Fallout: Equestria - Dirty Deeds

"This town needs an enema!"

"And then I said 'Oatmeal are you crazy?' Then I shot him in the face!"

Sugar had been recounting stories of her previous exploits ever since the group had started moving again. Sortilege was following along behind. They had decided to let her walk, though she had a rope tied around her neck with the other end connected to Skitz. They warned her that if she tried to use her magic to escape, it would not end well for her.

It hardly mattered. She had been unable to use her magic since she had been taken from the Stable. All she could manage to do was produce a faint glow from her horn.

Sortilege had been desperately trying to ignore the terrible tales coming from Sugar's mouth. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. It was absolutely awful.

Throughout Sortilege's entire life, she had loved children. She had even been a teacher in her stable. Now, for the first time her life, she found herself feeling resentment, anger, annoyance and whole plethora of feelings she had never thought herself capable of directing towards a child.

It bothered her immensely.

"Okay so next story. I met this guy back at the Miserable tavern once. Seemed nice enough. Comes up starts talking to me. Telling me stories and shit. I was pretty bored so I didn't mind too much. Then the fucker makes a pass at me and I'm like 'Whoa dude! I'm a fucking kid!' And he goes 'Yeah that's what makes you so hot.' and I ain't having none of that shit. Like, I realize I'm pretty mature for my age but I only just got my cutie mark for fucks sake. Fucking pedophiles are worse than raiders in my book. So I whipped out my pistol and then..."

"Then you shot him in the face?" Scar finished for her.

Sugar looked at her companion, stunned. "How'd you know?"

"Because all of your stories end with you shooting someone in the face."

"Huh. I guess they do. Well on to the next story!"

“Why don't you give someone else a turn there Sugar?" Scar suggested.

"Okay fine." The filly pouted for a second before turning her head back to Skitz. "Hey Skitz, do you remember the time you head-butted that guy to death?" Sugar grinned back at her.

Skitz blinked in confusion. "Uhhhh kind of. It's a little fuzzy."

"Oh." Sugar thought for a brief moment. "Oh I got it! Skitz, tell Sorts about the time you beat that guy to death with his own arm!"

Skitz turned back to Sortilege and smiled.

"This one time...I beat a guy to death with his own arm."

Sortilege raised her eyebrow.

Sugar laughed. "I love that story! You have a gift for storytelling Skitz."

"Thanks." Skitz replied with that same familiar smile.

The group was silent for a while after that. Trudging along through the wasteland. Things had been pretty quiet since the run in with the Rot Brigade.

There had been a couple interesting encounters. Sortilege had become acquainted with some the wildlife inhabiting the Wasteland. Several times the group had been attacked by feral dogs. Sortilege had read about dogs before. In books they were always depicted as cute and friendly. These dogs were anything but cute and friendly. They were mangy, filthy and vicious.

Sortilege decided she hated dogs.

They were also attacked by bugs. Sortilege had been almost as terrified at the sight of her first bloatsprite as she had been of the Ghouls. It was absolutely the most disgusting thing she had ever seen. Her entourage barely even flinched at them. Neither did they bother wasting any ammunition on them.

Skitz took them out with a crossbow she kept in her cloak. Sortilege wondered just how much she was carrying in there. She also noticed that Skitz would stop and pick up anything in her path. From old, broken weapons lying near some skeletal pony remains to random bent tin cans. She'd pick them up and put them somewhere inside her cloak. Whenever Sugar caught her doing so she would scold Skitz as if their roles were reverses and Skitz were the filly in the group instead of her. The filly’s words didn't seem to disturb Skitz at all. She merely smiled and did as she was told.

Despite all the random items she seemed to be carrying, including the filly’s flamer that she made her companion hold, Skitz never seemed to slow down.

Meanwhile, Sortilege was having a hard time keeping up. She had never walked so much in her life. She was tired, hungry and thirsty. She was too terrified to say anything though.

After watching what they had done to the Ghoul, she did not want to risk antagonizing her captors in anyway. She thought it'd be best to just remain quiet until they reached their destination.

Maybe when they arrived, she'd finally be allowed some rest.

After a long time of silence, and no mutated insects or feral dog attacks, Sugar finally spoke again.

"Hey Sorts. What's Stable life like?"

It took Sortilege a moment to realize the filly had been addressing her. She had been trying hard not to think about her Stable. Putting it in the back of her mind. She felt tears welling up in her eyes at the mention of it. After a minute or two she answered.

"It was nice. I miss it."

"That's all you're gonna give me? Okay fine. Next question... What's it feel like knowing everypony you ever knew is dead?”

Sortilege stared back at the filly in shock. Then she started bawling once again.

"What the fuck Sugar?! What kind of question is that!?" Scar reprimanded her partner.

"What? What did I do?" The filly seemed genuinely confused.

“You don't just ask things like that! Now look at her! She's a mess!"

"I've never met somepony who's lost everything like that before! I wanted to know what was going through her mind!" Sugar shouted back at her partner. "I was making conversation! Trying to get to know her better! I was being polite!"

"You have the most fucked up idea of polite I've ever heard!" Scar yelled back.

The conversation was cut short by Skitz, who at that moment stopped dead in her tracks. She dropped her oblivious look again and went on high alert. Sugar and Scar both gave worried looks to their companion.

"What is Skitz? More hunters?" Scar asked.

Skitz tilted her head back and sniffed the air. She shook her head.

"More Ghouls."

Her ears moved around, searching for more clues. She heard raspy growls off in the distance.

"They're feral."

"Oh goodie!" Sugar hopped up and down excitedly. "Quick! Give me the flamer."

