Fallout Equestria: Warring Factions

Chapters

Chapter One: Departure (Rewritten)
Chapter Two: Encounter (Rewritten)
Chapter Three: Caravan (Rewritten)
Chapter Four: Retribution (Rewritten)
Chapter Five: Regrets (Rewritten)
Chapter Six: Reunion
Chapter Seven: Excursion
Chapter Eight: Suffering
Chapter Nine: Strife
Chapter Eleven: Revelations
Chapter Twelve: Doubt
Chapter Ten: Allegiance

Chapter One: Departure (Rewritten)

Chapter One

Departure

Stables.

Long ago, there was a war that drove ponykind to the brink of extinction. Megaspells brought destruction to the ponies who created them. It was only through the use of Stables that anypony survived. The Stable was meant to be a safe haven from the irradiated balefire of the megaspells. Outside of it, nothing lived; there was only a wasteland. Our Overmare might have ruled with an iron hoof, but she provided us with order and safety. Or at least that is what she claims...

Stable 7 was a deathtrap. The Stable’s water talismans worked to provide enough clean water for the orchard and other crops, but water beyond that was rationed. The air talismans were still putting out enough oxygen to keep us all alive. However, the once vibrant generators now operated at minimal capacity. On their power alone, we would have died one hundred years ago.

About three hundred of the Stable’s residents were unicorns. Of that, over two hundred worked in maintenance. Work in maintenance rarely included maintaining equipment. Rather, we were living batteries for the Stable. An electrical spell was taught to all unicorns that were destined for maintenance work so that they could keep the generator running. The work was taxing, keeping the clinic full with unicorns ailed with magic burnouts.

Imagine my joy when I learned that I would be forever stationed at the generators. I would spend the rest of my life being drained of my strength while the Overmare sat in her office, living a life of luxury and delegating orders to her officials, rather than mingling with or helping the ‘lowly maintenance ponies’.

My name is Live Wire, and this is my story...

* * *

I was awakened from my dreamless sleep by the screeching alarm on my PipBuck. They were ingenious machines, definitely, but almost to a fault. Eyes Forward Sparkle, for example, is a spell every PipBuck comes equipped with that allows you to detect the ‘hostility’ of an individual. It leaves floating lines of color in your vision -- yellow for ‘good’ ponies, and red for ‘bad’ ponies. The only thing it is good for is giving me massive headaches. Another feature is S.A.T.S., which, according to rumor, assists in aiming things at things. Yes, both of those are so very useful for the common stable pony... That’s likely the reason we all kept the programs off. Now if only I could figure out how to turn off this alarm!

I slammed my PipBuck against the wall repeatedly, only mildly satisfied by the hearty thud of it hitting the wall. They hardly ever stopped making noise. If it wasn’t an alarm to wake me up, it was some sort of medical alert that didn’t make any sense. Maintenance couldn’t fix it, but I couldn’t break it, either. They are almost indestructible. Dented as mine may be, it has yet to stop functioning.

The PipBuck finally gave in to the punishment, and the cacophony rising from it ceased. Unfortunately, I still had to get up. I might have despised maintenance, but without my work, the Stable would be powerless. Or at least that was what the Overmare claimed. I didn’t think one pony slacking a little would cause a blackout, but you never know.

I opened my eyes to see the grey walls that decorated my room. Papers dotted the grey horizon, bits of information and history from before the war covered the walls. I was always interested in pre-war history. Knickknacks and baubles coated the shelves and the floor. Most of them weren’t even mine, but I am a collector of sorts. My collection being things that others won’t miss.

I stumbled down the halls to the generator room. The room once held powerful generators which powered the entire stable, but they have since become useless , years of activity having taken its toll. We were lucky that somepony, generations ago, figured out how to channel magical energy into a source of electrical power. This method now provided for the Stable, our home.

A large generator-like object studded, with various gems and wires, sat in the middle of the room. It somehow absorbed our electricity spells, transforming them into power.. I have no idea how it works, and it is unlikely I will ever learn. Huddled around the cylinder was a circle of about twenty unicorns, each of their horns glowing with magical sparks which leapt to the device. They were early morning shift, all of them worn out and some at the point of collapse.

Other unicorns, my co-workers, filed into the room, taking over as the weary ponies stumbled out. I replaced a dark blue filly, barely old enough to have her Cutie Mark. My horn was enveloped in the dark grey aura of my magic, then sparks began to leap from it. The sparks were then absorbed by the gems. This was what I was going to spend the rest of my life doing, sitting and being drained of my magic. I needed to escape.

* * *

The shift was boring as usual. Sitting there for a few hours, channeling magic into electricity... it was a tedious task that I hated. One of the mares, new to the day shift tried to start a conversation, but most of us just ignored her, trying to focus our magic on the machine. Mundane facts about Ivory, the new musician on the radio, or gossip about some pony in the clinic wasn’t really worth discussion anyway.

After a few hours, salvation arrived . The shift change brought an end to our suffering, transferring it to the other workers instead. Of the new shift, only one stuck out, dark grey unicorn stallion with a goofy grin. Dead Volt was his name, and he was cheerful as a pony could be without being declared insane. Whether he was...that was debatable. To me, he was just my idiot brother who I had to keep out of trouble. He grinned as he took my place.

* * *

I lay in my bed, staring at the colorless ceiling. My head throbbed from overusing my magic. I was never very good at magic. I only learned telekinesis at first, and only after weeks of extra practice, that other ponies didn’t require, was I able to learn the electrical spell.. That was the extent of my abilities, two spells that were taught to almost every unicorn in the Stable.

I was never talented at anything really. My Cutie Mark is a wrench overlaying a piece of metal. A ‘shield’ was what one of the older ponies called it. The meaning of it confused me, but the Overmare’s subordinates saw it as a clear sign I should be sent to maintenance. Of course, most unicorns went to maintenance, regardless of their mark, so the accuracy of such predictions was unclear.

The light illuminating my room flickered for a second, then resumed its humming. “I am going to have to fix that, it is just going to drive me crazy.” I thought. The light gave another flicker, this time accompanied by the lights in the hallways. The flickering became more erratic, the lights struggling to stay on. “Oh crap,”

I clambered onto my hooves and ran out the door. I almost crashed into several other unicorns, most of them maintenance. They knew the what was happening just as well as I did, and were just as terrified.

The Stable was losing power.

* * *

“Who is responsible for this?” the Overmare screeched. There have been three Overmares in my lifetime, and Golden Sceptre was the worst. She was a brat who gained her position by lineage, not by ability. Overmares before her were bossy, but they were never as controlling as Sceptre was. She didn’t do what was best for the Stable, she did whatever it was that let her exercise power over the inhabitants.

The device that provided power to the entire Stable had been destroyed. The gems that once absorbed the magic were gone, seemingly pried off, and part of the metal was bashed in as well. Scraps of the machine lay twisted around the main body. Even if somepony knew enough about the machine to repair it, fixing it would be impossible without the gems.

“Where was the maintenance team when this happened?” Sceptre yelled out again. I might have despised her, but Sceptre’s anger was completely justified now. Whoever had done this had effectively killed the whole Stable!

Maintenance level usually enjoyed a certain level of spaciousness. Large rooms and wide corridors allowed for easy movement. Now, nearly half the Stable was cramped in the hallways, each wanting to know what had happened. Never had I seen it so packed before. I managed to be one of the few in the generator room, able to survey the crime scene.

The Stable was running on reserve power by now. The usual lights had shut off, replaced by a dull reddish glow that barely provided illumination. I could see mainly because of the light spells cast by those who knew them.

“Uh, I think I know what happened to them,” said one of the security stallions, gesturing to the corner where a small group of ponies lay unconscious. Roughly half a team, but no sign of the others. This only fueled the Overmare’s rage further.

“Find out who was working the power shift last, and bring them to me!”

* * *

I lay in my room, taking in all the details of what had happened. This wasn’t an accident. Even if it had just been a fight between some of the maintenance crew, the machine would not have been so damaged. Nor did I think anypony would be stupid enough to fight near the generator. Even if they weren’t in maintenance, they knew that the generator kept us alive.

No, it wasn’t an accident. The device had been intentionally sabotaged by half of the maintenance shift. The half that refused to help were dealt with. I noted no bruises on them, so one of the culprits must have known an anesthetic spell. The list of ponies that knew that spell and were in maintenance was slim, but there was the possibility that somepony learned it and kept it secret.

“Man, I wish I had been able to be in security. Even if most of them worship the ground the Overmare walks on, I would’ve enjoyed being able to solve the Stable’s crimes,” I chuckled to myself. It was then that I remembered most of the crimes were stolen objects... I glanced over at my collection. “No, I don’t think I would have liked security very much. Still would have been better than a job as a living battery.” I had a slight tendency to talk to myself, but I didn’t think of it as strange. Never had very many friends in the Stable, and it was a way to deal with the boredom.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. The doors still had power luckily. Would be a terrible thing to be trapped in your room when the power went out, unable to escape until it came back on, if it did. I hit the button and was greeted by a familiar dark grey unicorn with a jet black mane. Dead Volt, my brother.

“Wire, I think I have a solution!” he said eagerly.

“What do you mean, what solution?” I questioned.

“To our problem, duh,” he said. Sometimes he refused to make sense. And by sometimes, I mean most of the time.

“Wait, is this another one of your escape ideas?” As much as I wanted to leave the Stable, I knew it would be impossible. We would be shot before we even made it to the door. ‘Treason against the Overmare’ was good enough a reason for security to open fire, and treason was very loosely defined. That is saying that we could even get the Stable door to open. For all we know, it could have been permanently sealed ages ago. At the very least, you would need some sort of code in order to open it.

“Yes! And this time it will work.”

“That was what you said about your last one. And my coat just regrew since the one before that! Besides, is now really the time to be talking about your insane ideas? The Stable is in the middle of a major crisis.”

“I am sure this one will work. The plan is already in motion,” he gave me a grin that sparked a worry in my mind.

“Wait, do you mean that this,” I waved my hoof at the now dark lights and the red emergency lights, “is part of your plan?”

“Eeyup!” he seemed to cheer. Oh no. I remembered that he was working the shift when the machine was destroyed. He wasn’t among the unconscious, nor did I see him in the crowd. He had been one of the ponies who destroyed the generator.

“Volt! Do you realize what you have done!?!?!” I screamed at him. “You are going to kill the entire Stable!”

The grin on his face lowered, turning into almost a scowl, his natural cheer seemed to prevent it somehow. “I am saving the entire Stable,” he said, lacking his usual happy tone. I noticed saddlebags on his sides, they seemed to be filled with various things. He must have packed previously, as part of his plan.

“Ok, now listen to me,” I began. “You have to give me the gems. If I turn them over to the Overmare, you won’t be punished. I will say it was all me. They can repair the generator, and the Stable will be saved.”

The almost scowl on his face turned into a full one, any hint of his natural cheer was gone. “No,” he said in a tone darker than any he had used before. Something was off about him, more than usual. His horn began to glow a grey darker than mine, almost black. “And I won’t let you stop me from saving them!”

His horn flashed with the dark color and I was hit by the blast. My body lost all feeling, I dropped to the floor. I looked up at Dead Volt, my brother, his horn glowing again. “Sorry,” he muttered. I lost consciousness before he finished the spell.

* * *

My eyes opened once again to the darkness of my room. It was partially illuminated by the reddish glow of the secondary lighting. I was laying in my bed... Dead Volt must have returned me to it

“I am going to kill him.” I muttered to myself. Dead Volt had always been a little off, always spouting insane plans to escape the Stable. I usually paid little attention to these plots, until they became serious enough that I’d have to help him with the consequences. Occasionally, I was able to talk him out of stuff before it got that far. His usual plots were more of an annoyance to the rest of the Stable than they were a threat. Sometimes they backfired horribly and I was left to cover for him. But this time he had gone too far. And where did he even learn an anesthetic spell anyway?

I rose to my hooves, finding them still wobbly from the spell. No doubt he was the one who knocked out half the maintenance team. How he talked the other half of the crew into helping him, I had no idea. Maybe they were just as insane as he was, or maybe he threatened them?

I noticed a note on the wall. Unlike the dozens of other papers lining the walls of my room, this one was a hastily written note, not an entry from a book or other form of informative writing. The writing was clearly Volt’s.

Brother,

Stable Door opens when power’s gone. By time you wake I’ll be gone. Leave the Stable, not safe.

Sorry knocked you out. Sorry not let you join me. Hope to see you soon.

Dead Volt

P.S.

Overmare not happy, leave now.

Goddesses! He actually managed to find a way to escape, or at least believe he had. And had condemned the entire Stable in his attempt. The Overmare would want him dead for this, and would have me shot as well, just in-case I was a coconspirator.

I sat there stunned for a minute while the reality of the situation hit me. Whether Dead Volt was fully to blame or not, I was going to be in for it if they found me. I might not agree with what he did, but Dead Volt was right, the Overmare wasn’t happy, and I needed to leave now.

* * *

He had actually done it, Dead Volt opened the door. I had been out for what I suspected was almost an hour. Long enough for him to leave the note and escape, and long enough for security to realize what had happened. They were running through the hallways of the Stable, ordering everypony to stay in their rooms. They were likely under strict orders to shoot any that were out, something most of them seemed all too eager to follow through on. Luckily for me, my years of...acquiring possessions... had taught me how to avoid detection.

I gathered what items I could, but lamented that I wouldn’t be able to bring some of the items with me, but how would a bobblehead of a Pink Pony help me on the outside? I filled my bags with some spare potions that the clinic wouldn’t miss, a few objects that might help outside, and most importantly, a pistol. One security pony will definitely be missing this, but better in my hooves than theirs. I wasn’t keen on the idea of shooting at somepony, another reason I wouldn’t have been good in security, but I wasn’t going to let them open fire on me without being able to defend myself.

I crept through the halls silently, sticking to the shadows that the red lights provided. I made it through make my way through most of the floors undetected. Getting closer to the door, I found more guards than earlier. The Overmare obviously didn’t want anypony to join Volt.

I took a minute to duck into a supply closet, partially to surplus my supplies, but mainly to turn on E.F.S. I might have hated the little lights, but that minor complaint paled in comparison to dying because I bumped into a guard. I fiddled with the PipBuck for a while. I had a rudimentary idea as to how it functioned, but getting E.F.S. to activate was rather difficult.

Eventually the hunk of metal gave in during some of my more frantic tapping and my vision was altered. A small bar appeared, inside it several dots of red and yellow, red being far more numerous, along with a compass. I tried to recall my lessons on PipBucks functions. The dots represented living things, and the colors represented the hostility. Red you’re dead, yellow it’s mellow. Kind of a cheesy rhyme, but it did manage to be easy to remember.

S.A.T.S was activated as well, a small indicator informed me. If I needed to fight my way out, I wanted the shots to count. Now prepared, I started to open the door of the closet, only to notice two small red dots moving on my E.F.S. I pulled it back silently, listening to the two presumably security ponies patrol past the door. I waited a second and sneaked out, looking at the two brutes that walked away, one levitating a shotgun behind him. If it weren’t for E.F.S, I would have been dead.

* * *

The Overmare’s office was on the same floor as the Stable door, but it was locked tight and I could see through the window that it was devoid of any life. Paranoid as she was, the Overmare was likely still at the door, giving personal oversight with her half dozen guards. I didn’t want to have to kill anypony, but I had no choice at this point. I would rather go down trying to escape than wait in my room for the Overmare’s lethal punishment.

II turned a corner and looked on in shock. The hallway stood as the sight of a bloody battle. Corpses, both of security and other ponies, lay in the corridor. A group of ponies dumb enough to try to follow after Volt? Or perhaps Volt and his crew had not made a clean getaway. I quickly scanned the dead, not recognizing my fool’s dark grey coat. I did recognize a few ponies from maintenance. I couldn’t stop to mourn them, though; better to keep moving and keep myself from their fate. I did take a moment to scavenge the dead for a few spare clips for the pistol, then taking a second and third pistol dropped by the security ponies. Stripping them wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed, but if the Overmare was acting this aggressively I’d need any advantage I could get. Hopefully I wouldn’t need them, but better safe than dead.

The hallway wasn’t the only place that had experienced carnage. It seemed the fights continued as security was pushed back further and further. The casualties from the non-security side seemed to dwindle, the bodies of security numbering the majority here. I didn’t stop to count, at this point it didn’t matter. If Dead Volt was responsible for the escape plan, the many deaths lay on his head too.

No, it wasn’t his entirely. The Overmare had ordered security to kill them. .

Why hadn’t he told me about this plan? Normally, he always I hear about his schemes long before he tries them. Especially the violent ones. Normally these only involved methods of removing the Overmare, but this was different. Was that the reason why he acted without consulting me first?

Because he knew I would talk him out of this.

This many innocent deaths... well, I wouldn’t shoot him on sight. He deserved a chance to explain, as family. If his reason was good, maybe I’d only shoot a knee.

* * *

The Stable door loomed menacingly in front of me, open as I’d guessed. Previous to this room, most of the security had been patrolling aimlessly or dead. But here, Golden Sceptre and what remained of her lackeys were arguing in front of the door, standing en masse between me and the outside.

“Get this door closed!” Sceptre shouted. Her voice had a quality akin to that of hooves on a chalkboard.

“I-I can’t,” stuttered one of the maintenance mares, held at gunpoint by the head of security. “The power failure resulted in an emergency override that opened the door. There isn’t enough power in the reserves to close the door without causing a permanent black out.”

“So there is enough power left to shut the door,” Sceptre reasoned, a menacing grin on her face.

“Well, yes. But that would leave the Stable with no reserve po-” the maintenance mare, Sprocket, began.

“Then do it!” commanded the Overmare.

“But-” Sprocket attempted to say, but was interrupted by the Head of Security jamming the pistol against her head.

“I will not have anypony go against my authority!” shouted the Overmare. “I am the Overmare, daughter of Ruby Crown, the Overmare before me. Celestia has blessed my ancestors with this power, and I will not have it questioned! SO CLOSE THIS DOOR!”

My brother might have left the Stable with nothing but reserve power, but as long as the door was open the rest of us had a chance. Now, Golden Sceptre was going to use what was left to close the rest in. With this many deaths, there was no chance we could fix both fix the generator and keep it running. I needed to do something or else the entire Stable would die!

I looked at the odds. Three security ponies plus the head of security. The head of security, Nightstick, had a pistol in her telekinetic grip, pressed against the head of the maintenance mare. She and Sprocket were facing away from me, focused on a terminal, one that likely powered the door. The other three guards were focusing their attention on Sceptre. Two were armed with pistols, one had a shotgun. Sceptre had a revolver on her, still in the holster. The security ponies had barding that protected their chests, but left their heads exposed. Sceptre had nothing other than her Overmare outfit, which I doubt provided much protection.

The stallion with the shotgun in his magic was clearly the largest threat, but I couldn’t risk Sprocket being killed. Nightstick would have to be the first target, followed by the shotgun wielder. Then, if I haven’t died, I could try to take out the last two security ponies, along with Sceptre. Now seemed as good a time as any to try out S.A.T.S.

Time seemed to stop, actually it did stop. The Overmare’s mouth stopped moving mid-shout, Nightstick’s pistol raised up and stopped in midair as the barrel was about to be brought down on Sprocket’s head. My vision altered, allowing me to focus on the enemy. I noticed that percentages popped up around parts of their bodies. Four shots. That was all that S.A.T.S. would allow. I had to make them count.

Time resumed as the shots rang out, but very slowly. The first hit its target dead on, I watched as the bullet pierced the head of security’s skull, splattering part of Nightstick’s head onto the terrified Sprocket. The next shot missed the intended target as it clipped on of the pistol wielders in the shoulder, missing the shotgun wielder entirely. The security mare dropped her pistol as she was hit. Then the security ponies slowly reacted, turning and taking aim. The third shot managed to hit the shotgun wielder in the throat, causing blood to spatter out as he dropped his weapon. The security pony I had clipped with the shot had tried to pick up the pistol she had dropped. The final shot rang out as it slammed into the chest of the other security pony, stunning her momentarily. The S.A.T.S. shots ended, and now it was all left to me.

