.” He flipped open the box and showed off it’s glowing contents. Mom had refused to sell these in her shop, but I know a pair of balefire eggs and a mint condition launcher when I see them.

“Where the fuck did he get those?” I was in complete disbelief. The whole kit looked brand new, and not even those steel toasters had shit this nice.

“A gift from Red Eye.” Null smiled as he lost himself in the swirling colors of one of the balefire eggs. “The armaments factory was the first thing he got running in Filly. These were a limited run, and in making them the machines seized up. He won’t be making any more anytime soon, that’s for sure, so we’ve got to make them last.”

“So then, why the fuck am I here?” I sighed. With firepower like that, who needed two ponies?

“So you can keep watch over areas I can not, of course.” He shrugged and floated the launcher out, looking it over.

“But… you said…” I could feel my eye twitch with irritation. I turned around and looked back to the other side of the ruins. As I did, something odd caught my eye. A flash from on the mountainside. As I looked at the area it came from, it happened a few more times. “You know what, I don’t care.”

If it was somepony with a rifle, I was pretty sure they’d have fired at us already. The fact that they hadn’t, helped me to remember where I’d heard of this group from. Storm was annoyed that I’d blown up Burst Flare when she was supposed to deliver where Flint’s compound was. On the contract, Celestia’s Angels were listed as the group she’d been affiliated with.

Well, at least I’d been right to watch the other directions. See, Storm said that I was an amature, but at least I wasn’t as dense as Null. I wasn’t going to lie, a smirk drew across my muzzle in thinking that maybe for once, I’d finally proven Storm wrong about something. A sharp twang sounded from above the rubble behind me. I turned around to see a confusing sight.

It was a ghost.

The zebra that Caltrop had killed in Steel Junction was staring at me from the far side of the rubble. Null slumped against the concrete beside me, a small dart protruding from his hide. I scrambled around to the other side of the slab Null was against, and tried to pull number six from my harness. Annoyingly enough, the top lever had caught against the straps, and was making it quite hard to retrieve. The clatter of rocks next to me prompted a glance up there as I fiddled with my gun. I froze again in confusion as another ghost presented itself.

“Hello, PC.” Big Shot grumbled through the makeshift dart gun in his muzzle. The air around me positively vibrated with the twang of his shot. The sharp prick of the dart in my skin was a lot worse without my jacket to stop it, and decidedly more painful than the one Flint had used in his dining room.

The world spun and bled into pallets of colors and frightening sounds, finally culminating with everything going black.

When I came to, the first thing I felt, was cold against my back. Wherever I was, I couldn’t see anything. I blinked a few times, hoping it was just a blindfold, but in reality, there was just no light where I was. I tried to move my forehooves, but found that they were hoofcuffed around some sort of pipe next to me.

“It is no use.” Null snorted from in the darkness. He sounded like he was right next to me, but I couldn’t see him at all in this pitch black. “I have to say, there was merit in your words before. I did not expect to be taken from behind.”

“Where are we?” I asked, trying to use my horn to case my light spell. Oddly enough, I couldn’t use my magic at all. “Why won’t you work, stupid horn?”

“I do not know. In a lead lined box of some sort, so I cannot see out of it. My best estimate for how long we were out, is somewhere within a half days journey of where we were.” He sighed. “As for your magic, there is an anti-magic ring on each of our horns. We are helpless at the moment.”

From above us, there was an odd rhythmic beeping sound. Four specific beeps rang out followed by a loud screech delivering a bright light to us. I had to squint as whatever hatch that sat above us, opened. To my surprise, a blue mare with a wide smirk stared down at us.

“Storm, your granddaughter’s awake.” Bluejay snorted as she stared down at me. “It’s time you two gave us some much needed information.” I could hear Storm’s hoofsteps as she approached. It was just like her to always make an entrance. “We couldn’t believe what Big Shot and Ficha were telling us when they said they’d found you, but I am not disappointed.”

--Chapter End--
“Now is the time to decide if you will be a mare, or a slave. Let’s hope you choose wisely.”
Quests Finished: Bright Future
Quests Started: Bright Future, To kill a God.
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 39 - Boiling Point

“So, after everything you had me do, you think you’re a ‘good pony’ now?” I laughed. The bindings that held me to the chair I’d been put in were too tight, and they ground against my fetlocks uncomfortably. I focused on this uncomfortable feeling to ignore the pain of my bruised and bleeding face.

“Oh hell, I know I ain’t!” Big Shot laughed in my face, pausing momentarily from the beating he and the zebra stallion from Steel Junction were giving me. “I'll kill a pony in a fair fight. Or if I think he's gonna start a fair fight.” He put a hoof in his chin and looked deep in thought. “Or if he bothers me. Or if there's a mare. Or if I'm gettin' paid. Mostly when I'm gettin' paid.”

I spat the blood that pooled in my mouth down onto the moldy carpeted floor. The room I’d been locked up in consisted solely of a table and three chairs. At first I’d thought it was an old world police station I was in, but the decor was far too homey for that.

“How are you still alive?” I grunted before I’d shifted my vision to the zebra getting ready to hit me again. “Either of yo..”

The hit that came impacted at the base of my horn, and I screamed out in pain. The force of it knocked me and my chair over onto the floor. The intense disorientation bled away quickly, and I quickly found myself staring at striped hooves as they stepped closer. With a firm grasp, I was pulled up and righted on the floor.

“Cut the bullshit, PC.” Big Shot had clearly been the one with the voice in this fight. While he had hit me a few times, it wasn’t anything like the zebra asshole had been doing. “All we want, is to take Flint down. You and his other hunters are simply in the way.”

“You think I want to work for him?” After everything I’d seen, knowing how he works, I couldn’t take it. I’d gotten a chance to finally have what I’d always wanted, and I was the one who’d been wrong. “You think I want to kill ponies the way he does? Bounty hunting when I did it was an art. What he wants? It’s not the way I want to work. Ever.”

“I think you are just saying things to save your own flank.” The zebra had finally spoken up. Again, he hit me, and again, I was sent down to the floor. My cheek burned from the hit, and I’d at the very least been thankful the hit didn’t break anything.

“You know, I don’t think that’s it.” Big Shot grunted as this time he’d righted me back up. He leaned close and looked curiously into my eyes. After a moment, he stepped back and took a seat. “I know how PC works,” He started, turning to look at his more violent partner. “She may have only killed, but she was efficient. Even earned herself a nickname among the slaves we’ve liberated.”

I perked my ears as even that was news to me. Seeming interested had been a mistake, as the zebra noticed. Another hit, not enough to send me over, but I felt a pop in my jaw that roused a whine from me. He got ready to hit me again, but I’d hit a lucky break.

“Dharma.” Big Shot’s words cause the zebra to pause.

“Je ne crois pas qu'il.” The zebra had taken to speaking fancy as he sighed.

The door to the room opened up, and in strolled the one mare I hadn’t wanted to see. “I told you to cut that shit out, Ficha.” Storm snapped at the zebra. “Speak normal around here. Nopony knows what the fuck you’re saying otherwise.”

He’d simply rolled his eyes at that. “Yes, yes. I get it. But you cannot tell me that your granddaughter is the pony who’s been picking off our slaves one by one.”

“She is.” Storm sighed as she walked up behind me and undid the bindings on my hooves. “Celestia, Ficha!” She put her hoof under my chin and turned my head so she could see my injuries. “I said make it convincing, not kill her.” Carefully, she reached up and slid the small black ring from my horn. I could feel as my magic pulsed up through it, and it was a small comfort amongst the pain in my head.

“You what?” Maybe it’d been the concussion I most likely had, but I’d gotten lost with that.

“You seriously don’t know?” Storm seemed almost aghast at me, and it served to piss me off. I wasn’t some goddess damned psychic! “The prison? How the fuck did we get you in?”

As had been happening quite a lot recently, the truth hit me like a ton of bricks.

“This was all a set up?” Painfully, I spat more blood onto the floor. “Really? Why the interrogation? Why the questions?”

“We needed to salvage the operation. I told them to work you over, make it look like you’d really been through the ringer.” She glared at me. “The questions were Big Shot’s idea. If you figured you were actually being interrogated, then you’d at least have a genuine story to tell.”

“I guess I missed that part.” Ficha muttered as he shifted uneasily on his hooves. “To be fair, she did shoot me in the head.”

“No, Caltrop was the one who shot you.” Not going to mention it was a lucky ass shot! “I was on the ground dying.”

“Oh, boo hoo.” Storm rolled her eyes as she turned back towards the door. “You’ve both been shot before. Get over it.”

“Can somepony please explain how the hell any of you are even still fucking alive?” I snapped.

“Let me make it simple.” Storm sighed as she whipped herself back around. “Big Shot was smuggled out of Filly before he was killed.” With a firm grasp, she wrapped her hoof around my neck and started to drag me off toward the door. “Ficha there has some sort of ancient curse thing that keeps him from dying until he figures out a puzzle or some shit. Happy?”

“No!” I wriggled my way out of her grip and stopped in the doorway. “What the fuck is going on? You all capture me out in the field and decided to drag me out here. Why?”

“It wasn’t the plan, but this is better because we need you on the inside setting things up for our assault.” Storm growled and tossed my gear at me. “Now come on, we have to go deal with your partner.”

After getting everything but my weapons sorted, I’d begrudgingly followed Storm. Both Big Shot and Ficha were quick to follow, but I felt uncomfortable with them around. The building I was in was of an odd design. The hallway we walked through lead to a large open room. Inside sat what looked to be a normal family room that you’d find in a residential ruin. Even odder that the design, was the fact that steel beams and rebar punctured this place like a raider den.

As we strolled casually across what had once been a green lawn, I looked around. The normal assortment of decrepit sheet metal shacks and buildings made me feel like this place was a fairly large settlement, but there were no ponies to be seen. Only our hoofsteps echoed through this place. Again, all the other shacks and buildings were perforated with steel, most to the point of collapse.

On the ground all around us, were old and shattered bones. Some with rebar rods still through them. It was a more grisly sight than one would normally find among the old world. At least those ponies died doing normal things. This looked more like they were slaughtered in the streets and in their homes.

All except one. Before us, sat a large domed building. The cracking, grey exterior had weathered the years well, even for the steel and rebar jutting from it. All up it’s curved exterior, sat row after row of broken stadium lights, and the faded words painted under them sat too faded from time to even read.

I found my curiosity forcing me to speak out. “What happened to this place?”

“It happened a few years back,” Storm sighed as we trotted towards the open entrance. “When the alicorn monstrosities first appeared, this was the first and only place that they performed a coordinated attack.” She shook her head solemnly. “No pony knows if it was to announce their presence to the wastes or what, but whoever might have known why, died with this place.”

If it weren’t for the carpeted interior, and the broken glass doors that lead out to a patio in the back, I’d have said that it could have been a military installation. On the patio, a small statue caught my eye, but we turned and walked down a set of stairs before I got a chance to ask. The stairs lead to a large circular basement, where two figures stood over the beaten form of Null. Bluejay had been one I’d expected to see, but the other, was my own mother.

“Mom?” I gasped out. She turned around and smiled up at me for a moment. Without even thinking, I trotted over and threw my hooves around her in a hug. I was so glad to see her alive, that I’d forgotten all about the pain in my face. When I stepped back from the hug, her gaze turned to one of concern as she noticed my injuries. “What the hell is going on here?”

“I told them not to hurt you too badly.” She scowled at Storm as she spoke. “Bluejay and I were just working over your friend here for the information. Care to give us a hoof?”

Null coughed and spit up blood onto the floor. “I understood that you wanted to run from your husband, but this was unexpected.” He breathed with wheezing gasps, looking up to me curiously from his chair. “Was this the plan all along?”

“No, they didn't even expect to see us.” I sighed and shot an annoyed glance back at Storm. “Well, maybe most of them didn't.” She deadpanned at me, and I thought to myself that I’d need to have a good talk with her later.

“So you have now defected to their cause?” He gave a sigh that didn’t match the smirk he wore across his muzzle. “What did they promise you?”

“Nothing. I want to take Flint down.” I spoke in earnest to him. It was an underwhelming thing to hear myself say, and I’d honestly thought that maybe I’d have felt better to hear it from my own muzzle. Then again, Null’s astonished look would have beat any reaction I could have wanted to have.

“He gave you legs, the ability to walk again!” Null spat at me.

“And I'm going to thank him right before I blow his head open.” With a light touch, I reached up and put my hoof on his shoulder. “Don't you want to choose your own jobs again? To not have to be told that you’re just a piece of property that he owns?” I stared right into his eyes, only seeing a burning hatred returned to me through his gaze.

“Why would I help? After all he has given me,” He jerked his shoulder away from my hoof. “After all he has done for me!”

“You would still work for him? Even when he asks you to kill harmless ponies who could have been spared?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’d thought that Null was the rational pony among Flint’s hunters.

“IT. IS. A. JOB.” He screamed at us all, turning his burning glare around the room to each of us who stood here.

With what sat between a growl and a yell, Ficha stepped past me and planted a hard swing across Null’s jaw. A muffled snap and pained yelp came from Null as he was sent down to the floor.

“Do you feel nothing for the ponies lives you ended in Steel Junction?” Ficha shook his hoof as he stood over Null’s whimpering form. “Did killing them help Flint in any way?”

“I…” Null’s jaw was broken at an odd angle, and I was surprised he could even form words with it. “I try not to think of it.”

I pushed Ficha aside and lowered myself down to Null. “Could Jala not think of it?” Null had to be the rational pony I knew he could be. “What would she want you to do?” Using her against him was a low blow, but I’d hoped that it could swing his view.

He spat blood on my hooves.

“She is dead.” He gurgled at me. “I work to keep myself from that pain. I tried to attach myself to you to shield myself from that pain.” The anger he held in his eyes bled off, and he directed his gaze to the floor below him. “I do what I must to keep from feeling.”

“Everypony has their pain here.” Storm snorted. “But nopony here goes and blows up towns to hide it.”

His fury returned in an instant. “You can not understand what she meant to me!” His watery eyes looked up at me filled with rage. “I loved her!”

“You're dancing around the subject here.” I was pushed aside roughly, and found my mother impose herself on Null. It was then that I noticed that she wore an old leather holster on her foreleg. In it, sat an oddly designed gun. “Will you, or will you not help us?”

Null closed his eyes and breathed in a deep breath. “I can not.”

With more speed than I could process, Mom pulled the gun from her holster and fired. The back of Null’s head blasted out and coated the floor with his brain. Besides the ringing in my ears from the shot, the room was silent.

Just like that, he was dead.

“Mom…” I couldn’t believe that she’d done that. She glanced down at my horrified look, and gave a sigh out around the bit of her gun. With a grace that had been lacking in her actions, she returned it to it’s holster.

“You heard him, PC.” She turned to me and spoke as if nothing was wrong. “He wasn’t going to join us.”

“But, you couldn't have just kept him tied up?” I realized that I was cold on a job, but this was different!

“And what?” Her calm demeanor melted away. “Fed him? Housed him? For how long would we have kept him here?” She facehooved with a tone of disappointment to her words that I hardly felt I deserved. “We're trying to bring down the most infamous slave ring leader this side of the wasteland. We don't have the resources to play foalsitter for some zoni who might have well tried to kill us when this was all over anyway.”

“And that justifies killing him?” It didn’t feel like I was talking to my mother. The mare who’d raised me, who spent so much time working to avoid this kind of life. I was ripped from my thoughts as she gave me a hard slap across my already bruised muzzle. The shock of the hit made me sit down hard.

“What would you rather I have done!” She snapped.

“I don't know!” I screamed back at her. “But he didn't have to die!”

“You don’t understand, PC. I've run Celestia’s Angles to make up for the mistakes in my life.” She stepped past me as she explained away her actions like they meant nothing. “We’re trying to help those who can’t help themselves in the wastes. That’s why Flint has to die. Killing this stallion here was a tough call. It may not have looked it from where you sit, but it's my burden to carry as a leader.” She sighed and spoke calmly. “I made the decision, his death is not on you.”

Everypony but me turned to follower her as she left. I simply stared at Null’s corpse as they did. He hadn’t been a bad pony, just one who’d dealt with his choices. In time, I was sure that I could have helped him see what we all saw in Flint. At the same time, Null was somepony who could have been me. Had Caltrop not changed the way I saw everything, I would have become like him. The killer Flint wanted me to be in the first place.

The soft hoofsteps of somepony behind me made me turn to see who it was. Storm sat down next to me and hoofed out a cigarette and her lighter. With a flick, she popped it into her muzzle and lit it. It had been so long since I’d had a smoke, I just didn’t care about them anymore. I met Storm’s glance with a confused look.

“You are just full of surprises.” She muttered before she took a long drag off of her cigarette.

“How could you let Mom do that?” For being the high and mighty hero that everypony made her out to be, I’d finally been able to question her morals for once.

“There was a point, back in the day,” She sighed, blowing a ring of smoke out as she stared off into nothingness. “When I was convinced I could save everypony. That if I just pushed myself hard enough, I could keep every single one of them alive.”

“How does…” I found myself cut off by her hoof.

“Thinking that way, only got more of them killed.” She continued, taking another draw from her smoke. “Sacrifice is necessary to create change, it took me losing too many friends to finally realize that.”

“This isn’t about something ‘greater’!” Storm’s brand of ‘wisdom’ was always long winded and pointless. There was no villain, no epic struggle to fight. The days of wasteland heroes were long gone, only stories that were passed down now. Flint was just another pony who needed to die for what he’s done.

“Isn’t it?” She asked almost casually. “For what it’s worth, I think he would have listened to reason.” She pointed down and looked over to me. “Meeting Caltrop changed you, PC. You’re not the cold mare that we all once knew. You think that ponies can be helped, saved even.” She stared into my eyes as she talked, the blue in hers seeming to shine. “You have the potential to be so much more, to do so much good in the wasteland.” She reached a hoof over at me. “Let me teach you what I know.”

“No.” I recoiled and pulled myself away from her. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! “You talk about all the ‘good’ that you could do while you sit next to the corpse of somepony who you could have saved. He wasn’t a ‘necessary sacrifice’, he was a victim of your mentality.”

“That…” Storm blinked in surprise, and it was my turn to capitalize on her silence.

“If this is the way that you all want me to be, you can fuck right the hell off. You’re right that meeting Caltrop changed me.” I turned and walked for the stairs. “He may be misguided and stupid sometimes, but unlike me, he’s kind hearted.” From over my shoulder, I watched Storm’s gaze drop to the floor. “I’m going to kill Flint, with or without you, and then I’m going to spend the rest of my time with Caltrop away from all of you so I can finally get some Goddess damned peace in my life! Either being a hunter or hero, I fucking quit.”

With my point firmly made, I stormed off up the stairs and out the door. Fuck Storm. Fuck Mom. This was my life, and I was going to live it my way. A rumble of thunder punctuated the dark thoughts that brewed in my mind. With the rain, came an overwhelming sense that I’d laid everything out on the table. The cards were all down in this wasteland game, and it was time to find out who would win.

Even if I had to cheat, I’d make damn sure that it would be Caltrop and I who came out on top.

“PC, wait up!” Bluejay cried from behind me.

“Why.” I snorted and continued plodding through the dirt.

“Because you’re going the wrong way!” She groaned and panted as she trotted up behind me.

“Of course I am.” I never claimed that I’d been the best at directions, but this was just par for the course. Mother always told me I’d needed to invest in a compass, but did I ever listen? “What do you really want, Blue?”

If there was anypony out there like Storm had described, so full of potential for ‘good’, then it was Bluejay. She’d been a stable dweller, a slave, a free mare, and now a bounty hunter that I could now say without a doubt was far more successful than I’d ever been. She was the hero that the wasteland needed, not me.

“Other than turning you the right direction, your mother wanted me to give you this.” She opened her saddlebag and levitated out the holster and gun that she’d killed Null with. “Storm’s pissed that you left her rifle in that mountain hanger, and she’s keeping your revolver.”

“I don’t care.” I grumbled, taking the gun from her levitation with my own. Carefully, I drew it out of it’s holster too look at it. As I’d remarked before, it’s design was strange. It had a grip like the ones on a semi-auto pistol, but just in front of the trigger guard was the cylinder of a revolver. I don’t know why anypony would have wanted to mash the two designs together, but so long as it worked, I didn’t care. “Thanks.”

“Just, one more thing before you head back.” She worked her hoof over the pipbuck strapped on her other foreleg. “What can you tell me about why Flint sent you out? We had set up this operation hoping to take out just one of his hunters, but every site had at least two show up.” She looked at me in concern. “Why did he send teams of two?”

“Flint seemed paranoid that either you or Red Eye are going to attack him.” I shrugged as I strapped the holster to my forehoof. “He sent us out to find out what was going on while he got ready to defend the compound.”

“It has to be us he's worried about. Red Eye is the stallion paying for his shit.” She muttered to herself before she put a hoof to her lips in thought. “Still, why would he think that Red Eye was gunning for him?”

“Hell if I know.” I looked around at where I was. This wasn’t an area that I commonly traversed, and nothing looked familiar to me. Now that I thought about it, I was kinda glad that she came and stopped me.

“Without knowing what Red Eye's end game for all this is, I don't see why Red Eye would be a threat.” She sighed as she continued to talk to herself. With a scratch of her mane, she looked up to me and perked her ears. “Maybe Flint has plans to overthrow Red Eye, and Red Eye is catching on. What do you think?”

“Again, hell if I know.” This wasn’t something I cared to deal with. I just wanted to go kill Flint.

“If anything, you’re the closest thing we have to a reliable source on what either of them are up to.” She nodded and sounded like she wasn’t getting that I just didn’t care. “We need all the info you can bring down from that place. Defences, guard numbers, everything you can find out about Red Eye’s operations in Filly.”

“Look, I’m going to kill that bastard, that’s all.” I snapped, so incredibly tired of this conversation. “Do what you want, I don’t care about my mother’s gang. Find your own intel out because I won’t do it for you.”

“PC, you can’t just walk away.” She reached a hoof out in anger. “You owe me!”

“For what?” I laughed at the absurd notion.

“For Burst Flare!” She screamed at me. “She was my friend, and when you killed her, I just let it go. I wanted to make you pay for what you did, but I just let it go.” She eyed me angrily. “I promised her that I’d help her get free, and she died because of you. So you fucking owe me.”

“That was her fucking choice to help, not mine!” I shouted so hard that my head spun and my legs hurt. “I’ve made my peace with that mistake, and I refuse to let you or Storm fucking bring me down over it anymore.” Bluejay spun around in anger, her hooves shaking as she tried to stop herself from acting.

“I can’t believe that I felt jealous of you.” She seethed, not even looking back at me. “Storm still believed that you could be a good mare, but I see that she was wrong.”

“I am not the mare she wants me to be, that’s you.” Saying the words made me feel like I’d opened a valve inside myself, and all the pressure was just releasing now. “I don’t want to hurt anypony anymore. No hunting, no ‘heroing’ around the wastes.” With all that pressure going, I felt weak as my anger too left. “I just want to live my life with Caltrop, away from everypony else.”

“Then let us help you.” Bluejay’s voice quivered, but was calmer than before. “So long as we’re both working towards the same goal, there’s no need to go in alone.”

“I…” Without my anger to cloud my vision, I could think about what going in alone really meant. It meant trying to figure out a way to get Flint alone. Finding the time to kill him when he wasn’t ready. Even then, I had no plan of escape, no plan to get Caltrop and Sandy out of there. From where I sat, it had begun to look more and more like a suicide run.

“Just one more run of intel.” Bluejay turned her head back and looked at me, a warm expression on her muzzle. “Just find out what we need, and we’ll meet you at the forest road.” Her expression dimmed. “Then we can fight, and he’ll get what he deserves.”

“He’s already paranoid.” I sighed. “He might not buy the fact that I’ve escaped.” Flint was a lot smarter than I’d given him credit for. “What if he figures it out?”

“Then you have to sell it to him.” Her voice in that moment was just like Storm’s had always been. Cold, determined, and full of the authority that she believed herself to have. “Everything depends on you pulling this off.” The soft smile returned to her. “I know you can do it.”

“Everything I’ve tried to do since Burst Flare has ended in utter failure.” I muttered. Even so, I needed to try. “Just, be ready when I get there.” One last job, that was it. I could do it if it meant that I finally got to live a life of peace.

“Thank you, PC.” Bluejay nodded and pointed to a set of rolling hills that stretched off near the mountains. “Just keep heading that direction. It’s another day or so until you reach Flint’s from here, but there shouldn’t be too much in the way to worry about.” Simply starting up at a trot, I headed in the direction she pointed at. As I passed her, she reached her hoof out and stopped me.

“You know, you’re a better mare than you think you are.” She spoke as I looked over at her. “Even if you’re not the mare Storm wanted you to be, I know how well you work, how well you fight!” The a smile across her muzzle spread. “Just think about it. You and I could make a real difference not just out here, but everywhere.”

“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Storm, so listen up.” I pushed her hoof down out of my way. “After this? I quit.”

“Don’t throw away your potential!” She snorted and called out from behind me!

“Not going to happen!” I called back without sparing even a glance. “Unless it concerns the wasteland as a whole, count me out.”

“I know you can feel it, PC!” She shouted. “Something big is coming in the wasteland! Help me fight it!”

I did feel it. I’ve felt like it’s been coming for quite some time now. Funny thing about it though, was that I no longer cared. Ponies that scrambled to be king for a day didn’t concern me anymore, nor did those who wanted to depose said kings. With a light touch, I reached into my bags and pulled out the golden ear of corn.

“Soon, this will all be over.” I muttered to myself. “And I can finally start living my life.”

--Chapter End--
“It’s the final countdown.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: Taking Stock
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

It's been a while since I've done one of these, and it's high past time I did one again seeing as this story is slowly drawing to a close.

Many thanks to Kkat for the wonderful work that inspired so many to work in this universe. Thanks to Somber, No One, and Mimezinga, for crafting the wonderful stories that got me into writing! And thank you to so many other authors, some friends, some unknowing, for your other works that have guided me and helped to inspire me as well. Lastly, I want to thank all of you who have read anything of mine at all. Just giving these story a chance means more to me than you'll ever know.

Chapter 40 - Professionalism

I didn’t have time for this.

“Fuckin bitch!” The nopony raider screamed at me as he cradled his leg. His dead compatriots lay scattered around the various rocks nearby, felled by my gun because he couldn’t sell himself as the ‘hapless victim’ to me. I’d seen this sort of ambush setup before from a distance. A raider or two cries out for help when a caravan or something is nearby. Good samaritans hear the cries, go to help, and get murdered for being so stupid.

Thing was, I wasn’t a good samaritan.

In my magic, I’d held the revolver pistol that mom had given me. It was odd to use this caliber after having used a forty four for so long, but I had to say that my shots have never been more accurate. Maybe instead it was just the odd design of the gun that I could thank, but I didn’t care. I pointed the gun down at the stallion, who growled at me.

“Let me live.” His determined eyes were locked on me instead of the object threatening his imminent demise. “tell yah where da crew is if yah do.

“Why would I care?” I grunted and pressed the gun against his head.

“Cause dey got prisoners an shit.” He smirked as he spoke. The constant trickle of blood flowing down his leg meant that if he didn’t fix it soon, it wouldn’t matter if I used a bullet on him or not. “Stole ‘em from some slaver.”

That got me to cock my eyebrow.

“Yeah, I know yah dat asshole’s hitmare.” He shook as he spoke, he was going into shock from blood loss and that made him panic. “I seen yah face on da wanted posters. Say yah do work fer him, could be worth yah time.” His pinprick eyes dropped down to his wound, and he moved to put pressure on it. “I could tell-”

“I don’t care.” I said with a sharp pull of the trigger.

The cylinder, I’d unlatched it with my magic and dumped out the eight empty shells. They clattered to the dirt, dropping into the blood that slowly drained from the half of the raider’s head that was still intact. The red corner of a small object in the rags he’d once called his barding caught my eye. I slipped it free from his possession and found it to be a pack of cigarettes.

I flopped open the box and lifted one of the two sticks to my horn. Concentrating on my heat spell, I waited to hear the sizzle of the old paper before I popped the stick into my muzzle. A long draw off of it helped me to relax for a moment, allowing me to revel in the silent wasteland that rolled off for miles in every direction.

Only, it wasn’t silent. From ahead, I’d heard the sound of hoofsteps, along with an odd tune being hummed. I pursed my lips around the cigarette as I used my magic to rifle through my saddlebags. A quick search for more ammo turned up nothing, and that tended to be a problem when I had ponies I might need to shoot.

The rolling hills around me might provide some cover, but the smell of my smoke would definitely draw their attention. Continuing to search my bags, I felt a familiar shape in my magic. With care, I’d drawn out number six and broke it open. One twenty gauge shell still sat unused and ready. At least it was something.

“Probably just some raiders.” The voice was familiar, and at hearing it, I put number six back into my bags. Sitting down with a sigh, I’d returned to enjoying my smoke. From ahead, Both Brushfire and Dykem crested the hill across from me.

“Doesn’t matter to me, I’m hungry enough I’ll eat anypony.” Brushfire spoke up before her eye caught me. “Shit, girl. You look like hell.”

“Well, more so than usual.” Dykem added with a giggle as the young filly messed with Brushfire’s charcoal and gold striped mane. “You know Flint isn’t happy that you two haven’t reported back.”

“You two are in for a bit of a flank whooping when you get back.” She looked around for a second, most likely looking for Null. “Where is the invisible asshole?” Nailed it. “Too shy to show himself?”

“Null’s dead.” I said without any real thought about it. Both Brushfire and Dykem’s smug expressions fell away.

“Shit, really?” Brushfire for once since I’d met her, sounded concerned. “Damn, I’d thought that asshole would live forever.” She scrunched up her muzzle and looked straight at me. “How the hell did it happen?”

“Flint was right, somepony’s after him.” I levitated the cigarette out of my muzzle and blew a ring of smoke out at her. This was the sell that would guarantee my freedom. “No idea who, but they worked us over pretty hard.”

“Well, shit.” Brushfire hung her head. “There goes my lunch break then.” She looked longingly at the bloody corpses strewn about. She ran her tongue along her lips for a moment before perking her ears. “Maybe just a quick bite to go. Dyk, can you open the tank?” With a hopeful glance at my cigarette, she smirked. “Care to give me a light?”

I nodded and levitated my smoke over to her. Dykem tore herself from messing with Brushfire’s mane to give a quick buck at the yellow valve lever that stuck from the side of the large fuel tank strapped to the side of Brushfire. The silver fuel hose that snaked across her back stiffened as the fuel fed through to the large flamer strapped across her other side. My burning butt lit up the small pilot light that jutted in front of the ash covered flamer nozzle, bringing a wide smile to Brush’s muzzle.

“Just, a quick question.” Dykem squeaked as she flopped herself back against the back of Brush’s head. “How did it happen? How did he die?” While it didn’t feel to me like it had any suspicion behind it, the question had caught me off guard.

“Shot to the head, over in an instant.” I still couldn’t get over how easy it felt like it’d been for Mom to do. I realize that I haven’t spent too much time at home these last few years, but it was like she was a different mare entirely. “It was this gun here, actually.” I levitated out Mom’s pistol, which drew an odd look from Brushfire.

“Wait, how did they manage to get the drop on you two?” She cocked an eyebrow as she asked. Dykem might not have been suspicious, but Brushfire was far too inquisitive for her own good.

“What, are you with the Ministry of Morale now? Maybe you’d like me to draw you a picture?” I spat at her and pulled my smoke back. With a grunt, I shoved the gun into it’s holster and the cigarette butt back into my muzzle. “They beat the shit out of both of us. His death gave me the opportunity to get the fuck out of there, so why don’t you back the fuck off of me? Flint’s already going to be pissed that he was right, and I’m the one who has to tell him that they got Null.”

“Hey, I ain’t sayin’ the shit didn’t go down like you said.” She shook her head and walked over to one of the dead raiders. “Just, Null was a tough guy is all. Hard to believe he went out like that.” With a hiss, she released a gout of flame from her weapon. The magical fire engulfing one of the bodies in an orange glow. “If he was less of a fucking perv, I might have tried harder to get to know him.”

“There, there.” Dykem gave Brushfire’s mane a few good pats. “We’ll all miss him.”

“Yeah, sur…” I was cut off as I’d tried to step forward. My legs didn’t respond, and it tripped me up. With a whump and a small bit of dust, I crashed down into the dirt. “What now?” I groaned and tried to roll myself over. My cybernetic legs however, refused to move at anything more than a snails pace. I toggled the battery pack’s power switch a few times, but doing that simply made it worse. It seemed that I was out of luck, and out of power.

“When was the last time you had your batteries charged?” Dykem snorted between sadistic giggles.

“Synchro was supposed to have charged it just a few days ago.” I sighed. “Can I get a hoof here?”

“And carry you all the way back?” Another burst from Brushfire’s flamer charred the raider pony she’d been staring at. She smiled at the flames licked his body until it was nearly all black. “Yeah, screw that.” She reached a hoof forward and tapped the smoking raider’s leg lightly, pulling her hoof back from the heat. “Just sit tight and I’ll get Flint to send Spectre for you.”

“And I’m just supposed to sit out here until you do?” I grumbled, contemplating just how far I could crawl on my own. “It’s still almost a full day’s travel back!”

“Eeyup.” She said before she leaned forward and pressed her nose against the leg. Dykem shut her eyes as tightly as she could, wrapping her hoof around her muzzle to shield herself from the smell. Brush took in a deep whiff, smiling as she did before opening her muzzle and biting down on the charred flesh with a sickening crisp to it. She let out a delightful moan as she chewed at the leg ravenously, forcing Dykem to abandon her perch and hop down towards me.

“Don’t worry about us telling Master Flint about Null.” She squeaked as she wandered her way over to me. “I’ve still got some favors to earn from him, and I don’t need him in a foul mood.” She smirked and tapped at what were effectively metal weights strapped to me. “I could always give Synchro a hard time for you about this,” She gave another little giggle, “Then again, being his wife, I’d think it’d be your job from now on.”

“Goddesses, don’t remind me.” Not only did I have to worry about somehow getting both Caltrop and Sandy out of harms way, but some part of me was convinced that I needed to help Synchro as well. “Just… get Spectre’s flank out here as soon as possible.”

I did my best to drag myself a few feet over to a rock I could lean myself up against. It took me only a moment, but I unhooked my legs and removed the battery pack. No use wearing it if I wouldn’t be using it. I used my magic and forced the cyberlegs to compress as much as they could, and stuck them under my coat. Maybe if I curled myself up enough under my coat, any passers by wouldn’t see me.

With a sickening snap, my attentions were pulled over to Brushfire. She held a bloody knife in her muzzle, and the now severed rear leg of the raider she’d been eating. With a delighted squeal, she looked over to me and shot her eyes between me and her knife. After a moment, I understood what she wanted, and levitated the knife from her muzzle.

“Now this is good eatin’!” She sighed out in pleasure as she adjusted herself and her hold on the leg. She dangled it in front of her flamer and bit down on her saddlebit. Another burst of flame cooked the rest of the severed limb, and with a squee, she quickly popped the section she’d taken a bite out of into her muzzle.

Carefully, I levitated the knife she’d used over. It was an odd design for a combat knife, sporting a bright blue handle with a yellow lightning bolt on it. It looked far too clean for somepony the likes of Brushfire to own, but I didn’t care enough to ask where she’d gotten it.

“Ahem?” Brushfire mumbled through a muzzle full of cooked raider. I levitated the knife back over and dropped it into her hoof when she’d held it out. Quite easily, she slipped it into a small sheath for it that was tucked between her and the flamer tank.

“Just think of it this way,” Dykem broke the awkward silence that filled the air, “You’ve got the next twenty four hours off. Try to enjoy it!”

“Yeah, whatever.” I sighed. Enjoy my time when I’m sore as all hell, out of ammo, and stranded around a bunch of corpses that will stink worse than anything by sundown. Yeah, it’s not exactly anypony’s ideal vacation spot.

“C’mon, squirt. Best be heading out.” Brushfire grunted. As Dykem bounced her way back towards the deranged mare, I sat and watched as Brush tried to figure out a way to get her saddle harness to hold the charred leg in front of her. Amazingly, she got it to stick in there, and she happily started to chow down on it as Dykem retook her place on her back. “just hang tight. Twenty four hours from now you’ll be able to tell Flint aaaaall about it.”

As they walked off, I couldn’t help but think of how badly this would probably end for not just me, but Caltrop and Sandy too. Twenty four hours wasn’t long to figure out what to tell him, let alone to convince myself it was true. If he didn’t believe me, if I couldn’t sell this lie, then we were all well and truly fucked.