Skitz unslung the enormous weapon. Sugar levitated it up in her magic with glee. The look on the little filly’s face was made all the more terrifying by the skull shaped face paint she still wore.

"No! No! Oh fuck no!" Scar yelled down at Sugar as the filly spotted the group of rapidly approaching Ghouls.

Sugar ignored the older mare. She pointed the weapon in Ghouls direction.

She waited.

She could barely contain her excitement. The corners of her mouth ached slightly from smiling so wide.

"Yes. "Yes." The first Ghoul came running forward. He snarled and spat as he ran.

Sortilege trembled. These Ghouls were even worse than the ones before.

Sugar triggered the weapon. A rush of flames spat out of the end, igniting the unfortunate Ghoul.

"Oh fuck yes!" The filly cried.

She started to sway the weapon across the Ghoul herd. Each and every one of them was set ablaze. She laughed. She was having the time of her life!

Then the group noticed that the Ghouls hadn't slowed down at all. They were still running towards them at full speed...and now they were on fire.

Sugar's excitement died down immediately.

"Oh shit."

Scar took to the air before the first flaming Ghoul was on her. She dove by, firing the battle saddle and taking several of them down with well placed shots. A few were able get through.

One ran towards Sugar, who reacted just in time. Right before the blazing Ghoul attacked, she drew her pink pistol and blasted it right between the eyes. It's momentum kept it moving forward and Sugar was barely able to dodge out of the way before the flaming corpse fell on top of her.

The remaining three barreled towards Skitz and Sortilege.

Sortilege was sure that she was facing her very last moment. Her only small comfort was that she no longer needed to use the bathroom. She stood there, petrified, at the sight of the three flaming, rotting ponies racing towards her. She figured being devoured by three corpse like, demonic looking creatures was a fitting end to her brief travels through, what she believed to be, hell incarnate.

Three gunshots rang out and the Ghouls dropped dead. Sortilege looked over to Skitz, who held a still smoking revolver in her mouth.

With all the Ghouls dead, Scarlet landed and Sugar walked over to rejoin the group.

Scar glared down at the filly.

"What?"

"Don't you fuckin' say what to me!" The Pegasus shouted. "We're getting rid of that stupid fucking flamer!"

Sugar coddled the weapon in her hooves protectively.

"No! You can't! He's my friend!"

"Your friend almost got us roasted!"

"You're not laying a hoof on Smokey!" She pulled away from Scar.

"You named it!?"

"Yes I did! He's my Smokey and you're not gonna do diddly squat to him!" She shot Scar a defiant look.

"I fucking hate that thing!"

At that moment, Sortilege once again felt herself losing it. She couldn't take any more. She hated everything. She hated gross, mangy, vicious feral dogs. She hated sick, disgusting bloatsprites. She hated Ghouls. She hated her captors. She hated the wasteland. She collapsed to the dirt covered ground, which she also hated, and sobbed.

"I want to go home!" She screamed. "I want to go back to my Stable!"

Sugar rolled her eyes. "Not again! Skitz, bust out the tape. I ain't listening to this shit."

"No." Scarlet glared down at the filly.

She removed her sunglasses and her combat helmet. She walked over to where Sortilege was crying and leaned over to face her. She smiled.

"Hey."

Sortilege looked up. She sniffed and wiped away the snot that had bubbled up from her nose. She looked into the Pegasus's eyes. They were red. Just like the rest of her. She'd never seen a pony so...red. She'd never seen a pony like her before at all. Scar looked back at her with a gentle expression. Her face was the most welcome sight Sortilege had laid her eyes on in what felt like an eternity.

"Hi." Was all Sortilege managed to get out.

"I know you're going through a rough time right now. I'm sorry for what we're putting you through. I really am. But me an' the girls gotta make a living somehow ya know? I wish we had got to your Stable first. We wouldn't have been nearly as rough..."

"Yeah we would have..." Skitz chimed in.

"Shut the fuck up, Skitz!" Scar shot a mean glare at the Earth pony before looking back at Sortilege and smiling again.

"I know you're going through a lot but we need to start moving soon or more scary things are going to come after us, understand?"

Sortilege nodded. She sobbed a little more before speaking. "I just want to go home."

"I feel for you sis. I really do. But you can't go home. The only way you're gonna make it out of this okay is if you stick with us. C'mon." She nudged Sortilege slightly. “When we get to Appleloosa, I'll buy you a drink and we can sit and chat for a while and you can have some time to relax. Sound good?"

Sortilege nodded and shakily got back on her hooves. Scar then proceeded to remove the makeshift leash tied around Sortilege's neck.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Sugar cried in alarm. "If you take that off she's gonna run away!"

"She's not going anywhere Sugar. Where is she gonna run to? She has nowhere else to go and there's no way she'll last out there on her own. We're all she has right now."

Sortilege gazed at the kind Pegasus. In that moment she felt like she was the only pony in the world she could trust.

"Well fine." Sugar replied grumpily. "But I'm not happy about it! If she tries to run, I'm puttin' a chunk of lead in her ass!" She faced Sortilege. "You got that toots?"

Sortilege nodded vigorously.

"Good. Now let's hurry the fuck up! I'm sick of fighting off fuckin' wild animals and this damn body paint is getting all hot and itchy. I need to get this shit off of me pronto."She itched at her face, smearing her white face paint all around so it hardly resembled a skull anymore. "Why the fuck did you get me this Scar?!"

"It was a gift you ungrateful little bitch!" Scar instantaneously shed her gentle demeanor. "You loved it!"

"Yeah well I don't love it anymore! Now shut the fuck up!" She turned to Skitz. "Skitz go check the Ghouls. They always have a couple caps on 'em for some reason. Then let's get a fuckin' move on!"

