Fallout Equestria: A Heart Full of Bullets

Chapters

Chapter 2: Six Years Later
Chapter 3
Chapter 4: UPDATE in authors note
Chapter 5: Changing
Chapter 6: The Monster Inside Me.
Chapter 7: The Journey Begins.
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 11: The Bridge of RAD
Chapter 12: Homecoming
Chapter 13: The way of the townspony
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 10: an unexpected encounter

Chapter 2: Six Years Later

"JACK"

I gasped awake, yelling my friend's name at the top of my lungs. I rolled on to my stomach and looked at my surroundings,

"It...it was just a dream, a nightmare that's all-" I rubbed my hoof through my mane,

"-a heh, just...a dream...DAMN IT-" I slammed my hoof into the wooden wall of my home, a splintering crack followed.

I felt the anger surge through me, like it was a drug, but much worse. I turned my head to the hoof against the now cracked wood. DAMN IT, that's the third, straight time, I pulled my hoof away to inspect it for any damage. There was none, but of course when the adrenaline leaves the body, I will feel the pain, and I did.

"Fuck Celestia to high heaven, that hurts!" -I shook my hoof, trying to rid myself of the pain- "I better go find myself a stimpak, I think I might have broken my...damn it!"

I rolled back on to my back and kicked the sheets off. I rolled off my bed, and on to the wooden floor, below putting to much pressure on my hoof as I did so. I winced, I needed that stimpak, badly. I limped my way into the kitchen, not even caring that it was still dark out. I moved towards the counter next to the sink,

"Come on, where the hell is it-" I moved my good hoof across the counter top until I felt the needle of the stimpak, "-aha!" I yelled moving my hoof away from the needle and focusing my magic on it. I raised my hoof to level it with the now floating needle. I stabbed the needle into my hoof and pressed the (I don't know what it's actually called, never read anything about) plunger down, sending the nanobots in me. I sighed with relief as I could no longer feel the pain.

$$$

I walked through the wasteland, the sun just now rising over the horizon. After I had healed, completely I decided to head into the wasteland and check the perimeter. I put on my cloak, pulling the hood over my head, I grabbed my sniper rifle, my assault rifle, and finally my colt six shot revolver. I moved, cautiously, my assault rifle, cocked and ready to fire. I lived in, probably the worst part of the wasteland. My home was right next to the ruins of Ponyville, raider territory. Which meant I could be jumped at any moment. The closest, most civilized town, was New Appleooza, and that was about a week's trip, if I walked.

There was one stable close by, which I considered was to dangerous to go near. It really was that it was so damn creepy. It had been abandoned for awhile and there were probably things in there I didn't want to see or come across. Unfortunately, I would probably have to venture in there at some point and deal with- my E.F.S., or Eyes Forward Sparkle read three hostiles right in front of me. I looked up to see three slavers talking over a breakfast campfire. They were about a hundred yards away, and they hadn't noticed me yet. I dropped to my stomach and levitated my sniper rifle in front of me. I pulled down the tripod and cocked the bolt-action rifle.

"Now, what brings you this close to raider territory, especially without slaves?" I whispered to myself, as I looked through the scope.

"Where the hell is that damn alicorn, it's been two days now?" the one on the right said, tapping his hoof on the dirt.

Alicorn? What the hell does Red-eyes want with them? I questioned myself, trying to think of the possibilities.

"You know what, fuck the alicorn bitch, let's kill the piece of shit ghost now,"the one on the left said, turning his rifle towards me.

SHIT, it's a trap I pulled the trigger on Lefty, the pony on the left. His head exploded, spraying bits and pieces of brain on the other two. They dove behind cover, as I cocked the rifle again. They were both earth ponies, so they were easy pickings, since they would have to use their teeth to fire. Righty, lifted his head and gun, BANG, the bullet went through his eye and out the back of his head. I cocked the rifle again, the third one was playing smart, but he wasn't smart enough. I left my sniper on the ground and levitated the colt out of its holster and slowly crawled my way towards the log he was hiding behind,

"Shit, shit, shit, I'm so dead I'm-" I blew his head off before he could finish, but it wasn't over.

There was a loud,CRACK and the dirt exploded beside me.

"SHIT!" I yelled as I dove behind the log with the corpse.

I gagged when I saw the corpse, his blood painted the log with a few pieces of brains, here and there. I checked my E.F.S, there were ten targets on the other side of the log. I quickly pulled up the map on my pipbuck, the closest shelter was the stable, about a mile run. I turned to see an old barn,

"It has to be in there," I told myself as I stared at the worn down building.

I could make it, I just had to run in a straight, CRACK, the wood above me exploded,

"I can't believe I'm doing this" I said and jumped out of cover and ran as fast as I could towards the barn.

CRACK, BANG BANG, CRACK, they all opened fire on me as I ran. I was half way when a bullet pierced my flank,

"GAH" I yelped, but I kept running. My flank was in pain as I charged through the two barn doors and right into the stable. I stopped at the control panel and pulled the lever down. An orange light flashed as the mechanism worked its way to sealing the door. There was a large BANG as the door sealed, leaving me in the pitch black darkness of the stable.

Chapter 3

THE PRESENT.

"alright, I'm going to stop here for a second, kids. I should probably explain who I was at this age. Now, after I killed that last group of raiders, word got out that a pony had taken on ten raiders and won. Well, I hadn't known about it yet and well...I had been searching for Jack and the remaining stable ponies. Unfortunately, after about three years I never found them and well...gave up, but during my search, I had found a hooded cloak and had killed a couple more raiders with my new found weapons. Soon after, I ran into a slaver party with slaves, I killed the slavers and freed the slaves, and during the attack no pony saw me. This is where I earned my nickname, the ghost of the wasteland. When I had found out what every pony was calling me, I decided to make it my job to protect the innocent without my identity being known. Yes, I know it was easy becoming that, but believe it or not, raiders and slavers are stronger than they look. Anyways, should I continue?"

THE PAST.

CLINK

I swung my colt in the direction of the noise, why out of all places had I chosen this place to hide. After I had sealed the stable door, I turned on the lantern spell in my pipbuck. Yet, one of the only other uses that I used on it.

"FUCK CELESTIA IN THE ASS, THAT HURTS!" I yelled, gripping on to my now bandaged hind leg. The bullet had torn through my leg and now there were two holes in it.

CLANG

I pulled my colt around with my magic, where the hell was the bitch that was stalking me. I needed to get away from here, and fast. I looked around the room for any movement, none. I looked around one more time, for safe measures, the gray walls had been turned red and black with dried blood. To this day, I still wondered what happened here, the bones of dead ponies were also scattered around the room. I moved slowly and cautiously, throughout the room to the first hallway, I needed to find the clinic. It would have stimpaks, unused hopefully, and then I could get out of here, that or liberate this place of its horrid creatures. I shrugged,

"If I'm stuck here might as well make it comfy and less evil," I snickered at my remark, like that was ever going to happen.

I'd probably run out of ammo then be eaten alive, first.. I sighed as I finally made it to the entrance to hallway one,

"here we go," I pushed my body against the wall and pricked my ear, listening for any movement around the corner.

CA ClINK, CA CLINK,

Hoof-steps? Why were there, my face turned pale. There was a ghoul pack in here, but how did they,

hold on, blood on the walls, no guns around the pony bones, shit why hadn't I noticed,

I took a deep breath, I had to do this, I would rather die fighting, than by infection. I turned the corner and nearly gagged at the sight of it, this thing had taken a beating, for it was bruised everywhere. It stumbled, clumsily back and forth, an assault rifle strapped on it's rotting shoulder. It hadn't noticed me yet, good the easier the better, I took aim and fired one bullet through its skull, brains splattered against the wall behind it. The abomination dropped, dead, there was no way that shot was unheard. I ran through the halls, twisting, turning, and killing every ghoul in my path, until I came to stop in front of the door labeled,

"CLINIC" in all caps, I tried to look for anymore ghouls in the window, but it was smudged.

"Well, surprise it is," I whispered to the little pony inside my head.

I opened the door, it sliding up with a robotic, creaking noise. I stepped in and gagged at the smell of death and decay,

"sweet Celestia, that reeks," I gasped for fresh air and scrunched my muzzle as I entered the room.

I looked around, the beds were covered with bloodied body bags. I tried counting them all but there were too many of them to count. The walls were also covered in blood, it didn't surprise me. All of the cabinets were open, with three unused stimpaks in one of them. I sighed with relief and walked to the cabinet.

This should and better work, I thought, using my magic to lift and stab the needle into my injured foreleg. It felt good to have the nanobots put my muscle and skin back together. I sighed and ran my hoof through my mane. I turned and sat, laying my back against the wall and pulling an apple out of the unusually, less damaged, saddlebags,

"might as well hide here and let the-" I froze,

did that body bag just move? I slowly put the apple back in my bags and crept my way over to the body bag, my colt, cocked and ready. I moved my hoof to prod it when it shook and made me jump back in response. I took a deep breath and pushed myself back to the bag. please, don't be a radroach, I'm really not in the mood to blow my hiding spot! I pleaded in my head, as I stuck a hoof on the half open zipper. I inhaled and pulled the rest of the zipper down, tensing up for the jump, but it never came. Instead of a bug there was a full skinned filly, she was shaking, tensed, her eyes squeezed shut. She must have thought I was ghoul,

Shit, what do I do, I can't just leave her here, especially in her condition I looked her up and down, she hadn't eaten in days by the looks of it, and her cream colored coat was a pale white from sickness, and probably fear. I needed to get her out of here at least, than she could find food on her own and...no, I had a better idea. I needed to nurse her back to health and than take her some where safe, it wouldn't be right saving her than leaving her out there alone, especially at her age.

"H-hey...um...you, I'm...I'm not a ghoul, you don't have to be-" she didn't let me finish, as she jumped into my chest and started sobbing. She put her weak hooves around my neck and gripped it,

"P...please...g...get me...out of here" she looked up at me with pleading, teared up, blue eyes. I couldn't help but smile and run a hoof through her brown mane.

"Let's get you out of here, kid," I said, pulling her on to my back, under my cloak,

"Hold on tight," I said before opening the door and charging through the stable, hopping over the bodies of the dead ghouls as I went. It was when I came to the stable door I skidded to a halt.

In between us and the giant, steel door, was a pack of ghouls, waiting for us. One ghoul, stepped through the crowd of ghouls, until he was in front. He grinned with yellow, and missing teeth,

"So nice of you to join us here for dinner, pony," this one was definitely the leader of them, their king.

"Oh, well I'm sorry, but we are out of pony, fine sir," I mocked, in a rich-like tone, my own grin forming on my face.

He snarled, "dispose of him" he waved a hoof at us and turned to walk away, but he didn't get far and his head exploded, his brains flying all over his minions.

The ghouls screeched before opening fire on us with their guns, I dove for cover and hid behind a turned over vending machine. I turned my head to the lump under my cloak,

"Stay down, okay, I'm going to have to deal with these lunatics, before we go," the lump moved in response, which I guessed was a nod.

I peeked my head and assault rifle out of cover, a little risky, but these things were terrible shots, it was very unlikely-

CLANG

FUCK that was close! I thought pulling my head down as a bullet ricocheted and flew over my head.

I peeked back over and used S.A.T.S., time slowing down once again. I looked through my targets until I came across a ghoul with a plasma rifle. How he got it, I never knew, but what I did know, is that, that thing would disintegrate me in seconds if it made contact. I had to get that gun without getting me and/or the little filly shot. I chose to disarm the ghoul, now named Kill Joy, and targeted the gun and face.

"Here we go" I whispered, before firing S.A.T.S., and time moved at full speed again.

Both shots hit their mark, the gun soared into the air, Kill Joy's head still connected, blood pooling from his dismembered neck. I jumped into the air reaching for the gun, bullets flying pass me as I stretched for it. My mouth made contact, a squishing sound followed, it was after the noise that I realized I had grabbed the head instead of the gun itself. I dropped the head and grabbed the gun right as a bullet blew up Kill Joy's head. I jumped into the cover of a couple of barrels and shivered, I had the taste of dead pony in my mouth, I guessed that was it, and the brains now covered my snout, sending an intoxicating smell into it. My eyes watered at the smell, the filly must've smelt it too, because there was a muffled squeak under my cloak. I couldn't help but smile, but it disappeared when I realized we were still in a firefight. I turned my head to make sure she was okay. I sighed with relief, thank Celestia she wasn't shot during the event.

