Fallout Equestria: Sky High

Chapters

Happenstance
Circumstance
Dominance
Disturbance
Distance

Happenstance

So I suppose I should start with a little bit about myself.

I'm a Pegasus, born and raised, but I've not once been above the cloud line. I tried, once, but that ended with my being escorted back down by a wing of other Pegasi in scary black armour. I learnt that those guys are the Enclave, and apparently they're not a big fan of the surface. They even branded my grandmother as a Dashite because she left her home, friends and family to help the ponies down below. This means that, by default, they’re not the greatest of mates with my family.

We live in Ausneighlia, a country to the south-west of Equestria’s borders and west of Caledonia. It wasn't heavily bombed by the balefire strikes, but enough to turn the few creatures that couldn't do so much as harm you into killing machines. We don't even bother with the things that were deadly before the war. There were also a few Enclave hubs set there before the war to keep the residents in-line, which nopony really wanted, but couldn’t complain since they sometimes picked off a few of the nasties during their patrols. Grandma didn't make it sound like living amongst the Enclave was a bad life, just an uneventful one, filled with empty promises and propaganda. The way she reminisced about it told us that she wished she could go back, but of course there was no going back to the Enclave because you might "infect the population with a cannibalistic brain disorder", or something stupid like that.

The last thing I ever saw of my grandma was when she was turned into a glowing pile of ash that dispersed with the wind. I guess it was a cleaner death than it would have been by the raiders or worse, so I shouldn’t really complain. Besides, now she gets a free tour of the world in her afterlife.

But enough of the sob story 'cause this ain't a cry for sympathy. It's a tale of circumstance, wrong place-wrong time, and more importantly, doing what's necessary to survive.

Oh, and my name's Hawk Eye.

.*. .*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*. .*.

"I'm headin' out, mum! It should only be a quick escort across raider lands. They’ve been pickin’ up a bit lately, but I should be back in time to toss a brahmin steak on the grill for dinner!" I called out as I slung my rifle around my neck and picked up my saddlebags, strapping them around my waist.

"All right, hooroo love."

I trotted out the door, gnawing on my breakfast of gecko meat. Another wondrously cloudless day, perfect for all your desert-walking wastelander needs such as pillaging, raiding, slaving and scavenging! Our house was built halfway up a mountain, smack-dab in between the Grand Pegasus Enclave hub above and the various bands of raiders below. It's mainly to protect us against the latter because the former tend to do routine checks around the mountain range to make sure we're not conspiring against them. Or something. They've been upping their rounds quite a bit since grandma died, so I suppose they reckon that the family of a Dashite harbours an undying hate for them. It's not too bad though, because it's always the same patrol group that comes by us, so we invite them for a cup of tea and a chat. Breaks up the day to day monotony for my mum since she rarely leaves the house unless it's to get supplies that I can't find while I'm out on a job.

Snowy and Flash sometimes bring us a couple of supplies that the Enclave has spare, including a bit of cloud for me since whenever I tried to get some I would be turned around. Haze and Daze are about mum's age, so they find some political drama to talk about. Some of the juicier ones included an incident in Caledonia where some Remnants bombed a base with foals inside and a high ranking Enclave stallion in Equestria called Deadshot Calamity murdering his team and going Dashite. Aside from the whole murder thing, he was like an idol to my mum and I.

Then there's Brick. He's taught me everything I know about shooting and surviving, and he even helped me earn my cutie mark. He even gave me his old rifle, Bolt, which was apparently in his family for generations. It was a well kept bolt-action hunting rifle with a couple different gems in the stock filled with enchantments that even Brick didn't know the half of.

I suppose the Enclave aren't all too bad.

I stepped out onto the cloud fragment and, using my wings, pushed off towards the meeting point. Traveling by cloud was much nicer than flying, because it was just one push, relax, push, relax, the cool wind blowing through my sky-blue mane.

Getting to the meeting point was a breeze. I dropped down off my cloud to see the caravan waiting expectantly for it's guards to ready up, all of which were grouped up a couple metres away. I landed on the edge of the circle as what seemed to be the leader of the group told everypony the plan.

"Righto," he gestured to two earth ponies. "you two are at the front. Get your shotguns and check your ammo. Unicorns, two by the caravan, two at the rear. Rifles. Remember; if it's a raider, shoot it before it shoots first, no questions asked. And you..." All eyes fell on me. I guess a Pegasus is uncommon, especially one that isn't Enclave. "What's your name?"

"Hawk Eye sir." I saluted, and judging by the confused looks, that wasn't standard either. I was just dripping with abnormality. "I'm to cover you from the skies." I added, gesturing to the cloud.

"That won't be necessary, Hawk. I want you on the caravan."

"But-"

"No buts!" he shouted, taking a few menacing steps towards me. "I'm the fucking commander, alright? Disobey my orders and you'll have to catch a stray bullet, got it?" I nodded lamely, taking one last look at my cloud when a pistol hit me on the side of the head, making the others laugh. "You use this. Shoot any fucker near the caravan. No funny shit, alright? Good. Let's go." Great, a shitty pistol and close range. I picked it up with a hoof and flew over to the caravan, trying to figure out how to fire it. Bolt was custom made, so I had to fire that with both hooves and the stock against my shoulder. Like a zebra would, Brick always said. This pistol had a... Handle on the side? Mouth grip? I didn't even want to think about who else had used this before me...

I'd finally figured out how to shoot it by the second camp of raiders. Of course my accuracy was terrible, and so was the power of the bullets. I needed to use a whole magazine to kill a raider by shooting them in the side and about half as much when I'm shooting them in the head. Then came the third camp with twice as many raiders than the last. Two of them rushed the caravan, how they got past the rest I'll never know. I unloaded a heap of rounds into the skull of the first one, and when I turned to the fire upon the znext I heard the noise I didn't want to hear...

Click... click... click...

Fuck.

I punched the ragged buck in the face, disorienting him enough for me to feel around for a fresh magazine. I turned away from him to see that that was my last, and turned back in time for a powerful forehoof to make contact with my cheek, sending me barreling off the other side of the wagon. He looked down at me before leaping, just giving me enough time to roll to the side and jump into the air. I fumbled for my rifle as I was knocked out of the sky and pinned down by my wings, his hooves digging into my flesh enough to draw blood. He grinned his rotten toothed grin as I let out a flurry of punches towards his chest, none of which did anything to help.

"Get off me!" I yelled with a bit of hope that he might. Instead he just chuckled, the madness in his eyes all too familiar. I couldn't fight back, even if I tried. I could feel his breath on my face, the stench unbearable, but if I turned away he would just grab my mane and force me to face him again. There was a mare screaming in the background, and I figured it was just one of the traders getting the same fate, but then it got closer, louder, and sounded like something along the lines of 'get off her you fucker'.

The buck managed to snap me back to the present, when he decided that the scream was nothing to worry about and decided to get on with his task at hoof, but then with a gust of wind he was gone. I curled my wings up around myself as I slowly opened my eyes to the scene of the brown stallion getting pinned and beaten up by a big, and I mean BIG, earth pony mare who also wore raider barding. I got back on my hooves and folded my sore wings against my sides before pulling out my rifle. I pushed back off my forehooves to balance on my hind legs as I took aim at her head, hoof on the trigger just itching to fire... But I couldn't. Not after she just saved me. Instead I shot past her to hit the shoulder of a raider who didn't take too kindly to the beating of their friend, drawing the attention of the grey mare and the commander.

She approached me, as if in slow motion, paralyising me with her stare. I could have gotten lost in those bloodshot, silvery eyes as I lowered the barrel of the rifle and dropped to all fours, bowing my head before her. With a gentle touch, she lifted my head up with a forehoof until I was looking up at her, and up indeed. She was easily one and a half times my size.

“Thanks...” I muttered quietly. All the shooting had died down for the moment, so I figured the guards who were on my side were wiped out. She smiled at me when a shot rang out and knocked her to the ground, blood oozing from her right shoulder. We both looked in the direction the bullet came from to see the commander with his battle-saddle trained on the head of the raider.

"Romantic time is fucking over. I'm gonna gut the both of you and get my fucking caps.” He pointed his gun at me. “I need a new fucking team because of your fuck up. You know how much that’s cost me? I’ll squeeze every cap of value out of you yet.”

He clenched his teeth onto the bit, launching three rounds of lead on my direction. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the bullets that never came. I opened one eye cautiously to see the raider mare in between the commander and myself, her barding absorbing most of the damage from the bullets. She nodded to me, and after I finally got a grasp on what’s happening, I picked up my rifle.

“How fucking sweet. The raider and the fucking turkey. I never liked your kind, chicken, but I think I’ll have to take your fucking lover out first if I want to get at you.” He said as he shifted his stance. I quickly brought my rifle up over her body and shot a round at random, hitting the firing bit and bending it to where it was out of reach for him to bite with ease.

“Sorry commander,” I said, keeping him in my focus while I loaded another round into the chamber. “but I don’t like that plan. Mind if I make some adjustments?”

I pulled the trigger, sending the bullet clean through his kneecap. He glared at me as he muttered the words ‘you fucker’ before he dropped down. The raider mare limped over to him, reared up and landed on his skull with her good foreleg, ending his misery before dropping down to her knees herself. I quickly scrambled around in my bag to pull out a healing potion (Never leave home without one) and helped her drink it.

“I’m Hawk, pleasure to meetcha.” I smiled, extending a hoof to help her up

The mare got to her hooves with my help, although I did almost fall over trying. "Dirge." she responded, putting more weight on her left foreleg than her right. "The caravan's gone."

I looked behind me to see, well, no caravan. They must have buggered off during the fighting, although now there was a few raiders who had begun to encircle me.

"Shit, um, I don't suppose I could stay with you for a spell, could I?" I asked. I wasn't sure what else I could do since my wings hurt too much to fly on them for the time being.

She looked at me for what felt like an eternity. I glanced around, trying to figure out if the raiders were gonna attack me. I then thought that that would be a cool piece of equipment It'd probably be impossible though, I mean, a device that detects threat to the wearer based on some magicky stuff? Get real. Then she spoke, and I buried those thoughts deep in my mind.

"Got armour?"

"Um, no?"

"Good unarmed?"

"Terrible."

She gave a half-hearted smile before putting a foreleg over my shoulders. "I'll see if I can’t help ya out. Come with me."

.*. .*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*. .*.

The walk mainly consisted of me telling Dirge where I was from, what I did for a living, then it got to talking about my parents, then my grandparents, then the Enclave, shifting to my gun, where it came from, and so on. It got to the point where she knew everything about me, and all I knew was her coat and mane colours.

“Um, if you don’t mind my asking, why’d you save me back there? I wouldn’t’ve thought anypony, let alone a raider, would have stopped that stallion.” I asked, shifting the subject.

“He broke the rules, and the rules are everything.” She stopped walking suddenly, and looked up to the clouds. "And you reminded me of myself a while ago."

“Rules? What rules? I thought you raiders was rule-free.”

Dirge simply smirked before walking on. “You’ll see. We’re almost there.” she said as she lead me around a corner and in front of a large stadium. The two guards at the entrance shrank as she walked through, but as soon as I tried to follow I was blocked by their rifles.

“Let her in, she’s with me.” Dirge said without looking back. The guards looked at her, then at me, and finally each other before shrugging and letting me pass. I picked up my pace to catch up with her as we headed up some stairs and in through a door that was once marked ‘V.I.P.’, but has since been covered with ‘Fuck off’. Inside were six ponies lounging around, with one more behind a desk looking at some papers. An orange unicorn buck whose bright red mane was singed at the tips approached me and sniffed my coat deeply.

“Well look who the tunneler dragged in! And she’s brought pressies! What toy have ya got now, Dirge? Can I have a go when you’re done?” he said with too much excitement for me to be comfortable about it.

“Leave the newbie alone, Pyre.” a mare said from the other side of the room, her dark grey coat and mane almost blending her in amongst the shadows. “‘sides, haven’t you learnt not to touch anything of Dirge’s? You’d figure it’d stick in from last time. Like that spear.”

“Oh fuck up Ash.” he retorted “Since when did anything you say matter to me? I got past that when I beat ya.”

“Using a weapon I crafted for you is hardly a win you rort. Fight me with your own shit and you’d be rooted.”

“Oh yeah? You want a rematch?” Pyre began advancing on her. “‘cause I’m more than hap-” He was cut off as he was thrown to the other side of the room by Dirge, lying in a crumpled heap at the base of the wall.

“Shut your trap.” Dirge said firmly, the words having the impact of an anti-machine rifle. “You done? Good. This is Hawk.” she gestured to me. “She helped me. She’s with us now. I’ll ready her. Got any problems?”

The stallion who was looking at the papers raised his hoof. He seemed to be twice the age of everypony in the room, but he looked in no way frail. He got up from the desk and stepped into the flickering light, lighting up his fading green coat and greying mane. “Dirge, now, I respect your decision and I do so trust you to do the right thing by us, but, why did you not consult me about this first? You of all ponies should know that everything needs to go through me. I’ll be taking over this little ‘interview’ now.” He smiled faintly as he turned to me, extending a hoof. “You can call me Father. Welcome to the Undertakers.”

I reached out to shake his hoof, and the instant I made contact he pulled me down towards him and returned with a headbutt, leaving me dazed on the floor. I tried to get up but the sudden head injury just told me to get stuffed and left me sprawled out on the floor as Father leaned over me.

"Weak. No prediction. I can't see any chance of her surviving a week out here, let alone a minute in the arena. Get her a potion and get her prepped, I want to see her in the ring as soon as possible.” Through my blurred vision I saw Dirge bend over before I was tossed onto her back and carried out of the room.

“Sorry.” she said when we were well out of the room. “You’re gonna be pit against me."

"Like... Like a duel right? To surrender?" I replied hazily

"To death." The words hit me like a train carriage roaring down a hill, and I did everything I could to prevent that first tear from hitting the floor.

Dirge set me down in what looked like an armoury filled with well used equipment before trotting off to grab a small potion to fix the injury on my wings and the probable concussion. I looked around for something, anything, that I could use with any skill. As I scanned the bladed weapons, my eyes were drawn to something that looked much newer than the rest; wing blades. I jumped at the chance to use them due to their less-than-near-destroyed condition.

After making sure the wing blades wouldn't fall off any time soon I grabbed some light armour and (using my super awesome armour repair tool, a rusty knife) crudely cut some slots for my wings to go through. When I was done I looked around for Dirge, who was taking her picks from all these different needles and pills, none of which were labelled but still seemed categorised. She slipped a few into special slots in her barding before trotting over to me.

"Wing blades huh? Know how to use them?" she asked.

"Do I just sorta fly past you and hope for the best?" My idiocy made her chuckle. "What?"

"You gotta aim right. Precision attacks. Hit my neck and legs if you can." She smiled. "You're gonna be with a couple others, and only one of us can survive. If I go down, or even look like I'm about to, turn on them. Oh, and don't think about flying away, you'll just get yourself into a right mess. Remember, rule one: Adapt, or die."

Adapt or die. I began to wonder why she told me all this but I was cut short by being shoved out the doorway and into the arena. The crowd cheered excitedly as me and the other four took place around the arena and waited for the arrival of Dirge.

"For this next match," Father's voice boomed over a speaker. "We get to see the crowd favourite; Dirge!" The crowd roared. "We've pitted her against five ponies trying for her spot amongst the elite. Four of them want her dead for their own petty little reasons, and one of them she even dragged in herself! That poor, poor soul." The entire arena burst into hysterics, and those that weren't rolling around were taking bets as to who that was. "This should make for an interesting fight, especially with a pegasus in one corner!" I didn't like this, I was going to die to entertain raiders. "Now, make her welcome else she stomp you flat, Diiiiiiirrge!" Once more the crowd boomed as Dirge emerged from a specially marked door, waving to the crowd and hyping them up. She bounced on the ground several times, sending electrical crackles out from the covers. Were those powerhooves? I'd never seem them before, but I'd heard of them, and they didn't inspire confidence in my survival.

Once Dirge got to the middle of the arena the crowd fell silent and she signalled for us to attack. We hesitantly looked around at each other, not sure who would make the first move, until a unicorn buck with a sledgehammer charged her. I watched as the unicorn traded a heavy blow to the side of the head for a solid whack at Dirge's stomach, but he wasn't done. He brought the hammer around for a follow through shot to her ribs as she jumped out of the way, pulled the hammer out of his telekinetic grip with her mouth and threw it with great strength back at him. While he tried to stop it with his magic, Dirge launched at him, snapping his forelegs at the knees and bringing him screaming to the ground before she caved in his skull in a bloody mess, much to the crowd's delight. There was no way I could top that attempt.

I looked to the other three as an earth pony buck spoke up. “We gotta work together. What’ve yous got? I’ve got some hoofclaws meself.”

“Just a knife, I... I didn’t get much time to choose before I was tossed out here.” a mare said, pulling the knife out of it’s scabbard with her teeth.

“You call that a knife?” the unicorn said as he levitated up a giant sword that seemed to be made from the bumper bar of an old wagon. “This, is a knife.”

The sooner we could get this over, the better. The instant she turned away from me I fanned out my wings and dashed towards her with a powerful thrust of my wings, and the others followed after me. Just as I fanned out my right wing to go in for a slash, she jumped to the side and delivered a powerful, electrically-charged double rear hoof kick to my body, sending me across to the side of the arena in an ever-graceful spasm with a loud crack. I hit the ground with a thud and slid the last bit of distance to the arena walls, just below the crowd. Looking back at the fight I saw Bumper Sword trying to block Dirge's blows while Hoof Claws was ripping at her barding. Knife was down already, her chosen weapon through her right eye and bleeding profusely.