The sunlight gave way to the dark of night as it did every day. The quiet wastes around me didn’t stir much more than usual in the cold night, but I found myself sitting there unable to fall asleep. Minutes dragged by at the pace of hours, and I was slowly reaching the verge of tearing my own mane out in boredom. The thought to beat my head against the rock next to me until I passed out had crossed my mind more than once, but it was then I remembered something that should still have been in my bags.

With a soft whine, I scrunched up my muzzle and cast my dim light spell, letting me see into the pockets of my coat as I rummaged through it. At the bottom of the saddle bags I’d sewn into it, I found the small wooden box I was looking for.

I flipped open the small gold latch that held it shut, and swung the lid open. Inside, sat three small glass orbs. I know that I’d told Cocoa that memory orbs were useless, at the very least they might help me pass the time. Looking at them, I found that the first one in line was the one I’d already viewed. The second one would obviously be the one I viewed next, but what worried me was a large scratch running down it’s side. I’d heard that damaged orbs were dangerous, but at the same time, Cocoa said that she had viewed them all before.

Deciding that the risk was worth beating my boredom, I carefully dumped out the middle orb onto the dirt. With a snap, I closed the other two in the case and returned it to my bags. No sense in losing them if I didn’t have to!

With a wiggle, I got myself comfortable. I’d made sure that my legs and their battery were still tucked away under me before I lowered my head down to the dirt. There, in the dim light of my spell, I stared at the small orb. With just the lightest touch of magic, I reached out and grabbed it, allowing myself to be drawn inside without a fight.

OOOoooOOOoooOOO

The body I was in felt much like the pegasus mare’s I’d been in before, and I was definitely a mare again. Sleek, athletic, but this time I felt full of much more energy. A pair of wings flexed behind me, constricted by the uniform I wore. Along with that uncomfortableness, a pair of sunglasses sat perched annoyingly on the end of my muzzle, and I stared over them at a fairly portly looking stallion behind a desk.

The tan colored stallion stared right back at me with his emerald eyes. He seemed as annoyed as my host, twitching the short mustache at the end of his muzzle as he gazed at me. In his hooves, he toyed with a small gold rectangle, flipping it end over end nervously.

“So as you can see, General,” Silver Shill spoke from my left, my host turning her gaze to him for only a moment. “There happens to be quite a lot of bits missing from the budget here.” Reaching a hoof forward, Silver set down a folder that had been nearly overstuffed with documents. The moment he let go of it, they slid out across the desk in a haze of magic, and levitated over toward the general.

My host quickly glanced toward the far corner of the room. A lithe unicorn stood boredly in the corner, wearing a pinstripe suit and carrying a briefcase that touted the initials O.I.A. across it. His horn glowed with the same aura as the papers, and I was curious as to why he stood all the way over there. He too didn’t spare more than a glance at my host, instead focusing on his task.

“Who brings a lawyer to a budget meeting?” My host uttered under her own breath. The voice was familiar, though I couldn’t remember her name.

“It’s not uncommon, Grace.” Shill shifted and whispered over at her. The nuances of Pre-wasteland life were lost on me, and I was beginning to regret even starting to watch this orb.

The general shifted uneasily in his chair, giving me just enough of a glance at his side to see that he had a pair of folded wings as well. For a moment, I thought he was going to speak, but I was mistaken. He simply sat there and studied over the various papers before him.

“And why did you bring this to his attention?” The lawyer spoke up.

“T-this amount of money is far from trivial, and it will certainly raise questions.” Shill stammered.

“Then am I to understand that you are accusing General Stein of misappropriating these… supposedly missing funds?” The lawyer asked even more impatient than before.

“No,” Shill sounded appalled at the lawyer’s suggestion. “As the head of the budgetary committee, I’m simply trying to figure out where it’s gone is all.” He sighed and facehooved. “Earlier this evening, I’d spoken with Ministry Mare Applejack about it, and she assured me that the bits were appropriated for a project that General Stein here was in charge of.”

The general gave out a sigh and looked over to his lawyer. It was the only time so far that he stopped toying with the gold object in his hooves, and even then he gripped it tightly. With a stiff nod, he relaxed again and leaned back in his chair.

“I can confirm for you that the missing bits have been allocated to a set of black projects, strictly off the books.” The lawyer snorted. “Projects that are far above your clearance and pay grade.” He paused and turned to look right at my host. “This conversation alone is something that your pilot is uncleared to hear.” Something about the way that he said that made my host tense up, and I felt her muzzle pull into a grimace.

“I’ll deal with the requisite forms for that, but I need something to take back to the committee to explain the gap in funds.” Major Shill spoke up defensively, almost verbally jumping in the way of my host. He turned back towards the General with a chuckle “Gotta appease the brass upstairs, you know?” The General simply sat in silence, seemingly unamused by Shill’s attempt to defuse the tension in the room. “You probably know how it is more than I do.”

“Major Shill,” The lawyer spoke up again, “I’m afraid that without the proper clearance, this conversation is over.” He raised a hoof and pointed it behind us. “If you’d like to send your concerns to your superiors, the General will see what he can do to give them the answers they seek, but there is nothing more that the General can answer for you today.”

For a moment, nopony moved, simply sitting in an awkward silence.

Major Shill sighed and got to his hooves. “Thank you for your time.” With a glance over to my host, he nodded for her to follow, and the two of them turned and walked out of the office.

See, this was why I didn’t bother spending my fucking time in these things! They were nothing but drama half the time, and the other half of them had you experience some ridiculous amount of pain or some shit. Goddesses, why couldn’t they have put a ‘I’m bored and want to leave’ option when viewing these things.

The building that they walked through was strikingly simplistic, and it didn’t look like any military building I’d seen in my travels. Most of this place was wall to wall filing cabinets, and the way that ponies scurried about toting files around made me feel like this place was nowhere near any of the front lines. My host and Major Shill turned and trotted down a long hallway. Row after row of closed doors lined the hall, all the way until you reached a large pair of elevator doors at the end.

“This is bullshit and you know it.” My host whispered.

“Grace…” Shill whispered with just the smallest hint of anger. “Not now.”

“Fuck that!” She whispered at him again. “That General is up to something, I just know it.”

“Grace!” Major Shill harshly snapped back in a whisper, sticking his hoof out to stop her where she was. “I brought you to this meeting because after the artillery attack up north, you were afraid somepony was after my life.” He wore a stern gaze that commanded my host’s attention. “It is not your place to even begin asking questions.”

“Sir, you can’t seriously...” My host tried to speak, but held her tongue when he raised his hoof.

“I know he’s holding something back, but I can’t push any further yet without proof.” He brought his hoof up to his chin and rubbed at it in thought.

The soft ding of the elevator at the end of the hall pulled both his and my host’s attention. A trio of Stallions in sharp looking pink suits and hats emerged from it. Their eyes locked onto Shill and my host, and they trotted up briskly to them. It wasn’t until they got a bit closer that I recognized the one in the lead was the same blue stallion from the orb that took place back in Timber. He looked a bit older now, and even in his neatly pressed suit, he looked more disheveled than he had in that orb.

“Major Silver Shill?” The stallion spoke in a very direct manner.

“Y-yes?” He stammered. “Can I help you, Officer?”

“I regret to inform you that you are being placed under arrest.” As he spoke, his horn flashed and a pair of magical manacles appeared around Major Shill’s forehooves.

“Did the General put you up to this?” My host spat out and basically threw herself in the way of the Stallion. “What’s the charge?”

Another flash from the stallion’s horn preempted another set of manacles, these ones however occupied themselves around my host’s forehooves.

“Conspiracy to commit murder against a head mare of the ministries.” The stallion angrily pressed his hoof against my host’s chest. “Any further actions to impede me or my officers will be considered aiding and abetting. Do I make myself clear?”

“Grace, it’s fine.” Shill shouted to her. “It’s fine, Officer, I’ll go with you willingly. An accusation like this however is quite serious.” He pushed his way past my host. She stumbled for a moment, but turned her eyes to him with an expression of confusion. “Can you just please explain to me what happened, Officer?”

“A half hour ago in Manehatten, an attempt was made on Miss Applejack’s life.” He turned around and faced back towards the elevators. When he did, several gawking ponies disappeared back behind the doors of the hallway. “Seeing as you had recently visited her, we’re simply chasing down every lead.”

“I owe Applejack everything, I would never harm her.” Major Shill spoke in a reverent tone. “Her honesty set me on the straight and narrow path long ago, and we will cooperate fully if it means getting to the bottom of this.” He turned and looked toward my host. “Won’t we, Grace.”

“Y-yes, Major.” My host spoke, starting to shake at the knees a bit.

“Good.” The blue stallion nodded and turned to my host. It was now that I could barely make out the name sewn into his jacket just above the breast pocket as P. Pierce. Definitely the same stallion as before. “We’ve got a pair of virtibucks on loan up on the roof. They will take us back to the hub in Filly.”

“What about my Vertibuck?” My host asked.

“It will be impounded until the investigation clears you and the Major of any involvement.” Mister Pierce spoke before pointing to the elevators. “The sooner we do that, the sooner we can find who did this.”

From there, my host and Major Shill were escorted to the elevators. As everypony piled in, the image of the orb became increasingly unfocused, and began to fade away. I started to wonder to myself if the General really could have enough pull to orchestrate a hit on one of the old ministry leaders of equestria.

No. If I could beat that thought out of my head, I would. I refused to become embroiled in a mystery that ended with the rest of equestria almost two centuries ago. This is exactly the reason that I’m not going to watch the last orb. None of this shit got me any closer to killing Flint, or spending a peaceful lifetime with Caltrop.

That had to be my priority. Period.

OOOoooOOOoooOOO

Waking up, I found that the wastes were still quiet and dark. While it was better than loud and full of explosions, I found myself wishing that morning had already arrived. With a sigh, I carefully hoofed the memory orb into one of my coat pockets, and settled in for a long night.

I’d awoken to the soft patter of rain. Generously sized puddles sat all around me, so I could assume it’d been raining for quite some time. The sun had at some point risen, but the dark clouds above kept more of it’s light out than normally filtered through. I’d given my tired eyes a rub and looked around, happy that the chilled rain had numbed my still sore face. Nothing had changed overnight, and the dead raiders still lay strewn about where they’d died. However, as much as I hated the bitch, Spectre still hadn’t arrived. At the very least, the smell of burned flesh was gone from the air.

As I curled myself close to the rock again, I contemplated what to do with myself. Though I would have made it back by now, I couldn’t have been certain that Brushfire didn’t lollygag and take her time getting back. This meant that trying to get an extra amount of sleep was out of the question, as was viewing the other memory orb. Not that I’d considered that a viable option anyway.

Remembering what I’d picked up yesterday, I shifted myself to pull out the pack of cigarettes. It squished in my magic, and immediately I cursed myself for not putting it in a different pocket. Drawing the pack out, the soaked back fell apart in my magic, and I tossed what little I’d held onto to the dirt.

A bright flash lit up the world around me, and it forced me to squint. I’d thought that maybe Spectre had arrived, but the deep throated rumble of thunder that accompanied it said I hadn’t been that lucky.

After nearly an hour of waiting, I’d begun to run through the lie I’d feed to Flint when I got back. We’d been captured by Red Eye’s agents, and they attempted to turn us over to their side. Null outright refused, and they shot him for it.

I scrunched up my muzzle when I thought about it.

“Why wouldn’t we have used our magic?” I whispered. If I mentioned the anti-magic rings, there’s no way I could have gotten out of there. If I don’t, then it begged the question to how two spellcasters could have been held like we were. “Shit.”

Yet another flash, this time not followed by any thunder. I’d had just enough time to look up to see Spectre looming over me before the image of Synchro’s shop was shoved into my mind. With an arcane snap that I could feel resonate through my own horn, we were transported back to the compound. Thankfully, this time Spectre didn’t leave me hanging a few feet in the air, and had sensibly placed me on the floor.

“Fix her legs.” She called out to the back of the barn. “Flint will want to see her.” She’d turned her piercing gaze down to me. She didn’t say anything, but her stare didn’t seem as hate filled as it normally did. Before I could get a chance to discern why, she flashed away, and Synchro trotted out from around the far pile of junk.

“H-hey there.” He stammered, only glancing at me for a moment before averting his eyes. “What’s wrong with them now?”

“I think they just ran out of charge.” I grumbled and wrapped my magic around the cybernetic appendages and the dead battery harness. I drew them out from under my coat and lifted them onto his workbench. Once they were up there, Synchro quietly got to work on them while I flopped back down onto the floor and simply laid there.

After a few minutes of tinkering, Synchro finally turned around and spoke up. “Looks like there was another faulty connection that was draining power.” He smirked, but it was plainly forced. “I’m sure Null would have told you, if he could.” He turned back to the bench and simply stood there for a moment. “Was… it at least quick?”

“It all happened so fast.” I wasn’t sure what to tell Synchro. Part of me wanted to tell him the same lie I’d feed to Flint, but after him talking to me on the hill the other day, I’m not so sure he deserves to go down with the others. He’d been a slave his whole life, and he went out of his way to try to do what his mother had told him. “Synchro, we need to talk.”

“I know you don’t want to be with me.” He scoffed. “There’s nothing more…”

“Synchro.” I growled and glared at him. It was enough of a shock to him that he stopped and stared at me. “I mean it. We need to talk.” At the very least, if it came down to it, I’d kill him myself if he didn’t want to go with our side. “You’ll come over tonight, after sundown. Alright?”

A hopeful smile spread across his muzzle and he gave me a soft nod. “PC, I…”

He was cut off by a loud gasp, and Sandy squeakily calling out, “Friend!” The quick patter of her paws against the dirt prompted me to turn toward what I knew was coming. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been fast enough. Sandy slammed into me fast enough that she bounced off of my chest and tumbled across the floor to the other side of me.

“Easy there!” Caltrop chuckled out. Sandy’s bright pink eyes locked onto me as she scrambled back up and dove at me again, wrapping her arms around me in a small furry hug. I caught a glimpse of Syncro’s dejected expression as he turned back around to his work bench. “Woah, dey really did a number on yah!” Caltrop’s concern was just as misplaced as ever, but I was just glad to hear his voice again.

“It looks worse than it is.” I smiled as I wrapped my hooves around Sandy. “It’s good to see you two again.”

“Oooo!” Sandy squealed in delight. “Look at what we found!” She pushed herself away from me before clawing at her little yellow vest. Out of the one pocket that still remained on it, she drew out a rubbery blue tube. Carefully, she put it to her lips and blew. The old balloon inflated up quite surprisingly well, the faded Ministry of Morale logo on it bulging out as she held it. “It’s so pretty!” She giggled and bobbled it around in her grasp.

Far be it for me to understand how her claws worked, but seeing her use such a delicate object with them was just confusing. Then, as if the universe had only momentarily not been paying attention, the balloon burst with a loud Pop!

“The hell!” Synchro snapped and nearly fell over, putting a hoof to his chest.

The four of us sat in silence, trading glances for a moment before I felt a tickle in my throat. I couldn’t help it, but a giggle forced it’s way out, and I just let it go. Laughter, pure and unhindered forced itself from me so hard that my sides hurt.

Surprisingly, Synchro was the next to break. He dropped down against his workbench and writhed about as he laughed. Caltrop joined in and collapsed down next to me, leaving Sandy just standing there with a confused look on her face. Well, what I’d assumed was a confused look, because my eyes were filled with tears from how much laughing hurt. After a moment, she too was lost to a gigglefit, and the four of us rolled around on the floor hysterically.

I don’t know what came over us, but it was something that felt good. For those few minutes, my mother’s gang, Null’s death, and Flint’s problems didn’t matter. All the stress melted and gave way to ridiculous laughter. For what felt like the first time in forever, I could finally just let go, and feel happy with those I’ve grown to care about so much.

--Chapter End--
“It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned:1
Perks Earned: Team Player - You have learned the basic skills of teamwork and sharing. Good for you! Whenever all members of the party are within moving range of your character, he or she gains +5% to all skills.

Chapter 41 - La vie en rose

“Enchanted balloons?” I snorted.

“Yeah,” Synchro hence, still sore like the rest of us from our laughing fits. “Here, in the base of the balloon, you see this wire?” He pointed his hoof to just the faintest line of copper. “It was enchanted, probably keeping the laughter spell for if the balloon broke.”

“Huh,” It didn’t really matter to me, but I guess it’d be good to know if Sandy had any more of those balloons. “I wonder why they’d make them like that.” I turned to Caltrop, who looked like he was staring off up at Flint’s villa with a blank expression. “Where did you two even find these?” I asked him, watching as it seemed like none of my words even registered. “Caltrop?” Still, his gaze was unchanged. “Equis to Caltrop…?”

It took waving my hoof in front of his muzzle to snap him out of his trance.

“Ah!” He flailed his forehooves at me. “Da hell!” From the way he scrunched up his face, I think his brain was struggling to come back to the real world. “I thought I saw somethin’ weird in da window…”

“That’s nice, but I asked you a question.” Seriously, this is the stallion I fell in love with? “You know what, nevermind.” I sighed before looking back to Synchro. “How long until you can get my legs up and running again?”

“It won’t be tonight,” He spoke with a smile. For a moment, there was an awkward pause from him. “I mean, not because of me coming to your room.” He scrambled to recover and honestly it only made it seem more awkward. “Because that’s not what I’m all about, you know?” He cleared his throat. “The legs need a major overhaul. Best I can do for you is tomorrow morning.”

“Alright.” I sighed and scooted myself back toward Caltrop. “Mind heading up with me to see Flint? I need to discuss what happened with him.”

“Sure.” Caltrop’s expression turned to worry as he quickly got to his hooves. “Sandy, yah stay here an’ keep synchro company, alright?” Without a thought, he turned around and started to trot out.

“Okay!” Sandy gasped excitedly. “We’re going to have so much fun while you’re gone!” With a delighted squeal, she zipped over to one of the junk piles and immediately started to climb up it.

“Yeah, you go on ahead. I’ll meet you up there.” I sighed out and scooted myself along the floor. The metal caps on my hind legs scraped across the floor noisily.

“Shit!” Caltrop hissed and turned around, his cheeks blazing from embarrassment. “Sorry. Let me help yah out.” He trotted back, turned around, and quickly lined himself up in front me. Carefully, he lowered himself down to the floor. “Just climb on an’ I’ll take yah up there.”

Not exactly enjoying the prospect of riding Caltrop around all night, I thought about telling him to take me back home to get my wheelchair. No. If I went home, I’d probably flop onto the bed and not move again until tomorrow. Best to get this done now.

“Bet it’s not the first time you’ve been mounted from behind.” I muttered under my breath, pulling myself up onto his back.

“Yer damn right it ain’t!” He cast a sly look back at me. “How do yah think I got ta be so good with yah in bed?” That was something we didn’t need to share in public! Goddesses my cheeks felt like they were on fire. “Gotta learn from experience.”

“Wow.” Synchro grunted as he turned to get down to working on my legs. “Did not need to know that.”

“What? Don’t knock it till yah try it!” Caltrop called back as he started to walk us out of the old barn. “Besides, might get whatever it is yah got so far up yah ass...”

I smacked Caltrop in the side with my forehoof hard enough that he whimpered.

“You boys play nice.” I snapped at him. The last thing I needed was another argument to spark a duel between them again. “Besides, I’m still angry at you for that shit you pulled.”

“But…!” Caltrop whined as we walked.

“Don’t give me that.” With another, softer hit, I shut him up again. “We have enough shit going down that I don’t need you screwing around.” He let out a soft whimper. “Look, things are… in motion right now, and I’d really love it if you could just keep focused for me.” With those words, he stopped and sharply looked back with his worried gaze. “Not here, not now. Like I said, we’ll talk tonight.”

“Is dat why…?” He began to speak again. With a lurch forward, I pressed into a kiss. I didn’t really want to hit him to shut him up again, and his muzzle was close enough.

“No more talk.” I sighed as I broke the kiss. “Not even when inside, alright?” I think my sudden switch from abuse to affection broke him so much that he simply nodded. “Good.”

After a few short steps, Caltrop seemed to have collected himself and continued. We walked along the dirt path toward Flint’s Villa, the gravel crunching under Caltrop’s hooves the only sound in the Valley. It was an odd thing. Normally there’s the sound of the slaves in the vineyards, but today it was oddly silent. The sensation left me on edge as we continued.

Getting up to the Villa’s courtyard yielded an even odder sight. The normally well staffed exterior was barren of both furniture and ponies. All except one at the entrance however.

As we approached, the first semblance of sound came back. A heavy thumping and delighted giggling came through the door of the Villa. Propped up against said door was Brushfire, seemingly relaxing as she smoked a cigarette. Seeing a cripple riding another pony must have been funny, because she failed to stifle a laugh as we approached her.

“Shit, you finally made it back.” Brushfire chuckled and shook her head. “Didn’t happen to grab anything off that pony I cooked, did you?” Her smile dropped as she spoke, and it took me a moment to realize that she was being completely serious. “No? Not even a rib or anything?”

“No. I’m here to talk to Flint.” I spoke flatly. “Can I just go in, or...?”

“Nah.” She grunted as she pushed herself up from the door. She curled her lip around the nubbin of her smoke and pulled it into her muzzle, chewing on the still burning smoke without a care. Then to my horrified amazement, she swallowed it. “He’s a bit busy at the moment.”

I kicked at Caltrop with one of my stumps. “Yeah, Null’s death is probably more important than whatever he’s doing.” He took a hesitant step forward. Oh please don’t tell me he’s intimidated by a mare like Brushfire.

“Your funeral.” She stepped out of the way. “Be my guest, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With her out of the way, Caltrop walked toward the doors.

I reached out with my magic and gripped the handles. The giggling inside had turned to a chorus of grunts and moans, making sure I’d become painfully aware of what Flint was doing in there. Knowing that I’d be interrupting somepony as loathsome as Flint actually made me a bit happy. With a flick of my magic, I opened the doors.

Both Caltrop and I sat staring at something we didn’t expect.

Stopping abruptly, Flint’s steely gaze shot over to us. “Do you mind?” He panted heavily, arched over the well used and pleasure-drunk form of Dykem. With the way that the furniture was displaced from the room, the endtable they were propped on wasn’t the first object they’d used. “Unless you intend to join us, I suggest you shut the damn door!” He finally roared out.

With as much haste as I could, I slammed the doors shut.

“I think I’m goin’ ta be sick.” Caltrop shuddered under me. He put a forehoof up to his eyes and started to rub them furiously. “Gah! I can’t unsee it!” For the first time since I’d met him, he let out a whimper that I actually thought was appropriate for the situation. “I knew I saw somethin’ weird goin’ on up here…”

“Well, Dykem told you she needed to earn her favors.” Brushfire sighed with a shrug. “Also, you might want to look into spending a night. It’s a good amount of favors if you can get him to enjoy it as much as you do.”

“Caltrop,” I closed my eyes and let out a deeply disappointed breath. “let’s go home.”

Seriously. Dykem may have had her cutie mark, but she is definitely too young to be doing that. In a turn that nopony didn’t see coming, I was even more wrong with my initial impressions of Flint. The house he lived in might’ve been exquisite, and the forces he commanded impressive. Underneath it all, he was just as deplorable and disgusting as any other asshole out there in the wastes.

As much as I didn’t want to work with them, Mom and Storm’s group couldn’t get here fast enough.

Sandy giggled as she splashed around in the tub. For being someone who’s born to dig, her coat surprisingly doesn’t ever get that dirty. Still, I scrubbed at her diligently with the old brush that I’d found in the cabinet. The more I cleaned her, the more I found myself getting angry. How could Flint have done that? How could he take advantage of a pony like that, even just a filly for Celestia’s sake!

“Ouch!” Sandy yipped as the brush caught in her fur. It was probably reflexive, but she turned and snatched the brush out of my magic. Even with as small as her claws were, she easily rended the old wooden handle in half. The two pieces floated in my magic, and we both became still.

“Sorry.” I sighed out as I looked down at her. Her bright pink eyes looked up at me weighed heavily with concern.

“I… I didn’t mean to.” Sandy spoke with a whine, drooping down into the water. She shut her eyes tightly and let out a whimper. “Daddy always told me that I should know better than to snap like that.” With a sniffle, tears started to stream down her cheeks.

“I don’t blame you, Sandy.” I reached my hoof up to pat her. “Reflexes like that will save your life out in the wasteland…”

“NO! Stay away from me!” She screamed and pushed herself away from me. Faster than I could even react, she’d scrambled out of the tub and gotten herself pressed up against the wall opposite me. From where she’d pulled herself out, long scouring gouges had been left in the porcelain tub. “Don’t you see? All I do is hurt and break things!”

“It was just a brush, Sandy.” I tried to offer a comforting smile. From the way she simply stared, I knew it had happened.

There comes a point when every wastelander breaks. When the reality of what this life is like finally gets inside and sets in. You couldn’t outrun it, or out drink it, or kill it. One day, every thing you’ve ever done to survive hits you at once. The good, the bad, all piled up as one big pile of regret that makes you wonder why you even carry on. Some ponies reach that point and work to change who they are, ponies like me just learn to live with it.

Then, there are the ones who break. The ones who realized that this life really wasn’t worth living in the old ways. For them, they see the wasteland not as a blight, but as something to be revered, even emulated. Ponies like that are where raiders come from.

The eyes that looked back at me weren’t the innocent eyes she’d had when I met her in that bank vault. Sandy had killed, both in the name of survival and at the command of her so called friends who more often than not have almost gotten her killed as well. She’d seen so much since leaving all she’d ever known, and almost none of it had been good.

“I can’t hurt anyone anymore.” She whined out again, shrinking down against the wall. “Why do I have to? Why does everyone out here in this stupid place want to hurt other ponies!?”

“Things… aren’t that simple, Sandy.” This wasn’t a conversation I was ready to have. This is something her parents should be talking to her about, like my mother did. Thanks to me, Sandy didn’t have a family to go back to. I may not have directly caused it, but if she’d just gone back down in her hole and not saved me, things might be better off for her.

“Liar! I don’t believe you!” She snapped at me. “You were nice to me! Caltrop was nice to me! Even Bluejay was nice!” She crossed her arms tightly across her chest and shook her head. “But all anypony else wants me to do is hurt others, saying that I did the right thing.” Opening her teary eyes, she cast a judgemental gaze at me. “Tell me why they have to be so mean all the time and why I have to be mean too.”

Sitting back against the tub, I looked down at my metal capped stumps. I tried my best to remember what mom had told me the day that my break happened to me. It’s hard to remember what the day was like, or what I’d done up to that point. But mom was there for me when it happened, and that’s what I remembered the most about it.

“When I was just a little filly,” I started off slowly, “the world was this vast and enormously big place to me.” Thinking about about how stupid it sounds years later made a small smile creep across my face. “And you know what it was?” I looked up to Sandy again. Slowly, she shook her head. “Scary, and dark, and full of monsters.”

“One night,” I grunted as I tried to get comfortable against the still warm tub. “my mother told me that it was every bit as bad as it looked out there.” Funny how even though I hadn’t thought about that conversation since then, I could remember how warm she felt as I held her tight. “But, she told me that there was a secret weapon, one which would protect me from all the scary things that I’d find out here.”

“W-what was it?” She sniffled as she relaxed a bit, lifting her paws up to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Looking back, I wanted to beat the shit out of myself for not listening for all those years. “It was love.” Even though it had helped to get me through my break, I’d never believed her. Her love hadn’t ever helped protect me from any bullets or blades that found me through the years. It wasn’t until now that I finally realize that I was looking at it all wrong.

“Love?” Sandy quivered. “How can love protect me? It’s not real.”

“Sure it is.” I gave a small chuckle, drawing an even more perplexed look from her. “Let me ask you this, why are you hiding in the corner?”

“So I can’t hurt you!” She snapped sternly.

“But you don’t get up and hide in the corner of the room from everyone, do you?” I asked softly. “Love is a funny and surprising thing. I made the same mistake when my mother told me about it as a weapon.” I’ve just been too stubborn to sit down and think about it for once. “It’s not something she could use for me, but something I had to use through her.”

“Huh?” Sandy squeaked.

“Sometimes we can do extraordinarily great things for the ones we love...” I felt my voice leave me as I thought about everything I’d been through with Caltrop. Pulling a twisted shotgun barrel from his neck and using our only real medicine to save him rather than to heal me. Spending days in a solitary heatbath, just to wait for the right moment to fight my way to him. “to save them, you’re as invincible as a tank, and as powerful as a locomotive.” Agreeing to sell him and myself into glorified Slavery… “Not everything you do is good, or nice, and sometimes ponies get hurt. But because you love them, you can do anything to make sure they’re alright.”

“Do… do you love me?” Sandy spoke softly, leaning forward off the wall.

“Of course.” The cold tingle of water ran down my forehoof, prompting me to look down. “You and Caltrop? You’re all I’ve got in the world.” My own tears dripped down my muzzle as I did, surprising me.

“And… and I love you too!” Sandy sniffled and shot across the floor. In a blue blur, she’d slammed into me and embraced me in a wet, warm hug. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, PC.”

“You could never hurt me, Sandy.” Softly I curled my hoof around her and pulled her closer. “I’m no hellhound, but I’m not going to give up on you. Not for one moment.”

It had been a sharp turnaround to have come home from what I’d seen to this, but sitting here on the floor in her embrace? This was something that felt good. For all those years that Storm had tried to tell me, that mother had tried to teach me, I think I finally had a grasp on what love was in all of it’s forms.

A soft squeak of the floorboards outside the bathroom door perked my ears. A quick rasping knock followed. “Yah alright?” Caltrop’s worried voice waivered as he spoke through the door.

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Maybe for the first time in a while, I actually meant that, and that had me smiling wider than anything. Sure, I loved Caltrop, but this wasn’t the same. I loved Sandy like my mother, like I loved Storm, even if she got on my nerves. They were all my family, I got that now.

Slowly, that smile faded. While I now realized how love was an effective weapon, I did see a flaw in my mothers words. It didn’t make the wasteland any less scary to me. In fact, it was just as dark and scary as it had been all those years ago. I’m sure she simply told me to help me through everything, but I see now that fear is necessary for love to work. Without it, I’d slip back to being as cold and ruthless as Flint or any of his hunters.

I gave Sandy a few pats on the back as we sat there together. I’d made a lot of hard, and mostly bad choices to make sure that they were safe. Soon, I’d have to do it again in deciding how to deal with Flint. It scared me to death to think that I might have gone through everything just to lose them, but so long as they loved me like I loved them, we would be unstoppable.

Even so, it never hurts to have a few extra helping hooves…

With Sandy seeming a bit more stable for the moment, I’d gotten myself strapped back into my rusty old wheel chair. I had to say, the entire month that I’d struggled and worked at walking again had been worth it. Thirty seconds with this thing chafing me again and I was already regretting using it again. I couldn’t let it get to me though. Flint needed a convincing story, and I had to give him one.

“So, what are yah goin ta tell him?” Caltrop sighed, almost dragging his hooves through the gravel up toward Flint’s villa.

“Exactly what happened.” I didn’t exactly know why Caltrop had left with me, nor why he looked like he was being such a sad-sack. Seriously, he hadn’t even looked me in the eye since I came out of the bathroom with Sandy. “Is… everything alright?”

“Yeah.” He lied. “Actually…” here it comes, “I’m thinkin’ you aren’t.”

“What?” That wasn’t something I’d expected him to say. “What makes you say that?” I was a double amputee bounty hunter trying to set her employer up for death so she could live a life of peace with those she called family. Yeah, I’m so very far from alright.

“Yah go off ta talk with Synchro, and next thin’ I knew, yah were gone an I was supposed ta go with dat filly and Sandy somewhere.” He grumbled. “And den we don’t hear from yah fer days, only tah have yah come back lookin like hell.” Clamping his eyes shut, he stopped walking. “Worst of all, is yah haven’t even said a word about it. Yah been actin like nothin was even wrong with dat!”

“Caltrop,” I didn’t want to do this now. “I wanted to explain, but…”

“No.” He grunted and ground his forehooves into the gravel. “I thought yah were dead again, PC.” Looking at me, he raised his voice. “Yah can’t just be fine with dis! I can’t sit around wonderin’ if the mare I love is ever gonna come home again!”

It hurt for me to have to do, but I wheeled myself right up to him and gave him a hard smack across the muzzle. He gasped and looked like I’d just told him to get lost, slowly raising his hoof to his cheek.

“You fucking asshole.” I muttered. “I trusted you to hold yourself together in the prison until I could get there. I trusted you to move on when you thought I was dead.” I pointed my hoof up to the Villa. “I trusted you to keep Sandy safe when I was gone on that job.”

“And I did, didn’t I?” He snapped back at me, rousing another smack to his muzzle.

“So why don’t you fucking trust me?” I get why he’s upset, and I would and have done everything in my power to make sure Sandy and him are alright. “It’s alright to be angry with me for the shit that I’ve pulled, but don’t you ever assume that I’d just leave you two behind.” He shifted his gaze to the dirt, so I gave him another smack. “Look at me, Caltrop.”

“PC…” His voice had fallen down to almost a whisper.

I leaned up to his head and grunted. “Do you trust me?”

“I love...” He began to speak.

Interrupting him, I use my magic to force his muzzle and eyes up to me. “It’s a yes or no question, Caltrop.” Even though he’d dropped the anger in his voice, I could see the pain of it burning in his eyes. “Do. You. Trust. Me?”

For once, he simply answered something with, “Yes.”

“Good.” I muttered as I pulled myself back around. “Then keep quiet when I’m talking to Flint. Not a word. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.” Was all I got again.

It was good enough for me as we walked up and back toward the front of the Villa. The whole place was still oddly unstaffed on the outside, and it made me feel even more uneasy than I had before. Thankfully, Brushfire was absent, as were the degrading noises coming through the walls. Figuring that we’d just let ourselves in, I used my magic to grab the door handles and twist them.

The foyer that had been excessively ‘used’ earlier, was once again spotless. Not a single piece of furniture was out of place. Evidently, the staff had been around, but even inside were now completely out of sight. Without anypony to tell us where to go, the two of us wandered in.

I thought I’d start with checking the dining room first. Upon entering, it too had been cleaned spotless. All of the fancy cutlery and silverware were kept away somewhere, and only the pristine tablecloth covered the exorbitant table. I guess the next place to check would have been Flint’s ‘study’ room. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought about other rooms in the house I’d been in and cringed at the thought of finding him in his bedroom.

With an arcane snap, Spectre flashed in front of the study’s door. She grunted as she lifted a hoof and started to undo the snow covered wrap on her head. Caltrop took a step forward, and cleared his throat. She gave a soft gasp as she realized we were here, before using her own magic to open the door and walk in.

“Ah, there you are!” Flint’s voice resonated out from the room. “Did you take care of…”

“Master Flint, you have guests.” She spoke quickly, interrupting him. “It is Miss Cap and her Stallion friend.”

“Ah, excellent!” He spoke up in excitement. “Don’t keep them waiting, tell them to come in.”

“As you wish.” She sighed before reappearing back in the hallway.

“Thanks, I got it.” I sneered at her, rolling myself over and in. The glare she gave me was like every other one before it, and to be honest, I just didn’t care anymore.

Flint was reclining in his plush chair, an open book laid across his chest. He wore a satin red robe around himself, and the softest of smiles for us as we entered, hiding behind the thin veneer of it. It may have been good enough to fool me the day he recruited me, but I could see his wretchedness all too clearly now. Still, I wore a smile to match his as I came in.

“I was hoping to speak with you about what happened.” I started, playing it as politely as I could. “I…”

He held a hoof up. “I gathered that your, shall we say, solo return means that we won’t be seeing dear Null again.” Even though he was still smiling, I could hear the frustration in his voice. “A pitty. He was one of my best hunters.” Readjusting, he let out a soft sigh. “But please, do regale me with the tale of how it all went so very wrong.”

I cringed at his emphasis, but I couldn’t break now. “We arrived at the point where you had specified and got ourselves set up for lookout. Null was adamant that we set up watching across the river, where he said they would come fr…”

“Again,” He interjected as he sat up. “Sorry, but am I to understand that you did not share his view on that matter?”

“I suggested that we watch the slopes behind us, to watch all possible directions they could approach us from.” At least I didn’t have to lie about that. “During our argument, I spotted somepony watching us from the far ridge. I was about to call it out when we were both rendered unconscious.”

“I see.” Flint nodded and held his forehoof up to his chin. For only a moment, his eyes swept over Caltrop and I. Thankfully, Caltrop had been keeping quiet like I’d asked. “Tell me, these ponies who took you… why did they take both of you in?” He chuckled. “I would assume that they would only need one of you alive.”

“I would assume that were one of us uncooperative, they could kill them and extract the information from the other.” I mean, that’s what I’d do if I were in their situation. “But they didn’t want information.”