I levitated the plasma rifle with my magic and prepared myself for battle. I turned to the lump under my cloak,

"Hey kid if me or you don't make it through this...um...can I have your name" I said trying to give a reassuring smile,

"A...Appleseed" she squeaked, a slight tinge of a southern accent to her voice, as a bullet flew behind my turned head and made contact with a barrel.

"Alright...uh...Appleseed, can you get off my back so I can handle the monsters on the other side please," I asked,

She nodded, slid off my back, went to a safe corner, and ducked down. I nodded at her safe position and jumped out of the safety of the barrels rolling and firing the gun in the direction of the ghouls. I looked at what damage I had done, I had turned three out of seven of them into ash. The others, more scared than angry, charged towards me, their guns, now clubs, raised in their teeth. I fired the last five rounds towards them, three made their marks. One came into contact with me, swinging the club into my side with a loud, SMACK, I winced, but held my ground and the club with my magic. I pulled the gun out of his mouth ,some rotting teeth with it and swung it down on to his head, putting him into a daze.

I charged in him, our heads made contact and he fell back on to his back, motionless. I felt my blood boil, he was only unconscious I could finish him right there, that is until I heard a whimper. I turned my head to see, Appleseed staring at me in horror with the gun raised over my head. I felt my blood turn cold as I realized, I was about to kill an unconscious, unarmed, pony. Yes, he might of tried to kill me and the filly, but he was only trying to survive. In the end, sympathy won, and I grabbed the filly, heading for the control panel, when I froze again. Was that alicorn still up there, waiting for me,

"Um, stay here for a second, I need to check to see if it's ok for us to leave," I told her, she nodded and backed up behind the barrels we hid behind during the fight.

I slid the lever down and the orange lights came on, and the door slid open. I walked outside, cautiously sweeping my assault rifle left and right. I put it down when nothing happened,

"Alright, it's safe to come out!" I called down, when I didn't hear her hoof-steps I became worried.

Then my eyes widened, I had left her in there with the ghoul. I charged down into the stable to find the ghoul, standing close to Appleseed.

"APPLESEED!"

Chapter 4: UPDATE in authors note

"APPLESEED!" I yelled as I charged towards the ghoul, the butt of my gun raised to a position, meant to hit it into the creatures skull.

I jumped towards it raising the gun higher, so I could strike it's head harder. I started to bring the gun down, when Appleseed's face appeared, her hooves raised in a defensive position. I swung my body and the gun right, barely dodging the two ponies, and landing, in a heap, into a group of barrels.

damn Celestia to Tartarus that filly is going to be a pain in my ass, isn't she?

I jumped up and tried to aim for the ghoul's head, but Appleseed kept putting her face in the way,

"Kid get out of the way, so I can kill the thing!" I ordered, still trying to get a head in the sight

"No, ah'm not moving until you hear me out," she said, sticking her head in the way again,

"Fine! I give up, tell me why you won't let me shoot it," I put my gun down, finally giving up and waited for her to explain,

"First of all, she wasn't trying to bite mah head off, she was just hurt, so ah helped her bah giving her the last of mah painkillers, and-"

"Wait, wait, wait, YOU DID WHAT!" I yelled at her, almost wanting to put a bullet in her small skull,

"She was forced to attack us, or else they would've killed her, but now she is queen of her pack, because you killed the strongest of the pack, and now for healing her, she is willing to help us when we need her, so now we have an ally, now do you understand," she told me, standing on her hind legs and swirling her fore legs around each other.

I sighed, she was right about one thing, I did understand, but that still didn't mean the ghoul would turn on us,

"Look kid, just because you saved some pony, doesn't mean they will return the favor, so from now on, ask me before you do something like that again," I explained, letting her know one of the ground rules as well.

She nodded and turned to the ghoul,

"See, told you he'd leave you alone after some convincing," this comment earned her a glare from me,

"So, ah was wondering, what do we call ya?"

"Just call me, Carrottop, it's who I was before the megaspells,"

"Great, ah'm Appleseed, and this is... aheh, ah'm sorry I never got-"

"Bulletmoon, my name's Bulletmoon" I interrupted, a quick nod followed,

"It is good to meet you two, and I'm guessing you would like to leave safely, so I-"

"No, I think we're safe, so we will just be going, if we need you we'll call you on channel nine, since you guys probably have an unused, perfectly fine, radio, so...um...bye," and with that, Appleseed and I left the vault.

----------------------------

We walked across the wasteland, well more like I was, Appleseed was riding on my back again.

good thing I didn't wear a battle saddle or this would have been worse, I thought as I trudged across the dirt.

After we had left, I made one more perimeter check, for safe measures, and Appleseed walked for a short distance, before nearly collapsing from lack of certain things. Now here we were, about an hour later, still trotting, silently, across the land to my home. I decided to break the silence,

"So, tell me about your stable life, were you alone, did you have a family, or what?" I asked, a little curious, hopefully a certain phrase wouldn't come to my head if this went wrong.

"Well duh, of course ah had a family, ah lived with mah momma, papa, and big sister, Rosepetal. Me and her was like two peas in a pod, except she didn't have the accent, and was nothing like our momma or papa. She was like mah great, great, great, great grandma, Lovetap, looked like her too. Except the ribbons on the her hair were green instead of red. She is also has cream colored like me, and she has brown hair-"

"Has?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow,

"Oh," she said sadly, before letting her head drop down to stare at my back,

"She might still be alive,"

"What do you mean, everypony in the-"

"Yes, everypony in the stable is dead, but about three months before the massacre, the overmare sent a group of ponies to start a civilization out here, mah sister was one of those ponies. We used to keep in touch with a radio in mah room, until the massacre two weeks ago, she probably thinks the radio broke, I miss her an awful lot, but I don't have any way to-"

"I have a radio at my house you could use it to contact her,"

"You do! Oh thank you thank you thank you, Bulletmoon!" She jumped off my back and started jumping up and down, excitedly.

Appleseed was for the first time after the massacre, excited, but the stable had been abandoned for way longer than two weeks. It was going to break her heart when she found out how long it had been.

maybe I should tell her before she talks to her sister, I didn't know what I was going to do,

"Hey, kid...uh...there's something you should know before we contact your sister,"

"Ah can't wait to talk to Rosepetal, she will be so happy to talk to me again, you are like the best friend ah never had, now what is it you wanted to tell me,"

I gulped, best friend, I didn't think I could have a friend, this was going to be harder than I thought,

"That...you are going to have to eat something first, you're as skinny as a twig without leaves" I couldn't tell her how long it has been it would kill her.

She smiled, "okay...ah'll eat, but after ah'm going to talk to mah sister, and we are gonna catch up on the past two weeks"

I laughed nervously, "aheh, yeah"

After a couple of minutes, she stopped jumping and got back on my back.

"So, how far are we from your house,"

"Not much farther, it's just over this hill, than we will just have to walk about a half-mile, and we're there,"

"YAY" she squeaked, she was about to jump off, when she realized how hyper she was and situated herself.

We continued up the small hill,

hopefully, those alicorns didn't burn down my home I thought as we reached the top,

"There it is," I pointed out to the makeshift building at the bottom of the hill,

"It's not much but, it's shelter," I told Appleseed, whose face changed to a, I'm-not-gonna-laugh face.

"What, I made it myself, it's harder than it looks" I told her, realizing I just said that and that I've talked more than I ever expected to.

She shrugged and fixed her face, before we started our way down. I still wondered how I was going to take care of her. I had no experience, and I had lived alone for so long, I didn't even know I could speak for that long. Hopefully, her sister would want me to take her to where ever she was. We finished our decent and started the half-mile journey to finish the journey, we'd get there by the time the sun set on the horizon, and we did.

-----------------------------------

I opened the door and stepped into the darkness,

"Woah it's really dark in here," Appleseed said, blinking her eyes multiple times to adjust,

"Yeah, no kidding," I had been outside longer, so it was much darker than what she was adjusting to.

After adjusting, Appleseed jumped off my back and went looking for the radio, which I had to stop her so I could cook dinner and she would eat,

"Hey, not so fast, you eat first," I told her putting a hoof in front of her,

This earned a sigh from her as she turned towards what she thought was the kitchen, I stopped her again,

"Kitchen's that way," I pushed her head to the left to face the kitchen,

"Aheh, I knew that" she laughed, nervously, before walking to the kitchen,

"Nice try," I whispered to her as her tail disappeared into the room.

I made my way towards the kitchen, a frown forming on my face. How was I going to tell her that she's been hiding for years instead of two weeks? Another thing lingered in my head, how did she survive without food or water, did she find food and water? I pushed the thoughts to the back of my head, this was a time for cooking, not a time for moping. I puffed out my chest for a second, before realizing I was acting childish,

"Wow it's been awhile since I've done that" I told myself, it wasn't until later that I realized I was changing.

Chapter 5: Changing

"I'm sorry, I hadn't told you kid, I just didn't want you to find out by a complete stranger," I told the now crying filly,

After a very talkative dinner, I fulfilled my promise and took Appleseed to the, not surprisingly, dusty radio. I watched as she worked her way to it and started to turn the knobs and mess with the thing. I was surprised to find, she knew how to work it,

must have been taught by either her mother, father, or possibly still alive, sister,

I refocused myself and watch her flip through the channels until she came across channel three point four. She than leaned forward and spoke into the microphone,

"Hello...hello, Rosepetal, you there. S...sis...are you sti-"

"H...Hello, who...who is this," a feminine voice interrupted, which sounded like she had been crying,

"R...Rosepetal-" Appleseed let out a blinding grin, "-it's me, Appleseed," a long silence followed,

did she-

"Dusty, you know better than to get a filly to act as my sis-"

"N-no sis, it's actually me, why would you-"

"DUSTY MCCORMICK, DON'T MAKE ME GET YOUR-"

"ROSEPETAL, it's me Appleseed, your...your sister...why did you...why did you yell at me," another silence followed.

Soon after, I the silence was destroyed by the sound of sniffling,

"A...Appleseed...is...is it really you," the voice whispered, a quick sniff followed,

Appleseed looked at me, a confused expression plastered on her face,

"Yeah sis, it's me, w...why are you crying," I started to sweat,

why am I nervous, I shouldn't care that a filly is about to be told something that could make her commit suicide, but oddly, I feel like I should-

"It...it has been so long since I had heard from you, and after Rustbucket went to get you I thought...I thought you were...oh thank Celestia you're okay,"

"Rosepetal, what do you mean long, it has only been two weeks, since ah-"

"You really don't know, do yah,"

"What do y-"

"Its been almost seven months since we lost con-"

"Wha...what do you mean, seven months I...I counted the...the days,"

"Kid," I whispered to the filly,

"I...I'm so-"

"SAVE IT, YOU HEARTLESS PIECE OF SHIT!" She interrupted me,

I almost blew a fuse at the comment but I kept my cool and opened my mouth.

"I-"

"Appleseed...who...who are you talking to?" Rosepetal asked her sister, curiously,

I looked at Appleseed and shook my head as she turned her head to me.

"Wha...what do I-" sniff, "-call you?" she tried to whisper but I believe Rosepetal heard her say it,

"Sweetie...what is the pony you're with, wearing?" She asked, acknowledging that she had heard Appleseed,

"A cloak with a hood on it, why," Appleseed had given away who I was,

"Appleseed, I want you to get out of there and away from that pony, okay, we-"

"Why would I try to run away from the pony who saved me and is letting me talk to you right-"

"I DON'T CARE-" Rosepetal sighed, "-look, just...just get out of there, and start going back to the stable, I will send a patrol up there to-"

"No!" Appleseed blurted out,

"Ah'm fine here, it's actually really hard to walk, ah...ah'm too weak, he told me he would make me feel better than he..." She trailed off, she realized that she didn't know what I was going to do with her.