The two major threats were down, Nightstick had a hole in her skull and the shotgun stallion was on the ground, bleeding out through his neck, clearly in no shape to attempt to fight. The remaining offenders, save the Overmare, were wounded. One had an injured shoulder, the other likely had the wind knocked out of her by the bullet to the chest.

The Overmare turned, taking the revolver up in her magic. The earth pony mare that took the bullet to the chest still had her pistol in her mouth. The unicorn had reclaimed her pistol with magic. Well, I was screwed.

“Oh, would you just look who decided to show up, the Stable’s resident thief!” she sneered. Was she really going to talk at a time like this? “You know, I always knew that you and your idiot of a brother would cause me trouble. But I decided to be a kind and benevolent ruler, and allow you to live.” Celestia kill me now, please, before her voice does. “And it seems I was right, I knew I should have personally put a bullet in both of your skulls! First, your brother hacks into my personal terminal!” Actually, maybe if I just randomly fired, one of the security mares would put me out of my misery. “Then I learn that the entire Stable’s power is failing because of him. Now, I have to clean up the damage. Do you know how many of his followers had to be killed? He has managed to undermine generations of ruling my family over these ingrates, so now I have to re-establish my power. And then you come barreling in and take out my head of security?” She seemed to be talking forever. How could she stand hearing her own voice for this long?

The first shot grazed her face, she looked at me in awe. She apparently thought that nopony would dare fire at her, much less interrupt her while she was talking. Arrogance incarnate. The second shot hit home, right through her eye. The last two shots were canceled, as their target was now dead.

The corpse of the wicked Overmare slumped to the ground, oozing blood. The two security mares simply looked at me. The unicorn laid down her pistol, the other dropped hers dangerously to the ground, luckily it didn’t go off.

“Thank you,” said the unicorn.

Now I was confused. “I thought you worked for the Overmare,” I said.

“We hated her, and we hated what she was trying to do, but we wouldn’t dare go against her. That would anger the Goddesses.” Wow, they really were brainwashed by her propaganda.

I looked at the body of the pony I had just killed. Wait. I had just killed her. Not just her, two others. Nightstick was just as bad as the Overmare, but the buck? I killed him just for being a threat. I hadn’t considered him being just a pawn used by the Overmare, just like these two were.

I had just killed three ponies. But they were going to kill me, and the entire Stable! It was completely justified. Right? I had saved hundreds! Hundreds that my brother had sentenced to death... But the Overmare and her minions would have killed the rest of the Stable just to maintain her image of power! So why did I still feel like a terrible pony?

“Th-thank you,” mumbled Sprocket, obviously shocked by the display of violence and by being coated in the blood and brain matter of another pony.

These ponies were thanking me for ending the lives of three other ponies. Ponies that we had known for our entire lives. Ponies that were threatening to commit genocide...

And where did that gunslinging come from? I had never even fired a pistol before! Sure, I had occasionally sto-borrowed one from a guard, but I never used it. Now the blood of three ponies, at least two of them evil, was on my hooves.

I couldn’t deal with this now. I had to find Volt before he got too far away. Maybe I could convince him to give up the gems. Then the Stable could be fixed. Now that the Overmare was dead, life in the Stable wouldn’t be as bad. I certainly couldn’t let him be the cause of the death of an entire Stable.

The Stable door remained open. I felt a blast of air hit me, as if the opening had exhaled. The opening led into a tunnel, at the end of which was a small light.

I couldn’t ask the security mares to join me, not after what I had just done to their allies. Not after opening fire on them. Sprocket seemed too paralyzed with fear to even move from her spot. I didn’t expect her to be good with a gun either. No, it looks like I was going to have to hunt down my brother myself. I did take the shotgun and the revolver. Best to be over prepared.

Sprocket did however show me a feature on the PipBuck that I didn’t know about. Some sort of locator. It could track down a specific PipBuck provided it had the tag. I searched through the PipBuck, looking for a file or a message that Volt might have sent me a long time ago, something I could trace him with.The message I found was recent, added while I was unconscious.

Live Wire,

I know you will try track me down. I leave this so you can. Stay safe. Find me, I need tell you reason face to face. I’m not crazy, I did not want anypony to die.

Your Big Brother

I had pictured him as a monster who killed the Stable on a whim. I should have known better, he was still Dead Volt. But I knew there had to be a pretty good reason from him to do this.

Volt had a few hours head start, but I needed to find him. He needed me to find him.

I took a deep breath, and set off. The tunnel felt strange, unlike the smooth floor of the Stable, it was bumpy, uneven. I knew things outside would be vastly different. I knew that Equestria was likely full of deadly radiation. I knew that this was going to be very dangerous.

Another breath from the tunnel blew past me, a light flowing in from the end. A door, unlike those in the Stable, lay open, obviously the victim of somepony’s shotgun blast. I took my first few steps out into Equestria.

And I was greeted by the wasteland.

=====================================================================

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Thie-Collector - You are a collector of sorts, and you are now more skilled at obtaining items. Whether they be guarded by a lock, or contained in somepony’s bags..

(I would like to thank Kkat for writing Fallout Equestria, one of the best stories I have read, and I would like to thank No One for writing Heroes, another great tale. I would also like to thank Melon Hunter and Masquerade313, my editors, Fillyosopher, the one who made so many of the sentences sound so much better, and Tonto The Trotter, one of the people who helped convince me to rewrite these first couple chapters.)

Chapter Two: Encounter (Rewritten)

Chapter Two

Encounter

Wasteland.

I have long dreamed of leaving the Stable, but never been more than that. An unattainable dream... one which I suddenly found myself living. Of course, the terms of my departure somewhat spoiled the moment. And what I saw outside ruined it entirely.

The books and papers that I collected always depicted Equestria as a beautiful place, one with green fields and clear skies that revealed the brightness of Celestia’s sun. No, this wasn’t Equestria, this was the remains of that once beautiful land. This was the wasteland.

The land was barren, devoid of any noticeable life. The sky above was not clear and blue, there wasn’t even a sun. A cloud cover hung above the wasteland, like the ceiling in the Stable. Light filtered through the clouds, filling the land with light brighter than any of the Stable lights. I blinked a few times to adjust to the brightness. The wasteland extended beyond what I could see. Ruins of what I presumed to be buildings were scattered on the horizon. It seemed to go one forever.

I was stunned by this, but I shook my head. I had to focus and find Volt. I checked my PipBuck.

South. Wherever he was going, it was South. I wondered if he knew where he was going, or was just wandering in a general direction. He must have been wandering, he had never been outside the Stable before, so how could he know where to go?

My PipBuck gave a small beep. I looked down at it.

Well that was new. A little map on the screen showed a waypoint directing me to the south. It also had a little marker that showed my position, and a line that led to the waypoint. I found it strange that the PipBuck had a map for the Wasteland, but I wasn’t going to complain.

* * *

While traveling through the wasteland, I learned two more useful abilities that the PipBuck possessed. The first made traveling somewhat easier; an inventory managing spell. It allowed me to select my weapons with ease, or to pull out whatever I needed. The second was more necessary than it was a luxury; a geiger counter. It detected the radiation around me.

In the Stable, we had always been taught that radiation could make your coat fall out, or mutate you and cause you to grow additional limbs, or just outright kill you. They had said that even a small amount of radiation was was deadly, but I was skeptical of this. Not enough to go running somewhere that causes my PipBuck to click like mad, but I was going to conserve my RadAway.

I had wandered for a few more minutes and quickly learned that following the path my Pipbuck gave was not as easy as it seemed, mostly because the path it set would have had me climb sheer cliffs and cross a large gorge. I eventually found paths around these obstacles.

I also discovered that the wasteland was not devoid of all life, as I had originally thought. Instead, it was full of things that wanted to kill me.

Flying masses of tumors and growths with the ability to fire spines were hovering a short distance away from me, spitting spines that stuck to my barding, piercing and stabbing themselves into my flesh. Whatever these things were, they were annoying, dangerous, and plentiful.

One of the bugs fired a spine that propelled itself deep into one of my shoulders. I dealt with the offending pest with a few S.A.T.S. guided pistol shots, causing the creature to burst. I fired a few more rounds at the others, one shot clipping the bug in the wings, causing it to fall.

I crouched behind the rock that kept me out of their line of fire and popped another clip into the pistol. Twelve shots didn’t last very long, and those things were quick enough to dodge most of the shots. I couldn’t really complain as the gun seemed to take them out fairly easily when it did hit. I levitated the gun back over the rock and continued spraying shots at them. I wasn’t accurate, but I was lucky enough to occasionally get a hit.

Only two were left as S.A.T.S. gave a little beep, fully charged. I activated the spell and fired two shots at each of the buzzing pests. I clipped the wing of one of them and it fell to the ground, and the other popped after being hit dead on by one of the shots. Half the shots hitting wasn’t bad.

Two of the bug things were still alive, writhing on the ground trying to achieve flight again. Their attempts were in vain, their injured wings spasmed at each attempt. I crept over, unsure if they could still fire their projectiles. A point blank shot to each put them out of their misery.

It suddenly dawned on me that my side was hurting a lot. The spines had kept the wound open and I was bleeding a fair amount. I really need to get better protection.

I gripped the spines with telekinesis and yanked them out quickly, painfully but quickly. I gave a little yelp of pain as each of them was pulled out. I then downed a healing potion. The bleeding stopped. The flesh around the wound began to grow rapidly, sealing the hole. A light grey coat regrew on the healed area. Potent stuff.

I took a moment to rest. My hooves were killing me, and my stomach began to growl. I took out a small pack of rations and tore into it. The stuff was bland, taste being something that was overlooked in the creation of these things, but it managed to subside my hunger for the time being. My legs ached, but I needed to continue on. I hated being out here, but I knew that I needed to continue onward if I was going to have a chance to find Volt.

These bugs were rather plentiful. I encountered a small swarm of about three, but I was learning how to deal with them more effectively, and this time I was able to avoid taking any damage more serious than a few cuts. I imagined that the megaspells and their radiation had transformed these things into what they were today. I couldn’t really imagine anything so disturbing living in Equestria before it was a wasteland. I also became even more wary of radiation. If it could create these things, I didn’t want to see what it could do to ponies.

I had been traveling for about an hour, progress mainly hindered by those pests. I wasn’t adjusted to traveling long distances, as everything in the Stable was a short walk away. I passed by several buildings, long abandoned and falling apart. As much as I wanted to investigate the buildings, I wasn’t on a sightseeing tour, I needed to hurry and find Dead Volt. I couldn’t afford to be distracted by the buildings and all their potential wealths...

Old habits die hard. I took an hour or two to search through the buildings. Most of them contained locked containers, which I cracked open fairly easily. Years of lockpicking in the Stable. For completely honest reasons that is; accidentally locking myself out of my room, losing my key to my maintenance locker, somepony carelessly hiding away something valuable in a container...

Inside most of the lockers were potions and ammo of varying types. Strangely, there were copious amounts of bottlecaps hidden away in the lockers. If my life in the Stable has taught me anything, it is that if somepony locks something away, it must be valuable. I placed the bottlecaps in my bag. If they turned out to be useful, good for me. If they were garbage, I would just toss them.

I also found a bottle of a strange liquid. ‘Sparkle-cola’ was what the label said, the label was also boasting that it had ‘a delicious carrot flavor’. I wasn’t sure what a carrot was. The cap was well sealed, so it was possible that it was still drinkable. Probably. From what I had seen earlier, the water was irradiated, so best to have something to drink that won’t cause me to grow an extra head.

* * *

One thing that disturbed me was the lack of life. I had found many mutated abominations during my travel, but I hadn’t encountered anypony since I had left the Stable. Did the megaspells destroy all intelligent life in Equestria, leaving only these mutated beasts? No, there were still signs of life among the wreckage of the buildings. Piles of rubble arranged like walls, the occasional blood spatter that couldn’t be more than a day or two old, the spent casings of-oh crap.

The sound of gunfire was close, but from what I could tell, it wasn’t directed at me. I swear my curiosity will get me killed, but after being alone in the wasteland for a few hours, I was curious as to if there was anypony out there except me, Volt, and the few he brought with him. I crept over to the noise, staying out of sight as best I could and hiding behind the rubble.

What I saw was unlike any creature I had ever encountered in my readings. It looked feline in appearance, but was much more gruesome looking than any cat could be. It had a reddish mane that encompassed its neck, a pair of wings sprouted from its back, and an odd looking tail trailed behind it, oozing a greenish substance as it run. Running from the beast was a small group of rough looking ponies, one of them was bleeding from the side. A unicorn with a yellow coat that was riddled with scars was levitating a pistol behind her as she ran, firing round after round into the beast, but it was unwavering in its pursuit.

“You are not a hero, Live Wire. Don’t try to be a hero. Don’t do something stupid,” I muttered to myself. The beast took another swipe at the trio, hitting the bleeding earth pony. A flash of blood soaked the area around him as he landed on the ground, unmoving. “Don’t do something stupid.”

I rushed in to do something stupid.

I had no idea if I could even harm this thing, let alone kill it. It was bleeding from several of the small wounds that the mare’s pistol made. One of the wings on its back had a large hole through it, much larger than any pistol could make. One of the back legs bent at an odd angle, and at this distance I could tell that it was shifting its weight onto the other three. I knew that if it could bleed, there was a big chance it could die.

I pulled out one of the pistols and the shotgun, levitating them beside me. I doubted I could fire them both at once, but I could at least switch between them. I was close to the creature, it either didn’t know I was there, or was focusing on the pony firing at it.

It took another slash at the two, catching the unicorn on her side, drawing what looked like a lot of blood. She kept going though, as stopping meant sure death. I had to act now.

Using the pistol, I opened fire on the creature. I didn’t use S.A.T.S., I would save that for the shotgun. The beast took three shots to the back, which did very little aside from making it focus on me. Just as I planned. It turned, showing a snarling maw of sharp teeth for a mouth.

I hoped this worked.I focused my mind, attempting something that was dangerous, idiotic, and just as likely to get me killed as it would be to work. My horn began to glow a familiar shade of grey, soon followed by a few sparks.

The beast was almost upon me. I couldn’t break my attention to run, I just stood there, an easy target. The sparks began to arc, gaining power and intensity. I could feel the power building, straining my magic beyond any limit I knew.

The air crackled around me, the beast mere feet away as began to leap at me. I released the spell I was holding, a bolt of electricity soared at the beast, making contact. I didn’t expect it to kill, but it did what I needed. The beast was momentarily stunned.

It was knocked onto its back after being hit full force by one of my only spells. It would be back on its paws in a few seconds, I had to make this count. I kicked on S.A.T.S. and fired two shotgun blasts almost point blank into the beast’s throat. A fountain of blood erupted from the neck of the creature as it was hit by the pellets. Whatever this creature was, I had just killed it.

My head was throbbing from casting the spell, but I wasn’t at the point of a burnout. I had been used to casting the spell continuously, but only at low levels. Building it up that much had taken a lot out of me. I certainly wouldn’t be doing that again anytime soon.

I stood there for a few moments, my breath ragged and heavy. The adrenaline from the experience coursed through my veins. Blood began to pool where the corpse of the creature lie, mixing with the green fluid dripping from the stump tail.

I looked over at where the two wastelanders were. The unicorn laid injured on the ground and the earth pony mare was simple shocked, pardon my choice of words, by the display. I trotted over to the two, lifting a healing potion out of my bag. I could be called selfish, maybe even greedy, but I wasn’t going to leave another pony to die.

“Thanks,” the unicorn murmured as she took the bottle into her magic. “Damn manticores.” She downed the contents of the bottle. I watched as the wound began to close. She was lucky it hadn’t hit any organs or severed her leg. I knew that healing potions were powerful, but I doubted they could regrow limbs.

“Manticores?” I questioned. Those things had a name?

She glanced at the hunk of metal attached to my leg. “Stable pony?” she asked. I nodded. “Of course,” she sighed as she shook her head. “Manticores are vicious creatures that have a habit of attacking ponies unprovoked. Tough to kill, and they often travel in packs. Our camp was lucky, if you could say that, enough to only be attacked by a stray. You can see the result.” She gestured in the opposite direction with the floating bottle. A trail of blood and the occasional corpse clearly indicated which direction the manticore had came from.

“So now, it looks like it is just me and Sugar Cakes,” she waved the empty bottle at the other mare. As I turned to look at her, she had a scowl on her face and a pistol in her mouth. Her jaw shook with the recoil of the shot, and the bullet strayed from her intended target, me. “What the hell are you doing?” shouted the unicorn. She wrestled the pistol out of the other’s mouth with her telekinesis.

“Killing him before he kills us!” the other responded, still with a look of hatred on her face.

“What? Why would I kill you?” I said, shocked by almost being killed by one of the ponies I saved.

“Yeah, he saved us!” said the yellow mare.

“He isn’t one of us! He killed the Manticore, now he is going to kill us!” she raved. If that was how the wasteland worked, I didn’t want to stay longer than I had to.

She lunged at me, only to be intercepted by the other mare. The unicorn was at a disadvantage. The earth pony was clearly stronger to begin with, and she was still injured. The first two ponies I had encountered in the wasteland, and one of them wanted to kill me while the other was fighting to protect me.

I lifted the pistol up and fired it into the ground, not wanting to hit either of them, just to get their attention. The two ceased their fighting at the sound of a gunshot, but the earth pony still had malice in her eyes. She lunged at me. Then the look of malice in her eyes was gone, replaced by a look of pain.

I had instinctively fired at the lunging wastelander, hitting her in chest. I had likely hit a major organ, possibly her heart or lungs. She was dead in seconds. I looked her in the eyes as she died, her mouth forming one last profanity.

I had killed again. This time it was in self defense, but I still couldn’t shake off the fact that I had killed four ponies today. I was turning into a murderer. Maybe that pony was right to be afraid. I looked over at the other mare, hoping she wouldn’t decide to put a bullet through my skull for killing her friend.

“Good riddance,” she spat. What?

“I thought she was your friend,” I stammered, shocked by her lack of care for the dead mare.

“Friend? Her?” she chuckled. She was laughing at the death of another! “Listen buddy, Sugar Cakes was as close to being a raider as you could get.”

“Raider?” I asked.

“Right, stable pony,” she said, cursing under her breath. “A raider is essentially a pony that will kill you just so they could kill you. Worst of the worst. At least bandits have the sense to kill you for caps. They might even let you live if they are feeling generous.” Was she talking about bottlecaps? “You killing Sugar Cakes only saved me from having to do it myself.”

“Right, so who are you?” I asked.

“The name’s Razor Petal,” she said. “I used to work with a small band of ponies, but they all got killed by that Manticore, or they ran off. Either way, I am by myself now. What about you? What’s your tale, stable pony?”

I told her about my Stable, how it was dying from the loss of power, how my brother caused it all, and I told her I was looking for him now. “Why you looking for him? Going to put a bullet through his skull for dragging you into this?” she chuckled.

“No, I just want to know why he did this. And if possible, I want to retrieve the gems he stole. Maybe the Stable could be fixed,” I said. I remembered my promise to shoot him if his reason was not good enough, but I skipped over the fact.

“Well, if he is heading South, he is likely heading towards Circus.”

“A circus? You mean with clowns and stuff?” She had to be joking.

“Worse. Circus is a settlement commanded by the Laughingstocks, a group of mercenaries and bounty hunters with freaky abilities,” she said with a face that showed she wasn’t joking, though she did wave her hooves in the air for emphasis when she said ‘freaky abilities’. “They aren’t as bad as raiders, but some of the group has a sick sense of humor, so don’t upset them.”