Flint cringed and recoiled slightly at that. “I don’t...” he paused and scratched at the side of his head. His smile had dropped, and his muzzle twitched slightly as he spoke. “I don’t believe that.” Slowly, he pulled himself off his seat and got to his hooves. “My hunters are very carefully selected as you know, and I’m sure that they have been similarly informed. They must have known that you would rather die than give up anything about me.”

He froze stiff for a moment and twitched again. “Unless…” Turning slowly, his eyes locked onto my own. “unless they knew who you were.” Shit. Without breaking his gaze, he walked over towards one of the few walls that wasn’t completely lined with books. “Tell me, would this be the case? Could that be why you pleaded for me to spare the lives of your family?” It was an unlit fireplace, with a pair of old polished sabers hanging above the mantle. Sitting here like I was, I was defenseless if he decided to have me brought down. “You wouldn’t be so foolish to assume you could go behind my back, would you?”

“How dare yah say dat!” Caltrop spat at Flint loud enough that it threw him off his hoofing slightly.

“You…” Flint wore a horrified expression that quickly turned to rage. “You would accuse me of insolence?” His seething tone didn’t bode well for us, but it did halt his advance towards the wall. “You are mine, welp. I could have you killed just for insinuating that I could be at fault for anything.” Because that didn’t make him sound every bit the entitled asshole he was.

“Ain’t my words dat’s sayin’ it.” Caltrop really needed to shut his damn muzzle! “Yah said dat yah chose yah hunters carefully. At any time, did yah ever suspect she’d cross yah?” He walked towards Flint with even, steady hoofsteps. “She’s done all yah asked so far, sure she’s screwed it up a couple a times, but she’d done it all without question.”

As he stopped speaking, I took notice just how close he’d gotten to Flint. The realization hitting Flint was one like a ton of bricks, and he nearly tripped over himself to get away from Caltrop. If he’d had a knife, Flint wouldn’t even be alive right now.

“Y-you may be correct,” Flint stammered and tried to regain his composure, “however, that then begs the question of why they let you live.”

It would be harder to sell with him off balance like this, but I needed to sell the lies. “They tried to make a deal with me.” I kept my gaze pinned on him. “Red Eye is liquidating everypony he has working for him, starting with ponies like you.” Flipping him against Red Eye might buy us some time, but the lie won’t last long once he sends Spectre to check it out.

Flint growled and leaned toward me. “You lie.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” I leaned toward him as well, standing as aggressively as this stupid fucking wheelchair would let me. “I agreed to the deal and shot my way out of there the second I got my hooves on a gun.” I let a small smile crawl across my lips. “But they’re coming for you, Flint. Red Eye is hiring everypony out there to come after you, and you know he has the capital to fund that.” I still didn’t get how he could even afford to run an operation like Filly, but I couldn’t give two shits so long as Flint believed that I knew what I was talking about.

“Why?” Flint simply asked, his assholeish smirk gracing his muzzle once again.

“I didn’t ask, I was too busy ripping their throats out.” Okay, I’d gotten my lie out there, and it was time to kill this conversation before he could poke any more holes in it. “For being so ‘well informed’, you’re too busy accusing the wrong ponies of going behind your back to notice what’s really going on.”

He snorted and stood up straight. Without another word, he stomped around past Caltrop and flopped back into his plush chair. I shot a glance over to Caltrop, who flashed me a worried look before walking back over to me. With a few squeaks from the seat, Flint seemed to get comfortable again. Carefully, he reached over and picked up the book he’d had and opened it, flipping through the pages with his forehoof.

“The tale you’ve spun is quite the story.” Flint muttered as he looked down at one of the pages. “But, if it is at all based in truth, I will see you rewarded for your steadfastness in the face of what will most certainly prove to be a difficult adversary to overcome.” He nodded to himself and lazily waved a hoof at us. “Take your leave of me for the evening, so that I might reflect on our conversation.” He looked up at the two of us for only a moment. “You both shall return to me in the morning for your next task.”

“Yes, Master Flint.” I grunted and gave a halfassed salute with my forehoof. Both Caltrop and I turned and left his room, walking silently down the halls back toward the foyer we entered through. Waiting inside, were the judgemental eyes of Spectre, simply watching as we walked by again.

Leaving the Villa, my heart was racing at a million beats per minute. As soon as the ornate doors behind us shut with a click, I felt like my forelegs were about to give out from under me. Caltrop must have taken notice, because he was warmly holding me up in a flash.

“Come on, lets get back home.” He whispered softly in my ear as he lead us back down the gravel walkway. For most of the walk home, I pressed myself against him and took comfort in the fact that he was here with me. We were now dug in deeper than he’d ever have wanted to be, yet he stayed by my side like nopony else I’d ever known.

Entering into the hallway of our building, the short purple form of Synchro stood in front of our door. As we approached, his dumb smile was replaced with one of concern.

“Is everything alright?” He spoke up in a tone that made him sound genuinely concerned. With how I’d seen him the whole time I’ve been here, this side of him was going to take some getting used too.

I’d pulled myself off of Caltrop and took to walking myself to the door. Reaching out with my magic, I swung it open, receiving a happy gasp from Sandy inside. Without saying anything, I wrapped my magic around Synchro and pushed him inside.

“Hey! What the hell!” He squirmed and flailed his legs. “I can walk, you know?”

Caltrop and I followed him in, and I shut the door behind us. “Synchro, take a seat.” I turned my attention to Sandy and Caltrop. “You two as well. We need to have a talk about what really happened with Null.” The mere mention of it made Synchro turn white, Caltrop smirk, and Sandy cant her head to the side in confusion.

“Did… you lie to Flint?” Synchro gasped, seemingly horrified at the comment. “Y-you can’t do that!”

“I can do more than just lie to him. We, can do more.” I sighed and closed my eyes. “Speaking of that, let’s talk about how we’re going to help my family kill Flint.”

With that, Synchro sighed and fainted with a heavy thud.

--Chapter End--
“Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 42 - The Third Law of Motion

“Is he dead?” Sandy gave a shocked squeak.

“Unfortunately, no.” I grumbled, wheeling myself over to him. With a swift kick to his side, his eyes shot open as the breath was forced from his lungs. I know that he wasn’t the toughest little stallion out there, but this sort of shit was something that I’d expected from Caltrop of anypony. Honestly, it surprised me that Caltrop and Synchro weren’t the best of friends with the way they acted half their age.

“Why?” Synchro coughed and gasped on the floor. “Why kill him?”

“If you wanted to leave, would he ever let you go?” I asked plainly, receiving a very grim look from him as my answer. “I thought not. This is why we’re going to help my family bring him down for good. The question is, how can we best facilitate that?” Anything we could do now, would make it that much easier to deal with when everything goes to shit like it always did.

“Yah family?” Caltrop put his hooves on his cheeks and gasped. I swear to the goddesses that he had stars in his eyes when he looked at me. “We’re really gonna take out dat bastard with Storm?” He gave a very unstallionlike squee and bounced around on his rump.

“Don’t be such a dolt.” I grumbled, still not getting what made her so special. “You’ve worked with her before.”

“Yeah, but never ta take down anypony evil like dis!” Now he was acting like a filly half Synchro’s age, and it was pissing me off. Without any thought, I lashed out with my hoof and smacked his muzzle.

“Did you forget who we’re fighting? This isn’t some game.” I snapped at him, even rousing a whine from Sandy. Her wide pink eyes stared up to me with all the confusion anyone like her should have. The way this all had to go down was way beyond her realm of understanding, and she didn’t deserve to be drawn into this. “Flint is the only pony stopping any of us from ever having our own lives again, so he has to die.”

“Yeah, but dis ain’t somethin’ new for Storm.” Caltrop rubbed at his muzzle softly. “She’s taken out tougher ponies then Flint. Meltin’ them with her phoenix flames, even!”

“Don’t spout nonsensical shit! I don’t care what stories you’ve heard of her, they’re just that, stories. She’s just a mare, as normal as you or I.” I sighed and ground my forehoof into my face in frustration. “Look, before they get here we need to do something to undermine his response. Flint’s got an army at his command up here, but we can make it mean nothing if we figure out a way to keep them at bay.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Synchro pushed himself up off the floor and rubbed at his bruising side. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have kicked him that hard. “What about Dykem, Brushfire, and Spectre? It’s not just an army he has, but some of the best damn assassins this side of the wastes.” The way he used that word, assassins, sent a shiver down my spine. It was closer to what he wanted out of me, but that’s not something I’d ever let myself become. “If you want to kill him, you’d have to kill them as well.” He dismissively waved his forehoof at me. “No. You can’t do it. Give up any thought of this and just do as your told. Working for Flint isn’t so bad, you’d get used to it if you’d just give it some time.”

He shook his head and turned toward the door. If I had any common sense, I’d let him walk out. The fact that he didn’t want his freedom was something I couldn’t understand even for a moment. Maybe there’s a point when you’ve been a slave for so long, even a gilded cage starts to feel right.

Lucky for us, I don’t see it that way.

“Synchro, wait.” I called out as he put his hoof on the door.

“No, you’re crazy for even thinking you could pull this off.” He turned his head and looked back with just one eye. “You may have been the pony that Flint has taken to the fastest, but he will kill you all the same.”

“Not if you stand with us.” I tried to sit down, but forgot that I was still strapped into this stupid wheelchair. Even though I hated having lost my real ones, I’d really started to miss my cybernetic legs. “I know you’re scared, but...”

“How could you know how it feels?” He sneered. “You don’t know what my life was like before Flint took care of me. When my mom died, he was all I had left, and he was there for me. Working for him gives me purpose, and without him I’d be nothing.”

“So yah just goin’ ta sit an’ let PC do dis without yah?” Caltrop recoiled, his expression curling into one of disgust. “Yah make me sick. Willin’ ta fight for the right ta marry her, but not ta make sure she’s happy.” He pointed a hoof sharply at him. “How dare yah. Nothin’ but a coward.”

“I’m sorry you see it that way.” Synchro sighed and looked at the floor. “I wish you luck but I can’t fight, even if it means I could someday be free. I need to live, for my mother.” Carefully, he opened the door and stepped out. “I’m sorry.” He whispered before shutting it.

“Fuckin’ little shit.” Caltrop huffed and turned around again. “Yah just goin’ ta let him go?”

“Yeah.” I didn’t know what else to do. He knew Flint better than any of us, and I’d hoped to have his help in dealing with him. If I went after him now, he might just tell Flint about the attack. “Just, give him time.” I didn’t think that would actually help anypony, but we needed to focus. “Now, how are we going to set this up? Any ideas?”

“I don’t understand…” Sandy spoke up. “Why can’t we just leave?” Her voice wavered as she spoke hesitantly. “Dykem was nice to me. I don’t want to hurt her or anypony else.”

“Because Flint will find us if we run.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Getting rid of Flint is the only way we’ll ever be free again. I’m sorry, Sandy.”

“It’s not fair!” She squeaked in anger and spun around. As nothing more than a blue blur, she took off into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her. Along the bottom of the old door, were three long gouges dug out in the wood.

“Well, dat happened.” Caltrop flopped down onto the floor with a sigh. “Yah really think we can do it?” He looked up at me with eager, bright eyes. “It makes me happier than anythin’ ta hear yah say yah love me, but if livin’ like dis ain’t what yah want, I’m with yah one hundred percent.”

“Could you live knowing you belong to Flint?” I cocked an eyebrow at him. I’d never cared about the concept of slavery until I’d become one. Funny, as I’m sure that’s what everypony who ends up being owned thinks unless you were born into it.

Using my magic, I focused on the straps to the chair and undid them. Sharp stings ran up my rear legs as they slipped free and fell to the floor. Slowly, I let my forehoofs slip forward, dropping me onto the floor as well. Predictably, Caltrop gave off a few grunts and managed to wiggle himself over toward me.

“So, dis is really it?” He spoke softly, keeping his eyes focused on mine. “Once we do dis, where are we goin’ ta go?” He leaned himself closer, pressing against my side and nuzzling along my neck. “What’s next for Mr. and Mrs. Percussion Cap?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” I sighed, letting myself press back against him. With a tilt of my horn, I used my magic to reach out toward my discarded saddlebags over by the bed. As if it was made of glass, I carefully pulled free the ear of corn that Spring had given to me. I don’t know why, but deep down it felt right to hold. It wasn’t a gun, and it wouldn’t earn me any great number of caps, but it felt right to me.

“I still don’t get it.” Caltrop muttered as he rolled onto his side and lifted a forehoof around me. With a gentle tug, he pulled me close and kissed my cheek. Affection like this was still new to me, but I’d grown to enjoy the idea of being so close with somepony. It made me smile and close my eyes.

“What don’t you get?” I muttered, wriggling myself against his warm and inviting body.

“Gardening.” He simply stated as he reached up and ran his hoof through my tangled and dusty mane. “I mean, what’ll yah do when yah can’t get nothin’ ta grow? Shoot da ground?” The image of just that flashed through my tired mind and roused a soft laugh from me. “Nah, I’m sure if it comes ta dat, da corn’s just gonna’ charge yah and kick yah out until yah can pay it back.”

“Hey now, that’s a low blow.” You don’t see me making lighthearted comments about his drinking. “Besides, I wasn’t the only one to screw that particular job up.” With a sigh, the warmth of his embrace sapped my strength away with each moment. It had been one hell of a day, and I wasn’t ready for it to be over. Unfortunately for me, laying here had quickly changed my priorities.

“Yeah, but yah know yah love me. Nopony can resist my charms.” Caltrop let out a soft yawn and wiggled himself tightly against me. “But I love yah, PC. Nothin’ is gonna’ change dat, even some dick who thinks he owns us.”

“I love you…” I muttered in between thoughts of settling down somewhere and starting a small farm. I could practically feel the warm sun radiating down on my coat as I worked, smiling as Sandy played around with a young colt. Further past them, Caltrop was in the house cooking, a healthy batch of Storm’s own breakfast specialty. “Pancakes…”

“Interesting nickname. Still, everypony loves breakfast.” Caltrop whispered into my ear before giving me another nuzzle. “Get some sleep. We can talk in the morning.”

Yes, the morning. Someplace that felt so far off in the future, but that I knew would be here faster than I could imagine. For now though, I didn’t care, only letting the thoughts of living someplace far away from everypony else with those I cared about. It may have been a dream now, but I would do everything I could to make it mine.

I stirred awake from between the warm sheets of my bed. Even though I was still sore from the events of the last few days, for once I felt well rested. Putting a hoof to my muzzle, I let out a soft yawn and stretched myself out. With a few cursory blinks, I looked around the dark room.

Soft light came in through the balcony as the sun was just starting to peek it’s way above the horizon. It was an odd feeling waking up before the daily alarm bell, but that just meant I could sleep a little longer. A gentle nudge against my side made me squeek and roll over.

“Hey.” Caltrop muttered groggily. “Everythin’ alright?”

“Yeah.” For everything having been so bad, I actually could believe myself when I said that. Carefully, I laid myself down next to him again and wrapped my hooves around the lovable dolt.

“Yah know,” He muttered as he wiggled himself into me, “I did some thinkin’ after yah passed out.”

“Uh oh,” I grunted. “Didn’t hurt yourself doing that, I hope.”

“Heh, yeah.” He rolled his tired eyes and let out a sigh. “But I’m serious. If yah really wantin’ ta get away, we could always set up back at dat survival bunker.”

“What?” At first I thought he was talking about Shel, but reconsidered after thinking about the context. The only bunker we’d been to was when I’d gotten sick, and that was in the middle of nowhere. “There, why? It could be somepony else’s. What if they come looking to take it back?” It was too early to have to recall some vague place, let alone consider the implications of living there.

“Think about it, dat place was pristine before Sandy fell inta it. And if anypony does come lookin’ then we tell ‘em ta find their own place far away from us.” With a light touch, he reached up and brushed at my mane. “It’d be safe, secluded. And when it rained, dat old lakebed could probably be tilled inta farmable land. Maybe we could renovate dat cabin up there too. Could make it a nice little home for us.”

“You’re telling me you wouldn’t mind farming in the middle of nowhere?” I don’t know who was crazier for wanting to do this. Me because I thought it might make me happy, or him for actually going along with it. “It’d be miles away from anypony else, or any bar…” I was silenced by his hoof on the end of my muzzle.

“Hun,” He spoke softly, staring at me with his big silvery-blue eyes. “I’d follow yah ta the end of da world if dat’s where yah’d be. Yah know dat.”

Everypony following me so far is either dead or worse off than they’d been before. “Yeah.” Nodded and simply held him, thankful that even though he fit into the latter part of that category, Caltrop was still here with me.

For that matter, so was Sandy. She was one conflicted little pup, but she was as strong as anypony I’d ever seen. She might not understand it now, but she’d get used to the wasteland. Even if she wasn’t blood family, she was my responsibility now. Both of them were.

“Sandy?” I called out into the still morning air. Perking my ears, I pushed my head up to listen. After a few moments, the bathroom door hand twisted and the door itself swung open. With a wide yawn, the small blue pup waddled out on her hind legs.

“Yes, mama?” she squeaked quietly before she rubbed at her eyes. “I mean… not mama…” She let out a little whimper. “Sorry, PC. What time is it?”

“It’s far too early to be awake, I agree.” I brushed away the blanket over me and held out my forehoof to her. “Why don’t you come on up here, Sandy. I want to talk to you.” I scooted away from Caltrop, receiving a bit of a pouty face from him in return.

Carefully, and with an abundance of short squeaky grunts, Sandy managed to climb her way up onto our bed. With light and uncoordinated steps, she made her way across the blankets and wiggled herself down between us. Curling into a tight ball, she let out another yawn and got comfortable.

“What did you want to talk about?” She spoke quietly, closing her eyes again.

“Caltrop here had an idea. Do you remember the bunker you fell into?” I reached over and gave her head a couple of light pats. Slowly, she nodded and pressed against my hoof. “What would you say to living out there with us?”

“Wha?” She whined and looked up at me confused. “Like, for good?”

“For as long as yah wanted ta.” Caltrop nodded to her with a smile.

“Like… a family?” She didn’t seem to be grasping the point, or she was just that tired. “Why would you stay there? Wouldn’t you just go back to hurting ponies?” At that, she shoved her muzzle down into her side with a harrumph.

“Nope.” Everypony I’d ever known was dead or worse off then I’d found them, and I’d never understood happiness before these two. “Just you, me, and Caltrop, living out there away from everypony else in the world as one big family.” Planning all this was great, but we were all still one step away from making it happen. “But to get to that point, I have to do something first.”

“You have to kill, don’t you?” She muttered with such disgust into her side. “I told you, I don’t…”

“Sandy.” I spoke sternly with her. “I know how you feel, which is why I’m going to do this without you two around.”

“What!?” Caltrop blurted out, throwing the covers off of him.

“Nopony in Flint’s employ other than us know where that shelter is. If you two just go on ahead, I can...” I’d hoped they’d agree, but I should have known better.

“Yah can’t just take on Flint all on yah own!” Caltrop whined and sat down hard.

“It’s not alone, as I’ll have Storm and the others with me.” I scoffed at him, pushing myself up to my hooves. “Sandy is right, you two don’t have to be involved.” With a twist, I turned my gaze across the room, spotting the discarded wheelchair still sitting by the door.

“I don’t care, I’m stayin’ with yah.” Caltrop grunted and stomped his hoof on the mattress.

“No, you aren’t. I won’t send Sandy all the way back there on her own, and I want you to get as far from Flint as possible.” With myself now fully woken up, I focused on my magic and wrapped it around the wheelchair, bringing it over to the edge of the bed.

“But, I…” Caltrop began before I turned and shot him the angriest glare I could conjure up.

“I will not have him use you as leverage against me, and I can’t fight him with a clear mind if I have to worry about you two there getting hurt.” With angry and stiff steps, I dragged myself along the bed and turned my ass toward the door. Carefully, I lowered myself back into the waiting straps. “This isn’t a debate, Caltrop. I’m going to get Flint to send all of us out on a mission, and then you two are headed straight for that bunker.”

“And I don’t get a say in all dis?” He scrunched up his face in anger. “Yah can’t ask me ta do dis, PC!” He got to his hooves and jumped down from the end of the bed. “Last time yah left me behind, I thought yah died.”

“And I’m sorry you had to go through that, but how else do you propose we go about it? Can you guarantee your safety in the fight?” As I used my magic to get myself strapped in, his expression soured at my question. “You want to be there, I get it, but I can’t have you there if...”

“No, it’s me who gets it.” He spoke up with a tone of defeat as he let his look sink to the floor. “No use talkin’ yah out of it.” With a heavy sigh, he raised his hoof and patted firmly on the bedsheets. “Come on, Sandy. Let’s go.” Without any words of her own, she yawned again and groggily crawled across the bed to him. He turned and pressed his side to the bed, letting her flop onto his back with minimal effort.

“Just…” I said softly as I tugged at the chair straps to make sure they were secure. “Trust in me, Caltrop.”

“I will.” He nodded and looked at me through his tired and hurtful eyes. “Better get this over with.”

I hated feeling the way I did about this. It’s the exact reason I’d refused to get invested in a relationship before, and it’s biting me in the flank just like I’d known it would. Still, I could relax now that the both of them would be out of harm’s way. Even if I failed at taking Flint down, they might be able to ride unseen through the aftermath long enough that they could start over again somewhere far away.

“Just one thing before we go.” Caltrop muttered out as he approached the door. “With Flint bein’ as paranoid about dis sorta thing, how are yah goin’ ta get us ta go?”

It was a good question, probably the best question he’d ever asked in our time together. Flint was so paranoid that everypony was lining up to kill him that it would make finding a reason to leave extremly hard. I mean, yesterday with him I’d pulled a lot of what I’d said out of thin air, but I hadn’t even given any thought to how to get out of this place.

“Dat’s what I thought.” Caltrop sighed. “Lucky for yah, I got somethin ta suggest. An offer too good tah refuse.”

“Okay, I’ll bite.” I pushed myself away from the bed, rolling around and looking for my gear. Quickly, I levitated my hat, coat, and saddlebags to me. With a whirl, I brought out my mother’s odd revolver-pistol. Before I left, I’d have to get stocked up on ammo for both it and number six. This time, I would be ready to go, so long as Synchro had managed to get my legs charged. “What is it?”

“Nope, dis time, it’s your turn ta keep yah muzzle shut.” Caltrop shook his head. “I trusted yah, PC. Now it’s time for yah ta trust me.”

With a nod, I pointed my hoof to the door. “Lead on.”

“Excuse me?” Flint cocked his eyebrow to Caltrop. He shot a curious glance over to me, but didn’t linger long when I did little more than nod. He leaned back in his chair and set his still steaming tea down onto the dining table.

“Yah heard me.” Caltrop took a small step forward. “Yah want ta know we’re loyal? Dis is how we prove it ta yah.”

Flint sneered and pushed the teacup away sharply. “Why would I care?” He shook his head slowly as he spoke. Again, he took a glance over at me, this time studying my expression. “If this is about the favors you owe,” He paused, most likely waiting for me to say something, but I wouldn’t speak. Not when I had to weigh it against Caltrop’s trust. “I won’t clear them for getting rid of her.”

“PC and I don’t care if yah do or not.” Caltrop spoke sharply, pulling Flint’s attention back to him. “We had a talk about it last night.” Caltrop’s sad eyes looked over to me and he gave a weak smile. “It was a hard choice, but yah have ta know we wanna stay here. The two of us, we could build a life here.”

“Yes, yes and all that.” Flint waved his hoof dismissively and forcefully pushed his chair back. Once on his hooves again, he slowly walked over to the window and stared out of it. “Killing Storm Rider… it is not going to be an easy task.” He muttered, rubbing his impeccably clean hoof across his chin. “No pony has even come close to succeeding, and believe me, I’ve tried.”

“Dat’s just it.” Caltrop turned toward him. “We got a leg up on her. Yah see, PC here is her granddaughter.”

“Oh, I already knew that.” Flint gave out a sadistic giggle before turning back around. The happy expression on his face was something he forced, and the sharp gaze he cast at me felt like it plunged into my soul. “Did you already forget your escapades at the prison? I’ve known that she’s been helping you all along.”

To be honest, I had forgotten that the ruse Storm and I had tried back there had been seen through. It meant that even when I was sitting there crippled in Synchro’s barn, he’d still agree’d to leave her alone. For somepony as controlling as Flint, it didn’t sit right.

Without warning, Flint started to laugh. Not a forced or hesitant laugh, but a full on belting of hysteria that nearly caused him to lose his balance. He held his hoof out at me as he did, laughing harder each time he glance back at me. I shared a uncomfortably confused look with Caltrop before Flint seemed to get himself under control.

“I had wondered just how long it would take for this day to come.” He sighed out as he trotted back toward the table. “PC, did you really believe that I could let you make a deal for her life when you came here? Surely you remember the requirements for working for me when you first arrived.”

“PC?” Caltrop turned with a start. "What requirements?"

I assumed that with him asking as well, I didn’t have to keep my muzzle shut any longer. “You told me that they would be safe. You gave me your word.” I hissed at him.

“Wrong!” He giddily stomped his forehooves on the floor. “I own you, and I can do with you as I please.” How could he be so damn infuriating! “Remember just what you agreed too? From that day and henceforth you agreed to my terms, hunters are excised from any and all family members and past relations outside of those in my employ.” His toxic glance shifted over to Caltrop. “To ensure that there are no conflicts of interest outside of my humble family, I take steps to make sure there is nothing left for you to return to.”

“But… dat means…” Caltrop stood there, wide eyed and in shock.

“Oh, do tell me that Mrs. Cap here informed you of all this.” With another light hearted laugh, my blood curdled. “Normally, I require my hunters to go out and complete the task themselves, but your ‘extended’ family wasn’t so simple, Mr. Caltrop.” With a heavy thump that dropped Sandy down to the floor, Caltrop started to shake. “I ‘commandeered’ a bit of help from Synchro’s machine.” He looked over at me again. “I did tell you I had it attending to ‘other matters’.”

“You… you meeny!” Sandy shouted as she growled at him. From behind me, the loud twang of a dart gun caught me off guard. She gave off a high pitched whine as the dart hit her, before slowly dropping to the floor asleep. Turning around, Spectre appeared from around the hallway corner, the crossbow floating in her magical grasp.

“Sandy’s family was another challenge all on it’s own. Hellhounds are annoying to bring down unless you know what you’re doing.” Flint grunted, staring at her as she lay unmoving on the floor. “But, lucky for me, Spectre truly has a gift when it comes to dealing with difficult kills.”

“You son of a…” Caltrop uttered with his own guttural growl. Much the same as Sandy, another shot from the dart gun pre-empted him collapsing over onto the floor.

“Tisk-tisk.” Flint sighed in disappointment. “They will see in time that what has been done is for their own good.” He looked up to me with just the hint of a smile. It was a look that I so desperately wanted to wipe from his face with a sledgehammer. “However, it seems that what you told me yesterday has come back through my network as true. With Red Eye’s forces preparing to move in, I cannot spare the full extent of my hunters to go. However, as you have so helpfully volunteered, I expect Storm dead by the end of tomorrow.”

I didn’t know if he was trying to set me up to fail, or if he already knew what Storm and my mother had planned. Two days wouldn’t have been enough time for even Spectre to track her down at a moment’s notice, not unless she already had some idea as to where they would be. Still, I didn’t have to worry about that. I had other priorities.

“What about Caltrop and Sandy?” I grunted plainly.

“You may take the hellhound with you.” Flint said boredly before sitting down at his chair again. “I would much rather use her against your grandmother than keep her sedated here.” He paused to take a sip of his tea, looking quite full of himself as he sat at the end of his table. “Mister Caltrop however, will be joining me until the time at which you return to me with the news of Storm’s death. I do expect we shall have a long talk about things while you are gone.”

This is the exact shit I was trying to avoid! With Caltrop held hostage, I couldn’t very well allow mom and Storm to siege this place. If I took too long and he went snooping, he’d find I was working with them and kill Caltrop. If I refused, he might damn well kill Caltrop anyway. What the fuck was I supposed to do!? I’m not a smart enough pony for this shit!

…that’s it!

“Let me take Synchro.” If I couldn’t take Caltrop, Synchro was at least one other pony who’d be smart enough to help Storm and Mom figure out a way to do this that didn’t get Caltrop killed.

“Synchro?” He seemed offended at the mere concept of it. “What good would he do?”

“Well, for one, you trust him.” I spat back. “Two, you had me marry the bastard. His appearance with me can only serve to give me a better shot at catching Storm off guard.”

“Hmm.” Flint hummed before he took another light sip from his cup. “And what if I require him here? He is needed to fully utilize his machinations.”

“You said it yourself, you stole his robot and used it without him just fine.” As much as I didn’t want Flint to have control over that rolling death machine again, the alternative was that I actually killed Storm. Even then, I don’t think Flint would hold up his end of the deal and let Caltrop go.

“Fine, Fine.” He rolled his eyes and set his cup down. “You may take him, but as I instructed before, you have two days.”

I nodded and stood there. Even if I had to sit and rut Synchro for an entire night, I’d do it in a heartbeat just to ensure that Caltrop comes back from this alive. It’s a genuine miracle how much I’ve fucked him over now, and who knows what he’ll think of me now. Sure, he got past everything else I’d done, but his family was dead because of me, as was Sandy’s. I’d be surprised if neither of them tried to kill me when they woke up, let alone ever speak to me again.

“Mrs. Cap?” Flint spoke with a soft tone, drawing my panicked look to him. “You seem to still be here.” He lifted a hoof and swept it at me. “Take your leave of me, and do not return until Storm Rider is dead. Is that understood?”

“Yes.” I grunted and focused, wrapping my magic around Sandy’s sleeping form.

“Yes, what?” Flint spoke up abruptly.

“Yes, Master.” I sighed as I secured Sandy to my back. Synchro better have my fucking legs done when I get down there, or there would be hell to pay.

Just the same as it was in my dreams last night, the thought of living a nice life with Caltrop and Sandy felt further away from reality than ever. That was my life, however, and I would do nothing less than take it in stride. Each step toward Flint’s doors was another step closer to watching this whole place crumble around him.

I just prayed that when the time came, Caltrop didn’t crumble with it.

--Chapter End--
“Look on the bright side, you’re all he’s got left to hold onto, right?”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

I give so much thanks to Kkat, for creating the original story and this world for us all to share and build it. Along with Fo:E, without many of the other stories here that I've taken hold to, I wouldn't have half the inspiration I need to actually write my own. The list has grown far too long to sit here and name all those I want to thank for sharing their stories, but believe me, I'm thankful for each and every one of them. On top of that, I want to thank all of you, the readers. Without you, none of these stories are alive outside of my head. Thank you for choosing to stick with me this far, and I hope you'll stick around for the quickly approaching end of Better Days.

Chapter 43 - Family

Walking down the hill towards Synchro’s shop, I spied the runt working on my legs. At the very least, he’d done that for me. Now if I could just get one of them shoved so far up Flint’s…

One step at a time, PC.

“Hey.” Synchro called out, not even looking up. It was probably the slight squeak that the wheels gave out that gave me away. “Your legs are almost ready.” With a grunt, he dragged a power cable up and jammed it into the battery harness. “Just got to give it a few minutes to charge.”

“Good. That gives you time to go get your shit on.” I groaned, turning around and picking Sandy off of my back. As I did, I also pricked out the dart from her hide.

“Excuse me?” He gave a short, forced laugh as he dropped his hooves onto the workbench. “I thought I told you…”

“Flint is holding Caltrop hostage until I return, so he’s sending you with me.” I spoke sternly, focusing as I pulled Sandy up close to me. “So you go get your armor and your pipbuck. We’re moving out as soon as my legs work again.”

“What? And I don’t get a fucking say in this?” He turned around and shot me an angry glare.

“No. And you know what else?” I snapped at him. Synchro might have the potential to be a better pony in him than he is, but somepony was going to have to beat it out of him. “On this trip, you’ll do what I say, got it?”

“But I have seniority over you!” He snapped back.

“Oh, I’m sorry, by all means.” I gestured toward the door. “Lead away. Oh, just real quick, how do you plan to deal with the raiders we’ll run into in five hours?” He may think he deserves to lead, but he doesn’t realized just how big and mean the world out there is. “How about the manticore that surprises you by coming from under a skywagon?”

“I… uh…” He stammered, losing his focus. After a moment, he slumped and hung his head. “Fine, you win. You’re in control.”

“You’re damn right I am.” I seethed. “Now go get your shit, because we have a long trip ahead of us.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He sighed in defeat. With that, he went off toward the apartments.

In the stillness of the morning air, I took a moment to look at the building that I’d spent just over the last month of my life in. I’d spent so much time looking for a place like that to call my own. Somewhere I could just exist in between jobs and not have to worry about rent or having to go three cities over to find work.

Synchro returned promptly, outfitted in the same gear he’d used in the arena with Caltrop. The look he flashed me as he walked into the barn was one full of fear, and i couldn’t help but feel guilty. Still, we needed to move forward. After getting my legs strapped on, and double checking my supplies, we headed out. When we reached the point of the road to where it turned away and obscured the villa, I was so tempted to turn back.

I couldn’t. The next time I wanted to see this place, would be when we were burning it to the ground. Besides, if I looked back, if I at all rationalized this life, I might just fold and accept it. Here I was giving it all up. Why? Because the rent that is due at this place is in a currency that I can’t justify earning.

In thinking back to all of the old pony tails that mom used to tell me as a foal, there was one overarching warning to quite a few of them. I’d never cared to heed the warning then, but in dealing with Flint, I know now why they told it to stubborn foals.

Be careful what you wish for.

-----

We were a few hours west from the villa, and I’d begun to worry about Sandy. She’d been out for a really long time. Sure, I hadn’t been around to see how long Null’s dart had kept her out before, but I couldn’t help but think about it. What if Spectre had used the wrong dose? What if she did permanent damage to Sandy? What would I do if I lost her?

It was all silly, really. Much like with Caltrop, these weren’t feelings that I’d ever thought I‘d have. Maybe it was the way that she’d called me Mom this morning by accident, or the fact that I’d gotten her actual mother killed. Looking at Sandy now, I saw the closest thing I’ve ever had to a foal. She was a sweet and innocent child who needed me to protect her, and here I was, trying my best and failing.

A beep from behind me caught my attention. I stopped walking and looked back, finding Synchro pushing buttons on his pipbuck.

“It’s Lily.” He spoke without even raising his attention. “She’s broken down nearby.”

“And?” I snorted. “I fail to see how that’s my problem.”

“Really?” That comment apparently warranted a quick look up at me. “For somepony looking to take down Flint, you’re sure set on making it hard for yourself, aren’t you?”

“What, you want to go get it?” I blinked and forced myself to chuckle. “Yes, let’s take the giant murder machine into the camp where all of Flint’s enemies are. That way, when Flint remote controls it, he murders everyone that much easier!”

“It’s my machine.” Synchro threw his head back in annoyance. “Don’t you think I built in a way to disconnect that system? Once I get close enough, all I have to do is speak a command code and the system is completely mine.” With quick steps, he walked over and lifted his oversized pipbuck and shoved it’s screen at my face. “It’s only a ten minute detour south from here, it’ll be quick.”

I smacked the computer out of my way. “Fine, but I swear to Celestia, if this shit isn’t an easy fix, then we’re out of there.”

“Fine by me!” He shouted, turning and storming off towards the south.

“Well… fine!” I shouted back. I swear, I don’t know what it is about the stallions I find, but they all make me want to beat the shit out them. It was...

“Stop yelling…” Sandy groaned on my back, making my train of thought derail.

“Sandy, are you okay?” Carefully, I levitated her off of my back. As I floated her around in front of me, she hadn’t look like she’d woken up. Instead, it look like she’d curled herself tighter.

“I want to go home.” She whimpered softly through her curled form.

“Sandy… I’m sorry.” Why couldn’t Caltrop have been here? He was probably a million times better with talking to her than I’d ever be. “Your home is gone now, Sandy.”

“No. I hate my family.” She sniffled and uncurled herself just enough to stick a paw out. “I want to go home with you. Back to where Caltrop is.”

“Flint… he’s kept Caltrop back at the Villa.” My words made her lose herself in my magic, uncurling a little more. “He sent Synchro and I to go kill Storm.” She let out a small gasp, her sad eyes peeking over her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’re just going to get her help. I’m going to send Synchro and you over to the cabin we stayed at, just like I’d planned for you to do with Caltrop.”

“I don’t want to go. Not without Caltrop.” She squeaked and poked her head around so that I could see both her eyes. “I can’t leave him.”

“Sandy, if you go with us...” I paused as I set her down into the dirt softly. “You don’t want to hurt anypony, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“But I get it now!” Sandy whined, nearly bouncing on her hind legs. Whatever trace that the venom had on her had worn off quite fast. “I can’t let him get hurt… I love you both so much.” She looked up to me with pleading, wide eyes. “That’s why I need to hurt ponies, to protect you two.”