She turned her head, a nervous smile on her face,

what are you up to kid, I looked at her, more curious than I have ever been,

She turned her head back to the radio,

"Why can't he just take me to yah," my eyes widened at the idea,

NO, that is the-

"WORST possible idea you could have ever thought of, Appleseed," Rosepetal finished,

"What's a matter with him taking me to where ever you are,"

"He's a MANIAC, Appleseed, he could kill you and send your remains here to threaten us, he could-"

"Why would he kill me when he just saved me and is going to help me get better,"

The room fell silent, before there was a sigh,

"I can't believe I'm doing this, Mr. Ghost,"

I looked up, and knew where this was going,

"Do you think you could bring my sister to New Ponyville, UNharmed, it'll be worth your time,"

I wasn't interested in money, I never even went into a town, why would I-

"I know you aren't looking for caps, but it will give you a better reputation here,"

That was something I could use, but the trip was still four days, not including detours and other problems, I shrugged, this would be a picnic. Appleseed turned her head towards me again, this time a blank expression on her face. I nodded, which led to another blinding grin,

"He said yes,"

"Oh, thank you Mr. Ghost...but may I ask, will we be able to-"

I walked up to Appleseed and shook my head, we wouldn't be able to keep in touch, unless we found a safe place. Appleseed sighed before saying,

"Sorry, but he said no to whatever you were going to ask,"

"Oh...um...ok, well I better let you sleep, you're going to need it,"

"Ok, goodnight Rosepetal,"

"Good-"

"Wait,"

"What is it sis,"

"Can you sing to me, The Sun Will Always Rise,"

"Not tonight Appleseed, you need to rest, I will sing it to you when you get here, okay"

"Oh...okay...um...goodnight,"

"Goodnight, Appleseed" the radio clicked off, and before I knew it, Appleseed had jumped into my chest, crying, making me feel even worse.

I looked down at the sobbing filly, caressing her brown mane as my chest fur became soaked with tears. I knew what I had to do, tomorrow I will nurse her back to health, than, the day after, I would carry her until she felt better. She would than walk the rest of way, happy, excited, and healthy. That would be the plan unless things happened. I shook my head, coming out of my head and realizing, everything was quiet. I looked down, the filly had cried herself to sleep,

huh, that was...quick, now, where do I put her, I looked around until I was face to face with my bed.

That would have to do. I slowly picked her up with my magic and lay her on the bed, moving the covers aside as I did so. I was about to put the blankets on her when she spoke,

"Will you lay down with me, until I fall asleep, Bulletmoon,"

I looked at her, and was about to move forward when instead, I moved back. That was to big a step for me,

"Not tonight, kid, I just met you, maybe when we get going, okay,"

She sighed, "okay," and with that I covered her up and went to my living room, this was going to be a long night.

---------------------------------

"wake up"

I gasped awake to the voice of someone that I had never heard before. It was a feminine voice, it sounded so soothing yet, mysterious. I threw the covers off of me and stepped on to the wooden floor of the living room.

why am I here again? I thought, the events from the day before, flooding back into my head,

I jumped at the sound of metal clanking against wood,

what the-

"-HELL is going on in here" I asked, stomping into the kitchen, just abit afraid of what was going on,

I gasped at the celestial sight in front of me. On the table, a couple of badly shaped pancakes sat on a plate, just waiting to be eaten. I started my way to them, when a hoof pushed into my chest. I looked down to see Appleseed, glaring at me,

"What" I asked, the smell, making my mouth water,

"Where ah come from, we eat together, as a family,"

family, I haven't heard that word in years, I brought my head down in despair, not only was I hungry, but the word brought back memories, of when I was younger,

------THE PAST------

"mommy! mommy! where's daddy going?"

My mother giggled, "he's going to work dear, where else would he go,"

Little me shrugged, "I don't know, to hide from Mr. Cranky Faucet,"

My mother gasped, "is that what daddy calls his boss?"

I nodded, "yeah, he does it all the time,"

"Well then, we're gonna have a long family talk with your father..."

Father...Father...Father

------THE PRESENT------

I sighed, "fine...you win, I'll wait for my food, than after we're done, I'm gonna train you on how to use a weapon," I said pointing a hoof at a knife, stabbed into the countertop,

"Okay," she sighed,

"Hey, if I'm taking you home, you're going to carry you own weight, got it kid," she rolled her eyes,

"Hey don't sass me kid, or else I may just get you for it," I gave her a playful glare,

"Will stop with the kid, please, you know my name," I shrugged,

"It's shorter than Appleseed, so get use to it...kid," she snorted before returning to her cooking.

------------------------

We stood outside, a wooden knife in Appleseed's mouth and a wooden knife that I had in my magic,

"Alright kid, rule number one of hoof-to-hoof combat, be ready to block your weak points, while attacking the enemy's. Now you are an earth pony, which means you have to learn how to block your throat,"

I charged towards her my knife up in the air, when I got close I swung down, my knife just stopping at her neck,

"Every time you swing, your neck is wide open, you have to learn to retaliate faster than your opponent can swing, got it," she nodded and swung at me, surprisingly fast,

I parried it and put the knife to her throat,

"See, although I parried your attack, which you usually will never be able to retaliate, your speed almost got the best of me, plus your attack surprised me, nev-" she cut me off with another swing, I ducked and pushed my head into her chest, knocking her on her back.

I than jumped on top of her and stuck the knife to the base of her throat. I leaned in to her ear and whispered,

"We have got a lot of work to do,"

Chapter 6: The Monster Inside Me.

We gasped for air, our training session, coming to a close. After breakfast, I took Appleseed outside for training and well after ten hours, we were about to collapse. Appleseed was a quick learner, for the most part, she wasn't very strong, so she couldn't wear a battle saddle, but she could hold a small pistol. She was really smart, and even for me, fast. Of course the only thing she said after I had asked was,

"Ah got it from mah sister," and all I could do was agree,

Now here we were, ending our session with a full on attack from yours truly,

"Y...you just gonna...just gonna stand there...or...or are yah going to...going to fight," Appleseed challenged, I had to stop this or else she was going to pass out,

"N...nope...you...you win," she looked surprised,

"I...I do," I nodded, and released a small smile.

She gasped at first than the most deafening sound I heard rang through my ears. It wasn't until I realized it was her scream, that something bad was happening. I felt myself being smacked in the ribs by something metal, making me groan in pain and collapse onto my side. My vision blurred as I tried to find Appleseed, who was still screaming, but now I could hear my name and than a cackling laugh from above me,

"HAHAHA, didn't think I'd get the drop on you ghosty boo, HAHAHA, OH WILL YOU SHUT HER UP ALREADY," the voice yelled, a loud SMACK followed, and the screaming stopped, replaced by a quiet whimpering.

Fortunately, this made my vision clear and I got good look at the pony on top of me. The raider had a red mohawk mane and had a couple of piercings in his nose and bottom lip, the color of his mane going with his scarred, beige, body,

"Oh, so surprised to be jumped by us, hmmmm, or is it that you care for that filly so much that you got distracted, lets find out-" he gripped my head with his hooves and forced me to look at a horrible sight, "-hit her," the pony on top of Appleseed brought his hoof up and slammed it into her face, making her groan,

I squirmed, trying to get free, at first, than I remembered the hidden revolver, under my cloak. I squirmed a bit more, just able to get my revolver free. I looked at the pony on Appleseed, he had a pair of wire cutters to Appleseed's throat. There was only one way I was going to get her home,

"Hit her again, Meatstorm," he slammed his hoof into her again, this time her stomach,

The pony on top of me grinned and leaned in,

"Why don't we see what happens when you split a small filly in her lower area, shall we. Meatstorm, go ahead, you know what to do," I felt something in me snap,

I pulled the gun free and fired all six rounds into Meatstorm's body, killing him, probably with the first bullet,

"YOU SON OF BITCH," the pony spit on my and kicked the gun out of my reach, struggling to hold me down as he did so.

I felt my blood go red hot, but my body was still weak from whatever I did before all of this. I screamed at him, throwing as much force as I could to throw him off,

"I KILL YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT, I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" I screamed, no longer in control.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out except a screech of pain. He fell on to his side and screamed again, I in the, mean time, stood up. He stopped screaming and started to crawl away, a blood trail following behind him. At first, I had wondered why, but that thought bypassed as I saw the wire cutters,

PERFECT I smiled a toothy grin and edged my way towards him, he tried to crawl faster, but it was to late.

I took hold of the wire cutters, than felt a pair of eyes looking at me. I turned my head and remembered the filly that was apart of this. I grit my teeth together, some control coming back,

"Kid...go wait...in the house,"

"But,"

"GO INSIDE NOW!" I ordered, no longer in control.

I turned my head back to the dying raider, my magic still gripping the wire cutters. I heard the door close to my home. I gave another grin earning a sentence from the...the...thing,

"Ple...please make it quick," he begged,

"Oh but why should I, you always thought it was funny watching a pony get raped and tortured," I asked him, my voice sounding more evil,

w-what's going on, I can still see, but I can't...hrgn...move,

"Please, don't...wait PLEASE-"

my magic gripped the handle tightly,

"-NO, PLEASE, PLEASE," I laughed maniacally,

"Oh but I want to...and I'm going to," and than there was a loud screech, as I ripped out the wire cutters,

I slowly put the bloody metal to his screaming mouth,

"Shhshhshh, don't make me cut out your tongue and break out your teeth," he closed his mouth and started to whisper,

"Please, please, please, please," over and over,

"That's better," I told him, raising the cutters up high,

no, stop...why can't I stop my own-

"NO...WAIT," I brought them down as hard as I could into his shoulder,

He screamed as I ripped the cutters out again, some blood flying out of the wound and landing on my chest. I watched myself drive the weapon in and out of him, blood spilling on to me. Even as his screams died down, I kept stabbing his corpse, every ounce of blood flying on to me. By the time I had come back to my senses, it was raining. The blood had already dried into a black crust.

why didn't I stop myself, I started at the corpse, it no longer looked like a pony, just a furry, red, mess. I felt tears start to crawl down my face.

I rose the cutters and brought them down one final time. Now I knew there was something in me, something that would destroy the innocent. I would have to learn how to control it, before I did something I would regret even more. I pulled the wire cutters from the corpse and threw them as far as I could, the corpse soon followed.

-------------------------

I stared at the door of my home, a probably scared filly on the other side. I looked from the door to myself, hopefully, Appleseed would think it was mud,

yeah, if she isn't scared, a voice added,

I sighed, -lets get this over with-and slowly pushed the door open.

I poked my head in and looked around, the only light on happened to be the "radio room?" I believe Appleseed called it. I could just make out two voices, one of them being Appleseed. I felt myself almost collapse, she was telling her sister,

"Okay, don't jump into conclusions, for all you know, they could be catching up," I was right, for Appleseed stepped out of the room and turned my way,

Her expression changed when she saw me,

"Hey, it's just mud kid, you don't have to be scared," I lied, and she had the right to be scared,

"No, i-it's not that...your cloak...did you take it off," I soon realized what she meant as I looked behind me at my navy blue fur instead of my cloak,

I turned to face her with a small blush in my cheeks,

"I can't really keep it from you that I feel...naked," and she collapsed of laughter,

"Oh haha really funny, now if you'll excuse me I've gotta go clean up," I started to walk away when the laughing stopped,

"Wait, mah sister wants to talk to you," I sighed as I changed direction,

This was going to be a long talk.

Chapter 7: The Journey Begins.

"Alright, Appleseed you ready to go," I called Into my bedroom where she was grabbing my battle saddle.

I should have went in there to help, but she insisted. I heard hoofsteps and something being dragged across the wood floor. The door finally opened and Appleseed appeared with the handle of the saddle in her mouth, a makeshift smile on her face,

"Took you long enough," I said jokingly, she said something back but it was too muffled to make out,

I took the saddle from her and threw it onto my back, the weight would have been unbearable if it weren't for how many times I had used it. I remembered back to the conversation with Rosepetal, luckily Appleseed hadn't told her about what had happened those few hours ago. She just wanted us to leave early, I wished I could've known why. Finally, after a good hour or two, I had decided we would leave early, so Appleseed wouldn't see me like that again. I pushed the thought to the back of my head as Appleseed jumped under my hood and onto my saddle, where she would once again be the lump.