“Alright, thanks for the advice.” I began to trot in the direction that E.F.S. told me was South. Petal was walking behind me. “Uhm, are you following me?”

“Didn’t you hear? My entire camp is dead or gone. I don’t have anything to do, might as well accompany you to Circus. Besides, a stable pony like you won’t last long in the wasteland.”

“Excuse me, but who saved you from that Manticore?”

“Beginner’s luck. I’ve lived in the wasteland my entire life. If you want to survive it, you’re going to need help from wherever you can get it.” She trotted ahead of me.

Ponies who would kill me just to kill me, a gang that had a clown motif, giant manticores that attack ponies on sight, flying tumor bug things that attack for no reason, and ponies I help either trying to kill me or laughing off the death of an ally. I had only been here a few hours, and the Wasteland was already starting to disturb me.

“Mind if we stop by my camp? I got a few things I want to grab before we set off,” said the brown-maned mare.

* * *

The path to the camp was a bloody one. Four, maybe five ponies lay dead on the trail, a victim of that creature. That thing wasn’t hunting, it had enough victims to feed it for a while. No, it was slaughtering them. Killing them just to kill them.

The scene of the camp was just as bad. One of the carts was smashed to bits, an unfortunate pony was impaled by one of the broken pieces of wood. A group of ponies were scattered around the cart, limbs hacked off by the beast’s claws. I noticed one pony that only had one open wound, and not a very large one at that.

“One of the reasons Manticores are so dangerous is because of that,” the mare began, nodding towards the corpse with the single injury. “If they don’t kill you with their claws, they’ll stab you with their tail. Thing’s full of poison that’ll kill you quick. The worst part is how they can fly. They’ll swoop out of the sky and crush you beneath their paws. If you see a big shadow over you, it’s probably too late. Though if you shoot off their tail and put a couple holes in their wings, you only have to worry about their teeth and claws, which are still deadly.”

A few minutes ago, I thought that bloatsprites, that was what Razor called them, were a major threat. Now there were apparently poisonous, flying, deadly Manticores. How anypony can survive out here is beyond me.

Razor trotted up to an overturned cart, trying to flip it with her magic. It seemed she was a much more powerful telekinetic than I was, easily lifting the wagon. Underneath were two ponies, dead no more than a few hours ago. Both had a taken a single bullet to their head. I became a little uncomfortable at this sight. Manticores didn’t carry guns for all I knew.

She lifted up a saddle bag from one of the dead ponies, taking a few supplies out of it and transferring them to hers. She did the same with other things the cart contained. I wanted to voice my concerns about what sort of band she traveled with, but she beat me to it. She was becoming scary with her mind reading.

“Yeah, I was a bandit,” she said with a tone that sounded almost mournful. She turned to look at me. “I didn’t like it, but survival in the wasteland is almost impossible by yourself.” She was trembling with anger, provoked by her own hatred at the things she had done.

Before me was a pony who stole what she needed in order to survive. Sometimes she did so with force, maybe resulting in the loss of the life of another. “Okay,” was all I said.

She looked at me, stunned. “You...you don’t have a problem with this?”

I had no right to be offended by it. “I was somewhat of a thief in my Stable,” I said. There, I admitted it. Happy? “From what I have seen of the wasteland, survival has got to be tough.” I remembered the look of hatred in Sugar Cakes’s eyes, wanting to kill me for my supplies. No, not hatred. Crazed desperation. “You are a good pony, you tried to save me from Sugar Cakes. From what I have seen, you are no raider.”

I was new to the wasteland. I had no right to judge those that have had to endure the hardships of the land for their entire lives. That doesn’t mean I won’t stop a wicked pony from killing somepony else, but what is in the past is in the past. Razor saved me from somepony that wanted me dead. If she were a raider, she would have let me die, or even killed me herself.

She stood silently for a minute, then spoke. “I wasn’t the one who killed those two. Our band usually tried to avoid killing, just taking what we could from others and letting them leave. Cakes decided to put bullets in their skulls when they didn’t give up the bags,” she said mournfully. She didn’t look at me, just at the two dead ponies. “But there were some I killed...”

She turned back to me. “Let’s just go,” was all she said as she began to walk to the south. I silently followed after her. First two ponies I meet in the wasteland, one wanted to kill me, the other reveals her inner turmoils to me.

* * *

Razor proved to be a helpful ally. She knew a lot about the wasteland, and imparted what she could of that information to me. As it turned out, bottle caps were the currency of the wasteland. Weird. I was glad I saved the few I had found earlier.

She told me about some of the more dangerous creatures in the wasteland. Hellhounds were the worst ones in this area but they weren’t very common, but there were also bloodwings, mutated bats that can drain your blood in seconds, and they were plentiful. Manticores were one of the more dangerous ones due to them being in packs, but a lone one rarely provided much trouble unless it catches you off guard. She smacked me on the side of my head when I asked why her group couldn’t deal with it.

She tried to explain the concept of the various factions in the area, but that mostly went over my head. From what I could understand of it, there were a few major factions in this area of the Wasteland. The Laughingstocks, the Slavers, and the Iron Hoof were the major ones apparently.

She explained that the Laughingstocks were ponies afflicted by something called ‘Killing Joke’ and gained strange abilities from it. They operated out of a settlement called Circus, which was to the South of us. They were mainly mercenaries and bounty hunters.

The Slavers were what they sounded like. They find ponies, enslave them, sell them. I didn’t like the thought of it, but at least they were better than raiders. There were many small settlements of slavers, but the main hub was a place called Paradise. “Anypony that isn’t a slaver is free game to them. Don’t get caught by them and expect some bleeding heart to try to free you. Most of the time, that just ends with the slaves’ heads blowing up.” Explosive collars seemed like a bit much.

The Iron Hoof used to be a part of a larger group of ponies called ‘Steel Rangers’ but they broke away for some reason. I knew somewhat about the Steel Rangers. I had collected any bit of information about them I could get my hooves on. I will admit I had idealized them when I was young. Now I learned that they recruited groups of bandits and raiders.

“I think they are building an army,” said Razor,

“What makes you think that?”

“Steel Rangers usually hoard technology and weapons. The leader of the Rangers in this area didn’t agree with just hoarding it, she wanted to use it instead. I think they’re intent on taking over the Wasteland.”

“I don’t see why that would be a bad thing,” I said. “From what I had seen of the wasteland so far, it had no form of government, no control over the chaos. Putting somepony in charge might make things better.”

“It wouldn’t be bad if Silver Star wasn’t a psychopath. Her idea of control is to kill those who oppose her.” Reminds me of a certain mare in the Stable.

“Now I would love to continue this crash course of wasteland politics, but I think we have company,” she whispered, crouching behind a chunk of a wall. I checked E.F.S. and saw six red dots moving about. I really needed to pay more attention to this thing, I had already been ambushed by a few swarms of bloatsprites. If it weren’t for Razor, I would have walked straight into an ambush.

We crept forward to investigate the enemies. I was wondering why we didn’t just go around them, avoiding the conflict entirely, but I wasn’t going to argue with the ex(?)-bandit though.

Six ponies matching Razor’s description of what raiders looked like were preoccupied with defiling the walls of the building they were in. Graffiti depicting lewd pictures and various profanities coated the wall, made with fresh red paint. Wait...

Laying on the ground was the body of a unicorn buck, his throat slit. A pool of blood coated the ground around him. The raiders would dab their hooves in it and go about their painting, unaware of our presence. The whole thing was very disturbing, especially the enthusiasm of the raiders as they painted.

I started to levitate my pistol up, taking aim at the unicorn with the rifle on her back. Razor waved a hoof in front of me, stopping me from firing. She searched in her saddle bag for a second and levitated out what looked like a metal apple. “Don’t shoot yet, this may save us the trouble,” she whispered. I wasn’t sure what she meant, but she levitated the apple thing away from us, hovering it over the raiders. It hovered there for a few seconds, then a little metal pin was pulled out of it. A second later it dropped on the corpse of the unicorn, right in the middle of the group.

The raiders turned at the fleshy thud it made as it hit the body. “SHIT!” shouted one of the raiders as they clambered to escape. Razor pushed me down behind the wall with a hoof, a second later a loud, wet explosion was heard. I popped my head back over the wall, levitating the pistol cautiously. The corpse of the unicorn was no more, the walls and the ground around it were soaked with blood, covering the vulgar paintings of the raiders. Half of the raiders lie dead on the ground, not quick enough to escape the blast. Two of them were alive, but bleeding from shrapnel, the last was levitating her shotgun around, searching for the perpetrators of the attack.

I brought up S.A.T.S. and queued up four shots from the pistol, all of them aimed at the standing raider. First shot grazed her shoulder, second hit her side as she turned to face me, third missed entirely, as did the fourth. When time began to move regularly, I received a buckshot to the chest. I had never been shot before, not counting the spines from the bloatsprites. All I can say is that it really hurt.

A few of the pellets smashed against my barding, not penetrating, but still causing an impact. Some of the pellets missed entirely, shotguns were not very accurate at long range. The rest of the pellets punched through my barding, sinking into my chest.

A shot right to the head ended the raider. Razor fired at the other two before they could even get their weapons readied. She was an effective killer, I’ll give her that.

I levitated out a health potion, intent on healing these wounds before they get worse. “Don’t!” shouted Razor. I hesitated on drinking the potion. “If you have bullets in you, a health potion will only close them in.” Ok, potions became somewhat dangerous now.

She walked over to me and looked at the wounds. “I ain’t a medical pony, but I think I know how to fix this.” Her horn started glowing. “Now this is going to hurt, a lot.” That was reassuring.

The pain in my chest doubled as I felt the pellets wiggling. I was lucky they didn’t hit anything major, but this still hurt. Slowly, one by one, the pellets popped out, along with a good amount of blood. Finally, the last of the pellets came out. She needed to work on here telekinesis some, but I was glad I didn’t have bits of metal still in me.

She levitated the potion back up. “Now it’s safe to drink.” Glug, glug, glug. The wounds tingled for a few seconds, and then sealed shut. I had lost a fair amount of blood today, and was unsure if potions could replace it. I needed to avoid getting shot any further. “You’re lucky I stopped you from sealing those pellets in your chest. Surgery in the wasteland is either dangerous or expensive. Sometimes both.” First rule of the wasteland, don’t get shot. Second rule, when you fail rule one, remove the bullet before healing. Gah, somepony needed to make a survival guide or something.

“What was that thing you had earlier?” I asked. She looked puzzled. “The metal apple?”

“They really don’t teach stable ponies anything, do they? That was a grenade. A throwable explosive. When you see one, get back.” From the damage it did earlier, I would have to remember to follow this lesson. “I really do have to tell you everything the wasteland can throw at you, don’t I?” I nodded, and she just sighed as we searched the dead. “You’re like a foal, asking questions about everything,” she muttered.

* * *

Something Razor forgot to mention about raiders, they are everywhere! Every other building we searched had a small group, all eager to put a bullet in us, or use whatever makeshift melee item they had. I might have felt bad killing so many ponies if it were not for the fact that all raiders seemed to be crazy. Half of those we found were in the middle of some form of mutilation of a corpse. The others simply attacked us.

I was shocked to see how badly these constant attacks ate through our supplies, the buildings we scavenged and the raiders we killed did little to replenish them. These raiders had very little in terms of supplies on them. Maybe that was why they were so eager to kill us, to take our supplies when we were dead. Killing others as a means of surviving.

As it turned out, I was bad at not getting shot. My barding provided little protection to bullets. I briefly considered taking the armor the raiders had, but eventually decided against it. Something about wearing barding that came off the corpse of a pony I killed didn’t feel right to me. Besides, it would be a terrible thing to get shot because somepony thought you were a raider.

“Hey, we are running low on potions,” I said to the scarred mare. We had just cleared out another raider group, this one had a few pony heads on pikes lying around.

“Yeah, I think there might be a clinic somewhere up ahead,” she said. I heard a little beep on my PipBuck. I looked down at it.

These alerts were likely going to become annoying, but they were helpful. The screen now displayed a building a short distance away, labeling it the Ministry of Peace Clinic.

“What’s the Ministry of Peace?” I asked.

“Really? What do they teach you stable ponies?” she sighed as she shook her head. I will be honest, school was not something the Stable did well. Most ponies were only trained for the profession we were going into, with some general lessons that didn’t go very in depth. Most of my knowledge of Equestria came from books and other resources that I... acquired. “Back during the war, there were six ministries, each tasked with various roles. The Ministry of Peace is the only one I really care about right now. They focused on healing ponies and winning the war peacefully.”

“Well it sure looks like they did a great job,” I replied flatly as I looked at the destroyed building and the expanses of the wasteland.

“Doesn’t matter now. What does matter is that when the megaspells did hit, they left plenty of potions and supplies in their clinics just ripe for the taking,” she said as she began walking in the direction of the clinic. “Hell, maybe if we’re really lucky, they got some whisky stashed in there.”

* * *

Getting to the clinic was not as easy as the PipBuck’s map had said. In between here and there were about a dozen raiders, drawn by the earlier explosions and gunfire. As it turns out, sniping with a pistol is not very effective. Even with S.A.T.S. the shots either missed or did very little damage. It did however alert every raider to our position.

It had been a few hours since my encounter with the manticore, and my horn was feeling much better. Levitating a weapon wasn’t as exerting. I felt confident enough that I could use the shotgun without it being knocked out of my magical grip.

A few of the raiders wielding melee weapons had rushed ahead. Earth ponies with shovels and knives in mouths charged at the two unicorns wielding a pistol and a shotgun. You have to admit, they had guts.

They had guts on the ground that is. The shotgun was a twelve shot, taking down a raider with two point blank shots at most. I managed to take down a few using the two shot method. Razor took down another couple by a combination of her brute strength and her deadly accuracy with the pistol.

Click.

And now I was out of ammo, with a large earth pony buck wielding a shovel charging at me. He leaped up and slammed into me full force. I was lucky I didn’t land underneath his hooves, as that might have crushed me. Instead, I landed a few feet away from him. He took a second to regain himself, and was rushing at me again. Well, I was screwed.

That was until Razor shot him point blank with the pistol, coating me in some of his brain matter. I fought the urge to lose my lunch and stood back up, reloading the shotgun as I did so.

The raiders had not stopped firing at us. Luckily their aim was terrible, and they didn’t have S.A.T.S. to help them. I did. Four pistol shots, two directed at the heads of the rifle wielders. One of the shots had missed, but the other three hit their marks, killing the two.

Razor took down another two. Only two red dots were left on E.F.S., one of which had a shotgun. Remembering my last encounter with a buckshot, I kept my distance and fired at them with a pistol. A lucky shot hit one of them, a unicorn mare, in the neck. She fell to the ground, trying to press her hooves against the wound to stop the bleeding. Razor got in a shot that I think was more skill than it was luck, hitting the buck with the pistol in his teeth square in the eyes.

I was injured badly. One of their shots had hit me in my right foreleg, causing me to fall to the ground after the fight was finished. Razor wasn’t as badly hurt, but I could tell she needed a potion. I tried to walk, but fell to the ground again due to the pain. I laid there for a few seconds, unable to move because of my injuries. We were very close to the clinic, almost right outside. So close, yet so far.

The movement of a dot on E.F.S. caught my attention. It wasn’t a raider we had missed, it was yellow. It wasn’t Razor either, her dot was off to the side. I looked in the direction of the dot but saw nothing. Suddenly the dot spun around to my side. I diverted my sight to the left, wondering what it was that was driving E.F.S. crazy. It swung back around to the front. Whatever it was, it was circling me. I saw nothing in front of me.

I glanced up, and was met by a shadowy figure flying through the air. It resembled some of the pictures I had seen in some of my books. A winged pony. A pegasus.

The pegasus landed in front of me, a black coated filly with a dark grey mane that had a single red streak through it. Most of her face was concealed by a surgical mask, but I could see her golden eyes focusing on me. She turned her head back to the clinic and shouted, “Hey! We got a live one here!”

A second dot blipped onto E.F.S., still yellow. My vision was beginning to blur, but I could make out what appeared to be a large unicorn walking from the clinic to where I was. The buck was much larger than me, more muscular than most ponies.

A metal clad hoof stomped down in front of me, followed by one with a white coat. I looked up through my blurry vision and looked into his eyes. His horn was glowing a glorious white. His head lowered down, his horn aimed at me.

“Don’t worry,” he said in a calm voice. “Going to have you fixed up soon.” His horn gave a flash as I felt my body go numb. A familiar numbness. One that I remembered because it was the second time it had been cast on me today.

I lost consciousness.

=====================================================================

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Rapid Reload- All your weapons reload 25% faster.
Quest Perk: Lightning Bolt (level 1)-In an act of desperation, you found a way to weaponize your electrical spell. Lightning bolt can be cast to damage and possibly stun opponents. Lightning bolt can be cast a limited amount of times a day.
(I would like to thank Kkat for writing Fallout Equestria, one of the best stories I have read, and I would like to thank Somber for writing Project Horizons, another good tale.)

Chapter Three: Caravan (Rewritten)

Chapter Three

Caravan

Darkness.

I awoke and was greeted by darkness. I felt some sort of cloth across my eyes, blocking my sight. I tried to move my legs but found them restrained. The pain in my chest was bleeding through the numbness spell. I could feel my right leg was injured too, although not so severely.

“Uh oh, looks like he is waking up again.” The voice of a mare, sounding somewhat harsh. I imagined it was the pegasus filly that had found me, though I can’t say why. “Hit him with another blast of that spell.”

A second voice answered her. “You know I can’t do that. Too much anesthesia and he might not wake up.” This voice was calm and wise. The unicorn who knocked me out? “Give him a little bit of Med-X, I’m almost finished.”

I felt a pressure on my leg, followed by the loss of the pain in my chest. More comfortable, I tried to speak but found that my numbed mouth filled with a rag. What were these two doing to me?

A few minutes passed. Each time I tried to struggle against my bindings, I was met with a hoof pressed against my legs, keeping them in place.

“Damnit, hold still,” the buck said, his voice sounding agitated. “You don’t want me to nick an artery, do you?” At that, I stopped trying to free myself. I realized why my chest felt so strange. It was cut open.

Was this some form of raider torture? No, they gave me drugs to numb the pain. Raiders wouldn’t care about how much pain I was in, and they certainly wouldn’t give me any drugs. Beside, the two that had found me didn’t look like raiders. Not that I’d have known. Just what were these two up to?

I tried to speak through the rag again. “What are you doing to me?” was what I wanted to say, but what came out was incoherent babble. Regardless, it seemed to convey my distress.

“Calm down, we are medics.” said the filly’s voice. I didn’t have much experience with wasteland healing methods, but in the Stable they would give you a dose of Med-X and some healing potion and would send you back to work. Cutting a pony open didn’t really sound like a way to heal a pony.

“We found you at the doorstep of our clinic,” said the calmer voice. “It was really a miracle you are alive. Broken ribs, bits of shrapnel in you, inexpertly removed buckshot which tore through a minor vein and some of which were still in your chest, and a rifle round that ripped a massive hole in your leg. Admittedly, you were better off with them still inside, but still.”

First day in the wasteland, and I had almost died. That said great things about my future.

“Sorry about all the restraints. Most ponies that find their way onto my operating table struggle, or worse. After that one griffin tried to attack us halfway through a procedure, I always take the cautionary step.”

I felt a tingling in my chest, similar to that of a healing potion but subtly different. I felt my chest close again, my body warming. My leg had begun to feel better as well. Whatever they were using, it worked like magic. The restraints on my legs loosened, the rag in my mouth was taken out, and the blindfold was removed. I blinked a bit before opening my eyes and looking at my surroundings.

I lay in a clinic, much like the Stables but decayed. The table I lay on was covered in a thin film, but beneath and all around was a thickened layer of blood. Two ponies stood nearby. As I’d guessed, they were the two that I saw before being knocked out. I rose off the table and set my hooves on the ground. My back leg still ached and my chest was sore but I was undoubtedly in better condition than I was on arrival.