This was all wrong. I couldn’t let her come with me, not like this. She was too important to risk losing, even if she wanted to protect me. A thought peaked in my mind as I remembered that Big Shot had one of those makeshift crossbows. If I could get one of the darts and stick her with one, she’d be out until the fighting was long over.

A warm hug against my foreleg ripped me from my mind.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you this morning.” She said as she pressed herself against me as hard as she could. “And I’m sorry… that I called you mommy.”

“Sandy…” I whispered. Raising my other forehoof, I reached it up and gently stroked at her head. “You can call me whatever you want.” It hurt to think that she’d grow up without her parents, or around any other hellhounds for that matter. “Caltrop and I, we both just want to see you happy.” I would try my best to do that for her, no matter what.

The moment was shattered by the sound of gunfire in the distance. Multiple shots rang across the rolling wastes. They were coming from the south. And that’s where…

“Synchro!” I gasped, both jumping right into a gallop and picking Sandy up in my magic. “Please don’t be dead.” I muttered to myself as I ran.

My hooves beat against the dirt, tearing up the patches of damp soil that still existed from the last rainfall. My mind pressed the fact into the front of my mind that there hadn’t been any more gunshots. Either they got him with the first few, or they ran out of ammunition. Both boded as bad news as I weaved around the lower hills. Climbing to the top of one of them, my hooves dug in and I skidded to a stop.

“Nice of you to join us.” Synchro turned around with a smile. About thirty feet in front of him, was the battered and smoking remains of Lily. Not that I ever would be thankful that the giant death machine was still operational, the red mis sized eyes that peered from the raised boom, were locked on to two ponies who sat between itself and Synchro.

Two mares sat with their hooves up, one of them had a gun laying in the dirt next to them.

“We swear, we didn’t mean it!” The smaller of the two mare’s spoke up. She was a silver coated earth pony, with a greasy black mane that jutted back and forth sharply. “Told yah it was a bad idea.”

“Shuddup.” The larger, more portly unicorn that sat next to her spoke up with a grunt. The dirty brown of her coat was marred with scores of burn marks, and her angry magenta eyes stared at me as I walked down the hill towards Synchro. “Yah the ones who sent dat after us?” She nodded her horn towards Synchro’s machine.

“How the fuck did you get inside Lily?” Synchro snapped at the two. The large one didn’t turn her gaze from me, sneering as I approached. The smaller one simply dropped her gaze to the dirt, her knees shaking as she sat there. “Well?”

“I ain’t tellin’ yah shit.” The large mare shouted at him, lowering her hooves to the dirt and getting up. “Yah come ta our town, kill our family!” She bellowed in anger.

“Wait!” I shouted out, making her stop only momentarily. “The way you talk… do you know Caltrop?” If they were part of his family, than maybe there was still hope!

The small mare’s ears perked, and she looked up at me with a smile. “Yah know little…”

“Quiet!” The large mare snapped at her again.

“I’ll ask you again.” Using my magic, I slipped my mother’s gun from it’s holster and pointed it at the mare. “Do you know Caltrop?” A pregnant pause filled the air as she continued to simply glare at me.

“Yes…” The smaller mare whined.

“Geeze, Razor.” The large mare grunted and turned toward the other. “Yah can’t even…”

“Shut up, Flank Steak!” The smaller mare shouted. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” She screamed and dropped to the dirt sobbing lightly. “We haven’t seen Caltrop for years, and now dat everypony else is dead, yah can’t even call him yah brother!”

“Brother?” I sighed and lowered my gun.

“He ain’t no brother a mine, see?” The large mare grunted again. I was getting the feeling that she didn’t much like anything, at all it seemed with how agitated she was. Then again, seeing your family murdered would probably do that to a pony. “Besides, who is he ta you?”

“He’s…” I started, trailing off. I didn’t know his family at all, and I had no idea how this mare would react that I was in love with the brother she apparently hated. Ponies had been gunned down for less in the wasteland than assosiation, so I had to tread lightly.

“He’s her special somepony!” Sandy squeaked from up on my back.

Or, we could just go about shouting it to the world I guess.

“Oh, really?” She curled her lip as if disgusted as she looked me over. “Guess he coulda done worse. Least yah ain’t a stallion.” Well, I can already tell that she is one of the ponies from his life that I’d be alright with never seeing again past today.

“Is… is Caltrop alright?” The smaller mare spoke up.

“He’s… in a bit of hot water right now.” I sighed and face hoofed. “As are we all, at the moment.”

“I fahkin’ knew it!” The large mare threw her head back as she groaned. “See Razor, what did I tell yah?”

“You two ever heard of somepony named Flint?” Synchro spoke up. The fact that they both went stone faced and stared at him gave me the hint that they’d probably heard about him before. “He’s the one who commandeered my robot, and right now he’s holding Caltrop hostage unless we do a job for him.”

“Yeah, good luck with dat.” The large mare rolled her eyes.

“Flank Steak, how could yah? He’s still family.” The other childed her before looking at us. “We’ll do whateveh we need ta do ta help save our baby brother.”

“Well then,” I sighed and put my gun away. “We got some ground to cover before darkness sets in.” Turning back up the hill, I looked back to Synchro.

“Why don’t you ladies go on ahead.” He waved to me as he walked toward his robot. “I’m just going to get Lily up and running again. I can catch up, I swear.”

“Who the fuck names something like dat ‘Lily’?” Flank grumbled.

“You know, I said the exact same thing.” I called back, feeling as Sandy got herself settled in against my back. “My name’s Percussion Cap, by the way.”

The smaller mare came trotting up to my side with a smile. “I’m Razor Wire, the middle child.” She nodded courteously, “And dat back there is Flank Steak, the oldest of us.” In response, I only got a grunt. “So, yah and little Caltrop are… lovers?”

“I swear, if I have to hear a bunch of mares talk all the way there,” Flank sighed, “I’ll just have to… kill myself, or something.”

“Just... i-ignore her.” Razor stuttered. “Just, trying ta keep things light… don’t want ta think about home right now.” She shook her head and looked at me with eyes full of fear and sadness. “So, how did the two of yah meet?”

“Well,” I spoke slowly. “It was kind of an accident…” I smiled, thinking back to that day. “The fault was on both of us, but his idiocy nearly got himself killed.”

“I was doubting dat it was actually him,” Flank spoke up from behind me, nearly cutting me off. “until dat part. Sounds just like him ta fuck somethin’ up.”

“Anyway...” I continued, “I figured that since he’d just ruined a bounty that was worth a whole lot of caps, that I’d keep him around for a while.” I didn’t really want to phrase it like I wanted him to be my slave, but I really wasn’t so good with words. “You know, until he worked off his debt to me?”

“And that’s when he got yah, right?” Razor sighed, staring off ahead of us. “Yeah, he always did have a way with words.” Her lips curled into a small smile as she spoke. “I used ta love listenin’ ta him when he was still a colt. I wanted him ta keep talkin ta me all day...”

“That’s not all you wanted…” Flank muttered under her breath.

“Okay…” I spoke slowly. So, one sister apparently wants to smash him to paste, while the other… yeah. No wonder he never talked about his family. Mental remark, let neither of these mares into your life again after you get Caltrop back. Ever.

“So,” Razor gasped and put her hoof on my shoulder. “What happened next?”

This was going to be a long walk…

Relief from the chattering sisters came in the form of Synchro and Lily around dusk. Thankfully, it’s hard to hold a conversation on something that feels like it’s going to rattle apart from underneath you. Synchro assured me that he could get her mostly fixed up, but I wasn’t so sure this hunk of junk was worth saving. Though, that’s probably just the side of me still sore about the loss of my legs.

We rode west into the setting sun, traveling for goddess knows how long through the darkness. Every now and again, the flash of lightning on the horizon and the rumble of thunder threatened to bring down a storm upon is. I hadn’t stopped worrying about getting caught in a storm until we could make out the various lanterns and campfires of a group of ponies maybe a mile ahead of us. They’d most likely heard us coming, because the closer we got, the more of the lights went out.

“This has to be where they’re camped out.” I called out over the shuddering war machine. Synchro quickly tapped a few commands on his pipbuck, and with a flicker, lights all over Lily came on. I hoped to the goddesses I was right that it was them, because giving ourselves away like this was one hell of a risk to take.

With the lights blaring around us, we continued to roll forward. As we did, several of the fires cropped up again. Coming into view, there was a fairly impressive camp set up around several large bonfires. When Mom had told me about her being the head of a group, I hadn’t expected to see this many ponies with her. Twelve or so smaller tents ringed around a pair of larger ones. A few carts full of supplies flickered from the firelight as we rolled up, the ponies in camp not so much caring that we’d encroached.

One however, did move from the fire towards us.

“That’s good enough.” Bluejay called up, waving her forehoof in the air. Synchro quickly tapped another command that brought the whole machine to a grinding halt. The moment that it had stopped, I wriggled myself to the side and slid off into the dirt. Forgetting that cyberlegs weren’t as responsive, I flopped into the dirt with a thump. From up on the corner, Sandy let out a little giggle before climbing down.

“Good to see that you brought us this rolling scrap heap.” Bluejay grumbled as she walked over to me, holding her forehoof out.

“Yeah, not my idea.” I whined, pushing myself up without her help. With a tiny squeak, Sandy pulled herself onto my back again. It was beginning to feel that without her on there, something was always missing on me.

“Can you trust the twirp?” She lowered her voice as she asked, shooting Synchro a quick glare.

“This twirp happens to be her husband.” He grunted as he carefully climbed down.

“Hey, I thought yah said yah were with Caltrop!” Razor cried out.

“I didn’t marry this asshole by choice.” I snapped back, walking forward. “Caltrop is the one I love, period. So you can keep your hooves far, far away from him, Razor.” I needed to find Storm and Mom as soon as possible.

“Wow, she caught on fast.” Flank muttered. “Dis the camp yah were talkin’ about?”

“Welcome to Storm Rider’s war party.” Bluejay grunted, quickly forming up beside me. “Storm’s in the main tent with your mother, by the way.”

“Storm Rider?” The two sisters spoke almost at the same time. In an instant, Razor had galloped up to my side with a bright look in her eyes. “So, the stories dat Ole’ grandpa Cheap Shot told were true? Storm’s real?”

“Don’t believe everything you’ve heard.” I sighed. Great, another set of fanatics to deal with. “But yes, she’s real.”

“Cheap Shot.” Storm grunted as she pushed back a tent flap. “Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in damn near forty years.” She smiled and craned her neck until it gave off a soft pop, trying to impress the new girls. “How is that old bastard anyway?”

“Dead.” Flank grumbled.

“Flint’s killed off all of his family but Caltrop’s sisters.” I spoke out. “And he’s intent on killing Caltrop unless I kill you.”

“What did I tell you about working for slavers? Did I not warn you about shit like this?” Storm sighed and shook her head. “Always had to be stubborn, didn’t you?” She tossed her head in the direction of the big tent that sat ahead of us. “Come on. We have a raid to plan.”

Walking in, the inside of the main tent was sparse. A large table sat in the center, and on it, was a large map of what looked to be roughly the shape of Flint’s valley. Red marker had been streaked across it, drawing in the buildings to the complex, or approximately where they were. Synchro’s barn wasn’t so far away, and the apartment building wasn’t rectangular, but it was mostly correct.

“Did you bring back Howdy?” Mom said as she hovered over the map, a red marker pursed between her lips as she looked things over. She didn’t even look up when we all entered, simply staring. “PC, I asked if you brought back my gun.”

“You named it ‘Howdy’?” I snorted. “And you ponies think I have a weird way of naming things.”

“I’ll just take that as a yes.” She sighed, still staring down at the map. That is, until Synchro walked closer to the table.

“You.” She spat the marker out and hastily walked around the table. “You’re the one Bluejay was talking about. The stable pony that Flint owned.” Her quick advance made Synchro whimper. Not so fun when somepony makes their own advances on you, is it, Synchro? “Does that pipbuck of yours have a working map?” Mom asked, holding her hoof out for it.

“Bluejay… stable?” He looked over to her, giving a nervous laugh. “I don’t know what she’s talking about?”

“Synchro, you know where I’m from.” Bluejay spoke up sternly. “I saw it across your muzzle the second you saw the numbers on my old barding.” She stepped forward and cocked an eye at him. “You may not remember me, but I remember you from back before the door opened.”

Synchro pulled his forehoof back, taking a slow step back at that. “No, you aren’t a slave. You couldn’t have been from my stable.” His rear legs shook, the combat barding that he wore shuddered as he took another step. “You’re all just a bunch of crazy ponies going up against Flint! You’re looking to get yourselves killed, and I won’t be a part of it. I’m a survivor, and I plan to do just that. Survive.”

“All of us from that Stable are survivors, Synchro. Some of us made it out without getting captured.” Bluejay sighed. “Some of the others who were captured managed to get free as well. Not everypony from home is a slave anymore.” She held her hoof out to him, turning it around the room with a light smile.

“This war party is made up of ex-slaves, ex-mercenaries, ex-bounty hunters,” She turned to look at me, before turning and looking at the two sisters, “Friends, family. All of them are good ponies, and each of them with a history they’ve broken free of.” Looking back to Synchro, she wore an expression that I hadn’t seen much on her. Compassion. “Isn’t it time for you to be free from your past, too?”

“Synchro?” Sandy whined, slowly sliding herself off my back. “Caltrop needs our help.” Her sad eyes looked up at him as she stepped past me. “Please, I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“I…” Synchro whined, letting his voice die in his throat. “I’ve been so alone.” He looked over to Bluejay. “Nopony else from home has ever found me.”

“It’s alright.” Bluejay whispered in a soft tone. “After all this, I can take you back. We can go back to Stable 13.” Slowly, she stepped forward again.

“Even after everything I’ve done?” He looked around the room. “Even after working for Flint so long, you all would accept me?” Wearily, he looked up to Bluejay, his muzzle quivering. “You would take me back? Really?”

“Kid,” Storm grunted from the table. “Everypony has made their share of mistakes.” It felt like she turned a spotlight on me when she glance in my direction. “You just have to pick up and move on. Who you do that with is the important thing, not where you’ve come from.”

“I… I need to think.” He hesitantly spoke, shrinking down. “Give me some time.” Turning around before we could respond, he bolted out of the other end of the tent.

“Damn.” Bluejay said as she hung her head in disappointment. “Do you think he’s going to inform on us?”

“No.” I spoke up, “I think he means what he said.” Stepping up to the table, I looked across it at Storm and Mom. “Give him time. He’ll come around, I’m sure of it.”

I wasn’t the best when it came to reading ponies, but I know how it feels when you have something flipped upside down in your life. Coming to the realization that I loved Caltrop sent me running from that warehouse as fast as I could carry myself away. Sure, it was to protect him and Sandy, but I ran all the same. Then, I’d come running right back.

“Time isn’t something I’ve got a lot of.” Storm grunted. “He has half an hour to make his decision. Otherwise, we move ahead in planning with what you know of Flint’s compound.”

The soft, quick sniffs from beside me pulled my attention down to Sandy. For a moment, she darted her eyes around the room. She gave another few passing sniffs at the air before a smile grew across her muzzle. Before I could say anything, She darted from the tent.

"Shit, hold on." I grumbled, trotting to the flap and ducking out after her. "Sandy?" She was so fast on her paws, it was hard to tell where she had gone.

"Quickly, put it on!" The heavily muffled voice of a little filly came from around one of the other nearby tents. Curious, I made my way towards it. Around the campfires, I hadn’t seen any foals at all, not to mention, the muffled voice was trying to be quiet. I felt a pit in my stomach grow the more I thought about it.

"It's so pretty." Sandy gasped as I walked around the corner of one of the smaller tents. A small filly, wrapped in black cloth let out a gasp of her own as I made my way around the tent. Even from between the wraps, I could tell that it was Dykem. She couldn’t have followed us all the way out here on her own, not without help...

"What is it?" Sandy continued, holding a leather collar with a centerset gem in her paw.

“A gift.” Dykem smirked and glared at me as she took a step back. "Just desserts." She spoke before her tiny horn flashed. The gem in the center of the necklace glowed brightly, but only for only a split second. Without any warning, it exploded with remarkable force.

"Sandy!" I screamed as she twisted and flopped down to the dirt, a bloody stump where her tiny arm used to be. She simply laid there and stared into the dark skies, unmoving. “S-sandy…?” I whispered. No… this couldn’t be happening.

Turning toward Dykem, I knew it was all her fault.

I brought out Howdy, howling in rage as Dykem turned to run. The gun was light in my magical grip. Effortlessly, I lined the barrel up on the fleeing filly. The trigger depressed from the slightest touch, and the crisp action dropped the hammer without a hitch. Each report from my mother’s gun was like a crack of thunder. Each shot tore a new hole through Dykem. By the time the hammer fell on a empty cylinder, my scream had died down into pained sobs. I couldn't understand how I could have let this happen?

Dykem’s small body rolled limply through the dirt, skidding to a stop. There she sat just as unmoving as Sandy had been. Her blood trickled out of the holes that I’d put into her, seeping into the dirt just as the first drops of rain began to come down. With that, another set of blasts tore through the camp. Screams and shouts of panic picked up as nearly most of the smaller tents were instantly shredded and lit on fire, going up like blazing pyres that lit up the night.

"What's going on!?" Bluejay screamed, running up past me. Storm and my mother were hot on her fetlocks, arriving too late. Howdy fell out of my grasp as my legs folded under me. I couldn't take it anymore. "She's still alive!" Bluejay snapped, her horn blazing brilliantly as she tore storm's Satchel from her.

"I'll go get some Hydra." My mother called out, turning to leave.

"No! She's too small, the dose will be too much for her body to handle." Bluejay flipped open Storm's bag and brought out a small baggie with various small objects in them. From the jumble of items, she floated out a small plastic strip with an odd fastener at the end. "I have to stop the bleeding, then we'll deal with the shock and blood loss." She floated the strip under the shredded remains of Sandy's upper arm and stuck one end through the fastener. With a zip, she pulled it tight enough that the blood that came out slowed to a trickle.

"Storm, Lever, clear a space on the table in the main tent and get some healing potions." Bluejay snapped at them, dropping Storm's bag and the other odd items from her magic. "PC?" She prodded at me, carefully levitating Sandy up with her. "Go find Synchro. Now!"

“Three of you with Pipbucks on, and none of you thought to keep an eye out for red bars?” My mother screamed out. “Fucking brilliant! Everypony listen up!” She turned around, “Defend this camp!”

A quick flash from the other side of the camp told me exactly how Dykem arrived. Told me exactly who it was that I could blame for all of this. Without thinking, I charged full on ahead past my mom. Somewhere out there in the darkness, I would find her waiting for me.

Spectre.

--Chapter End--
“Survival comes at a cost, and most times the price that we pay is far too high.”
Quests Finished: Taking Stock
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 44 - Best laid plans.

I was the worst friend anypony could ever have.

“Where are you!” I shouted out as I galloped around the bonfire in front of me. I’m sure I was missing the irony that right now it was the smallest fire around. Only one thing needed to be in my mind, and that was for me to find that fucking bitch and murder the hell out of her. As always, my mind never made it that simple.

Caltrop had given his tail for me, spilled so much blood for me, and for what? A mare who had treated him like dirt, who had refused to love him? Who had left him thinking she was dead for a month?

Sandy was the same. I had taken her from her home. She’d nearly died for me on a few occasions, and all for me to simply pat her on the head? Now she could die at any minute, all because I couldn't get her far enough away from the danger I brought down on all who knew me. I did this, the one who had the idea that Sandy was the closest thing I’d ever had to a child.

What kind of mother could ever let this happen?

“Fuck you!” I screamed out, doing my best to fight the tears welling up in my eyes. “Do you hear me? I said fuck you!” Digging my hooves in, I skidded to a stop at the farthest bonfire. Out past where it’s light shown, I knew Spectre was watching me. She had watched me gun down Dykem. It had been somepony she knew, and she just watched from the safety of the darkness.

The soft click of the hammer on a gun being locked back caught my ear the moment it was pressed up against the back of my head. I didn't quite know how, but I knew that it was Spectre pressing it to my head.

"Pathetic." She seethed with a hushed tone to her words. She was using some sort of spell to mask where her voice was coming from. "You can stop worrying about me killing you. Flint ordered me that above all else, you are to be saved for him to kill, if it came down to it." If that were the case, then I was going to beat the crap out of her. "No no." She hissed, pressing the gun to my head. "Just because he told me not to, doesn't mean that there couldn't be an... 'accident' if you force my move."

"Did you teleport Dykem in here to plant all those charges?" I spoke up, standing there, shifting my gaze around the flickering darkness of camp. She had to be out there somewhere.

"Flint didn't know you were planning to betray him, he believed your little lies. But I could see through your weak words, and unknown to you, Dykem was listening in along with me. It was that little whore's idea to slip in and blow this place up." She grunted and relieved the pressure against the back of my head. "The job was just to take out those who followed you, but she was overconfident in wanting to kill off your companion."

"And now Dykem's dead." I chortled under my breath. "How do you plan on explaining that to daddy dearest?" Honestly, the fact that she was dead by my own hooves felt unreal. She had been just a filly, not unlike I was when I was freezing and pointing a gun at the stallion who had mom. I gunned her down, and I didn’t even blink.

"Freeze!" Storm shouted. An arcane flash, from my left told me that Spectre had jumped, but the gun against the back of my head was still there. Storm walked slowly into the clearing where I was, pointing her gun at me.

"I'm the one in control here." I could feel the warm breath of Spectre's words on my neck. "You're welcome to try, but Flint wants her alive for now. One wrong move and..." She trailed off into a sultry laugh.

"What do you want then?" I craned my head back, casting a wide glance back at her. It was only for a moment, but I saw Spectre. No rags, no garment. Her skin was pale white and hairless, drenched in sweat as her glowing eyes were almost as bright as the magic aura around her horn. She sneered and shoved the gun against me to turn my gaze away.

"He wants you to attack him." She spat out. "He thinks it will be entertaining to watch as your little force here tries to bring him down." Slowly, she took a step back from me. "I know that I went behind his back, but I just had to make sure that come tomorrow, none of you stood a ghost of a chance. Don’t worry though," Her voice dropped down to almost a whisper, “I’ll make sure he waits to kill your stallion friend right in front of you.”

With another arcane snap, she disappeared, along with the gun against my head. She was gone. My legs gave out from under me, and I slumped in the dirt. We have one shot to save Caltrop, and I couldn’t afford to screw this up. No pony else should have to die for my mistakes. No pony.

The light rain that pattered down did it’s best to wash away the metallic smell of blood and extinguish the burning embers that still hung heavily in the morning air. The storm I had feared would come last night didn’t arrive in the form I thought it would take, but it was just as destructive all the same.

As the sun rose slowly over the horizon, I walked towards the tent where they were keeping Sandy. Moans and whines came from within from the dozens of others who were hurt in the attack. The old drab color of the tents had been stained with splotches of still drying blood.

The flap opened suddenly, and my mother stepped out. Her eyes were weary, and her hooves and chest were covered in caked on blood. She gave me a tired smile as she turned the corner, shuffling off towards the other large tent. Behind her, Synchro stepped out, looking even more tired. His coat and forehooves were even more coated in blood than my mother’s, nearly completely crimson.

“PC.” He spoke with tired words. “We’ve managed to get her stabilized… if just for now.” Even though it felt like a mountain had been lifted off of me, I sat down hard. She was alive. “But,” He started, “Bluejay was right. She’s too young for hydra, the shock of it could outright kill her.”

“So, w-what,” I struggled to get the words from my muzzle. “can you do anything for her?”

“Her arm was completely mangled in the blast, with everything just above the elbow down being destroyed completely.” His sad expression didn’t help give me any hope. “I can do what I did with your legs.” Pointing at me, even then he didn’t change his tone. “But with how young she is, I don’t know what will happen when she grows over the next few years. With her bones and muscles enlarging, she’d need constant check up and surgeries to make sure that she didn’t pinch an artery, or have some sort of other complication.”

“So, there’s nothing you can do.” I sighed, looking down at the dirt.

“I… didn’t say that.” He spoke up softly. “Given if you left her here for me to work on her, I might be able to amputate up to the shoulder and cap it there. It would mean less complications for her as she grew. I’d still have to replace the cap every time she outgrew one, but it might be better for her.”

“What about the pain?” I asked him sternly.

“Honestly, I’m surprised at how little your stumps hurt.” He looked down at the dirt as he spoke. “Most amputees suffered an immense amount, to the fact that they needed Med-x constantly to even get by.” Those weren’t the word’s I’d been hoping for.

A grim look fell across his face. “It will be far worse than if she’d been a normal pony. Cutting it at the shoulder means a lot more severed nerve endings. Hellhounds have digits on their paws as well, so they have a whole lot more than ponies do in their hoof. All of which, means more pain for her.”

So, I could tell him to cap it where it is, and risk her dying from some unforeseen complication laster down the road. I could tell him to cap it at her shoulder, and doom Sandy to a life of unspeakable agony. Or, I could do nothing and let her end the pain in death.

“Do it.” I seethed, hating the own words leaving my muzzle.

“E-excuse me?” He stammered.

“I said, do it. Cap it at her shoulder.” I repeated with a stomp. “Damn the pain, I won’t have her die for nothing, do you hear me?” He simply stood there, staring up at me wide eyed. “I don’t care what it takes, you save her life right this instant!”

“Percussion Cap!” Storm shouted, pushing her way out of the tent. Without a care, she brushed past Synchro and walked over to me. She wore a stone cold expression across her muzzle, simply lifting a hoof and pointing toward the rising sun. “Let’s take a walk.”

I wanted to break down. All of my anger, my frustration, I wanted to vent it out right now. The very last thing I wanted to do, was go with her and listen to one of her lectures. Having somepony yell at me for fucking up isn’t something I ever would willingly accept, not unless I deserved it. And oh, how much I deserved it.

She headed off ahead of me, her hooves pressing down harder into the softening dirt with each step. I could tell that she was angry, even if she didn’t sound or look like she was. Still, I picked myself up and followed her. Her anger grew with each step away from camp, and for me, my regrets did the same.

“What you did back there?” She spoke out suddenly, wheeling around in the dirt and prodding her hoof into me. “That shit is going to get the ponies you love killed. Acting without thinking is some of the most stupid shit you could fucking do!” She yelled in frustration. “Goddesses, PC, I thought we were past this!”

“I won't give up on Sandy!” I belted out. She could be angry at anything she wanted, but I don’t have to justify myself when it came to Sandy. “Tell me that I made the wrong decision for her!”

Her eye twitched in annoyance. “I'm not talking about that, you fucking moron!” With a quick swing, she smacked me hard across my muzzle. “When Bluejay told you to find Synchro, what the fuck happened to you?”

“I saw Spectre,” Rage had taken over me at that point, I couldn’t fight it, knowing that it was her out in the darkness. “I had too…”

Again, she smacked me hard to shut me up forcefully. “So you just ran off after her?” Storm shouted. “How fucking Stupid are you, PC? Did you even reload your mother’s gun before running out there? Did you even have it ready to use?” Stomping, she spun in a circle and bucked at the air, screaming out her rage.

“I didn’t…” Again, before I could finish, she hit me. This time however, she didn’t hold back. “The fuck?” I screamed as I tumbled into the dirt.

“It’s fucking bad enough that Flint’s doing all this shit!” She screamed out, going back to maddly bucking at the air. “This isn’t something you get to fucking fuck up on!” With what sounded like a crack of thunder, she brought her hooves down in one last hit. When she did, a gout of blue flames rolled out from under her hooves. She glared fire at me, and not the figurative kind. In her eyes, burned bright blue flames.

I… I couldn’t believe it. All this time, all these years. All the stories about her, they were true.

“I won’t be around to pick up after you forever, PC.” She grit her teeth together as she spoke. “This whole raid? This is it for me.” With heavy breaths, the flames dimmed. Instantly, her eyes took on a tired look that was even worse than mother’s or Synchro’s had been. “I have been fighting for far too long, and it’s getting harder every day to fight.” With a heavy plop, she sat down into the wet dirt and let the soft rain wash over her. “I’m old, PC. I may not look it, but it’s time for me to give up galavanting around the wasteland saving ponies.”

I didn’t know what to say. Everything I’ve ever said to her, everything I blamed Storm for. All of it was wrong. I didn’t know what was worse, the fact that I’d believed that she was just some entitled old bitch all these years, or that I’d again been too thick skulled to listen to any of the stories I’d been told.

“You may not want to follow in my hoofsteps, but you need to listen to me, PC.” She sighed. “Ponies like Flint? They keep coming. And that won’t change until the day that either one of them wins, or the wasteland ceases to be the shitty place that it is today.”

“Then what’s the point?” I mean, if she’s been fighting all these years against ponies like Flint without end, what genuinely was the point of fighting at all? “Why do you do it then?”

“To protect you.” She smirked. “As shitty of a place as it is, the wasteland is our home, PC. Ponies like Flint, like Red Eye, they seek to wrap it up into something they can exploit. Without ponies like Bluejay and your mother, there’s nothing to keep them from making everypony suffer.”

“Why didn’t you show me? Or tell me about any of this years ago?” I didn’t understand, why now?

“Because you needed to be ready.” With a grunt, she picked herself up and came over to me. Sitting down at my side, she wrapped her hoof around me. “Back when I realized who I was truly meant to be, I asked a lot of questions. It took me years to realize that without going through what I had, without experiencing the things I did, I couldn’t be the mare I am today.” Leaning into me, she planted a soft kiss on my horn. “I was afraid that if I told you, you would change yourself to fit my vision of who you should be. You needed to become your own mare, PC, even if it wasn’t the one I’d hoped you’d become.”

“I’m sorry.” I sighed, pressing back into her as if doing so would strip away all the harmful things I’d said and done to her over the years. Caltrop and Synchro had done it, and it was now my turn to act half my age. Whimpering and crying like a filly, I pressed myself into her neck. “I… I don’t know what to do.”

“Shhh.” She whispered, simply holding me. “You don’t need me to tell you what to do anymore, PC. Even though I’ve been angry and hard on you these last months, it’s because like your mother, you grew up so fast.” I could feel as her own tears dripped down my head. “You have a drive, PC, something other ponies around you lack. You know what you want, and you don’t stop until you get it. That’s an amazing thing to have, and I don’t want you to ever give that up.”

“I just want to live a normal life.” Somewhere alone and away from the wasteland, where I could just be with Caltrop and Sandy. “To love, and to grow old with them, to see them happy. That’s all I ask.” Slowly, Storm stroked my mane with her forehoof.

“Just this one last ride then, that’s all it will take.” She whispered into my ear. With a whimper, I just laid there in her hooves. Slowly, the weariness of sleep shut my eyes, and I drifted off, dreaming of Caltrop’s happy smile, and Sandy’s playful laugh. But, it was still just that.

A dream.

“So,” A stallion spoke in the darkness. “Can you recount for me what happened?”

“Y-yes.” I spoke, but not really me. I used the voice of Grace from the memory orbs. Shit, did Storm put me in one? Were they even still in my saddlebags?

“Good. Start from the beginning.” The stallion spoke in a very soothing tone. “Build a scene for me.”

“I-it was morning. We’d been taken and put onto a couple of Virtibucks.” She stammered. I don’t know why, but something about being in her for this memory orb felt different. Her body seemed colder than normal, while still being just as tense.

“Who is we?” The stallion spoke up calmly.

“Silver Shill and I. We’d been arrested by the Ministry of Moral.” It was fuzzy, but I began to see an image form ahead of me. In the darkness, the striking form of a virtibuck came into view, the back ramp of it opening. “We were being lead across the roof by Mr. Peirce, one of the Ministry Stallions.” Another shape fuzzed in through the darkness, the blue stallion in the pink suit from the other orbs appeared.

“Good, good.” The unknown stallion smoothly answered. “What happened from there?”

I watched as the virtibuck grew closer, the stallion escorting her walked up and on to the ramp. “I followed Mr. Peirce in, while…” She paused, the image in her mind shifting over to one of Silver Shill being escorted into another Virtibuck. The chains on his legs shined brightly when she noticed them, coming into sharp focus. “Mr. Shill was placed on the other Virtibuck.”

“Any then you took off, right?”

“Mhmm.” Grace answered. “Once I was secured in a seat, Mr. Pierce turned to me,” As she described it, the image mirrored her description in every way. “He said to me, that the flight should only be an hour or so, and that he wanted to talk to me about what Mr. Shill was investigating.”

“I see.” The stallion’s voice reverberated in her mind. The way this was all set up, it felt… off. None of the other orbs were ever like this. “So did he end up talking with you?”

“Not at first.” Grace’s voice waivered, and the image in her head shifted abruptly. “He waited until we were a few minutes into the flight before he started talking. He’d wanted to know about something that the general had in his possession.” As she mentioned that, the familiar image of the general behind his desk came into view. In between his hooves, the small golden rectangle that i’d glossed over glinted brightly.

“What was it?” The stallion asked in an almost hushed tone. “The object.”

“I… I don’t know.” Grace said, focusing more on the golden bar in her mind. “Mr. Peirce seemed to think that it was something that the general shouldn’t have had in his possession.” With a shutter, the image of inside the Virtibuck returned, accompanied with the sound of alarms going off from inside the cabin. “That was when the first missile hit the other Virtibuck. We could hear as Silver’s transport went down.” The sound of rending metal filled my mind, and I could feel as a panic set in through her body.

“Okay, breathe, Mrs. Grace.” The stallion spoke again in a soft, relaxed voice. “Just breathe, it’s just a memory. It can’t hurt you now.”

“Then came the explosion.” Grace nearly sobbed, the sound of another blast filled my head as she cried out in her own virtibuck. “Mr. Pierce got up from his seat in a panic. The first thing he did was come and undo my restraints.” The blue stallion walked over with a whine and used his magic to free her, turning around sharply and walking towards the front of the cabin. “That’s when we were hit.”

The image shook wildly, and a soft ringing filled her ears. I watched in silence as the Virtibuck fell to pieces around her, sheering itself apart as she was thrown out of the wreck. The flying machine tumbled in pieces down toward a set of rolling green hills. When it slammed into them, it erupted into an enormous fireball, sending hundreds of shards of the machine straight up into the air.

“There was so much debris in the air going down and coming up, I tried to avoid them.” She whimpered, as I felt her wings unfold. “I was so afraid, I didn’t know where to go.” She twisted and turned them in time with the image. That was, up until something heavy and black twisted through the air, slamming into her. “I was blindsided by something big.” As it hit, I felt the horrendous snap of her body as she was twisted through the air. Shining flecks filled the air in her image, before it blurred. “The spin sent me into more debris that cut at me.”

“I tried to stabilize myself, but I couldn’t get my body in line.” The sound of pained screaming echoed in my mind, the spinning world turning from green ground to blue sky again and again. “But I couldn’t. So I just did what I could to mitigate the speed of my fall. Good thing I did, because I managed to steer myself into a tree.” The image in her mind flashed just the quickest view of a tree before everything went dark.

“And that’s the tree that you were found in, correct?” The stallion sighed. “Is that all that you can remember?”

“Yes.” She nodded softly. “I’m sorry if I that isn’t what you need, officer.”

“No, that was more than enough.” The stallion spoke up with a note of hope. “I’m sorry to have had come all the way down here and kept you from your rest.” The sound of a squeaky chair filled my mind, and the image of an old rocking chair appeared for just a moment in front of me. “And to you, Mr. Pence, I’m sorry to have taken so much time from you and your Fiancee.”

“It’s no problem, really…” The pained voice of a stallion spoke up. “The doctors you provided have done an amazing job. They said that maybe even in a few years, she’ll be able to walk again.” As he did, the image of a smiling, copper looking stallion with piercing blue eyes appeared in front of me. “Just… find out who killed my dad. Please.”

“I know it was that fucking general.” Grace whimpered out, “Even if I no longer have the eyes to see the justice done, I will see that stallion brought down if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

“You have done enough, Mrs. Grace. Leave the rest up to the Ministry of Morale.” The stallion from before spoke up. “You aren’t the only one to have lost a loved one in that attack. I’ll find out who did this, so that Mr. Shill and my husband can finally rest in peace.”

Again, it was another useless orb that meant nothing to me in the long run. Though, I guess this one was at least intriguing. These orbs weren’t left behind as just some memory for somepony to relive, but as an open question as to who killed Silver Shill. All hooves pointed to the general, but even so, I wanted to know what was so damn important about that one, little golden rectangle.

I was jostled awake from my sleep as somepony nearly tripped on me.

“Sorry, PC.” Synchro yawned softly as he walked over to the back of the tent I was in. Dammit, I shouldn’t have fallen asleep, there was too much to do. With a light stretch of my forelegs, I let out my own yawn as Synchro hoofed up his armor from the floor. He rummaged around in one of it’s pockets, pulling something small out. “I’m almost done with Sandy. Just have to sew her back up.” Without even pausing, he brought a small rainbow colored inhaler to his muzzle. With a hiss, he used it, standing up straight and giving out a light shiver. “Much better.”