"The Journey is about four days, give or take with what could happen, so you will be walking from time to time, alright," she nodded in agreement, her cream colored head and brown mane sticking out of the hood,

She grinned,

"Ah can't wait to get home and see mah sister, she will be so happy," I smirked and stared ahead,

hopefully we can avoid any trouble, especially all of the bounty hunters after my ads, not to mention that alicorn,

-----------------------

"Hey kid, wake up," I whispered as I nuzzled a sleeping Appleseed awake,

"Ah don't wanna get up Rosepetal, leave me alone," I pulled back and sighed,

Appleseed had been on my back all day,

talk about a pony that makes a commitment, I snickered at the thought,

But hey, she was only a filly, couldn't really blame her. We had been walking with no breaks, meaning I had to pass water and food back to her and I didn't get any, so not only was I tired, I was hungry. The sun was also setting, so I had to find a semi-safe place to camp, which happened to be a small, abandoned cave. It was safe as in I wouldn't be sleeping, I didn't sleep much anyways, so no biggie, but other than that, it was unsafe. I pushed my muzzle into Appleseed's side again,

"Wake up kid," she groaned and tried to roll over in response,

I moved in the opposite direction of her roll, sending her to the hard rock below,

SMACK

"HEY, why didn't you catch me!" She glared at me as she stood up,

"I tried to wake you up but you wouldn't so when you rolled, I let you fall," I told her, a small smirk on my face,

"Well that was mean," she said, rubbing her side,

"You're going to learn that I'm not patient when it comes to a long trip, especially when I'm carrying another pony's weight," I glared at her before turning towards the cave entrance,

"Get some more sleep kid, because tomorrow, you're walking," I started towards the entrance,

She yawned,

"What about you, aren't you gonna sleep," I stopped,

"I don't sleep, I...I haven't since I left my stable," I shivered at the thought of that day with the raiders,

"You...you lived in a stable,"

"Why are you so surprised, every pony with skin on 'em lived in a stable, some just couldn't keep control of themselves after they left,"

"Its just...I thought that because the raiders had been out here for so long they became crazy," I turned,

"Everypony had to start somewhere even the raiders," I shook the thoughtlessly before turning to the outside,

"Just get some sl-"

"Why aren't you with your stable folk," I froze,

-----------------------

"YOU LIKE SEEING YOUR MOTHER GETTING RAPED, HUH BOY, HUH,"

"MOM!"

--------------------------

I shook my head,

"We won't be discussing that, now get some sl-"

"Bu-" she interrupted,

"NO..." I sighed and looked at the ground

"Look...just get some sleep okay, we have a long day tomorrow," and with that I turned and sat at the entrance of the cave,

thinking, why was I taking this filly home, all I had to do before was care for myself and now I was promising that I would protect the filly.

I sighed, this was going to be a long night.

----------------------

I stood outside the cave entrance, watching the sun rise into the sky. I yawned and turned my head to see Appleseed shaking the dust out of her coat,

"Ah need a bath, do you think we have any-"

"We aren't wasting water, you can take a bath when you're home," I interrupted sending a small glare in her direction,

"Well somepony's in a bad mood" she mumbled, trying to be quiet,

"Just pack up and put it on my back, you are walking today,"

"Yeah, yeah, Ah know, just give me a sec," I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the outside world,

I sighed, why was I doing this again. I jumped at the sudden weight on my shoulders,

"Ah'm ready, but it doesn't look like you are," she looked me up and down,

"I'm fine now let's go," she looked at me one more time before shrugging,

I started forward, focusing on the path ahead. The first day we were lucky to have not run into trouble, but today we would be in raider territory, which meant we would most likely run into a patrol.

------------------------

I looked at the clock on my Pipbuck, it was about, three P.M. we had started walking around seven, which meant we would be coming up on the markers that meant raider territory. I looked at Appleseed, who had a smile on her face as she trot along side me,

"Hey we are about to hit raider territory, so jump under my cloak and don't, I repeat, don't bring your head out of my cloak until I say got it," she understood and immediately pushed her self on my back and under my cloak,

"Are you hanging on tight," the lump moved up and down,

I nodded and Sprint forward, if there was one thing we had to do, it was get out of there before nightfall.

------------------------------

I slowed to a walk as the first marker came into view, an earth pony head mounted to a wooden spear, the sharp tip coming out of the head making it resemble a unicorn. I shuddered at the sight, I had seen them before but it still made uneasy. I walked up to the spear, the smell making me and Appleseed gag, I stood beside it and looked left and right, there were no figures, unless you count the dead trees and other markers, but no moving figures, not even a red beep on my EFS. I checked the the clock, three fifteen, I looked at what this place was called before the war, it didn't have one, instead the name sent a chill down my spine, Bloody Gulch. Raiders weren't the only things here, couldn't forget about hell hounds, that was one thing I didn't want to run in to. Hopefully, this would be like a stroll in the-

BANG BANG,

Two bullets flew to the ground behind,

SNIPER, I jumped for the nearest tree as another bullet hit the ground where I had been standing moments ago,

The lump moved around,

"KID, STAY DOWN AND DON'T MOVE," I jumped from behind the tree and bit the bit on my battle saddle, the assault rifles spraying bullets toward the source of the SNIPER, which happened to be one of the only buildings in the area, a small shack with most of the roof torn off,

Another bullet flew towards us, I tried to jump out of the way but I was to slow. I felt pain rip through my body as the bullet struck my knee. I fell to the ground, dazed, I soon felt something trying to push through me, but it couldn't. I slowly began to slip into unconsciousness, I felt my head throb and everything went black, the last thing I heard was a filly's voice calling my name.

Chapter 8

I awoke to the sound of a cackling pony,

"Wakey wakey ghosty, oh how pleased the king will be hehehaheh!" The voice howled with laughter,

I groaned and tried to stand, that is until I felt the leather straps holding me to whatever it was I was on. I pushed through my head to the last memory I had, gun shots, Appleseed calling my name, me blacking, wait...my eyes widened, Appleseed, I looked for the filly but I could only make out the raider pony and the small fire in the room plus a few chairs, cages, and a small table with my cloak and weapons on it,

"I must get the king and tell him that our guest is awake," the raider said, his voice a rough, high pitched sound,

I watched the raider leave before I started to squirm, trying to rip the straps off. As I pulled and stretched, I couldn't help but worry,

"Oh please be ok," I told myself, still struggling for freedom,

"Leaving, unnoticed is very rude, you know," I froze and turned my head to a faded, royal purple pony, a makeshift crown on his head,

"WHERE IS SHE," I yelled at what I was guessing, was the king, he looked at me confused,

"Who are you-" he froze, a smile forming on his face,

"-Do you mean the little filly who was beside you," my eyes widened, they knew about her which meant they had her,

"I swear if you laid a hoof on her I'll-"

"You'll what, kill me, you are in a very bad position to be threatening me ghost, but you should relax, she hasn't been found...yet-" what did he mean, yet, was she around here, did she escape,

"She will turn up...eventually, and it seems the only way to do that,"

-he picked up what looked like a branding tool in his mouth and slowly made his way to the fire-

"Is to bring pain to the one who took care of her," he placed the head into the fire, the metal turning a bright orange,

"Am I right Mr. The ghost," he started his way toward me, an evil grin forming on his face, indicating that he was a raider and not some civilized earth pony,

I struggled harder, my strength at its limit. I stopped struggling when his hoofsteps stopped,

"Now let's see how much this will-"

"KING, KING, KING," we both turned our heads to see two ponies gasping for breath,

"I thought I told you not interrupt my MEETINGS," he growled at the ponies, his voice no longer fancy,

"Yes, we know, but it's an emergency," the left one said, drool starting to leak from his mouth,

"Well, what is it then?" He asked, raising an eyebrow,

"Somepony has let all the prisoners out, they are heading this way as we speak," he dropped the brand,

"Well what are you standing around here for, go block up the entrance," he said, and charged through the two ponies, running for what was probably the blockades,

it took the two ponies to realize what had just happened before they charged after their leader. I took a sigh of relief and started my struggle,

Appleseed must have let the prisoners go, good thinking kid, I smirked as I heard a ripping sound and looked at the strap, raising an eyebrow in confusion,

The strap wasn't damaged, so what was it that-

"Psst, Bulletmoon, is that you," I turned my head to the voice,

"Appleseed?" I whispered back,

The filly appeared from the shadows, her fur and mane covered in soot and what looked like dirt,

"Yes, ah found you, thank Celestia you're ok, ah thought ah would have to reveal mahself if it wasn't for those prisoners escaping," she said before working on the straps, trying to get them undone,

"Yah know these straps aren't enchanted right, you could have easily undid them with magic," she said ripping off the last strap,

"Hey, he would've seen it and probably would have killed me, and what do you mean, I thought you let the prisoners free," I said and rolled off the table and on to my hooves,

"Nope, never did, and you say you would've been killed, but you took down ten raiders, unarmed,"

"How did you-" she held a hoof up and interrupted,

"Mah sister told me while you were outside in a pissy mood,"

"So that's what you talked about while I was outside," I said,

"Yep, now let's go before-"

"You aren't going any where," we turned our heads to see the king and the two raiders from before beside him, they all looked pissed, which meant they were going to attack us most likely,

"Let us go king, um whatever your name is, before somepony gets hurt," I told him trying to keep whatever monster inside of me from breaking free,

"NO, I'm tired of dealing with damn ponies getting away all the time, I am going to die tonight, and I will be taking that filly with me," he cackled before diving at Appleseed, I tried to jump in the way, but his two henchponies grabbed me and pushed me into the wall, holding me against it like shackles,

I watched as the king took hold of Appleseed and held her in a choke hold that in one move, he could snap her neck. He cackled furiously,

"Your lucky I don't have my knife or else, HAHAHA, I'D TEAR HER APART LIMB FROM LIMB, AHAHAHA," he stared me in the eyes, as if he was daring me to do something,

"What's your name little filly," he asked, still staring into my eyes,

I looked at Appleseed, she was shaking, tears were streaming down her face. I felt my blood start to boil again, I knew I was about to explode, I knew what was coming and there was no way I would be able to stop it, and I wasn't going to try,

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME," the raider yelled,

"A...Appleseed," and finally I snapped.

Chapter 9

APPLESEED'S POV.

I jumped back into the raider holding me as Bulletmoon lunged forward, teeth bared in a snarl. I had never seen him like this before.

wait, a memory flashed through my head,

There had been a time that I had seen him like this. It was when those raiders had attacked us during training, but this was worse, much worse.

The raiders pushed him back into the wall, fighting to not let him escape. After a few minutes, they froze, sighing in relief, it was as if Bulletmoon had given up. I looked at him and felt my fur stand on end, his mane was covering his eyes, but not the ear-to-ear grin that was plastered on his face,

"What the hell are you smiling about you stupid-" the pony's voice behind me was cut off by a cackle coming from the pony being held against the rock wall,

"What...WHAT THE HELL IS SO- you know what-" he turned to the fire and the brand beside it,

"-Why don't I discipline you," he then picked me up, a squeal escaping my lips as he threw me into the farthest corner in the room, a loud

SMACK, I groaned in pain and looked up to see the raider holding the brand, a red glow illuminating from it. I wanted to turn away but I couldn't, I had to stop this. I tried to move but, my body hurt from the impact. I couldn't look away as the brand was pushed onto Bulletmoon's cutie mark, a scream erupted from the pony as they burned his cutie mark off. I covered my ears and closed my eyes to block out the noise, the sight, but I couldn't block out the smell of burning flesh. I unplugged my ears to silence, and not a good silence either. I opened my eyes and looked at the most horrifying sight, I had ever seen.