By the time I had enough muscle control to stand and enough adrenaline to ignore my injury, Claws had ripped off one of Dirge’s armour plates and was rewarded by being thrown at Bumper's weapon, cutting down to his bone where the blade got lodged, forcing Bumper to find new methods. Using his magic, he pulled the blade out of Knife's eye, much to her own dismay, and put it between himself and Dirge. I flapped my wings a couple of times to get the feeling back in them and winked at Bumper, who nodded and started on the offensive.

I lunged into the air, angling my wings to spin like a torpedo. I'm no Rainbow Dash, but I'll be damned if I didn't know some tricks. As I passed Dirge, I felt my wing catch onto something and I landed, spinning around next to Bumper. I looked back to see the damage and was only rewarded with a short, shallow cut that bled rapidly. Oh come on! All that for an inconvenience?.

"You are new to those, aren't you?" Bumper said, surprising me. "You gotta hit quick and often to do anything useful."

"But... How do I get close? She's impossible to touch!"

"That's why there was five of us. Makes it fair." He said, chuckling lightly. "So much for that. I suppose I'll see you in another life. Ta ta."

He stuck the tip of the dagger in Dirge's shoulder and held it with his magic as he ran at her, aiming to push the weapon in further with brute force. Dirge swung a foreleg towards him with practised ease, hitting his neck with a bone snapping crunch and tossing him limply to the floor, dagger dropping out with no force to hold it in.

"Just you an' me, Hawk." she said with a smile. "I'm surprised you managed to get up from that kick, I was sure something vital broke there." Something broke? I felt around my ribs and sure enough they shifted under my touch. That's disturbing enough without the fact that the adrenaline pumping through my veins removed most of the pain. "Anyway, it's you or me, and as much as I admire your spirit, I don't plan on going."

"Adapt or die." I said with a pained smile.

"Then show me what you can do!" she shouted back.

That was all I needed to hear. I screamed something that I wasn't even sure were words as I ran at her. Knowing from Bumper's attempt that she'd swing with her right hoof, I ducked in that direction and slipped by underneath her hoof with my right wing spread to cut under her foreleg. While she recovered I jumped over to her other side and cut at her other shoulder before quickly dashing out of her range.

I ran to pick up the dagger to continue Bumper's plan, turning to face her once I had it in my grasp. She simply smiled back at me.

"You're givin' ‘em a real show now, Hawk. Grinning like a shot fox, too." she said as she moved towards the dropped hammer. "Maybe you have what it takes to survive here, but I can’t hold back. Can’t let them know that I regret bringing you here. I’ll try to be quick about it.”

Dirge charged at me with as much force as she had, leaving the hammer on the ground, and I made the mistake of thinking she had no agility to back it up. I jumped into the air much too late and she grabbed me by the hooves, pulling me back down and smacking my back against the dusty floor. She reared up for a killing blow and I used what little strength I had to roll to the side and back onto my hooves, as wobbly as I was on them. She then grabbed me by the neck and started choking me. Flailing my wings wildly, I hoped to hit something important as the world around me became darker. Finally the adrenaline faded and my wings drooped to my sides as I muttered with my last breath.

"Sorry... Mum..."

And then as everything went black the crowd went wild.

Footnote:

You level up, but you have no use for said level because of your lack of any pre-war technology. You should get yourself some of that one day.

Circumstance

If I’m dead right now, someone needs to turn off the lights in… wherever it is I deserved to go. I closed my eyes again and turned my head to the side where I heard faint voices.

“Oh, she’s awake.” one voice said. Awake? I was fairly sure I’d be tossed in a pit or something. I slowly opened my eyes again to have a brown unicorn in a white lab coat flash a torch back at me. “Well, awake enough.” he concluded.

“Where… am I… dead?” I said quietly.

“Oh Goddesses no, though we did think you were cactus. I even had a hundred caps on that you were gonna cark it. Unfortunately for me a higher power demanded to see you once you were conscious enough to take orders, so we had to save ya.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Three or four days, not much. You lose track of small details when you’re drinking with the parasprites. Really that costs even more caps, but after the first three bottles you don’t even care. Here, drink this.” He pushed something up to my lips which I obediently drank, a burn in my throat appearing after I swallowed to notify me that it was a strong alcohol I drank and not a potion. I stuck my tongue out in disgust and tried to scrape the taste off with a hoof when I learnt that they were tied down. "Not everypony has good taste, it seems. Listen, I'll untie you, but you gotta promise that you won’t get up too quick. Your ribs are still fixing no matter how the Med-X makes you feel." As soon as my hooves were free I slowly got to sitting upright and take stock of my surroundings. They seemed clean... enough.

"Why am I here again?” I asked since I was out of my post-unconscious haze.

“Because Father has a use for you.” Pyre said as he entered the room. “And you’d best be listening to him if you like your wings. How long until she’s able to be useful, Quack?”

“Normally I would say a week, but Father isn’t a patient stallion.” the doctor replied as he rummaged through a box of various needles. “So you should feel pretty tinny that I have this!” He jabbed the needle into my side and I bent back in pain as my bones felt like they were dragged through my body back into place. When the worst of it died down I touched the bandages around my ribs; tender, but solid. Quack undid the bandages around my chest and pushed me off the bed before jumping onto it himself and chugged the rest of his rum. “Now go off and injure some ponies for me to heal, I can’t do anything with corpses.”

“Get your stuff” Pyre scowled as he gestured to a corner with the wing blades I had during the fight, as well as my saddlebags (which were empty now) and Bolt. I slung my saddlebags over my body with the blades inside and set Bolt around my neck. “Alright Six, let's not keep him waiting any longer."

Six? "Six?"

"Six Hooves. It's your name now. Y'know, like 'six hooves under' sort of thing. Well, it's not your name just yet, not until Father thinks you're good enough, or at least relatively useful. You'll find that we don't just exist for entertainment. Anyway, time to meet the big man. Don't shake his hoof." Great, if only I knew that three days ago. While he spoke he lead me through some corridors before pushing me into a dark room with only one source of light in the centre and closing the door behind me.

"H-Hello? Father?" I stepped into the light just as he did, coming uncomfortably close to the old stallion.

"Ah, I see you've made a full recovery no doubt. Quacked Bones does a marvellous job when it comes to getting me what I nee when I need it, and oh look, that's exactly why I have you here. You see, I have a slight dilemma; I've run dry on hooficure supplies." Really? A trip to a market? What's the catch? "But being me, I can't have just any old supplies. I need the best of the best, which at the moment are sitting in the basement of a certain building in Ponyville."

"Ponyville? Where's that?" I interrupted, earning a death stare from him.

"About five days northeast of here. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I need you to go get them. Well you see, I'll be needing them in two days time."

"Two days!? But you said it was five days one way!" I exclaimed

"I did, and it is, by hoof. That takes into account the tunnel system that goes below the mountain range between here and there," Yeah, the range where my home is. "and all of the threats that I can't be wasting valuable fighters on. That's why I'm sending you and Pyre. Now I hear that Ponyville is filled with dangerous raiders," he said those two words with so much sarcasm I could smell it. "and I am depending on your success, so I've had Ash craft you some... combat-aid. You'll pick it up on your way out, and Pyre will direct you to the Vertibuck the Enclave so happily donated to my cause. Now be off with you, and remember; two days."

I turned and headed out the door to be greeted by Ash and Pyre. "Got your stuff here," Ash said, pointing at a pile of metal implements. "so get ‘em on and give me the old blades. They belong back in the arena's armoury." As Ash trotted off with the old blades I passed to her, I looked at the new gear. Two new wing blades, sharper, deadlier and most importantly shinier than the old ones, as well as four hoof claws, all made of a sturdy yet lightweight metal. She must have taken measurements while I was unconscious because the wing blades folded in a way where none of the edges touched my hide. I noticed the notches in my hooves while I was getting the claws on, which also fit with stunning accuracy.

As I was inspecting the gear in a sort of awe, Pyre smirked. "Yeah, Ash is weaponised genius. C'mon, let's just get this done." He pushed me down the opposite way we came and up a few flights of stairs until we stood on the roof where a Vertibuck was prepared with supplies for the journey. It was the first time I’d seen one up close, so I took the time to inspect it’s every detail, from the Enclave symbol on the glossy black paint to the tray added at the back where our supplies were tied down. Must be an Ausneighlian issue. Pyre sat inside as I looked it over. "Ever flown one of these things?" I shook my head. "Well get in that little glass box and fly as you would. Some freaky magic makes it easy, or something. I reckon we could be there in two days comfortably."

Two days? That's two days too long. "We kinda need to be back by two days." that earned a look of disbelief and a loud ‘What!?’. "I guess it's a challenge, or something."

"Well get the fuck in and fly as fast as you fucking can! I've got some Dash in case you get tired." Dash? I must have lived a sheltered life for the Wasteland. I got myself in the puller's compartment and, after a moment of awkward flapping, got the Vertibuck in the air and on the way to Ponyville.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

About two hours into the flight we came across the mountain range that separated Equestria from Ausneighlia. I made a point to fly past my house just to see if my mum was alright, but I quickly pulled away once I saw four sets of Enclave power armour sitting around her through a window.

"I wonder who lives in there." Pyre said, gesturing to the wooden structure.

"I do, well, did... I don't even know at the moment."

"Of course it'd be a pegasus of all things. Power armour incoming, 5 o'clock."

Unfortunately the sight of an Enclave Vertibuck must have raised a red flag with Brick, who was outside as always. I could tell by the way he flew, slow but strong, as he pulled up beside us and started talking with Pyre.

"That Vertibuck is official Ausneighlian Enclave property. I demand that you cease flying and hand it over immediately."

"Yeah no can do, bugsy." Pyre returned with a dismissive wave. "We got a job to do and it can't wait, not even for you."

"What are the names of both your employer and your flier?"

"Well Father's not really an employer, but I suppose he fits the bill, and my flier is Six, wait, no, was it... Hawk?" I gave a large nod so he would notice. "Yeah, Hawk something! Cute little mare with a sky blue mane. Really something, you two should go out, and if you let us go I'll even go out of my way to hook you up with her." I whacked my face with a hoof, causing the Vertibuck to swerve slightly.

"Hawk..." Brick started "Your mother's worried about you. Why didn't you come back? She's had us searching the area for you, and I never would have thought you end up working under Father of all scumbags."

"She flew into a wall. Well, by wall I mean an arena with a scary huge mare. Don't remember why she was brought there, but she had to fight the mare. One hell of a show, too. You should have seen her fly across the arena after that kick. Pure entertainment gold."

"Can you let her answer, unicorn?" Brick snapped.

"I got grounded," I said before Pyre did something he'd regret. "Was lead to the arena for safety, sorta. Had a... miscommunication-"

"-She got headbutted-" Pyre interrupted.

"-Miscommunication.” I retorted. “Anyway, I got tossed in the arena to fight for, well, my life. I lost."

"Been out for three days since! Geez, you make good stories boring, Sixy. You shoulda told him about the fight. Actually, no, I'll do it! I tell you, I ain't never seen somepony last that long after charging Dirge head on, especially not after being electrocuted and with broken ribs, but your girl here is a fighter. Adapt or die is our motto, and she did just that! Both parts! Not many ponies survive a kick from good ol’ Dirge, but after she flew into the side of the cage she landed on all four hooves like a cat, and that’s when we knew she was something special!

“She even went for seconds, spinnin’ around like you’d never believe and getting a beautifully clean slash with some dingy old wing blades. Blood was gushing everywhere, crowd roaring, a real show! It was just the two of ‘em as well, staring each other in the eyes the whole time like it was a match made in the great blue beyond!

“Her only downfall was that she slightly miscalculated how fast that lump of meat we call a mare can travel, and got slammed down onto the dirt. But she didn’t give up there, oh no, but you see, back injuries aren’t like ribs, they throw you off something awful. She was easy pickings from there, flailing her wings and cuttin’ Dirge all over before she finally keeled ove-”

"Enough!" Brick shouted. "I've heard enough! I'll let you go, but I'll be reporting this to my higher ups so don't expect a smooth ride from here on out." He paused a moment before his voice softened. "We'll take care of her, just don't die and come back soon." And with that he flew off.

"I didn't know you were Enclave, Six. It'd explain how you lost in the arena." Pyre said once Brick was out of sight.

"I'm not Enclave, my grandma was a Dashite. Enclave-abandoning sort of thing."

"Then why don't they just burn down your house?"

"'cause my mum and I aren't Dashite, we're just not Enclave. They got my grandma years back."

"You pegasi are strange with your laws..." He muttered under his breath.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

Much later on, probably about early afternoon, I was slowly munching on some mystery meat that Pyre had so generously cooked for me (After half an hour of whining about it taking more energy to chew raw than I would gain from it) and he was reclining in the comfort of the Vertibuck, smoking it out with three cigarettes. Why he needed three at once I'll never know. Must be a unicorn thing. The eeriest thing, though, was that we hadn't come across any troubles yet.

But of course I spoke too soon.

A green flash of light whizzed past the front of my eyes, followed by some red ones. I swerved the Vertibuck to the left, tossing Pyre to the side and snapping him out of his leisurely bubble.

"They found us, Pyre! Quit being a bludger and do something!"

"On it, Six!" he shouted back as he popped open a barrel of some liquid. He poured it out the side of the Vertibuck and caught it in his magic, creating a bubble of it around us. "When this catches, fly down as if you're crashing!" When it catches? What does he me- Woah!

The bubble burst into flames as a red laser shot through it, preventing me from seeing anything ahead of me. I did what he asked, lowering my altitude and hoping I didn't hit anything on the way until finally we landed with massive force. I might have forgotten to slow down though, as we slid for a good distance, the fire around us burning out. Pyre dragged me out of the flying capsule and slapped me a few times to get my focus.

"Listen. I want you to run away." I looked at him in confusion. "Run away! Fuck, is it so hard? They'll leave me alone, they don’t want me, and it’ll beat getting tortured by far, so just get the hell away from here already!"

"Sorry Pyre, I can't do that." I looked to the sky and noticed the black clad figures drawing closer. "I can’t let you fight them alone. You won’t win. There’s more of them and they’re better armoured.”

"Yeah yeah, alright, I getcha. If it makes you feel better, I’ll distract them enough so you can get a head start then I’ll run meself." He said with half a smile "Just take your bags and get the fuck away from here. You pissed off the wrong ponies and now you got Father and the Enclave hunting you now, so make like an earth pony and run!"

I nodded, picked up my bags and ran away from the crash site. As I ran, I looked back to see Pyre setting fire to another glob of fuel before setting it out in what I assumed were to be individual projectiles. The way he manipulated the fires was so mesmerising that I'd even stopped running to watch in awe. Using the smoke to his advantage, he dashed from cover to cover, avoiding the blindly fired energy beams. Well, almost blindly, because I did know that the Enclave armour had some kind of targeting system, but I had no idea how it worked.

One of the pegasi swooped down around the fire for a clear shot at Pyre, but before they realised it a ball of fire surrounded them, forcing them to let out an almost inequine scream. I couldn't help but stare at the black figure writhing in pain, almost able to feel the burning sensation under my own skin. I tore my eyes away from the sight, the mental pain still dancing over my rump as I reached out to rub it. When I felt it on my hoof as well I opened my eyes to see a small spark singing my coat. Right! Running! Fuck you Pyre! My ass hurts! I ran off in the direction I was flying earlier and the roar of flames slowly quietened down to nothingness.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

Nothingness.

That just about sums up how I feel right now. A great big keg full of nothing. I've never really had to survive like this, sure I've gone for a walkabout a few times, but at least I always had a place to go at the end of all that. Right now I'm just walking for the sake of getting away from any place I could have called home.

Looking around at the scenery I'd realised that I was definitely deep in Equestria's borders. It wasn't because I could see a whole bunch of towers in the distance, scattered across the horizon, nor was the stupid crazy amount of irradiated critters. It was the clouds, shrouding the land and keeping it in an almost perpetual nighttime. I wondered if anypony here had even seen the sky, let alone sunlight.

I decided to head in the direction of the nearest tower hoping to find some sort of town set up at the base where I could get more supplies. Not that I really had anywhere to go after that, but it was a start at least. A short while on the way I spotted a small raider encampment thanks to the banner of pony hide they'd set up. As I trotted up to it I felt as if all eyes were on me when one approached me.

"Where the fuck do ya think you're going?" The buck said. His coat was so covered in blood and dirt and who knows what else that I couldn't even see it's original colour.

"That-a-way." I responded, gesturing to the tower. Around me I could hear laughter from everypony besides the stallion in front of me.

"That's fuckin' cute," he said "but they don't let us raiders in at Tenpony."

"I'm not a raider, I’m just a traveler."

"Oh you hear that colts? She ain't a fuckin' raider!" Even more laughter. "You're armed to the fuckin' teeth, actually, I'd be surprised if your teeth aren’t sharpened into fucking points, too. You're so fuckin' weapon....ated, that we didn't fuckin' shoot you ourselves in case ya went fuckin’ berserk and slaughtered us all, so take your fuckin’ comedy act someplace else before we change our fuckin' minds!"

So being a walking knife block was a problem. Funny, I half expected to fit in, but I suppose raiding standards here are a bit lower than Ausneighlia, judging by their choice of decoration. I thanked him for the little information he gave as I walked off again and got a pleasant "Fuck you" in return.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

Finally the entrance to Tenpony was in my sights and I quickened my pace towards it. As I neared I realised exactly how large the armoured entrance was, and that next to it was… some kind of speaker?

"We don't let raiders in, so you'd best be going away now." A voice said through the speaker when I was close enough to hear.

"I ain't a raider, I swear." I responded as I was within poking distance of it. "Just a lost traveller."

The voice went silent for the good part of a minute. "Then explain the weapons ."

"Can't a mare have something to defend herself in this horrible place?"