“Are you using Dash?” I wasn’t sure what to think. Was that really wise considering that he was performing surgery on Sandy?

“It’s the only way I’ve been able to stay awake through the surgery.” He dropped the vial and gave his muzzle a light smack. Looking down at me, he looked a lot more perky than he had a minute ago. “Anyway, gotta go.” And then he trotted out.

With a groan, I rolled myself over and tried to get up, finding myself just sitting there on the floor. Looking down, my rear legs were still connected to me, but not working. Groggily, I looked back to find that my battery harness was sitting in the corner.

It took me a minute to get myself hooked up and ready to go again. I don’t know how long I’d slept, but I really hoped that it wasn’t too long. It was a long trip back to Flint’s, and we don’t have long to make it. Focusing, I levitated out Howdy and opened the cylinder. I was about to dump out the rounds, but found that they had already been replaced.

“PC, you up?” Storm called from outside.

“Yeah, just a second.” With a click, I closed the cylinder and shoved the gun back in it’s holster. Sleep really had helped to clear my mind, but it didn’t alleviate my worry about Sandy. Nor did it calm any of the regret I felt for years worth of my hateful interactions with Storm. Still, as I always have, I moved on, stepping forward and into the outside.

“Most teleportation spells attempt ta convert yah into magical energy. Dat energy is transmitted all at once at the speed a light through the ether, unpackin’ yah at the preordained destination.” Flank Steak spoke as I strode out into the middle of an odd conversation. “As fast as dat transmission is, the further the distance it travels, the more dat energy degrades. Once it degrades enough, poof, yah come back inta existence.”

“You can teleport?” I was trying to wrap my head around how a mare her size and demeanor learned to do that.

“Yeah, what’s it ta yah?” She eyed me curiously. “What, yah can’t?”

“PC isn’t into the whole ‘diverse spell’ mindset.” Bluejay said in a way where I’d smack her if it were any other day. “Spectre's spell however, isn't transmitting you all at once. She creates a magical bridge to the desired location, transmitting you in two pieces.”

“You can do that?” Storm asked as she sucked down a good helping of the cigarette in her muzzle. It looked damn good, and I could almost taste it on my lips. It’s been awhile since I smoked, and I really wanted one. However, I couldn’t. I needed to keep myself focused on the priorities I had now, not the vices I used to enjoy.

Bluejay nodded. “First, the inherent magic within you, then, your physical body. It's why her spell takes a moment to charge, and why you see the destination before you are actually there.” She lifted her pipbuck and tapped on it with her hoof, smiling wide. “But, there’s a flaw to it. Because she can project just her magic through first, it creates a momentary ghost both in the physical world, AND on the pipbuck's EFS before she finalizes the spell and jumps.”

“So, we can see where she’ll pop up?” Storm said, blowing out a large plume of smoke.

“If you blink, you'd miss it.” Bluejay sighed, raising her hoof and rubbing at her neck nervously. “And if we’re too focused on staring at our pipvision, she could just shoot us.”

“Wow, dat’s one hell of a leg up on her.” Flank rolled her eyes. “Solid edge ta use.”

“It might be.” I said, having an actual idea pop into my mind. “Generally, she has to stand for a moment in one place to cast, right? And it probably takes a lot of focus, as any spell.”

“Well, yeah.” Bluejay nodded, tipping her horn at me. “I did my best to copy the spell to get out of that place. Got me a few miles out, but I burned out my horn for two days doing it.” Looking at me, she cocked her eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

“There are three of us she has to focus on, and it will only take one of us to hit her.” I began, “It’s going to take a lot of focus to avoid all of us, and if we start predicting where she’ll be, she won’t have the time to fire.” Pointing to Bluejay’s horn, I gave out a shrug. “After a minute or so of that, she’ll be too tired to continue.”

“Then she’ll just teleport somewhere else to rest.” Bluejay sighed before she scrunched up her muzzle. “Oh.”

“If I know Flint, he’ll panic with her gone.” Storm nodded. “Three against one, no help in sight. He’ll be an easy kill.” She shrugged. “Only one problem, is how do we get in?”

“Could always go the way dat we did. Trojan style.” Flank grunted. “There’s room enough inside dat monstrosity fer three mares, so long as one of ‘em isn’t me.”

“You know about the Trojans?” Bluejay snorted. “Color me impressed.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She waved in dismissal. “Caltrop wasn’t the only one ta read back in the day. Still didn’t understand half of them...”

“So, your mother, Ficha, and the ponies that are still left here swung in from the east. They get most of the guards pulled down to the valley toward the slave quarters.” Storm spoke between quick draws on what was quickly becoming a nub of a cigarette. “Blue and I ride inside Synchro’s machine, all while you and Synchro ride on top.”

“About that,” I sighed, not sure I could even ask him to go. “He’s exhausted, only staying awake through drugs.” As I spoke, Storm didn’t change her look at all. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to take him.”

“She’s right.” Bluejay nearly jumped at the chance to speak. “He’s in no condition to fight, and he really has no relevant combat skills.” She turned around, walking away toward the big tent, talking as she did. “So yeah, don’t know about you all, but we’re going to have to go, like, now.”

“What?” Storm pushed herself up, trotting in front of me and looking back. “Damnit.” Me knowing what the hell was going on, the sky lit up in a bright flash, almost immediately, a burst of thunder shook the tents themselves. “Just had to do it today, didn’t they?”

I turned and took a step back, looking up to find an almost pitch black sky beyond the camp. It was almost comical, the line that split the normal wasteland clouds and the stormy ones. This storm looked bad, and if we didn’t get going soon, we’d be slogging through waist high muds, or worse. One flash flood along the plains near the road to Flint’s and the plan was done for.

“Let’s go!” My mother called from across the camp. “Those of you who can still fight. Get your gear, and head east. We’re on a time limit!” As soon as she’d finished that sentence, a bolt of lightning crawled across the lower side of the clouds above us.

“PC!” Bluejay shouted, “Get your…” She was abruptly cut off by another burst of thunder, but I got the gyst of it.

Trotting around Flank Steak, I got myself moving toward the others. I passed a few weary and heavily bandaged stallions who were sitting around the fire. From what mom had said, Dykem murdered eight ponies with her little trinkets. Sadly, three of them were Big shot and his sons, caught in their sleep they never had a chance to run. I thought back to the last request that Novocain had, was to find her sons. I never did tell them that she died with them in her thoughts.

I was honestly surprised that any of them stayed after the attack, they didn’t need to fight this battle. Storm’s words cropped up in my mind. No, they had every right to fight against Flint. That was why they were here, not for Caltrop. These ponies fought because they wanted to make the wasteland better, and that made them far better ponies than I.

“Don’t shoot! Hold your fire.” Storm called out from up ahead. Both she and Bluejay were perched at the top of one of the small hills outside of camp. “My pipbuck says she’s friendly. What about yours?”

“Friendly, but that doesn’t mean I have to trust her.” Bluejay grumbled looking back as I trotted up the hill. Another flash and burst of thunder was almost perfectly timed as I crested it and saw who they were talking about. Brushfire slowly walked towards us, staring at me with a sneer from the moment I met her gaze.

“That’s far enough.” Storm called over to her. To my surprise, Brushfire did as was asked and sat down. She wore her flamer on her, but it wasn’t lit like normal. Maybe she was here to join up with us? “"State your business, raider." I could be hopeful at least.

"I came to deliver a message for PC." Brushfire spoke up, sounding off from her normal cocky self. “Flint wishes you to know that he is deeply disappointed in you. However, if you kill Storm as requested and Synchro the traitorous bastard, he’ll spare Caltrop’s life.”

“And he’d just, let him go?” I found that very hard to believe. Even if he did hold true to his word, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to kill him anyway.

“Of course not. He own’s Caltrop, he’d just be put to work in the fields.” She sighed and shook her head in annoyance. “You know, I was supposed to kill you if you didn’t agree, but this ain’t worth dying over. I’m outta here.” She rose to her hooves and turned, still keeping her eyes locked on me. “I’ve been looking for a way out of Flint’s employ for quite some time, PC. Solid employer, but it’s really lost it’s fun.” She called back, turning her gaze from me sharply. “I just didn’t want to leave Dykem there with him. She was a good kid, PC.”

“I did what I had to do.” I cried back. Yeah, I didn’t even believe the words coming from my muzzle. Whatever lie that helps me sleep at night I guess.

“Know this, PC.” She screamed out as she turned to the south. “If I ever see you again, you’re dead for what you did to her.” We all watched as she trotted off into the hills as the sound of approaching rains met our ears.

I wouldn’t have guessed it. The whole time I was there, I’d missed it completely, but now it made sense. Dykem and Brushfire were always going on jobs together because she cared about Dykem. I don’t know how she cared about her, or if it mirrored the way I thought about Sandy, but it scared me.

“Alright.” Bluejay nodded. “I’m going to go fill in Synchro on the plan. If he can make sure his bot get’s back to Flint’s with us in it, then we do whatever it takes to get the job done.” She turned and held her hoof out to me. “Agreed?”

The oncoming storm darkened the sky as it passed overhead. Torrential rains began to pick up, and without another word, it was time to set everything in motion. My mother trudged past us up the hill, offering a soft smile to the three of us as we stood there. The others who followed kept their eyes set ahead, or helped along the injured who still wanted to fight.

I wanted to say that this was the beginning of the last job I’d ever do, but I was wrong. This was something I’d started quite some time ago, and I had spent enough time convincing myself not to do it. Mother and I were tied for failed contracts, and I intended to keep it that way.

This job seemed fairly simple, the same any other contract I’d ever picked up. Find an asshole, and kill them. Just like the contract that started me on this journey, the reward for Flint’s death was too good to pass up. I’d been paid forward in the blood and lives of those like Brightshine and her brother, Jamboree, and even Null and Dykem. I intended to make good on their sacrifice, no matter what.

“Agreed.” I nodded, turning to Bluejay and taking her forehoof in mine. “Let’s kill that asshole.”

--Chapter End--
“At the end of it all, you have only one shot. Make it count.”
Quests Finished: Last Wishes (Failed), Show me the money
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Chapter 45 - Coup de foudre

The wasteland was too quiet tonight. As we rode, there wasn’t a single sign of other life around. No animals, raiders, or anything. Just the silence that rang out between Lily and the storm we’d just crawled ahead of. Who knew if everything had just chosen tonight to stay home, or if they knew to stay out of our way. The stage had been set, and we were going to put on one hell of a show.

Lily jostled and bounced across the uneven terrain as ‘she’ went. Synchro had made sure that the motors worked at peak efficiency for the trip back. Unfortunately, to do so, he’d disconnected the four other internally stored weapons to reroute their power. I had destroyed most of Lily when I fought with it, but even so, it still had more weapons that it could have used. Too bad it’ll be useless in the coming fight.

The cool air whipped at my hat and coat as we rode. We’d left camp at sundown, heading off into the night towards my mother’s band. Storm had assured me that they would be in position to attack by the time we arrived. While I’d slept, Synchro had filled them in on some of the key positions to hit, but it was up to Storm, Bluejay, and I to kick off the party.

The two of them were crammed into the small compartment that Caltrop’s sisters had used to escape their home in. Bluejay was probably catching some shut eye inside there, but I had a feeling that Storm was just like me.

I was wired. Not by choice, but my mind was galvanized to plan, predict, and overthink. What if when we get there, they just hit Lily with a rocket? This whole bot goes up and we three with it. No, this thing is too useful of a tool for Flint to just destroy it. What if Flint has some sharpshooter pick me off from the moment we drive up there? That’s easy, I’ll just get off and walk up behind it.

I really hope Caltrop is alright. My conscience had been whispering to me all night, reminding me yet again what was at stake. At dawn, the two day limit that Flint put on Storm’s head was up. I’d just hoped that with what happened with Dykem wouldn’t make him have already ended Caltrop’s life in revenge.

No. I was tired of worrying, and I couldn’t think that way if we were to bring him down once and for all. Caltrop for me was still alive, and I was the only one who could rescue him. That was what needed to drive me in the fight, even if that’s not what I saw when we got there.

For now however, all I could do was sit and wait.

The sun began to peek over the horizon. As it did, the dead forest at the base of Flint’s road were pressed against the backdrop of the crimson horizon. The trees sat like monoliths, bones to an ancient and long dead beast. Something deep in my mind told me to run at the sight. Save yourself, go live somewhere where nopony will ever find you.

“No.” I whispered to myself in anger. With a flick of my horn, I pointed it to the side and used my magic to bring out both Howdy and Number Six. I had a whole box of .357 ammo for Howdy sitting in my bags, and five twenty gauge rounds for Number Six, six if I counted the one in it already.

I braced myself against the camera boom of Lily as it turned abruptly down the Villa road. With my magic, again I checked the connections with my rear hooves and the battery. Pressing down with it, I also made sure that my hat was on securely. One missed detail and it was game over for all of us.

We rumbled up the road, the thunder of the following storm echoed through the hills around the valley. The corner that would reveal the Villa approached fast, and I did my best to clear my mind. My heart beat faster the closer we rolled. I tightened my magical grip around the guns, lifting myself up onto my hooves. Carefully, I stepped backwards towards the rear of the monstrosity. The moment I took fire, I’d have to hop down.

The stillness of the Valley unnerved me. Each rock that popped under the wheels of Lily sent my senses ablaze. Here we are, right past this corner. Everypony would be waiting, ready for a fight, ready to end my life. As we started to round the corner, I held my breath.

Nothing.

As we approached, there was nopony in sight. The Villa walls were empty, and the slave fields were barren. The only thing that even made me think that anypony was still here, was the steam coming from the guard’s quarters. This was too good of a sight for me to believe it. Something was terribly wrong.

Unimpeded, Lily rolled along the path towards the Barn. As it always had, it turned in sharply, parking itself in front of the large scrap piles that Synchro kept. Nopony had so much as peeked out from anywhere, and even as I thought they might, nopony ambushed us from Synchro's junk piles. Still, as Synchro's machine shuttered and powered down, there wasn't complete silence. A quick clip of hooves heading our way met my ears.

"Stmff am fut fer homphs uf!" One, tired looking earth pony guard dashed out behind the robot. He spoke through the cut down over under in his muzzle, but didn't shoot. He couldn't risk killing me.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I spoke, simply turning towards him. I didn't want to trust that he wouldn't accidentally pull the trigger, but I could tell he wasn't the brightest.

"Stmff am fut..." He groaned through the gun, pausing as he put his hoof up. Please tell me he wasn't that stupid. Without thinking, he spat the gun into his hoof. "I said..." Was as far as he got before I focused my magic around his gun. With a simple flick, I'd turned it around and blasted half of his face clean off.

"Fucking idiot." I muttered, pulling the gun close to me. The sound of shouting across the complex met my ears, along with the heavy squeal of metal below me. The sound of Bluejay and Storm squirming their way out was music to my ears. Quickly, I stepped over to the side of the machine, and jumped my way down. This time, I landed on all fours.

"I finally figured it out!" Bluejay smiled as she straightened herself out. "She's called spectre because of the whole ghost projection from her teleports!" She laughed, quite proud of that fact. "Been waiting damn near the whole ride here to say that."

It's funny, because I hadn't even thought about it either. Still, didn't mean I couldn't lie and at least pretend like I knew something first. "Took you long enough."

"Shut up, PC. You didn't know either." Storm sighed as she pulled her Rifle off from around herself. Couldn't even let me have one little win, could you? "It’s far too quiet here, I don’t trust it. Still, let's use this advantage." Pushing past me, she cantered across the road. “To the Villa, now.”

Bluejay grunted and floated out her pump action. I simply turned and followed after Storm. The quick sounds off hoofsteps across the Villa’s tiles, and the hushed voices that came from above meant that Flint’s ponies were up there. A large blast from lower down in the valley spurred screams from below. I didn’t know whose screams they were, but they were followed with sporadic bursts of gunfire. I prayed to the goddesses that my mom would keep herself safe.

“Hello, hello?” The sharp whine of a megaphone pierced the air from the Villa. “Greetings, dear ambitious invaders!” Flint’s voice echoed down through the valley. His voice did a bit to cut through the fighting that peaked up from down there, but the heavy chatter of machine guns were hard to beat for anypony. “I wish to offer you this one chance at surrender.”

The fighting carried on as he paused. Storm slowed down to a walk, and kept herself crouched. She bit down hard on the barrel of her lever action, scanning the hills above. I too dropped myself as low as I could get, but the lower I got, the more my mechanical legs whined and refused to move well.

“Well, as I assume that I am graced with the presence of the so called ‘Celestia’s Angels’, I would like to direct your attention to my slave pens.” Flint’s voice was calm, collected, and had just a hint of excitement to it. More than anything so far, that made me shiver with fear. Storm stopped just up ahead, peeking her eyes just above the edge of the ceramic tiles in the courtyard.

The thick stone railing that ran around it’s edge kept us hidden, but I couldn’t stop myself from peeking a look as well. Up on the second floor balcony railing of his villa, Flint sat propped up against it. He was wearing some sort of crimson combat armor that nearly fit flush to his body. In one hoof, he held a megaphone. In the other, the small device that Null had brought with us back in Steel Junction.

“I must assume that you are fighting and dying to steal away the property that is rightfully mine. I cannot have that, you see.” Flint’s flare for the dramatic hadn’t changed one bit in his paranoia. “I am a frightfully jealous Stallion, and well, if I can’t have something?” He gave a neurotic little giggle that made the mane on the back of my neck stand up. “Well then, nopony can.”

A series of blasts resounded from down the hill. Even from where we sat, the multicolored plumes of balefire rose high into the sky. Bluejay and myself shielded our faces from the heat and dust that met us. I winced as the thought that everypony down there might be dead from that. Mom, might be dead.

“Please, don’t be dead.” I whispered softly, trying to force that image from my mind. She… she was a tough mare. Even if she was in the blast, she’d just have to become a ghoul… or something. Right?

Storm hadn’t moved, still staring starkly through the pillars of the stone railing. Her steadfastness was a rock in the increasingly choppy waters. Mentally, I held on to her, trying to focus myself.

Somepony nearby dropped their gun onto the tile. “That… that was our home! Those where… our families were still in there!” A stallion cried out.

“Now now,” Flint sighed. “Spectre, dear?” He didn’t have to say more than that before a pair of supressed pistol shots rang out. “It seems that I must remind you, that belonging to me relieves you of your right to anything in this world. You are only things. My things.” Flint barked out, through his megaphone. “If anything else has an objection, leave it with Spectre.”

Slowly, Storm reached up to her muzzle. As she moved, she was deathly silent. I watched her eyes as she brought her gun into her hoof. She didn’t even blink as she carefully moved the barrel forward, poking it between two pillars slowly.

“I know you are out there, PC.” Flint called out again. “I have something for you.” His words drew my attention to him. He put down the detonator, stepping back from the railing.

“PC.” Storm spoke calmly at barely a whisper.

“I have this stallion here. Your stallion. You cut it close to my two day requirement, but I think he deserves to survive, don’t you?” Flint called out, reappearing after only a moment. With his free hoof, he shoved Caltrop against the railing. Even from here, he didn’t look well. I could see red lines and purple patches all over his body. Stuffed in his muzzle was a rag, and through it i could hear his muffled whines. “That is, he will die unless you come forward in the next ten seconds. Do you hear me? I will kill Caltrop.”

“PC,” Storm whispered again, this time more harsh. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“One.” Flint called out, looking back behind him. “Two.” He gave a short nod as he held out his forehoof. From behind him, somepony levitated something toward him. I couldn’t quite make it out, but Storm shifted herself slightly and pulled my attention back to her.

“Ballistic hoof.” She whispered. “Just need one more second for Caltrop to move out of the way. Then I can take the shot.”

“Three!” Flint called out through the megaphone. “Oh this is exciting, isn’t it?” He giggled. “Four!”

I wanted to go. I wanted to trust that if I showed myself, that Flint would let him go. So long as he was out of harm's way, I could make it through this. Storm be damned, I didn’t want to just sit around and wait! I stared at Caltrop, watching as he crouched down from where he was. The way he turned his head up and looked at Flint, I could tell what was on his mind.

“No, no, no.” Storm let out in a light gasp. We watched as Caltrop wiggled his hooves, freeing them of whatever binding’s he was in.

“Five!” Flint called out. As he did, Caltrop turned and dove at him.

“Shit, shit!” Storm hissed.

Flint gave out a surprised yelp as Caltrop brought him to the floor of the balcony and out of our sight. I waited, holding my breath as the sounds of struggling came from up above. The quick reports of two gunshots made me flinch. To keep myself from gasping, I forced my forehoof against my muzzle.

After a moment, the megaphone whined again.

“Well, that was quite unfortunate.” Flint grunted. “I’m sorry I had to do do that, Mrs. Cap. Caltrop had such great potential.”

No… Caltrop.

I lost it. Right then, everything I knew about fighting flew out the window. In it’s place, only rage and anger existed. Numb to the warnings and words coming from Storm and Bluejay, I stood up. Picking myself up to a trot, I continued up the hill.

Ponies in combat armor sat stationed at various points around the stone railing of the courtyard. In their hooves, they held weapons that varied from rusting rifles, to magical energy weapons. The closest one was ten or so feet from where we had been crouched. In a question that was lost to the rage that I felt, I’d wondered how they hadn’t seen us.

I pointed Number Six at him, and fired. The part of his face that wasn’t covered under his helmet blasted inward. The recoil of Number six sent it spiraling back from my magical grip. Instead of getting it, I wrapped my magic around the energy rifle that the stallion had dropped.

With a guttural scream, I pulled the trigger on Howdy. The other guards just now were starting to react. In my magic, I pulled the energy rifle around and fired as well. As I did, I felt somepony slam against my side.

Bluejay pushed me as her shotgun barked. A couple of the guards who had been aiming at me fired, their rounds sparking off of Bluejay’s armored barding.

Using the momentum of her shove, I kept myself walking sideways as I fired at the next guard. A scorching beam from the rifle tore across his body, and he let out a piercing scream. A moment later, a shot from my revolver found it’s way into the underside of his jaw and ended him.

Burning pain gripped me as I felt an impact against my right shoulder. I didn’t even stop to check it as I found the asshole who’d hit me and fired. My shots were poorly aimed, and missed him completely. Luckily, one of the beams from the energy rifle struck another guard down the line. The first guard fired his combat rifle again, missing his shot before his head exploded into gore.

Storm’s S.A.T.S. boosted fire came from behind me, taking out two other guards in the blink of an eye. Bluejay charged forward, firing at a pony with a Submachine gun. He let loose a burst as she fired, and while he went down hard, he got a pair of hits against her leg.

She went down, rolling with a scream. Howdy’s hammer fell on an empty cylinder, and I dropped it from my magical grasp. To replace it, I used the combat rifle that had hit me before. I limped forward, firing at the last two ponies still fighting. One of them had an old bolt action rifle being readied.

I pressed the trigger down on the combat rifle and let loose. It jumped wildly in my levitation. The rounds weren’t accurate, but a few of them managed to land close. The rifle pony flinched, switching targets to the pony who was now threatening him more. His hesitation to choose was his last mistake as Storm’s rifle fired and drilled a hole through his skull.

The final pony, a unicorn mare, dropped her gun. She held her forehooves out, scrambling to run away. Though it was lost on me, I knew she was shouting for mercy. Bluejay answered her with another two shells from her shotgun. The first one only sparked across her armor, but the second miraculously severed off one of her forehooves.

She slumped down onto the tile, unmoving. The sight of it hit me, jolting the image of Sandy into my mind. It made me freeze up.

That was the moment another round hit me. I cried out at the shot came from nowhere, and immediately took off forward. All the sound that had been muted to me came back in sharp detail as I hobbled my way across the Courtyard.

“Spectre!” Bluejay shouted, her shotgun spinning around and firing off a shot.

“Keep her moving!” Storm shouted from behind me.

I reached out with my levitation, drawing both the bolt action and Howdy back towards me. It was hard to focus on so many things at once. Spectre wasn’t going to be the only unicorn here having to strain herself. Carefully, I tried to get Howdy reloaded while keeping the other weapons close.

With an arcane snap, she appeared near Bluejay as she attempted to pick herself up. Wrapped in all her rags, she still had just her suppressed pistol with her. Storm fired a shot a moment too late, Spectre popping away in a flash. Bluejay wandered towards us, spinning her shotgun as she did.

“Stay close, but not too close.” She grunted as she limped forward. The crimson lines running from her back leg didn’t bleed too fast. “Keep your eye’s peeled.” She said, right before a flash from between us caught my eye. Turning the rifle, Bluejay threw herself onto the ground as I fired.

As it happened, I fired too early, and Spectre appeared after my shot passed. She looked at me for a moment before she flashed away again. With a click, I finished reloading Howdy.

“Be careful not to shoot each other!” Storm snapped in frustration.

The world tipped on it’s side as a small pop came from behind me. My rear left leg gave out a whine as it crumpled under me. I turned the energy rifle around just in time to have her disappear again. Quickly I inspected my leg. Her shot had severed the hoof itself off at the joint, leaving me to stand on just the metal rods that made up how my hoof had even moved.

“You can’t aim everywhere.” Her voice reverberated through the air with the same sadistic laugh she’d used the other night.

The flicker of her image appeared between the three of us, and I pointed howdy at it. I waited for her to show up. With a pop, the image disappeared. In it’s place, three ghosts of her vibrated into existence. One behind each of us.

“That’s a new one.” Bluejay muttered. As we all turned our guns on the image, they flickered and shifted to where they weren’t pointing. “All of them are real on my pipbuck. I can’t tell which one she’ll be!”

“Fucking bitch,” I grunted, turning the energy rifle to face behind me. Howdy hovered in front of me. The bolt action I turned to face the one that Bluejay’s gun wasn’t aimed at. “Stop hiding behind your magic!”

“You all think you know better.” Spectre called out, her ghost mirroring herself. “That you are better.” She split her images again, putting one in front of and behind each of us. With a glance over at storm. I realized that we didn’t have enough guns to cover all of them. That was Spectre’s plan.

Storm screamed out in anger. Each of the ghosts of Spectre flashed away as she did. With a rushed spin, Storm thrust her hoof forward to the image behind her. Spectre’s body apparated into the ghost with a choking whine. Storm’s hoof was merged into Spectre’s chest.

“H-how?” Spectre gasped softly. Her magic cut out as she trembled, dropping her gun. Before it hit the tile, I grabbed it in my levitation and turned it on her.

“Because we are better.” Storm hissed through her own pain. Her eyes glowed bright blue, brighter than when she’d been angry at me.

Spectre let out a bloodcurdling yell as blue flames burst out from her. The rags that had tightly wrapped around her went up, burned clear off in only a second flat. Now exposed, Bluejay and I watched as her skin boiled and ruptured. Spectre’s eyes burst with sizzling pops as her entire body started to melt. Her skin, bones, everything started to run like a melting candle.

As Spectre’s scream bubbled away with her lungs, Storm’s scream replaced it. When she did, the blue flames she’d projected flashed in intensity. Specter’s body blew back away from her in melted chunks as the fire died. Storm collapsing to the ground with a whimper. She sat there, unmoving on the tiles.

“Storm!” Bluejay yelled out, running over to her. I was too focused on the jelly-like remains to move. We did it. We killed Spectre. “PC…” Bluejay spoke up with a note of hesitation. The blue glow from her horn flickered, sparking out with a sizzle. I swear to the goddesses, she better not have burnt out. “She’s…”

The loud report of a rifle preempted Storm’s jacket nearly exploding. Bits of leather were tossed off of it as a round punched in and drilled into her chest. Before we could react, her chest glowed, and a short gout of flame burst through her open muzzle and the wound channel. As the smoke wafted from her, my magic gave out.

This couldn’t be happening… Storm can’t be...

“Dead!” Flint called out in a manic laugh.

I spun around, looking back up to the Balcony. Flint held an obscenely large rifle in his hooves, throwing his head back in uncontrollable laughter. Setting the rifle down, he clapped his hooves together joyously and bounced on his rear hooves.

“For so many years others have tried, I have sent so many to try!” His laughter and giggle fits were making the rage in me start to beat out the sorrow. “I guess the old adage is the rule to live by. If you want something done,” His expression died, and he glared down at me. “do it yourself.”

The bottom floor door to his villa opened up, and out from it stepped a mare and stallion that I remembered. The slave who’d Flint had threatened Sandy’s life with stood on a cart with a minigun on it. The cart was being pulled by the hulking stallion who had brought Ash out at the dinner party.

“Do be a dear and wait for me down there. I have a... proposition for you.” Flint’s polite voice called down to us as he pushed himself away, disappearing from view. “I promise that I won’t be more than a moment’s time.”

I looked down as Bluejay hugged Storm’s body tightly. Storm was gone. Mom was gone. Caltrop...

“PC?” Bluejay spoke up at me through soft sobs. “This isn’t worth dying over.” I looked to her as she spoke, tears streaming from her muzzle. “I don’t care if you think you have nothing left to lose. Just please…”

“I’m going to kill him.” The words weren’t hard to find, or hard to say. “It’s my job. It’s the job.”

“There we are!” Flint called from behind me. He strolled out of the dining room doors of the Villa. Beside him, walked a slave who held a pillow in her magic. Atop said pillow, was a large, rectangular wooden box. “I can tell that you aren’t going to do the sensible thing and just die.” Flint seethed, keeping his calm and collected gaze on me. His platinum coat was out of place amongst the blood and bodies around here. “So, why not have a friendly competition?” As he said that, the wooden case next to him opened.

Inside, were two fairly sharp and pointy looking swords. The long, tapered blades looked like they were brand new, and the golden inlaid flowers around the hilt shimmered in the morning light.

“Why, you ask would I ever consider not simply shooting you down? A zebra friend of mine years ago, taught me the idea of honor.” Flint spoke, turning towards the blades. Shakily, he stood up on his rear hooves, reaching one of his forehooves forward. He took one of the swords in his fetlock, using his other forehoof to steady himself. “He also taught me how to fight like a gentlecolt. I really admired his passion for the art of fencing.”

“Don’t you have a heart?” Bluejay hissed up at him. “Wasn’t Spectre your daughter?”

“Silence!” He shouted, whipping the sword over and pointing it at her. “She was like a daughter to me, but she was still my property. One of the best pieces of property I’d ever had the pleasure of owning, but I digress. She meant nothing more that that.” As he spoke that, I’d expected a quiver, a hint of hesitation that meant that she truly did mean something to him.

It wasn’t there.

“She did an excellent job of lining me up for that phoenix round.” He stated almost boredly. “Cost me an hoof and a leg to make, but hardest to find was a vial of pheonix blood. Oh, and the enchantments on them were superbly inlaid by Dykem. All it took from you, was a single strand of Storm’s hair’s pulled from your coat PC, and the spell knew exactly who’s heart to find and immolate.” He let out a gasp and shuddered. “And how glorious it was to finally see it work.”

He shifted his glance over to me with a smile, nodding toward the box. “Please, PC. Take it.”

“Why?” I spit at him.

“If it’s a fight you are pining for, then it is only right of me to fulfill your request.” He stepped back, his stance becoming more solid on his two hooves as he did. “Think of it as a small reward for just that one, tiny, hair.”

I gripped the sword in the box in my magic. In a flash, I swung it at him. He let out an excited gasp as he jumped back. Almost immediately, he sprung forward. His thrust was almost too quick to dodge, and the blade drove into my trenchcoat. As he spun himself around me, he pulled the sword out. As he did, my rear right leg sparked and died.

“I know that crippling that hideously gaudy thing isn’t exactly making this a fair fight.” He sighed, getting himself turned around again. “Then again let's be honest, Mrs. Cap. It wasn’t much of one in the first place, was it?” He made the mistake of standing in front of Bluejay, who took her own chance with him.

“PC, now!” She shouted, wrapping her forehooves around Flint’s rear legs. She tried to pull him off balance as she shouted. Swinging the sword around in my magic, I thrust it forward through the air at him.

With a grace that belonged more to zebra’s than ponies, he twisted himself out of Bluejay’s grasp. As he did, he pushed himself and spun around in the air, twirling in an arc toward me. With a bit of quick thinking, I rolled myself out of his path and recalled both the sword and Howdy up to myself. Pointing the gun up at him, changed his focus as he landed down on one hoof.

“No!” He yelled. Faster than I could pull the trigger, he smacked the gun away from him. As he did, I was free to shift the weight of the sword in my magic. I turned it to cut across his neck, but the momentum he’d had shifted his body. Instead, the sword swung up and drew a line across his face. With a wobble, he let out a whine and stopped, holding his free hoof up to his bleeding face.

“Got you.” I snapped, spinning the sword at him.

“You little, bitch!” He snapped back, flicking his sword up to the side. Without even watching it, he parried my swing. I watched as he rolled the blade around mine and forced it down to the ground. As I was busy focusing on it, he took a step forward and kicked up with his rear hoof.

I’d been too slow to dodge it. His hoof cracked into the base of my horn, shattering my hold on the sword. I went down with a whine, seeing stars and dropping back onto the ground. He stepped up beside me before i could clear my vision, flipping off my hat. He took my mane in his fetlock and started to drag me along the ground. I screamed out and reached my forehooves up, trying to get him to let me go.

“For thirty years, not one pony has left a mark on me. Not. One!” He screamed, dumping me down against storm’s body. I could feel the blood from where he’d kicked my head running down me, starting to drip down my muzzle. “You could have been perfect! I saw the spark of greatness in you, and my talent means I am never wrong about it!” He sneered as he turned around, pointing the blade at me. “Get. Up.”

“Just shoot him PC.” Bluejay whined as I forced myself back to my hooves.

“Yes, PC, just shoot me.” Flint mocked. “These barbarans are who you’ve chosen to side yourself with? You had a home here, you could have had a family as my property.” Flint giggled, wincing as a fresh line of blood dripped down his lacerated cheek. “But you forced me to do all of this, and for what in the end?” As he held his sword up against my chest, a thunderous boom came from the sky as the following storm had finally caught up.

“I still won.” He gritted his teeth as he spat the words at me.

“I’m not dead yet.” I grunted, removing his grin from his muzzle.

"That you are not.” He sighed, dropping back down slowly onto his free forehoof. “But, is it not grand that you are blessed with this circumstance?" Flint spoke as I spit my blood onto the tile below me, looking up at him with a snarl. The edge of the blade pressed against my chest, just waiting to plunge in. "Take comfort my dear, that at the very least, you'll get to die right next to your beloved grandmother."

"Yah shouldn’t a done dat!" Caltrop called down from the balcony with an arrogance that I'd never been more overjoyed to hear in his voice. "Yah always thought yah might miss the first shot, so yah made a second one just in case." In one of his hooves, was Flint's rifle. In the other, was another flickering phoenix round. "Step away from her, and maybe, I might just let yah live." With a flick of his hoof, he slid the round in, and closed the gun.

"Have you forgotten how the phoenix round works? You'll only put another hole into the heart of a corpse." Flint giggled, shouting as he kept his eyes on me. "You can't hit me with it, you fool. Besides..." Flint raised his free hoof to a pocket on his armor, patting at it. His expression fell faster than when I’d pointed his own revolver at him.

"Oh yeh, forgot dat I’m also a thief, didn’t yah? I lifted the hydra off yah when yah shot me.” He held up a small silver case before grabbing the gun again, that cheeky son of a bitch. “By the way, aim for my head next time, keeps me from usin’ one on myself."

With a soft smile, he turned his eyes to me. "PC, remember that canyon? The first time with the mines?" Caltrop called to me, taking aim. "I love yah." I looked down at Storm's body for only a moment, knowing what I had to do.

"I know." I called back.

Using all the power I could, I forced my broken rear hoof to drive myself forward. The sword drew my breath from me as it plunged through me. I let out one last guttural scream as I slid up to the hilt, hooking a forehoof tightly around flint. We had one shot at this, and I would make it count. With Flint frozen in shock, I found it almost too easy to take the one step to the side, standing right over Storm.

With a second, thundering crack, the rifle fired. It was almost beautiful as the second phoenix round went straight for Storm's heart. Too bad that I'd made sure that it plunged into the back of Flint first. After only a split second, the fiery glow erupted flames from his back and his muzzle. Flint's delicate eyes went dark, and the two of us slumped over onto the tile.

Having a sword rammed through you, it really hurts. I whimpered and struggled to breathe as I laid there on the ground. Ignoring the pain, laying here on the tile, you just couldn’t beat the view. Flint’s dark, dead eyes reflected my own in them. The mare I saw staring back in the reflection wasn’t the one who’d been so concerned about caps, she made a slave out of stallions. It wasn’t the mare who’d broken that same stallion out of prison, or even been responsible for the death of a whole town.

