We got back to Petrena around sundown, and now Isarael and I were waiting in Ebrahim's office to see if the colt was ok. Israel did... nothing, while I used a knife to etch something into my new chrome sawed-off shotgun. Israel finally said something, after a long silence.

"What are you etching into the gun?" he asked me. I showed him what I had so far, which was just the word "Black."

"Black?"

"Still working on it, it's going to be 'Black Glory'."

"You might need black paint."

"I'll find some."

Ebrahim at that point entered. "How's the colt?" I asked. "The colt's fine," Ebrahim answered. "Just some bruises but, I'm gonna keep him here so he can heal". "Alright," Israel said. Ebrahim continued, "The colt actually wants to see you." We got up and entered the room, the colt sat on a metal table. "Hey," I said as I entered. The colt smiled, he was small, young, his fur was black, with a grey mane. "Thanks for saving me in the wreck." No problem!" Israel said. "What's your name?" I asked, "Little Bolt," he responded. "I'm small for my age but, I'm ten years old." Ebrahim asked for our attention. "Terra, Israel, the Baron wants to see you." "Why?" Israel wondered. Ebrahim shrugged "Don't know but, you should go."

***

"Who's the Baron?" I nervously asked Israel as we walked to the Baron's house. "He's basically the mayor," Israel responded. "I've only met him once." We approached a fine two story building. Israel knocked on the huge ornate wooden door. "Come in!" they heard, and opened the door. A stallion stood inside. He had a mud brown fur, his mane was also mud brown. "Israel, it's been a while hasn't it? And I believe this is Terra?" Israel nodded. "I'm Mud Hoof, the Baron, come in, come in," he said. We entered what looked like an office. The room had books on shelves, a table with a chair and a terminal. He sat down on the chair, Israel and I stood. "Now," Mud Hoof said, "Israel, this mission was originally going to be just for you but, now that you have a partner, she will be allowed to be a part of the mission." "What's the mission?" Israel asked. I couldn't be quiet any longer. "Baron sir? How do you know who I am? and what do you mean by 'partner'? I asked?" He laughed and said "My apologies Terra. This a small town, news traveled fast about your arrival, and then a messenger informed me of the shipwreck and the battle you two had with those annoying Khans." "Now, may I continue?" "Yes sir, please," I answered nervously. "There's a town near by... well was near by, called Mine 28."

"Not a very creative name," I commented.

Mud Hoof chuckled. "I know. Now the town has mysteriously gone quiet. There have been no messages and we haven't received a trade caravan from them in over a week. The caravan has always come once a day to sell mining supplies. I'm sending you two to check out what happened."

"Alright, we'll check it out," Israel told him. "Good now," he handed Israel a map. "Mine 28 is about two miles south, it would be easy to get to it, if we were not in the mountains." My pit-buck beeped, I checked it on the map, it showed Mine 28's location, not far but, not easy to get to, like Mud Hoof said.

"For the mission," Mud Hoof pulled out some bottles with a purple liquid in them. "You might need some healing potions." Israel took the bottles and put them in his saddle bags. "We'll check it out right away."

"Good"

***

We left as soon as was night fall. The snow continued to fall. I was thankful that my armor kept the chill away. We walked in silence for a while, being guided by my pit-buck light and Israel's flashlight on his rifle. He carried his rifle with a battle saddle. "Does it usually snow a lot here in Pretora?" "Quite a bit in the fall and winter." We soon approached a wooden arch saying in Arabic "Mine 28 Gold Mine".

"We're here," I announced. Israel simply nodded.

"It's time to figure out what happened here" Israel said and walked throught the arch. The town was smaller than Petrena, only about three large, metal buildings all rusting. The largest building lead to the mine itself. "Spread out, we'll cover more ground that way." "Okay, Israel," I answered even though I was really nervous. I went left while Israel went right. I saw a large patch of ground with no snow and a scorch mark in the gravel, which looked like it was made by an explosion. Near the scorched area was a zebra dusted with snow. Actually it was only half a zebra! His lower half lay in a snowdrift near by. I fought the urge to throw up and continued walking. "The khans don't have this much firepower," I heard Israel say. I approached the smallest of the three buildings. Laying next to the building was an earth pony mare, her body riddled with bullet holes, next to the mare was another earth pony, a filly. Her body was burnt, and missing a hind leg. I still wanted to throw up and couldn't stop shaking.

