The hot sun had begun to retreat to the horizon. Darkness was creeping over the Wasteland. It infiltrated every nook and cranny, something even light couldn't do. Many ponies despised the night, a time of deception and danger. Night Shade, however, couldn't feel any more different. The night was her ally, her cloak, her dagger.

Night looked ahead, where New Appleloosa was only a short distance away. The final stretch, she thought. She might be able to pick up some odd jobs there. When Night had earned enough caps to buy a healing potion, she could fix her wing. Then, she would be able to take to the air and seek out other settlements to live.

Night Shade smiled at the thought. She might be able to settle down, find a good home. A new start, she thought. The Enclave couldn't possibly mess with her here...

...could they?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before long, Night Shade had reached New Appleloosa. The town was ringed with red, green and blue boxcars, most of which had been arranged like so when the town was built after the war. Several ponies stood guard around the town, armed with rifles attached to their battle saddles.

A group of stallions, most wearing cowpony hats, were talking amongst each other in front of the town. When they heard the soft impact of the pegasus' hooves upon the dirt, they looked up at her in alarm.

One of them, a large, puke-green earth pony wearing a white hat, cocked his head sideways. "I'd suggest turning around, missy. There's nothing for you here."

"Not for your kind, anyway," added a stallion from behind.

Night Shade snorted in irritation at being called "missy", but stopped herself when she saw the pistols hanging on each of their belts. She put on a neutral expression. "My kind? You mean pegasi?"

The jolly green giant-looking one shook his head. "We mean the Enclave. We don't want any of you marching around in our town. You soldiers have stayed outta here so far, and we would very much like to keep it that way." He didn't seem like he would budge on the issue.

"I'm not Enclave anymore," argued Night Shade. "I'm a deserter, just trying to find a place to sleep for the night."

The stallion raised an eyebrow and stared at her in an effort to deduce whether she was telling the truth or not. After a few tense seconds, he relaxed slightly. "All right," he said. "But if you so much as look at anypony funny, we'll deal with you. Harshly. Understand?"

If this were any other situation, she would have socked him in the mouth for giving her attitude. But this was no place for her to be making enemies. She nodded. "You have my word." As she started to trot past them, though, the stallion stopped her again.

"Weapons, please." He held out a hoof expectantly. "You can never be too careful, after all."

The pegasus sighed and hoofed over her laser pistol and rifle. However, the combat knife she had, tucked and hidden under her boot, stayed. "Anything else?" she asked, somehow maintaining her dwindling patience.

The stallion shook his head again. "Welcome to New Appleloosa. I hope your stay is pleasant." And brief, he seemed to say with his eyes. With that, he stepped back and allowed her entry.

The town was different from most that she had seen; while the places she had visited in the past were built from previously standing structures, these were all made from rusty trains and cabooses. The ingenuity of it surprised her. These ponies were less than friendly to the Enclave, but they sure weren't stupid (In fact, they weren't stupid because they didn't trust the Enclave).

Night Shade passed by a store called "Absolutely Everything", preferring to find an inn or something to get some rest. Some ponies passing by her simply stared, but others were more active in their intolerance. An older mare took one look at the pegasus and spat at her hooves. Night just ignored them, knowing that retaliation would mean being kicked out or worse.

She groaned, absolutely exhausted. There were, of course, a few places to rent a bed, but none of them would take her in. At least, not while she was still wearing her Enclave armor. At that moment, she hatched an idea. Since she couldn't carry the armor with her, she would store it somewhere until she left town.

The pegasus trotted down an alley, checking behind her every so often to make sure nopony was watching. When the coast was clear, she slipped off her armor. Night stopped for a moment to admire her cutie mark, a shadowy pegasus silhouette. The mare had been lucky to escape being branded a Dashite, she thought. She couldn't even imagine how painful and humiliating it was to lose one's cutie mark forever. Night Shade put her gear underneath a nearby dumpster for safekeeping. She knew that beggars and scavengers would go searching in the garbage, but she doubted they would be so thorough as to look underneath.

When the deed was done, she headed back out and entered the nearest inn, a place called "Stone Soup's Bed and Breakfast (Minus the Breakfast)". The place was dingy, even for Wasteland standards; the paint was peeling, there was a pile of garbage in one corner and a chunk missing from one wall. However, a bed was a bed, no matter how many bugs she would end up sharing it with. The owner, an old grey mare, spotted Night and made her way over.

"Sorry dear, no vacancy," the hag said apologetically.

Night Shade raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" She'd had just about enough out of these ponies. Didn't any of them trust a pegasus? "I've got caps."

The other mare shook her head. "A stallion and his unicorn friend just took the last beds."

"B-but..." Night began, desperate to get a good night's rest, "...how much did they pay you? I can pay more."

"For starters, they paid in me Sparkle-Cola, which I doubt you can top. Second of all, I don't con my customers out of a place to rent. Good evening." The old lady shooed Night Shade out of the building with a surprising amount of energy for someone her age.

The pegasus sighed, sitting down at the side of the street. That was just about the last place in town. She had only one very unsavory option left: to sleep in the alley.

Well, it was better than no sleep at all. She made her way there with a heavy heart. At this rate, would she even be able to get a job? Maybe she had been wrong to leave the Enclave. Sure, they were bastards, but they had provided for her. She could have been somepony up there in the clouds; all she had down here were a mob of ponies who despised what she stood for.

Night propped herself against the alleyway dumpster, trying to get comfortable. Eventually, though, she acknowledged that there would be no such thing as comfort for her tonight. The mare made an attempt to think positively on the matter. At least it was free.

After a few hours of tossing and turning, she finally managed to fall into a somewhat fitful sleep.

The next morning, Night Shade was awoken by a firm tap on her shoulder. She flinched, then snapped her eyes open in surprise. Standing in front of her were the stallions from the previous night. The leader of them lifted a baseball bat in his teeth, then brought it down on her head without mercy. Everything went pitch-black.

Author's Note

Stay tuned for the next chapter. I'll try and have it posted by Wednesday. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter.
-Endless Madness