The unicorn towered over me, a stallion of high stature for a unicorn. His coat was white, stained in a few places by bloodstains from the recent operation. His mane was a deep red, though a few streaks of dark grey indicated his age. I saw that his right foreleg wasn’t covered in metal, it was metal. He was levitating a scalpel, lowering it to his metal leg and I was surprised to see a little hatch open, storing the knife within. His cutie mark was a medical cross, with a stitch running across it diagonally.

The pegasus wore a surgical mask over her face, but I could see her golden eyes easily standing out against her black coat. Her mane was dark grey, barely a few shades lighter than her coat, but held a red streak. She was of surprisingly small stature, but while her size might suggest it, her shape was that of a pony fully grown. Her mark was a pair of syringes forming an X.

“My name is Needlepoint,” said the buck. “This is my little sister, Pinprick.” Ok, sibling doctors. Unexpected. Sibling doctors that were a pegasus and a unicorn, very unexpected.

“I’m Live Wire,” I managed to say past the chest pain.

“Yes, your companion already told us,” said Needlepoint. “Now if you'll excuse me, I must tend to her as well. You were the more dire case, but I can not let myself leave a pony wounded.” He walked out the doors of the room.

“You a Stable pony?” Even if she looked like a filly, Pinprick had the scalding tone of an adult doctor.

“Yeah...”

“Why did you leave?”

“What?”

“Why would you leave a Stable to go to a place like this? No sane pony would ever want to live in the wasteland without a reason. So why?” She had a hint of aggressiveness in her tone.

“Our stable ran on unicorn magic. Without the magic, the Stable would die. My brother decided to steal parts to the device we used to power the Stable, and then he fled to the wasteland. Now I am out here looking for him.”

She looked at me for a second, seemingly lost in thought. “Was he a unicorn buck with a dark grey coat? Black mane? Crossed wires for a cutie mark?” I nodded at each of the questions. “Yeah, I think I saw him pass by a few hours ago. I was flying outside the clinic, trying to see if I could pick off any of the raiders. He and a group of other ponies were traveling through, just outside the ruins.”

We trotted out of the operating room and into a series of hallways. The mare took lead, showing me through the winding path of the clinic. She regaled me with stories of her time in the wasteland. One thing I learned was that she had a fondness for poisons. Another thing I learned, she was somewhat psychotic. Luckily for me, that insanity was primarily directed at raiders and those she deemed ‘bad ponies.’

“-and that was how I learned to hide syringes among my feathers,” she said as she dug into her wing with her teeth and produced a syringe, it was full of a greenish fluid. “Radsnake venom. Potent stuff. Wouldn’t want this getting in your bloodstream.” Her cheer as she said this was a bit disturbing.

“Isn’t it dangerous to be carrying syringes around like that? What if they fall out when you fly? Or if you accidentally inject some into yourself?”

“Years of practicing, I learned how to keep them from falling out. As for the poisons, I am mostly immune to them. Really interesting story, dates back to my days as a filly in the wasteland. Short version: I was an adventurous filly, always accidentally wandering into a nest of radscorpions or radsnakes. My mother was a medical pony, and she would always cure me. When I became a medical pony, I would always inject small doses of poisons and venoms into myself, building up an immunity to most of them. For the more dangerous ones, I always keep antivenom on me as well. Years of poison use did stunt my growth some.” She blushed a little when she talked about her height, her eyes looking at the ground as she walked.

“What is it that you and your brother actually do?”

“We are traveling medics, just like our mother was before she passed. We help as many ponies as we can, healing the sick and injured. But my brother is a bleeding heart, insisting that we help even the scum that live around here. ‘They are ponies too’ he always says. Most of the time, they try to attack us as soon as we are finished, or end up stealing medical supplies from us. We usually end up just having to deal with them anyway. Serves them right though. Bastards like them killed our mother and who knows how many other good ponies. I have no idea how Needles is able to trust them so easily, really. Doesn’t mean he won’t kill them if they try to hurt somepony.”

We entered through a doorway that lead to what was likely the main lobby. Razor lay on the floor. Needles stood over her, his horn glowing, closing her wounds as it passed near. It must be nice to have more than two spells...

“Hey, look who still walks among us,” said the scarred mare. I had never seen her without her barding on before. I hadn’t realized the extent of her scars. Her cutie mark was indistinguishable, both sides were covered with scars that hid whatever it once was. How a pony could become that injured and survive is beyond me.

“Normally, I would suggest a few days of bed rest after going through surgery, but the wasteland rarely allows for such niceties.” said the buck. “Just try not to reopen your wounds. And please don’t make me regret saving you. You have no idea how many patients do.”

Pinprick interrupted that train of thought. “So where are you two headed? Going to chase down your brother and throttle him for the machine pieces?”

“South, likely Circus.” Said Razor. Volt’s PipBuck signal was still very far South, so Circus was as good a place as any to head for.

“Huh, we were going to head there ourselves,” Needlepoint said.

“Really? I thought you two had a base here or something,” said Razor.

“No, we’re just passing through. Decided to stay at the clinic one night, woke up the next with a group of raiders milling about outside it. Each time we tried to leave, they would force us back in,” said Needles in his calm tone. “That is until you two cleared them out. Wouldn’t mind having some protection from bandits along the way.” I saw Razor wince at the word bandit, but the medics didn’t notice.

“You two likely saved my life, least we can do to repay you,” I said giving Razor a meaningful look. I wasn’t sure how good I was at being a bodyguard, but certainly it would be better than letting these ponies brave the wasteland themselves. Besides, having trained doctors by your side when you get shot wouldn’t be a bad idea.

* * *

As it turns out, Needles was just as strong as he looked. He pulled the three of us, along with many boxes full of fresh medical supplies, on a cart. Whether due to his mechanical leg or high earth pony-like strength, he never seemed to tire out.

The path was mostly clear. A few wandering raiders thought they might take a stab at us, but we were armed with the ‘new’ rifles claimed from raider corpses. I was hardly skilled with the long-arm, but then again the raiders didn’t really try to dodge. S.A.T.S. took care of most of them and well aimed shots from Razor took out what I missed.

We were both well armed, maybe a bit too well armed. I had a shotgun, a few pistols, and a new rifle. I also had the Overmare’s revolver, but I had little ammo for it. Razor had a shotgun and a rifle she took from the raiders, along with the pistol she’d had when I met her. She also had a fair weight of explosive in her pack. And yet, over-armed as we seemed, it wasn’t a surprising amount for the wasteland.

Pinprick would occasionally take to the sky to scout ahead, while Needlepoint would just keep pulling us along. We had been traveling for hours, I thought. My sense of time was off however; it always had been. I’d never had to judge time without a clock in the Stable. The changing light in the sky was my only reference, and even then I didn’t know the exact time that had passed.

The pegasus swooped down and landed on the wagon. “It is starting to get late,” she said to her brother. “There is a building a little while away, looked empty.”

The unicorn turned his head slightly to respond. “Alright. I wouldn’t mind taking a break for the night.” I had no idea how he had enough energy to even pull the cart this far.

“Not like we have a choice really. Bloodwings around here get really bad at night,” said Razor.

* * *

The building looked like it had once been a store of some variety. A small stream ran by it, my PipBuck clicked when we drew close to it. The lower floor was saturated with irradiated water. I didn’t think that staying here would be a wise choice, but the three wastelanders had no qualms with entering.

“Radiation ain’t so bad when it’s just water. Just make sure you stay dry and stay a bit away from it and you should be fine. Besides, the docs have plenty of RadAway,” said Razor, catching me looking worriedly at the meter on my PipBuck.

“Well, yes. We do have supplies, but we would like to not waste them. Please refrain from taking in too much unnecessary radiation,” said Needles.

I cautiously checked E.F.S. Hopefully we wouldn’t be ambushed by raiders for the hundredth time today. Aside from the yellow of my companions, it was all clear. Needles entered the building first. If the floor could hold him, we were good.

The building had been picked through very thoroughly; only a few miscellaneous items, likely skipped over in favor of more valuable ones, lay in the wreckage. What appeared to be an office was in the back of the building. “This will do,” said Razor as she trotted into the room and began clearing a spot for herself.

“I’ll take first watch,” said the partially mechanical unicorn.

I followed the two into the room. “Does he ever sleep?” I asked Pinprick.

“Every few days. Needle’s had quite a few augmentations over the years,” she responded in her naturally aggressive tone. Ok, cyber-unicorn doctor. “I think the reason why he tries to help everypony is because he doesn’t want to lose himself. Like, if he cares for other ponies, it means he isn’t a machine.” That was fairly insightful. “That, or his robo-heart doesn’t pump enough oxygen to his brain.” And there was normality.

I lay down on a cleared spot. I doubted I would be able to sleep after all the things I had experienced today. They began to replay in my head.

I reported to my shift as usual. Dead Volt worked the next shift. The power in the Stable began to go out. Volt showing up at my room, telling me that he was the one who had sabotaged the generator, then knocking me out. Waking up to find the Stable in panic mode. Killing a pony for the first time in my life, then killing another two shortly after. Leaving the Stable. Getting attacked by bloatsprites. Saving Razor and Sugar Cakes from that hellhound. Killing Sugar Cakes. Razor joining me on my quest to find Volt. Killing all those raiders. Waking up on an operating table. Joining Pinprick and Needlepoint on their journey to Circus. What a day.

These thoughts circled through my mind as I began to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Everything around me was grey. There was no sound.

The sight before me was one of pure terror. Megaspells were raining down from the sky, balefire was scorching the land. Ponies were fleeing a city, it was now almost entirely obliterated.

Another blast hit the city, this time closer to the waves of fleeing ponies. Many were swept up in the explosion while others were killed instantly. I turned my head and began to run ahead, not daring to look back at the city.

I was knocked down by one of the ponies behind me; they had bumped into me in their panic. I was nearly trampled by the rushing herd, but managed to return to my hooves. I continued forward, not stopping despite my pain.

Suddenly, another explosion hit ahead of us. The blast quickly reached me, then everything went white.

I heard a voice from somewhere in the white abyss, faint, but understandable. “It is time to wake up, Live Wire. You have so much to do in so little time.” I tried to respond but the void was flooded with darkness.

* * *

“Hey, get up you lazy bum,” said a familiarly agitated voice accompanied by a hoof prodding my side.

“Pin, leave him alone,” said the other doctor. “I am pretty sure this is just his first day in the wasteland.”

“Yeah, well he is going to make us wait for another hour I bet.” She gave me another jab in the ribs.

“Patience, little sister.”

I opened my eyes with a grumble. I had been used to having bad dreams in the Stable, but mainly they involved things that pertained to the Stable. This dream was different. The little pegasus was standing over me, still poking me. “Grah...” I mumbled trying to rise to my hooves, only to find them aching painfully. I slumped back to the floor.

“You ok?” said Razor from somewhere off to the side.

“My legs are killing me, my whole body is hurting,” I groaned.

“Ugh, we don’t have time for this,” grumbled Pinprick. She raised her left wing and snatched a syringe in her teeth. She plunged the needle into my side,and the medicine began to work quickly. The pain I felt in my legs subsided, my chest relaxed.

“Probably post-operation pain. Give your body time to heal fully, and you will be fine,” said Needles.

“Bluh, couldn’t you just cast a spell or give me something stronger?” I moaned.

“Even magic has its limits. We can heal the wound, but it needs time to fix some of the pain. We can numb you, but then you would just be deadweight most of the trip,” the little mare said as she spit the empty syringe into a wastebasket near the desk.

“Circus is still a few days travel away,” chimed in Razor. She was standing outside the office strapping on her saddlebags. She picked up the rifle in her magic, slinging it across her back for easy access. “And we don’t want to be traveling at night.”

I checked my PipBuck for Volt’s signal as I climbed into the wagon. It was even further south. I wondered how long the Stable could run on reserve power. A few days, maybe a week? Then how long would it be before they either died in the Stable or were forced into the wasteland, only to be killed by a wandering hellhound, or to be enslaved by a group of Slavers. I had been lucky when I left the Stable, I had weapons and supplies to last a few days. The Stable’s resources would not adequately cover the entire Stable trying to journey into the wasteland.

I had to hurry and find Volt. He’d gotten what he wanted; the Overmare was dead and he was free of the Stable. There was no reason to keep the gems though, especially when everypony might die...

My thoughts were interrupted by a gunshot, accompanied by the bloom of red dots appearing on my E.F.S.

* * *

“This was a terrible idea!” I shouted, ducking behind a wall to avoid the gunfire. I levitated a pistol around the corner and fired down the single street of the town we had been caught in. Two buildings ahead, a raider popped his head out a broken window on the second floor. I activated S.A.T.S., but my shots missed the pony, instead tearing into the drapery which had hid his presence only seconds previous.

Razor was mirroring me on the other side of the street. She fired twice, then spun back as small bursts appeared in the ground at her hooves. She noticed me and yelled across, “Stay there and stay alive!” I waved a hoof in affirmative, to which Razor rolled her eyes. She turned to fire at some enemy outside my line of vision.

Between use, in the shelter of the hastily upturned cart, were Needles and Pinprick. Needles was doing his best to keep low enough to stay safe, but the raiders on the second roof had an angle to deep to block entirely. A bullet ricocheted off his leg, alerting him to the continued target his size presented. Pinprick gave him a look and said sarcastically, “Fine, you can have my spot.” With that, she was off to the sky.

A nearby wizz brought me back to my own feeble cover. I turned out again and triggered my now recharged S.A.T.S., looking for a suitable target. A raider exiting into the road had his side to me, and a lucky pair of bullets dropped him in the doorway. Now if the others would just do the same...

“Grenade!” Somewhere high above, Pinprick was flying as air support. Her yell, coming of seemingly nowhere, gave Razor the heads up she needed to grab the metal apples and return it through the window. The fire holding me down ended abruptly as the gun and hoof holding it fell down the side of the house, minus the pony from earlier.

Freed from immediate danger, I checked on Needlepoint again. The stallion seemed to had had enough with the small arms fire that constantly zipped hoof-lengths from his hide. With an annoyed snort, he got to his feet and ran around the wagon, heading for the house from earlier. A shot chopped his tail, and another passed just under his belly, but the Stallion made it into the doorway, stomping his metal hoof into the head of my target. I put all doubts aside as to whether that pony would be a recurring threat.

A dark blur alerted me to the continued presence of Pinprick. The dark pegasus was quick, moving like a blur. She dropped low to dispatch a raider with a small weapon of sorts. It looked like a pistol that had been customized to fire syringes. She was deadly accurate with it, taking down a raider with a precise shot to the neck. It was scary how effective of an assassin she was.

Razor waved to get my attention. “We’re going to have to move up to support Needle! I dunno what he’s thinking, running in there alone, but the pegasus won’t be able to help him if he stays inside that building. I’m going to run up, give me some covering fire!”

I reloaded before nodding. I popped up, checking for any obvious targets, when I noticed the moving statue. A metal pony, robot? “Razor?” I turned to see her already scampering. The metal pony turned toward her and the box at its side lit up. Rockets powered across the street, hitting Razor and the wall she ran past. “RAZOR!”

* * *

“Why did you insist on taking the route closest to this raider camp?” said Needles as he slammed his mechanical hoof down on one of the raiders. “We might have been able to avoid them!” A pistol round pinged off his metal leg as he spoke.

“Grenade!” she shouted as one of the metal orbs flew at us. She managed to catch it in her magic and send it flying back. It exploded behind the wall a small group of raiders had clustered behind, killing them easily.

I had lost track of Pinprick.

Needlepoint disdained the use of guns. Instead, he would simply kick the raiders, or crush their bones with a quick stomp. I saw how devastating an anesthetic spell could be. It knocked out the raiders that got close to him, and he would then use a well placed kick to kill them.

The cyber pony was very durable. He had shaken off a point blank shotgun blast like it was nothing. Blood trickled down the side he was hit from, but the wounds seemed to close by themselves, slower than a healing potion, but faster than natural healing should allow. The raider that had shot him was much more squishy, taking a powerful kick from the mechanical leg. Blood poured onto the ground from what had once been a face.

“There have to be at least a dozen of them!” I shouted again. “Still hating this plan!” Originally, there had only been about three or four dots on E.F.S., but as soon as we attacked the small group of raiders, more dots appeared. Maybe they were out of range? Or worse, they had some way of hiding from the detection spell.

“I count at least fifteen,” said the doctor.

“That is not very reassuring!” Another raider went down, this time because of my shotgun. The pistol was useful for long range, and I was more well trained with it than the rifle, but neither was as powerful as the shotgun at close range.

I heard a soft ‘pft’ and turned to see a raider fall down dead only a few feet from me, a syringe sticking out of his neck. I caught a glance of the pegasus as she darted from a rooftop. She glided behind the enemy, still wielding the weapon in her mouth. I had no idea how earth ponies and pegasi were able to use mouth-held weapons so effectively.

Only a few raiders remained. A good number had been taken out by the grenade. A few more were killed by the gunfire, some by the medics’ unorthodox methods of attack.

One of the raiders emerged from a building, wearing what looked like full metal barding, along with some sort of device on his back. Attached to the device was a metal tube that-oh crap.

“Look out!” I shouted as the rocket launcher fired. The rocket flew across the battlefield, directly towards us. Luckily, it missed hitting us directly, but some of the shrapnel the explosion created hit us. Minor wounds, they could wait.

I levitated the rifle, aimed at the armour clad raider and fired a few shots. They pinged off his armour without much more than a dent. Well, this sucked.

Another raider levitated a rocket into the launcher, reloading it for his ally. It fired again and this time I ducked behind a wall as the rocket hit dangerously close to my previous position. I had to keep moving; those rockets were too slow to hit me if I move. I hoped.

I kicked on S.A.T.S. without the intent of firing at all. The time stopping effect of the spell allowed me a moment to think and study my adversary.

I recognized the type of armour he was using. I had seen it in some of the newspaper clippings that decorated my room in the Stable. Steel Ranger power armour. I had always been interested in the Steel Rangers, since I was a colt. I knew a lot about their armour and weapons. I also knew that they were some of the toughest soldiers in Equestria. If one was firing at us... not good.

His armour was much too powerful for anything we had on us. It had no openings, even at the joints, so Pinprick wouldn’t be very useful. Our small weapons wouldn’t do anything against the armour, as I’d shown, so Razor and I were useless. Needles might be able to punch through with his mechanical hoof, but that was unlikely. He would probably be paste before he even got close.

Think! What do I know about ranger armour?

It is durable, but heavy. It has built-in S.A.T.S. and E.F.S. along with a medicine applying system. Controlling those, and running the suit’s servos and sensors, is a spell matrix like the one found in a Pipbuck.

That gave me an idea.

“Pin! Distract him, I have an idea!” I shouted.

The dark blur flew in front of the ranger, a few syringes pinged off his armour as she flew by. The raider ranger shifted his attention to the mare, but she was too fast to be hit by a rocket. That didn’t stop him from trying, in vain.

I dropped the rifle. I needed my entire focus in order to do this quickly. My horn began to glow, sparks began to crackle. The ranger didn’t seem to notice as he fired another rocket into the air in an attempt to hit the mare. I felt the spell reached sufficient charge, I fired it in the direction of the ranger.

A unicorn next to the ranger gave a shout, but the bolt hit before he could turn. The ranger was hit full force by the spell, knocking him to the ground in a quivering mess. That was a side effect of what I intended, but it worked. His armour locked up.

One thing I knew about a spell matrix was how easily they could crash with enough electrical force. PipBuck repair ponies in the Stable would usually deal with a matrix crash from somepony in maintenance usually once a day. It wasn’t really seen as much of a problem, as the PipBucks were not essential for life in the Stable, and a repair pony could easily fix that.

In the wasteland, repair ponies are scarce. While a PipBuck going offline may leave you with a disadvantage, you can usually survive. When your entire armour’s matrix goes offline, you are stuck in that tin can.