The mare who looked back at me was a new mare. One unburdened with the weight of her past, with a smile on her muzzle and eyes that looked only forward. PC died today, at least, the old me did. As my heavy eyelids forced themselves shut, and I grew cold and tired of looking at the reflection, I did my best to smile with the knowledge that I was done.

Relaxing, I let in the darkness that crept into my mind. I’d fought hard, did my best, and finished the job. Even if it didn’t go like we’d all planned, Three generations of bounty hunters had earned their rest today.

“Hun, wake up.” Caltrop’s soothing voice met my ears. I wanted this so much to be a dream, something that I could just grasp and hold onto forever. “Wakey wakey.”

“She’s not asleep.” Bluejay sighed. “Just lazy.” Without any warning, she hit me across the muzzle.

“Ah!” I gasped and sat up. Looking around, I found that I was still sitting in Flint’s courtyard. Beside me, his cold, dead body still laid there. Beside that even, was the bloody looking sword that used to be in my chest. Looking down, instead of a hole, I found a used hydra injector pointing out of me. With a wince, I pulled it out with my hoof.

“Yah alive!” Caltrop cheered and practically lept onto me. It felt so good to feel his warmth, to hold him in my... “PC!” He muttered before pressing into my muzzle with a kiss. Okay, kissing time I guess! With a wet gasp, he broke the kiss. “I love yah.”

“Uh, guys?” Bluejay whined. “We got company.” I followed her gaze up into the air as a pair of dark shapes descended. Reaching out for my guns with my magic, I winced as my horn sparked. Well, fuck.

“So, We meet again.” With the quick flare of his wings, the griffin that had tracked us down before landed next to us. On the other side of us, a smaller griffin landed. This one looked almost the same, but had brown and white splotches all over it’s head feathers. “It seems that you've completed my objective for me and my kin.” He leveled his rifle at me. “Why, if I may ask, did you do it?”

“Just shoot them, Surnia.” The second griffin squaked. “just wasting our time like this.”

“Now now, Athene,” Surnia held up a tallon, pointing it at himself. “I’m the superior officer here, and you will do what I say.” He puffed out the feathers on his head with an angry glare. “I did tell you what happened to my last partner, right?”

“Geeze, calm down.” Athene sighed as he looked down to me. “Just answer his damn question, will yah?”

“He needed to die for what he did, for those he murdered.” I spat. “Why do you even care?”

“What of the other slaves?” Surnia asked, simply ignoring my own question. “Or of any of the slavers in Fillydelphia? What will you do to them?”

“Nothing.” I said, glancing down at the crimson stained hide of Flint. “I'm done with this shit.” With a tired sigh, I pressed myself into Caltrop’s hooves. “I just want to live my life in peace. Start a family, make an honest living that doesn’t involve killing every day.”

“A good answer.” He chuckled, his plump feathers prickling out as he did. “To answer your earlier question, it’s because Red Eye just wants the same. He's tired of the problems that the slavers are causing with the caps he's fed them, and he hired us to wipe them out. Talons aren't as wasteful, and we never very from our word.”

“So, it was true then?” Bluejay spoke up, “Red Eye did plan to kill his own?” She got a nod in return. “Well, what do you know.”

“So then,” I looked up and motioned towards the griffin’s rifle. “With your job finished, what will you do now?”

“Oh, the job isn't finished. I'm ordered to eliminate his entire stock of slaves.” He grunted, slinging his gun up around his neck. With a glance back toward the burning slave housing, he shrugged. “Oh, and anypony working for him.” Surnia glared down at me, meeting my unrelenting glance of annoyance. “But, I don’t see anypony here left who is.” He smiled and spread his wings. “One last thing. I should tell you that in about five minutes, we're going to level the compound with explosives. To send a message to any 'future' ponies who wish to challenge Red Eye.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Bluejay said, starting to push herself off the ground. She winced and favored her now bandaged leg.

“Until the next time we meet.” Athene spoke up, flapping hard to lift off into the air.

“There won’t be a next time.” I said with a smirk.

“Good to hear.” Surnia nodded and gave a short wave with his talon. With a few beats of his own wings, he too took off and glided away down the valley. Another rumble of thunder filled the air from the dark clouds above.

“Everypony okay with leavin’ here an nevah comin’ back?” He whimpered.

“Yeah, it’s time to go.” Bluejay groaned as she leaned down. Carefully, she hoisted Storm’s body onto her back. “Come on, let’s get her home.” She turned around and paused before going forward. “Oh, PC, I wanted to tell you before.” She looked at the ground and scuffed it with her hoof.

“What is it?” I asked, not sure what had her hesitating.

“Before Flint shot her…” She paused, looking up at me. “The strain of using her ability on Spectre was too much for her. She was gone before he fired.”

“So, Flint didn’t kill her?” I looked over to her, the idea that she was gone forever not really sitting in my mind like it should. “I guess… that’s a small comfort to me. She went out fighting.” I nodded softly.

“She died a hero.” Bluejay spoke softly.

“Yes. Yes she did.” I agreed as a flash of lightning made me look up. The remnants of the lightning bolt hid behind Synchro’s tree up on the hill. I don’t know why, but it felt like it called to me right then.

“You go on ahead, Bluejay.” I groaned, trying to pick myself up. My one working leg whined and sparked before it gave out. I almost fell back to the ground, but Caltrop caught me in his hooves. “Get on Synchro’s machine and get it started up. Use it to head back, we won’t be far behind.”

“PC?” Caltrop asked, looking down at me. “What is it?”

“First, get me my chair.” I smiled up at him. “Then, I want to see this place burn.”

From atop this hill, I looked down, and saw just how small everything in the complex looked. I remember remarking that everything used to look big, but that wasn’t true. I’d saved Caltrop, and saved Sandy for now. I don’t know where Synchro will go now, but I intend on making good on my promise. Somehow, I’ll find a way to get him a mare of his own to love.

Sitting up here strapped into my wheels, I couldn’t help but feel good for once. Flint was just a small part of my life, one that was over now. Now, we were free to move on, to be a family all on our own. The only thing I wanted to do was fix up my legs again, move out to that cabin, and Farm. Leaning into Caltrop, I stared down with him into the courtyard.

“Yup, dat asshole’s still dead.” Caltrop nodded.

“Good riddance.” I snorted. “Fuck Flint.” Turning to Caltrop, I didn’t look at any of his bruises or cuts. Nor did I look at the scar that ran across his muzzle that I myself had given him. I looked into his bright eyes and smiled. “I’m just glad that it’s over, and that you’re safe.”

“Now dat it's over,” His eyes nearly sparkled as he looked back at me. “I was really hopin' ta have at normal life with yah. Less shootin' and bein' owned by mad slavers, yah know?”

“Agreed.” I nodded and let out a relaxing sigh. “I swear that you met me at a really odd time in my life.” Turning my gaze back to the tree, I gave out a smile. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re all free from that now.” Turning back to him, I ran right into his muzzle.

As he wrapped his hooves around me, I melted into his grasp. My mind felt like it exploded as I pressed back into him. My heart jumped, and my horn sputtered, shooting sparks as I tried to grasp onto any sensation past pleasure.

With a deafening roar, the Villa below exploded in a prismatic balefire egg blast. More blasts cropping up from the Barn and in the Apartments. The shockwaves blasted us with dust and dirt, but we didn’t care. I had him, and he had me, and that was all we would ever need. Slowly he broke the kiss, allowing me to gasp softly to catch my breath.

“PC?” He asked softly, a worried look in his eyes.

“Yes?” I replied, willing to do anything for him. I would tear down Fillydelphia for him if he asked. Though, I really hoped it wouldn’t come to that...

“We ain’t got any rad-away.” He rubbed at his neck nervously, looking over at the rising mushroom clouds. “We should probably go.”

“Right.” I nodded and sighed, happy that for now, everything was going to be normal from here on out. Giving him a peck on the cheek, I giggled. “Let’s get out of here, you dolt.”

--Chapter End--
“You did it! Can’t say the final perk was worth it...”
Quests Finished: To Kill a God
Quests Started: N/A
Levels Earned: 1
Perks Earned: Contract Killer/Lawbringer - Rewards will be hooved out for the successful elimination of selected targets.

Epilogue

“What is left to be said?” I spoke up. The last two weeks have been hard, not just on me, but on everypony. The crowd that had gathered around the Monument of Hope in Baltimare was respectable. “Storm wasn’t just a pony. She was a mother,” I said, looking over to mom. Her tears had wet the gauze that covered her eyes, and she could barely stand with her burns as bad as they were. Still, she was the strongest mare I knew, and she wouldn’t give up. “My grandmother.” Looking over to Caltrop, his eyes wavered as he too cried. “And a friend of everypony with a good heart.”

“The stories I’d been told when I was a filly, I never believed them.” I continued. “They always made her out to be some super mare. Well, I never saw that Storm, not until two weeks ago. And you know what?” I didn’t know where this was coming from. I was supposed to say something, and I guess… I just kinda knew what to say. “She was every bit the mare in those stories. Yes, she died a hero,” At that, Bluejay gave a soft nod. “but she never gave up. Not on me, on my friends, or any of you.” I jabbed a hoof at the crowd. “So I say we don’t give up on her. I say, we go out there and we live to make this world a better place like she did every damn day.”

“It doesn’t mean you have to fight in the same way.” The concrete statute’s base felt cold under my hooves. The wind that blew through the streets to the plaza droned out it’s own sadness. “It just means that you need to work for a better tomorrow. And if you have to fight for that tomorrow, then you fight. You fight like the rest of your life depends on it, because that’s what she wanted.”

“And each day, we’ll move forward.” I paused, looking over the crowd. Almost at the back, standing on some old crates, Synchro stood with a smile. “And we’ll remember what she gave to the wasteland. To us.” Turning around, I looked up to the large statue, the four letters embossed into it’s base sinking deep into my mind. “Hope.”

My cybernetic legs whined as I followed down the steps that descended into the back of the statue. Storm’s wrapped body levitated in both My and Bluejay’s hold. She had told me that a crypt had been built into the statue for when this day came, and she asked for my help to put Storm in her final resting place.

The circular stairs descended far past the light of the outside, and the air grew colder the further down we went. Only the light from our horns lit the dark staircase, and only the sound of our hooves met our ears.

“For being something you probably thought up on the spot…” Bluejay spoke up. “I think you did right by her.” She looked back up at me. “Storm would have liked it.”

“Thanks.” I’d had plenty of time to cope with her loss over the last two weeks. It seemed like everypony had been torn up by it to the point of tears. For me, I couldn’t cry. I felt like if I did, then I’d be lying to her. I’d spent so much time in ignorance, that I don’t feel like I knew Storm at all. How could I mourn somepony who I’d been so wrong about? Who had shown me nothing but love, even if I didn’t see it that way. I was pulled from my thoughts as I spotted something further down.

“What’s that?” Up ahead, a small blue light shined off the dark walls deeper down. It grew brighter with each step forward we took.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and walked forward through a small archway. Inside, was a moderately large domed chamber carved out of the bedrock under the city. Bluejay took Storm from me and levitated her body onto a small carved table in the center of the room. Beyond that, in the back of the chamber, was something odd.

Before us sat a very crooked and sickly looking tree shaped crystal. Embedded in its trunk, were the cutie marks of the old goddesses. From the thick branches, crystal vines hung down and made the whole chamber shimmer. It was unlike any tree i'd ever seen before, but that wasn't the only thing that had caught my eye. At the bottom of the tree, on top of it's roots, sat a small gold necklace. The gem at its center slowly pulsed and flickered a soft blue, almost as if there was a small flame trapped inside.

"It's not looking very bright, is it?" Bluejay asked with a sigh.

At the risk of sounding stupid, I spoke up. "What is it?" I might have known had I ever believed any of the stories I'd heard about Storm, but now it's too late. Of all the things I regret, I think that's the one thing I'll regret the most in my life.

"It's hope." Bluejay sighed, levitating Storm's body around and setting it at the base of the tree. "The wasteland is dieing, PC. Every year that gem gets dimmer. When it dies, so does our future." She turned to me and put a hoof on my shoulder, looking me straight in the eye. "It's your responsibility to fight for that future, to pick up where Storm left off, fighting the good fight."

"Bluejay," I smiled and shook my head. "You're an idiot if you think I'm the pony who Storm left that mantle to. Look at me! I'm a crippled unicorn whose only passion in the world anymore, is to love her family and farm corn." I reached up and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Being a hero? That's what you're good at. I'm just here to protect the one's I've come to love."

"Just as stubborn as ever, PC. Guess that's the one thing about you that'll never change." She laughed lightly and nodded, dropping her hoof to the floor. "But seriously, this is bigger than either of us, and one day I hope that you'll see that."

"And on that day, I will stand with you and fight for us all." I stepped up to her and wrapped a forehoof around her, pulling her into a tight hug. "Until then, I've got a family to start."

"So this is it then?" Bluejay gave me a smile.

"Yeah...?" I asked, cocking my eyebrow. "I mean, I'd figured that you had places you wanted to go. Ponies to save, big plans and all that."

"Actually, not really." She shrugged and looked back to the stairs. "I thought I'd head west with Synchro and Sandy, make good on that promise I gave him." With a firm nod, she glanced back. "We'll find Sandy some help out there. She'll be in good hooves."

"Well, she's like a daughter to me." I nudged her. "Bring her back safe, you hear me?"

“I will.” She whispered, pausing before shifting her gaze down to storm. “Do… do you mind if I pay my respects?”

“Take all the time you need.” I sighed sadly, taking one last look at Storm before turning around. “Goodby, Bluejay.” Walking up the stairs, I could barely hear her answer through her quiet sobs.

“See you around, PC.”

Walking back up, I wasn’t sure what to think about what was down there. The wasteland is a strange place, but could that one gem really represent all the hope that ponykind had? Was it really that close to going out forever? These were questions for somepony smarter than me, better than me. As I dragged my hooves up the stairs, I was filled with the feeling that I wouldn’t have to wait too long to find out.

Reaching the top of the stairs, I stepped out into the warming afternoon light. Part of me wanted to stay, the other, wanted to go. I settled with trotting across the street and sitting down for a moment. The monument was something I’d never cared for, just like Storm. Now it felt different, brighter to me. The more I looked at it, the more I wanted to go back down there and tell Bluejay I wanted to go with her. Alas, I couldn’t do that to Caltrop after all we’d been through.

With this done, I still had to head home. I needed to help mom get Ficha settled in to run the shop while she healed. Needed to pick up some supplies while I was there as well. The cabin out at the lake had some repairs that needed to be done, and I was fairly certain that the shelter was out of pretty much everything. It wasn’t going to be easy, but that’s why Caltrop and I were going to tackle it together.

“Excuse me, miss?” The gentle voice of a stallion called over to me. The young stallion trotted up from the road, behind him, a very annoyed looking mare glared at me. The pegasus had a brown coat, a white and red striped mane, and rested in an old rusty hospital wheelchair. I didn’t know who she was, but I did recall seeing her at the funeral.

“Yeah, what do you want?” I snorted. Why couldn’t ponies just leave me alone?

“I just wanted you to clarify, beyond all doubt,” He muttered with a jitter in his voice. “Mrs. Storm Rider is deceased, correct?”

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” Using my magic, I flicked off the strap that secured Howdy to it’s holster. I really wasn’t in the mood to have some stallion start trouble with me.

“Oh, I see.” He looked back to the mare, giving a single short nod. “I do apologize for your loss.” I leaned over and looked at the mare behind him, only to have him step in the way. “My mother and Mrs. Storm knew each other long ago, we came to pay our respects.”

“Then you can pay them and go.” I got the feeling that there was more to this than he was telling. This whole awkward situation was making me feel damn insecure about these two. “Tell me, what’s your mother’s name?”

“Iron Cross.” He snorted, turning around with a smile. He walked back into the street without even another look back, wheeling off the mare in the chair, who only glared at me as they left. A shiver ran down my spine as I broke eye contact. Yeah, along with Caltrop’s sisters, I can add another pair to the list of ponies that I never want to see again.

I had literally no idea who that was. Guess it’s just another pony I’ll have to ask Caltrop about. He’d been slowly telling me all the stories that his Grandfather had fed him as a colt. Some of them, I’m pretty sure were exaggerated, but as I said, the wasteland is a weird place. Still, I’ve enjoyed our time together when he tells them too me. It’s grown to be the second most exciting thing I look forward to at the end of each day.

My first most exciting thing with him however… was a whole different kind of exciting.

------------------------
Two Years Later...
------------------------

Here I was once again.

The smell of dry wood was heavy in my nostrils, the dusty crate I sat inside at the very least gave me some protection from the cloudy midday sun. I breathed slowly, adjusting my hoof hold on Storms rifle. Carefully, I rested it down on my shoulder for a moment. With as light a touch as I could manage, I reached up and wiped the sweat beading on my brow. I watched as a mare wandered across the crosshairs of the scope.

You would think that a box resting at the end of the corn field would have been a horrible place to hide...

...and you'd be damn right.

Even more so if they saw this hunk of metal sticking out from the small hole carved in it. Good thing then that ferals weren't observant unless they could see something vaguely pony shaped. The green mare on the other side of my optic didn't seem to care about me in the least, content to shuffling around in the dirt and gnawing on her own exposed foreleg bone.

"Honey?" Caltrop's voice called out behind me. Even from a hundred yards, I heard the ghoul growl as it looked over in my direction.

"Damnit, Caltrop." I sighed, pausing as my lungs cleared. With a smooth press, I pulled the trigger with my hoof. The report of the old lever action rang through my ears. A thin plume of dust rose and wafted away as the ghoul let out a scream. "Shit." I sighed and used my hoof to cycle the action. Okay, calm yourself, breathe and... I pulled the trigger again, shaving the top of the skull off the ghoul. At least I'd gotten better with shooting using only my hooves, which was a whole lot harder than I'd thought it would be. Storm made it look easy, but it was probably her pipbuck doing half the work anyway.

"PC, what are yah doin' out here!" Caltrop spoke with a worried tone carrying itself right into my ears next to the ringing from the gunshot. With a click, he undid the latch that held the crate shut. I let out a whine as the back wall I'd been resting against gave out, dumping me back out into the dirt.

"I got that feral who's been tearing up the south field." I coughed, waving my forehoof around to clear some of the dust I'd kicked up. I'll say one thing about living on a farm, or in the wasteland for that matter. You can never dust yourself off enough, or take enough showers.

"I can see dat." He sighed, shaking his head as he held out his hoof. "And as much as I love yah helpin out, yah have ta rest." He was nothing, if not completely sincere. Grabbing ahold of his hoof, he tugged and pulled me upright. "I know dat the last month hasn't been easy, but yah just had Harvest Moon. And even after da whole month, your body still needs ta rest.” With a worried look, he shook his head. “I love Riddle and Harvest ta death, but dey need their mother along with their father."

"Caltrop, I know you mean well," Using my magic, I rolled my wheelchair around from the front of the crate. With a little bit of focus, I managed to lift myself and get my rear legs set into the harness. "but the amount of work around here is..."

"I know, I know." He grunted and rolled his tired eyes. "If yah'd just listen ta me for once, yah'd remember dat Sandy and Synchro will be here tomorrow. Dey'll help out, but you," He leaned forward and planted a kiss on the end of my dusty muzzle. "You need ta rest and take care of our beautiful daughters."

"As amazing as it is with you, remind me to wait to have sex again." I groaned, pulling Storm's rifle from the crate and carefully slinging it around Caltrop's neck. "It's nice to know I'm not barren, but I don't think I could handle another foal right now."

"Yeah, I agree with dat." Caltrop chuckled, nodding back down the way through the rows of golden corn. Slowly, I pulled myself forward. The old bearings in the chair squealed as I started to move, but they were always fine once I got moving. "So, dat ghoul. Yah sure it was da same one?"

"Green coat." I nodded. "Same as I'd seen a couple days ago." It was odd though. I didn't quite know when they'd become such a problem. Looking over to Caltrop as we walked, he mirrored my concerned expression. "That's three in the last two weeks. Think there's a problem out west?"

"If it were, it'd have ta be out on da everfree forest." Caltrop shrugged. "So long as dey keep comin, we'll keep killin’ I suppose. Could always use the one yah just put down for another apple tree." He paused and scrunched up his muzzle. "Yah magic does most of all dis, but yah used a feral for dat one, didn't yah?"

"Yeah, while my magic helps at the start," I nodded, looking at the rows of corn, "who knew that the dead were so useful in making things grow?" I sighed, stopping for a moment as an odd noise carried through the air. Shooting a hoof out, I stopped Caltrop mid stride. His ears perked as well, as we both traded looks. "That sounds like a vehicle."

"I'll get da girls inta the bunker." He nodded before leaning over to me quickly, kissing my cheek. "Be careful, hun." With that, he took off straight into a Gallop, turning and bolting down the dirt path towards our humble little cabin.

"I will." I grunted softly before turning myself inward to one of the corn fields. "Why couldn't I have worn my legs today?" I whined, pulling myself across the uneven rows of corn. "Oh yeah, because I forgot to charge them. Again." The old bearings in my chair squealed in protest as I tore through the soft dirt. Trying my best to both keep the old chair quiet while avoiding any of the stalks was a hard job, but my home was in danger.

The closer I got, the more the vehicle sounded like it was something big. Raiders? No, they don't have the skills to drive something. Mercenaries? Who would want my family dead? Come on, PC, think! Pushing myself out from the rows, I burst out into the small dirt path we'd kept open leading up to our farm. Turning towards the noise, I froze stiff. A towering four wheeled vehicle crawled along the path. A pair of burning red eyes sat high up at the end of a metal boom, slowly rotating down to look at me. With a screech, the vehicle came to a halt, and my heart rate started to fall.

"Mom!" The excited squeal filled my ears before I was tackled to the ground by a blue blur. As I flopped down into the dirt once again, a bright pair of pink eyes looked down on me from above. "Ooops! Sorry!" Sandy gasped, grabbing around under my forelegs to pull me upright. The servos and motors of her mechanical arm whined as she held tight, and the rubber pads of the clamp that replace her paw gingerly squeezed me.

Her mechanical arm looked more like it had once belonged on Lily than any of her previous ones. While it was a bit more complex than my legs, Synchro couldn’t stop bitching about how he wanted to give Sandy a proper hand with digits instead of a simple clamp with this upgrade. Guess they were still too complex for even him to figure out. Still, Sandy wore it well enough, and as long as she was happy with it, that was all that mattered. Once Sandy had me back up on my forehooves, she hugged me tightly before letting me go.

"Hey there, PC." Synchro called out from ontop of his machine. After a moment, the colt turned stallion stared down at me with a smile. "We made good time up from New Appleloosa. Hope our showing up early isn't a problem."

"No, no." I giggled, taking a moment to brush myself off... again. "Just surprised us is all." I pulled my hat out of my saddlebag and levitated it onto my head. "What ever happened to that awful music you played out of this thing?"

"That is um..." Sandy stammered, "I may have accidentally used the case they were in to kill a raider outside of Tall Tale. The records didn't survive" Wincing, she rubbed at her metal arm with her paw. "But, I've been learning a lot about how to fix things like radios. Synchro is a really good teacher!" Speaking of, Synchro wasn't kidding that Hellhounds grow up fast. She's four and a half years old, and nearly my height.

"You've grown up so much." I knew that last year the joint had been giving her lots of pain. I'm lucky that my legs won't grow anymore, but when she lost her arm, she still had a lot of growing to do. However, it looked like Synchro's changed out the cap on her shoulder since then with a bigger one. "How's the arm doing, Sandy?"

"Oh, you know..." She trailed off with a shrug. "It hurts some days, other's it's fine." She looked up at me with a soft smile and wavering eyes. "I'm just glad to be home."

"And we're so glad to have you home." I smiled, looking up to Synchro who shared the sentiment. "Both of you." Turning myself around, my chair gave a little squeak as I pulled it behind me. "Come on, let's go get Caltrop out of that bunker. I've got another little somepony for you two to meet."

"Another?" Synchro snorted through a light laugh. "You two have been getting busy, haven't you." Carefully, he jumped down from the top of the monstrous robot. The red eyes watched as he walked up to me and raised up his pipbuck. With a few taps to it, the machine's engine wound down, and the red eyes faded from sight.

"Yeah, but not in the way you think." I grunted, "Four fields of corn, three apple trees, and now two little fillies certainly keeps the two of us busy." Shaking my head, I whined out my frustration. "But you didn't come all this way to hear about my annoying days on the farm, come on, come on." I waved my forehoof for them to follow me. "No, your stay here marks the start of the time Caltrop and I can just enjoy ourselves with our family."

"Mhmm!" Sandy hummed in agreement.

"There will be no whining, no fighting, and no worries." I spoke up, proudly as the refurbished cabin came into view. Out from under the mattress that covered the survival shelter, Caltrop's eyes peered at me. "For the duration of your stay, there are nothing but better days ahead."

Author's Note

Wow. Just... wow.

It's been one hell of a journey to get to this point. Almost two years, but it's actually here. Not only that, but you are here. You all have been a tremendous driving force for me. The feedback and love that Better Days has received has been unreal to me, and you all are the ones that have made it what it is. As Percussion Cap's story comes to a close, I have to say that I, myself, am happy with the overall tone of the story. The whole idea of doing Better Days from the start, was to keep it less epic than Merchants of Hope, and I believe that I met that goal.

A lot has changed in the time that it took to write out Better Days. I got a lot better at writing, I made some amazing friends, and as if it weren't enough, I got a shit ton of fantastic art. Now that this story is over, I really hope that more people will feel up to giving it a shot. And just because the story is over, doesn't mean that you can't message or comment to me as to what you liked or didn't like. There's always more projects I'm working on, and I can't ever get enough feedback.

I want to thank Kkat for creating this absolutely fantastic universe for us all to enjoy. Along with her, I'd like to thank Somber, No One, Mimezinga, and many others for the inspiration that their stories have given. Sawyer is another author I'd like to thank, because he's actually stuck around to edit this whole story. Seriously, he's been doing half the work here as well, so he deserves the thanks. Another two special shout outs are for Regolit and RevelRomp, who have continued to stick with the stories I write and give me their thoughts. You two are awesome, never change! One other thing you all can thank Revel for, is the creation of Sandy. If you enjoyed her squeaky antics, then you have him to thank for the idea and design of her all together!

Lastly, I want to thank you all again. I know that I write my stories for me, but I post them up for you. Without the feedback, encouragement, and honesty (good or bad!) you all present to me, I couldn't move forward as smoothly as I have.

Chapter 1 - Not so humble beginings...

The wind whistled through the rusting walls of the lonely shack nearby. The solitary structure sat abandoned amongst the barren hills, it's only companion an old garbage can sitting a dozen feet or so away. From between the distant hills, a figure was fast approaching. Slowly, I raised the scope on my revolver, observing the traveler as he came into view. I levitated the contract I'd taken up, and I read the target description again to be sure.

A pair of crossed fire axes on the tan earth pony matched what had been roughly sketched on the contract. He stopped for a moment, looking toward the shack cautiously. He seemed hesitant to approach, and kept his ears perked forward. Slowly, the apprehension seemed to drain and he started towards the shack again. I slowed my breathing, bracing the barrel of #5 against the side of the trashcan I was hiding in.

Sure, you might think that a trash can that happens to be the only thing a pony could hide in for a thousand foot radius is a horrible place to try to keep out of sight, but you'd be wrong. Plus, I'd had to hide in worse places than this, in far worse conditions. At least this time it wasn't raining. Sitting in a trash can in the rain is pretty shitty, let me tell you.

In line with how my contracts usually go, my target was paranoid that he was being tracked. I guessed I couldn't blame him, but he did choose to run. He quickly trotted to the front of the shack, leaning against the door to listen for anypony inside. I turned the gun slightly, keeping him in the crosshairs as he hoofed at the door. He glanced over at my hiding place as he fumbled with the door. I knew he didn't see me in here, he was just being as scared as every other escaped slave I tracked was. I moved my eye off the scope and checked the terms of the contract one last time as he finally managed to open the door.

The report of the shotgun I had rigged up inside echoed off into the distance, the target slumped to the ground in a bloody heap. I levitated my pen from my jacket and pressed it against the contract, marking down the results of my hunt.

I didn't care who they were, or what their reasons are. The only question I’ve ever had is, with ponies like me out in the wasteland, why do they even run at all?

------------------------
Fallout: Equestria
Better Days
------------------------

You want to know why my life ended up this way? Well, let me give you my understanding of the world.

Once upon a time, in the ridiculous land of pre-war Equestria, everypony lived in happiness and harmony. All three races of ponies; the earth ponies, the pegasi, and the unicorns, lived under the rule of two goddesses. All was good for a time, but as ponies seem to do, they became assholes and started a fight with the zebra nation. We invented all sorts of magical and arcane technology to aid us in the fight, but the biggest mistake was the invention of the megaspell.

A megaspell is, in effect, a single spell that is applied over an enormous area at thousands of times it's normal effectiveness. Naturally, the only spell we seemed to care to make a lot of them out of was the most destructive spell known to pony kind: Balefire. It's a special kind of destructive, first burning and blasting away with an enormous fireball before leaving the affected area completely saturated with magical radiation.

So, the war hit its peak and the world came to an end nearly two centuries ago in a balefire fueled frenzy. What was left of pony kind has been slowly picking up the pieces that were left behind. Well, that is when we aren't busy fighting each other over the scraps themselves. Yeah, some cities have been repopulated to some extent, and the Pegasi Enclave hasn't come down to wipe us out yet, but the wasteland has been quiet for too long. I know something big is coming, a monumental shift in the way the wasteland works.

How do I know this? Because I can see it in the faces of everypony I meet. Everyday there are more and more smug assholes running around this desolate world, thinking that they will one day be king of their scrap heap. And when everypony starts to think that way, you get a few who are either brave enough, or stupid enough to actually try it. What do I care though. I'm just a working class mare, where everything has always been about the job.

I didn't know what it was about Fillydelphia, but something about this city just pissed me off. Maybe it was the fact that being around other ponies made me uneasy. Being on my own had always been easier. Nopony was trustworthy unless they were family, and even then there were exceptions. Whatever the case, this place had never treated me well.

For years, I'd struggled to get by. The contracts came in sporadically, and they paid next to nothing for the targets they wanted. Coupled with how much ammunition and my other supplies cost, I'd been close to just giving up the bounty hunting life. However, that all changed three months ago. Some stable stallion showed up and started buying up slaves like it was nopony's business. Soon after, countless contracts came pouring in for the slaves who would run away. The only thing better than how easy they were, was how well I was paid for them. This month I stood to actually make a profit.

My walk up main street wouldn't be as quiet as it normally was. The streets were lively tonight in celebration of... something. To be honest, I didn't care what that something was. The bars and Inns along main street were full of slavers and merchants alike, busy sharing stories of caps earned and adventures had. I hated nights like this. They always tended to bring out the most annoying folk.

"H..hey there, shexy," one of those annoying fools in the crowd ahead of me called out. I looked up as he stumbled toward me. He was just some earth pony with his eyes half glazed over, no weapons or belongings. In other words, pathetic. "Why donsha come have shum fun an shleep with a shtud like me?"

I stopped and hoofed the right side of my trenchcoat open, using my levitation to pick out #2 from its holster. This kind of response may seem like a bit much for somepony like him, but again, you'd be wrong. These are the kind of assholes who just didn't know when to stop. I flicked off the safety and lined the gun up to his leg before squeezing the trigger.

2 held steady in my magic as I fired it, and the soft pop the suppressed pistol made didn't draw anypony’s attention. When he dropped to the dirt and screamed over his leg, the other ponies took notice. The street fell silent in an instant. Between the awkward looks and frightened whimpers of some, I found more than a few guns raised against me. Lucky for me, the ponies still sober enough to realize what just happened were hesitant to fire. One missed shot and this whole street would become a warzone. One of the ponies next to him took a step toward me. I grimaced angrily, swinging the gun over and pointed it at him to make him pause.

"Listen up. I work for Big Shot, and unless you want to piss him off I'd rethink any moves you might want to make." I addressed the nervous crowd. "Now, unless any of you feel that you can live without your kneecaps, I suggest getting back to your drinks and letting me continue on my merry way."

As the stallion I'd shot writhed in pain, one of the crowd stepped up to him. I simply watched as he hooked his hooves under the injured stallion's forelegs and started to drag him off. As I holstered my gun, the ponies went back to their drinks, albeit silently. I could feel their prying eyes watching me pass, wondering if I'd bring Big Shot down on all of them. In reality, Big Shot didn't care. They weren't even worth my time, let alone the guy who runs most of this side of town. A few minutes of silent walking later, I had reached my destination.

The Silver Linings motel wasn't what you would call classy, but it was cheap and had a large enough bed that I could lay out all my gear at once for cleaning. The bell that hung from the door chimed when I entered the office. With a twinge of annoyance, I wrapped my magic around it to silence it. One of these days, I'd rip it off and stuff it in Horus' beak.

"Unless you‘re sober or want to pay double, get..." Horus called as he turned the corner from the lounge. He deadpanned as soon as he saw it was me. "Oh, Cap. For a moment there I thought I had a customer who wasn't going to ruin my night." I should have expected that, seeing as all Griffins are assholes.

I focused on the old water bottle I'd kept in my coat and levitated it out. The caps I kept inside immediately caught his eye as I floated them to him. I wasn't surprised, as they were the only thing he cared about in the world. "I'm paying rent up in full for this month and an extra 25 caps for the fact that I'm 2 days late on it." Just as I released the bottle, he snatched it out of the air. He shook it in his talons and smirked at the annoying jingle the caps made. As he set about counting them, I turned my gaze to the front desk. I felt about with my magic and attempted to grasp at the key for room six. Trouble was, I couldn't find it.

"Since you were two days late, I rented out number 6 to some merchant couple." He turned around and wandered back toward the lounge. "They paid up for a week, so you can take 7 until then."

"You're an asshole, Horus," I shouted, grabbing the key to my new room. I turned and left the office, heading back down the line of rooms until I reached the end. The room itself was the same as room 6, but I hated having three walls that faced the outside. It was just begging for trouble to find me. I walked into my room and locked the door behind me. Now that I looked at it, this place was just a mirrored arrangement of my normal room. The bed, the chair in the corner, both the kitchenette and bathroom, even the knothole I’d plugged up. They were all just reversed from where I'd expected them to be. With a sigh, I levitated my hat and trenchcoat off to the chair.

Now that I was out of my dusty garb, I could get down to my cleaning routine. I took my place at the end of the bed and looked down at my holster rigging. Carefully, I unbuckled it with my magic. One at a time I unsnapped and levitated each pistol from it's holster. Gently I set them on the bed for inspection.

Once I'd slipped out of the now empty harness, I got to work. I unloaded my pistols one at a time, only passing over #1. I hadn't unloaded my deringer during my down time since the incident last month. That feral ghoul came out of nowhere and I didn't want to be caught unprepared again. Tonight would be no exception to this, especially because of whatever everpony was out celebrating.

I sighed and attempted to get back to the task at hoof. I looked over the other pistols, making sure that they hadn't gotten too grimey or damaged, and cleaned them as necessary. Once my guns were taken care of, it was time to take a look at myself. My dark green coat was matted and dusty at various points. Surprisingly, I'd found a piece of old chewing gum had gotten itself stuck to my cutie mark. That was one of the occupational hazards of working out of a trash can. A shower had already sounded good, but now it was a necessity.

I trotted to the bathroom and used my magic to turn on the shower. The old water pipes groaned for a few moments before water came through the rusting showerhead. I made sure the handle had been turned to hot and held a hoof out into it. The warming water felt like pure ecstasy as it ran over my leg, soothing my anger over losing my normal room.

I turned around and used my magic to inspect my crimson-colored mane. As I did, I pulled a two hundred year old candy wrapper from it. Letting my mane back down, I'd thought about how nice it would be to have the luxury of some shampoo. Sadly, ammunition would always take priority over things like that. I took in a deep breath and steam from the hot shower filled my lungs, drawing even more of the stress out of my body. Turning around, I climbed into the tub, and let the near-scalding water wash over me.

"Oh Goddesses, that's good." I closed my eyes and tilted my head up, just soaking in the warmth of the water. If it wasn't for the fact that it was mildly tainted with magical radiation, I could probably sit in here for hours. Slowly turning in the shower, I let the hot water run down over me. A small gasp escaped my muzzle as it ran down my tail over my flanks. The warmth reached into places that I'd forgotten in my day to day travels. I reveled in this feeling, wanting to savor it for as long as I could. After a week like this one, that's all it took to get me started up.

It had been a few days time since I had last gotten myself off, so it didn't take much for me to really get into it. You'd be amazed how creative a mare can get with nothing but her hooves and an old copy of Wingboner magazine fresh in her mind. I laid down in the tub, letting the hot shower rinse across my nethers as I searched the depths of my mind for the perfect stallion to imagine.