The group resumed their journey.

Sortilege was still scared, depressed and tired. She still hated everything. She still wanted to go home and she still cried.

She did feel slightly better than before though. She gazed at the red Pegasus as they walked along and through her tears, felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth.

~O.o~

For the remainder of the trip, things remained relatively quiet.

Sugar and Scar weren't talking to each other.

Skitz remained silent as usual and Sortilege was too upset to say anything. She had tried using her magic a couple times. She was able to get a rock to move slightly using her levitation spell. Her magic was slowly but surely coming back to her. She didn't know what good it would do her. Scar had been right. There would be no point in trying to run. She would die on her own in the wasteland.

The trio accompanying her was her only hope at survival.

Sortilege wondered about her fate. Who was it that had placed such an enormous bounty on her? What did they want her for? How did they even know about her? Sortilege had never even left her stable. Maybe she had been taken by mistake? Maybe they had the wrong stable pony? She asked herself these questions over and over again. She couldn't come up with a single answer.

It was driving her crazy. It was all she could do however to keep her mind off of her Stable's terrible fate.

She couldn't distract herself forever. Soon she found herself thinking back to it. To all the ponies she had grown up with. She may not have had any close friends but that never bothered her. She had lost her parents at a very young age and practically everypony in the stable had raised her. She remembered the kind faces of the ponies she had lived her entire life with.

The kind doctor who had humored her when she faked illness to get lollipops. The sweet old mare who had baked her cookies.

Her school teacher who had taught her all about the joys of reading and magic. She had been inspired by that teacher. She had been like a second mother to Sortilege. When she retired Sortilege took her place as the Stable's resident teacher. She remembered the smiling faces of all the children under her care.

They would never smile again.

Sortilege wanted to cry, but she had no more tears left. She was tired and she was thirsty. She was sick of walking. She was sick of silence. She finally decided to break it. She wanted some water. Surely that wouldn't be too much to ask for. She trotted up to the red Pegasus, the only one of the three she felt any real connection to. She opened her mouth to speak. But Scarlet spoke first.

"We're here."

Sortilege looked ahead. New Appleoosa was directly ahead of them. Multiple lines of what Sortilege realized were railroad tracks converged into a town made up largely of dozens upon dozens of virtually identical homes built from old passenger cars, many of them stacked two or three high. Most still had their wheels. Heavy metal boxcars formed a ring around the town, with a massive gate on either side. Armed pony guards walked around the tops of the boxcars, keeping their eyes on the wastes outside. Inside, scores of Earth and Unicorn ponies trotted about their daily lives. The place was dirty, rusty and altogether...awful.

The group headed inside the town. As they made their way down the street Sortilege noticed all the ponies walking around enjoying their day. She envied them. They had lives. They were free from the terrible, awful, misery that was the Equestrian wasteland. The small town reminded her of her Stable.

The group stopped in front of the towns general store. The sign above the store read in big, blocky letters: 'Absolutely Everything.'

The group entered the store. Inside, a Pegasus Ghoul was busy dusting shelves with a feather duster in her mouth. Her grey coat was in patches all over her body. Her mane consisted of only a few remaining strands of yellow hair.

Upon hearing ponies enter her store, the Ghoul turned around and smiled. One of her glazed eyes pointed off in a random direction.

Sortilege giggled. The Ghouls seemingly friendly disposition was a welcome sight to her. Maybe they weren't all so bad.

The Ghouls smile quickly disappeared once she noticed who it was that had just entered her establishment. She glared at the group then turned and walked over to the counter at the front of the store. She picked up a piece of chalk in her mouth and scribbled something on a chalkboard sitting on the counter. She then turned around and displayed said chalkboard to the group.

"Get out." Was all it read.

"Hiya Derpy!" Sugar said cheerfully as she walked further into the store.

The Ghoul flipped the board over and wrote some more.

She turned it around once again. "Get out now."

"Awww don't be that way. I thought we worked out all of our issues?"

The Ghoul glared down at the filly. Then to her companions. She rubbed her hoof against the chalkboard and proceeded to write down a new message.

"What do you want?" It said.

"We need to hire you. You do deliveries right? That's what the sign outside says. We want to hire you for a delivery job!" Sugar smiled up brightly at the Ghoul.

She immediately erased the board again and jotted down a new message.

‘No’

"Awww c'mon Derpy!"

The Ghoul continued her glare.

"I mean...uhhh...Ditzy. Please! We're desperate! We can literally pay you anything!"

The Ghoul raised an eyebrow at that statement.

Sugar motioned over to where Sortilege was standing.

"See this chick? She's worth a lot of caps. A LOT of caps. We just need to bring her over to Forb mountain and drop her off to collect our payment. We'll be swimming in caps!"

Ditzy looked to where Sortilege stood and the two made eye contact. The sensation of terror that had accompanied all of Sortilege’s previous experiences with Ghouls was completely absent. Even though she was grouchy due to having three of the most unlikable mares in the wasteland enter her store, her eyes still held that same welcomeness they had before.

Ditzy walked over to the shelf and pulled something off of it. She then proceeded to give the item to Sortilege. Sortilege held it in her front hooves.

It was a book. 'The Wasteland Survival Guide - By Ditzy Doo' was emblazoned on the cover.

Sortilege was at a loss for words. Maybe there was just something inside Pegasus ponies that made them inherently kind. Ditzy smiled at Sortilege. Sortilege smiled back and finally found words applicable to the situation.

"Thank you."

Ditzy nodded, then proceeded to trot back over to the counter and write a new message on her chalk board. She picked it up and turned it to the group. "Not interested. Go away."