I picked my rifle back up and fired it at the last raider, the one who had kept the Steel Ranger reloaded. She went down with a shot to the chest, likely hitting something vital. The three of us trotted over to the downed ranger, Pinprick landed next to him.

“Well, looks like we have a prisoner,” said Pinprick in a disturbing tone. Right, crazy pony.

“What are we going to do with him?” I asked. I wanted this pony dead. He wasn’t a ranger, he was a raider. He didn’t help ponies, he killed them. But at the same time I didn’t like the idea of killing a defenseless pony.

“I say we just leave him here. Surely a wandering hellhound will enjoy some canned food,” said Razor as she lifted a few tools out of her pack. She began to work on removing the launcher from the ranger’s armour, the pony inside the metal cursing profanities as she stole his armaments.

“No, we can’t risk one of his buddies coming and helping him,” Needles chimed in. I thought he was the kind doctor.

“Maybe we can get some answers from him,” said Pin looking at her brother.

“Just kill me now, I ain’t going to tell you anything, bitch!” shouted the raider from inside the dead armour.

“Crack his visor,” she commanded to the large unicorn. He seemed happy to comply, delivering a kick from the mechanical leg straight to the face of the raider. The visor shattered from the impact, some of the metal crumpled. The raider gave a shout as some of the fragments embedded in his eyes. “Now, if you would be so kind as to tell us a few things. Why did the Steel Rangers attack our settlement?”

The raider gave a moan from inside his armour, “What settlement?”

“Armistice,” she seemed to whisper. Her voice then rose dramatically. “You Steel Ranger bastards attacked us and killed almost everypony in our home! Why? We were no threat to you! We were just doctors and traders! Why would you send your raiders to kill us?” She was shaking with anger.

I heard a soft chuckle from within the armour. “You had an auto-doc. We wanted it. Simple as that.” He began to laugh a little louder. He was a monster, he had no remorse for killing the home of Pinprick and Needlepoint.

“You bastards killed my mother,” she said as she bit down on a syringe from her wing. She walked closer to the laughing ranger.

“GAH!” he shouted. “YOU BITCH!”

She had plunged the syringe into his eye. “You don’t deserve this swift a death.” She pressed down on the plunger, sending the green liquid into the raider’s eye, and into his bloodstream as well.

The raider continued screaming profanities, but eventually just degraded into screaming in pain. The armour gave a few slight movements as the buck inside tried to twitch and spasm, but the constricting and heavy armour hindered these movements. He was dead in seconds.

Razor and I just stared at the little mare. Razor had removed the launcher before the ‘interrogation’ and had it on her back. We were both shocked by the display.

The black mare simply turned to us, her golden eyes conveyed no emotion. “Coming?”

* * *

We rode silently in the back of the cart. I dared not speak to Pinprick, and Razor was just as silent. I don’t know why we stayed with the two medical ponies. Maybe it was out of fear. Maybe it was because some part of us agreed with what she did.

“Sorry you two had to see that,” Pinprick said, breaking the silence. “I just lost it. He began laughing at killing my home. At killing my mother.” A tear trickled down her dark coat.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Razor, regaining her will to speak.

“Needles is my only family because of what happened,” she said as she rubbed her eye with a hoof. “We lost our home, our friends, and all other family. We had nothing left but our medical training, some medicines and other supplies, and a grudge.”

“That is why we are heading to Circus,” Needles called back to us. “It is the last big settlement that openly opposes the Iron Hoof. They can protect us from the Steel Rangers, and maybe we can help them in their fight.”

Pinprick turned back to us. “Ok, I know he is going to Circus to look for his brother, but what about you?” She pointed her hoof at Razor. “What is your story?”

The scarred mare just sighed. “Let me tell you how I got these scars. I was traveling with a small group of traders when a band of raiders decided to attack us. They killed the rest of the group, leaving only me.” Her eyes blue eyes became cold, emotionless. “They took me captive for a week. When they got bored of me, one of the bastards had the bright idea to see how badly they could cut up a pony before they died.”

“Oh Goddesses,” interjected the small mare.

“Yes, it was torture. They started with just a few cuts along my sides. Deep ones.” She turned to show a set of scars. “They were sure to make it slow and painful. Then they moved on to my cutie mark, replacing it with more cuts.” She pointed her hoof at the bundle of scars where her cutie mark would have been. “I was bleeding pretty bad by this point. Luckily, that was when somepony started shooting up the raiders. The ones that were carving me left me there, slowly bleeding out. Then I was rescued by some ponies who took sympathy on me. They gave me some healing potions, but the wounds left scars. They took me in, kept me safe. It wasn’t till later that I found out they were bandits.”

“Did you join them?” asked Pin.

“Didn’t really have a choice. They took me in, they saved me from the raiders. Some of them might have shot me if I tried to stop them or tried to leave. I didn’t like it, but you have to do what you can to survive.” She concealed her self hatred well. “Anyway, one fine day known as yesterday, a manticore popped out of the sky, right in the middle of where we were camped. I took off running, but I was one of the luckier ones. The beast either killed everypony, or scared them off. Then out of nowhere, this guy comes charging in, firing lightning bolt after lightning bolt into the creature. Eventually, it went up in flames, killing it. Then he trotted over to me and cast a healing spell, closing my wounds easily. When Sugar Cakes, a raider wannabe from my group, leapt at him, he caught her with his telekinesis and killed her with a shotgun blast.”

“Has anypony ever told you that your memory isn’t very accurate?” I said.

“Well that’s how I remember it,” she argued. “Anyway, with the bandits dead, I didn’t really have any obligations. Plus, I owe him my life. So I just decided to follow him around.”

“Really, that’s it?” asked Pin.

“Yep.”

“Sure it isn’t because you have a secret crush on him or something?” teased the dark mare.

WHAP. The side of Razor’s hoof came down on the little mare’s head, not enough to cause any real injury, but enough to hurt.

“Ow!” she yelped, rubbing a hoof over the top of her head.

The two of them then began to chuckle. I was frankly disturbed by the fact that they could go from exchanging stories about the terrible things that happened to them, to joking with each other. Ponies in the wasteland sure are weird.

* * *

A few uneventful hours passed. I was grateful for not having to walk to Circus, but Needles walked at a pretty slow pace. The two mares spent time exchanging their stories about the wasteland.

“-and that was where I found the blueprints for this little wonder,” said Pinprick holding the syringe pistol device in her hooves. “Put a little bit of manticore poison in it, and it can paralyze most creatures in a single hit. Or I could use something a little stronger and outright kill them.”

“Ah, I once heard about a griffin using wing blades laced with manticore poison. He was a pretty famous mercenary. He was head of the Talons in this area,” said Razor. Talons, she had told me, were a group of griffin mercenaries. It was a fairly large group, each chapter of Talons had their own leader and rules varied somewhat. “He sort of just dropped off the radar a year or two ago. Wonder what happened to him.”

“He probably got killed. That’s what happens to heroes in the wasteland. Either they become corrupt, or somepony finally takes them down,” said the little mare.

I took a drink from the bottle of Sparkle-Cola. It had a flavor that I was unfamiliar with, likely the ‘carrot’ that the label said. Either way, it was good.

E.F.S. came to life with a lot of red dots. I looked ahead to see where they were coming from. The ruins of a small town greeted my sight. “Hey Needles, slow down. Looks like there might be an ambush up ahead.”

He slowed the cart to a stop. “How are we going to go about this?” he asked nopony in particular.

“Well, this is the quickest way to our destination. Going around is going to take forever, and it would risk running into more raiders,” mused Pinprick. “Of course, if the ambush is bad enough, we might just have to go around.” She sat there a second. “How about I fly over there, scout it out, and then report what I find?”

“I don’t know, sounds kind of dangerous,” said Needles as he removed himself from the harnesses.

“They won’t even see me coming,” she said as she took to the sky.

“Damnit, Pin. She was always an impatient filly.”

She ascended in the sky for a few seconds, reaching an ideal altitude. Then she glided over the city, lowering slightly to view the area better.

KRAKOW!

A gunshot that sounded like a cannon roared through the wasteland, originating from the city. The black form in the sky jerked suddenly, then dived down at an angle, heading straight for the city.

“PIN!” shouted the buck as he took off for the city as fast as his legs would take him. We followed behind him, but he was much faster than us.

=====================================================================
Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Egghead- You will add +2 skill points each time you gain a new experience level.
(I would like to thank Kkat for writing Fallout Equestria, one of the best stories I have read, and I would like to thank Fillyosopher, Melon Hunter, and Tonto the Trotter for all assisting me in the rewrite.)

Chapter Four: Retribution (Rewritten)

Chapter Four

Retribution

Anger.

Anger can drive a pony to do things they wouldn’t normally. It was Anger that drove Pinprick to kill the Steel Ranger so gruesomely. Anger is what drives Needlepoint now; anger combined with his love for his sister.

Needlepoint barreled through the raider ponies. The blades, once served a medical purpose were taken up in anger, used to take lives rather than save them. He cut a bloody swath through the enemys, his normally white coat glistening with blood.

Nothing was left for us as we failed to gain on the sprinting stallion. The raiders had no sense; instead of fleeing, they ran towards the maddened stallion, malice in their eyes. He leapt at one, knocking her over and then bringing his mechanical hoof down with a bloody crunch, snapping the neck of the poor raider mare.

One of the raiders levitated a shotgun towards him and fired. The pellets sunk into Needle’s chest, drawing blood but hindering him none. He simply sent a scalpel forward toward the unicorn, catching its neck with the blade. A bloody spray washed the ground in front of the raider as he went down. Needlepoint simply moved on, his anger carrying him forward to the location of Pinprick’s fall.

He had easily taken down ten raiders before the crowd broke and he passed them. The few straggling raiders looked to us as we galloped closer, their weapons returning to a ready state.

I levitated out the shotgun and opened fire on an axe wielder. The buckshot sunk into him and, unlike Needles, he went down without any problem. I brought out the rifle, slipped into S.A.T.S. and fired a shot at the pistol wielding mare, hitting her in the skull.

A bullet bit into my flank. I wished that at least one of the medically trained ponies were nearby to dig it out, but I just downed a healing potion and hoped they could cut it out later. Better to need medical attention later than to bleed out now.

I looked for the offending pony, only to have the small band of raiders in my view explode. Razor stood next to me, levitating her newly acquired rocket launcher.

“Is he an idiot? He just charged in!” she shouted at me as she levitated another rocket into the launcher.

“You have to admire his skill with a blade,” I responded as we rushed to catch up. The path Needlepoint had taken was apparent even where he was not; blood and raiders marked his course toward his sister.

“KILL THAT THING!” came a shout from a building to the right. I looked up to see a small nest of raiders, one of them wielding a larger version of a rifle, but with a scope on the top. Hard to tell, but the bore looked like it could punch a hole in a Steel Ranger. It would certainly be able to deal some real damage to the unarmoured medic.

“Razor, top right window!” I shouted. She seemed to understand and quickly fired a rocket at the trio. The rocket soared through the window to hit the roof of the room, causing it to crumble and cave in. Dust billowed out as two were crushed, the third falling out as I watched. She landed with a bone crushing thump, the powerful rifle landed next to her with a clatter. Were these the three that had shot Pin out of the sky?

Razor picked up the scoped rifle before I could reach it. What was it with this mare and powerful weaponry? Bah, no time for thinking. Must blindly follow Needles, before he gets killed.

I had no idea where the little pegasus had landed, but Needlepoint seemed to know where he was going. And if he didn’t, he would soon be out of raiders to kill and we would be able to search more thoroughly.

A scream rose from dead ahead, that of a mare I knew. We galloped at full speed towards the sound to find Needles already there. I ducked behind some rubble before they noticed us, while Razor joined me, looking around and providing cover. I peeked around again, assured we had a safe second.

Pinprick lay on the ground, a bullet hole centered in one of her wings, and a metal clad hoof holding down the other. A Steel Ranger stood over her, pressing down with a hoof on the delicate wing, and a small snap was heard as fragile bones splintered. The ranger had a small gathering of raiders behind him, all armed. Needles stood opposite the ranger.

“Come on boss, just put a bullet in the bitch’s head and end it,” said one of the raiders.

The voice from within the armour responded. “No, I want to have a little fun with this one first, not every day you have a pegasus land right at your hooves.” The way he said ‘fun’ conveyed his meaning well enough. “Though, I could easily crush her neck before you even got close to her,” he said as he looked at Needles.

“Touch her, and I will end you. Slowly. And. Painfully,” he said.

“Oh, don’t make me laugh, you half-robot freak. What, did your mother have a thing for the toaster or something?” he chuckled, the raiders behind him joined in. “But I am an honorable buck.” Now I think he was trying to get us to laugh. “You managed to kill most of my crew by yourself, so I want to end you personally. I will fight you for the whore, one on one, no weapons.”
The ranger was arrogant, but he might have had a right to be. He was in full Steel Ranger power armour, likely stocked with various healing potions and drugs, while Needlepoint was a weakened unicorn with mechanical insides and leg.

“We have to help him,” I whispered to Razor.

“Got any ideas?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“Yeah.” I prayed to Celestia that it would work. “When the ranger starts to fight Needles, you snipe the ones that are guarding Pin, and I will try to short out the ranger’s armour.”

“Give me your rifle, I have an idea,” asked Razor. I levitated it off my pack and she took it with her magic.

She crouched down and began to sneak to a better position to take out the four that were threatening the crippled mare. I moved closer, still undetected by those ahead. I hoped my magic reserves would be able to withstand two lightning bolts within such a short timeframe.

“I accept your challenge,” shouted Needles.

“Good. Oh, and to make things fair, no unicorn magic. If my crew sees so much as a glimmer of magic from your horn, a bullet is going in the bitch’s skull.” Ok, raiders guarding Pin would have to go down first. I hoped Razor knew what she was doing.

One of the raiders removed the weapons from her leader. Another levitated a rifle at Needles until he dropped the scalpels. Both sides were unarmed, though only one side was unarmoured.

The ranger began to chuckle and I quickly realized why. The hooves of his armour had been augmented. A yellow stripe went across the shoulder of his armour. “Fool, don’t you recognize Steel Ranger Delta armour when you see it?” Wait, Delta armour? No no no no no no. This was not good. “Extra reinforced plating, built in power hooves, and,” No, don’t let it be true. “EMP resistant spell matrix.”

Damnit! Our plan was doomed. Razor could take out the raiders, but there was no way we could take out the Steel Ranger if I couldn’t crash his spell matrix. Needles was dead meat, and so were we if we tried to help him.

The enhanced Steel Ranger charged at Needles. Needles had no chance of winning without magic or weapons. The ranger knew this, he just wanted to beat the unicorn to a pulp before raping his sister.

Needles was surprisingly agile for a stallion as heavy and large as he was. He dodged the leaping ranger, who landed on his hooves with a heavy thud as the power hooves created impact craters in the ground. One hit from those and Needles was finished.

Needles continued to dodge the ranger’s stomps and charges, landing a few good hits with his mechanical hoof, but these swings barely put a dent in the enhanced armour. I looked towards the rubble where Razor had headed and located her.

She had managed to climb her way to the roof of a nearby building. She levitated the larger rifle and placed it on the roof. She drew out the dual rifles. She levitated both the small rifles, and fired them both.

I think Razor might have had some training as a sniper. Both the shots met the head of a raider, guards of the little mare. Razor took aim again and quickly fired at the other two, hoping to catch them before they dispatched the helpless mare. The two began to turn and she missed both headshots. One bullet did hit, turning a unicorn buck as it passed through his shoulder. He and the shotgun floating next to him went down.

I had to act quickly. The other unicorn was beginning to realize what was happening and was slowly levitating her pistol to the head of Pinprick.

I pulled my revolver and dove into S.A.T.S., firing two shots. The first connected with her chest, bursting through it easily. She fell to the ground, dead already, canceling the second bullet. Damn! I only had five shots left, but I saw how powerful it actually was.

The Steel Ranger turned to see his companions falling. Razor levitated the larger rifle and fired at the armoured buck. The shot punctured his metal armor, but must have lost its killing force.The sniper’s recoil slid Razor back a step, its power not doubt throwing off her aim.

The ranger, unhindered by the ineffective shot, ignored Razor as she struggled to load another round. He turned back to face me, coiled, and leapt forward only to have his momentum stopped half way.

“What the hell?” he screeched metallically.

Behind him stood Needlepoint, his horn glowing. The ranger levitated in his magic as he spoke to me. “Kill this son of a bitch before I do.” He didn’t want to kill the pony that had threatened his sister?

No, I saw the truth in his eyes. He wanted to kill this pony. He wanted to watch him suffer, to torture him until he begged for death. His final step to becoming a monster would be to kill this ranger. He didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to forsake his morality.

I nodded slowly. Needlepoint delivered a powerful kick from his mechanical leg to the face of the pony, facturing his visor. I levitated the revolver at the fracture. I fired. The visor cracked open, the bullet embedded in his eye. He began screaming and thrashing. I delivered a second bullet, this one penetrating his skull, killing him.

Needles dropped the lifeless corpse and ran to where Pinprick lay. His horn began glowing as he looked at the crippled mare. She was barely breathing, and had lost consciousness, it seemed. He stared at her for a few seconds, and then breathed in deep.

His horn began to glow brighter. I heard a few snaps as I saw her chest began to move strangely. “Realign the ribs,” he muttered, likely to himself. “Mend the bones and heal the perforations caused by the broken ribs.” His horn began to glow more intensely. “Stop internal bleeding. Reknit liver and stomach. Heal other internal injuries. Repair external damage to the wing.” The hole in her wing closed some. “Realign broken bones in the other wing.” More faint snapping as her wing moved strangely.

His scowl lessened, and then turned to a smile. “She should be fine.” I breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Pinprick lied deathly still, her light weight draped across my back. Needlepoint had revealed how injured and weak he actually was from the entire incident. His magic was at the point of a burnout, and we couldn’t risk our only functioning medic from passing out. Turns out even cyber ponies can become worn out. I decided to tell him about the bullet floating in my side later. Right now, he needed rest. As did we all.

Pinprick was very light, even for her size. Probably something to do with being a pegasus. You’d think all the syringes would weigh her down, but they barely added to her mass. Light or not, I had given a little yelp of pain when one of her syringes, luckily only Med-X, had dug into my flesh. She really needed a safer way to carry those things.

I carried her back to the cart. I levitated her into the back, setting her as to not injure her mending wings. Razor trotted behind me levitating several weapons she had taken from the bandits. Old habits die hard. She carried the powerful rifle, something she called an sniper rifle. Appropriately named. Where did the raiders manage to get this kind of firepower?

“I decided to name it Can Opener,” she said with a smile. What kind of pony names their weapons? Is it some kind of wasteland thing? “Next Steel Ranger we face is going to find himself without a head.”

I really didn’t want to think about facing more Steel Rangers, especially if they are Deltas. Deltas were a project started shortly before the megaspells hit. Never finished, but somepony must have found working versions. They were an attempt to improve upon the flaws that the regular power armour presented. Namely, the armour not being strong enough given new zebra weaponry, and the weakness the spell matrix had towards EMPs. The power hooves were just there for kicks. Blugh, poor choice of words. Anyway, like I said, I had idolized them as a colt. Now that I saw how cruel the Steel Rangers really were, I wouldn’t be joining up anytime soon.

“Hey, how are we going to get this thing to move?” I asked, gesturing towards the cart with a hoof. “I mean, Needles is on the point of collapse. He can’t pull us.” She simply stared at me, a smile starting to form on her face. “Oh great.”

* * *

“Needles,” I groaned. “Has. Anypony. Told you. How. Heavy you are?” I grunted with each step. It was exhausting to pull the cart itself. Loaded down with Needlepoint, Pinprick, and various supplies, it was backbreaking. Razor at least had the courtesy to walk alongside the cart instead of ride on it.