Silence once more. "Surrender your ammo and… blades, then you can come in." Score! I removed the hoofclaws carefully and gave them to a guard who stepped out from behind the gate just to collect them, then removed the one round I had left in Bolt and put it next to them. Pleased, I started to wander past him before he stopped me. "And the wings. Every blade."

"They... Um... They're permanent." I lied. Truthfully I just didn't want to risk cutting myself while taking them off. "Yeah, permanent. You could take 'em off, but there'd be blood and feathers and screaming and flailing and severed hooves and... yeah...." I gave him a sheepish grin.

"Well ain't that just a problem and a half..." He said with a... Was that a smile?

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

Okay now this is embarrassing. I've been wandering around Tenpony for a while now, trying to get the lay of the tower, with my wings strapped down by bandages tied in a very large and easily noticed bow. I have to leave it on until I leave or else they'd lock me up or something. Stupid guards and their stupid no weapons.

After peeking in a couple of shops and watching some of the other ponies walking around (staring at my bow but pretending they aren’t) I noticed a very important detail; This place is stuffy! Everyone looked like they were born in a high class before the war and were preserved by time! The food prices were dangerously expensive, the clothes are all fancy and there was only one bar in a quiet part of the tower. One bar! And it was quiet! Obviously I made my business there first.

I looked around at the atmosphere of the building. They had a nice post-war theme going that matched the rest of the damned planet, and the only other two ponies in the room were staff. Well, drinking alone has some novelty I suppose.

"G'day," I said as I approached the pale yellow bartender. "Got any beer?"

"Got any what?" she responded.

"Beer."

"Pardon?"

"Beer!"

"What's 'beer'?" Oh I'm beginning to hate this place.

"It's a drink," I tried explaining "that's kinda bitter but not quite, real good for a hot day but it needs to be cold or else it tastes like shit. Kinda amber coloured."

She looked at the few bottles behind her, most of which were Wild Pegasus. "I have whiskey." She replied simply, making me smack my head on the counter with an exasperated sigh.

"How much?" I asked with a defeated tone.

"Hundred caps a bottle." A hundred caps!? I slammed my hoof on the counter before getting up and turning back towards the door. Just before I exited the stallion sweeping in the corner spoke up.

"Give her one on the house, Olive. She's the first pony to walk in here for a while... And I may have a use for her yet." Free drinks? That brought me back to the counter to pick up the bottle before heading over to one of the many empty tables. I took a quick swig from the bottle and stuck my tongue out in disgust. I need to get used to this. I was too busy looking at the bottle to notice the stallion approaching me. "And what's your name, Miss?"

I thought for a moment. Then another moment. "Call me Six." I finally decided.

"Alright then Miss Six, I ha-"

"Just Six." I cut him off. "I ain't fancy."

"As you wish, Six. Anyway like I was about to say, I have a business proposal for you. As you can see, my business seems a bit..."

"Dodgy, run down... shit?"

"Unwanted. You see, when most ponies arrive here at Tenpony Tower they do so for trade, yet nopony has the desire to trade away their liquor, hence my... limited stock."

"No beer" I said, taking another pull from the bottle, keeping it in my mouth a tad longer to accustom myself to it.

"Exactly... why ever that matters...." He muttered under his breath.

"So whaddya want me to do? Threaten traders?"

"Oh no no, nothing so barbaric. I simply want you to go out and collect some alcoholic samples for me. Surely somepony like you would be out adventuring all the time, so all I ask is that if you don't drink everything, I would like to... take it off your hooves.

"But of course no deal should be one-sided, no. If you decide to do this for me, I shall humbly offer to refill your glass, free of charge, whenever you're in town."

I looked at him, then at my bottle. "I dunno. I'd have to think about it for a while..." He nodded at Olive, who brought over another bottle for me. "But, on the other hoof it seems like a limited time offer. I'll do it."

"Wonderful, wonderful! I feel like we have a glorious partnership ahead of us Miss Six." I glared at him. "Sorry, habit." That earned him a smile.

"Well I'd best be off, mate, figure out where to... Adventure next." I said as I tucked the two bottles under my tied down wings. He nodded as I trotted to the door. "I'll be back some day, you can count on that."

"And I await said day with baited breath." Sure, whatever that meant. I headed back out into the main drag and begun searching for a place to rest my head.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

"Five hundred caps!?" I yelled "For one fucking night!? Is this how you ponies get off or something? Un-fucking-believable.” I looked around; clearly I was making quite a scene, so I lowered myself down a notch. “I just don’t get it. Survival’s about workin’ together, not robbing other ponies. Look, I’m sorry for flying off the handle. I’ll see meself out.”

As I headed for the door I was blocked by a short, steel grey mare with a vibrant blue mane. “I agree.” she started, pushing me back in. “We do have to work together to do better. Come with me.” She headed off towards an elevator and I shrugged before following. On the floor we got off at, we stopped at some double doors marked M.A.S.E.B.S.

Inside the room were screens. Lots and lots and lots of screens, all showing a different part of the Wasteland, although one segment was blacked out.

"This room is where DJ Pon-3 helps the Wasteland. He watches the screens and provides valuable information about the happenings of the Wasteland through his radio channel." The mare said, gesturing to the screens.

"DJ Pon-3 huh? Sounds like a nice guy." I said absentmindedly as I tried to spot the Vertibuck I'd crashed earlier.

"You've... Never heard of him?" She was clearly surprised.

I'd spotted my Vertibuck, the flames surrounding it slowly dying down. No unicorn corpses. That's a start. "Nope, but he sounds like a top quality bloke."

"Where did you say you were from again?"

I drew my attention from the screen to face her. "I didn't." She smacked her face with a hoof. "But I'm from Ausneighlia. M'names Six." Yeah , it wasn't really, but I'm not gonna go gallivanting around a new country and spreading my actual name everywhere.

"Homage." She responded as we shook hooves. "So, what's Ausneighlia like?"

"Iunno, dusty I suppose. A couple of irradiated creatures, but nowhere near as much as here. Not that it changes much, everything down there has some way to drop you to the ground in pain and finish you off."

"Oh? And how far away is it."

"About six days travelling apparently. But that's 'cause there's a giant ffff-" I didn't want to swear in front of somepony so... Proper. "Flippin' mountain range in the way. We call it The Divider." Well, I called it that, but I'll be damned if I don't coin a name or two. Some places deserved to be named. "But I flew over, so it was really about one day ‘cause I left early. Which reminds me," I pointed at the screen with the crashed Vertibuck. "Does the DJ know what happened there?"

"Aside from the most awesome one pony stand against the Enclave he's ever seen? He told me all about it, how one unicorn who'd conjured fire was fighting off a wing of Enclave pegasi while another pegasus escaped..." She trailed off as her eyes widened slightly. "Oh my Celestia, that was you! Oh I have so many questions for you, would you mind if I interviewed you?"

I was taken aback by the sudden shift. "Uh, sure, but ain't that the DJ's job?" Homage winked at me as she wandered up to the console and hit a few buttons. She signalled for me to be quiet as her horn glowed and played a pre-recorded message. Wait... Her lips were moving too... "The fuck!?" I blurted out, then quickly covered my mouth with my hooves.

"Sorry folks, that was just my guest, a mare who was chased all the way from Ausneighlia by the worthless Enclave." The mare said. Was mare right? Stallion? Mare-colt? I was too confused. "So, what's your name?"

"I already told you." I replied.

She chuckled. "Yes, but the whole Wasteland wants to know."

"Oh, right," Yeah, interview, got it now! "M'name's Six Hooves."

"Six Hooves huh?"

"Yeah, it's prolly because I'm a pegasus or something. It was given to me, I got no choice."

"Given to you? By who?"

"Some arena group back home. Bastards killed me before I came here, too."

"Killed you?" She looked surprised. "You seem quite alive and well at the moment."

"Okay okay, they didn't technically kill me, but I was out for three days because of a fight."

"Well that makes a bit more sense. Now how did the Enclave fit in all this?"

"By me flying their Vertibuck. My mate Brick had to alert his boss or something so they could act on it."

"Your mate? As in partner?"

"Oh fuck no! Mate, friend, y'know."

"Oh, so, you were Enclave?"

"Na. Grandma was a Dashite, mum and I were born down here. Brick was just part of a patrol who checked by on us and became friendly."

"Hm." Homage paused for thought. "So why did you come to the Equestrian Wasteland?"

"Because I had to. Arena ponies, remember? Not gonna let you use up their stuff without paying for it. I was sent up to collect something for the boss."

"And the unicorn?"

"My guard-slash-tutor. He was one of the elite, came with me to make sure I didn't die or run away. Do ya know what happened to him?"

"Of course." She smiled. "Well folks, this has been DJ Pon-3 interviewing a lovely mare from Ausneighlia. Who says we can't reach abroad. And now for some soothing sounds for all you Sweetie Belle fans." Homage pressed a button and the microphone disappeared as music begun to play in the background.

"Well?" I asked almost instantly.

Homage nodded and spoke in her normal voice "Your friend headed towards Fillydelphia. Pretty much straight east of here. I'd tell you where in but..." She gestured to the black screens. "I can't see there. Some pony called Red Eye has blocked my signal."

"Sounds like a right arse."

"Oh he is." She paused for thought. "Can I trust you?"

"As far as you can throw me. Course I might help by gliding a fair distance. Add to the illusion, y'know." I smiled

"I... Was that a yes?"

"Sure, we'll go with that. You haven't tried to kill me yet, so there's no need to not trust me."

She nodded. "If you're going to Fillydelphia, I want you to check on some ponies I asked to get my tower vision back there. Look for a small grey mare called LittlePip and her friends. I don’t think they’ll be hard to spot, they kinda stand out."

Oooh, objectives. "I'll see what I can do." I headed towards the door.

"Wait, Six, about you needing a room..."

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

Now this was a room! Double bed, hot shower, all it needed was a few mares or stallions to serve my every whim and it'd be perfect. I'd have to make do, unfortunately.

I'd spent a good amount of time in the shower, making sure every nook, cranny and hair was clean, or at least passable as such. My feathers desperately needed preening, and I was more than happy to oblige. I got out of the shower and looked in the slightly cracked mirror. Was my coat always this cream? I somehow thought that it was a lot more… dull, but apparently not. It was noticably cleaner though, as was my mane and tail. That was something at least.

I jumped onto the bed, landing right in the middle and stretching out as far as I could. Okay, it was a little lonely. Maybe Pyre... I shook my head, I barely know the buck. Though maybe after I rescue him... Was he even in danger? Did he even want to see me again? If what I'd heard about Red Eye was true, then Pyre was either a slave, which I doubt was in his vocabulary, or a guard.

Oh well, I'll find out when I get there. For now, sleep. I closed my eyes and emptied my mind, not like that second step was hard, and slowly drifted off into a regular dreamless sleep.

Footnote:

You level up, but you have no use for said level because of your lack of any pre-war technology. You should get yourself some of that one day.

Dominance

Father.

My real father, not some arena boss who calls himself that.

I could see his face, his dark green coat with his dark grey mane. He almost seemed to glow with happiness.

We were in a dusty field, not that there was any shortage of those, but this one looked like it was a park before the war, and we were playing catch. Our ball was a frog that my dad had killed and stuffed with... Something. He threw it to me, way over my head, and I ran to catch it, my little legs not able to carry me fast enough before it hit the ground. I couldn't fly yet, I hadn't quite gotten the hang of it.

I picked up the frog and turned around to throw it back, but he was right behind me. I squealed as he easily pushed me to the ground and we wrestled. He let me win, as usual, and as I sat on the seat of victory we both laughed.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

I woke up with a jolt. So much for dreamless. I rolled off my bed and staggered into the bathroom to wash those memories away. The mirror by the sink let me see how much of a morning pony I'm not. My mane was everywhere, sticking up in places I'd never even notice otherwise and refusing to be patted down. My tail was no better, but at least I could groom that one with ease.

Stepping into the shower, I'd turned the cold on and nothing else, the torrent of icy water hitting me and sending shivers all over my body. I let it run over my coat to cool me down enough before I stuck my head under, sending another wave of shivers through me. Once I was wet from feather to hoof I hopped out, the cold having served it's purpose and no longer wanted. I'd decided against brushing my mane, my plan had no welcome for neatness, nor did it have the time.

Satisfied with my still slightly damp body, I gathered my gear and (grudgingly) retied the bow around my wings. Might as well keep up the facade of the unremovable blades. I hadn't gotten any supplies as I hoped I would have here, but I didn't want to, and couldn't, give the overpriced goods the satisfaction of my attention.

As I trotted out through the gate that kept this place so protected, I flare out my wings, the blades slicing through my bindings with an almost mocking ease. The guard said nothing as they returned my only bullet and my hoofclaws, and they cautiously backed away as I jumped into the air to make putting them on a tad easier. Satisfied that they were secure enough to aid me in a pinch, I waved goodbye to the guard merrily.

"Don't hurry back." were their only words as I flew off towards my only goal; Fillydelphia.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

Wings are honestly the greatest things ever. I silently landed behind a sniper in a raider den, never expecting to be attacked from the sky, and quickly dispatched him before he could call for help or make any noise other than an undistinguishable gurgle. How anypony would ever survive walking through these places was beyond my reasoning. Maybe the raiders were really just that dumb here. I quickly looted what ammo (.308 rounds! Perfect!) he had before slinking downstairs.

Okay, I didn't know what to expect to see, but anything but this would have sufficed. There were three cages; two of which had held multiple foals of both unicorn and earth pony. The unicorns seemed relatively unharmed, only shocked, but the earth ponies were beaten, bruised, bleeding and bastardised. I felt tears well up in my eyes along with a warmth in my gut. That warmth soon turned into a blaze, and I lost all notions of stealth or self control as I burst out from the shadows, senselessly screaming vulgarities.

Three enemies. Or was there six? I was too out of it to fully notice, all I knew was that they all needed to die. The first pony had his back to me. He didn't get to see the face of death as it ripped away at the muscles on his shoulders, dropping his front half to the ground. I leapt off him towards my next target and into... A piece of rebar? As I recovered, it struck me again, and again, until everything went black.

Well that was short lived.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

When I came to I was pulsating with pain. Everything about me hurt dreadfully, my left shoulder more so than anything else. I forced my eyes open slightly, well, eye, my left eye seemed to not want to cooperate, and glanced at my surroundings. Cold, metal, oh, the third cage.

I heard some ponies shouting nearby so I tried to focus on what they were saying. Easier said than done, though after a short while I did get some clarity.

"Red Eye don't pay as much for damaged fucking goods, idiot!" I heard one say.

"I-I said I was sorry, Crack! I just hit her 'til she stopped crawling!"

I could make out the two figures through my blurred vision. There was an earth pony holding a piece of rebar over a cowering unicorn. Ten caps if you could figure out who was in charge. Half of me felt sorry for the unicorn, since I knew how much a well swung bit of rebar could hurt; the other half of me wanted to rip out his throat with my teeth.

Now that was a tempting thought...

Which I buried at the back of my mind. I was not about to go full raider if I could help it. Besides, I didn't think I'd have the jaw strength.

It seemed I'd missed a part of the conversation with my thinking, because the earth pony now stood in front of my cage and was saying something to me.

"I said, what are you fucking doing here!?" He shouted right in my face, his breath smelling less than desirable.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't actually remember why it was I landed in here in the first place. Was I being shot at? Did I want to take a nap? That beating must have got me nicely. Kudos to the unicorn. I closed my mouth and shrugged, trying to point at my head before realising I had shackles on.

He shot a glare to the unicorn, who flinched as a result, before turning back to me.

"Where were you going before you decided to kill my second in fucking command?"

Oh, I knew this one! "Filldelpha." I slurred. This made him smile. One of those devious smiles leaders make when plans hatch in their mind.

"Well, as a... Sorry, for my friend's behaviour, we'll personally take you to Fillydelphia. Only condition is that you stay where you are. You need to rest."

I nodded. What a nice stallion. Rest sounded good, too, although I did think there was too much pain for that.

"Got Med-X?" The earth pony quickly turned back to me, scowling as if I stepped out of line, then just like that, donned his friendly expression.

"Sure," he said as the unicorn levitated some over. "As a token of our good will." And like that, the needle was stuck in my flank.

The relief, oh Celestia the relief, was amazing. It was like a wave of ice cold beer washed over me, soaking into my hide and getting all the parts of my body so drunk that they don't know how to feel the pain anymore. My brain still wouldn't process things correctly, but at least without the pain it was one less thing to worry about.

I looked at the foals in the other two cages. Maybe the stallion was taking care of them too. How nice of him. They looked back and seemed... Fearful? I began to wonder why as I closed my eyes and started to drift off to sleep. Maybe it was that mean unicorn they were scared of.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

When I woke up my head was throbbing dully and all the Med-X had worn off. I curled up into a ball, trying to hold as many pained bits of me as I could to no avail. As I whimpered into the confines of my 'security ball' I realised something.

We were moving.

We were at a large gate and the stallion pulling the wagon along was talking with what I assumed was a guard. A couple of times they'd gesture towards me. Maybe he was making sure I was safe, or hopefully he was organising a healing potion for me. I felt like I really needed one if I was going to find Pyre in here.

Hey! I remembered!

A couple of grunts later and we were pulled inside, allowing me to look at the city. The main detail was a roller coaster running through the town and a large, worn head of a pink mare who seemingly stares into your soul almost everywhere.

Once more the wagon was brought to a halt and a stallion grabbed me by the chains and tossed me onto the dirt, causing my entire body to flare up in pain and to stifle a scream of pain. I lay there, sprawled out on the ground, as a gryphon in sleek black armour marched up to me, lifted me by the scruff of the neck and set me down on my hooves only for me to collapse once more.

"Stand up!" She bellowed in my ear.

"Can't..." I whimpered back meekly.

She gave me a quick glance over and turned to a patrolling guard.