"C'mon Ditzy! You're killing us!" Sugar cried.

"Yeah Ditz, Pretty please." Scar chimed in.

She picked up Sugar and placed her on Ditzy Doo's counter.

"With Sugar on top?"

Ditzy was not amused. She continued glaring at the trio. She briefly shot a concerned, wall eyed expression to Sortilege before returning to staring the trio down with a hard expression. She tapped on her chalk board, driving her point home.

"Fine." Sugar pouted. "But you're missing out on the chance of a lifetime here Ghoulie!"

Ditzy responded by pointing her hoof to the part of the board that read "Not interested."

Sugar let out a low, frustrated growl.

"Can I least use your bathroom? I want to wash off this stupid body paint."

The Ghoul continued glaring at the filly.

Then she rolled her eyes (Which considering their nature , was quite a bizarre sight), then proceeded to write a new message on her chalk board. "First door on your right."

She pointed her hoof towards the back of her store.

"Thank you." The angry little filly replied, without a hint of sincerity in her voice.

Sugar walked off to clean up. The rest of the group remained behind. An awkward silence hung in the air.

Scar ran her hoof sheepishly up and down her opposite leg. She hung her head down low. She looked ashamed and maybe even slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah." She began awkwardly. "Sorry about before Ditz'."

Ditzy frowned back at Scar.

"I mean, all the bounty notice said was 'Ghoul Pegasus.' It wasn't exactly specific." Scar said with a shrug, the embarrassment still plastered on her face. "Granted...we probably should have done a little more research on our part..."

Ditzy continued to frown.

Scar's expression changed from embarrassed, to looking genuinely apologetic. "We really are sorry Ditzy. Well...at least Skitz and I are. Right Skitz?"

"Uhhhhh...yeah." Skitz replied. She seemed far more confused than apologetic. She hadn't been paying any attention to the conversation.

Scar frowned at Skitz. "Well...I'm sorry at least." She said before turning back to Ditzy and reaching her hoof out towards the Ghoul. "Will you accept my apology Ditz'?"

The wall eyed Ghoul stared at the outstretched hoof skeptically for a moment. After a while though, she smiled. She grabbed Scar's hoof and pulled her in for a a big squishy hug. Afterwards she picked up her chalkboard again and wrote a new message. She held up the chalkboard in her mouth.

'Still not helping.' It read

The Ghoul smiled widely at the group.

"Yeah. Figured." Scar replied.

At that moment, Sugar returned. She was back to her original sandy color. Her yellow mane was dripping wet.

Sortilege wasn’t sure what she was expecting the filly to actually look like under all that makeup, but it wasn't the shaded tan that Sugar appeared to now be. Granted, the filly’s soaked mane looked like a mess. With a little bit of maintenance, Sugar could actually look like an normal, cute little filly. This thought surprised Sortilege to think about. Especially after hearing all her ‘shooting ponies in the face’ stories on their travel to New Appleoosa. It was hard to believe that she didn’t look like a little monster.

Sugar shook her head violently, flinging water all over the rest of the stores inhabitants.

She smiled.

"Whoops."

The only pony who didn't seem to mind being soaked by the filly's antics was Skitz. The rest glared down at Sugar with annoyed expressions. Sugar didn't seem to care. She walked over to one of the store's shelves and began browsing.

"Hey Derpy. Do you happen to have any flamer fuel?"

"You're not spending any more of our caps on that stupid fucking thing!" Scar shouted.

Sugar ignored her completely, keeping her attention on Ditzy Doo.

"Well?"

Ditzy walked behind the store counter, reached down and pulled out a canister.

Then proceeded to pick up her board and write out a new message.

‘300 caps’ It read.

"Three hundred caps for one canister?!" The little filly was outraged. "That's fucking ridiculous!"

Ditzy erased the board and wrote out a new response.

‘400 caps.’

"Fuck you Derpy!" Sugar turned to her companions. "Lets get out of here girls. It fucking reeks in this place."

She turned back to Ditzy again and stuck her tongue at the Ghoul.

Ditzy rolled her eyes again.

As the group moved out, Scar gave Ditzy a friendly wave and which Ditzy returned. Skitz also smiled and waved at the Ghoul which she returned with a much more awkward expression on her face. Sortilege was the last one out. She waved good bye to the friendly Ghoul and Ditzy waved back with a smile on her face, and a sorrowful look in her mismatched eyes.

~O.o~

"Well fuck. What do we do now?"

Sugar said as the group made their way down the streets of New Appleoosa. Every pony in the town gave the group plenty of space.

Apparently they were well known in these parts.

"I think now we relax for a bit." Scar replied. "We're all tired and cranky. We should find a place to rest and come up with a plan. Besides, I owe Sortilege a drink."

Sortilege looked over to the kind Pegasus mare and smiled. Scar smiled back. They shared a silent understanding between themselves.

The pleasant moment was cut short by Sugar.

"I fucking hate that retarded Ghoul. Okay then. Skitz and I will go look for a place to stay. You and Sorts head over to the Turnpike Tavern and do...whatever."

"As you wish your highness." Scar replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't start with me Scar. I'm not in the mood."

The group parted ways.

Scar and Sortilege made their way over to the town's local bar. The day was at an end and the establishment All the townsfolk were making there way over to wind down and enjoy a drink. The proprietor of the tavern, Apple Whiskey, was busy serving drinks when he noticed Scar and Sortilege enter. His cheery disposition immediately changed when he saw Scar. The two walked over to the bar and sat down.

Apple Whiskey glared over at Scar.

"Get out.”

"C'mon Whiskey. You're not still upset about last time are ya?"

The look on his face made it obvious that he was.