In front of me I could see the brand still pressed into his cutie mark, blood making steam rise from the piece of iron as it trailed down it; I looked up at Bulletmoon's face and my blood went cold, his mane was no longer covering his eyes and they revealed a face of true insanity. His pupils were dilated, his smile a big toothy one, and finally his cackling, which had gotten louder,

"How...how is this-" the raider shook his head,

"-drop him," the other two ponies exchanged glances,

"DO IT," he yelled and they let go, letting him fall to the ground on all fours,

"Big hehehe, mistake," Bulletmoon whispered before moving as quick as lightning,

I didn't even have time to blink as Bulletmoon pushed one of the raiders that had been holding him against the wall, his hooves holding his throat,

"How about...I discipline you," the insane pony howled with laughter before leaning in and whispering something too quiet for me to hear in the raider's ear. I knew what he had said when the raider's face turned pale. Bulletmoon then pulled the raider up into the air and pulled him away from the wall with his magic before slamming him as hard as he could back into the rock. He did this several times, blood starting to appear on the wall in splats, the pony's head caving in and his body going limp. He continued his assault blood flying onto him, his toothy grin becoming bloodier by the second. He finally stopped and dropped the bloody corpse on the ground before turning to the other two, cackling as loud as he could. It sent shivers down my spine, this...this wasn't Bulletmoon, this wasn't the pony I knew,

"I'm out of here," the other raider said before running into the hall, Bulletmoon following him, at full speed,

After a few minutes, screams could be heard and then a loud banging sound followed. I looked at the final raider, the leader. He was hiding under the table where Bulletmoon had been strapped down, it was not a very good place. I listened for what felt like hours of screaming and banging before they both stopped. I froze and pushed myself back into the corner, a creeping silence lingered in the air as we waited for Bulletmoon to return,

is...is it over, I perked my ears and listened, but only silence followed,

I turned my head to see that the final raider was hiding under the table, shaking so furiously, I could hear it. I slowly moved from my corner but jumped back when a bloodied face appeared from the hall,

"Hello, anyone home," home lingered in my mind, that was something I would never get to see again,

"King, where are you, hehe," he looked around before setting his eyes on me,

"Oh don't worry little filly, I'm not going to hurt you...yet," he grinned that sam grin from before,

"Oh Mr. King, I'm really enjoying this game of hide n' seek, but-" he walked over to the raider's hiding place,

"-you aren't very good at it-" he looked under the table,

"-hi," the raider started screaming as Bulletmoon grabbed his mane with his teeth and dragged the struggling raider out and by the fire, the brand right beside it,

"Oh Celestia please no, don't...don't do this please Mr. Ghost, please," the raider pleaded his tears streaming down his face,

"Oh, but I want to play a game called, burn the head," Bulletmoon cackled, placing the brand in the fire with his magic, the metal turning orange once again,

that's a terrible name for a...wait why am I thinking this, I gotta do-

My thoughts were cut off by an ear splitting scream as Bulletmoon pressed the raider's head into the fire, the brand holding him there. I turned my head away from the gruesome sight, but the smell of burning flesh threw me off balance as it filled my nose. I felt myself get sick and was about ready to let, whatever food was left in me, come out when there was a loud POP and the smell faded, but still hung in the air enough to make anypony gag, except Bulletmoon. My fears returned when the sound of hoofsteps grew close. I gulped, and turned my head, eyes closed,

"You know it's rude to not look a pony in the eye," a voice said, extremely close,

His breath on my face, I slowly opened my eyes and jumped back at the sight of an insane smile,

"Oh don't be scared little filly, I just want to play with you, ahehehe" be giggled and stepped closer,

I pushed myself back into the corner, thinking of how I could bring the real Bulletmoon back, the one I cared for,

"Why don't we get-"

"WAIT!" I cried before he picked me up,

"Can't ah say a few words...please," he put a hoof to his chin and hummed,

"Um...no," he reached down to pick me up but I jumped out of his reach,

so that's how it's going to be, I jumped away from another grab,

"Bulletmoon, this isn't you, come back-"

"No, that...that isn't me," he jumped back and covered his ears,

"No Bulletmoon, that is you...this-" I gestured my hoof towards him,

"-isn't you, come back to the real world come back to me," he cried out in pain,

"No, I don't even know who you are...just STOP," he yelled, before collapsing to the ground, crying,

I stepped forward,

"Come back to Appleseed," his crying seized,

"A...Appleseed," I smiled in the back of my head, but I started to cry myself,

"Yes, Bulletmoon,"

________________________

BULLETMOON'S POV

I pushed the last body into the fire,

"And that's how we got here, ah guess," I had tried not to listen to most of the story, I had seen what had happened, I just couldn't stop myself, it was as if I had become someone else,

more like something, I thought to myself, as I turned to Appleseed,

"Well, I'm pretty sure we should let the ponies in who have probably been-" I was cut off by a loud crashing sound,

I jumped for my cloak and wrapped it around me, grabbing my weapons and placing them in their holsters and sheathed my only machete, the other one lost somewhere in the wasteland. I turned to the corridor just as the first pony ran in, a makeshift spear in her mouth, blood on the tip. I stood ready to fight when she and her followers stopped,

"What, where...where did they go," the pony asked her voice muffled by her spear

I looked at Appleseed,

"The ghost got 'em," she smiled,

"So let me get this straight-" the pony spit out her spear,

"-this ghost broke free and killed all of them," she didn't seem like she knew who I was, but a pony behind her did,

"Ease up Treethorn, he's the pony that took down ten raiders in seconds, he could take all thirty of us down in minutes-" he stepped forward and looked at Appleseed,

"-and that there must be a filly he saved," Treethorn looked at me, then Appleseed,

"Thank you ghost for helping us, but we can take the filly from here," she looked confident, but I shook my head no,

"He's taking me home," Appleseed told her,

"Well ain't that sweet, but I think we can pull her out of your mane now," Appleseed stepped behind me before speaking,

"The town wants him to bring me home, no pony else," Treethorn sighed,

"Well, maybe we can help with at least somethin'," I looked at Appleseed,

"Um...we are going to need a bit of food and water,"

"Alrighty then, let's get you some food," Treethorn said, a smile on her face,

____________________________

I looked at the map on my pipbuck, we hadn't been taken far, only a half-day journey and we would have been back where we had started. Unfortunately, that took time from out of our journey, so we would be traveling overnight to make up time. I looked at the head peeking out of hood,

"Your ready," she nodded and we set off to continue our journey,

As I walked I could only think of the last obstacle of our journey, the bridge of RAD. It was a bridge that covered a half mile gap and was maybe fifty to sixty yards wide, and underneath, enough radiation to kill the second you touched the ground. The Journey wasn't the problem though, it was the enemy guarding it that was. It was the enclave, they guarded the bridge for some unknown reason, and they would kill us on sight. The good news was, it was only a small camp of twenty, the bad news, the bridge was overwhelmed with bombs to explode the bridge, but it was highly unlikely they'd blow it up, it was still scary though. Another problem, that was my only way over the gap to get home. I sometimes wondered how the town had gotten over the bridge, then it offered to me that the enclave had showed up only four months ago, that town had been there longer then that. I pushed the problem to the back of my head, I would have to deal with it when it came up.

Another thought occurred to me as well, who was the pony that had set the prisoners free, and was he or she hostile towards me. I thought about that for hours until my thoughts were interrupted by a hungry Appleseed,

"Bulletmoon to Equestria...helloooo," I looked at the filly,

"What is it," I asked becoming abit more alert,

"How long until we get home," she asked like any other filly on a journey,

"A day and a half at this pace-" I said before continuing,

"-and your home isn't my home so don't say 'we' okay," she looked at me, an upset expression on her face,

"But...but you promised Rosepetal you would take care of me," I sighed,

"No, I promised her I would protect you until you got home, then you would be on your own with your sister," tears started forming in her eyes,

"But still, you're supposed to protect me and my sister...what happens if we get separated again," it took me a second to think of what to say,

"Then...then that's your or somepony else's problem not mine," she gasped at what I said,

"Is...is this all for caps," tears started to trail down her face,

"No, it isn't, in fact, even if I tried to stay, remember what your sister told you when she found out, get away from that pony, like they will even let me in the town," that's when she wiped away the tears and gave me a smirk,

"But if you are allowed to stay, then do you promise that you will protect me and my sister," I stopped and turned my head,

"Fine, I promise that if...and only if I'm allowed to stay I will protect you and your sister, but from a distance, I will not be staying in the town, alright," I sighed when she nodded, this was a promise I couldn't keep, it was going to break her heart, but I would have to keep the promise if that bridge were to explode, so I would have to be, very stealthy and so would she.

Chapter 11: The Bridge of RAD

We trotted through the wasteland, edging closer to our destination, the thought of seeing more ponies die on my mind. The voice in my head telling me to turn around and shoot the two following us was getting louder. I was afraid of killing them though, what if my insanity broke free in the middle of it, I couldn't risk that,

"Bulletmoon," I shook my thoughts away, as Appleseed whispered my name in my ear,

"Yes," I turned my head slightly,

"How dangerous is this bridge exactly," she asked worryingly, I thought about it on a scale from one to ten,

"On a scale from one to ten, I give it a ten, reasons being there are bombs strapped underneath with an two hundred foot drop of radiation enough to kill, not to mention the heavily armed ponies on the other said that are extremely hostile," she seemed to jump beside me,

"Is it really that bad," I just stared forward and nodded, my imagination leading to even more fear, I had to stop this.

I stopped walking and turned around, everypony followed suite. I leaned over and whispered to Appleseed,

"Repeat after me ok," she nodded,

"We are about to hit the most dangerous part of our journey, a bridge of death if we aren't quiet enough. I need to know how well you are with this aspect," Appleseed repeated me, her voice seeming to waver more as she explained it,

"Well I'm ok with it, but why can't we just fly across," the stallion asked,

"Do you wanna be shot down, I suggest you listen and follow my exact movements when we go across, understood," they all nodded,

"Good, now it will come into view in about three minutes, then it will come up about a minute after that, be alert, be ready,"

_________________________________________________________________________________

As we came across the beginning of the bridge, everything was quiet except for the wind blowing strongly into us. We all crouched and slowly weaved our way through the carts, going around or under each one, our movements quick but silent,that is until one flipped over and our cover was blown, along with the enclave having a sniper, we were seen in seconds, and a bullet flew past my ear, helping me realize we had been caught,

"SHIT, EVERYPONY TAKE COVER," I yelled before grabbing Appleseed and jumping behind another cart,

I turned to see the other two ponies taking cover, the stallion opening fire with his smg. Slowly making their way back to the beginning, their eyes staring at something, that's when I realized they could see the detonation device meant for the bridge. I quickly looked over and hit SATS. From what I could see there were eight enclave pegasi with plasma weapons, one in particular holding a stick with a red button, the detonation device. I aimed my weapon for it and let SATS do it's work.

My eyes widened when my shots missed, it was rare for SATS to miss, but I was aiming at a smaller target so, it was understandable, it still passed me off though,

DAMN IT, looks like we are going to plan B, I thought before grabbing Appleseed, throwing her on my back and running towards the other two, who had gotten the message and started running themselves,

I swerved through the carts before deciding to jump carts right as I heard a bang and the sound of a bridge crumbling behind me. I soon realized the little weight I was carrying and turned to see Appleseed laying on the ground, reaching out towards me, her face full of fear,

"BULLETMOON," she called as the bridge gave way beneath her,

"APPLESEED," I called, my heartbeat racing,

I'm going to regret this, I told myself as I charged towards the crumbling bridge,

I felt my hooves push off the pavement as I jumped after Appleseed, her screams echoing on the walls of the canyon. I thrust myself forward, pushing my hooves to my sides, moving faster towards her, I knew that if I could catch her and hit the ground first, the other two ponies could get her back home with a broken bone and some small radiation problems. I reached a hoof towards her and watched as we got closer to the ground, I soon felt her hoof grasp mine and I quickly swung myself under her before gripping hold of her waist and pulling her close. I closed my eyes and waited for an impact, but it didn't come, instead a pony was holding us with his teeth. I opened my eyes to see a sight I thought I would never see,

Jack.