"Call for Doc Slaughter," The name made me shiver "and make it snappy!" The pony ran off, leaving me to look up at the gryphon. She was massive, like a large earth pony stallion, and the anti-machine rifle she carried didn't aid to disperse that illusion.

"My name is Stern, and you now work for Red Eye. This here is my town, so what I say, goes. You follow?" I nodded lamely. "Good. As a worker you now aid Red Eye's goal of creating a better future for Equestria, but obviously you don't care about that. You care about your freedom." That's not true! I mentally fought back. I cared about finding Pyre, then my freedom. "And through working, Red Eye will grant you said freedom. He is a very generous pony as he gives you three options: To work in stable recovery, where you will spend two years scavenging the stables for anything Red Eye deems useful and killing any Steel Rangers who try to stop you. They don't give you the options we do and like to shoot first, ask questions later. You can choose to work in the radiation pits, as Red Eye has a use for the radioactive materials there. Four months of that and you're free to go. Then there's the arena. There is a weekly event in which you will fight, and more if Red Eye wishes. After six events, you will be free and even gain an honourable place in Red Eye's grand army." Stern looked me over once more, with all my blades shining from whatever light was being given off. "Seems to me you know your way around an arena, however here there are no weapons." Fuck! Weapons are the only reason I can fight at all! "I'll leave that option to you.

"There are also two more ways you can be free; through Unity, where you will live under the command of the Goddess," Is it me, or does she not seem to like that option. "However that's reserved for unicorns. The final option is death, plain and simple. Those are the only options," she paused and thought for a while. "However, a pegasus like you is rare indeed. Especially one that isn't branded as a Dashite." She grinned malevolently. "So for you, there is a sixth option. Work for me. The Enclave give my gryphons trouble whenever they fly near the cloud line, and I believe you might be able to change that. You will live here freely until I call on you, if you so choose. Of course, I will let you off after you help me for a while, but how long depends on how good a job you do." Enclave huh? I know how they operate, sort of, and it does seem like it's that or be stuck in here for much, much longer than I wanted.

I was silent for a while, thoughts slowly processing in my head while Red Eye's speeches ran off in the background. That stallion knew how to spin a yarn. Stern gave a yawn and began to walk off as I whispered in between broadcasts.

"I'll do it.." She paused in her stride and turned around to face me. "I accept your offer. The Enclave one..."

She grinned wickedly. "I knew you would."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw some tyre treads, assuming it was just a robot sent to take me somewhere to heal me up. My eyes worked their way up the cylindrical metal chassis and avoided spending too much focus on the various sharp edges and poking things attached to long, thin appendages, and then stopped at the top.

If I could run, now would be the time.

At the top of the robot was the head of an earth pony who looked as though he'd lost all trace of sanity years ago. I recoiled as he peered down to me and bore an evil grin before turning his attention to Stern, who had started to speak.

"I want her fixed, Slaughter, and I need her to look as pony as she does now. You know what will happen if she doesn't..." The last sentence was so cold that it sent a chill down my spine, even though it wasn't directed at me.

"Oh Stern, why must you wound me so. Come along, little one, and if you're good you'll get a sweet treat." I didn't move. Not out of fear or contempt, it was just that I couldn't. The machine (I can't honestly call him a pony) looked at me curiously when I didn't budge.

"Oh? Oh! You mean that fixed. This doesn't sound all too bad now." He almost sang before he pointed a saw blade at a guard. "You! Carry her to the operating room. I'll be there momentarily."

The guard grunted and trotted over to me, grabbing my mane in his teeth and roughly tossing me onto his metal barding, causing me to yelp in pain. I felt him chuckle underneath me until Stern gave him a, well, stern look which made him look away and quickly haul me off to Slaughter's room of doom (Seriously, with a name like Slaughter, what could go wrong). One agonisingly brisk walk later I was tossed onto a cold metal table so carelessly that I almost slipped off the other side.

And so I waited, and waited, and waited, for what felt like forever until the faint whirring of gears came into earshot. I flicked my eyes towards the door to see the metal canister roll through next to where I was laying.

"Sorry for the delay, I had to sterilise my tools. Seems too long since I've done that, but Stern wants you and I like living, so I refused to take the risk." He smiled creepily (Can he do anything without being creepy?) as he tested each of his tools to make sure they still worked.

"Doc." I muttered faintly, just enough for him to hear me. This caught him by surprise. "How'd you wind up..." I couldn't bring myself to say it, but that didn't seem to be a problem.

"Ascended? Improved?" He grinned, which faded shortly. "I guess it's not for everypony, but I had no choice in the matter. After the incident with the grenade it was either this or die, and believe me I have no intention of dying anytime soon.

"But, always look on the bright side of life, I say to myself, as I have discovered the functionality of claws to be a great upgrade from hooves and allow me to do the delicate things I'm about to do with precision.

"Now I'm going to do two things before I start: paralyse you and give you a drug called Bloomberg. Do keep in mind that this will hurt. A lot."

"Bloomberg?" I managed to asked before he injected me with a needle. The pain inside me died away suddenly, and I even felt like I could take yet more damage. This was way better than Med-X. In fact, I had half a mind to march into the arena as I was.

"Med-X and Buck. Extreme painkiller is what it amounts to. I also added a small amount of Hydra into the mix as the powerful healing properties of it prevent most of the blood loss without sealing the wounds. Perfect for an operation like this. Now for the manticore poison."

A second needle jabbed into my flank and all my freshly relaxed muscles tensed right back up again. I thought not being able to shift myself was bad before, but now I don't even have the option to try. I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn't react to my mental agony and I merely laid there in silence when a torch was shone in my eyes.

"Oh yes, you're definitely freaking out. Don't worry, the venom is mostly harmless aside from it's paralytic properties, so do try to relax."

Mostly harmless. I repeated the words in my mind over and over again. What'd he mean by mostly, and come to think of it, what the hell is a manticore? As I busied myself trying to imagine what a manticore would look like, Slaughter began the operation and... DID HE HAVE TO USE THE FUCKING SAW-BLADE!? I mentally screamed. The circular sawtooth blade hacked away at my flesh in a flurry of blood, and even through the Bloomberg it made my body scream in agony. PRECISION MY FUCKING FLANK!

He scraped fragments of bone out of my shoulder, tossing them loosely behind him. "My my my, whatever have you done to yourself." He chirped. "I'm going to have to replace the whole bone here, and a joint!" He's gonna have to whaaaAAAGGGHH!? He started to rip the bone out of my upper foreleg, holding the end of it down and twisting to wriggle it free from my muscle. It gave off a resounding *pop* as the solid half of the bone slipped out and making my leg fall uncomfortably limp. Once more he tossed the bone behind him, causing something I couldn't quite see to be knocked off a bench with a loud crash. He payed no mind to it as he fished around for the replacement bone and joint.

"Now where did I put... Aha!" Slaughter raised the metal rod in the air triumphantly and waved it around in front of my eyes. "This here is something our Red Eye likes to call Starmetal, and believes it should be kept only for his personal use should he desire it. I like to call it a resource, and I think it should be used as such. Rumour has it that it can block magical frequencies, but you can't truly trust anything that comes out of The Hoof.

"Now you young mare are to be the first in Equestria to have an implant like this. Seeing as you will be flying under Stern's wing for some time, I'll have the freedom to research how it works, and as this is my excuse to Red Eye, you shall aid me in this. It's both lightweight and hardy, so it should be perfect for a pegasus such as yourself. Now let's just hope it isn't as poisonous as when it's made into bullets..." He added as he opened up my already gaping foreleg and angled the limb for smooth entry. Entering was so much nicer than exiting as the rod of metal glided through my hollow leg and bumped the joint at my knee, spun around to get a connection and say neatly in my leg. He then screwed it into where the bone in my shoulder was, which felt more like an uncomfortable dull pain than anything else.

"Thankfully your wings are fine. I don't have any implants for those as you are a very, very rare sight. Unfortunately for you, however, is that your hip bone seems to be in worse condition than your shoulder was." He spoke as he prodded my flank. "You see, Starmetal isn't as flexible as bone. In fact, it's not flexible at all." Slaughter stressed this point by attempting to bend my new foreleg with his metal claw tools. "This would be fine were you male," Oh... So that's where this was going. "but you aren't, which poses the question: Would you sacrifice your ability to have children safely over having a sturdier frame, or vice versa." Children! Children! I screamed. No way am I ruining that chance!

"Now I know you can't respond at all right now, so I'll either have to wait or make your decision myself. I'm a patient stallion, yet Stern is quite the opposite, and she wants you ready as soon as equinely possible. See this poses a challenge for me, more so than the operation itself. You've saidbut two things to me since you arrived. Not your fault, granted, but not enough to form an opinion on your behalf.

"So I will decide off the basis of a mare I once loved. She had said to me that she would sacrifice anything in the world for our foal, even if that meant her life. It cost both hers and almost mine as well. Thus, I come to my conclusion. I will opt for the other, sturdier option. Your flank may still seem larger than before, so no, the barding does not look your butt look big; your butt is big."

He sighed, and if his eyes were any indication, then that speech had kept him holding onto his sanity for just a while longer. He smiled at me as I tried to explode his head with my mind.

"I'm sorry if this isn't your decision, but I feel that you need to at least survive as long as possible."

He looked away for a moment before turning back to focus on his task. Now this time, he was being precise, as he now used the scalpel instead of the saw-blade. It hurt much less, fortunately, and he wasn't getting coated in any fresh blood so that too was a good sign in itself. I could feel a cold metal claw digging around inside me and plucking out small, sharp shards one by one so as to not cause more damage than necessary.

It's a strange feeling, having your bones plucked out of you. It wasn't blindingly painful like he was with me foreleg, just... Uncomfortable.

Eventually my waist felt fully deflated, which is another strange feeling. Doc Slaughter rinsed his tools before he picked up my soon-to-be hips and separated them into their two halves. One claw slipped inside through the incision to make the way while the other slowly slid the chunk of metal inside of me. He did the same with the other side, then pushed on the outside of my hips until there was a faint *click*. One short repositioning of the bones in my hind legs later and he was done, injecting me with something that caused all my wounds to close up and I swear even shift the metal replacements inside of me.

I slowly regained control of my head, tilting myself until I saw the Doc. He smiled at me. "The Wasteland is no place for foals." Was the only thing he said before leaving me alone in the room.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

I must have been moved while I slept as I was no longer in the cold operating room but in a nice warm bed that reminded me of Tenpony.

Except this wasn't Tenpony. The smell was off.

I cracked open one eye to glance around the room. The dirty, worn down accommodation wasn't glamorous in the slightest, but it was nice. To the right of my bed was a bathroom with a gryphon statue next to the doorway. The statue was well detailed, to the point where I could have sworn it had actual feathers. Curious, I opened my eyes and rubbed them a bit making my vision blurry for a moment. As I blinked a couple of times, the figure approached me, almost making me leap out of my bed in shock.

"Good. You survived." He said in a gruff voice. "I'll notify Stern, you get more rest. Boss'll want you prepped for flying A.S.A.P.. Your gear's by the door." I checked my wings and sure enough, no metal. Probably for the best, apparently I'm a restless sleeper, and these bed sheets were niiiiiice.

When I looked again the gryphon was gone, which allowed me to check myself over a bit. I looked over at my flank and there were no scars, nor any other sign that I'd had any operation or injury anywhere. I made a mental note to ask Slaughter about that later as I settled back into bed, sleep finding me quickly.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

Stern and I sat on a platform above the arena and waited for the fight below. Shortly after my gryphon watcher had left she'd arrived to make sure Slaughter had kept to his word and that I would be flying fit. Once she was pleased, she simply told me to follow and said nothing else until we arrived here.

Down below us a fight was about half way through. One team had a zebra out on the field while the other had a pale yellow stallion. It was truly spectacular to watch that zebra move fluidly between his strikes only to plant her own precise counterattacks, but they tended to be ruined by cheap shots from the stallion. At one point he'd even kicked a mine towards her, thankfully not taking her out of the fight.

In one clean movement she leapt over the stallion and he just froze in place before falling to his side. Calmly she trotted up to him and watched him for a moment.

"Finish it!" Stern cried out into her headset, making my ears ring. She was certainly a loud one. Her words were heard, however, as the zebra quickly ended the stallion's life by cracking his neck.

Such is arena fighting.

Her next opponent was a small mare who looked as if she had no combat experience whatsoever. On closer inspection I saw she had a brown mane and grey coat. It seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite place exactly what it meant to me. Nevertheless, the fight was on, and this time I was cheering for her. I liked the underdogs, reminds me of somepony.

The small mare just stood there after the zebra bowed, allowing for an easy strike against her to cause her to fall to the ground. Surely the fight couldn't be over yet, that was too quick! I realised I was letting my enthusiasm show in my actions when I unknowingly shifted towards the edge of the platform hoping that one of the fighters would hear my screaming over the rest of the crowd. Stern's laughter brought me back to attention.

"Really getting into the fights, aren't ya." She said.

I brought myself back from the edge. "An arena is why I'm here." I responded quietly. This got her to raise her eyebrow in curiosity, and I took her silence as my allowance to continue. "I was sent here to collect something for the arena boss. Well, not here specifically, Ponyville, but the Enclave didn't take too kindly to me flying their property and made me crash."

"Their property?"

"I had a unicorn passenger in an Enclave Vertibuck. The unicorn was an arena elite."

"Elites huh. Tell me more about the arena, I think this one could do with a change or three every so often to make it more interesting."

"Oh, uh, I don't know too much about it, just that it's five versus one elite, with whatever melee weapon of your choice. Always to the death. I was one of the five when I fought. We lost, but I was spared for some reason. Adapt or die." I said the last words with a subtle proudness, not because it saved my life in the arena, but because it had also sort of saved me from slavery here.

"Interesting." Stern said in a way that made her sound completely bored, but I was sure it was just a cover. "So, after you crashed?"

"I came across Tenpony. Stayed a night, got a deal with a bartender and was told where my unicorn friend went by that DJ pony... What was their name... Oh, doesn't matter." Suspicion now took the forefront of her image at the mention of the DJ.

"And this DJ... Did they ask you to do anything for them while you were here?" I could make out her reaching back for her rifle as she asked the question out of the corner of my eye, but I stayed looking at her piercing eyes to show no fear.

"They asked me to make sure a mare was okay. I don't quite remember the details... I think she had a grey coat? Brown mane? A unicorn sounds about right too I think."

"Like that one down there?" The words made me turn my head do quickly I almost jarred my neck. The mare was sprawled on the ground and her horn was glowing, the zebra ready to land a killing blow. Suddenly the zebra back off slightly before dropping to the ground.

"What an upset!" Stern yelled out across the arena. I merely sat at the very edge, close enough that the slightest breeze could have tossed me off. The mare trotted over to the zebra's fallen body, holding back from doing anything more. Stern pulled off her rifle.

"Finish it!" She yelled, beginning to peer down the scope towards the fighters. "Finish it or I will!"

Stern wasn't very patient. As the mare created a cover of radioactive goo, Stern fired a shot. Since the goo didn't drop, I assumed she missed. I'd shot enough unicorns myself to know that. Stern fired a few more rounds, slowly punching holes in the cover. Could she not see the glow of the horn? Or was she just angry enough to not care? Even though I was to make sure the mare was fine, Stern owned me, and I needed to prove myself in one way or another. I started pointing out where the glow was moving, the bullets from Stern now getting closer every time.

Then the mare did something I'd never expect; she went up. Directly up. It wasn't a controlled flight, but one nonetheless. During her moment as a sitting duck, Stern had to busy herself with reloading that monster of a weapon. The gryphons circling the airspace started taking shots at the unicorn, who was carrying possibly everything she could with her magic, yet none of them hit as she fumbled with the lock to open the cage.

"Stern." I said loud enough for her to hear me over the ruckus. "Got a spare rifle?"

She gestured behind me where my precious hunting rifle sat. How'd she get that? I grabbed it and jumped into the air, hovering just above the ground as I steadied myself. The mare had opened the cage by now and was beginning to run along the top, so I fired after her, most of my bullets being blocked by the metal and the others that avoided it were too far off course to hit anything.

Stern flew off after her and I followed. In the air, she took her time to aim precisely, and just as the unicorn jumped off the edge the fun rang out, hitting something metal on her leg and making her drop her magical grasp and to the ground below.

I started to move forwards but Stern held me back. "She's got one way out, so we'll ambush her. My gryphons will keep up the chase, so follow me."

I nodded and she flew off, myself close on her tail. Her first stop was at a black maned earth pony with a cybernetic eye that was really kinda creepy when he looked at you.

"Red Eye," Stern said "She's on the run for a balloon to flee."

"I know." He responded calmly. "And we will capture her at the top of the tower, after I test her mettle. I want you to go to the Fillydelphia Tower station and deal with a small intrusion there in the most polite way you can. Take the best of your fighters with you, they could be useful for your goal."

Stern nodded and saluted the stallion. "Will do. Six, with me, we'll round up my gryphons and head there immediately."

Once again, she took off with power I could only dream of reaching, and I sped off after her.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

We were outside the tower. Stern, six gryphons and myself. One of the gryphons opened the door quickly to meet a bloody death from a barrage of grenades.

"Shit! They got a Steel Ranger!" Stern shouted. "Everyone! To the skies!"

We scattered.

A pony stepped out from the tower, fully clad in grey, metal armour, and started their counterattack with a rain of explosives. They made sure to keep Stern occupied as she was the only one with a weapon that could do anything to putting him out of order. Behind him stepped a pegasus with a twin rifle battle saddle. He took one look at the fight and stopped on me, shouting something I couldn't hear over the explosives before flying straight at me. I braced for combat.

He flew straight at me, not giving me time to dodge, and tackled me a bit of distance away from my allies. He pushed me away and I bounced back, going for a swipe with my claws, but he was faster.