"I just came here to get a drink with my new friend."

Sortilege was taken by surprise with that statement. She didn't know Scarlet considered them friends. She had mixed feelings about it. On one side, Scarlet was perhaps the nicest pony Sortilege had met in the wasteland besides Ditzy Doo. On the other hoof, Sortilege was technically her prisoner.

As strange as it was, the statement still brought a smile to her face.

Apple Whiskey rolled his eyes and sighed.

"What will it be?" He asked.

"A couple of your specials please."

Sortilege watched as the Unicorn stallion set two golden apples on the counter and proceeded to use his magic on them. There were two tiny flashes and the apples disappeared and were replaced by two bottles of apple whiskey.

"Neat trick." Sortilege quipped.

She took one of the bottles in her hooves. She lifted it to her nose and took a quick whiff. It smelled awful. She took a sip. It didn't taste any better. She'd never had alcohol before. She didn't think she would be picking up the habit.

Scar picked up the bottle and downed it's contents in one swig. She ordered another one immediately afterwards. Sortilege could tell Scar was a veteran at this sort of thing. Her eyes lingered on the Pegasus for the longest time.She still didn't know what to make of her. She had called Sortilege a friend, but at the same time she planned on selling her to some mysterious figure for a million caps. She didn't seem greedy. Sugar was the greedy one in the group. As Sortilege gazed at her mysterious companion, her eyes wandered over to the large scar on her right cheek. She still wondered how anypony could do such a thing to such a kind and beautiful mare.

"Go ahead. Ask." Scarlet said as if she had read Sortilege's mind.

She never looked up from, what was now, her third bottle of whiskey.

"Ask what?" Sortilege questioned, surprised at the Pegasus's apparent ability to read minds.

"You're staring at my scar. You want to know how I got it. Go ahead and ask. I'm not shy."

Sortilege's eyes lingered on Scarlet's face for a moment longer before she finally spoke.

"How did you get it?"

She picked up her bottle and took another, slightly larger drink.

"Eatin' pussy."

Sortilege choked on the foul liquid.

Scar burst out laughing. She patted Sortilege on the back a couple times before her laughter finally died down and she elaborated.

"When I first came down to the wasteland I hooked up with this griffon chick. Thing's got a little rough I suppose. She ended up giving me this." She pointed to the massive scar on her face. "Doesn't bug me really. Looks pretty badass, don'tcha think?"

"Yeah I guess." Sortilege coughed again, expelling the remaining alcohol from her lungs.

She pushed the bottle of apple whiskey away from her. She didn't think she'd be finishing it any time soon.

"This one though." Scar turned her head so Sortilege could see the other side of her face. She pointed to her other, much smaller scar, right above her left eyebrow. "This one's another story entirely. This one hurt. Hurt in a lot of different ways. This one..." She turned away again and dropped her head. Her ears drooped and her expression changed from one of laughter to one of sorrow. "This one is the one I don't like talking about very much. Bad memories."

That didn't answer very many of Sortilege's questions. In fact, it had made more of them.

The two sat at the bar quietly for a while. Sortilege let Scar finish the rest of her drink and ordered a glass of water for herself. After her fifth bottle, Scar turned to Sortilege and brought up an entirely new topic.

"So..." She began. "Skitz and Sugar are getting us a place to stay for the night. What do you say you and I cut our expenses a little and...share a room together?"

The implications of Scar's request sailed right over the young Unicorns head. She smiled innocently.

"Sure. That sounds nice."

It would be much better than rooming with the oblivious Earth pony or that psychotic filly.

"Yeah? Sure would be a great opportunity to...get to know each other better."

A devious, wicked looking grin crept onto Scar's face.

That comment combined with the look on Scar's face and the tone in her voice, made Sortilege slightly uneasy.

"It would be. I suppose." She replied, suspicion creeping into her voice.

"I hope you're not too tired though." Scar continued. She kept her voice low and seductive. "We won't be getting too much sleep."

"What do you mean?" Sortilege asked, still not quite comprehending the meaning behind Scar's words.

Scar's look changed from a seductive smile to a slightly frustrated frown.

"You're not really picking up what I'm lying down are ya?"

"Uhhhh...not really." Sortilege replied.

"Sex. I want to have sex. With you. Tonight." Scar said bluntly.

The devious smile from before returned to her face.

"What!? No!" Sortilege said in absolute shock.

Scar's smile disappeared and it was replaced by a look of utter offense.

"I mean...you're nice and all but I'm just not attracted to you."

Scar's jaw dropped open, increasing her offended look.

"I mean you're very pretty..." Sortilege continued "I think you’re beautiful! But it's more like...admiration I guess. I admire your looks! I’m just...not gay."

Now it was Scar's turn to look confused.

"Not gay? What do you mean you're not gay?"

"I don't know how I could put that any more clear." Sortilege replied with confusion returning to her face.

"Everypony's a little gay."

"Not me. It's not that I don't like you or anything. You've been really nice to me. I'm just not into mares." She smiled sweetly as she came up with the perfect response. “It’s not you. It’s me.”

"Like I haven’t heard that one a million times. Fine then. You can share a room with Sugar."

Scar laid her head on the bar counter and began pouting.

The two sat there in the most awkward silence Sortilege had ever experience in her life. Scar ordered a couple more apple whiskeys. Sortilege sipped her water and felt a depression, that she had only just began to feel upon her entering into the wasteland, start to rear it's ugly head once again.

Just when she thought she had made a friend…

The silence was broken by the arrival of Sugar and Skitz who joined them at the bar. Both of them at least seemed to be in good moods. Sugar propped herself on the bar stool. Apple Whiskey gave her an even more harsh look than he gave Scar.