Chapter 12: Homecoming

"Jack, I...I thought you were dead," I looked down at my hooves, feeling the ground below,

sweet sweet ground I thought, the memories from earlier returning to my head. After being caught by Jack, he took us to the other side of the canyon, the two dwellers following us. After we landed I got a good look at the pegasus, his body was mostly robotic, only half of his face, his tail, wings, and finally three of his legs were normal, but everything else metal, minus the hat,

"Jack, what...what happened to you, why do you look like that," Jack looked at me and smirked,

"This is what happens when you tamper with the Enclave and kill one of their own," I looked at his metallic parts,

"you attacked the enclave...and lived," I questioned doubtfully,

He snorted,

"I kind of expected that from you, my question is...how in the hell are you the most wanted pony in the wasteland next to that stable dweller and her small group...and how did you even kill all of those raiders...they had to have been the weakest and stupidest raiders in the wasteland to have not been able to kill you," I looked at him,

"long story, so...off to more important matters, how did you find us," he looked at me his good eye filled with sorrow,

"I'm sorry...I didn't want it to be you or any other pony I knew," I gave him a look of confusion,

"why...why are you sorry," he sighed and looked down,

"after what had happened at the stable I took the others to a small town called New Appleooza, I then went on a search...looking for you, hoping you had gotten out of there, but after years I gave up...and found a job...it was a 'wanted: mercenary' sign and I took it. I soon started to do other jobs, hunting down raiders, slavers, and random ponies. I then came across a pony...an alicorn about a week back, she said she was looking for a pony to hunt and kill 'The Ghost of the Wasteland' as ponies referred to you...it was for a reward of fifteen hundred caps...a reward I couldn't resist...so I hunted and I found him, but what stopped me from killing you right on the spot was that you had been the long lost friend I had given up on," he sighed, I pricked my ears at the sound of a pistol being cocked,

"I'm sorry..." his eye welled up with tears as he pressed the barrel of the gun to my head,

I looked at him, trying to keep myself calm,

"Jack...you don't have to do this...look around you, you see that filly there," he looked at Appleseed her eyes looking at the gun, her body shaking, he then looked at the other two ponies, Firedusk had his gun aimed at him, he turned his head back to me and nodded,

"I made a promise to her...I promised to take her home...back to New Ponyville...now the only way I can do that, is if I'm alive," he pushed the barrel to my head, his eye no longer enveloped in tears,

"I wish I could let you fulfill this promise, but I have a family that needs the bits...I'm sorry," I sighed and looked around, my head flowing with plans, finally my head lit up like a light bulb,

"then give me a few days, after maybe...a month, just in case of delays...come on, for old pals sake," I tried to play it off hoping he would buy it,

"you are lucky that we used to be friends, but after a month I am coming for you," he lowered his gun and put it back in his holster,

I looked at Appleseed and then Firedusk and Jade,

"Jack...it was nice seeing you but we need to get going, we are supposed to get there before sunset," I explained, before nodding towards Appleseed,

"oh...uh...yeah I better let you go, I'll shoot you later then..." he trailed off, I rubbed my mane as an awkwardly silence settled in,

"ummm...yeah..." I turned my head to the three other ponies,

"let's go," they nodded and we started on our way,

I let the others pass before I stopped next to my old friend and leaned into his ear to whisper,

"just one more question, did you set the others free while we were in that raider's cave," I pulled away to see him smile,

"I am full of surprises aren't I," I smiled and quickly trotted after the trio which hadn't realized I had fallen behind,

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We finally reached the final hill that would lead to the final mile. I stopped and made Appleseed hop off my back, her legs had been hurting about three miles back and she had slowed down so I picked her up. I turned to face the confused trio,

"Alright this is the final hill, once we get on top, the town should be in sight and so should we, now I don't want them thinking that you two are with me and shoot you...so, I want you to go ahead while I talk to Appleseed and if they ask, no you didn't see us alright, now go...get out of here before I shoot you," the two laughed but soon started their way up, I sighed and turned to the filly,

"alright kid, listen...about our-"

"Ah know...Ah'm so excited for you to meet my sister and my friends," I looked at her, her smile was something that was going to make this hard...too hard,

I sighed and decided to forget about it,

"here...hop on my back and drink some water...get yourself hydrated," she nodded and hopped onto my back, her smile threatened to blind me with guilt,

I sighed and started my way up, thoughts clouding my head,

why is this so difficult, I planned on getting her home and heading in a different direction, I felt my heart go to stone as I got to the top of the hill, the town in sight.

in front of me was a mile of flat land, the sun setting over the town, making it appear as if it were a shadow. I took a deep breath and was about to start walking when a voice sounded in the distance,

"THERE HE IS," I froze and watched as many forms appeared at the entrance,

"Appleseed, you might want to hop off before they start shooting," I whispered, I then felt her weight disappear as she hopped off of my back,

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ROSEPETAL'S POV

I quickly pushed my way through the crowd, trying to see if it was true, had he actually brought my sister back unharmed. I finally pushed my way to the front and saw a cloaked figure...but no smaller one. I felt my heart break as I realized she hadn't made it, that is until I saw something fall off his back. I gasped as I saw the smaller form of my sister, her bow visible. I felt tears of joy start to stream down my face and as if it were a dream I started full gallop towards the two, a voice or two yelling at me to stop or wait, but I couldn't...I wouldn't.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BULLETMOON'S POV

I watched as a form came at us at full speed, her color and mane becoming more visible. the filly beside me gasped, but instead of running ,she froze and let her sister finish what must have been a marathon, actually to be honest there was no way that was that hard for a mare with her figure. I froze as she galloped past me and hugged her sister, the wind almost throwing my hood off. I turned and looked at the two, they were both crying what I guessed were tears of joy. I smiled under my hood, she was finally home, which meant it was my turn to head home.

I quickly made my way past them, trying to sneak past the two, only to make it easier. unfortunately her sister caught me,

"Thank you...ghost...for bringing her back," I turned and nodded before slowly making my way down, only to be stopped again,

"where...where are you going," that voice made me freeze,

"you...you promised me," I winced at the mention of the fake promise,

"Appleseed...what promise," her sister asked, her voice confused,

"he...he promised me he would stay here to protect me and you," I turned to see the mare's face, which had gone from cream to white,

she then looked at me and gulped,

"he...he did..." she regained her composure before continuing,

"he shouldn't have made that promise...he's not a pony that will be welcomed into the town, not mention all the trouble he will bring," she tried to explain to her younger sibling,

"but...he isn't a bad pony...he helped other ponies and brought me home, he could protect the town from raiders and slavers, he could protect us," she argued back,

I didn't know what to, so I whistled at Appleseed and motioned for her to come here,

"kid...listen, I...I knew this would happen...that's why I started to leave...I am a bad pony, why else would your sister tell you to get away from me or why I am alone...you saw what happened with those raiders...I endanger the town,they won't except me," she looked at me, tears coated her cheeks,

"they just haven't given you a chance, please stay...at least let them get to know ya...please," I sighed,

"besides...you have no way of getting back with the bridge gone," I had completely forgot about that,

"good point kid...look, I will stay for three nights, if I am still not wanted I am gone...okay," she squealed and hugged me, I hugged her back but watched as her sister glared at me, her eyes were on fire,

"can we get inside the town before it gets to dark to see," her sister asked through gritted teeth, she wasn't happy nor mad, she was terrified,

I nodded and pried Appleseed off of me. As we started our trek, Rosepetal pulled her sister up and they started in a quiet conversation just out of ear reach.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

APPLESEED'S POV

It felt like whiplash as my sister pulled me to her side,

"I don't know why you thought he could stay...the mayor will kill him before he even gets to say anything," I was confused about the mention of a mayor but passed it as not important for I had just busted my sister,

"Ah knew it, you do care for him enough to give him a chance," she glared at me,

"what makes you think I am...I don't trust him, but you know I always follow dad's rules," I giggled at the comment, she wasn't what she used to be like, the wasteland had to have changed her, physically and mentally,

She seemed to be more cautious and she looked different...like she had been gaining a lot of muscle but she kept her form, not to mention her mane was longer and was actually down instead of having a ribbon putting it into a ponytail,

"sis Ah gotta tell ya, you are different from the way ya were back in the stable," she nodded,

"ponies changed once we left, we had a lot of difficulty settling down and creating this little town, but afterwards we have gotten used to it...just like the ghost there...I heard that he was actually a pretty nice pony before he left," I rolled my eyes

he still is...kind of, I thought as we started through the crowds of ponies who instead of celebrating were staring at the cloaked pony behind us,

I sighed, this was going to be a long three nights.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

BULLETMOON'S POV

I stared down at my hooves, the stares of all the townsponies burning into my back as I walked into the town,

"um...Mr. Ghost...you wouldn't mind stepping aside and speaking to me do ya," an unfamiliar voice called to me,

I looked up to see a pony in an old tuxedo with a nameplate on it, he also wore a monocle. I walked up to him, and waited to listen to what he had to say,

"I was informed that you will be staying awhile...excuse me, where are my manners, I am mayor Fancypants, I run the town..." he held up a hoof and I nodded my head in return,

"anyways...I have set up a hotel room for you...of course you will have to pay...so...that will be seventy five caps for the three nights you are staying," I quickly pulled out the caps and handed it over to him,

"well...enjoy your stay...oh and I will be watching you, so don't do anything stupid," I nodded and trotted around town, looking for the hotel, which happened to be in the center of town right across the street from 'The Rusty Horse Saloon' which I also took note of.

I quickly entered the hotel and found my room on the second floor. As I opened the door a hoof tapped my shoulder, forcing me to turn,

"hey...um...ghost," I looked Rosepetal, she was curious about something, I could see it in her eyes,

"I just wanted to know what happened on the way here...just so I don't hurt Appleseed if I let something slip," I looked around before indicating her to come inside,

she hesitated at first before following, I knew what had played in her head during that pause, but I shrugged it off and closed the door. I then turned to see Rosepetal sit at the only table with four chairs in the room. I moved silently but quickly to the seat across from her. After what seemed like an hour of awkward silence, the mare broke it with a question,

"so...are you going to talk or make me guess with twenty questions," I sighed and spoke, telling the long tale start to finish, watching her reactions to certain parts, other then the three raiders and Jack part, which I had left out for certain reasons.

She never asked a question until the end of it and then she exploded with questions flowing out of her mouth like an assault rifle. I couldn't even answer some of them they were coming so fast. Finally, enough was enough,

"ROSEPETAL..." I yelled, stopping her mid-question,

"oh...did...did I get carried away," she blushed and rubbed a hoof through her mane,

"a little," I replied, she looked around, leaving another awkward silence,

"oh my goodness look at the time...I better go see Appleseed before she gets worried," she broke the silence and quickly went to the door before suddenly pausing,

"before I go, is there any chance I can see your face, I mean...I know I'm going to get some detail from Appleseed, but I would like to see it for myself," I looked at her,

"no, sorry but I have already done something I shouldn't-"

why am I apologizing...I never do that...hell I didn't even talk until I met Appleseed...I need to get out of here before I do something I regret,

"what do you me-" I moved quickly to the door and opened it, interrupting her,

"just go...I need to sleep," she then looked at me with a saddened expression before leaving the room, she opened her mouth to say something but I closed the door before her voice could fill my ears,

I sighed and thrust my head into the door, hard,

"what the hell is going on...why am I acting like this...this isn't right...I need to get out of here before anypony notices,"

but you promised that filly you would stay, I jumped back,

"what the hell," I recognized that voice, where had I heard it before, but only in a dream,

It was feminine, a voice that I couldn't recognize, or remember. I decided that I needed sleep, hopefully making it easier to leave tomorrow and be rid of this voice in my head. I slowly made my way to the bed and covered myself up in my cloak and fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 13: The way of the townspony

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK,

"Oh what now," I groaned as I was woken up for the 4th time tonight,

It was always the mayor checking on me, he was like an annoying bird that was too overprotective.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

"I AM COMING, " I yelled and made my way to the door, quietly cursing as I tossed the hood over my head,

I had decided that after the second time he came I would keep my cloak on for the rest of the night, apparently I was right to do so. I opened the door,

"WHAT THE FUCK-" I froze when I realized no pony was standing there, at least not the same size,

I looked down to see a dirty pink bow and recognized the only pony I trusted, Appleseed. She looked at me, slightly scared, slightly surprised. After a few lingering seconds I gave her a calm smile and stepped aside, welcoming her into my 'home' she trotted inside. I closed the door and turned, rubbing my tired eyes furiously. I stopped when I saw her staring at me,

"What do ya need, Appleseed," I asked, yawning, she looked down at her hooves for a moment, before looking back up with a face that was going to be hard to say no to,

"Can...can ah sleep with you for the night," she asked sheepishly, I looked at her,

"Appleseed...look I know I protected you on the way here, but you're home now...with your sister and-"

"Ah know ah know, but I just couldn't sleep and I was hoping I could stay here for the night," she looked down again, rearranged her hooves and looked up again,

That's when I got a good look at the filly's face. She had bags under her eyes, which looked like she had been crying for awhile, and her face just looked like it was drooping alittle,

"Please," she asked again, I sighed a put my brain to work until a metaphorical light bulb popped into my head,

I didn't want her to wake up when the mayor knocked again, so I holed this plan would work,

"Fine, you can have the covers on my bed, I'm going to get the spare and I will meet you in there, ok," she nodded and made her way to the room,

I...on the other hoof made my way to a locker beside the couch, I of course did not know if there was a spare so I held my breathe as I opened it. I sighed in relief but soon even regretted that as I got a good look at it. It had holes and was just a tad to small for me,

good thing I have my cloak I thought as my magic enveloped the dusty blanket and cast a small silver glow around the room,

I yawned and made my way through the poster covered hallway and into the room. I looked at the bed to see a fast asleep Appleseed on the right side of the bed. I slowly layed down and slowly drifted asleep, never hearing the mayor's knock again.