“I have a mechanical leg and most of my organs are made of metal, of course I am heavy,” he responded.

“Calm down,” said Razor. “It is getting late anyway.” Time flies when you are getting shot at. “I think I see a building up ahead.”

“What is it with all these random buildings along the road?” I asked.

“Don’t ask us, none of us were here when they were built,” said Razor.

Razor was right, there was indeed a building. It took almost half an hour of laborious effort for me to pull the cart there. It might have been a house, once. For now, it was shelter and a place to rest. E.F.S. scanned the place for any potential threats, and I was happy to see only the yellow of our group.

“Wait.” I counted for a second. The detection spell picked up another dot. Yellow. Either whatever inside was friendly and was going to invite us inside for some pre-war tea, or it wasn’t hostile yet.

“Yeah, hold up,” I said to the three of them, though I doubted the unconscious mare could hear me. “Something is in there. I don’t think it is hostile. Yet, at least.”

“You stable ponies have an unfair advantage with those PipBuck things. I need to get one,” said the mare.

“Heh, I doubt you will,” wheezed the large unicorn on the wagon. “A working PipBuck costs more caps than most ponies see in their life.” Ok, good to know. I could take solace in that when a raider killed me, they could become rich off the hunk of metal on my leg.

“Ok, I am going to go in and investigate. If you hear gunshots, or me shouting in pain, please come help.”

“What? Why you?” asked the mare. “Why not me or the big guy here? Or all of us?”

“Well, I mean no offense, but you kind of look like a raider.” I really hoped she wouldn’t shoot me for that. “And Needlepoint is huge, partially mechanical, and somewhat intimidating. Of the three of us, I pose the least threat.”

Razor looked offended by my remark, but begrudgingly accepted the fact. Her expression softened. “You are just jealous that I am more intimidating than you. I’m the hardened wastelander, and you are the wimpy stable pony,” she gloated. I couldn’t deny that she was intimidating.

She removed the harnesses that connected me to the cart. I cautiously levitated my packs back on. I didn’t want to seem intimidating, but I wasn’t going in unarmed. I walked up to the caved-in door and entered.

The building looked like a home, I guess. Being raised in a Stable, the best guess I had for a home was my living quarters. It didn’t seem like a place of business, and it had the feel that somepony had lived there at some point. Possibly still did, if the yellow dot was any indication.

The room I was in was fairly large and open. It had what was once furniture, along with the usual rubble and clutter of the wasteland. In the corner sat a set of stairs, but I wasn’t going to risk falling and hurting myself on the splintering board the made it. There were a few openings in the room, leading to adjacent rooms.

The first room I passed looked like a kitchen. I would have to scavenge it later. Assuming the current inhabitant didn’t need it... better find out first. Two rooms down. The hallway was cluttered with various debris. Bits of metal, some spare plates, and so-WHOAH.

I was not a graceful pony. I tripped over a pipe and landed on the floor, right on my face. metal junk rolled across the floor, clanging and clattering. Well, whoever was in here knew about my presence.

I heard hooves on floor as the yellow dot on my E.F.S. moved. I watched it closely as the pony came through the door. Stay yellow, stay yellow! It looked to stay that way, so I looked up at the new ‘friendly.’

Wait. That wasn’t a pony.

The... thing... had lost it’s coat, though patches of it remained, clinging to the sickly flesh of the once-pony. A few sparse strands of mane clung to its neck, a dark and dusty purple. The flesh of the creature looked decayed, rotting on it. It turned to face me, part of its face had fallen off around the side of the mouth, revealing some of its teeth. The mouth began to move.

“What the hell are you doing in my house?” it shouted in a disturbing voice.

I stared at the creature for a second, paralyzed. It waited for my reaction, but when it didn’t come, it took a step towards me. I did the only thing I could, given the situation.

“AHHH!!!” I screamed. “ZOMBIE PONY!”

I quickly stumbled to my hooves and galloped as fast as I could out of the building. I was met by an alert Razor, who levitated one of the smaller rifles at the doorway, and Needles, who stood there confused. I leaped over the cart and took cover behind it. I drew my shotgun out, and levitated it at the doorway.

The zombie pony trotted slowly out of the doorway. It looked at Razor, who lowered her rifle some, and at Needles, still just standing there. Then its gaze fell on me, still menacing the creature with a levitated shotgun.

“You all raiders?” he asked.

“No,” responded Razor. What was she doing? Why didn’t she fire?

The zombie pony stared at me a second, then glances at my leg, the one that held the PipBuck.

“So, I take it he’s new?”

* * *

To be fair, I was on edge from being under fire every hour since I’d entered the wasteland. As it turns out, the ‘zombie pony’ I had run from was actually something called a ghoul. Ghouls were ponies that had, Celestia knows how, survived the megaspells and had been mutated by it. They supposedly never died naturally, though they could still be killed if they sustained enough damage, as most ghouls were around during the war, and they were healed by radiation.

“I have to say, it was pretty funny seeing that dumbass go fleeing out the door, screaming like a scared little filly,” chuckled the ghoul, whom I learned was named Toothpick.

We were sitting outside the house, calmly chatting. I found it strange that a pony who looked like Toothpick did could be more civilized than any raider. Still, I couldn’t fault his generosity. I levitated a bottle of Sparkle-Cola out of my pack. It was better than ANY of the stuff they gave us back at the Stable.

“Yeah. I have been trying to teach him about the wasteland,” said the scarred mare. “Unfortunately, he isn’t a very bright student.”

“Hey!”

“And we have yet to cover ghouls. He seemed more interested in wasteland politics.” The fact that the wasteland wasn’t ruled by a corrupt Overmare was something I wasn’t used to. I took a swig of the carrot-y beverage.

“Oh, well here’s all he needs to know about ghouls,” said the ghoul. “If they talk to ya, treat ‘em like any other pony. If they start screeching and charge right at ya, best open fire. Not every ghoul has as charming a personality as I do. Radiation softens their brain, makes some go crazy.”

“How do you stay sane?” I asked.

“Well, the way I see it, a ghoul goes crazy when they lose the thing that keeps ‘em sane. Find something to keep you sane, and you’re good. Me, I just want to stay alive. Or whatever the hell you call what I am now. Ain’t got much reason to go crazy.” He kind of countered his own logic there, but I wasn’t going to argue.

“Anyway, I reckon you folks are needin’ a place to stay,” continued the ghoul. “I think I can spare some room for you.” Well that was kind of him. “For a price...” And there it was. “Would hate for you folks to be eaten by bloodwings in the dead of night, but I need to think of my own survival as well. I reckon...200 caps each should do.”

“What?” shouted Razor. “That is blatant extortion!”

“Alright, alright. How about I only charge 100 for the filly, 700 caps total.” He was a shrewd business pony, but he was right. We needed a place to stay, and he needed to survive. I’m glad nopony corrected him on calling Pinprick a filly. 100 caps saved was better than 100 caps spent on correcting a misconception.

I checked my PipBuck. Somehow, the inventory management spell counted the total amount of caps I had. 552. I had no idea if this was a lot, or if it was chump change. It would cover me. My companions checked their own bags in order to find the caps to pay. Combined, we managed to reach the 700 cap total. As it turns out, Razor and Needles were much richer than I was.

“Thank you kindly,” said the earth pony ghoul as he eyed the small pile of wasteland currency. “I got two rooms upstairs, one for the mares and one for the short fella.” Hey! I wasn’t short. Well, compared to Needles I was, but still. “But I don’t want to risk him breaking my stairs. You sleep down here.” He pointed his hoof at the cyber unicorn.

“I suppose that’s fair,” said the large buck. I had to agree with the ghoul, Needles was heavy.

I downed the rest of the bottle. It was lukewarm and flat, but I still thought it was tasty. I levitated the small mare from the back of the wagon. She was still unconscious but I didn’t want to risk injuring her. I laid her across my back, careful this time to avoid the syringes. Needles stared at me the entire time. He was very protective of his sister, but I would have thought by now he would trust me enough to carry her up some stairs.

I carefully carried her up the stairs, making sure she didn’t shift as I went up the incline. At the top, I levitated her over to Razor. She took Needles and went to the room on the right. I took the room on the left.

The room was well cleaned, something surprising for a building in the wasteland. Likely the work of Toothpick, or one of his other guests.

I was cautious about trusting the ghoul. Whether this stemmed from the fear I had for him, or from the fact that almost everypony in the wasteland intended to kill me, I wasn’t sure. Either way, I would be sleeping with one eye open.

Well, I would if I’d ever learned how to do that. But I was going to be paying attention for anything suspicious.

I laid down on the mattress, now removed from the twisted wreckage that had once been a bed frame. Either way, it was more comfortable than the floor. I was out in seconds.

The world was grey again. The sounds were muffled, but I could somewhat make them out.

I was in the wasteland. My body felt strange, alien even. I felt taller, stronger. I had no control over my actions. I wasn’t me. I was looking through another pony’s eyes.

I was in the wasteland, that was certain, but it looked like a settlement. Ponies were walking between various buildings. They appeared calm and peaceful, something I found strange for ponies that lived in the wasteland. The buildings looked to be stores of some sort.

I, or rather the pony I was inhabiting, walked toward one of the buildings. A red medical cross was painted on the wall next to the door. With actual paint too, not blood. Some sort of hospital? A clinic maybe?

’I’ entered the building. Inside were two ponies, an earth pony mare and a small pegasus filly. The filly looked familiar, though the grey shading of the world made it hard to tell.

The earth mare looked up at me; she had a warm smile. “Hello son,” she said in a calm tone. “Did you get the supplies?”

I felt my host begin to speak. “Yes, but I had some trouble getting the Med-X. Trader said that some addict came and bought the whole supply. Damn traders, selling medicines to the addicts so they could kill themselves, rather than to the medical ponies who could put it to good use.”

“Honey, you know that traders have to make caps somehow,” said the mare in a hushed voice. “And you can’t blame the addicts, it isn’t their fault. Addiction is a powerful thing. They are lucky that when they decide to seek help, there are ponies like us to help them.”

“What’s an addiction?” asked the filly in a cheerful voice. She didn’t even have her cutie mark yet.

The mother turned her calm eyes to the little one. “An addiction is when a pony is has the physical need for a drug. Sometimes they can get sick if they don’t have it, and it is usually up to us to help them break the addiction,” she responded gently.

“So are we going to be leaving soon?” my host asked.

The mare turned to look out the window, staring at the passing foals and ponies. She smiled as she saw a colt happily wave a bandaged hoof at the window. “I think we should be ready to leave by tomorrow morning. As much as I love Armistice, there are many ponies in the wasteland that need our help. I’m sure that Aorta and Vena should be able to handle this settlement. They do have the help of the auto-doc.”

The mare turned back to me. “Be sure to pack everything you need. The wasteland is a difficult place to travel, so it is up to you to protect your sister.”

“I will, mom. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“Good, now go get some sleep.” She turned to the filly who weaved between her legs playfully. “And as for you, you need to rest as well.”

“Aw, but momma, I’m not even tired!” she whined.

“Now now, go to bed,” she said in a stern but kind voice.

The filly raced up the stairs ahead of me. As my host walked up them, the boards gave a slight groan. He went into a room, his living quarters I guessed, and lied down on the bed. He closed his eyes.

The grey world was flooded by the white void.

“Enjoy the memory?” asked the same voice I had heard the last time I was asleep.

“What? I don’t remember this,” I yelled. The voice I spoke in was mine again. My body was my own and I could move on my own accord.

“Oh, it isn’t your memory, but a memory nonetheless,” said the voice, echoing from somewhere in the empty void.

“Where am I? What is this? Who are you?” I called out.

“My, you ask a lot of questions. Where you are? You are asleep inside the ghoul’s house. What is this? Who am I? These questions will be answered in time. But now morning approaches. You have a lot to do, Live Wire.” The void began to be flooded by darkness again. More words echoed from the abyss. “So much to do...”

* * *

I opened my eyes to the mundane room. Awake for real, this time. I quickly checked myself over to ensure I hadn’t been attacked in the night. Bullet wounds? None that I didn’t already know about. Cuts from a blade? Nope. Anypony around me that is likely about to attack? E.F.S. said no.

It seemed I had misjudged the ghoul. He wasn’t going to rob us blind during the night and murder us. He merely planned to rob us blind through the totally acceptable method of inflated prices.

I rose to my hooves. Pulling the cart had taken a lot out of me and my muscles ached from the small act. I considered asking Needles for another dose of Med-X, but then I remembered the pony from my dreams. Med-X addicts, always in ‘pain’ and reliant on the drug to keep sane. I didn’t want to become like that. I thought more deeply and decided I could wait for now.

Speaking of the strange dream, what was that? Normally my dreams were of mundane Stable things. They had never been so detailed and vivid before. And that voice, what was that? Who was that? It said the dream I had was a memory, but not my memory?

I ran over it again, but the memory made no more sense than before. Bluh, now I had another reason to speak with the doctors. Oh right, would you mind checking to see if I’m insane? I have voices inside my head and strange dreams? Yeah, that sounded crazy enough to me. Wasteland life had required I do some things which... well. It could make anypony crazy. Or maybe it was just the radiation frying my circuitry. Who could say?

I levitated my packs onto my back and exited the room. I had no idea how early it was, but I seemed to be the first one awake. I wasn’t going to bother the mares. Looking into the room of a sleeping mare was likely to get you injured, wasteland or not.

I crept down the stairs, trying not to wake anypony else. The kitchen was just as it had appeared yesterday. I went down the hallway, intent on finding out if Needles was awake. I had to speak to somepony about this crazy dream, and a doctor seemed like the best opti-WHOAH.

Damnit! I tripped over some of the clutter in the hallway, falling on my face with a bang as I knocked the loose metal around. Well, if he wasn’t up already, he was now... Along with everypony in the house.

“I know you’re new to the wasteland, but are ya new to walkin’ as well?” cackled the ghoul pony as he exited his room.

I caught the scent of blood. My nose dripped droplets of it on the ground. Joy.

“Bluh, have you seen Needles?” I said with a likely broken nose. “I kinda need him now.”

“Heh, you stable ponies are a riot. Your friend was in this room, last I checked.” He pointed towards the one in between us. “Stable ponies,” he chuckled as he passed me toward the kitchen.

I rose back onto my legs and walked into the room. Needles stood over a few boxes he had taken from the cart. They were open, and various syringes, bottles, and packets floated in and out of them. He turned to look at me and I explained the situation.

“I think you are the only pony I know that could possibly get hurt worse by floorboard than by bullets.” He walked over to me, stared at my nose for a second. His horn glowed as the bleeding stopped and the wound healed. Fast and precise.

“What were you doing? Before my floor incident, I mean.”

“Inventory. Checking to see how many supplies we have and of what types.” He returned to levitating the various items. “We have plenty of potions and bandages. Aside from Pin’s personal stash, we have a fair amount of Med-X. There is also a small amount of emergency Hydra.”

“Hydra?” I asked. “The giant multi-headed creature?”

“Yes and no. Hydra is a drug that is made from hydras. It magically causes tissues to regrow at astounding rates. It can even regrow limbs and organs, it can realign broken bones and mend them, it even forces out foreign objects such as bullets.” Wow.

“Sounds like a miracle! Why didn’t we use that earlier? Actually, better question, but please don’t be offended by it. Why don’t you take hydra to regrow your organs and your leg?”

“Because Hydra would be just as likely to kill me by rejecting my bionic organs, forcing them out violently. It hasn’t exactly been well tested on cyber-ponies.” I imagined cybernetics being ‘forced’ out and nodded violently.. “Plus, hydra comes with risks even for normal ponies. It has the possibility of growing tumors inside you, causing you to die a slow and painful death because of the cancer.” Ok, hydra isn’t something I would want to be using any time soon.

“Then why carry it if it is so dangerous?” I asked.

“The short term benefits are amazing, able to save ponies from losing limbs, or even from dying due to severe injuries. I carry it for emergency situations where the patient will die without it.”

He continued sorting the medicines for a few minutes in silence. “How is Pinprick?” he asked.

“I didn’t check. They were still asleep when I woke up.”

“After your incident in the hallway, I doubt they are any longer.” He turned to me. “Could you please go check on her?”

“Sure.”

I left the room and entered the hallway again. I was careful to not trip over anything this time. Really, it wasn’t my fault. Toothpick should have kept this place cleaner.

I ascended the staircase and entered the room on the left, taking a second to knock first. When there was no response, I peeked in. Razor was still asleep, snoring loudly; I doubted firing Can Opener in her ear would wake her up. An empty brown bottle laid next to the passed out mare.

Pinprick was awake, but was lying on the floor. She looked up at me with her golden eyes. Her expression became mischievous. “Look at you, nervous about entering a mare’s room,” she snickered. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite. Stab you with a syringe, maybe, but not bite.”

“Needles wanted me to check on you,” I responded.

“Aw, sure it wasn’t because you were missing your marefriend here?” she chuckled pointing at the unconscious Razor. “Tell Needles I am fine. My chest still hurts, and I won’t be flying for a day or two, but I am fine.” Her expression turned a bit more serious. “Is Needles okay?”

“Yes. He was worn out from saving you, but he is ok.”

“That isn’t what I meant.” Okay, she was confusing me. “I mean, what happened? I know he was duelling that Steel bastard, but I blacked out. What did he do to him?”

“Razor and I managed to sneak up on the raiders that were threatening to shoot you. She took out three of them, I took out the last one. Needlepoint levitated the ranger in the air, and I fired my revolver point blank into his visor..”

She stared at me for a second. Then she sighed. “Good. I didn’t want him to repeat what happened at Armistice.” I suddenly recalled my dream. Armistice was mentioned. Now that I thought about it, the small filly looked similar to the little mare before me.

“What happened? At Armistice, I mean.” I asked.

“I was just a filly at the time.” She stopped for a second. “An actual filly, not just short,” she corrected. “From what I remember, raiders and rangers attacked the settlement. They were merciless. They killed most of the bucks; raped then killed most of the mares. They took my mother from me.” A tear fell from her eye and down her cheek. “Needles and the rest of the survivors tried to fight off the raiders, but there were too many of them. They broke into the clinic. One of them attacked me.” Her voice faltered. She had been more than just attacked. “But Needles came to my rescue. He was...” she trailed off for a second. “He had lost his leg in the fight and had healed the wound shut. Somehow, he managed to fight off the raider, but he didn’t kill him at first, just knocked him out.”

“The raiders invaded the lower part of the clinic and stripped it of everything while we lay up there in hiding. It took almost a day, but all the raiders finally left, except for one.” She stopped for a minute.

“Needles healed my wounds, took me to my room, and then knocked me out with his anesthetic spell. He didn’t want me to see what he was going to do. I awoke a few hours later to the sounds of the raider screaming. I crept into the room and saw...I saw the dark side of him.”

“What-” I began. She quickly began to describe the horror that she had encountered in Armistice.

“Let me finish, you should know. The raider lied on the ground, his legs were impaled with large nails, maybe railroad spikes. Needles had healed the wounds shut, burying the nails into the flesh of the raider. His chest was open, similar to his legs it was ‘healed’ to remain open. The raider was awake for this torture. Needles had removed some of his internal organs. The raider was somehow still alive after this. ‘You deserve this,’ I remember hearing him say. The raider just kept screaming. ‘I promised my mother that I would protect her, and YOU violate her?’ The raider had mumbled something, but I didn’t hear what it was. ‘No, you don’t deserve this. You deserve worse. But my sister will be waking soon, and she doesn’t need to endure this. Consider yourself lucky.’” The small mare shook some. “Then he took a grenade from his box of medical supplies and placed it in the raider’s screaming mouth. Then he rose to his hooves, his three hooves. I scrambled to my room and acted like I was still unconscious. He woke me up, put me on his back, and we left Armistice. A few moments after we left the clinic, I heard a muffled explosion.”