She stuck her tongue out at him and ordered two more glasses of water for herself and Skitz. She then noticed the drunk and depressed state Scarlet was in.

"What's got you looking so gloomy?

"I don't wanna talk about it."

She took a drink of her seventh bottle of apple whiskey.

Sugar turned to Sortilege.

"What the fuck did you do?"

"Nothing!"

"Yeah sure you didn't." The filly replied with a glare. "Bitch." She then turned her attention back to Scar. "Skitz and I got a few rooms at the local inn. It's gonna eat up the rest of our caps but at least we'll be able to rest and come up with some sort-a plan."

"Cool." The Pegasus replied unenthusiastically.

The situation had become far too uncomfortable for Sortilege to handle. She excused herself to the restroom. As she crossed the bar she noticed one of the other patrons was also a Pegasus. A stallion with a rust colored coat and bright orange mane. He wore a black desperado style hat and interestingly enough, sported a cute mark identical to Scarlet's. He seemed to be on his way out and as he made his way towards the door, another pony opened it allowing a small gust of wind to come rushing in. The wind knocked his desperado hat off of his head and carried it across the room where it landed right at the base of Sortilege's hooves.

She levitated it up in her magic and walked over to the stallion. She placed the hat back on his head and said in a playful, singsong tone. "Now ya owe me!" She smiled at him and he smiled back before tipping his hat and nodding in appreciation. He then proceeded to exit the tavern.

As Sortilege made her way to the restroom a realization struck her.

She had just levitated that hat.

Her magic had finally returned!

Upon entering the bathroom, she stopped in front of a mirror and looked over herself. She looked awful. She dark blue coat was caked in dirt. Her stable Twenty-eight utility barding was filthy and her bubblegum pink hair was a total mess. She wondered why Scar had even bothered to proposition her in the first place!

She concentrated on her horn. There was a flash and all the dirt and grime embedded in her coat disappeared. Her utility barding now looked like it had just been washed and her pink mane was now styled and tied back in a ponytail just how she liked it. Sortilege smiled.

"I love magic." She said to herself. Then she entered a bathroom stall and put up a sound dampening spell to drown out the noise coming out from outside the bathroom. She was in desperate need of some quiet time.

~O.o~

While Sortilege was busying gathering her thoughts together in the bathroom, her trio of captors were sitting at the bar of the Turnpike tavern, discussing various things amongst themselves.

Sugar was venting her frustration to Skitz. She went over how she wished all sorts of terrible, horrible, miserable things to happen to happen to Ditzy Doo. She mentioned how she would personally rip out the Ghoul’s tongue if somepony hadn't beaten her to the punch. Skitz sat silently listening, with a smile on her face. She wasn't really paying attention to Sugar and Sugar knew that.

Skitz lived inside her own little world most of the time.

Sugar just needed somepony to vent to and Scar wasn't exactly in a listening sort of mood. She sat at the bar looking miserable while nursing her tenth bottle of apple whiskey.

"I fucking hate that bitch. I hope her stupid little store goes up in flames! I hope she get's taken by raiders and they rip her wings off!"

"Yeah." Every once in a while Skitz would chime in. She never said anything more than a single word of agreement.

"Dumb bitch. Just who the hell does she think she is?"

"Yeah."

"Next time I see a copy of her stupid survival guide, I'm gonna tear it to pieces just to spite her!"

“Yeah."

"That stupid, rotten, cross eyed, retarded Ghoul is gonna get hers. Just you wait. When we finish this job we'll be the richest ponies around. Then I'm gonna buy her shop from her and make her watch as I torch it to the ground."

"Yeah."

"Just let it go Sugar. You two are giving me a headache." Scar said.

She was still sulking at the bar. The crimson mare didn't handle rejection very well. Out of the three, she was the only one drinking anything other than water. She was now on her twelfth drink which she had barely touched. She was at the point where she was too drunk, and depressed to actually do anything beside sit on the stool and mope.

"What the fuck has got you so down?" Sugar replied in a tone that implied she was more annoyed than concerned about her friends feelings.

"Yeah." Skitz repeated.

"I'm sick of it." Scar said, resting her head on the counter. "I'm sick of these stupid fucking jobs. Sick of the stupid fucking wasteland. Sick of stupid, cute ponies who wouldn't even give me the time of day let alone fuck me. Sick of my stupid fucking life."

"Then go put a bullet in your brain or something. Just stop sucking the fun out of the evening." Said Sugar.

"Yeah." Skitz repeated, yet again.

"You're a little cunt, you know that?" Scar retorted.

"So I've been told." Sugar said, with just a hint of pride in her voice. "Welcome to the real world Scar. Where ya gotta do things you don't like, with ponies you don't like, in a world you don't like. Can't handle it?" Sugar levitated the pink ten millimeter pistol out of her saddle bag and slid it down the bar to Scarlet. "There's your way out."

"I'm a Pegasus. How am I even supposed to shoot myself with this?"

"Here, let me help you." The little Unicorn began to levitate the gun off of the bar but Scarlet pinned it down with her hoof.

"Cut it out Sugar!"

"Hey let go! I'm trying to do you a favor! I'm being nice!"

"Only you would consider something like helping her friend kill herself nice! You're the most fucked up little filly in all of Equestria!"

While the two wrestled over the pistol, Skitz sat silently in between them. She made no effort to stop either of them or involve herself in any way. Instead she focused her attention on Apple Whiskey, who had been watching in bewilderment as the bizarre scene unfold. After a bit, he noticed Skitz staring at him.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

Skitz smiled back at him.

"No. I'm good." She replied with a small shake of her head.