_________________________________________________________________________

I jolted awake to the sound of rapid knocking on the door. I moved quickly but quietly, not to wake the still sleeping filly and made my way to the door. I opened it and stopped two cream colored hooves from hitting my face. I looked at the mare and instantly recognized Appleseed's sister, Rosepetal,

"Have you seen Appleseed, she wasn't home and hasn't been seen by any pony since yesterday," she said, I looked at her, her mane was bedraggled and she had tears in her eyes,

I nodded and she sighed with relief. I then gestured with my hoof for her to follow me and led her to the bedroom where a curled up Appleseed still slept. I turned and stopped her from asking an obvious question,

"She came in around the middle of the night," I whispered and lingered there for a moment before turning and heading towards the kitchen,

The sound of a second pair of hoof steps indicated that Rosepetal was following me. I walked into the kitchen, which really was just connected to the living room except the floor was covered in cracked tile instead of wood. I walked around the table and opened a cabinet which revealed four bowls and two boxes of Sugar Apple Bombs. I pulled a bowl out a gestured towards the mare if she wanted some. She smiled and shook her head before sitting in the chair closest to her. I made a dry bowl of the cereal and sat down, taking small bites with a spoon,

"You don't talk much do you," Rosepetal asked, breaking the silence that had been in the room for a few moments, I nodded and took another bite,

"I guess that means Appleseed lied then, about you being talkative," I shook my head, She gave me a puzzled look,

"So I'm gonna go out on limb here and say you only talk to the ponies you trust," I nodded,

"But you talk to the mayor...and you obviously don't trust him," I looked up at her,

"That's because I don't want to deal with his bullshit," I said, staring,

She looked at me surprised before laughing. I shrugged, was she laughing at my voice, I mean last time I checked I had a stalion's voice. She seemed to had read my mind,

"I wasn't laughing at your voice, I was just laughing at how you responded to the question, no pony has ever talked bad about the mayor," a silence followed, before it was broken again by me getting up and putting the bowl in the sink,

"So has Appleseed seen what you look like," I nodded before sitting down again, immediately regretting it as pain from the burn on my flank passed through me making me wince,

"Are you ok," she asked standing up, I held up a hoof to stop her and nodded,

She sighed with relief and sat back down as I stood up and went to the room where I quietly grabbed my guns and machete, and left the room quietly as I put them all in their holsters. I appeared into the living room where Rosepetal gave me a look of comfusion,

"Where are you going," she asked tilting her head, I pulled my revolver out of my holster and aimed it at a random bottle on the coffee table and moved the pistol as if I had shot it. She got the idea and smiled,

"Mind if I tag along," I shook my head,

"As long as you can take me to a spot where I can shoot and not get in trouble," I said pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil making a note for Appleseed to not freak out about where I was,

She nodded and made her way to the door. I followed and remembered something my father once told me about being a gentlecolt and opening the door for a mare. I enveloped the doorknob with my magic and opened the door before she could even mover her hoof. She turned and gave a small smile,

"Thank you," I nodded as we left the room and entered a long hallway which ended at a staircase. After making our way down the hall and the staircase we left the building.

______________________________________________________________________________

As we walked through the 'busy' streets of New Ponyville, Rosepetal gave me a tour of the town, telling me where everything was and what to avoid and so on and so forth, I was more focused on the fact that I was getting two reactions from the ponies here, some smiling, some glaring. We continued until we were outside of the town but just in range of the guards so they could make sure we weren't doing anything stupid,

"Well, here we are," Rosepetal gestured with a sweep of a hoof,

I looked at the area, there were some empty crates lined up some lower or higher than others but most were about the average size of a pony without a head. I smiled and started to set up the bottles,

"Well, I should go fix my mane, this morning was a rush," Rosepetal said, backing up slowly,

"I will be right back," she gave me a nervous glance and bumped into the wall of a building. I snickered as she blushed and ran from the scene,

"That...that was weird," I told myself as I unholstered my revolver, took aim, and fired one shot into the bottle which exploded into shards which mixed with older shards from other bottles from before.

____________________________________________________________________________

I was bout twenty minutes into my practice when Rosepetal appeared around the corner, her own hunting rifle slung on to her shoulder along with saddlebags which almost looked empty,

"Hey," she said as I fired another bullet into the bottle which was about twenty-five yards away from me,

I nodded in her direction as slid the revolver into the holster strapped on to my left leg. She trotted up to me and dropped the saddlebags,

"Lunch," she answered as she slid the strap around her neck and put the bridle in her mouth,

I watched as she looked into the scope which was connected to the bridle so she had better accuracy, while the gun was on her side. She bit into the bridle and fired the gun, missing the bottle by about three centimeters,

"Damn it," she said, muffled by the bridle, she adjusted herself and took a deep breath,

There was a short moment of silence before she pulled the trigger and a shot rang out before the sound of lead breaking glass filled my ears. I nodded, She was good but her frame was off and she would do much better with the gun pressed against her shoulder. I stopped her before she took another shot,

"What're ya doing," she asked as I put my hooves on her shoulders, fixing her frame and then lifting the gun with my magic on to her shoulder,

"Better frame, better position, better accuracy and chance of hitting your target," I replied quickly, studying the gun, it was in good condition so definitely wasn't the gun's fault for missing,

I stepped away, and gave her the right away to fire the weapon. She nodded and aimed down the sights before clicking the trigger. I smiled as the bottle shattered, I felt some weight on top of me and by instinct rolled over to get the pony off before drawing my weapon and aiming at...Appleseed. I looked at her shaking figure as I put the gun away,

"Appleseed are you okay," Rosepetal zoomed by and dropped to her sister's side,

She nodded and they both glared up at me, I sighed,

"Sorry kid, but I'm not used to having a friendly pony jump on me," I told the filly as I turned back towards the bottles and crates,

I pulled out my revolver and shot the last three bottles before making my way to the crates and levitating five more bottles from my saddlebags. I released another sigh and turned just in time to see the the mare and filly whispering and giggling. I arched a brow as they looked at me,

mares I thought to myself and rolled my eyes with a smirk as I turned and fired my last two rounds into the bottles befire reloading,

"You know it's not cool to keep secrets from a stallion who has lived his whole life not trusting other ponies," I joked and turned to see them giggle,

"No, no it's not that we were just discussing the matter of how to show you that not all ponies are your enemy and well in return, I would like you to train me further into the use of weaponry," Rosepetal replied, a serious face replaced the smile she had on it earlier,

I put my hoof to my chin, lightly tapping it in thought, she wasn't wrong about the enemy thing and it would be nice to actually not get glared at, but the weaponry thing, that could take months, sometimes years without the right type of cutie mark. Finally I shrugged,

"Why not, it is a deal worth taking," I said, she gave me a smile that could only be proposed as sly,

"Alright step one of your training...if you want ponies to actually trust you, you are going to have to reveal your face..." she told me, I ran right into that bullet didn't I,

I sighed and slowly put a hoof to the tip of my hood slowly pulling it back to reveal a slightly scarred

face. Rosepetal gasped as she looked stared at me. In honesty I probably had at least seven different scars on my forehead, left cheek, and right cheek, probably looking ugly, but being the navy blue I was, it hid some scars well, others not so much,

"Well...that is different from what I expected," the mare finally said, he eyes staring into mine,

"What we're you expecting...a completely unscathed face," I said, my long blue and midnight silver mane cascaded over my face in sadness,

"Actually, I was expecting more scars and maybe red eyes along with white or yellow color instead of navy blue and silver," I looked up to see her blush,

"Sorry I didn't believe you Appleseed, I guess I was expecting something different," Appleseed laughed,

"You think this is scary you should've seen him against them raiders," I glared at the filly and glimpsed at Rosepetal who now had a questioning look on her face,

The filly looked at me before realizing what she said,

"Nevermind, anyways that was lesson one...wasn't it sis, your turn Bulletmoon," she said before placing her hooves over her mouth in shock,

"So...that's your name, I didn't expect it to be that until I saw well...you, I expected moon somewhere in there I just didn't know where," she said, I sighed and made my way to her,

I drew my machete from the sheathe on my back,

"Let's test your reflexes," I said swinging the blade towardso her ankle,

She quickly jumped out of the way but fell on her flank before she could regain her balance. I pointed the blade at her,

"You lack balance, but the speed and angle of your jump was perfect," I told her as she stood up,

"Again," she said, giving me a look of determination,

I hesitated a moment before striking again this time at her neck. She ducked her head before bringing back up, surprising me as she hit the hilt and sent the blade flying. She surprised me again when she jumped at me, but I was a little more prepared and danced away, leaving her face first in dirt. She shook her head and stood,

"Again," I shook my head,

"You are expecting it, I can't just-" I thrust the machete near her chest,

She jumped back but once again lost her balance. I instantly saw the problem, she couldn't go backwards. I felt a weight hit me square in the chest as the mare tackled me to the ground. My eyes widened as I realized my train of thought left me unalert of my surroundings. I looked at the barrel of my revolver and the mare holding it in her mouth,

"How did you-" I began but froze when I saw her eyes, they were green but they had something in them, determination, but not only that they were-I couldn't think like that, I quickly pushed the barrel up and pushed her off,

"Well...before you attacked me I found what your problem is...you can't move backwards," I told her, fixing my cloak and dusting myself off,

She blushed,

"Hey not everypony can walk, trot, or run backwards," she retaliated, I shrugged in response,

"Not everypony has social skills," I retorted, forcing Rosepetal to tap here hoof on her chin in thought before pointing a hoof at me,

"Touche," I snickered as she swung her rifle back over her shoulder,

"My turn," she said, turning and heading back towards town, Appleseed towing behind her,

"Hold on a second, we aren't done here," I stopped them in their tracks,

They turned and both cocked their heads in confusion. I sighed,

"We don't switch off until that section of training is complete," I said, trying to add on to the deal,

They just shrugged and walked back,

"My section isn't done until you can walk, dodge, and run backwards," Rosepetal nodded in agreement,

"Let's start with a simple walk," I said, and watched with amazement as she almost did it perfectly, until she stumbled and fell on her butt,

"This is going to be a long day," Appleseed said, shaking her head

__________________________________________________________________________________________

"Finally," I sighed in relief as Rosepetal completed her training two hours later,

Rosepetal gave me a sheepish smile,

"Sorry," I shrugged it off,

She looked down at her hooves before looking back up, an ear to ear grin on her face,

"Your turn," I gulped, for once I was terrified, I had never trusted any pony in my life after the stable other then Appleseed,

I looked at her, a small bead of sweat trailing down my face,

"Follow me..." she turned and started to trot away, she froze and turned her head,

"...oh and leave the hood off," I sighed and followed,

______________________________________________________________________________________

We walked through town, ponies looking at me in surprise and whispering, making me more cautious than I needed to be. Rosepetal noticed and we stopped. She turned around to look at me,

"Are you ok?" She tilted her head in confusion,

I gave her a nervous nod in response,

"Yeah sure," I added looking at the ponies around me,

"So that is what you look like," a voice said behind me, making me unholster my revolver and aiming it in the direction of the noise,

I laughed nervously when I saw the mayor on the other side. He looked unamused and moved to the side,

"I expected more scars and maybe a white or light green color of fur," he said, walking past me,

I holstered the gun and turned,

"As for you Rosepetal, what did I say about being around him...he can shoot you at any moment," Rosepetal and I glared at him,

"Quit being paranoid-" Rosepetal rolled her eyes in annoyance,

"-I'm just trying to help him fit in," the mayor glanced back at me,

"You can't fully tame an animal, only train it," he snickered and trotted past the mare,

The fire in her eyes shining bright,

"Oh...also Greenwater needs your help with something," he yelled,

Rosepetal sighed, looks like training is over...hey if you want to later on, come to the Sugared Saloon if you want to chat," she told me before turning and walking away,

I watched her go, a smile on my face. If there was one thing I was going to do tonight, it was to talk to her at the saloon.

Prologue

I pushed through the small crowd of fillies and colts, trying to get to the front of course. I needed to know what all of this commotion was about. It's not everyday the colts and fillies, over the age of fifteen, get called to Fluttershy's cottage. The elderly mare was very shy and usually loved being alone, although she also loved the company of foals and animals. I finally pushed my way to the front and sat by my surprised friend, Bramblehoof. I looked at him confused, why was he staring like that. It wasn't until I followed his gaze that my own muzzle dropped open too. In front of me, stood a navy blue pony with a black and midnight silver striped mane. Otherwise he had a robotic foreleg instead of a real one on his left side. It was pretty fucking creepy if you ask me. A quick movement to my right caused my head to turn. Fluttershy now stood by the stallion, that's what I guessed it was, and smiled a soft smile.