"Who did this?" I whispered to myself. Then I saw a glowing red dot next to me, it moved toward my neck. I quickly jumped to the side, a bullet missing me by a few inches and pinging into the metal exterior of the building. I frantically looked for my attacker, which was tricky in the dark. Eventually I spied the attacker, it was a khan, "Khans!!" I yelled out. Israel flew over "Yes, I've noticed!" Two more khans came out of the largest building. One had a rocket launcher. '...fuck'.

"Ta surakh gej baina , khaad khezee ch zovlontoi uu!" the one with the rocket yelled out and fired. Israel and I dodged the rocket. The rocket hit the metal interior of the building behind us.

"We need to take out the one with the rocket launcher!" Israel yelled. "No shit!" I yelled back. We were nearly blasted by the other khan who had a T-90x assault rifle. (equestrian weapon). Another rocket whizzed by, hitting the building again. Israel ran from his cover firing at the sniper, while running to the second building. About half way there, the sniper fired, Israel fell to the ground, grunting in pain.

"ISRAEL!" I ran out of my cover to save my friend. Before I got there a bullet hit my hunting rifle, sending it out of my hooves. I saw two khans advancing. The sniper had his rifle trained on me.

"Ene ni deer, odoo khüleelgen ögökh yum." I looked around for a weapon, my hunting rifle was out of my reach! I then saw on the ground next to me a scimitar (Arabic sword). I picked it up and pointed it at the two khans, who just looked at each other and laughed. "Kherev ta adal bid buu baikhad ... ter bayan , neg scimitar ni bidniig alj baina!" They were still laughing when I charged and took them by surprise. I slit the throat of the khan with the rocket, and grabbed the other khan. I placed my scimitar on the kahn's throat but paused when I saw the sniper, rifle aimed at me.

"You kill me, I'll kill him,".I said. Not one of us made a move. Suddenly from behind I was hit, then electrocuted. I fell to the ground and lost my grip on the kahn and my scimitar. I looked up. a khan stood above me. I knew who it was, Batbayer. He looked at me with pure hatred. In his hoof was a baton crackling with electricity. He snarled, "Remember me, bitch?" then swung at my head. My vision went black.

***

I awoke in what seemed to be a makeshift cell. I laid on my side, my entire body hurt. I looked around my cell, it's "bars" were just rusty metal pipes blow torched together. My weapons were gone, even "Black Glory."

"Look who's up," a voice said. I looked toward the voice.

"Batbayer," I grumbled.

"Oh, you remember me... I'm touched," he said.

I got up, anger filling my vein's. "Where's Israel?" I demanded. Batbayer laughed. "He's fine but, his accommodations aren't nearly as nice as yours."

I charged at the "bars" only to slam into them, and fall onto my butt. Batbayer laughed again. "Such an ergüü teneg, those bars are more solid then they look." At that point I wished I had laser eyes, then pushed that thought out of my head. Batbayer started toward some stair's. "I'll figure out a way to escape," I said. Batbayer just chuckled. "Good luck with that," then disappeared up the stairs.

***

Being imprisoned was not fun at all, I lost track of time. I was being guarded by a khan that didn't speak a word to me. All I could think about was Israel. Was he dead? Was he in pain? Would I see him again? Something caught my eye. I noticed a shimmer move down the stairs, then nothing. Boom! The guard exploded, showering me with blood and gore.

"What the ...?" At the bottom of the stairs a unicorn appeared. The unicorn was wearing Roaman Stealth Armor, and around his mouth was a respirator. In his magical grip was a combat shotgun. He approached my cell and opened it.

"Get up," he demanded. His voice was amplified by his respirator. I slowly stood and walked out. The unicorn, with his hoof shoved a box at me with my stuff in it, all of my weapons. I grabbed my guns.

"Thanks... what's your name?" I asked.

"My name is meaningless." he said, saying it as if he had said it too many times before.

I sighed, "What name do you use?"