"...Ooookay." Apple Whiskey watched the three strange mares for a moment longer before moving on to help out another customer.

As the the trio sat there, arguing amongst themselves, several of the other bar patrons stared at them. They began whispering to each other. Several of them pulled out pieces of parchment or checked saved data on their pipbucks.

The three female bounty hunters continued on, unaware that half the bar was studying them intensely. Eventually, the other inhabitants began to move.

One of them, a Unicorn, began to slowly creep up behind the unsuspecting trio. He moved, slowly, silently. He unsheathed the combat knife he had tucked away in his leather barding. When he was in range, he struck.

He plunged the knife deep into the back of the large grey Earth pony mare seated in the center of the group.

The entire tavern went silent.

Sugar and Scar immediately ceased their argument. They both leaned back in their chairs and stared at the object now embedded in their friends backside.

Skitz’s ears perked up and she peered over the shoulder to look at the knife. The three sat there, gazing at the knife in confusion for a moment before slowly turning to stare at the attacker who sported an equally confused look.

It was Skitz who finally broke the silence

"Ow." She said as if she had merely stubbed her hoof rather than been impaled with a knife.

The Unicorn stallion’s look changed from confused to horrified as he realized his attack had done little more than irritate her.

Skitz stood before she lashed out with her rear hooves. Her buck connected with the stallion’s face and sent him flying across the bar, crashing into the far wall.

At that moment, all hell broke loose.

The patrons who had been studying the trio leaped to their hooves and drew their weapons while every other pony dashed out the door.

Sugar, Skitz and Scar followed suit.

Sugar unslung her automatic rifle. Scar kicked the loading bar on her battle saddle and Skitz reached into her cloak and pulled out a small submachine gun. The trio and their aggressors faced off in silent tension.

Apple Whiskey stood in the corner, watching helplessly as the scene unfolded.

Sugar spoke. "What the fuck is going on?"

One of the patrons responded.

"That gal in the bathroom. She's that stable pony with the million cap bounty on her ain't she?"

"Maybe she is. So what?"

"So give her up nice and easy and you three might just make it out of here alive.”

Sugar scoffed. "I don't think so. She's our prisoner. You want her? You're gonna have to go through us."

"No problem." The same stallion replied.

That's when the shooting started.

Apple Whiskey dove for cover behind the bar as bullets ripped through the air of his establishment.

Scar took to the air and open fired. As drunk as she was, her aim was a little off but she still managed to drop a few of the ponies currently firing at her. She moved through the air, gracefully dodging the hail of gunfire directed at her. Skitz dove to the side and began firing with her submachine gun, ripping into the attacker closest to her. He fell to ground and she raced towards him, catching his limp body as he fell. She rose up on her rear legs, using the dead stallion as a shield as she returned fire to her attackers.

Sugar back flipped behind the bar and used her magic to raise her rifle over the counter and fired blindly the direction of her enemy.

Apple Whiskey kept his head down and began yelling at the filly.

"You little bitch! I should have never let you three in here! I knew this was gonna happen!"

"Shut the fuck up!" The filly replied as her gun clicked empty.

She brought it down to her and pulled a fresh magazine from her saddle bag.

"You're paying for all of the damage done in here! Every last cap!"

"Yeah sure. Whatever. Now be quiet!"

She grabbed her pink pistol off the counter and fired it alongside her rifle. She wasn't hitting much but she was keeping the attacking ponies pinned under the constant barrage.

"Skitz! Toss me the flamer!" She yelled over the sounds of the battle.

"No!!" Scar and Apple Whiskey cried out simultaneously.

Skitz continued to return fire behind her makeshift corpse shield. When she finally ran empty, she decided to switch tactics.

She dropped the body, pulled out her machete and rushed forward. Her victims could barely react before she was on them. She swung, slashing one pony across the throat. Blood sprayed from the open wound and covered the two ponies flanking her. They reeled back in disgust and horror before a burst of gunfire from above struck both of them. Scar landed right where the two ponies fell. Sugar jumped up onto the counter and ran across, mopping up the remaining few with her rifle and pistol.

When it was over the three mares stood victorious. Besides themselves and Apple Whiskey, only one other pony remained breathing. The trio walked over to the barely conscious Unicorn stallion who had stabbed Skitz.

He attempted to stand but Skitz pinned him down with her hoof. Sugar removed the knife that still stuck in her friends back with her magic and rammed it under the chin of the offending the offending stallion. There was nasty gurgling sound as he struggled for breath and the last bit of life escaped from him.

The tavern had been completely destroyed. The bar had been shot to pieces. Empty shells littered the floor along with bullet ridden bodies.

At that very moment, Sortilege trotted out of the bathroom with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. She had enjoyed having some time to sit and think things over in complete and utter silence. She looked and felt much better. Her good feeling completely dissipated the moment she opened her eyes and looked around the bar.

"Wha...what...wha?" She stammered.

Apple Whiskey trotted over to where the group stood. He shot them a deadly glare then quickly snapped his hoof in the direction of the door.

"Get. Out."

"Right. Good idea." Sugar replied and the group headed out.

The look of shock still plastered on Sortilege's face.

When the three got outside, Scarlet turned her attention to Skitz.

"Skitz. Take off your cloak. I need to look at that stab wound."

Skitz did as she was told.

The moment that the cloak was off, Sortilege gasped.

The scars on Skitz' body made Scarlet's look like paper cuts in comparison. Every inch of her was covered in battle marks of varying shapes and sizes. There were burns, stabs, cuts and bullet wounds on every section of her body. For the first time Sortilege could see her cutie mark half of it rather. On one side it had been almost completely torn away. The other side sported her actual cutie mark: a silhouette of a ponies with an even split straight down the middle.