I thought back to Needles’ threat to end the ranger ‘slowly and painfully.’ I realized that he had likely meant it. The terrified mare looked up at me with her tear filled golden eyes. “I don’t think I could handle him doing something like that again. He’s so happy as a doctor and that shouldn’t be a part of him.” She rose to her hooves, walked over to me, and wrapped around one of my forelegs, tears streaming down her face. I laid my hoof across her back gently as she sobbed into my coat.

The pony who I thought was the sanest of our group, the one who I thought was the calm level headed pony, he had done that? He had tortured a raider for hours for assaulting his sister? How could he have done that?

And then I remembered.

Anger can drive a pony to do things that they wouldn’t normally do.

=====================================================================

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Foal at Heart- This perk greatly improves your relations with children.

(I would like to thank Kkat for writing Fallout Equestria, one of the best stories I have read, and I would like to thank Fillyosopher, Melon Hunter, and Tonto the Trotter for all assisting me in the rewrite.)

Chapter Five: Regrets (Rewritten)

Chapter Five

Regrets

Pain.

The Wasteland is a patchwork of pain. Whether it be physical pain, like the bullet wounds I routinely suffer from in the wasteland, psychological pain, the taking of another pony’s life tends to result in this, or emotional pain. The small mare clinging to my foreleg was suffering from all of these at once.

She looked up at me, tears in her eyes and a grim smile on her face. “Tell anypony I cried like this, and I will make a special poison just for you,” she said wiping her eyes with a slight laugh, trying to regain her naturally harsh tone. The effect was ruined by hints of her distress that were still present in her voice.

I levitated her onto my back. I didn’t want to risk her falling down the stairs while trying to walk. Razor was still asleep.

“Should we wake her?” I asked.

“Can we wake her?” she remarked.

I gave Razor a few pokes. She didn’t even twitch. Okay then. I gave her a more powerful jab, right in the ribs. She stirred, but remained asleep.

“I don’t think we can,” I answered.

“Hmm.” The pegasus was plotting, I could tell. “Got any water?”

I levitated a canteen of water over the head of the sleeping unicorn and carefully poured out the contents. The water was hardly clean, so I wasn’t wasting anything.

Razor waved a hoof at her face, then cracked an eye. A few more seconds more, then the cold water shocked her awake.

“Hey!” I didn’t let up, upending more water onto her face. “Okay! Okay! I’m awake!” She sputtered as I stopped.

Pinprick laughed from over my shoulder at the partially soaked unicorn. “Wow, you are one tough pony to wake up!”

“Blugh, no screeching voices,” Razor covered her ears. “I am not a morning pony...”

“Sure it isn’t that bottle of whiskey you downed last night?” asked the pegasus as she pointed at the bottle on the ground. I nodded with appropriate seriousness. In the Stable, alcohol was contraband. ‘A waste of resources, and dangerous to those who consume it and those around the offender’ was what the Overmare’s goons always preached. Naturally I managed to occasionally obtain some through the usual methods, although I didn’t remember most of the occasions I drank it.

“Could have at least shared,” said the smaller mare. “I’d pay to see this guy drunk.” She patted my side with a hoof.

I carried Pin down the stairs; Razor stumbled behind us. Needles was waiting at the bottom. His medical supplies had already been sorted and carried out to the cart. He eyed me suspiciously, but didn’t say anything about it.

“I feel strong enough to pull the cart today,” he said. I was thankful for this. I barely managed to pull the cart here, pulling it to Circus would kill me.

“Good, that means I can take a nap,” said the yellow mare. She walked to the cart and flopped bonelessly inside.

“Didn’t we bring you along so that you would protect us?” asked Pinprick. I climbed in, her still atop my shoulders, and we started off.

“Look, I know that he can go hoof to hoof with a steel ranger delta after taking out almost a whole clan of bandits, I know you are still deadly accurate with that syringe pistol thing of yours, and, although he isn’t the brightest, I know that Stable pony here can hold his own against a pack of manticores.” Hey! And when did I ever fight a pack of manticores? “So, letting me sleep off a hangover won’t leave you defenseless.” She did make a good argument for her being lazy.

“Fine,” conceded the small mare from atop my shoulders. “You’re useless with a hangover anyway. Just don’t make us waste water waking you up again.”

* * *

Our small caravan continued along for a few more hours. Razor snored softly in the back of the cart next to Pin. I sat opposite them. I have to say, the lone idiot raiders who charged the cart every so often made for good target practice.

Wow, that was an unusually morbid thought for me.

“Hey Pin, why is it that there are all these lone raiders wandering the roads?” I asked in an attempt to break the awkward silence. Silence punctuated by one-pony raider suicide runs.

“Dunno. Likely they are scouts from the group that see our cart and try to take it by themselves, keeping all the loot they can scavenge for themselves,” she said. “Raiders aren’t known for being the smartest bunch of ponies, taking on a group of four ponies when all they have is a pistol or a pool cue.”

“So how much longer till we get to Circus?”

“Probably a few more hours before we can see it, then another hour after that. Believe me, you will know Circus when you see it.” She took a drink from her Sparkle-Cola. The stuff was popular apparently. Then she looked at me. “Well, it will likely be another day or two before we reach it, because you two will likely want us to stop and fight every band of raiders we come across,” she chuckled but with a hint of seriousness. It was true that we had stopped a few times in order to deal with some raiders, but I doubt we fought every group.

“Hey, wasn’t our last detour to save you?” I remarked.

“Hmm, maybe. But still, you two are going to force us to waste our time killing raiders.” She took another drink, then looked me in the eyes. “We are medics, not mercenaries.”

Oh, hello red dots. “Speak of the devils,” I said gesturing in the direction of the red dots. Pinprick followed my pointing. A small camp appeared on the horizon, its inhabitants very hostile if E.F.S. was any indication. The enemies appeared to be a good amount west of us. They likely wouldn’t trouble us if we-Wait.

“Ah, leave them be. I have enough blood on my hooves to last the week,” said the mare as she finished the bottle of carrot-y cola.

“We have to go over there.”

“See, this is what I meant. You are going to have us kill every raider in the wasteland for no-” she began.

“They have prisoners.” Yellow dots were mixed in with the red. Some of them blinked out every so often. “And by the looks of it, they are killing them.”

She stared at me for a second. “Damnit. We are never going to reach Circus at this rate.”

* * *

There looked to be about ten raiders in the camp, with an unknown amount inside the building with the prisoners. Pin managed to avoid most of the guards on the outskirts of the camp, though she took two of them out with her syringe pistol. She entered the building unnoticed. A few seconds went by. Then things went bad.

Gunfire sounded out from the camp. One of the yellow dots on E.F.S. blipped out. Needles charged into the camp in a similar manner to how he did in the city. The medical knives popped out of their compartment in his leg, hovering in the air behind the charging buck.

Many of the raiders had become aware that something was amiss, all scrambling to find weapons. A shot echoed from behind me, one of the raider’s heads popped open. Razor was a very good shot.

I ran into the camp, pulling the rifle out of my pack as I did so. Two of the raiders leapt at Needles, a knife in one’s mouth, the other levitated a sledge hammer towards the large buck. The unicorn raider went down as a scalpel embedded in her throat, the other was met with a mechanical hoof to his skull, spilling the contents of his head onto the ground.

Another shot was fired, this time by one of the raiders. The pistol round nicked the throat of the doctor, but nothing severe. A S.A.T.S. guided rifle round dug into the chest of the offender, from the looks of it hitting something vital.

A scream came from the building. I was both glad and terrified that it wasn’t Pin’s voice. Either she was alive and had injured a raider, or she was already dead and the raider had picked a new victim. No brain, can’t think about things like that. Must kill raiders first!

A shotgun wielding raider went down, a headshot courtesy of Razor Petal. There looked to be about half a dozen raiders left, and the number was dropping. Needles took out another one with a devastating kick to their face. I took out one with a rifle shot to the neck. Razor had selected another victim and dispatched of them with her usual accuracy.

Soon, the camp was clear of raiders, except the one that Needles preoccupied himself with smashing into submission. That left only the building and whatever remained there.

I entered the building and was met by the bodies of three raiders, all had a single syringe sticking into their flesh. I wasn’t sure if they were dead or simply paralyzed, but they were out of the way.

The building looked to be some sort of house at some point. The obvious signs of raider occupation were present: graffiti depicting vulgar scenes, bloodstains on many surfaces, mutilated corpses decorating the rooms. There were also signs of the small medic’s presence, namely dead raiders.

I descended a staircase into the basement. The raiders had turned it into a makeshift prison. Inside many of the cells were dead ponies. A recent corpse oozed fresh blood on the ground, likely the victim of the gunshot we had heard earlier.

“What took you so long?” I turned to see the small mare standing over the body of a raider, four syringes were stabbed into him.

“Had an entire camp of raiders to deal with. We heard a gunshot...”

“Yeah, this one decided to take out that poor buck over there. He died before I got here. I took him out before he shot that colt.” She pointed towards the only living prisoner.

He was an earth pony colt, blue coat with a black mane. He didn’t have his cutie mark yet. He had a scowl on his face. He didn’t appear afraid, just irritated. I levitated a lockpick and screw driver out of my pack and began to work on the lock.

“Don’t worry, we are here to help,” I said, trying to reassure him. He looked at me but continued scowling. “I will have you out in just a second.” The lock clicked open.

The colt stepped out of the cell and looked at me. He didn’t say anything, just scowled.

I turned to Pinprick. “Is he okay?” I whispered.

“Don’t know. He didn’t say anything the entire time I was down here. He might be traumatized,” she responded in a hushed tone.

“Simpletons,” I heard a voice whisper.

I turned back to the colt. “Did you say something?” He just scowled in response. “Did you hear that?” I asked the mare.

“Hear what?” Well that answered my question. Now I was hearing voices inside my head. The foal looked at me, his scowl lessened some but was still present.

“You can hear me?” I heard the voice ask.

“Uhm, yes,” I responded.

“Yes to what?” asked the pegasus.

“Not everypony can hear me. She can’t.”

‘Weird,’ I thought.

“Yeah, it is weird.”

‘Wait, you can read minds?’

“Sort of. Don’t tell the pegasus, she will only think you are crazy.” I might be going crazy.

The small mare simply stared at me with a confused expression. “Nevermind, let’s just get out of here,” I said.

The two of us exited the building, the strange colt followed behind us. Outside of the building were Razor and Needles.

Pin trotted over to her brother. “I think you need to examine this colt, I think he might have been traumatized by the raiders.” She leaned in closer to him. “You may want to also examine Wire, I think something is wrong with him,” she whispered. She wasn’t very good at whispering.

Needles walked over to the colt. “Ah!” shouted the colt’s voice in my head. I looked over to him. He was cringing.

‘Are you okay?’ I thought.

“Yes, was just shaken by one of his memories,” replied the voice in my head.

‘You can read memories?’

“Sort of.”

Needles looked over the colt, searching for a physical reason for his inability to speak.

“Well, from what I can tell, he hasn’t sustained any physical injury that would cause this. Maybe he was born with a structural defect in his vocal chords.” Razor and I just stared at him for a second. He sighed. “Maybe he was born mute.”

“I was,” I heard the voice in my head say as the colt gave a nod. The telepathic colt looked at me. “It gets kinda lonely not being able to talk to anypony.”

Pin frowned a little at the scowling colt. Then she looked over at me. “So, what should we do with him? We can’t leave him here...”

“You are going to Circus, just take me with you.”

“I think we need to take him with us,” I said. Pin still frowned some. Razor just smiled a half smile at the colt. Needles just remained stoic at the young pony’s plight. “Taking him to Circus is better than leaving him in the middle of the wasteland, right?” None of them said anything.

“Circus hasn’t gained a reputation for being very friendly.”

‘Then why go there?’ I mentally asked.

“Because where else is a Laughingstock supposed to go?”

* * *

The three of us plus the colt, whom I had learned was named Whisper, had piled in the back of the cart. It was beginning to become a bit more crowded.

Whisper spent about half an hour explaining himself. He was one of the Laughingstocks, a high ranking one apparently. He was sent into the wasteland by the leader of the group, Glasgow Smile, to find a trading caravan and search their minds to determine which side they were on, the Iron Hoof or the Laughingstocks. Before he could reach them, he was captured by a group of raiders that knew who he was. They were planning to ransom him to either the Iron Hoof or the Laughingstocks, depending on who would pay more caps. He also explained his power some. When he was younger, he had an encounter with killing joke that made him like this.

“I can’t really control what I hear. It is like there are many voices around me, some are louder than others. Today, I heard a rather disturbing memory, one from the large medic you travel with. It was especially loud.”

‘How bad was it?’

“Sadly, it wasn’t the worst I have experienced. It seems the more horrific the incident, the louder it is. I wasn’t the one being tortured in this, so I am not sure why it was as loud as it was.”

“Hey, you okay?” asked Pinprick, interrupting the thought conversation. “You have been pretty quiet for a while.”

“Huh? Oh. Sorry, I was just thinking about some things.” It wasn’t a lie exactly.

“Good cover.” Telepathic sarcasm. Great.

“Hey, look what is finally in view,” said Needles from in front of the cart.

Rising on the horizon was what looked like a tower, decorated with offensively colorful swirls and lines. Though faded by time, beneath the swirls was a bright pink. Surrounding the tower were many smaller buildings, enclosed by walls made of concrete. The entire place was violently cheerful in appearance.

Pin leaned over to me. “Told you you would know it when you saw it.”

“Ugh, but it’s getting late,” said Razor. “They won’t let us in at this hour. And without proper shelter, we’re easy prey for bloodwings.”

“They will let you in.”

“They will let us in,” I relayed to the group.

“And what makes you say that? You’ve never been here before,” said Razor.

“Just trust me, okay? Have my plans ever went wrong?”

“Yes,” the small mare said,

“Oh yeah,” replied Razor.

“Judging from their memories, I would go with yes.”

Needles only laughed as he pulled the cart ahead. Like any of their plans went any better.

* * *

“No entrance at this hour,” yelled down one of the unicorn guards from the high wall.

“Great plan,” sneered Pin.

We stood outside Circus in front of a pair of giant metal doors. It was getting dark quickly, soon the bloodwings would be around.

“Hold on a second.”

I heard some shouting from the other side. The guards simply looked confused for a second. Then one by one their horns started to glow. The massive metal doors began to slide open. On the opposite side stood a small group of ponies, two earth ponies, a buck and a mare, and a unicorn. The two earth ponies were armed with rifle battle saddles, the unicorn at the front of the trio had no weapon. He did, however, have a chalkboard tied around his neck.

The trio walked up to us. The unicorn’s horn glowed and a piece of chalk scribbled a message. “Hello, welcome to Circus.” His hoof wiped away the message and the chalk scribbled another one. “Thank you for returning Whisper to us.”

“Whisper?” asked Razor.

“Yes, Whisper the Laughingstock,” read the board.

“Is everypony in the Laughingstocks a mute?” asked Pin sarcastically.

He erased the message on the board, replacing it with another. “I am hardly mute. My voice could kill you.”

“That’s enough, Reverb,” said one of the ponies next to the strange unicorn. “The boss said for them to get plenty of rest at The Drunken Princess.” The what? “Then he wants to meet with them in the morning.”

The chalk scratched on the board again. “Follow us, please.” Our cart followed after them.

Circus was a disturbing place. Everything was decorated with painful colors, strange decorations were everywhere. Of all the decorations, the posters scared me the most. They depicted a pink mare, smiling in an eerie fashion, staring right at you. The words ‘Pinkie Pie is watching you Forever!’ were visible. I decided to avoid looking at the posters whenever possible. Or any of the decorations for that matter.

There were various ponies wandering around the settlement. Some were armed with various weapons, others appeared to just be civilians living in the town. Even the civilians had weapons holstered. A few foals ran through the streets chasing after each other and playing joyfully. As strangely decorated as Circus was, it was likely one of the only places that was safe from raiders.

“So why does your leader want to meet with us?” I asked the trio. None of them answered. I asked the question again, this time mentally. Whisper was silent for a few minutes, but when I repeated, he answered.

“Can’t really say. Smile is a strange pony. Don’t let his cheerful facade fool you. Although he may laugh and grin all the time, I have seen his true thoughts. He is dead inside. That is the curse Killing Joke placed on him.” The colt looked at me with a scowl. “Drove him crazy, too. Nopony really knows why he does what he does,” he added.

‘Then why do you follow him?’ I mentally asked.

“He may be unpredictable, and a little insane, but what he is doing is right. He made the Laughingstocks in order to fund research into finding a cure for Killing Joke. And he is the last pony bold enough to oppose the Iron Hoof.”

I tried prying more information from the young pony, but he remained silent. Razor tried to ask one of the ponies about Whisper, but the buck only snorted in response. All other attempts at communicating met similar failure.

The trio of ponies led us to a medium sized building. Painted on the wall near the door were the words ‘Drunken Princess’ in faded pink. They entered the building and we followed in after them.

I thought the town was strange, but the inside of the tavern was insane. Streamers of almost every color hung from the rafters, while balloons were tied to all of the chairs. The walls were decorated with the same offensive coloration the entire town had, along with the disturbing posters.

There was an olive coated unicorn mare with a darker green mane behind the bar counter. She looked up at the large group that had entered the area. A smile emerged on her face.

“Customers!” she cheered as she bounced in place.

“Calm down, Martini,” said one of the earth ponies that had escorted us here. “These are the ponies that rescued Whisper from those raiders.” How they knew that, I was unsure. Likely one of them could hear the small colt. These words only increased the cheer that the mare had.

“Wow! Thank you for saving the little guy!” she said with enthusiasm. “First round is on the house!”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” said Razor as she trotted over to the counter.

One of the earth ponies that had led us here turned to look at me. “The boss wants to meet with you in the morning. You can sleep in the rooms here. Everything has been taken care of, courtesy of the boss. Enjoy your stay at Circus,” he remarked snidely.

With that, the trio left. Whisper looked at us with his permanent scowl, then he simply turned and followed after the others. Needles left as well, though I assume it was to retrieve his medical supplies from the cart.

“Hey, stable pony! Come get drunk!” shouted Razor having already downed a large part of her bottle.

Razor sat at the counter, drinking quite a bit. Pin was also at the bar, but she was barraging the cheerful bartender with various questions as to the types of drinks she had available. Conversely, Razor seemed to just drink whatever had alcohol in it.

I sat at the bar in between the two. The green mare levitated a small glass full of a clear liquid in front of me. After the past few days, I really needed to just forget my troubles for awhile. I hesitantly downed the contents of the glass. The drink had a fiery bite to it, but eventually it settled and began to warm my stomach. It packed a kick I was unused to.

Razor began laughing at something as she popped open another bottle of her whiskey. Pin sat next to me, drinking from a glass full of dark liquid. There was a half empty bottle of Sparkle-cola sitting on the counter next to her. Another small glass of clear alcohol was placed in front of me.

This was likely one of the dumber decisions I had made since I entered the wasteland, but I drank the second shot. And the third. And I blacked out in between that and the fourth.

* * *

Blugh.

Yeah. That was the worst decision I had made in the wasteland. My head was killing me. There was the familiar scent of vomit lingering in the air. And now I was soaking wet as well.
I awoke to somepony pouring cold water on my head.

“You think he’s dead?” I heard a voice ask sarcastically. Blugh, no noises please. I opened my eyes and tried to stand up, only to fall back on my side.

“Blugh,” was all I managed to say.

Standing over me were the two medical ponies. Needles levitated a canteen over my head, still letting splashes of water occasionally spill out. “No, he just has a bad hangover,” said the buck in a calm voice. “Maybe next time you won’t drink so much.”

“I only remember drinking three small glasses,” I responded with a groan.