"Seeker," he responded, loading his combat shotgun. I checked my hunting rifle, the khans didn't take any ammo. Seeker threw more shotgun ammo to me.

"Take it, your shotgun is a powerful weapon."

I loaded Black Glory, "Alright... let's do this."

"First, are you here alone?" he asked.

"No, we need to find my friend Israel,"

Seeker nodded, "Alright, you ready?"

"Yes," I answered. We climbed up the stairs, Seeker taking the lead. I had Black Glory drawn. We walked into a long branched hallway, Seeker headed left down the hallway, I followed.We took a right down another hallway that had stairs leading down. "Where are we going?" I asked. "We're gonna save your friend," Seeker replied. He stopped suddenly, so sudden I ran into him. "Why did you stop?"

"Shh!"

I lowered my voice to a whisper, "Why did we stop?" Seeker motioned me forward, two khans stood guard at what looked like a mining entrance. "How do we get rid of them?" I whispered. Seeker raised his hoof, he had a pip-buck. He pushed a button on it, and disappeared. I glanced around for him, then looked back toward the guards. A few seconds passed. Then, one of the guard's exploded. I charged forward, killing the last one before he realized what was going on. Seeker reappeared, "Nice job," he said. I smiled.

Seeker pushed open the mining door, we entered the tunnel. "Are you sure that Israel's down here?" I asked. "I'm sure," Seeker said. "Hurry, those shots will probably attract more khans!" he said urgently. We continued down the tunnel into the unknown.

***

After about a minute of wandering in a tunnel, we came to an opening above a larger space. It was the mine, the mine was a round cavern carved out of the ground that gradually sloped down to a smaller pit. Lanterns gave the space a creepy glow. At the bottom I could see about five khans, including Batbayer. What was strange though was I hadn't seen Ganzorig yet, which was making me suspicious. Then I saw Israel was in the deepest area of the pit. He looked to be in bad shape to be honest.

"Now, Israel" Batbayer said. "You'll answer our questions this time, or you'll have to worry more about your marefriend we have, than yourself."

"She's not my... marefriend" Israel mumbled. Israel seemed to hesitate when he said marefriend, like he couldn't believe he was about to say that. Seeker motioned down towards a tunnel that looked like it lead to where Israel was. We snuck down the tunnel. "Batbayer, I'm not sure if this Pegasus is gonna talk about the crash."

"Bukh baas!" Batbayer yelled out, "He knows something about the enclave being here, and he's gonna tell us, even if I have to torture the zebra to get answers."

We got to the bottom. "The Pegasus is your friend?" Seeker asked. "Yeah" I responded, "He saved my life." Seeker nodded, getting up and pulling out his shotgun. I pulled out Black Glory and followed. Seeker fired a shot, a zebra khan went down, getting Batbayer's attention. Taking out his shogun and firing. "Töriin bolson üye shattaigaar gichii," he roared. the shotgun blast cleared my head by just a bit. The other khan pulled out a Chamberlock (Saddle Arabian Semi-Automatic Assault Rifle) and started firing at Seeker. i dove behind a small boulder. Batbayer fired again, the bullet hit the boulder, causing shards of rock to fly. One shard cut my left cheek , while another cut me just above my left eye. I fired back at Batbayer, he dove behind a small wooden building in the pit. The second khan was not smart at all, Seeker was able to get an easy shot at him. The khan's chest split opened and he fell to the ground twitching. I fired at Batbayer, but all my shot did was chip the wooden shack. I was surprised when Batbayer left his cover and charged staraight for me. As he got closer, he leaped over the boulder I was using for cover. I reacted, pulling out my scimitar that was holstered on my armor, and pointed it at him, Batbayer fell right on the blade, impaling him. His momentum pulled me to the ground ground. He tumbled over to the wall, scimitar still in his chest. I got up and walked over, and pulled my scimitar out of his chest.

"Well, gichii," he grunted, "What are going to do now?" I raised my scimitar ready to cut his stupid head off but, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I lowered my scimitar, "You're not gonna take my head?" he chuckled. "Why not? I'm dead anyway," "Because" was all I said. I turned my back, and bucked him in the head, knocking him out. Seeker just sighed, I walked over to Israel, and freed him from his binds.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

I walked to the bodies of the two khans, looting the one with the chamberlock. finding ten fulūs on him.