"Now, now my little ponies, it's rude to stare-"

"That's quite alright, Fluttershy, let them stare for the longer their mouths stay open, the more time I have to cut their tongues out," the stallion interrupted, an evil grin forming on his face,

we jumped back, closing our muzzles and shivering with fear. He chuckled before continuing,

"Ahahaha, I'm just kidding kids, no need to fear me," his voice was rough but smooth it was, strange?

He than enlightened us with a gentle smile while, Fluttershy spoke,

"Now why don't you come back to your seats dears so he can introduce himself-" she beckoned us with her hoof to come back, we obeyed, "- this is Mr. Bulletmoon, he's here to tell you his story from when the world was in total chaos,"

"Please, call just call me Bullet or Bulletmoon, none of this mister nonsense-" his expression changed from happy to depressed, "- and yes, the land of Equestria was dark back when I was young, well more in my early twenties, but yes in my younger years-" his frown turned to a smile, "- but those times weren't all dark, some ponies found something dear to their heart, even the ones full of bullets filled with savagery, betrayal, and finally loneliness," his gaze traveled across the small crowd before he sighed and ran his real hoof through his mane, "unfortunately mine was filled with every single one of those bullets," he grinned, "that is until two ponies brought me into the light of friendship, love, and happiness,"

I couldn't help it, I had to ask the question,

"Um...um excuse me...um...Bulletmoon" he paused and turned his to look at me, "...what was it like having all of those...um-" I paused and tapped my hoof on my chin, "- 'bullets' in you,"

He gave me a warm smile before saying, "well, why don't we start my story so you can find out and if you pay attention than you will understand what it was like being...well, me! Now, everypony quiet down so we can begin."

It wasn't until he used his magic to grab a book from his worn down saddlebags, that I noticed the horn on his head. He sat down and gazed upon the crowd before opening the book, which happened to be worn down as well. He flipped through the book before letting out a small chuckle,

"I'm sorry, it's just, I haven't touched this thing in three years, so...um...yeah let us begin"

The wasteland, it's been called that for I don't know how long, but it wasn't always like that. No it was much nicer than, no stables, no raiders, no slavers, and no radiation and mutated creatures. But that damn war caused us to abandon our ways and go into these underground fortresses called stables. They were our safe havens for years, that is until we decided it was time to go outside. We had to adapt to survive, we had become the animals, THE MOTHERFUCKING PRISONERS OF THE MOTHERFUCKING WORLD. Maybe, I should just cut to the chase before I go insane. The names ,Bulletmoon or Bullet for short. I'm twenty-five, and I'm an intelligent but strong unicorn stallion. I was born in stable thirty-four, and was destined to be a guard, that is until the whole stable decided to leave when I was seventeen.

Chapter 1

I don't exactly remember what day it was when I got my cutie mark, but I had earned it when a couple of radroaches attacked our stable. I watched as the members of our security charged towards the stable door, varmint rifles in their mouths. Me, being the idiot I was as a seventeen year old colt, chased after them. I hid behind some barrels and watched our guards try to hold them off. Unfortunately they were terrible shots, and one of the damn creatures had pounced on an earth pony. It had to have scared the living shit out of him, because he jumped back and dropped the rifle at my hooves. All I could do was stare at the gun, it was then that I realized I was actually scared for the first time ever as a teen colt. Little did I know that they had fallen back and that I had a roach coming up on my ass.

I remember snapping out of it when a bullet shot past my face, making me jump. I then felt the presence of something behind me, and without thinking I took action. I jumped forward, reaching for the gun as I rolled out of the way of the mutated insect. I levitated the weapon, aiming at the charging roach. If I missed I would probably die, and I knew it, too. I took a deep breath, lined up the sights and pulled the trigger, the kick of the gun surprising me. I fell back and watched as the bullet tore through its skull. I gasped for air, I did it, I had killed the roach, but now I was sitting there, too amazed to realize more were coming.

I looked at the gun, being held up by my magic, and smiled. I stood and turned to face the incoming roaches. There were six left, and I had at least five shots left. I took aim at the first roach, and fired a bullet into it's brain, one down. I turned the barrel of the gun to the closest one and fired, that's two. The third one pounced, I rolled out of the way, took aim and blew up his head. I killed the other two swiftly, and clicked the trigger on the last one.

CLICK,

I had emptied the magazine on the last five, FUCK! I threw the gun towards the roach and charged, throwing myself on the bug, I tried to squish its head, but this one was smart. It moved its head away from my hoof, and my hoof hit metal. I winced, and threw my hoof into the side of its head. It made a sound that I guessed was its screech. I cut it off as I brought my hoof down on top of its head, squishing it into a green, gooey, mess.

That was the reason the Overmare decided it was time to leave, right after we threw a party. I had gained my cutie mark of a pistol with a knife taped to it. I had also gain myself a pitbuck, a device that went on the foreleg of a pony. It helped with a lot of things, but I really only used the S.A.T.S. function. I was grateful for the party, but I wish I could've enjoyed it even more.

The day after, we left the stable, but little did we know we were in raider territory. They had been waiting for us. They jumped us killing almost everypony brutally. After the fight, me, my father, my mother, and four other ponies, including my friend, Jack, survived. But that didn't last long, we were being held captive by the fuckers. They took both of my parents, and made me watch as they beat my father to death, and then they raped my mother, killing her after. I was too shocked to realize everything that was happening. That was, until I felt a makeshift blade against my throat.

I looked at the slaughtered corpses of my parents, horrified at first, but than something surged through my body. I felt my blood start to boil, my hatred becoming noticeable. Finally, the adrenaline struck home, I bucked my back legs into the raider with the blade as hard as I could. The raider yelped in surprise and pain, and fell back. The others started howling with laughter,

"Looks like we got ourselves a fighter boys" one called,

"Let's show him that you don't mess with us" another called,

"Ohhhhhh, this is going t'be fun" the one behind me cackled,

I looked at the four ponies behind me than back at the pack of armed raiders in front of me. (The one I had bucked had joined the group) I knew I couldn't fight them all, but if I could distract them long enough, the others could at least escape. I turned to, Jack,

"Get them somewhere safe, I'm going to distract the bastards long enough for you to get out of here okay," I told him before turning to the raiders, battle hungry.

"YOU WANT ME, MOTHERFUCKERS, THAN COME AND GET ME!" I taunted, beckoning them with a hoof.

They charged with what I think was a battle cry and raised their makeshift weapons. I prepared my S.A.T.S. and waited for the right moment to use it. I took a deep breath and fired it up, there were ten of them, but all I needed was to do was disarm one of them from their gun. I searched for a target with a gun,

No, no, no, yes, I pinpointed my S.A.T.S. on the only one with a mohawk. Now all I had to do was dodge the first threes' attacks. I fired the S.A.T.S and I was on the move. The first raider had a machete in his teeth, he swung for my neck. I ducked under the blade and continued forward to the next raider. She was a unicorn with two knives levitated with a gap in between. I jumped through, spinning my body into a torpedo-like shape. I made it through and rolled under the third raider's machete before sending one foreleg into Mohawk's jaw.

The pistol flew from his mouth into the air. I watched it fly in the air over Mowhawk, causing me to fire up S.A.T.S. again. I would have to either slide under him or roll over him to reach the gun. I went with plan B because he would be able to kick me if I slid under him. I fired S.A.T.S. again and moved. I brought my hoof down on his head, pushing it down. I jumped forward, rolling over his body with ease before landing under the falling gun. The gun fell in between my teeth and I fired up S.A.T.S. for hopefully the last time.

I pinpointed the four targets on Mowhawk's head, the raider in front of me, and the two raiders behind him's chests. I fired the gun, each bullet hitting their mark. I could hear hoof steps behind me at full speed. There were six left and the clip of the pistol had about ten shots left. I wouldn't be able to use S.A.T.S. for awhile so I rolled out of the way of an incoming machete. I turned to face the last of the raiders. They were charging towards me at full gallop.

I used my magic to levitate the gun out of my mouth. I turned my head to find that Jack had followed my orders. Now all I had to do was finish them off.

"Come on you motherfuckers, it's time to end this,"

Chapter 10: an unexpected encounter

I grunted in pain, my hooves sore from walking all day and all night. Appleseed lay on my back, sleeping peacefully. I turned my head to look at the sleeping filly, she was smiling,

She must be dreaming about home, I smirked, maybe I could stay with her for awhile and-

"No, I need to get her home and leave," I told myself, not realizing how loud I had been,

"Are...are we there yet," the filly said, her eyes still closed,

"No, we still have a days journey, then we will be there," she opened her eyes and yawned before jumping down and letting me put my hood on,

"Ok...I think I can walk-" she went silent and perked her ears, I did the same,

"Do you hear that," Appleseed whispered,

"It sounds like two ponies talking," I said, crouching and using my magic to unbutton the holster with my colt in it,

I slowly moved forward, pulling out the colt as I moved up the hill. The voices were now in listening range,

"I just thought I heard somepony, give me a chance to prove that I can do this," the voice was feminine, the other voice was male,

"No, look I have been out here longer then you, I know that a raider could jump right up and shoot you and me right now, just come on, they will most likely be expecting us right now," the male voice sounded worried,

I took my chances and jumped out of cover and aimed my revolver at the closest pony. They both jumped back before the stallion stepped forward and protected the mare, an smg levitating in front of him. I looked at the two ponies, the stallion was gray with his mane being red with blue stripes, a bandage covered his flanks, it was a little red, but not too bad. He also wore a pipbuck on his right fore-leg, meaning he was a stable pony, and a brave one at that. I turned my head to the mare, she was gray with jade green hair, some areas darker then the others, her cutie mark was a wrench,

a technician pony, I thought every single one of them was tough...guess I was wrong, I thought to myself before taking a quick glance at the stallion's cutie mark,

an anvil? Is he supposed to be a blacksmith or is he an engineer and the anvil means he fixes things, I went with that and realized he was speaking to me,

"Who are you and what do you want, for Celestia's sake answer me," his face was red with anger, he must have been really brave, that or he hadn't heard about me, I completely knew my answer when he pushed his gun to my head pushing up to remove my hood,

I took action, I brought my head up and hit my head against the barrel sending it soaring into the air. I waited for it to come down low enough and then I grabbed it with my magic forcing the barrel to his head,

"Hey is it safe up there," Appleseed called,

I peeked my head back and nodded before quickly turning my head back to face the stallion, the barrel still on his head. Appleseed walked up and gasped before pushing the barrel down,

"What is a matter with you-" she turned her head to look at the stable dwellers before turning back to me,

"-are you really going to kill the two stable ponies...they are just afraid, they don't know what to do out here," I just stared at her, she sighed in return,

"Let me handle them," she said before turning to face the two,

"Hehe sorry about the ghost here, he doesn't trust a lot of ponies," she told them,

"Wait...he's the ghost, I thought he worked alone and killed any and every pony on sight," the stallion said looking past the filly and at me,

"Well he does kill most ponies...and he does work alone, but he saved me and he is taking me home," she said grinning at the two ponies,

"Wait...home, does that mean, there are actual civilizations out here," the mare behind him asked,

"Eeyup, and they are good ponies unless slavers have taken over by now," Appleseed said, her voice wavering a bit at the end,

"Look, ah know he's not going to like me for this, but you can tag along for 'while until we reach town, then you are on your own, deal," I glared at Appleseed, this wasn't part of the plan, there was no way we would make it across the bridge without getting shot at with these two tagging along,

"Deal," the stallion said, raising a hoof, I hesitated before shaking his hoof,

"Great, now lead on," he said, stepping aside,

I sighed and started towards the bridge again, the three others falling behind Appleseed beside me, the two stable dwellers five yards behind us, I decided to scold the filly for this,

"Are you crazy, we don't need more ponies following us, especially when we are about to cross a bridge full of explosives and armed ponies," I whispered, accidentally letting it slip that we were taking a major risk, this frightened the filly,

"We can't just leave them out here," her voice wavered abit,

"Yes we can, we live in a wasteland for Celestia's sake, it's kill or be killed, hunt or be hunted, so the decision is simple, no," I stuck my face into hers but she pushed forward as well,

"Ah ain't leaving without them, weither you like them or not they are coming with us," before I could say anything she called back to them,

"He said yes," I glared at her before sighing, we were never making it across that bridge with all of us alive, if worse came to worse we would abandon them and save ourselves,

"Alright let's get a move on," she called, smiling a grin far bigger then any grin I had seen.