"Woah, woah! Stop f'er a sec!" He screamed. "Ah jus' wanna talk a moment!"

Talk? I could spare a moment I suppose, I'm no savage. "Yeah? 'Bout what?"

"You Enclave?" I almost missed what he said, his accent was thicker than most ponies up here, and that was hard enough to decipher as is.

And he was a Dashite. Maybe I could relate.

"Nup. Granma was Dashite. Ausneighlian Enclave."

"Auswherenow? Are ya pullin' mah wing here?"

"South west. Diff'rent country."

"What're ya doin' in Equestria?"

"Long story." I looked behind him. Four gryphons down, Stern too, but she was alive and bound.

"Git outta here. Ah'll spare ya if'n ya do."

"Can't. Contract bound t' Stern. Let her live, I got little other purpose." I paused a moment. "And y'er friend's alive, Red Eye's got 'er." Maybe. Probably.

"Dangit! Better get to the tower then!" He flew away for a moment before coming back. "An' what's y'er name?"

"Hawk. Don't mention me, tryin' to keep the name down."

He nodded. "Will do." He saluted as he flew back to his friends, and I did the same back and hovered above the tower as I waited for them to leave. They'd dragged Stern inside by now, and the other gryphons were scattered over the ground, all missing at least one part of them.

I waited, and waited, until finally they exited, taking Stern with them. Damnit, so much for my rescue plan.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

I followed from the sky as they wandered to the gate into Fillydelphia. I watched the pegasus settle himself on top of one of the buildings nearby and kept sniper cover on the scene below where Red Eye emerged with the unicorn. I brief bit of conversation later and the exchange was done, the little mare moving very, very quickly away from the town. I took this moment to fly down to Stern and help her get free of her bonds.

"Where the fuck were you!?" She shouted as soon as she could. "We were getting blasted to fucking bits and you were off having a fucking conversation!"

I backed off slightly. "S-Sorry, first pegasus I've seen, had to get details." I lied. He wanted my details, and I learnt nothing about him aside that he had a thick accent and was a Dashite. "Dashite kinship an' all." I added.

"Dashite kinship? Dashite. Fucking. Kinship!? If most of my gryphons hadn't been gibbed in that fucking fight I'd kill you right here, right now!" She sighed. That was unexpected. "But now you're the best I've fucking got, and Red Eye has a job for you; to make good on his threat. You said you've been to Tenpony before? Well now you're going back. With a bomb."

This is where I wanted to shout no and fly away, but I couldn't. I was in the shit already. I had to do this.

"What've I got to do?"

Then Red Eye approached me.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

The entrance to Tenpony hadn't changed a bit, not that I'd expected it would. The guards checked me over once again, taking my claws away and tying my wings down, and they took all the ammo I had for Bolt. They didn't check under my wings, thank the heavens.

I trotted through the stores towards my destination; the bar. Red Eye had stocked me up on grog to use as a cover as well as to get in the good books of the owner. He was smart like that, always planning three steps ahead in all directions in case one turns out to be a flop.

I entered the bar, the bottles in my saddlebags clanking together to act as an announcement of my arrival. My eyes first met with Olive's. Somehow I remembered that name.

"She's back!" She cried out. "And she's stocked up to bursting point!"

Suddenly the owner peered around a doorway, his eyes lighting up as he saw me.

"Ah! My faithful business partner! I trust you enjoyed your adventure."

"Yeh." I said dismissively as I turned to Olive while pulling a bottle out of my saddlebags. "And you'll never guess what I found: beer!" I popped off the cap and tossed it onto the counter before chugging the beer down greedily, sticking my tongue out in disgust when I finished. "Ugh, it's warm. Where d'ya store the booze, mate? I'll take it all there, save puttin' it down and pickin' it up again." I said to the owner.

"Oh, of course, just follow me." He beckoned me towards the doorway he popped out of. When I reached it I saw it led down some stairs into a basement. Perfect. I wandered over to a corner and put the bags down, slowly pulling things out one by one.

"Just come back up when you're done and we'll have a drink to celebrate such a successful partnership," he said before trotting back up the stairs. Double perfect. Quickly, I grabbed the balefire bomb out of the bags and stashed it in the bottom of a crate before scattering the rest of the alcohol amongst the shelving. When I was done, I grabbed another bottle of beer and headed up the stairs where the owner had poured two glasses of Wild Pegasus. I passed the bottle to Olive.

"Be a dear and stick that somewhere it can chill quickly, a'ight?" She nodded and disappeared somewhere while I settled down with my drinking partner. "Y'know, I never got y'er name."

"Oh of course, how could I have been so ill mannered. You may call me Pilsner, or Pils for short if you desire."

I picked up my glass with a hoof and held it in the air. "To a worthwhile partnership." When Pils returned the action I added more. "And to free grog!"

We clinked our glasses together and both finished our drinks in one fell swoop.

And so the night begun.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

A barstool was not exactly where I'd intended to spend the night, but judging by the amount of bottles I could see lying around when I opened one eye slightly, including those I couldn't see, a barstool was the last thing I'd really needed to worry about. I closed my eye again and held my pounding head down as if trying to squeeze the alcohol out like a sponge. The sound of steps behind me were louder than they had any right to be, and then there was the claw on my shoulder.

Wait? Claw?

I opened my right eye, much to my own dismay, and turned my head to see the talons on my shoulder before the gryphon spoke in a rough, gravely voice.

"Red Eye wants you." He said, and I groaned. Couldn't he wait? "Must've been a good night, but now you're part of Red Eye's army, so it's the last you'll see of this for a while."

And like that, I was lifted and slung over his shoulder like a baby, facing behind him as he carried my hungover ass out of Tenpony, stopping only to get my stuff from the guards before taking to the skies.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

A largely uneventful flight later and I was dropped by the gryphon in one of Red Eye's few encampments that had an antenna. I staggered my way through the shaggy buildings, eyes only slightly cracked open as the hangover did wonders for dull lighting, with the gryphon (Who's name I'd learned was Sharp) nudging me in the right direction whenever I strayed off course.

He pushed me into a building where several ponies seemed to object to my presence until Sharp assured them Red Eye had a message for me. They looked to each other, then to my pained expression, and finally back at each other, before nodding and leading me into the next room that was behind a flap in what you could consider a doorway.

The pony at the console shifted aside as I approached, and Red Eye appeared on the screen.

"Ah, how nice to see you again, Six. I trust that you've fulfilled your end of the deal as I have mine." I clambered up the console, leaning against it with two hooves and my head hanging.

"Yeh. S'done. No problem."

He smiled, and wow that was a nice smile. Almost nice enough to remove my hangover. "Good, good. Now as you have done your bit, I can inform you about my half of the bargain. Let it never be said that I am unfair. I have located your unicorn friend within Fillydelphia, and much to his own dismay, have sent him to your location. While you await his arrival I request that you stay in the camp and relax. That is, unless, you're willing to accept this next offer."

I mentally groaned. "What I gotta do?"

"After your unicorn arrives," Why does he keep saying my unicorn. "I want you to stay in Equestria for a while longer as I feel I may have a growing need for pegasi. The Enclave hive appears to be stirring. If you accept, the payment I'm sending you will allow me to contact you when the time comes. If you don't wish to do this then I understand, and you will be allowed free roam of of Equestria without being hassled by my ponies."

"I'll do it." I said it more to get him to shut up than for the deal itself, not that it was a bad one.

"Your unicorn will arrive at your location tomorrow, and until then you had best get some sleep. I will bother you no longer." The transmission cut off. Good.

I lowered myself down from the console and wandered to the doorflap, pushing it aside into the awaiting glances of the three ponies who must have been the station operators. I merely glanced at them as I wandered through the room to the exit, tapping Sharp on the flank with a hoofclaw. I'd gotten so used to wearing these I kept forgetting exactly how sharp they actually were, my little tap drawing a small amount of blood. Sharp glared at me, then cracked a small smile.

"I trust you're sticking around, then." I nodded "Red Eye has a way with things like that. Come, we prepared you a place to stay before you arrived." Damn they were efficient.

Sharp led me past a couple of tossed together shacks to one that seemed to have a bit more structure to it. He pushed me inside and I instantly noted the smell. Gryphon. It wasn't exactly a bad smell, just a... Noticeable one.

"So it may have been where I sleep. Hope you don't mind. You have your own room and all, so you don't need to worry about that, but if you do have to... Relieve... Yourself, try keep it down. The noise is bad enough with that couple rutting two tents down every fucking night." I giggled. "Seriously! You'll hear what I mean." That only made me laugh harder, which probably wasn't the best thing for me to do with my headache and all. Sharp let out an exasperated sigh and left for me to calm myself down. Eventually it subsided and I forced myself through the tent. This room was definitely Sharp's; that nest in the corner was much too big for a pony, so I moved into the next one. A single mattress. Well, I'll deal with Pyre later.

I flopped down onto the mattress and closed my eyes. It was as good as two hundred year old mattresses generally got, unquestionable stains on all parts, slightly mouldy, but I couldn't complain. It was a safe place to sleep. I blocked out the pain in my head and forced myself asleep.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

I woke to a dull thump in the other room. The eerie kind of one. I pretended I was asleep as the sound of muffled hoofsteps drew closer. I cracked open one eye as the pony stepped into my room.

They were here.

Footnote:

You level up, but you have no use for said level because of your lack of any pre-war technology. You should get yourself some of that one day.

Disturbance

They were here.

They travelled in packs.

And they wanted me, and me only.

I scanned across the five figures after they'd dragged me out of my tent and tossed me onto the dirt. Dirge and Ash I recognised immediately thanks to the morning light. The other three I was at a loss for. An earth pony stallion, and two unicorn mares. I noticed a pattern, wondering if that was just coincidence or not.

"Mornin' sunshine." The stallion said. "Name's Cenotaph. These two are Embalm and Aspirate." He gestured to the unicorns. "And you're already familiar with Dirge and Ash, so I heard." I nodded, not knowing what else I could do at this point.

"Now, we can do this cleanly or not so much. Cleanly is where we take you away and do with you as we wish. The other way is where we beat you to the edge of death, slaughter everypony else in this camp in front of you, take you to one of the radiation pits we spotted on the way here and leave you there to mutate and die." I did not like the sound of option two. Not a single bit.

"Why?" I said quietly, drawing his attention from planning a worse way to kill me. "Why all this?"

His smile faded. "Because you've offed one of us. In an arena we'd say all well and good, but out here the rules change, and the rules are everything."

"I didn't... Pyre..."

"Oh? He's alive then? Well where the fuck is he? I don't see him standing around here!" Cenotaph swung his foreleg towards the gathering crowd of ponies in the camp, all watching on with no intent on intervening. The silence was long enough that one awkward cough emanated from the crowd, snapping me back.

"He's coming. Red Eye said he'd be here today." I said with a bit of confidence that it would buy me time. Cenotaph only laughed, his guffaw making the other four laugh lightly as well.

"What kind of name is Red Eye? Is this some kind of joke?" The onlookers weren't laughing. They knew. "What would his talent be? Being tired all the time?"

"He has a cybernetic eye."

Cenotaph stopped laughing for a moment, his expression turned serious. I'd thought for a moment that he believed me finally, but his next words proved me wrong.

"That shit don't exist, filly. It's all just an' old fucking mare's tale. Didn't exist two hundred fucking years ago, won't exist in another two hundred fucking years. You lose a limb and you either live with it or you die by a fucking infection." I think I'd hit a nerve.

"Tear my right foreleg off." I challenged. Ultimately, I needed to stall them longer, and this worked wonders. "Come on, rip it off."

"With pleasure." He said as he advanced on me.

"Using magic." I added as he grabbed my leg. He paused, then pushed me down onto my haunches and huffed, trotting back to the group.

"Go on 'balm. Bitch is all yours." Embalm grinned and her horn started glowing. At first the glow surrounded my hoof, then it slowly worked it's way up, swallowing my foreleg. When the magic reached the upper part of the limb, it flickered, and Embalm seemed to be struggling. She regained her resolve and refocused, the magic strengthening again but at a cost, she was bleeding. I wasn't exactly sure where from, but her face was coated in her own blood so I had to assume everywhere.

Aspirate noticed this too and in a swift act to save her sister (biological or not, I couldn't tell), tackled her andcut offthe spell. Embalm was worn out, slipping in and out of consciousness while Aspirate tended to her to make sure she stayed alive. Everypony watched them in silence, Aspirate whispering things until finally Embalm seemed as if she was fine albeit unconscious. Then she turned to me, tears slowly drying on her cheeks.

"What the FUCK!? What the fuck did you do? Why would do something like that?" Her voice sounded more pleading than angry. "What... What kind of magic did this to her?"

I felt guilty now. Really guilty. I didn't know what it would do, and I really didn't expect her to push through whatever it was that'd happen.

"Starmetal." I said softly, and while three of them looked at me in confusion, Ash watched with curiosity. "I don't know what it is really, just that it's rare and does something around magic."

They four looked at each other, then went into a group huddle. They muttered stuff between them that I couldn't make out, and during that time a pissed off female gryphon had arrived carrying Pyre and a satchel. She looked at me standing opposite an unconscious mare and four more ponies muttering to each other and spoke to me.

"Explain." She said as Pyre hopped off his ride and levitated the satchel over to me. I wasn't certain he noticed his old allies.

And so I explained. I told her what happened to the mare, and who they were, as well as why they were here. She simply nodded with that gryphon like attitude. "Interesting. Name's Scarlet. Where's Sharp?" I froze. I forgot about that. My eyes wandered towards his tent, then to the group of ponies, then to Scarlet before making a hoof gesture that they killed him. Anger flashed across her eyes before returning to her original cool glare that seemed characteristic of all the gryphons. She grabbed a rifle off one of the guards and shot it in the air.

"Listen up!" Scarlet shouted as she pointed the weapon at the huddle of ponies who had since brought their attention away from each other. "You are getting the fuck out of this camp. I don't give two shits why you're here, but if you don't leave and leave quick your unconscious friend is dead."

Then Pyre finally realised. "'balm!" He shouted, running over to her. Scarlet was clearly unimpressed about being interrupted, but she let it slide. "What happened to her?"

"She, uh, overtaxed her magic." Aspirate lied obviously.

"This ain't a burnout, Asp." Pyre responded, unimpressed. "Just tell me the damned truth."

"She tried to tear my foreleg off, Pyre." I interjected, but I was met with a dismissive hoof.

"Sure sure, I've seen her do that heaps. Foal’s play. Quit sparing me the truth and fucking tell me already!"

"It's true, Pyre." Ash said. Pyre looked at her, then Cenotaph and Dirge, who both nodded, and finally his attention went back to Embalm via me. "I'd heard of starmetal, once, a while back. It does something to magic, interrupts the flow or something. Not being a unicorn I never really understood the details." She added.

“Mystery solved. Get out." Scarlet broke the mood and pointed at Pyre. "Orange, Red Eye has it you're good to stay, as with you Six. Rest of you, take your friend and fuck off. Kill her later, when she's useless to our cause."

The four of them looked to each other, then to Embalm, still lying on the ground, and nodded. Aspirate grabbed the unconscious pony in her magic and the group headed for the exit. Ash stopped and turned back to Pyre.

"You coming?" She asked. Pyre looked between Ash and myself before putting on his trademark smile.

"Nah, I'd better make sure Sixy doesn't get too ruined before ya come for her again. Gotta have a fair fight an' all."

"Keep calling her 'Sixy' and ponies will think you're from New Zebraland." She smiled back before turning away and catching up to her group outside the gate. Scarlet looked at me with an expression that shouted "Where?" and I just shrugged back at her, grinning.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

"Red Eye sent this for ya, Hawk." Pyre said, tossing me the bag that was brought with him. We'd moved into the sanctuary of Sharp's tent after the group had left. Scarlet had decided to stay until another, more qualified gryphon was sent over to fill Sharp's role, but she refused to take his bed which Pyre jumped on the first opportunity he got (literally).

"Told me if I tried to put it on he'd have some pony called Doc Slaughter remove it as painfully as he could. I don't know who that guy is, but with a name like Slaughter he can't be good news." I opened the bag as he spoke, revealing the reflective black armour within, instantly recognising it as the power armour worn by the members of the Enclave.

"Slaughter's a nice stallion, really. Get past the fact he's a head on a robot and it's not all that bad that he's hacking into your flesh with a buzz saw." I said, distracted by my inspection of the armour. It was clearly built for a mare due to the curve of the barding, and it was in relatively good condition.

"Oh sure, stallions are all that much nicer when they’re ripping into your flesh." His tone was dripping with so much sarcasm that I could make tea with it.

"Well he gave me painkillers. Bloody good ones too."

"Then if I drug you one day, it's under the excuse that I'm a real nice stallion with good inte-" He was cut off by an empty bag hitting him in the face and me stifling a giggle. His deadpan expression when he pulled it away was only met with as innocent a smile as I could pull off.

"So," I said, turning the helmet around in my hooves. "Red Eye send instruction with this? S'much as I know about the Enclave, wearin' power armour ain't part of it."

"That's part of what I'm here for." The third voice drew my eyes to the door where Scarlet was standing. "Gryphon power armour might be different, but it's the same concept."

I nodded, setting the helmet down.

"Then let's get a move on."

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

By that evening I'd gotten through the basics of the training, which was essentially the three most basic features: E.F.S., the radio and how to actually wear it without falling.

The radio had seven channels I could listen to, but only four of them piqued my interests, specifically DJ-Pon3's broadcast, Enclave Two-Way, a special channel between Red Eye and myself which was always quiet until he needed to give orders, and the Grand Pegasus Enclave channel. I'd spent a lot of the time training with that last channel on, but they only ever played the same repetitive marching song over and over, frequently broken up by a message that told me nothing. Eventually it got too much and I turned it over to DJ Pon3, the few individual songs much nicer to listen to and the odd, up-to-date newscast providing me with a few happenings around Equestria, the main one being about the camps around Tenpony that I was currently part of.