"Sugar, get me a healing potion will ya?"

Scar said as she looked over the still oozing knife wound.

"Damn. He got ya deep Skitz. Might have pierced your lung. Having any difficulty breathing?"

"A little."

Sugar dug her way into Skitz's coat and retrieved the healing potion. Scar took it in her hooves, popped the cap off with her teeth and proceeded to pour it into the open wound. "Get me a bandage too, will ya Sugar?"

"Would it kill you to say please?" Sugar mumbled before digging into the cloak once again.

"Pretty please. With sugar on top." Scar replied sarcastically before returning her attention back to the injured Earth pony. "Feel any better Skitz?"

"A little." She smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Sugar gave Scar the bandage and she finished tending to the wounded mare.

After Skitz put her cloak back on, Sortilege snapped out of her shocked state.

"What happened in there?" She asked.

"Words out on the bounty. Everypony in the wasteland is gonna be after us. We need to move. Now." Sugar replied.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Scar asked.

"We head on over to Smokin' Grass's place. He's one of the few ponies around who actually likes us. He might be willing to lend us some supplies."

Upon hearing the name Skitz and Scar's ears both perked up and a smile appeared on Skitz's face. "We're going to see Smoking Grass? Really? We haven't been there in forever!" She let out a gleeful little squeal. "Oh I'm excited now!"

"I dunno Sugar." Scar seemed much less excited. "As much as I'd love to visit Grass, his place isn't exactly close."

"It's close enough and I don't see you coming up with any ideas." Sugar retorted.

"True. Well, Smokin' Grass's place it is then!" With that Scar smiled and turned to Skitz and joined her in her joyous outburst.

"Who's Smokin' Grass?" Sortilege asked.

"Oh you'll see." Scar replied. "But right now we need to get moving. Pronto."

With that the group headed on out of New Appleoosa.

Sortilege followed behind wondering what sort of new and terrifying experiences lay ahead of her.

~O.o~

Apple Whiskey was busy trying his best to clean up the horrendous mess that was now his tavern. After several hours of work, he'd finally managed to move all the bodies outside for later disposal and was hard at work mopping up the pools of blood that had collected. He'd been working all through the night until morning.

The first rays of daylight were just beginning to come in through the windows. As he was mopping, he contemplated taking a rest and finishing up later. That's when someone entered the tavern.

"Sorry. We're closed." He said without looking to see who it was.

"We're here on some important business. We're gonna take a look around if you don't mind."

Upon hearing the voice, Apple Whiskey froze. He recognized that voice. He looked up and got his first look at who had entered his business. A tall, rugged looking, brown Unicorn stallion stood in the doorway, accompanied by two Ghouls.

Gunsmoke paid no attention to the proprietor. Instead he got right to work investigating the inside of the tavern.

"Sure thing." Apple Whiskey replied nervously before quickly making his way out. He'd had enough excitement for one night.

Gunsmoke continued his investigation. The group had already examined the bodies. He studied the spent shell casing on the floor and the blood patterns on the wall.

One of his Ghoul companions approached him.

"I think I have a good idea now who we're dealing with." Sandy said.

"Yup." Gunsmoke replied. "And it's just as I thought. Total psychos. This is a problem."

The other Ghoul, Rock, made her way over to Sandy's side. She sported the strangest looking battle saddle. It looked more like a vacuum cleaner than a gun.

"So what's the plan then?" She asked.

"Those three are crazy." Gunsmoke replied. "Even so, they're highly capable. Attacking them now would be far too dangerous. We'll have to wait."

"Speaking of crazy..." Sandy chimed in. "I'm kind of curious as to why you're doing this Smoke."

"What'dya mean?"

"Well, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, you're just as crazy. I've watched you slaughter innocent ponies and dare I say, I know you enjoy it. So why take on this job knowing that it could mean the end of all that killing you seem to love so much?"

“You're right Sandy. I do enjoy it." Gunsmoke remembered the event that had earned him his cutie mark. "I enjoy it a lot... but..."

Gunsmoke remembered the face of his dead father. He remembered the faces of everypony the wasteland had taken from him.

"As much as I enjoy it, I think I could give it up." He continued. "If it meant never having to lose another friend."

"How touching." A new voice announced from behind the trio. The trio of hunters turned their attention to the door. The source of the voice was a lone sprite bot. It floated in the air, silently as the trio looked on.

"Sandy, Rock." Gunsmoke said. "This is our current employer."

"Pleased to meet ya." Sandy said and Rock gave a polite nod.

The sprite bot spoke again, in it's mechanical voice. "I've come here for a progress report. I trust everything is moving along nicely?"

"We have a small problem. Nothing we can't handle." Gunsmoke said in reply.

"I knew you'd say that."

"So..." Sandy began. "Can you really do it? You really have the ability to save Equestria?"

The sprite bot bobbed in the air silently for a period of time. Finally it responded.

"Yes."

"That's all I needed to hear." Sandy smiled.

Ever since Gunsmoke picked him up, he'd started smiling again. He had missed it.

"We need a plan." Rock said.

“Well we can go after her right this moment." Gunsmoke replied. "We'll set a trap for them. We have the advantage in that we can travel a lot faster. We'll go ahead of them. Set a trap. They'll exhaust themselves fighting off all the others that will be after them. When they're at their most vulnerable we'll strike."

Sandy and Rock both nodded in agreement. Gunsmoke turned to the sprite bot. He regarded it quietly for a moment. Then he spoke.

"You can count on us. We're going to get her to you alive no matter what. "

Miles away, the strange pony behind the controls of the sprite bot smiled to herself.

"I knew you'd say that."