I settled on one of the foldouts I had seen recently. He was a fairly lean earth pony, with a tan coat, and a mane with an almost orange coloration that had highlights the same color as his coat. It was a lot longer than even my mane was, but it complimented his apple green eyes. Oh, yes... he would do perfectly.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

I froze as the odd banging repeated again and again from outside the bathroom. Concerned, I twisted the shower handle and turned the water off. Perking my ears, I listened for any clue as to what was going on..

"Oh yes! Harder!"

Great, it looked like I wasn’t the only one in the mood tonight. But did it really have to be the couple who bought room 6 out from under me? I had really hoped to use that bed again sometime, but there was no way I'd trust it now. Seriously, this fucking world was populated by nothing other than annoying assholes bent on making me pissed off. I let out a disappointed sigh. The vision of the perfect stallion was lost, along with my drive to continue. Instead, I levitated the towel off of the rack on the wall and used it to dry myself off. Using my magic, I dried off my mane as well. Carefully, I wrapped the towel around my head and tied it there securely. As I walked from the bathroom, I resisted the urge to cringe at the banging. Annoyingly, out here I was now able to hear them with much more clarity.

"Make me your slave! Punish me, master!"

Now, it might just be me, but that's just a fucking weird way to have sex. I shook my head and levitated my guns off the bed. Reloading them, I returned them to their proper places in the harness. I jumped up onto the bed and laid down on it, trying to get comfy enough that I could maybe fall asleep. The banging from the other room started to get louder, and I couldn’t hold back from cringing. It's enough that I knew that my old bed sat on the other side of the wall. To know that they were soiling it with their lust was what truly annoyed me.

I groaned and rolled over. A quick look was all it took to find the knothole in the wall again. A swift yank from my magic ripped out the cork I'd stuffed in there. As I thought about what gun to use, I levitated my holster harness over. What would be the most fun... most likely #4. Everypony knew 12.7mms always made the biggest bang. I was tempted to use #6. Horus might've been able to tell it came from my room though if I did. Instead, I took #4 out of its place and floated it over to the hole. I twisted it so it would fire up into the ceiling of their room.

"Yes! YES! I'm so close, don't stop! Oh Goddesses, I'm gonna..."

I smiled and pulled the trigger. The next few minutes were spent in silence. Slowly my mind finally relaxed enough to fall asleep. It's only fair you know. I didn't get off tonight, so why should they?

Bang. Bang. Bang.

I woke with a groan, my head throbbing. Were they really at it again? I should go over there and personally kick the shit out of the two of them.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The knocking hadn't been coming from the pair in the other room, instead it had been the front door. I rolled off the bed into a defensive stance and levitated all six of my guns to me. It was hard to do having just woken up. They wavered a bit, but I kept them pointing at the door.

"Hey, Cap! Get your lazy flank out here," The muffled voice of Horus came through. “Now.”

I sighed and lowered my guns onto the bed. I trotted over to the old door and unlocked it. It swung open just enough to where I could stick my head out.

"Big Shot wants to see you, so make yourself decent," he grumbled before glaring at me. "Oh, and I know that was you last night. I hope you know I'm adding the repair cost of their roof to your next months rent." He turned to head back to the office. Then he stopped and looked back with a frown across his beak. "Seriously Cap, you’re going to drive away all my customers at this rate."

Leaning out the door, I yelled, “I wouldn’t worry about that, Horus! This place is shitty enough it’ll happen eventually!”

He spread his wings and flew away lazily, ignoring me.

With a sigh and a spin, I slammed the door shut. There wasn’t time to care about Horus when I needed to be getting ready. A yawn escaped my muzzle as my body finally got in gear and started to wake up. While I trotted over to the small kitchen on the far side of the room, I rolled my shoulderblades and craned my neck from side to side. Disregarding how stiff I felt today, I opened the fridge with my magic. As expected, there was a complimentary bottle of water and can of beans inside.

I turned my focus onto my trenchcoat. My levitation worked it's way into the saddlebag I'd sewn inside of it. The bag wasn't the biggest, but it kept my things hidden from the prying eyes of others. I pulled my combat knife from it and brought it over. The nicked and nearly dull blade had served well the last year to skin my targets, but I needed to find a replacement for it soon. There was only so many times it could be resharpened. Carefully, I jammed it down into the beans with a satisfying 'Thunk'.

I lifted the can to my horn. With my eyes closed, I concentrated hard on condensing the fire spell I knew into the bottom of it. After a few moments, the beans started to boil and I released the spell. A soft crackle was all that preceded the towel I had forgotten was on my head caught fire. Quickly, I hoofed it to the floor and stomped it out.

The rank stench of nearly two century old smoldering linens filled the room. I levitated the hot can down on the counter and used a small amount of my bottled water to douse the scorched towel. Disappointed in the start of the day, I twisted my mane into a bun and put my wide brimmed leather hat over it.

With my harness equipped, I carefully slipped each of my guns into their correct slots. I made sure that they were secured before I pulled my coat over myself. With my gear ready, I levitated the contract I had just completed and the cutie mark for it out of my saddlebag. I wondered why Big Shot had requested a visit from me. If he had heard I was in town, he would know that I was bound to stop by to see him at some point in time anyway.

I took a sip of water and hoofed the combat knife into my bags again, careful not to damage my coat. I read over the contract to make sure my report was accurate and put it and the flayed mark into the outside pocket of my coat. Keeping the stallion who gave me my contracts waiting was probably a bad idea. I scooped a hoof full of beans into my muzzle and downed what was left in the water bottle before putting them both back in the fridge. With one last look around around my room, I made sure I had everything. Like always, I did, and it was time to go.

I locked the door as the early morning sun tried its best to get through the cloud layer. This was good, because that meant it didn't look like rain today. I hated when it rained. The streets must have cleared out sometime before the sun came up. The few ponies left who weren't working were lying around passed out in assorted alleyways. As I trotted further up the street, I could see the lights were on in the old city bank.

As I approached, a fairly tough looking unicorn mare stepped in front of the door. She levitated an old assault rifle at me and looked me over. I pulled the contract out of my coat and floated it over to her. She took a moment to read it over before hoofing it back. Then she nodded and escorted me inside.

The lights as usual made the most irritating buzzing noise. It felt like Big Shot knew that they did, and just kept them on to keep ponies restless. The old bank's overall design didn't help calm me either. Its large marble counters and slate grey walls gave the feel of a fortress. The dark grey steel bars towered over most of the tellers counters were absent in the center. They drove attention to the only pony in here who even mattered. Big Shot smiled from across his 'throne' when I approached. His hooves were held out in a welcoming fashion that generally made me feel uneasy.

"Miss. Percussion Cap, I'm so glad you could make it," he said in his unnaturally smooth voice. His blue coat was nearly spotless and his oil black mane had been combed over to cover his balding head. He had wheeled out the charm and made himself presentable for some reason, but it definitely wasn't for me. "I see you have completed yet another contract for us. That makes what, 35 now? May I see the proof?" He gestured for me to sit in the chair he had set in front of the counter. As always, I refused and stood next to it instead. "I trust that it wasn't too taxing on you."

"It’s 34 actually." I continued standing as my magic passed him both contract and skin. He looked it over, squinting in a very unnatural way as he glanced back and forth.

"Ah, good, good." He nodded and pushed the two items aside. "You’re probably wondering why I asked you to come here so early, but it’s because a disturbing situation has come to light." He pressed his hooves together on the marble counter top and leaned forward. "A certain... individual escaped our custody this morning with some very sensitive information in her hooves. I need you to find her at all costs and bring the information back to us intact."

I cocked my eyebrow and looked at him slightly puzzled. "So, it's a normal contract then. Track her, kill her, and bring back whatever she had."

"No, you misunderstand." He shook his head lightly. "There is no physical copy. She has the information memorized and under no circumstances can you allow her to die."

I felt like facehoofing, but needed to maintain professionalism. "Big Shot, you know that's not how I work. I don't do live ones."

He shrugged and placed his hooves on the counter. "Look, I understand how you feel about it, and I’m willing to authorize double what we would normally pay for a live capture." He sighed and looked over to a mare who stood by the vault, giving her a small nod. She disappeared into the steel caged room as he turned back and continued. "I can give you half upfront if you need it for supplies, but you’re the best hunter we've got access to right now."

The best they've got right now? Ouch, that hurt. "Well then, you need me. Make it three thousand caps, half of it upfront, plus another 200 for supplies to keep her alive. If you do, we have a deal." I really didn't want to spend half of my journey babysitting a captive, but I normally only got 250 caps per contract kill. The thousand cap reward they offered was never worth the effort to bring them in. Two thousand caps was a hell of a lot to pay for the return of one fugitive, but it didn't mean I wouldn't try to get a better deal.

"I'll agree to three thousand caps, but you have to fund the supplies yourself." He smiled and held a hoof out, the mare he sent returned with a burlap sack that jingled of caps. I walked forward and took his hoof in mine, shaking it as I levitated the sack over and slipped it into the saddlebag in my coat. He hoofed a piece of paper across the desk that contained the contract details.

"Deal, she's as good as caught." I rolled the paper up in my magic and stuck it in my coat pocket before taking a step back.

"Remember, this information is of the highest importance." He glared at me as he spoke, letting the words sink into my mind before softening his gaze. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to meet with our illustrious and benevolent leader."

I sat in my room and read over the contract. This one was going to be a whole hell of a lot tougher than any other I'd had to do. I couldn't skimp out on any details before heading out, meaning I need to know her name, her friends and family, why she fled, and where she was likely to go. Pretty much everything I always skipped over on a normal job.

[---]

Target's name: Burst Flare. May also go by the name 'White Star'

Description: Unicorn Mare. Cream colored coat. Orange and yellow striped mane. Blue eyes.

Cutie Mark: White star in front of flames.

Spell level: Moderate casting abilities. May conjure a concentrated ball of fire and propel it at high speeds towards a target.

Suspected location of shelter: Steel junction common house.

Known associates: Anti-Slave faction designated "Celestia's angels". Faction size unknown, but assumed several dozen members. Faction location, Steel junction common house.

[---]

So, it's another unicorn. I hated tracking unicorns. They all turned out to be assholes when it came to detecting the traps I'd set up for them. No matter though, I’d figure something out by the time I got to Steel junction. It was two days away and she'd have a half-days head start on me. Not too bad. If I played my cards right, I'd be back here at the end of the week and be another 1,500 caps richer.

Easy money.

-- Chapter End --

Congratulations, you've started!
Quests finished: Side quest - Faction bounty 34
Quests Started: Main quest - Not so easy money
Levels earned: none.
Perks Earned: none.

Author's Note

(Special edit! Thanks so much to Hnetu! Not only does she write one of the best Fo:E side stories out there, she's helped me make a few improvements the first chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it)

So the whole idea of doing this story is that I wanted something that I could write in between Merchants of Hope chapters that would be shorter and less stressful to keep track of. Better Days won't be as story Driven as MoH, and won't contain some sort of EPIC QUEST. Nor will I be including references or jokes as often as my other stories because I wanted this one to feel a bit more gritty and serious (Although, not to the extent that Monsters did).

I would love to hear your feedback on it, as I am always looking for ways to improve my writing. I would like to thank Kkat for the wonderful gift of Fallout Equestria. And I would also like to thank; Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, Hetnu, John Colt, Bad Pun, Xjuan, and Sawyer for having some of the best stories out there.

And this special shout out goes to Regolit: Keep on being awesome buddy!

Chapter 4 - Physical Therapy

The decaying floral wallpaper of the old clinic had faded to a muddled mix of browns and piss yellow, and the assorted, canted picture frames on the walls held only yellowed sheets of paper. This hallway was proving to be less of a distraction than I’d hoped it would be, with the incessant scratching in the back of my mind refocusing onto a different train of thought. Four thousand caps. That’s how far in debt I've sunk since I accepted this job. What the fuck was I even thinking?

“Ya ok there, boss?” Caltrop’s voice ripped me from my thoughts in the way that a land mine takes your attention from a bullet wound.

“Sweet Celestia, why do you care?!” I snapped back, giving him a glare that I wished would just bore through his head. He shrunk back at that as a look of fear gripped him.

“I’m sorry! I… I wasn't meanin’ ta anger ya!” He put a hoof up against his cheek to guard it. It was then I noticed the large gash my horn gave him had scabbed up, promising to be one hell of a scar when it healed. “Was just worried ‘bout my friend is all.”

I gave a hearty chuckle and continued trotting down the hallway, turning the corner around to the old clinic waiting room. The nurse mare was on the other side of a short counter, balancing precariously on a set of stacked chairs in order to reach an old cabinet. She was grunting as she reached her hoof into it, trying to get… something from it.

“Friend?” I held my hoof out, stopping the annoying stallion from going any further. “Let’s get this straight. You are my employee, that’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“I… understand.” He spoke sadly, dropping his gaze to the floor.

Half of me couldn’t believe this guy! Does he seriously think that friends made any sort of fucking difference in life? Like friendship could magically make me bulletproof, or cure radiation sickness? His friendship fucking fixed your busted flank, asshole. My conscience interfered, only adding to my already annoying headache.

“Good, glad we got that straightened out.” I gave a sigh of relief and trot up to the counter.

“Damn, honey, that’s cold.” The nurse chimed in as she hoofed a small white bottle from the back of the cabinet.

One quick tug on the bottom chair, that’s all it would take to shut her up. She healed you, and that’s how you act? What are you, four? Grow the fuck up, PC. There goes my conscience again! I put my hooves on the counter and mustered a smile through my rage as she walked over.

“So… about that bill.” I rocked against the counter as I spoke, fighting the instinct to just book it out the doors behind me. “You sure there isn't something else we could possibly do for you? Anything at all?”

She spat out the old medication bottle onto the counter, the four or five pills left inside it rattled as she hoofed it towards Caltrop. She seemed to think about my question for a moment, waiting until Caltrop went for the bottle before answering.

“You can talk to my suppliers in Fillydelphia.” She tilted her head, making her strawberry mane cover half her face. “Get them to restock the clinic and send me a cute assistant. Do that, and I’ll wipe away the debt.” Her mouth twisted into a nefarious grin.

“A cute assistant?” I straightened up quickly. “Shit, you can take this asshole off my hooves right now then!” I caught him blinking like a dumbass at me in confusion. “Looks like you can be friends with her now.”

“Wait, WHAT!?” Caltrop yelled as he spit the pill bottle to the floor.

“Whoa now, honey.” Dr. Asshole retorted quickly, completely set on making sure this day was completely ruined for me. Also, why the hell does everypony have to call me babe, or doll, or honey? Can’t these assholes just use someone’s fucking name? “He ain’t my type.”

“Ah… I see.” I looked over her with a cocked brow. “So, a mare then.” I leaned forward on the countertop, waiting for a yes or no.

“Yes, but.” She spoke slowly, the anticipation for the exception building as it felt like forever before she answered. “I need a ghoul gal.”

My forehooves slipped on the countertop, slamming me down onto it with a meaty WHUMP. I bounced off the two century old wood, smacking my head as I dropped to the floor.

“But, aren’t they all, fallin’ apart an’ such?” Caltrop asked as he sat down. To my amazement, his voice was still adding to the pounding headache that was trying to split my head in half. I turned my head to yell at him, bumping my muzzle into his flank roughly and getting a close up look at his cutie mark. I batted at it reflexively with a hoof as I rolled and stood up again, dusting myself off.

“Get your damn ass out of my face.” I barked, using my telekinesis to straighten my jacket and gun harness out. He took a step back from the counter and lowered his head. “What’s it matter if she likes walking jerky if it will pay the goddess damned bills?” Shaking my head, I looked back up at her. She looked extremely unamused at all the comments toward her ‘preferences’. “Who’s the supplier we need to talk to in Filly?”

“He’s a business pony out there, shouldn’t be hard to find.” She spoke with a sigh, hoofing up a stack of old papers and putting them into an off white folder. “His name’s Big Shot.”

“Oh, fuck me.” I facehooved and dropped to the floor again.

BANG!

A bullet punched through the door behind me, whizzing over my head and past Dr. Asshole, striking the cabinet behind her. My ears were filled with the most colorful of vulgarities as Caltrop all but jumped over the counter.

“Knock knock, bitches!” The voice of a gruff stallion laughed out. “Anypony home?”

“That were a good one, Buzzsaw!” A second, dopier sounding stallion replied.

Another shot sank into the thick wood of the reception counter just above my head. Time to move! I thrust myself up and onto the desk, rolling myself down forcefully onto the floor behind it. Let’s go over what I know. At least two assholes just outside the door. They shot first with what sounded like a rifle, which is either stupidity or an attempt at intimidation. So that leaves Talon mercs, a local gang, or Raiders.

“We know you’re helping the bitch that killed my guys!” The first stallion spoke up again, his voice coming through the door itself. “Just send her out and I promise to treat ya real nice before my guys get a go at you!”

“Yeah! We gonna fuck yew good afta’ da boss’s turn!” The second voice chuckled loudly.

“Shut the fuck up, Cornhole.” The original voice commanded again. “I swear, if you don’t just watch the fucking door, I’ll find a way to geld you again.”

Fucking raiders.

My magic snapped the catch to #6 open, pulling the cut down 20 gauge out slowly. If I can float it close enough to the door, maybe…

“Psst!” Caltrop’s whisper sounded like a freight train, breaking my concentration and hold on my gun. It dropped to the floor, clacking onto the smooth, ceramic tiling with the sound of a Celestia damn megaspell. Only after it bounced twice did I manage to recover it in my hold.

“She’s inside, go get her, boys!” The leader screamed as the door pushed open.

I raised the single shot gun above the counter, aiming roughly where the door should have been, and fired. The recoil spun the gun back and out of my magic, while the delightful sound of the dumb one’s agony filled scream reached my ears.

“Ya need ta give me a gun!” Caltrop prodded me as I clicked open #4’s holster.

“Fuck off, Caltrop!” I shouted, raising the 12.7mm pistol above the counter and firing a couple of blind shots toward the door. The blind fire did little to deter them from returning the favor as the rapid fire of what sounded to be assault rifles perforated the wall behind us, most assuredly chewing away at the front of the counter.

“I can help if ya just give me a fuckin gun!” He screamed as my frustration level hit it’s peak. I fired another few rounds at our anonymous assailants.

“FINE!” I couldn't fucking take it anymore. My levitation gripped #1 and thrust it at him, smacking him square in the muzzle. He rolled over and mumbled a curse, massaging his nose softly.

A loud SNAP followed another burst from an assault rifle as one of the rounds punched through the old wood. Funny thing was that had he not rolled, that probably would have ended Caltrop right then and there. Guess that makes us even for saving each other, which is good. I don’t need any more debts. I fired another pair of shots from the 12.7, my magic squeezing the trigger for a third.

CLICK

“Fucking seven round bullshit.” I muttered as I unlatched #3, tossing the spent #5 as far as I could to my left. In the moments before the heavy pistol clattered to the ground, I swear you could have heard a pin drop. Well, if not for somepony I had forgotten...

“Boss, da desk!” The moronic asshole hadn't fucking died?

It did help though that only the boss could hear him, so when the gun noisily clattered down the hallway, a single assault rifle opened up on it. That was fine by me, all I needed to do now was get up and…

“FUCK OFF!” Caltrop yelled from around the bit of my deringer, climbing over the top of the desk. I pushed myself up as hard as I could again, jumping just high enough that I could see the boss stallion half entered through the doorway. His horn glowed as he swung his rusty ass hunting rifle around, his eyes widening as the fear of death by perforation gripped him.

Had this been a normal job, or any other ambush, shooting assholes wouldn't have been so much of a problem. But because that moron was in front of me, some part of my brain told me to wait until I knew he was clear of my fire. Because of that, I squeezed a burst off too slow. The hunting rifle’s round scored a direct hit to the base of Caltrop’s tail, cleaving it from his flank in a small spray of blood.

Caltrop ground down his teeth on my gun as he screamed through the bit, firing a shot off. Through luck or skill, that round punched through the dumb asshole’s eye, splattering the back side of his skull across the grimy waiting room floor.

As for my burst, I stitched all three shots across the boss stallion, only the rear most one failing to punch through his barding. The first shot however must have punctured an artery, as blood streamed out of his wound. His magic faltered as he stumbled back out the door, his rifle scattering across the floor.

“Boss…” Caltrop called up to me softly, holding a hoof up to me from the other side of the counter. “I’m sorry…”

“Quiet you fucking moron.” I swiveled my ears as I waited for more gunfire, only hearing a set of quick hoof beats trailing off into the distance interspersed with the sound of the slow, laborious steps of the boss stallion.

“They got me bad, boss.” Caltrop groaned and flopped his hoof back over.

“Cut the shit, you’ll be fine.” I rolled my eyes and shoved his bloody tail off the desk, dropping it onto his face. He coughed and choked in the hairs as he flailed his hooves at the silvery mass, screaming when he finally made out what it was.

“MY FUCKIN TAIL!” He rolled over and twisted himself around, inspecting the bloody nub at the end of his flank.

“Should be glad it wasn't your FUCKING HEAD.” I jumped up onto the counter, swinging my forehoof over and smacking him in the back of the head. “The next time you feel like helping, stay the FUCK out of my way.”

“H...hey…” A soft voice strained to get my attention from behind me, making me twist my neck and look down to the floor. My eyes found the blue mare laying in a sea of crimson, spreading out from no less than five wounds. Shit, when did she get hit? Had to be from the assault rifles. No matter, she’s too far gone to help.

“Is there something…you need?” I was no good at this! The mare is obviously dying, but I’m at a loss as to what to do. I heard Caltrop skitter off somewhere behind me, but I payed him no mind.

“F...find my s...sons. Balti...” Her wheezing breaths strained as she gasped for what little air her body could manage to get. “Tell them…”

And with that, she was gone.

Unlike the previous raiders I dispatched days ago, this lot had some alright gear on it. The dumb stallion who charged in had a pair of worn power hooves, which would have been a total haul if #6 hadn't utterly destroyed one of them. One power hoof is still worth the parts at least, so I snagged it and an extra power gem. One of the fighters outside had a basic service rifle battle saddle in better than junk condition, so I claimed that and his 58 spare rounds of ammo.

Mr. big bad boss stallion though, had surprisingly few items of any value on him. The 4 spare .223 rounds that were in the rifle’s mag seemed to be it.

“Fuckin dick deserved ta get shot.” Caltrop commented as he walked out to meet me. “I cleared out what little meds she had left. The biggest prize was a single Hydra injector, but we also got a few magic bandages, four regular bandages, a packet a Rad Away, two capsules of Rad Safe, and a half a syringe a Med-X.”

I leaned my head over and looked at his back. He was now wearing a saddlebag, which I assumed he had stored all this stuff in. I shrugged and pulled out my pack of cigarettes, not bothering with the lighter as I just used my fire spell to light it up. Caltrop looked horrified as I took a deep breath.

“Ya didn't even clean ya horn?” He finally spit out.

I lifted the cigarette, noting the small chunk of flesh with a silvery hair on it stuck to the side. I shrugged again and continued. I had fucking earned this, and fucking Celestia be damned, I was going to enjoy it.

“So, are you going to tell me why the hell you have silver butterfly’s on your flank or not?” I sighed before spooning some more beans into my muzzle.

“It ain’t butterflies! They’re Caltrops!” He twisted around from rubbing the bandaged nub where his tail used to be. When he had asked to use the Hydra to fix it, I used the campfire to cauterize the wound instead, not wanting to waste something that valuable on something as non life threatening as a tail. He'd been whimpering about it up until the point his stomach groaned louder than his muzzle did. “But, if ya wanna hear the story, I can tell ya!”

It wasn’t particularly cold tonight, but we had decided it was worth the risk to build a fire. It was something my grandmother had drilled into my head since the time I could levitate a pistol as a filly.

“Life on the trail is rough, and yes, you should expect the worst. But always remember that your well being is more important than the job. If it looks like it’s going to get cold, build a fire. If it looks like a beast too large to fell, hide. If it looks like an unfriendly wanderer, shoot.”

That last piece of advice was the only thing I could never follow. I would rather scare them off, or better yet, avoid them altogether. Why risk a drawn out fight when you can just ignore them altogether? Bounty Hunting is all about the target, anypony else? Well, they might as well not exist. Speaking of… Caltrop was answering me this entire time and I had completely missed it.

“An dat’s how I got it!” He beamed a proud smile over to me, the happiness waning as I didn’t react.

“Sorry, I had something on my mind.” I spoke quickly before shoveling another spoon full of beans into my mouth. I bit down on the spoon, only to find there were no beans on it. I levitated the can up and looked in it, sure enough, it was completely clean. I only had two bites… there’s no way I'd finished the can by now!

“Dat’s for zonin out on me.” Caltrop remarked with pride. “Though, those beans tasted like shit. So I say we’re even.”

“Fuck you, Caltrop. I’m adding the damn can of beans to your debt.” I grunted. It sucks being hungry, but I’ve lived on less before. What I don’t feel comfortable with is the fact that he managed to take my dinner straight from my hooves without me registering it. No wonder this guy never got anypony to trust him. “Well, what the fuck are you waiting for? You going to tell me again or what?”

“Geeze boss, ya don’t have ta be a bitch about it.” He replied sharply. I flung the empty bean can at him in retaliation, pegging him right in the temple. ‘Ow! Fine. When I was just a colt…”

“Was? You still act like a colt!” I cut him off with a sing-song voice.

“Shut da hell up!” Caltrop flailed his hooves at me in anger before realizing I am a hat drop away from beating the hell out of him for his outburst. “I mean, sorry… boss.” He was wearing his nervous grin again. “Ta simplify, I got it when I realized my voice could hold ponies attention deep enough ta where I could steal their stuff! Keep em' slow ta think, ya know?” He glared at me. “Obviously, not deep enough with ya however.” He looked down and shrugged, pushing some dirt lazily around with his hooves. “Why don’t ya tell me how ya got yours?”

"I... I don't want to talk about it." I still remember every detail of that day. Mom had brought me outside of town to wait for Grandma's return, even though I didn’t want to go with her. It had been nearly three months since she left for a job in New Pegasus, and it was now the middle of winter. It had snowed heavily that day, and on the walk out, I had accidentally punched my legs through some thin ice, soaking my forehooves.

Turns out Grandma had gotten on the wrong side of a gang from Filly, and they were waiting for her to show up, seeing us more or less as 'hapless bystanders'. In the midst of everypony freezing their flanks off, fighting broke out, and it got down to Mom, me, and the gang’s 2nd in command. He was holding a knife to her throat, while I had the revolver Mom had given me for my birthday. Being that it had been on my foreleg, it had also been dunked into the puddle, so there was no way that it should have fired. I had known the powder in the corroded casings would have been too wet, but what could I have done? He had Mom.

“Come on little filly. Do it. Try to kill me and save your sexy mare of a mother.” He licked up her neck, pressing the blade in his hoof against her hard enough to draw blood. “I like the ones who think they’re heroes, they’re always so much FUN to break!”

I had tears in my eyes and I couldn't stop shivering, though, I can't remember if it was from the cold, or the fact that I had never been more afraid in my life. I pulled the trigger as asked. My innate magic had primed it, and the round inside fired when the hammer struck. That was the only time I had ever shared a moment with a target. We were both completely surprised the gun fired.

As the ganger’s brains dripped onto the snow, Mom screamed and galloped over to me in tears, holding me close. That was the moment I had earned my cutie mark. It was also the first day I decided that I was never going to let a situation like that happen again. That I was always going to work alone.

“Hey, boss. Ya alright?” Caltrop’s voice now mercifully ripped me from my memories. “ya kinda drifted off for a moment.”

I hated that day. Before that day, I never was going to be a bounty hunter. As a blank flank, I could be anything I wanted. And as much as it pains me to admit it now, what I wanted to do, was garden. It may seem a fool’s errand in the wasteland, but with a proper greenhouse and maybe some good soil from the everfree forest, I’m sure it would be possible to grow something other than the sad excuse for vegetables we have today.

Perhaps, had the war not happened, that might have been something that you could have enjoyed making a life out of. Fucking brain. Don’t go pointing out shit that doesn't matter when you could be trying to figure a way to get out of debt with Big Shot.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” I sighed and laid down. “Let’s just get some sleep, seeing as we’ve got another half day’s journey in front of us until we get to Filly.”

“Yea, sure.” He stuttered out, curling himself up a few feet from me. “Night boss. Sleep well.”

Sleep well? When out on the road, I never slept well.

--Chapter End--
At least you no longer owe the 2,500 in medical expenses!
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: Last Wishes
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

Thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, John Colt, Hetnu, Xjuan, Sawyer, Vocal, Tinker, and Bad Pun for their inspiration and support in the writing of this fic!

Shout out to Regolit, Deathpony, and Retl for their feedback! I really do love to hear what you all think!

Chapter 17 - The best of times

Fubar.

Grandma had told me that during the war, they’d thrown that term around a lot. I’d never really had any call for the word, and I had no idea what it actually meant. Grandma only used it when the situation was fucked up beyond all recognition, at least, that’s what she'd always told me.

Wait...

“Fucking heat’s messing with my head.” I spoke out to nopony as I kept my back pressed against the marginally cooler half of the metallic cylinder I was locked inside. The boilers that ran the power here must have been run on something other than coal, because there hadn’t been anypony shoveling it, and it was pitch black down here. The air was hotter than a summers day, and I could feel my coat as it tried to mat up from the sweat. I knew at this rate, I’d die of dehydration before that happened, but I tried to keep focus on the one thing I still had..

My one blessing had been that they didn’t blindfolded me on the way down here. I was still able to retrace the steps to get topside in my head, the only thing I lacked was the means to leave this new cell. That was something that wouldn’t have been an issue if my magic didn’t fucking crap out on me yet again. I slammed my hoof against the metal wall in anger, jerking my leg back when it burned against the heated surface. After this, I swore I’d never complain about a hot mailbox again.

The only thing I had to do was sit here and wait. Either until I’d figure a way out, or until the dickbag upstairs decided that I’d cooked enough. Without a reliable way to tell time, I’d lost track of how long I’d spent in here. I knew I made it a good half hour before the heat really got to me, but… fuck, that could have been hours ago for all I knew. For always having done so well out in the wasteland, I’d really started to regret not drinking more before they stuck me in here. I did my best to keep curled up against the wall, which was by no means comfortable in this heat, but this way I might avoid going deeper into heat exhaustion. It wasn’t until I’d heard a knock emit against the other side of the metal that I shot straight back up.

“Hello? Is somepony there?” I called out, hopeful deep down that Sandy would answer.

“Hey hun, it’s Novocain.” Her voice was heavily muffled through the metal walls, but it was infact her voice. “Small world, huh.”

“But, I watched you die.” I had my ear pinned against the wall to hear better. I must have lost my mind to think that she’d be down here with me.

“There were some wandering traders who showed up after you left, they saved me.” She knocked against the wall again with a pair of taps. “Nope, you aint getting rid of me that easily.” Giving the weakest of laughs, she’d proved she was alive. I wasn’t alone down here, and I may have still owed her a ton of caps, but I wasn’t alone!

“Ah, well, I’m glad you’re alive.” I offered back and gave my own hoof tap back. “Two minds are better than one for breaking out. I’ve got more important shit to do than rot away in this sauna.”

“I hear that, but it’s doing wonders for my weight. I’m just sweating off the pounds in here.” Her own joyous demeanor swapped as I laid there for a minute completely focused on her voice. “Did you make it to my sons? Do they know?”

“I… uh…” Shit. It’d completely slipped my mind when I’d gone home, and I hadn’t exactly had the time to find them. Though, had I done it, I probably wouldn’t ever have been in this mess in the first place. “I couldn’t find them.”

“Honey, lyin’ ain’t your strong suit.” She sassed at me. “I know I tried to charge you a hoof and a leg, but I trusted that after all I did for you, you’d at least have the decency to tell my sons what happened.”

“I’m sorry.” For the first time in forever, I’d meant it. I’d lived my life away from others for so long, focused only the job. It had been so long in fact, that I’d forgotten what it meant to do somepony a favor out of respect. I owed her a debt, and like every adult, I needed to pay it back. “When I go home again, I’ll track them down.” I paused for a moment when an odd realization struck me. “Wait, what are you even doing in here?”

There was a horrendous metallic screech as the wall I had been propped up against swung open. I let out a gasp as the extreme difference in temperature slammed into me like a refreshing wave of water that quickly had my body quaking in chills. The mistake of opening my eyes was a bad one, and I had to to shield myself from the light as I looked up at the dark figure over me. A unicorn behind said figure had cast a light spell that gave off just the dimmest mote of light to let me see a faint outline of the suit that was poised over me.

“Twelve hours in the cooker before you lost it. Not bad, but I’d hoped for more from the family of Storm Rider.” Warden Asshole spoke down to me. “The last ten minutes of incoherent babbling was fun, but I couldn’t let you get too far gone, now could I?”

The meaning behind what he spoke made no sense, but any questions I might have had fled my mind when a bottle of dirty looking water was produced in front of me. Greedily, I snatched it in my hooves and bit down on the lid, almost choking on the lukewarm liquid inside as I had pulled it off. The water was the finest I had tasted in what felt like forever, and the small amount that spilled onto me seemed like pure ecstasy against my dried flesh. Before I knew it, I had drained the bottle and tossed it aside to look for more.

I stopped looking when I turned my head toward the side of my holding cell. A very bland, very blank gray wall flickered in the dim light of the room. The wave of confusion took only a moment to pass, but it’s revelation was undeniable. There was no other cell down here, no sign that Novocain had even been here. She was still dead.

“Now, are you ready to tell me what I want to know? I could make it so worth your while if you’d let me.” The Warden spoke with words as slick as oil. “I don’t want to put you back in again, but I will if you force me to.”

I laughed as well as my weak body could at that. “You won’t kill me.” I did my best to smile up at him past my cracked lips, a spike of joy swam through me when he nodded to one of his lackeys. “Unless you want to end up like Big Shot, you’ll keep me alive.” The hired muscle lifted me up with his hooves and pushed me back into the hot cell. “Just like the cell mate I had, I’m worth far too much for you to let die!”

With a final shove, I’d been sent back against the searing hot wall. I let out a sharp scream as it burned and the door to the outside swung shut, the screech of a latch sliding over the door was all I’d heard as I scrambled for the cooler side of the container. The sounds of shuffling hooves become more distant and reminded me that I was alone, while the darkness that surrounded me again sank back into my mind slowly. My back stung, my limbs fought against the fatigue and my dry lungs strained to pull in the hot air.

Curling up again, I’d figured that I’d just try to wait it out again. I’d lasted twelve hours in here, even though it had felt both shorter, and infinitely longer than that. Only problem was, the longer that I spend down here, the more risk I had that Caltrop would’ve been sent out. I needed a plan, but I decided to just figure it out in time. Because unfortunately in here, time was all I’d had.

More hallucinations plagued me as I waited, the only way I had to get rid of them was to burn myself against the boiler wall. That had only been something I was comfortable with doing to particularly horrid illusions, and had really started to put a toll on my back. I had become so dried out now, I could feel as my heart raced at miles a minute through my veins. I’d failed everypony. Grandma, Mom, Caltrop, hell I’d even failed Brightshine.

After however long it’d been, when the door opened this time, I didn’t care to move. As I’d predicted, my weak body was lifted from the floor and carried out in a unicorn’s levitation. I knew better than to open my eyes this time, but it turned out to be a mistake when I was dropped into a tub of icy water. I nearly drowned when my lungs forced me to breath and my legs flailed myself back to the open air. Thankfully, my detainers gave me a moment to sit and let my heart come back from shock as my body shivered uncontrollably.

“A sauna and a pool? How’s that for luxury accommodations?” Warden Asshole’s voice had become something that I wanted to end in the most violent way possible. I wouldn’t have the chance to now, as a hoof came down and pressed me down below the water again. As thirsty as I had gotten, I tried my best to keep from just guzzling down the water. I held what little breath I had and I struggled to find a way back up. My legs lacked the strength to buck at the tub any more, and my lungs couldn’t deal with the strain, giving out just as the pressure was released on me. Half choking, I flailed my way back into the air, sputtering and coughing as I hung over the cold metal edge.

“So, bitch.” His lackey pulled at my mane with his magic, keeping me closer to the warden than I’d ever wanted to be. “Are you going to give me what the fuck I want, or would you like to extend your stay for another twelve hours?”

“I've never been better, best vacation I've had in years.” I chattered out through my anger. Screw the need to make up stories, this had become something much more. I was going to kill this stallion before I left, and I was going to enjoy every rewarding moment of it.