"Strange..."

"What's strange, Terra?" Isarael asked?

"When I first met Batbayer there was a zebra with him... where is he?"

The answer for me was a cocking of a shotgun, Israel and I looked at the entrance, Seeker had already spotted the movement. Ganzorig stood at the entrance with about five more khans. "You don't have to look much further, Terra!" he said.

"Ganzorig."

Ganzorig smiled, "Missed me Terra? I've been waiting to see you again."

"What do you mean?"

Ganzorig pulled out a cigarette, lit it and put it in his mouth. "I believe you remember the name Yerönkhiidöö Blood."

"Yeah, why?"

"He was my father."

***

"General Blood was your father?" Israel asked. Ganzorig nodded, "The two of you killed him!" Ganzorig pulled out a red and black Zovristen (Saddle Arabian magnum). Seeker charged only for Ganzorig to aim at him, and shoot him in the face. I was sure he was dead but, he laid on the ground clutching his head, the wound drawing no blood." 'Tedgeeriig avch, mön tedniig alakh!" Israel flew to a box near by, the khans pulled out weapons of their own. I ran towards cover, followed by bullets, most were blocked by my armor. When I got to cover, I saw that Israel had his rifle, I guessed his weapon was in the box that Seeker had carried. I fired from my cover, getting one of the khans. I tried to fire again but Black Glory just went "click", 'You can't be serious!.' I switched to my hunting rifle and fired again, hitting another but, not killing. I looked over to Israel who was also having some trouble, the khans had cover. Ganzorig fired at me, the bullet hitting my cover sending shards flying again, I covered my face with a hoof. I lowered my hoof and fired at Ganzorig, getting him in the shoulder.

I looked over at the battle. Two khans laid on the ground, three including Ganzorig were standing. Ganzorig fired, the bullet again hitting my cover. This time the shards blinded me. Before I could react, I was punched in the head, then pinned against the wall. When my vision recovered shortly after, Ganzorig stood in front of me. Israel was pinned on the ground by one of the other khans and the last one was standing between them.

"Well... this isn't going in your favor is it?"

"Fuck... you" I spat

"Hmm, mare with an attitude," Ganzorig pulled out his Zovristen, and pointed it at my head. "Hope you had a good run, Terra." Before he could shoot, he was suddenly hit in the face. It was Israel! When I looked over to where Israel had been, the khan lay there unconscious. Ganzorig's Zovristen sprawled next to me, I picked up his gun and aimed at Ganzorig. I couldn't get a shot since Israel and Ganzorig were now rolling on the ground. I decided to use something I hadn't used in a long time, S.A.T.S. I went into S.A.T.S and aimed for Ganzorig. It informed me I only had a fifty percent chance to hit him. 'That's cheep!' I thought. I had to take the chance, Israel wouldn't last much longer. I confirmed, and the gun fired. The bullet hit it's mark, Ganzorig lay dead, a bullet in his head. I was panting, I dropped the Zovristen, that was the first time I intentionally killed someone.

Israel came over to me. I was crying at that point. (embarrassing, I know) Israel sat next to me and put a wing around me. I sniffed and looked at him, he was smiling at me.

"First intentional kill?" I nodded. Israel nuzzled me, I felt myself go red. Israel got up, and went over to Seeker.

I stopped crying and went over to the unconscious body of Batbayer. Israel helped Seeker up and joined me. "What are we gonna do with him?" Israel asked. "I have an idea" I said. I went through my saddle bags, and brought out a healing potion. I took off the top of the healing potion and gave it too him. "You're giving a healing potion to a pony that tried to kill us?" Seeker said. "Yep."

Seeker shook his head but, Israel smiled at me. I then set the rest of the healing potion next to Israel.

footnote: level up

new perk added

Act of Kindness: from now on in battle, when there is only one enemy left, you get the choice to show an act of kindness and spare them, you gain +5 relations to faction, when done on faction members

Author's Note

fun fact: originally the Khans were gonna be Steel Rangers but, i scraped that.