The E.F.S. was a nice touch though, as the target finder was great to tell me if somepony would attack. Thankfully everypony in the camp was friendly, or at least neutral, towards me, though it would have been useful earlier with the Undertakers, as would the armour itself.

I had stumbled across an inventory sorter later on, and that took a lot of getting used to as it baffled me how it had a name, value and weight for everything I had, mainly my rifle, Bolt. I also had less caps than I realised. I had to, or rather wanted to, blame Tenpony Tower for that, but deep down I knew it was that slaver's fault (Which, ultimately, was my own).

I put the armour aside in my temporary room and crawled onto the bed. It'd been a long day, and I would rather be rested up when Red Eye tossed whatever task he would at me.

Through the thin wall I heard Pyre talking to somepony (What about I couldn't quite make out), which was followed by the soft giggle of not one, but two mares. I tried to shut them out of my mind and get to sleep before they really got started, but even after the long day it avoided me.

By the time the moaning started I had my head buried under what I used for a pillow to muffle what I could. Sharp was right, there was absolutely no soundproofing in this camp. I grunted in frustration and swung my forehooves to the sides of my bed, one colliding with something metal and making me rear back in pain. I turned to see what I'd hit and when I saw the faint reflection of the power armour I grinned. I took the helmet and put it on, turning on to the Enclave Radio channel and making it as loud as I could. Soon my mental images of Pyre rutting turned into ones of him being in a marching band, and sleep found me much faster than I'd expected.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

I woke to the sound of static and fragmented sentences. Of the words I could hear, "Balefire" was of the most common, and that didn't put me to rest at all. I sat up and scanned the room, letting my E.F.S. get the know on the situation. There were a lot more blue targets than what seemed normal, and they were all clustered together so I couldn't count how many there were.

I took off my helmet and got up, peeking into Pyre's room quickly. He was asleep and the mares were gone. Good. I silently snuck past him and was about halfway across the room when I heard Scarlet's voice ring out across the camp. "Alarm!" was the word, and I wasted no time in leaping towards the door of the tent and out into the cool night air--

--to see fifteen alicorns surrounded by shields watching a unicorn and Scarlet wrestle. I'd never seen an alicorn before, not physically, and the sight of so many of them was astounding. I skulked around them, taking in their features while the unicorn got the gryphon in a headlock, not noticing the onlookers until one of them pointed a hoof at her.

The unicorn didn't even look scared, not in the slightest. She took a pull from a bottle of Wild Pegasus, and that's when I noticed the claws, and in turn the legs. Cybernetics! Real cybernetics, not just some metal bones like mine! One part of me was jealous, and the other part felt sorry for whatever she had to go through. The unicorn and the alicorn at the front were silent for a good time, and when that small grey mare who I kept forgetting the name of exited the radio tent, the alicorn picked up the other unicorn and shook her violently, causing her to bring all the whiskey back up and onto the dusty ground.

"What a waste.." I muttered to nopony in particular.

"Mare needs t' learn t' hold her liquor. She should come south with us one day." Pyre added, making me jump slightly. "Oh, and your helmet's beeping. Might wanna check it." He levitated the helmet in front of me and sure enough, it was beeping softly. When I put it on, the display alerted me that Red Eye was trying to contact me, so I switched to our radio channel and wandered away from Pyre.

"You rang, Bluey?" I said as soon as the connection was established.

"I did indeed, Six, for I have a use for you. Complete this and I will see that you're relieved from Stern's contract and free to do as you wish, so long as it doesn't interfere with myself or my plans." The smooth sound of Red Eye's voice had slightly less impact over the weaker signal, but it still felt as if I would comply to whatever he'd asked.

"Whaddya need done?"

"I want you to follow the alicorns at the camp back to Tenpony Tower to retrieve the balefire bomb for LittlePip” So that was her name! “Make sure you do not arrive with them, as it is in your best interests to not be associated for it could compromise any disguise you may use in the future.”

"Yeah no worries. I'll just take the regular entrance then, guards there love me."

"And remove the armour before you go, the Enclave isn't well received by any faction down here other than themselves, if that."

"Aight, I'll let ya know when it's done." I cut the transmission and took off the helmet, turning to Pyre.

"Oi! Daisies! Got something t' do." I shouted at him. His face held his confused expression as he trotted over to me.

"Daisies?" He asked.

"Y'know, like a sandwich filling."

"Huh? Oh! Uh, did ya hear all that?" He responded nervously, looking away and running a hoof through his mane.

"Yeah, me and the rest of the camp. I only caught the first half hour though, 'cause it got boring. I tuned into the Enclave's music."

"Got boring?"

"Well, frustrating. Ya kept me from sleeping."

"So you-"

"Alright I was pissed off! It was a long day, I was tired and I didn't want to dream of you getting a root."

"Jealous..." He muttered just loud enough for me to hear.

"Fuck up, ya whore." I said, pushing him away gently. "Now ya distracted me. D'ya wanna go on an excursion to Tenpony? Filled with the high society snobbery that hates raiders and pretends the wasteland doesn't exist. Y'know, your type of crowd."

"Sounds beaut. Can't wait." He gave me the largest grin he could.

"Oh relax, I need somepony to distract an entire bar, and you're it, bud. Free booze though, so you should be right."

His face lit up "I heard the words ‘free’ and ‘booze’. I'm already keen! Let's get going!" He said as he dashed forwards to me, making me backpedal in surprise.

"Hold on! Hold on, I need to sharpen up, can't have my guard buddies thinking I'm with their enemy, right?" I ducked into the tent, putting my wing-blades on before hovering my way outside while fumbling with my hoofclaws. I'd managed to drop them a couple of times before I got them all on securely. "Alright, I'm ready."

Pyre just looked at me blankly before turning towards the camp entrance. "Mares." he said. "Always taking forever to get dressed when you try to take them to nice places."

"Oh shut up Daisies." I called out to him before flying to his side and out the camp gate.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

I need to make a list of things Pyre doesn't understand, and put "upper-class ponies" right at the top. Of course I didn't either at first, but watching Pyre interacting with the place (from afar, of course) made me wonder how bad I was when I got here. He went between the crowds, joining in to conversations and attempting to shake the hooves of all those who weren't turning away from him. Once in a while he'd come across a trader or traveller who'd return the gesture and the look on his face when it happened was priceless, like a foal receiving the besterest toy in all everness.

In a moment between his greetings I nodded at him and gestured to follow me. Quickly he stopped his meet and greet and caught up to me, taking a place at my side as I trotted towards the bar.

"So, what are we here for again?" He said before I opened the door.

"You're here to distract the bartender, owner and anypony else who might be here. I'm here to get a balefire bomb out of the basement and deliver it to a small, grey mare who's going to use it in a plan to kill some malevolent being that controls all of the alicorns in the world."

"So... I get to drink, right? That's my role?" I sighed and put my forehooves to my temples.

"Yeah, sure, we'll go with that." I pushed open the door and lead Pyre into the emptiness of the building. "Pils! Olive! I brought a guest!" My voice rang out in the empty room, with no response. "Hello?"

I made my way around the room, inspecting the doors and the rooms behind them. There was nothing left, not even a single empty bottle or a stray bit of scrap metal.

"Sixy? There ain't no booze for me to drink so what's the new plan?" Pyre called out from another room.

I chose to ignore him as I left the bar and headed towards one of the guardsponies.

"Excuse me?" I said, grabbing his attention. "Can you tell me what happened to Pilsner?"

"Arrested. Locked away in jail, waiting for his execution. Same goes for his mare, too, which is a damned shame. She was a fine one, but always hung around the old guy. Don't want to know why." Jail huh? I wondered why.

"And where is this jail?" I asked, and he gestured me towards it.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

Walking in to the jail wasn't as unpleasant as I'd expected. It didn't feel cold, nor did it smell any worse than the rest of Tenpony. The jailer sat to the right of the entrance, reclining on his chair nonchalantly, and there were three cells on the opposite side of the room, one of which contained Pilsner and Olive.

I cleared my throat, getting the jailer's attention. "Why is Pilsner in jail?" I asked as I trotted to the desk he sat behind. He pushed a few buttons on the terminal before looking at me.

"Reports say that he had possessed stolen goods, indirectly acquired from that bastard Red Eye and his slavers. At Tenpony, affiliation with raiding is punishable by death." I almost choked at the fact it was my fault.

"And Olive?"

"She failed to alert us to the goods and is guilty by association."

"And... there's no way out? Nothing I could say to change it?"

"Your word, the word of a pony who's been here thrice and spent all their time in his bar, against the investigation of the guards, means nothing. So no. You are allowed to speak with the prisoners, but any attempt to free them will result in you meeting their fate as well." Great. There goes my plans. I trotted over to the occupied cage and sat down by the bars as Pyre inspected the room around us in an attempt to busy himself.

"So you came to save me, Six? I appreciate the thought, but it's too far done to turn it all back now." Pilsner said quietly. I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off. "And I don't blame you for this predicament. It’s the guard's fault for their pointless laws." His voiced raised enough on the last sentence to draw the attention of the jailer.

"Shut it Pilsner, you'll only make it worse for yourself."

"Make it worse? How could it be worse?"

"We'll toss you over to the Legion and coax them into crucifying you."

"Oh sure, crucifixion's a doddle. You hang around in the fresh air for a couple of days before you eventually nod off and don't wake up. I'd prefer that to spending my last moments in this waste of resources."

The guard just grumbled in response and Pils cooled himself down before turning back to me.

"Now that that's out of the way, I wanted you to know something. Seeing as there was no definite victim to my crime... Aside myself... My possessions belong to Olive. Unfortunately she's also in my situation, thus passing it on to you. What this means is that if you can get that lazy jailer over there to lift his game, you will have a suite and a business here in Tenpony. Of course, the business I feel you have no interest in, so if you choose you can pass that off.

"Now, in return for this I only request one small thing; that the citizens of Tenpony do not get a drop of any of the liquor you get back from these guards, if they haven't already drunk it all."

I nodded at him. It was the least I could do. "You have my word, Pils." This made him smile as he turned back to the ever quiet Olive to attempt to make her last moments slightly warmer. I turned away from the two and trotted over to the jailer, slamming my hoof on the desk to gain his attention quickly. His eyes snapped open and he sat forwards.

"What now? Can't you see I'm busy?" I looked at the desk, then to him, then to everything behind and around him. He was in no way busy.

"No, I can't. I want to know where you're keeping Pilsner's possessions as apparently they're now mine." He grunted and gestured to a door on the other side of the building.

"In there. Take it, it's just wasting space. 'sides, we can't drink on the job anyway." I rolled my eyes at him and wandered over to the door, opening it to reveal a small storage room filled to the brim with alcohol. I took it all, passing it off to Pyre when it started getting heavy, but I made sure that the bomb was firmly settled at the bottom of my bags before I did. As we left the building, I beamed at the jailer, who grunted dismissively in return, and headed towards the broadcasting station.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

"You're sure about this?" I heard Homage say to LittlePip as I approached. "It could be a trap, we don't know what Red Eye is planning."

"It'll be fine, Red Eye wants this to happen as much as we do." Pip responded. When I stood in front of them I bowed. We were in the studio of the M.A.S.E.B.S. as it was suggested it'd be the safest place without onlookers knowing what's going on with the bomb. If anypony had seen it, we'd all be kicked out of Tenpony for good.

"G'day. Bluey sends his best wishes and so on."

"Bluey?" Pip asked, and I smiled.

"Red Eye, y'know? You telling me ponies don't do nicknames up here?"

"I... Just... Never mind." She seemed to be straining to comprehend it. It was simple, right?

"Oh, and I've got your bomb." I looked in my bags, then back at her. "Somewhere in here, just gimme a sec." I begun to remove everything from the insides of my bags, namely an excessive amount of alcohol and a couple of caps. From the corner of my eye I could see Pip's jaw dropping at the sight of it all and Homage suppressing her laughter. Finally I reached the bottom of the first bag, realising that it was in the other all too late. I flipped that one open as well to pull yet more grog out, much to the disbelief of the small mare.

I plucked the balefire bomb out from the bottom and looked at all the booze I had to store again, sighing before holding the package out to Pip.

"Where's that other unicorn friend of yours? The whiskey soaked one. I reckon she deserves a fair bit of this lot." I said as she took the bomb in her magic.

"I... Don't think she'll be wanting to see alcohol for a while after that."

I shrugged. "Would your pegasus friend like some WP then?" She seemed shocked at that. "What? I ain't gonna drink it all."

"How do you know Calamity?"

"You mean he's Calamity? Like, the Deadshot Calamity? High ranking Enclave officer who suddenly went Dashite? Fuck me, I spoke with my family's hero outside Fillydelphia and didn't even realise it!" I smacked my face with a forehoof. "Shit, ain't nopony at home gonna believe that."

"I could go get him if you'd like." Homage said. "You sound like you have a lot to talk about." I held up a hoof to stop her when she started to move.

"Nah, I reckon shouting him a couple Wild P bottles'd send the same message." I pushed three bottles towards them, along with a myriad of other types of alcohol. "Tell him it's from Hawk, hopefully he'd remember." I started packing the rest of the alcohol away, which was a lot easier now that I'd removed about a quarter of it.

"What about the rest of this? I don't think Calamity could drink all this." Pip asked, concerned.

"That's for you four mares, have yourself some fun." I turned away from the two to face the door. "I'm sure being unicorns you could find a world of ways to do that." As I picked up my bags and trotted out the door I could hear Pip muttering "Why?" over and over again until something made her silent. I didn't turn to see what until I reached the elevator, spotting the two kissing briefly before the elevator doors closed and carried me away.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

"Beer any good, Pyre?" I asked as I entered my new-found suite. It was nice for something it's age, and came equipped with a workbench, chemistry set and vending machine-slash-beer fridge. Pyre was sitting at the chemistry set, making various concoctions that all looked the same to me.

"Suck it and see." He responded, levitating his beer over to me. I grabbed it in my hoof before his magic dissipated from around it and took a long sip, holding it in my mouth to really get the flavour. That was hard because the beer was weak, either from age or production.

"Mm, just like making love on a raft." Pyre burst into laughter as I trotted over to him and placed the bottle on the bench. "So, watcha making?"

"Oh, just regular stuff. Buck, Rage, Dash, all the favourites."

"Could ya toss up some Bloomberg?" He seemed confused. "Uh, Buck, Med-X and... A bit of Hydra I think it was."

"Fuck no! Ya don't mess with Hydra, Six, that shit will do more damage than good. The Taint in that will mutate ya into fuck knows what if ya use it too much." He scolded me. How could I have known?

"A small amount is fine though, right?" I fought back the fear in my voice.

"Ehh, I'd stay away from it altogether but... Yeah, I guess a smidgen is alright. Look, I'll make you one dose, nothing more. I don't give two shits about how much pain you're in, outside of this I ain't giving you a single drop of Hydra, I'd much rather fix you up m'self."

"You can do that?" I asked, surprised at the mere mention of it.

"What, you think my talent's burning shit? Dunno if you picked it up but my name ain't actually Pyre." He pulled off his duster to reveal his cutie mark, which looked like a an empty syringe. "It's Antidote." My look of shock was obvious thanks to my open jaw which I didn't notice. "Oh come on, it's that surprising? Who d'you think kept you alive after Dirge got ya. Quack's good at fixing bones but he wouldn't be able to tell a health potion from Stampede."

"Sorry, I just never thought-"

"That I was smart?" He interrupted. "Or that they'd let a doctor fight in the arena?"

"The second one." I said quietly, and he chuckled lightly while turning back to his chemicals.

"Father loves it when ponies screech in pain from being burnt alive, and I developed the perfect slow burning fuel for it. Course I also had to learn how to hold m'self in combat, but once in a while he'd request the special."

"How... Horrible."

"Maybe for them. Anyway, were all stocked up on drugs now - including your suicide injection - so what's the plan?"

"You ain't never gonna let that go, are ya?"

"Not for forever and a day, Sixy." I groaned.

"Well, we might as well get my stuff from the camp and head home. Can't go on avoiding Father forever, can we?"

"Well we can. Just head east to the Hoofington region - heard their arena has gang favouring which could be fun - or dead south to Dise. Also heard of this place called Neighwhere when I was at that arena you stole me from, and it sounds like the elites at that arena were all from a stable, so they all have this funky hoof technology. I wonder how they'd hold against us Ausneighlians."

"Are arenas all you think about, Pyre?"

"Of course not! I also think about how to fight to the top of them, grog, drugs, mares and how to get on top of them, too." I whacked my face with my hoof so hard I swear it drew blood, but on inspection I saw it didn't.

"Whatever, pack your stuff, we're going home." I turned to the door and trotted out, leaving Pyre to finish up.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

We left Red Eye's workers to pack up the camp as we headed off, back towards home. It would take us a while, and the camp was nice enough to supply us with a bit of food in return for alcohol. At least we had some kind of unofficial currency.

I was fully decked out in my Enclave power armour, Bolt slung by my side and wing blades equipped. It was tough getting them on under the armour, but I managed, with just enough sharpness poking out to do some noticeable damage. I couldn't get my hoofclaws on over the top however, so they were firmly nestled at the base of my bags, wrapped up in rags so I wouldn't cut myself when I rifled around in them.

We must have been a sight; An Enclave pegasus and a raider unicorn trotting side by side across the wasteland. We'd come across a bloatsprite every now and then which held no restraint in trying to punch through my armour plating to no avail, but they were quickly dispatched with a precision shot from Bolt.

By nightfall we were at the Equestrian border, accentuated by the rising mountains ahead of us and a small metal grate that lead into a tunnel underneath them.