“That's fantastic news.” He cheerfully remarked, giving a nod back to the cylinder. I tried to sneak a mouthful of water as I was lifted out of the cold tub, but found myself rewarded with a swift kick in the side. The water in my muzzle spilled to the floor, and I was shoved back into the hot tube as what looked to be a record player was set against the wall. “Because you've been enjoying your stay down here so much, I've brought you something that should help to make your time here even more enjoyable. A rare classic from the previous warden’s collection that I hope you’ll enjoy.”

The last thing I could see as the door shut, was the wide smile that stretched across the warden’s muzzle. Angrily, I pushed myself against the door, but it was locked before I hit, and only drew a whine from my tired body. My legs gave out and I slumped back against the door, the haunting tune of the record starting up soon became my only companion.

The best of times is now.
What's left of Summer but a faded rose?
The best of times is now.
As for tomorrow, well, who knows? Who knows? Who knows?

It all fell away from me. The tough act, the hope to leave. I just couldn’t keep up the illusion that I’d ever get out of here. I had to face the fact that I was going to stay here until I either died, or was picked up for my contract. I felt like crying, but I couldn’t even form tears anymore, so instead I curled myself up again, and tried to force myself to sleep.

So hold this moment fast.
And live and love as hard as you know how.
And make this moment last.
Because the best of times is now, is now, is now.

The midday sun shined down onto me in all of it’s summer glory, and the sound of the waves lapping at the shore were punctuated with the elated giggles of Rose Shine and her father as they bounded up and down the beach in a game of chase. It was the perfect weekend to get away from the city, more so with the scorching heat wave we’d had all week. That and it was good to see Rose enjoying herself outside of the house for once.

“Mama, Save me!” She shouted, giggling as she ran over and hid behind me. I lifted my oversized sunhat off with a grin as Caltrop trotted up, rolling my eyes as I’d given him a boop on the nose.

“Arg! Ya found my only weakness,” He feigned a wobble and fell over onto me, pressing against me warmly. “A fair maiden whose powerful magics have enslaved my heart.” He pushed his muzzle forward and I leaned in to meet it, planting a soft kiss against his lips. “Now, I am defeated. Blah...” He flopped over an lolled his tongue out.

“You two are the silliest ponies around, you know that?” I sighed as I batted at him with a hoof, suddenly getting a great idea. “But wait, what is this?” I gasped and looked to Rose. “His villainy… it was contagious!” I pushed myself to my hooves slowly, shaking myself with a wide grin. “Run Rose, or Monster Mom is going to get you!”

She screamed in delight and ran back towards the beach. “Help me, Sandy!” She shouted, running for a small sand mound just a short distance away. The small, blue coated dog gave a bark and ran over playfully. At first I hadn’t been sure about getting a dog with how much of a handful Rose had been, but she’d taken to her quite nicely. I just wish she would stop digging up my garden so much.

Sandy ran up to me and put her forepaws up, waving at me in an extremely uncharacteristic way for a four legged creature. “Hi, friend!” She squeaked out.

“What?” I stopped in shock. “But… dog’s can’t talk.”

The illusion that I had been in melted away like the wax of a candle, the images drained away into the cracks and crevices of the imagination they had come out of. A knock came from the darkness beside me, and I decided to use what strength I had to give it a knock back. The record had stopped playing, and the reward I then received for my knock was a sharp shearing noise. After a few excruciating moments, a soft click emit before a beam of light made me cringe.

“There you are, friend!” Sandy’s voice came through the newly cut hole in the cylinder, and I decided to open my eyes just enough that I could look out. The soft glow of a lantern came from somewhere outside of the chamber, and I could see two large pink eyes peer in on me. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of there!”

A few grunts on her part and she’d jumped high enough to reach the latch. With what I assumed was little effort on her part, the latch was cut and the door swung open. I flopped out onto the concrete and just laid there for a moment to make sure that this had all been real. The cool air was nice, even if my body hadn’t liked the sudden change. Then I spotted it.

The glistening font of life flowed from the floor and pooled in the back corner. I mustered what strength I could and started to drag myself towards it. I needed that water to get my strength back, then I could go kill that son of a bitch who’d locked me away down here. Smiling, I buried my muzzle into the puddle and inhaled deeply.

“What are you doing?” Sandy’s voice knocked the stupor from my mind again.

My throat spasmed and I coughed up a plume of dirt and concrete into the hole Sandy had clawed in through. My mind had fucking tricked me! There wasn’t any water for me here, and now to top it all off, I couldn’t get the taste of sand and mud off my tongue. After a few more hacks and a heavy dry heave, I had finally gotten most of the dirt out from my system. Then Sandy tapped me on the shoulder.

“Other friend told me to give you this first!” She smiled and carefully presented a water bottle towards me. “Once I told her that I heard music, she said she knew you were where it was.”

I greedily knocked the bottle from her paws, which made one of her claws nick a line through it and the water began to flow out. Instinctively, my magic caught it and brought it to my muzzle, where I ravenously worked to suck out all of the precious liquid. In only a few seconds, I’d drained it dry and had been holding my hooves towards her.

“More.” I gasped, hating the sandpaper feel of my own throat.

“She told me that you needed to meter your intake or you’d get sick.” She took a step around me, walked over to her hole and disappeared into it. With no reason to keep myself up, my legs gave out and dropped me down onto the cool concrete. I heard the grunts and tugs that Sandy gave through her tunnel, and after a few seconds, her head popped out with a rope clenched tightly in her muzzle. She was far stronger than she looked for her size, able to drag my entire loadout who know’s how far through this small tunnel. It was truly an impressive feat for someone so young.

“You did well, Sandy.” Though mud slicked and scuffed, everything made it through. I wore my proudest grin for her and lightly pat her on the head. She returned my praise with her own bright smile, bouncing a bit as I flopped back down. Even though I wouldn’t be at my best, the plan still stood, and somehow I’d have to break both Caltrop and Brightshine out. How I was supposed to do just that was something I hadn’t quite figured out yet.

“So how are we going to free your friends?” Sandy cocked her head as she sat down. “Just tell me what you need me to do and I promise I’ll get it done!”

I’d laughed a bit at that. She may have been the most eager soul in the wasteland to help that I’d ever come across, but I’d have been foolish to think that it would be a good idea to put her in harms way. No one needed to risk more than they already had for this, especially Sandy. Now, if Storm had been here, I’d have known exactly who could help. Then again, maybe I didn’t need her after all. She’d beaten it into me for years, but now her friends might’ve ended up being more useful than anything.

“Sandy, how fast can you dig and how well can you hear?” I groaned out and forced myself to sit upright again. The lightheaded feeling drifted away after a few moments, but I hated knowing it would keep acting up.

“I’m the fastest! Oh, and the best at listening!” Sandy pushed her chest out in a show of pride. As much as that hadn’t been the answer I’d wanted, I couldn’t blame her. Foalish naivete aside, I really did hope she was exactly those things. “I never got lost in any of the tunnels back home!”

“Great. I need you to help me get my gear on because my stupid horn still doesn’t work, and then you have to try and find a certain somepony who can help.” I hooked my hoof onto my bundle of belongings and pulled them closer. “He’s on the first floor, and he’ll be in the only cell that doesn’t sound like anypony’s in it. Can you do that and tell him that I’m on my way to him?”

She nodded happily. “I’ll find your friend for you! But I don’t know why you need my help, you did a thing to the bottle with your thing earlier.” She pointed to my horn and looked puzzled as I scrunched up my muzzle. “But I can still help if you want!”

I’d grabbed that bottle with my magic when it almost fell, hadn’t I? “No, no. Sorry, I’m just a bit out of it is all. Go and find my friend if you can.” I patted her on the head again softly. “If you can’t find him, it’s alright. Just head back to Storm and tell her we need help.” Helping happened to be the least Storm could do after she threw me into this like she did. It’s like she’s purposely tried to get me killed recently, and I’ve gotten really damn tired of it. Family or not, if I’m that big of a disappointment, just shoot me yourself.

Sandy dove back down and disappeared before my magic could even untie the knot on my saddlebags. As I folded the flap open, I paused as something unusual had caught my eye. There was a tear in the lining at the top of the bag, and a scroll of parchment had edged it’s way into sight from inside. I unfurled it as I lifted it in the dim light, finding it to have been some sort of blueprint for something at one point, but it had faded so badly that I could just barely make out the stable-tec logo and a few scattered lines. Flipping it over, I found a mouth written note scrawled across it and tried my best to read it in the low light.

To those who find this letter,

The remains of the pony you find before you is one who deserved the fate that befell him. He had lived a life with no rules, full of debauchery, fraud, theft, and deceit. At one point, he had every ‘thing’ one could want for a life. Caps, sex, and power had once made this stallion somepony to be feared, remembered, but each was lost for the same reason. When there were no ponies left who cared for him, he was always cast out.

This was because of the one thing he could not obtain, something so fundamentally important that he had thought foolishly having the other ‘things’ could provide it for him. He lacked a common bond with somepony to share in it all his rewards. He so longed for companionship, that he attempted to buy it, take it, or steal it when he could. Try as he might, it would never last, and when his desperate actions had so alienated him from those around him, he was alone. His lessons learned too late, he resigned himself to the fate you now see before you. To die exactly as he had gone about living.

Truly alone.

Regretfully,

Caltrop the fool.

I lowered the letter as I remembered that I had taken these bags from him when I patched him up at the shack. He had been telling the truth. He’d gone out there to die, but what I still didn’t get, was why he decided to go into the shack at all. Sure, he said he wanted to take whatever I had, but this note paints a different picture. Maybe I could just let it go. He’s been a decent enough stallion I guess, and he has been the closest thing to a friend I’d ever had.

Not to mention what you’d thought he could be in that hallucination ten minutes ago.

Ignoring the nagging thoughts in my mind, I tucked the suicide note back between the layers in the saddlebag and dug through the contents until I found my canteen. I unscrewed the cap and put it to my lips, sucking down the entire bottles worth before I’d taken another breath. It wasn’t enough, but it would have to do for now. The first step of the plan was that I got my gear on and checked over everything.

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of your combat gear strapped tightly to yourself. From the weight of the guns, to the way it’s straps creaked ever so lightly when you torqued yourself, it was a fantastic feeling… normally. After however long I’d been stuck in this boiler and the burns I’d gotten across my back, it felt like a mountain of razor blades worth of weight. To save myself some pain and discomfort, I left my coat and hat inside the bags, as well as Brightshine’s rifle. I hadn’t magically gained any knowledge on how to use energy weapons, and the light plating in my jacket was going to do jack shit against a close range shotgun blast.

Wearing my six guns and the saddlebags, I double checked everything and tied my mane up into it’s normal bun. It had been far past the time to get this operation moving, and recently I’d decided to tack on an addendum to the plan. After what he’d done to me, all this shit he’d put me through. The warden had to die by my hooves. It’s not business, and I didn’t care what else he’d done, this is just about good, old fashioned revenge. He fucked with the wrong mare, and I was about to take everything he had from him.

Drawing out #2, I kept it levitated close to my head as I made my way toward the stairs. My legs still had a bit of an issue with this whole walking thing, but I pushed myself to climb. Soon I’d be killing my way through this fucked up place, and soon I’d be fixing the mistake I’d made with Caltrop. I reached the top of the stairs and found myself in front of a thin metal door. The dull tones of bored conversation bled through when I put my ear to it, and I checked again to make sure my gun was ready.

Relaxed and calm, I’d pushed the door open slowly. There were two guards sitting on stools in front of me, facing away and watching this intersection of halls completely unaware that I was here. I’d seized the moment, and gave each one a firm double tap from my suppressed pistol. They both had gone down quickly and flopped forward quietly, just like I’d planned. Unbeknownst to me, there had actually been a silent, third guard just around the corner, and he hadn’t taken too kindly to the fact that his friends had just been murdered.

“Alarm!” He screamed out as he brought his beatstick up in his levitation. I’d been faster on my action and had quickly planted a double tap into his head as well. He let out a shrill scream as he flailed at me, not having gone down from the shots. In my anger, I’d let loose the rest of the rounds in the mag, punching hole after hole into his head until finally he’d dropped to the floor in an unmoving heap. Frozen, I listened as faint hooves clopped against the floors trailing away into silence. Like the calm before a storm, silence was the false premise of hope before the prison alarm bells rang out through the complex.

--Chapter End--
“Today's forecast: scattered rampages with heavy showers of lead”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: None
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

I'd like to show my thanks to Kkat, Somber, Mimezinga, No_One, Stonershy, John Colt, Hetnu, Xjuan, Sawyer, Vocal, Bad Pun, Tinker, Retl, and most recently Relyet. You all are truly the most inspiring set of individuals out there.

Chapter 32 - Everything old...

The world came back to me all at once. A cacophony of sounds, feelings, and images flooded me. I wanted to scream out of sheer surprise, but my muzzle didn’t move. In fact, none of me moved outside of slowly breathing and staring out across the clouded and snowy planes that ran up to the mountains. I took a moment to calm myself, but something felt off.

I could feel my legs. More So, I could feel something else that didn’t belong.

“So, what do you think, Major Shill?” A mare next to me spoke up out of nowhere. Again, I wanted to jump, but my mind put two and two together before then. I was somehow viewing a memory orb, and I wasn’t in control. My host didn’t seem to be paying attention, and said nothing. Again, the mare next to me spoke up. “Could I go for it, sir?”

“You know what I’ve learned this past decade?” My host spoke in a weary voice. Why did I always have to get the ponies with annoying voices? “You have to be honest not only to yourself,” He paused and finally shifted his vision. Sitting next to him was a dark brown pegasus mare with a cream colored mane. She wore a tight fitting green jumpsuit and a pair of dark sunglasses. “but to others as well. If you believe that you love him, by all means, you have my blessing.”

“Thank you, sir.” The mare gasped through a bright smile. “You know, Copper really does make me feel like the most important mare in the world.”

“I’ve always tried my best to do right by Pence.” The stallion I was riding muttered as he got to his hooves. “And I’m glad that it was you who he ended up liking so much.” He wasn’t old, but from the aches in his bones, he was by no means young. He turned around and revealed that the two of them were on the far outskirts of what looked to be an active military base. Ponies scurried about between the buildings and lines of military vehicles that were scattered about.

“You ready to go, sir?” The mare cleared her throat and spoke up. “I think the general has had enough time to get together the needed paperwork for the audit.”

“Yes, I suppose he has.” He replied as the two of them pointed themselves at a large grey building that sat near the center of the compound. They started up at a trot, headed for a large section of tanks parked in a line near them on the outskirts. “I certainly hope he has a good explanation for why Stalliongrad is going through as many spare parts and ammunition as they log.”

“From what I hear, the fighting out on this front is particularly bad.” The mare next to him said as if it were everyday news. It was only odd as the other memory orb made it sound like all these pre-war ponies couldn’t even handle the sight of violence. I guess that changed. “My cousin’s been embedded over in Pripytrot. He says that even from there you can hear the shelling this way at night, sir.”

“Well, let’s be glad that they aren’t shelling us right now then.” My host gave a weak grin, but I could tell that he was scared to death at the thought. I could feel it in his legs as the two started to walk past the dormant tanks. “And you can drop the sir thing, Grace. You’ve been escorting me for four years, and dating my son for two.” He stopped and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m pretty sure we’re past ‘sir’.”

She smiled for a moment before a tremendous roar came from near them. One of the tanks in the row gave off a growl as it’s engine started. After a moment, that growl sputtered and game to a grinding halt. In the silence’s place, came the angry voice of a heavily accented mare.

“Upryamyy glupo kusok der'ma!” Was all the preceded the loud clang of a wrench being tossed out into the road. My host watched as it sailed past him and the mare next to him. He turned and looked up to the tank next to them. It had been painted stark white, and bore words along it’s turret in an odd style of writing I’d never seen before. A blue coated mare blinked in disbelief from inside an open hatch on the back of the tank.

“Is something the matter with this vehicle?” My host spoke up to her. The mare in the tank simply kept her muzzle shut and shifted her vision about nervously. My host looked over himself quickly, inspecting the olive drab uniform he wore. When he looked up, he wore a soft smile. “Do not worry, I am here to try to figure out why this keeps happening. It would help if I knew what was wrong with the tanks though.”

“Silver, the general is waiting.” Grace spoke up behind him.

“Now now,” He looked back at grace and smiled to her. “The general made us wait. It is only fair that we return the favor.” His vision turned back to the mare on the tank, who looked a bit more relaxed. “Besides! Anything I can do to help may help the war end that much sooner.” With a sigh, he walked up to the tank and put his hoof on it. With a heavy grunt, he pulled himself up onto the front and climbed up. “Now, tell me what’s wrong with it.”

Dvigatel', privodnoy val, gidravlika.” She started to say in what amounted to gibberish to me. “Vse oni lomayutsya!” She flailed her hooves at the entire open back compartment of the tank. Inside sat a whole lot of machinery that did things and stuff for all I knew. On second thought, why did I care to comprehend any of this in the first place? How the hell did I even get in a memory orb anyway?

“I’m sorry, but I only speak standard equestrian.” Silver said slowly. “And if you could keep it simple. I’m better with currency than I am with machines.” He gave a light chuckle which roused an awkward smile from the other mare. “Also, my name is Silver Shill.” He held his hoof out to her, which she readily took and shook firmly.

“Sorry, I am Rolling Tracks.” She replied, this time in words I could understand. “And this is War Mare.” She smiled as she waved her hoof over the tank. “My crew and I would love her more if she weren’t always breaking something.” This time she pointed to each part of the tank as she went over them. “Main reactor manifold, drive lines, hydraulics, you name it. We’ve had to replace almost everything once.”

“Hmmm, I see.” Silver Shill put his hoof to his chin and rubbed at it. “And why do you suppose that is?”

“Ponyatiya ne imeyu, which is to say I don’t know.” She shrugged and shifted her gaze across the other tanks around the base. “From what I know, all the other crews have the same problem. Maybe the parts are just that bad.”

“That is actually very helpful.” My host said with actual enthusiasm. He turned back to find Grace staring over her sunglasses at him with a deadpan. She rolled her eyes before there was a few booms of thunder on the horizon. My host looked over into the distance where they came from. “Huh, did they slate a storm for today?”

“Niet! Poluchit' dlya pokrytiya!” Rolling yelled as she hooked a hoof around Silver’s neck. My vision spun quickly as my host was pulled off the side of the tank. As I hit the pavement hard, I watched as Grace jumped for him. A shrill whine filled the air moments before the sound of a momentous volley of blasts followed after. The sound of heavy debris pinged off the tanks and armored vehicles all around them. As the last of the rubble fell, the air was once again filled with silence. A plume of dust slowly drifted over and filled the air around the base.

“Is… is everypony alright?” My host asked shakily. His muscles almost refused to let him get back up. Not only that, but his legs were shaking so bad that I feared they might snap from the vibrations alone.

“Da.” Rolling coughed as she got back up. “Fucking stripes. How could they get this close?”

“I don’t know.” Grace groaned as she too picked herself up off the pavement. She let out a light cough as the dust started to clear, looking over my host over her obscured and now shattered sunglasses. Content that Silver was fine, she dusted herself off and stepped around the front of the tank. Immediately she froze up and shakily took off her glasses. “I-I don’t know how, b-but they had r-really damn good aim.” She glanced over to Silver. “You’re damn lucky you stopped to talk to her.”

Silver found the resolve to finally stand up. As he walked slowly forward, Rolling came up alongside him. Slowly, they peered around the front of War Mare. The rubble of the command center stood in a jagged heap of shattered concrete and twisted steel. Black smoke bellowed out of a few crevices, but there was no sign of life around it. Grace was right though. It looked as if the barrage had only targeted the command center. There wasn’t a single blast crater around it.

“If the zebras wanted to attack, why’d they stop?” Silver asked slowly, as if unsure of himself. The three of them sat in silence for a moment, just listening as the rest of the base became frantic with dealing with the command center. “I’ve been duped more than a few times in my life to know that luck is a lie sold to suckers. I should have trusted that something felt off about all this.” He spoke up as he pointed to Grace. “I’m not saying it’s anything, but I want you to get the virtibuck ready. We’re going back to Canterlot to sort this out.”

She nodded before she turned and took off.

“I don’t care who attacked, I am going to get my crew.” Rolling Tracks grunted as she jumped over onto War Mare. Deftly, she climbed straight up the front and threw open a hatch. Out from it, she pulled a plush cloth hat. Carefully, she strapped it around her brown mane and hopped back down. “If you could get some new parts delivered, I’d be grateful. Right now though, it’s going to take all of us to get War Mare rolling again.”

“Listen, Rolling.” Silver said as he put his hoof on her shoulder, stopping her from going. “I’ll get the parts situation sorted out, but if you see anything suspicious, I want you to go straight to the Ministry of Morale in Stalliongrad. Tell them that I sent you and they’ll help you out.”

“Da. And good luck.” She nodded and smiled.

“Good luck yourself.” Silver Shill replied and turned down the line of tanks. He gave one last yell for her. “And good hunting!” His walk became a trot, which then became a canter. As he turned from the end of the row of tanks, he relaxed now that that the vertibuck was in sight. “Now I just need to figure out why Flim and Flam are manufacturing substandard parts.”

The engines on the vertibuck roared as he got closer. With a hop, he climbed up the rear ramp and hoofed a button on the wall. The hydraulics could barely be heard over the pegasus powered turbines, but once the ramp was halfway up, the cabin started to quiet. With a hiss, the ramp closed, and an eerily quiet room was all that was left.

“Oh, Grace?” Silver called out.

“Yes, sir?” Her voice came through a set of speakers in the wall.

“Change of plans. I need to speak to somepony I can trust.” He grunted before he took a seat along a wall mounted bench. “I want to head to Fillydelphia so I can speak to Applejack.”

“Right away, sir.” She replied sternly. “Should I call ahead to let them know?”

“No, we can’t call anypony.” He sighed. “Also, I told you to drop the sir. You can just call me Silver.”

“Bus noooo!” Caltrop slurred angrily. The sound came across as if I’d had my head underwater, muffled but understandable. It wasn’t the most pleasant thing to regain consciousness too, but at least I woke up at all. “She jus had ta leaf meh.”

The feeling of cool, smooth concrete under me did little to quell the pain in my body. The warmth of the small fire I was near felt great though. As I breathed slowly, I could feel the tightening of the bandage that had been wrapped around my still busted ribs. Then again, I was dumb enough to get my flank handed to me by a half dead zebra. If Caltrop hadn’t been there to put a bullet through his brain, I’m sure I’d be dead. I really have to stop being so retarded that everypony has to save me from my own stupidity.

I’d thought it a good idea to see if he was talking to anypony, but I didn't want to open my eyes. He sounded like he needed to work this out of his system, and I wouldn't stop him. I'd been selfish to rip him from his life after he'd started to move on, and I deserved to listen to his pain.

“An then wha she do nesht?” He continued speaking. “Hey! Lesh go blow up poniesh!” He paused as I heard the distinct sound of the sloshing of liquid in a bottle. “Ah can’t do dish.” He paused and gave a loud sniffle. “Ah can’t loosh her, but ah can’t do dish again.” With a grunt, his hoof ground against the concrete floor. I waited for a moment just listeneing. A second later, the sound of a glass bottle breaking came from quite a ways away. The sound came with an echo that seemed out of place, almost like we were indoors. “wha should ah do?” Having worked through his anger, I heard him sit down hard. Then as I’d been waiting for him to do all these weeks, he cried. “wha should ah do?”

“Caltrop?” My voice was hoarse and dry, but I had to speak up. I opened my eyes to see him sitting across the fire from me. When he looked at me, his eyes were glazed over to the point where I thought he was staring right through me. “Where are we?"

“Pshee?” He asked urgently. He didn’t move though. He just sat there staring at me. “Ah… ahm shory.” The flickering of the fire made his teary cheeks shine and sparkle. “Ah not shtrong ‘enuff.”

“I don’t believe you, Caltrop.” I said with a light sigh. “You’ve lasted through everything, managing to keep yourself together somehow. On top of that, you haven’t compromised who you were to do it.” With how much I’d changed, there isn’t much of the old PC left in my head. “Finding you all those weeks ago, it destroyed me.” As I said it, he cringed and looked away. “Even with as hard as it’s been, with you, I have hope for once. Hope that after everything gets sorted, I can finally be happy with my life. You have no idea what that means to me.”

“Shtap.” He grunted in response. “Ahm not tha shtallion ya should love.” With a light kick, he booted an empty tin can next to him into the darkness. “Ah didn’t even look for yah, yah knowsh shat?” He turned his head and glared at me. “Ah jusht ashepted yah were dead! Jusht leave meh. Ah ain’t worth shit.”

“And why shouldn’t you have?” This wasn’t something I’d expected from him. “You did what anypony else would have done and moved on.” I’d been the one who fucked everything up in his life. I’d been the one who’d gone and fucking became attached to him. How could he be okay with what I’ve done, but hate himself? I’d just blame it on him being a Dolt, but he’s better than that.

As much as I wanted to just lay there until I felt better, I needed to get up. With a grunt, I tried to maneuver my hooves under me. The metal caps on my rear legs clacked against the concrete, scraping against it roughly in a way that sent a shiver up my spine. With a sigh, I rolled over onto just my forehooves. As I did, I knocked a small glass orb across the floor. I watched as it rolled a few feet away, stopping against a metal post with a clang.

“Oh goddeshish…” Caltrop grumbled before he doubled over and groaned. With a pained whine, he threw up and sent all of the booze he’d drunk out onto the floor. Without my rear legs, I couldn’t get over to him. All I could do was sit where I was and try to comfort him with words as he expelled the nights worth of alcohol onto the floor. When I’d admitted to myself that I loved Caltrop, I knew that things could get bad. All I wanted for him was to be happy alongside me. Hugs were nice, even if I was still relatively new to them. Words however, were something I didn’t think I was anywhere near good with.

“Caltrop, I’m the one who’s sorry.” I shook my head softly.

“Whas?” He slurred as he wiped his muzzle clean with his hoof. “Why’re yah shory? What did yah ever shoo ta shink tha way?”

“Why?” How could he even ask that? “Why!” That question made my blood boil. “Because I’ve always been so damn blind.” I snapped. Every stupid decision I’ve made since we’d met ran through my mind. “Because maybe if I had stopped being a self centered bitch for thirty goddess damned seconds to listen to you, we wouldn’t be here!” I growled out my frustrations. When that didn’t help, I screamed as loud as I could. My voice reverberated in the darkness around us, echoing as my heart raced.

“Pshee…” Caltrop slurred softly. As he stared at me, I saw his eyes focus on me. He’d lost the drunken stare now, and maybe what I would say could get through to him.

“You can’t do this to me, Caltrop.” I turned my stare into a glare and raised a hoof at him. I could hardly keep it steady as I did. “You can’t blame yourself for things like that. You’re right about what happened back there, it was fucked up. I should have seen it coming, but I wasn’t smart enough.” I dropped my hoof back to the floor as the thought of that zebra came to mind. “If I’d just told you about the job, then maybe you could have talked me out of it.” I paused and took a deep breath. My heart had started to calm, and the pain from all my injuries felt like they’d doubled. “Maybe then they’d all still be alive.”

“We’ll take other jobs from Flint.” I spoke softly. “Ones that won’t involve situations like that. Killing one or two ponies for a contract, I can live with that, you know?” I’d hoped I wouldn’t feel like a monster when I woke back up, but now I’m afraid there’s not much left of me that isn’t one. Caltrop may have lost his hope that I was alive, but I’ve lost more than that. When I look down at my stumps, I know they don’t stand for who I want to be. They’re there to make me the killer I signed myself away to be. They stand for Flint and his plans, and I’m not okay with that. This isn’t what I wanted, and I can’t hide behind ‘I had no choice’. Caltrop believed me dead. Maybe I should have just refused the offer and died there on that mountain.

“It washint yah fault easher.” Caltrop shook his head wildly. “We could run an shtart over.” He stopped shaking his head and stared at his saddlebags. Wobbleing, he reached into it and started digging around. “Why shtay when we could shouth an not turn back.” Slowly, he drew out another one of the bottles I had taken from him. Quickly, I wrapped my magic around it and pulled it from his clumsy hooves.

“I can’t run. We’ve tried, remember? I got caught anyway.” I pulled the bottle through the air towards me, watching as he drunkenly swiped at it. “But I can’t do this without you. You’ve wanted nothing more to help me this whole time, and I’ve shunned your every word.” With that, a faint frown crossed his muzzle. With his eyes locked on the booze, I wasn’t sure he could hear me anymore. “I want you to be by my side, because without you, who know’s what else I’ll screw up.”

“Ah can’t help wishout dat!” Caltrop whined and got to his hooves. He stumbled forward after the whisky in my magic. “Ah needsh it!” He followed it as I pulled it closer to me. Without watching where he went, he stepped on one of the pieces of wood for the fire. Under his weight, it snapped and levered up onto his side. He let out a horrific howl of pain as the burning board scorched him. As he stumbled away from the fire, the board lit up his saddlebag.

In a panic, I threw the bottle in my grip as far as I could. I refocused my magic around his bags just in time for him to tumble to the ground. He screamed and writhed as both the burning board and his bags made his flesh sizzle. I focused all my strength into pulling his bags and the wood off of him. They tugged free and were sent sailing off of him. With a small flash, they slammed into the metal pole the memory orb sat at. The other bottles inside broke and sent a small fireball up. In that flame, I found that the pole was actually the leg of a dormant Ponytron.

“Goddesses, Caltrop.” Ignoring my lack of legs, I started to drag myself to him as the smell of his flesh filled my nose. “Are you alright?” I knew the answer to that already, but I just wanted to take his mind off the pain if I could. From just the light of the bonfire, I could tell it was bad. Most of his side and part of his leg were badly burned.

“Of coursh Ahm not alright!” He snapped through his clenched eyes and tried to stay as still as possible.. “Stupid bitsh.”

Those two words hit me hard. I felt like I’d been shot in the chest. Every part of me locked up, frozen stiff as if that had been some command word to turn my brain off. The unnerving silence that ensued was only filled with the crackling of fire. It only lasted a few seconds, but I think in that time, Caltrop had figured out what he’d just done.

“No.” His eyes shot open. He torqued his neck up and looked at me, horrified. “Ah didn’t mean it.” I wasn’t sure if the tears streaming down his eyes were from the pain or what he’d said. Either way, it just hammered those words deeper into my heart.

A sharp slam came across the air from a ways off in the darkness. Both Caltrop and I jolted in surprise before letting out equally pained whines. An electric hum filled the air as a soft glow emanated from the distance. The brighter it got, the further the pit in my stomach sank.

“Caltrop, where the hell are we?” I asked in panic. I wanted to get up and run, but without my legs I was helpless. Row after row of fluorescent lights kicked on at the far end of whatever building we were in. I was big, and as I’d thought, had been the reason for the echoing. Large, hulking shapes sat in spaced rows along each side of the half cylinder building. Between them kicked on more than just a few Ponytrons.

“Where…” He blinked at the rapidly advancing lights, pausing for what felt like no reason. “house.” The lights over us got their turn to start up, flickering for a moment before shining brightly. Behind Caltrop sat the rusting hull of an old Vertibuck. Beside the old world craft sat a bench full of degraded tools and parts, seemingly abandoned since the end of the war. On the bench also sat a very familiar looking set of cybernetic limbs.

A beam of red lanced through the air and struck Caltrop in the leg. He howled out in pain and dropped to the floor.

“Hostile intruders. You have fifteen seconds to disarm.” The Ponytron I’d hit with Caltrop’s bag announced as it’s forehead glowed with energy. The air crackled as it charged it’s next shot, aiming at me. “If you do not comply, I will be authorized to use lethal force in ten seconds.”

Ten seconds, my ass.

I did my best to react in time. I pushed off as best I could to my side. The energy shots that the robot fired scorched three lines over the ground where I’d just been. As I flopped onto my still busted ribs, I wrapped my magic around my revolver. With a tortured scream, I slammed into the floor and fired at the robot. I had to focus on my grip, more than anything. The first few shots pinged off the robot, but the third found something critical.

With a sizzle and the smell of burning electronics, the robot shuttered and fell to pieces. With the pain in my side, I wanted to quit. I was tired of being hurt and always at some disadvantage in a fight. Sure, I’d gotten the job I’d wanted back, but without the ease at which I’d normally completed them, it wasn’t what I wanted. Granted, it was already a mistake to have taken Flint’s offer, this was just the icing on the balefire bomb that was my life.

The sound of monotonous metal hoofsteps suggested against it. I reached out with my magic for my legs and levitated them over to me. Without the time to check them over, I had to put them on and hoped they hadn’t been damaged. As if I’d done it a million times before in a rush, both legs securely attached to my stumps on their first try. With a smile, I pushed myself to get back up.

The legs however, didn’t want to move.

“What the fuck?” I grunted. With one look at them, I knew the problem. “Battery…” I looked back up to the bench for it. “Where’s the battery, Caltrop?”

Caltrop gave a moan from the floor. He writhed for a second before he whined and puked again. I’d hoped that he didn’t have anymore alcohol in his system. I needed his ass sober just in case he needed to haul me out of here.

“Hostile intruder detected.” One of the rustbuckets heading for us blurted out.

I looked around for where to run to. The warehouse was mostly plain. Other than the rows of busted up Vertibucks, there wasn’t anywhere we could really go along the wall near us. With a glance up and down the long building, I noticed that one end had a large hangar-like door. In Front of that door marched four Ponytrons. At the other end sat what looked to me a small, windowed office. It was dark inside, but was only guarded by one robot.

“Screw it.” I muttered and took Caltrop’s head in my magic. I lifted it so he was looking at me. “Caltrop, we don’t have time. You need to get us to that office.”

“What?” He pressed his eyes shut tightly and whined. “What’s going on?”

“Get up or we’re dead!” I growled and grabbed Storm’s rifle in my magic. I untangled it from him and hefted it over to me. It felt heavy and awkward. I hated guns like this, but we had no choice. Caltrop seemed to regain some sense and scrambled to his hooves. “Come here. You have to carry me.”

“What?” He shook his head. “What the hell happened? Where’s the battery?”

A trio of red beams streaked through the air. They passed right over him and struck the Vertibuck hull to little effect.

“You. Me. Run.” We were out of time, and I was out of patience. I traced where the shots had come from and wiggled myself around. The trigger to Storm’s lever action was much more crisp than I remembered, and the shot went off prematurely. The Ponytron’s head glowed as it charged another set of shots, and I stupidly tried to press the trigger again. I swore I'd never get used to lever action weapons.

Two of the three beams missed, but the third struck my neck. Even while I screamed in pain, I prayed that I didn’t vaporize. I hated energy weapons. While a bullet in the same spot would’ve killed me, I’d take it over becoming a pile of ash today.

“PC!” Caltrop called out. Galvanized from my pain, he finally got his flank in gear. Without being quite sure how he’d done it, I found myself hoisted into the air and draped across his back. I don’t know if it had been due to Earth Pony coordination, the fact that he was sober again, or if he just got lucky. Without any warning, we were off.

Riding on a ponies back was far from ideal. Through the pain that came from the jostling and shaking, I was barely able to keep my focus on the gun. Working the action took more time than it should have.

“Hold on!” He whined as another attack came in at us. This time, it had been from the lone Ponytron in our way. The shot came just before Caltrop slammed into the machine. A sharp whine and a loud boom came from the bot as it exploded. The two of us cried out as we were peppered with hot strips of metal. Caltrop hadn’t stopped running though. He charged ahead, straight for the door.

With a yell, he threw his shoulder into it and barreled the two of us through. The door cracked along the frame and swung open with a slam. We both tumbled into the dark room and slid across the floor. A crunch of wood came from where Caltrop was, while I’d slid into a metal filing cabinet. With a heavy groan, I picked myself up slowly.

“That bought us another minute.” I panted heavily as I worked to adjust my legs so I could sit. The rifle still in my magic, I kept if leveled at the door. “Now. Any idea’s how to get us out of here?”

--Chapter End--
“History is an endless repetition of the wrong way of living.”
Quests Finished: None
Quests Started: Show me the money
Levels Earned: None
Perks Earned: None

Author's Note

It's been a while since I did one of these, but I really needed to do one this chapter. I have to thank my buddy thefurryrailfan for the use of Rolling Tracks and War Mare in the memory orb scene. I enjoyed the character in his story: Fallout: Equestria - Occupational Hazards. If you haven't given it a shot yet, I implore you to check it out. As fun as Merchants of Hope, but written ten times better, I know you won't regret it.

Anyway, if it weren't for Kkat and the glory of Fo:E, none of us would be here. All praise to our glorious overmare!

On top of that, I have to thank Somber, Mimezinga, and No One, for really inspiring me to give this whole fanfic thing a shot myself. Other great ponies that I owe this two is: Stonershy, John Colt, Hnetu, Xjuan, Tinker, Bad Pun, Delvius, Sawyer, RevelRomp, Sabsy, Vanguard, Lolcats, and so many others that deserve it.