"We should rest here... Dunno if we'll get another chance." I said to Pyre who was inspecting the gate.

"Sounds like a plan, Sixy. I'll sort our bags out, give ya the food and meds and m'self the grog. I reckon I can handle that weight better than you." I glared at him, hoping the armour gave it extra effect. "'sides, I don't want ya to break any bottles and go wasting it."

I sighed, defeated, and lay down by the gate. "Sure, you do that. I'm gonna get some rest."

"No worries Sixy, I'll take first watch while I do this and wake ya up eventually." I nodded and put my head down, closed my eyes and very quickly drifted away to the sound of rattling bottles.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

"he wants ya just as bad as I do. You can take however long you need, but some ponies here ain't as patient as I." A voice through my helmet woke me up. "This message will repeat: 7 more times. This is Colonel Gum Tree of the Grand Pegasus Enclave: Ausneighlian hub. The Enclave is searching for a Pegasus raider mare known as Six Hooves a.k.a. Hawk Eye." I snapped to attention and scanned around the area. There wasn't a pony in sight, and that included Pyre, which caused me to worry. "This mare is a traitor and enemy to the Enclave, and is a danger to everypony in Ausneighlia. If you locate her, the best course of action is to capture, restrain and report her to the Enclave.

"This next message is for the mare in question only. If anypony is caught near a spritebot, they will be shot. You have twenty seconds to clear off." The moments of silence were filled with my shouting every curse under the sun. I was kicking anything and everything nearby, flailing in frustration. I suppressed my anger when the voice came back.

"Alright, formalities aside now. Hawk Eye, or Six Hooves if that is how you wanna be called, we ain't enemies. Not unless ya aim to be. We have your mother and your buckfriend, and they'll be publicly executed if ya don't comply. You're to go through the mountain range, on hoof. Any sign of you flying above ground and they will be executed. The way should lead ya to a mountain peak. Arrive any other way and they will be executed. You'll be picked up from there and taken to me, where we'll have a chat with civility. Any attempt otherwise and they will be executed. I'm sure we can make a deal to benefit both of us.

"That raider boss, Father I think he's called, is also hunting ya. He's a lot more brutal than I, so watch your back. Every scumbag in Ausneighlia listens to him, and he wants ya just as bad as I do. You can take however long you need, but some ponies here ain't as patient as I. This message will repeat: 6 more times.” Silence. I cut it off and turned to the gate, staring it down as if it would melt under my gaze, the only thing holding me back was a final call I had to make before I left. I scrolled through my radio channels and selected the one I wanted.

"Bluey? You there?" I was met with silence on the other end. "Red Eye? Can ya hear me?" More silence. "Fuck! He cut me off!" I huffed and sat on my haunches, blankly watching the gate.

"Don't be so sure about that, Six. I never let such a wonderful aid go to waste." Red Eye's smooth voice worked it's way into my head, surprising me. "Now what is it you need of me?"

"I... The Enclave's got my mum, and I've gotta go after them. Is there anything ya can tell me about this armour? Weaknesses, weapons, anything."

"Ah, of course. I had your power armour equipped with two miniature gatling lasers. They are small in size to not hinder your flying and remain hidden in your armour, but that in turn means they are weak too. You need not worry about the ammunition, for your armour can regenerate it. Slowly, of course, far slower than you'll use it up, but it is something.

"As for weaknesses, all power armour suffers the same fate against pulse grenades and mines. It will power it down and require rebooting from a PipBuck, terminal or another suit of armour. You'll have to locate any of those yourself unfortunately, and watch out for them too. Anything with a blue band you should avoid unless you are certain it's safe. That's all I know, unfortunately, and I am unable to spare any aid as this is the time where my plans are coming into fruition. I'm sure you understand."

"I get ya, Bluey, and thanks, it helps a lot. I swear I'll make it back to ya if I come back."

"No need Six, you've done more for me than I could have hoped. It's the least I can do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have plans to operate."

"Of course, I'll let ya go now. Thanks again, and possibly goodbye."

"Farewell." The transmission went silent. I switched over to DJ Pon3's station briefly for a last touch of music as I opened the gate and stared down into the darkness of the underground tunnels.

I took one step, then another, into the infinite darkness.

Level up!

New perk added: Power Armour Training

Your knowledge of your customised power armour grants you access to perks and S.A.T.S., if you can figure out how to use it.

Distance

They say you have to hit rock bottom before you start going up, before things get better.

Looking at the path ahead of me, that's where I was headed. Literally.

After stumbling my way through the darkness for what felt like forever, my armour realised I couldn't see, or something, and activated night vision. The constant green tinge was definitely something I had to get used to, and quick, but at least I could see.

Not that I wanted to.

The damp tunnel descended steeply with a loose flooring and nothing to grab on to should I slip, and it was way too narrow for me to fly my way down safely as well. I looked behind me to see that I'd made the same descent to where I was, but it was easier when I couldn't see my nose, let alone the path.

"I can't turn back now." I muttered to myself, the sound echoing softly along the tunnel. I took a step, testing the ground gingerly before firmly placing it down. So far so good. Slowly I continued, focusing on moving one hoof at a time, until finally the path levelled out and stopped abruptly at a metal door. I pushed the switch to open it and was greeted by a dim hanging light and a zebra impaled against the wall. I took a step back, shocked by the cut open corpse that left no organ to imagination, and swallowed away my urge to vomit.

When I collected myself I stepped forwards again and peeked around the room, eyes avoiding the zebra wall painting. There seemed to be nothing close by, so I moved into the room and quickly searched for anything that might help. A couple rounds of ammunition for guns I don't have, of course, a health potion and some dirty water.

Moving in to the next room I spotted another dead zebra, alongside a broken robopony. Thankfully the zebra had died due to energy beams and not as brutally as the last one, so I had no reservations about inspecting her. Her face was scarred in a pattern, and by how pronounced the markings were it was obviously done multiple times over a short period of time. I pondered a moment - something about the scars seemed familiar - before searching her. Some zebra currency. Great, some vendor fodder, if there's even anything down here to sell it to.

I edged on into the central room, circular with a missile in the middle I could only hope wasn't edges away from exploding. I kept my distance as I went around the edges because my armour seemed to detect a small level of radiation coming off it. Better safe than sorry. The stairs on the other side of the room were rusted beyond repair, but they looked like the only way up so I risked it. They creaked under every step, but held through to the end, barely. I continued my ascent, passing by more dead zebra with the same, familiar scarring and destroyed robots, until I reached the top. The radiation levels were slightly higher here, so I ducked away into a room quickly.

And into a zebra who was very, very much alive. Who's first reaction was to attack.

She jumped at me, then used my surprised state to vault herself backwards in a graceful arc before landing on her hind hooves, braced for combat. A red square appeared around her, stating the obvious threat as if I only had half a brain and hadn't figured it out already.

"I don't want to fight!" I shouted at her. "Who are you?"

She watched me silently, unchanging in her stance.

"Please, I just wanted to pass through quietly." I pleaded to the statuesque figure.

"Why are you here?" She said with a thick accent.

"I have to go through here to get home."

"You are touched by them. Why must I believe you?"

"I... I dunno! This is the only way I can save my mum. My word's all I got." She showed no sign of standing down and I worried I would have to defend myself. She could strike at any moment, and I figured the armour was the only thing stopping her from killing me.

"You have their touch yet you stand here without aggression. Perhaps you are not yet tainted." She dropped from her stance to all fours. "I am Anahera of the Marked Mares."

"The... Marked Mares?" Was that the scarring they had?

"Yes. We are a tribe that hunts down anypony that is touched and purges them of their taint."

"That's just fancy for killing, right?" She nodded. "And whaddya mean by touched?"

"When the fallen star crashed to this world millennia ago, it's corruption spread through the ground and coagulated into a special, magic resistant metal. It is the same metal with which Nightmare Moon forged her armour and was the source of her anger, and it is the same metal we have detected within you, though you've shown no signs of the corruption."

"Must be the beer. So, since you kill anypony touched by this... starmetal... why am I alive?"

"Because I cannot attack through your armour. That and I'm having this conversation with you, so you are not yet the threat we deemed you to be."

"Uh, thanks, I guess. I can go now?"

"Yes." Anahera stood to the side. "And I will accompany you. There are many dangers within these tunnels, and I must watch over you as is the will of my tribe. This is not open for negotiation. Show any signs of corruption and you will die swiftly." Great, a religious zebra who could, and would, kill me in a heartbeat is now my only source of aid. This can only end badly, especially considering she still remained surrounded by a red box that just screamed "Enemy! Kill!"

"Uh, sure, I s'pose the help part is nice. Not so keen on the whole dying aspect, so I guess I'll keep whatever corruption I can under control, yeah." I began to quickly search the room, finding that everything had already been looted. Damn locals.

The next door lead out of the building that I had since learnt housed prewar zebra weaponry. The radiation in the middle room was caused by the megaspell beginning to lose stability, and could go off at any time apparently. Anahera was a wealth of knowledge on the matter.

As we walked single file down the tunnel I had grown to ignore my Enclave target finder and the great big arrow it had pointing to my left saying that enemies were behind me. Sure she said she could kill me whenever, but that was no reason not to trust her, right? As long as I slept with the power armour on. Another thing I noticed was how dangerously silent she was when she moved. I turned my head back to make sure she was there (again), but this time she wasn't. I spun around for a better look as Anahera emerged from what seemed nothing more than a crack in the wall.

"This way. It is... A better way." She said before disappearing again. I ran up to where she was standing and, sure enough a crack the size of a pony waited for me. I forced myself into the gap, power armour scraping along the edges, and headed towards a light at the other end. Naturally the pathway narrowed, my rump getting stuck just when I was halfway out. I pressed my forehooves against the opening and tried to push with all my might, to no avail.

"Fuck, I've gotten a beer-butt. Uh, could ya lend a hoof here?" Anahera seemed apprehensive at first, but then she moved towards me, grasping me by the shoulders and planting her hind hooves firmly against the wall as she put all her effort into dislodging me. I noticed the wall beginning to crack so I chipped in, helping however much I could in my position until finally it gave way and we went tumbling. Anahera flicked me off her with ease as she rolled to her hooves whereas I just flew, landed, tumbled and slid to a halt. As I recovered from my dizziness I saw Anahera facing the wall and smiling faintly, so I looked past her and saw the hole.

"Oh come on! My ass ain't that big!" That only served to increase her smile. "I swear it's the armour! Being all protecty!" I rose to my hooves and glanced to my rear. No scratches on the armour. I've gotta ask somepony how it does that one day.

Looking around, the first thing I noticed was that we were in a giant cavern. The next thing I noticed was the large amount of buildings that had been set up in the space and the zebra walking around casually. I'd imagined that a tribe of zebra would be more... Militant, but here I was seeing foals playing and mares watching on, quietly laughing. The housing was rough, cobbled together shacks made of rocks, not looking overly comfortable but still safe.

"This is our village." Anahera spoke up beside me. "We haven't lived here longer than a generation, but as you can see we are quite at home. Come with me, the elder would wish to speak with you." As she walked ahead I didn't move.

"This ain't a shortcut at all, is it?"

"No. I merely needed to convince you to follow me to where you are outnumbered if our elder deems you to be dangerous." She stated bluntly. "And now that you're here I don't have to deceive you any longer."

I blinked behind my helmet before following. "I would have come if you asked anyway." She just shrugged.

"Same result, different method. You're here now, and if you turn back remember that you're outnumbered." Anahera gestured to the door of a larger-than-the-rest building with two guards outside wearing plate armour. With no owhere else to go, I wandered up to them.

"I'm here to see the bloke in charge." They glared at me. "Uh, the sheila in charge?" The one on the right sighed.

"If you wish to see elder, you surrender all weapons and drugs." He said.

"But weapons and drugs are all that I have!"

"Then give us whole bag. Will be returned when you leave." I dropped my bags on the ground and pulled Bolt off from around my neck.

"I get to keep the armour right?" I asked. I didn't want to risk being so exposed when it was all I had from being killed by anyone here.

"Yes." Phew. I trotted through the door and straight ahead down the hallway was a very, very old mare sitting on a throne made of rocks. There were a bunch of rooms branching off either side of the hallway but I didn't inspect further than a quick glance. The main room at the end was as wide as the structure itself, with a side room on each end and what looked like a bedroom behind the throne. There were guards everywhere too, watching my every movement as my E.F.S. went wild.

"Who is this?" The throne-mare asked Anahera.

"She is a mare who has been Touched, Elder. I was uncertain to her corruption, and her armour prevented any attack, so I brought her here under the guise that I would help her." Wow, and I thought that part was genuine.

"She could slaughter us all! Do you know what she could be capable of if she knew that we were to kill her?"

"I can understand ya y'know." I spoke up, drawing both of their attentions. "And I ain't gonna kill ya 'cause I don't wanna, and I'd probably die from it." The elder looked at me long and hard as if I would explode under pressure before looking back at Anahera.

"She is uncorrupted, at least for now." She could tell that by staring at my helmet? "Perhaps her fury can be redirected. Leave us." I turned around to the door. "Not you pegasus, the males. You can remove your helmet." I turned back to her and pulled off the helmet a lot less gracefully than I'd hoped, setting it down at my hooves.

The elder got up off her throne and trotted down to me, pulling a pendant out from a socket in it before she did so. She was noticeably shorter than me so she had to get up on her hind legs to hold the pendant in front of my eyes, waving it from side to side with my eyes following every movement.

"The corruption is not in your head yet. Remove your armour." I hesitated at that. "We will not harm you, yet." Oh, okay. I hoped she kept her word as I began to pull off my power armour, the cool air of the caverns hitting me instantly. I never realised how hot it got in that. The elder guided the now blue glowing pendant all over my body which brightened when it went around my upper right foreleg and flank. I heard her mutter something about a good breeder but I didn't catch all of it.

"Do you wish to prove yourself, Touched One?" She said.

"I... I guess? Prove myself... how?" The pendant was placed around my neck, still glowing brightly. I took a moment to admire it, a bone crafted into a circle, with a gem embedded on the right half that was sculpted to look like a unicorn. It was rough, but for non magic users it was still really cool. The dark blue gem itself was the part that was glowing, but it was easily bright enough to mistake it for the whole pendant.

"To prove you have no ill will against us, we have prepared for you to take the greatest test of perseverance and dedication we can supply."

"Oh yeah no worries, whatever I have to do." I can do dedication, and perseverance just comes with living in the wastelands.

"It will be painful." Anahera said, concerned. Was I meant to not be so keen? "Excruciatingly so." I've had a buzz saw cut into my foreleg, what could be worse than that?

"Pain schmain. Let's just get 'er done."

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

I don't always dismiss the details of things I agree to, but when I do it's always important to know them.

I was lying on my belly in what looked like the medical building of the tribe, tied down with lengths of heaven knows what, and a stallion was sharpening various tools with the occasional glance to me in case I broke out. The tools all had blades of different thicknesses and a strap to attach it. Hooves must have been easier than a mouth for this as I'd imagine it let you see what you were doing.

Oh, and it hurt like a fucking BITCH!

He made a very deep cut from my forehead down to my nose, and I did everything I could to not black out from either the pain, the scratching feeling on my skull, or both. My test was to go through this process without screaming or fainting, set by the wonderful elder, and I didn't want to use my super painkillers because it felt like cheating. I wished I did at this point.

The next cut was around the base of my eyes, not as deep this time. My teeth were grinding against each other with so much strength I worried they'd break, and my eyes were clenched shut the whole time so the work wasn't messed up and he'd have to start again. I could hear the tears hitting the rocky flooring... Or was it blood? I didn't want to look, and the fact that my face felt really damp didn't aid that. The stallion rattled around with the tools, probably changing his blade, before I felt that familiar stabbing pain near the bottom of my left cheek. This was a star? Must have been. He cut three more of these randomly over the left side of my face, and a smaller one slightly lower than one of the hot patches of fresh blood stars.

More rattling, giving me time to breathe. Just a few deep breaths might be enough to stop the tears. I opened my right eye - the left side of my face in such a blinding pain it couldn't the same - and looked down to see all of the blood being collected in a little tub. The amount of liquid in there had me feeling faint suddenly, like my body realising finally that something was missing.

The stallion took the tub away and placed a fresh one under me to replace it before pouring the contents into a large cauldron, stirring it in carefully. This didn't help my feeling of wanting to throw up and pass out, but I managed to swallow away anything that tried to come up. Satisfied with the result he poured it into a small cup and trotted back to me.

"Drink." He said. No please or anything, just drink. I turned away - I had seen what went in it and I didn't have the stomach to drink that right now. "It will help." Still nope. My mouth was closed tighter than a stallion's sphincter after being kicked in the nuts. He sighed and ran a hoof gently down the back of my neck before pressing a spot near my shoulder really, really hard. My mouth swung open like he'd pressed a switch and I couldn't close it, even as he poured the beverage down my throat. It tasted disgusting, like day old gecko in the sun dipped in off milk and radiation. When the sickly drink was finally all safe down my throat he massaged the spot he'd jabbed before and I very quickly shut my mouth. I had to admit though, while horrible, that drink removed my fainting feeling, and the sharp pain on my face was reduced to a dull yet pronounced throb.

The stallion went and re-equipped the hooked blade before coming back to me. I was prepared for the pain this time, or so I thought before he ran the tool along the old lines.

I never screamed so hard in my life. It felt like he was stabbing really tender bruises, times ten. He went back over the main scars quickly with practised ease while I thrashed against my bindings, then he went back to the pot and got another dose of potion, coming back to force it down my throat. It was a welcome relief, calming me down but doing little to alleviate the pain this time. He left the room as the elder walked in and stood in front of me.

"Well done," the words barely registered in my mind. "it would be inequine for anyone to last that process without succumbing to the pain." She undid the bindings and I reflexively covered my face with my forehooves. The test was just to see if I could feel pain? "Those markings show you are a welcome guest of our tribe -" Please stop talking. I was pissed now I know that I'd been scarred permanently just to prove something small. "- and should grant you no trouble with any zebra you cross -" Stopping now "- and allows you t-" I slammed down a hoof, cutting her off as I glared at her from my position.

"Not in the fucking mood. Pain now, talks later." My pendant glowed hotly and cooled just as suddenly as I slipped off the table and walked out the door into the unsuspecting Anahera. She must have noticed my pissy mood as she said nothing when I staggered past her. In hindsight I shouldn't have gotten up so quickly; my vision was blurred and I couldn't walk straight, and combined with my pounding headache and stinging face meant I had no sense of direction. Or walls. I swear they jump in front of you.

Eventually someone decided to guide me through the area, nudging me away from obstacles and other zebra. I barely noticed, I was just walking forwards. My guide lead me into a small hut and left once I was safely inside. I collapsed on the floor, curled up into a ball and cried. Everything that had happened this past week, I cried about. I cried about my choices, the Enclave, the Undertakers, my family, everything. I cried until I couldn't cry anymore, lying there in silence for whoever knows how long.

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

The feeling my face was going to burst and a looming dizziness greeted me when I woke. I didn't care, all I wanted was to leave, to find my mum and live my old life. I knew it wasn't possible - I'd made too big a splash - but I wished for it anyway. I slipped on my power armour with the occasional stumble, the helmet being a welcome safeguard against my tender face, before putting the pendant on. I liked it - it distinguished me from the Enclave and could possibly save me a shooting. Not that I'm lucky enough for that, but there's a chance.

A stallion was waiting for me outside, which couldn't ever mean a good thing.

"Come." He said sharply.

"Aren't you gonna buy me dinner first?" I returned quickly, not even earning a smile as he grunted as walked off. Damned zebras with no sense of humour. We walked back to the elder's domain and he almost pushed me inside before muttering something. The elder had a smile on her face as I approached, so I couldn't be in trouble unless she was a sadist.

"I trust you're feeling more approachable, Touched One. One would hope so."

"Yeah, sure. I suppose you'll give me some kind of task that'll put me in danger and send me on my way then? That's how this works, right?"

"Rather the opposite, actually. You are welcome to stay here as long as you like, after all you are part of the tribe now." Waitwhat? "But I fear you have your own mission ahead of you. I have instructed Anahera to aid you should you leave, and you may have your choice of male to carry your items."

"Ohnonono," I quickly spat out. "You can keep your stallions, I don't need no male to do shit for me. 'sides, I don't even want Anahera, but I figure with you that's not negotiable."

"Of course. Well do keep it in mind, restock yourself while you're here and remember, you are welcome back at any time should you survive. You may go." She waved me away with a hoof.

"Gee, thanks." I muttered under my breath as I made my way out. Now I can finally explore this place without some looming presence, though I would have thought a secluded tribe would be more... hesitant, towards outsiders. Whatever, as long as they don't kill me, they're mates.

As I made my way through the buildings, the zebras gave me a wide berth, ushering away their foals and whispering to each other. I'd walk past some stalls where food was being sold and the merchant would have disappeared mysteriously by the time I approached. I heard something clang against my armour so I turned around to see a mare ready to throw another spear at me. I sighed and turned away, a second and third clang hitting the back of my helmet as I walked off to the edge of the cavern, where I came in from.

"Leaving already?" Anahera's voice poked out from the shadows. "You're hardly prepared for the path ahead."

"It's harder when the merchants are lobbin' spears at ya." My eyes stared down the tunnel. "Figured if I just buggered off I'd save 'em the trouble."

"You know if you removed your helmet they'd see your markings and know you're an ally."

"And give 'em a clear shot? Fuck that noise." I jumped up into the crevice, now made easier by my ass hole.

Anahera sighed. "Lucky for you I have your gear." Oh, shit, forgot about that. I heard her jump into the crevice behind me as I made my way through, popping out on the other side with the looming feeling that I wasted too much time in the village. I flicked through my radio channels - most of which were static - before settling on Enclave Two-Way, which had neither static nor noise. With the familiar weight of my bags now with me and Bolt slung around my neck, I made my way off down the tunnel in the direction I had before getting sidetracked. Between the clangs of my armoured hoofsteps I could hear a faint scuttling behind the walls, disappearing temporarily before coming back slightly louder.

"Stop." Anahera said with a hushed tone. "Hellhounds are following us."

"Hellwhats?" I responded loudly, turning around before getting scolded for my loudness.

"Creatures mutated after the war. They are exceptional tunnellers with keen hearing, a hide that is impervious to many attacks and claws that could shred your armour like it was a snack cake." I scoffed.

"Get real. If shit like that existed, you zebras would either be dead, or have enough trophies that I'd be dead. I bet next you'll tell me the Enclave controls them or some shit."

"Lower your voice!" She whisper-shouted at me. "Hellhounds attack indiscriminately, violently, and in packs. We survive by not venturing near their territory, but your path goes straight through the middle."

"Fuck 'em! Half the shit I've dealt with on caravan escorts would probably make these things look like foals."

"May the stars be merciful on you, Touched One." Anahera muttered, defeated by my astounding argument with her head bowed low.

"Quit callin' me that. M' name's Hawk, ma--"

The ground beneath me cracked and there was a sharp pain on my underside that knocked the wind out of me. My hooves lifted off the ground as I was tossed to the roof of the tunnel before being slammed back down. I scrambled to my hooves but was stopped by a firm grip on my hind leg, pulling me back down and into a hole. Slowly I was dragged backwards until Anahera grabbed me by the hoof, staring at the visor of my helmet. "Good luck." was all she said when she let go, leaving me to be sucked away like water down a plug hole screaming "Bitch!"

.*. .*. .*. * .*. .*. .*.

I was backed into a corner, surrounded by 4 hulking creatures with a hungering malice plastered across their face.

"Me love can food." Said one as he licked his lips

"Pony tastier than zebra. Tenderer." Another said as he grabbed me by the throat and held me up against the wall, crushing my armour slightly under his grip. The hellhound opened up it's mouth and have my about a test bite, denting the plating easily.

"No play wit food." A voice came from behind my captors. "Me get first dibs." I was dropped, gasping for air, only to be picked up again by one who was easily one and a half times larger than the rest. Definitely in charge, yep. It's teeth were as long as my hooves and had breath worse than the smell at the raider camps I stopped at in Equestria. Combined. It spun me around while sniffing all over and all I could do was try not to throw up and flail around.

"Pony is bird pony. No meat, only bone." The beast tossed me away like a discarded toy and I landed on my wing, sending a surge of pain through my body that reminded me of every injury that happened in the past day or two from my face down my back to my belly. As I got to my hooves the original four were back, ready to strike for a meal. I had to think quick, so I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Four of ya after me? Who gets the best bit?" I emphasised it with a wiggle of my flank. Okay, offering myself to them probably isn't the greatest plan, but it's one nonetheless. They looked between each other, back to me, back at each other, then back to me, each with a wide grin.

"Me!" They all shouted in unison as they pounced. I didn't stick around for too long and jumped forwards through a gap between two of them before they all collided heads. Now they were pissed, and I was running my heart out. Straight out the tunnel lead to a five-way fork in the path. Shit. Picking one at random out of panic I sprinted, the sound of raging hellhounds disappearing in the distance, but that daunting sound of digging drawing nearer.

T-bone bend, go right. a little voice in my mind said, and I obeyed.

Behind me my pursuers were bursting out of the walls and floor, narrowly missing both me and each other.

Four way fork - middle left.

I couldn't tell if it was my imagination or some higher power telling me these things, but I had no better options and hesitating ended in being turned into canned dog food.

Left - prepare to jump.

I ran left and prepared to... Wait, jump!? My confusion distracted me as I sprinted straight off the edge of a broken bridge, barely managing to grasp on to the other side. One of the hellhounds followed me off the edge, skimmed me with a claw and disappeared into the depths below. I didn't hear it land so it must have survived somehow. Using my wings I lifted myself up to the platform and took a quick breather. I couldn't hear the burrowing any more so I was safe for the moment as I moved on, as carefully and as silently as I could manage.

My pathway lead me to a closed metal door. That was fixed with the push of a button as the door unlocked and slid away into the walls like the badly oiled centuries old machine it is. I closed it behind me for a sense of safety, as useless as it probably was. Inside the building was a bunch of pre-war posters, showing off some Ministry of Wartime Technologies in particular, as well as a couple for a Ministry of Awesome. Okay, that was stupid, what does a ministry of 'awesome' even do? I had to admit though, it did look pretty awesome showing off those pegasi like that. I'd have to ask Brick about it one day.

Wandering around the place I found a heap of Spritebots floating around and paying me no mind, as well as one or two roboponies that would take a moment to scan me before rolling away to do whatever it is they do.

Ain't it beautiful? All this pre-war tech just sittin' around waitin' to be used. Better yet it seems to recognise us as it's masters and lets us pass by.

The voice came back, and I still had no idea where it was coming from. My pendant perhaps? Nah, it wasn't doing anything aside from sitting pretty.

You should collect a sample. Take a Spritebot and call it Pon-E or something. Might come in handy.

Well the voice hasn't lied to me yet, no reason not to do what it says. Besides, it saved me before. I found a red-striped Spritebot lying deactivated on a bench in one of the rooms. Could this be what the voice meant? I picked it up and turned it over, some scratched out letters on the back drawing my attention. "###-E". Someone had the courtesy to confuse me greatly by leaving that last bit, bastard. I located the power button on the bot - curiously placed on the top - and pushed it in, the wings kicking to life as soon as I did. The bot flew around haphazardly for a moment until it found it's balance, at which point it turned to me and buzzed happily.

"Uh, g'day?" It felt weird talking to a robot, and I only hoped it could communicate somehow. All I got in return was a buzz.

"Er, well, I guess I turned you on, huh." It buzzed in a way that made it sound like it said "Mhm."

"Well, I guess I'll call you Pon-E then." It shook it's head... body... thing from side to side. "Um, how's about BLU-E?" A nodding motion with a buzz. BLU-E it is then!

"I'm Hawk Eye, but you can just buzz at me." An angry buzz. "Sorry, sorry, uh, d'you know how to get out of here?" Bluey nodded and flitted away through a door, waiting on the other side for me to follow. It led me up some rickety old stairs and past a deactivated turret. Well, I thought it was deactivated until it pointed at me and charged up to fire before Bluey shocked it for long enough that I could get out of it's sights.

"Thanks mate." I guess Bluey was one of them so only I had to deal with the troubles of being shot at. "Hey, what is this place?" Bluey turned to me and started buzzing. I couldn't decipher anything it tried to say, and it seemed to pick up on this as it switched to a recorded voice.

"This station is set up to monitor a good portion of Ausneighlia for the duration of the war. They're not really a threat, but they're just as much an ally. Can't be too careful." A stallion's voice came through the Spritebot.

"And what do the locals think about this, Wrench?" an older mare's voice now. Not old old, but past her prime old, enough to say that she was in charge.

"They don't have to, Ms Dash, in fact they never will unless somepony decides to go spelunking. We've kept this as under the radar as equinely possible. Only you, MWT superiors and our workers know. The workers which aren't to leave until it can watch over everything, I might add."

"Awesome." The recording ended with the mare's cool word and all I felt was pity, pity that they were so paranoid back then that they had to monitor everything possible.

Bluey had moved on to another room so I trotted after it to be greeted with a door marked "EXIT". Happily I slammed my hoof down on the button to open the door and greeted the fresh air with open arms, but then the doors actually opened and I was blinded by the bright light hitting my eyes which were still enhanced by the night vision. By the time the armour turned it off it was too late, my eyes were shut and watering with nothing I could do to wipe it away. Slowly I adjusted my eyes to the sudden change in brightness before daring to walk outside.

"Well you certainly took your time, princess." A faintly familiar voice spoke to me, making me acknowledge my surroundings.

Enclave.

Gum Leaves.

"Oh blow it out your tail hole." I responded. I had actually forgotten about him until now thanks to my encounter with the zebra distracting me.

"Come now, that's no way to talk to the guy who just saved your life, Hawk."

"You made it hell, how'd you save it?"

"You thought those little directions were you?" He guffawed. "Listen babe, as soon as you tuned on to our two way channel we had your position down to the millimetre. That hellhound attack was unexpected, but lucky for you we've had those tunnels mapped out for years with no real purpose, and so I directed you to our little camp with the help of your Spritebot buddy. You're just so damned trusting, filly."

"I have a policy that everyone's a mate until they try to kill me. Worked for me so far."

"And that'll get you killed in the end. Now, hop in the Vertibuck and we'll head to my office where the real business can take place." He gestured to the vehicle hovering just off the edge of the cliff so I flew in to it and sat down, removing my helmet. Gum sat opposite me and when he finally looked at me after giving some orders he was disgusted.

"The fuck happened to you!? Didn't think hellhounds were the artsy kind."

"Not hellhounds, zebras. I'm part of their tribe or something." He ran a hoof along the still tender scars, reminding me of just exactly where they were.

"Fuckin' savages, ruining a perfect fuckin' face like that." What? "I'll have my troops slaughter every last one of those fucks! Gotta get it approved but I reckon if the officials see how you've been fucked over they'd say yes the the blink of an eye." I tried to protest against his plan but he was already distracted by shouting through his communications to organise an urgent meeting with the government officials.

"Hey Gum." He waved a dismissive hoof. "Oi, listen to me." He tried to hush me this time. "Look, fuck the zebra issue, I just wanna know if my mum's okay!" He paused, looked at me, excused himself from the comms and put it away.

"About that, Hawk." I swear I could hit this guy. "See, she didn't take too kindly to being held prisoner - she's a real fighter, I'll give her that - and we had no choice but to brand her as a Dashite." I lunged forwards at him and pushed him against the back of the seat. "Wait! Hear me out! It wasn't a public branding, we did it all hush hush, but it was as a punishment for her trying to escape. I didn't want it to happen, but higher ups demanded it. I'm so sorry for that."

"She's otherwise fine, right?" I twisted my hoof around against his chest, settling with the edge at his throat.

"Of course! Of course! I personally made sure she had the best food we could offer, even I was jealous of what she was eating. The cell's a bit less desirable, but it's a prison after all."

"If I find you've lied..." I ran my hoof along his throat before backing off and sitting back down. "Until then you're a mate. Don't push it."

"I getcha, Hawk, you're worried for her. Your stallion didn't get the same privileges but he could be worse off, at least he hasn't been branded." Oh yeah, Pyre was captured too. Whoops. "First thing though, we need to patch up those cuts on your side. Hellhound wounds can get nasty infected." I remembered that my armour was shredded around the midsection and scolded myself for being so objective-oriented that I could only focus on one thing at a time. That's gonna be a double-edged sword.

The Vertibuck made it's landing and I looked outside. We were sitting atop a mountain that had been flattened off to make for a landing pad well above the cloud line. A bunch of pegasi were bringing in clouds from the north to patch up small holes in the flooring, and I realised how big of a job that must have been. The city was walled off between the mountains on the south side, and looking over from the Vertibuck platform I could barely make out the dark blotch that was my old home. The cloud cover stretched all the way north and was tethered somehow to the mountains so it wouldn't drift south with the breeze. Ponies that weren't military personnel were happily chatting and going on with their lives, ignorant of anything below them. It was peaceful, the kind of place you could raise a family as they did before the war.

"You ain't never been this high, have you Hawk?" I shook my head. "It's pretty amazing, considering the shit that happens on the surface. We get our clouds from above Equestria - they seem to have no shortage of them - and mountains stop us from floating south allowing us to keep a generally low profile in Ausneighlia."

We left the vehicle and he lead me through the cloud streets, merchants and customers alike saluting us as we passed. It was strange, having all this unconditional respect from these ponies that barely know anything about the surface or myself, but Gum Leaves seemed to revel in it. The stores we passed were numerous and large, I could barely understand half of what they sold. The concepts behind "Wing Lee" and "Big H" baffled me, and there wasn't a gun or ammo store in sight!

Our trail lead us into an area protected by two stallions with wide-brimmed hats that were folded up on one side - who also saluted us as we trotted past - and into a large building that looked important just by the lack of ponies wandering aimlessly about. Everypony around had a purpose - somewhere to go - and did so with great haste, often while shuffling papers around with their wings. Inside the building was magnificent, ornate pillars decorating the outsides of the circular atrium that spanned multiple levels until it reaches the dome cap at the top. As if drawn by an external force I ran to the railing surrounding the cylindrical space and looked down to see the peak of a mountain sitting just below the floor of the building.

"In here, Hawk. Take a seat by the desk." Gum Leaves was standing in a doorway to my right so I tore myself away from the view and entered the office, taking in the awards that decorated the walls around his desk. He sat on a very comfy looking chair, one you could fall asleep on easily, and I merely had a hardened cloud stool with barely enough room for my rump, let alone my armour-plated one.

"Ms Dust, can you bring in some bandages, a healing potion and a bottle of whiskey? Thanks." He said into an intercom before directing his attention at me. He opened his mouth to speak when a mare walked in carrying the items he asked for.

"Please take off your armour, miss." Dust’s voice was soft and smooth, and I did as she asked. She placed my partially ruined armour by the wall before liberally dousing my wounds with the whiskey causing them to sting almost as bad as when they were inflicted. She then got me to drink the potion as she applied the bandages, leaving the half-empty whiskey bottle on the desk before taking my armour away. All patched up and trying to get over the reignited pain, I sat back down.

"Now, let's get down to business."

Level up!

New perk added: Narrow Minded

You take 1.5x more limb damage, but 75% of it is ignored until combat has ended.