“That might be what you remember,” said the pegasus. “I was right though, he is hilarious when he is drunk.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Well, first you tried to sing one of the songs that was playing over the radio, but you just started shouting. Most of them were things that should never be repeated.” The small mare had a grin on her face as she spoke. “And then you tried to dance, which was funny as hell. Then for some reason you decided to paint yourself various colors.” I what?

I looked at my sides, and sure enough they were decorated with swirls and splotches of random colors. The silvery grey hairs were coated and mixed with various paints. Bits of my coat had been torn out as well.

“I need a mirror,” I declared.

“You really don’t want to see. It is bad,” said Needles.

“Aw, let him see the damage,” said the small pegasus.

I looked around the room I was in. It looked like living quarter of some sort, though there was a lot of graffiti on the walls, some of it drunken scribblings that were very recent. Next to where I lied was a puddle of vomit, likely mine. Adjacent to the room was what appeared to be a small bathroom.

I rose to my hooves, successfully this time, though I was a little wobbly. I stumbled over to the small room. On the wall hung a mirror. It was slightly cracked, but it would function well enough.

The face that stared back at me was a familiar one, but it was assaulted by an assortment of colors. My normally dark grey mane was matted and clumped with paint, the blue streak that it once contained was indistinguishable from the other colors. How drunk had I been?

“Blugh,” I moaned at the image. This was going to be tough to wash out.

“Cheer up, the colors hide the burnt hairs well,” said the small mare with a smile. I just looked at her confused. “Oh, didn’t I tell you that you caught yourself on fire a little?”

“I what? How?”

“It was only a little fire.”

“You almost burned down the building,” Needles deadpanned.

“You tried using that sparky spell to light a cigarette. Didn’t end well. Oh yeah, don’t take up smoking, it is bad for you,” said the small mare. It apparently was if it caught me on fire.

Needles started laughing a little. Pin had been laughing a lot. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little at my reflection. I had done worse when I got drunk back at the Stable. This was one of my milder blackouts.

Wait.

“Where did I get the paint from?” I asked.

“The bartender was more than happy to provide all the ingredients for your recipe for disaster,” said the mare. “I think she likes you, especially with all the drunken flirting you did.” Oh great. “Though, you did hit on everypony in the bar when you were drunk,” she added. Just great.

“Everypony,” Needles echoed. Well, this was embarrassing. Sadly, this still wasn’t the worst blackout I had. I once woke up in a supply closet dangling from one of the shelves by a rope tied to my hind leg with the majority of my mane shaved off. I am still not sure what events led to that.

The two siblings laughed at my expense. “Well, you better try to wash that stuff off, we have to meet with the leader of the Laughingstocks today,” Pin remarked.

* * *

I got most of the colors off my hide, but faint traces of it still remained. My mane still had a few strands of random colors in it. Whoever made this paint obviously did not intend for it to be washed out easily.

I sat in the lower level of the tavern. Our rooms, or at least the room I had passed out in, were on the second level, the bar was on the first. The olive green mare was behind the counter, speaking with Pin about something. Every so often she would glance over at me with a smile. This only increased my unease.

Meeting with the leader of a notorious wasteland gang, who is known for being insane. But he wanted to see me, and I am fairly certain that turning down a meeting with such a powerful pony would end worse than meeting him.

I momentarily contemplated ordering a drink to ease my nerve. The idea was quickly shot down as I recalled Pin telling me about some of the events that had occurred while I was drunk. Showing up drunk to meet with the Smile was probably the worse than not showing up. Besides, judging from the way the two mares spoke, I had a feeling Pin neglected to tell me everything.

Needles descended the stairs into the bar, his horn glowing with his white magic as he levitated a passed out unicorn behind him. “I have had patients wake up after being anesthetized easier than her,” he lamented as he carefully dropped the unconscious Razor to the floor.

“What should we do?” I asked.

Pin looked over with a grin. She turned to the mare, I think her name was Martini. “Got any paint left over?” she asked.

Martini started giggling. She levitated out two cylindrical containers from underneath the counter.

“Why do you have so much paint?” I asked.

She smiled at me. “For whenever I want to paint the bar, of course,” she responded. She stared at me for a second. “Or, for when somepony wants to get a little creative,” she added with a giggle.

Pin took one of the buckets by the handle and walked over to the sleeping Razor. She then proceeded to dump the contents onto the side of the once yellow unicorn, turning the affected regions bright pink.

The liquid hitting Razor’s side caused her to stir, eventually she awoke with a shock. “What the hell?” she screeched at the pegasus, the handle of the bucket still in her smiling mouth.

“Didn’t want to waste water this time,” she retorted. “Now get up before I make your mane bright green.”

Razor grumbled something and rose to her hooves. “Gah, I need to wash this off before it dries.” She looked over at me. “Don’t want to end up looking like that idiot.” Hey!

She left for her room with a laugh. Pin resumed her conversation with the bubbly mare behind the counter. Needles just sat at one of the tables.

After a few minutes of waiting, Razor finally returned, her left side still maintained a slight pinkish hue. Pin let out a laugh as she noticed the coloration. Razor ignored the small pegasus and trotted over to the bar and purchased a few bottles of alcohol.

“What?” she asked, catching my questioning stare. “We ain’t going to be in this town forever. I want a few drinks for the road.”

The door opened with a creak. The two earth ponies that had led us here entered the tavern, though the chalkboard unicorn was missing from their group. A familiar colt accompanied them. Whisper stared at me for a second, his face bearing his usual scowl.

“Rough night?” I heard the voice in my head ask sarcastically.

“Alright, Smile wants to meet with you,” declared the brown coated buck with the dusty tan mane. He stopped for a second and looked at the colt, who was staring at him. “Alright,” he mumbled. “Looks like Smile had decided to delay your meeting for a little bit. But Shock Treatment wants us to bring you to him.”

“Shock Treatment? Who’s that?” asked Razor.

“Hell if I know. Some new guy the boss took a shine to, made him one of the higher ups for the Laughingstocks. I haven’t met him, but he wants to meet with you,” the buck replied in a gruff tone.

“And who are you two?” asked Pin.

“Laughingstocks. My name is Stoneface, this is Stopwatch,” he said as he nodded to the red coated mare with the dark pink mane beside him. She didn’t seem to pay attention to him.

“Laughingstocks, eh? What makes you so special?” asked Razor. “All the Laughingstocks have some freaky power, so what do you three do?” She included Whisper in the question.

“Look, we don’t have time to give you an in depth description. But I am made of rocks, Stopwatch experiences the world in slow motion, and Whisper is telepathic,” replied the annoyed Stoneface. “Any more questions to waste our time? No? Good.”

“Let’s just get moving,” said the mare beside him. She spoke in a strange way. Her words seemed to be dragged out, but she said them in a very quick manner.

“Trust me, you want to meet Shock.”

“Alright, fine,” I responded, both to Stopwatch and to Whisper. Who knows, maybe this Shock Treatment pony or Smile might be able to help me locate Volt in this place.

The trio of Laughingstocks left, the four of us followed behind them out onto the street.

* * *

Circus was a strange place, even for the wasteland. It was still early in the morning, but ponies were already moving through the streets, traveling from their homes to their businesses. Or they were going to the shops. I would have to visit one of the traders to see if I could get some supplies, maybe even better barding.

In the center of the town was the large tower like building. Home and base of operations for the Laughingstocks.

“Home, sweet home,” remarked the earth colored buck as we approached the large building.

We entered through the large doorway. The doors had been reinforced with sheets of metal. The interior of the main lobby was decorated with various ornaments that the entire town seemed to have in bulk supply. The decorator for the town must have been an insane clown. I grimaced at the realization of about how I right I was.

In the center of the lobby was a metal statue of a pony, rearing on her hind legs. Time had rusted the statue heavily, but a multiple coatings of paint alleviated the rust color. Balloons were attached to the statue, and streamers hung from it. The base of the statue was on a small pedestal that had the words “Pinkie Pie” engraved on it. Below these words was a line of smaller words, “Ministry of Morale”.

A few ponies, all armed with various weapons, walked around in the lobby. Some took notice of our presence, whispering something to those around them. Others were simply content with their current conversations. Most, if not all of them, were likely Laughingstocks.

“Not everypony in the Laughingstocks is a freak. Some are just regular ponies wanting to fight the Iron Hoof, others just want to make a quick cap.” The colt must have heard the various questions that I was unknowingly asking in my head.

Behind the large statue was a metal door. On both sides of the door were staircases that led to the second level of the lobby. Various other doors and hallways were located on the walls of the first and second floors.

“Smile wants to meet with you after you see Shock,” said Stoneface. “Shock is on the second floor, third door on the right side.” The two older Laughingstocks left, Whisper stayed with us though.

We crossed the lobby and ascended the stairs. Many of the doors depicted a symbol. Likely the mark of the pony who inhabited the room. The third door on the right had a symbol as well. A pair of crossed wires.

I lifted my hoof and knocked on the door.

“Enter,” came a voice from the other side.

The inside of the room was unlike the others. Instead of bright and colorful pictures decorating the walls, they were painted grey. There were no balloons, no streamers, no pictures of the disturbing pink mare. The far wall of the room was entirely windows, though many of them were broken open, and others were cracked. A pony sat in the room, his back to us. He stared out the broken window.

He turned to us. His face stared at mine. It was a familiar one. Light grey, silvery even, coat. A dark grey mane with a single blue streak running through it.

The face was my own, minus some of the minor scars I had obtained from my time in the wasteland. It also lacked the stains from a drunken mishap involving paint.

“Hello little brother,” said the pony.

=====================================================================
Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Gunslinger- While using a mouth-held or levitated firearm, your chance to hit in S.A.T.S. increases by 25%.
Quest Perk: Lightweight- You get drunk very easy. Unique dialog interactions with certain characters.

(I would like to thank Kkat for writing Fallout Equestria, one of the best stories I have read. Big thanks to Fillyosopher and Melon Hunter for helping with the rewritten chapter.)

Chapter Six: Reunion

Chapter Six

Reunion

Identity.

Who you are. How others see you. Losing your identity is like losing yourself.

Whisper had once tried to explain that most Laughingstocks created a new identity for themselves when they joined. He said it had something to do with losing who you were when you became affected by Killing Joke. I didn’t really understand it at the time.

Looking in my own eyes-No. Looking into the eyes of my brother, I realized what he meant. Volt had lost his identity. Many of the Laughingstocks had lost who they were, whether is be physically like Stoneface, or mentally like Smile. They weren’t the pony they once were, they became something else when they were cursed by the plant.

We both stood in silence for a few minutes. Razor interrupted the silence.

“So...Are you two twins or something?” she asked. The look I shot her answered her question. “Sorry.”

“No, what I am is not a twin,” began Volt. “What I am is a reflection, an image cast by my own admiration for my dear sibling, brought about by a chance encounter with the cruel flora that is Killing Joke.” The hell? When did he become so eloquent?

“Uhm, what?” asked Razor, clearly confused by the speech.

Volt simply sighed. “I always admired Live Wire, so Killing Joke made me look like him. Screwed up my head some too.” Clearly. “I honestly don’t know what I am saying half the time.” I am not sure whether or not I should take offense to that.

“How did this happen?” I asked. Razor had said that killing joke was only found in some isolated areas, such as the Everfree forest to the north. She said that there was none on the path we took.

“You may wish to take a seat, for the tale I am about to recount will take time to accurately portray. It began upon the day I had ventured out of my stable and into the treacherous location known simply as the wasteland,” he began

“Short version please?” asked Pin.

“Okay. I left the stable with a small group of ponies, we went south like the voice told me to, and we unfortunately stumbled upon an area that had Killing Joke.” Voice?

“Wait, I thought that Killing Joke could only grow in places like the Everfree forest,” interjected Needles.

“Smile, our gracious host and leader, has affirmed that this is a mutant version of the Killing Joke that many wastelanders, such as those of you who accompany my younger brother, know of. It has adapted to the harsh terrain of the wasteland, bringing with it the sorrow of its curse, spreading to many unfortunate wanders such as I.” He stopped for a second. “He also said it was much tougher to cure, so he spends all the spare caps that the Laughingstocks earn into finding a cure. So there’s hope I can regain my dashing good looks and my natural charm.” And there was the old Volt.

“So what is with the new name?” I asked.

“I dunno. Some funny thing that Smile came up with. I just prefer ponies call me by my real name. All these new names make me confused.”

“No, I mean, why Shock Treatment?”

“Ah, now I see the real meaning of your inquiry. The spell that we both learned in the Stable, the one that creates an electrical shock, I have managed to find a way to weaponize it, an innovation resulting from a desperate attempt at defending myself from a group of ruffians you all address as raiders.”

“So you shoot lightning bolts?” asked Pin. “Doesn’t seem that special. This dumbass took out a Steel Ranger with one just the other day.” Hey!

“Huh. I didn’t even think to use the spell that way until after I was changed,” he mused.

“What happened to the rest of the group?” I asked.

“Ah, tis a tragedy of the utmost degree. For you see, while my encounter was less capital, many of the others met a terrible demise that I hesitate to recount.” He paused. “Flange is okay though, but now he goes by Clockwork. The Joke made his insides mechanical. Really hurts from what I have heard.” I caught Needles lower his head some.

I turned to my companions. “Could you give us a minute to talk in private?” I asked them. The two medics and the ex-bandit left, but the young colt stayed at the door. “Uhm, please go.”

“Wouldn’t really matter anyway. I would still hear it from either you or him.”

“Fine,” I sighed.

“Oh, you hear him too?” Volt said, a little surprised.

“Yeah.”

“I swear, my brain has been like a meeting place for all these different ponies. I don’t mind though, makes me feel popular,” he said with a smile that had a hint of his old cheer.

“Wait, you mean you have been hearing many voices?” I asked him.

“Indeed. The events leading to our departure were driven by the voices.” Sweet Celestia, my brother was crazier than I thought. “Do not worry, for I still retain my sanity. These voices are ones that you have surely heard as well.”

“I have only heard Whisper,” I answered.

“Really? Not even in your sleep?” he asked with a frown.

“Wait, I have been hearing voices in my dreams, though I thought they were just random dreams.”

“I thought so too, until I began to actually listen to them.” His smile returned some. “They compelled me to investigate the personal terminal of our corrupt leader. I discovered a fact that verified what the voices said to me were true.”

“And what was that?” I asked.

“She planned to kill us both.”

* * *

Dead Volt told me everything that had happened in the days leading up to him destroying the generator.

“It started a few days before I left. At first, I thought they were just strange dreams, but they were clearer, I could feel any pain I experienced in them, I could see, hear, and feel everything like I was there. And then the voices started. At first, it was just a single voice, compelling me to leave the Stable. I already wanted to leave the Stable, so I thought it was just my subconscious bringing a voice to these desires. But then I started hearing the voice while I was awake. Then I began listening to what it tried to tell me. It said I needed to hack into the Overmare’s terminal, that there was something I needed to discover. I was able to ascertain that our corrupt leader plotted to dispose of us, along with about a dozen other ponies, through her personal recordings. She really was an arrogant pony. I downloaded the recordings onto my PipBuck and managed to flee without anypony finding me. I showed the message to the ponies that she planned to have killed, most of which were maintenance. We plotted to have our schedules altered so that we were on the same shift. I am still unsure how, but I managed to learn the anesthetic spell because of the voice. I used it to knock out the ponies who would not aid us. We destroyed the generator and removed the gems, and then managed to slip into the crowd that came rushing to investigate.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you,” I said.

“No, you wouldn’t have. You would have convinced me that I was crazy for listening to a voice in my head, and talked me out of it.” I couldn’t deny that I wouldn’t have done that. He sighed as he looked at me. “I know I should have spoke to you, gave you a reason for me doing this. I couldn’t. There wasn’t enough time to convince you, and my group needed to leave before the Overmare knew what was going on. The voice provided a solution that seemed to work out in the end, to knock you out.”

“How could you do that to me? I could have been killed by the Overmare or her lackeys!” I shouted. “What if that voice had been wrong? What if all you managed to do was kill the Stable? How could you value some voice in your head over your home, over everypony you knew, over me?”

“Because it was right!” he shouted in return. “For the voice in my head spoke words that rang true, for the voice in my head saved me, saved you, saved the entire Stable from the suffering brought about by the wicked tyrant that is the Overmare!”

“Then why not just kill the Overmare?”

“The voice said it was not my role to kill her, that I was simply a catalyst for the desired reaction!” If Volt leaving the Stable wasn’t the desired reaction, what was?

“And what about the Stable? Are you just going to leave them to die?”

“Provisions have been made with a select few that opted to remain behind. They will lead the inhabitants of the Stable to the north, where they will encounter various civil settlements into which many will likely be accepted. The voice said that this was the best way to keep casualties to a minimum.” He paused for a second. “The Stable is already dead. It was dead the moment the door opened. There is no Stable 7 anymore. The ponies that once lived there will be forced into the wasteland, where they will either adapt or they will perish.”

“How could you do this?”

“Our Stable was doomed the moment Golden Sceptre became Overmare. The ponies in the Stable were too afraid to do anything, and she would have done something that would have eventually killed us all. I gave us a chance of survival.”

We both stood silent for a few seconds, though it seemed more like hours. Whisper stood next to the door, unmoving. All of a sudden, he cringed in pain, letting out a mental yelp heard by both of us.
“Smile...wants to see you now,” he groaned in our heads

“Are you okay?” I asked out loud, though it was redundant.

“Yes. Listening to Smile is sometimes...unpleasant.”

My PipBuck gave a beep, though I already knew it updated that I had met with Shock Treatment, and that I had found Volt.

* * *

I was a bit shocked to see that the metal doors in between the stairs in the lobby actually led to a working elevator. One of the Laughingstocks that was accompanying me to the top tried to explain how much work it took to get it working again, but I was still wary of wasteland technology.

Only three ponies were in the elevators. Myself, Whisper, and another Laughingstock. The mare seemed amiable enough, though for some reason she wore a lot of clothing and wrappings. She wore a duster that bore the mark of a flower, a black rose with a few of the petals having been scattered below it. Her eyes were concealed by a pair of thick welding goggles. Her entire face was obscured by bandages and gauze. She looked like she was the victim of very severe burns. I couldn’t tell what she was, as her duster could conceal wings, and the hat atop her head could possibly conceal a horn. Her entire identity was a mystery.

She seemed to catch me staring at her, trying to understand the strange attire. “Sorry if I appear a little strange. This look tends to grab attention, but at least it is better than the alternative,” she said with a hint of sadness in her tone.

“Oh come now, how bad could it be?” I asked, trying to comfort the mare some.

“It is pretty bad. But if you really want to see, or rather not see,” she said.

Somehow, the gauze managed to unwrap, slowly though. It hovered there, as if it were held by unicorn magic, though there was no glow around it. The gauze looped around her head a few times before it finally revealed the mare’s face. Or it would have if it was there.

I stared at the forming holes in the coverings. I saw through to the back of the coverings. There was nothing inside the bandaged shell. Or at least that was what it appeared.

“My name is Ghost,” she spoke as the wrappings continued to unwind. “And I am invisible.”

“Wow,” was all I could say, though judging by the movement of the gauze that still covered parts of her face, that wasn’t the best thing to say. “I’m sorry,” I quickly apologized.

“It’s okay,” she said calmly. “Lots of ponies initially think it is something interesting, but it is hard to deal with when you must wear all these coverings if you want to be seen.” She still seemed a little offended by my remark.

“Smooth,” chimed the colt’s voice in my head.

“Hey, shut up!” I said turning to the colt. Ghost was obviously not one of the ponies that could hear him. She smiled half heartedly though, as she at least knew about Whisper’s ability.

The elevator finally dinged, and I quickly exited it. The room I was in was similar to the lobby in terms of decoration, but it was much smaller, only having one desk in front of a large door.

“Smile’s room is through there,” said the transparent pony next to me, pointing at the large door. She walked ahead of me and knocked on the door. “Hey Smile, the new guy is here to meet with you!” Was I the new guy? I wasn’t really one for joining sides. She turned to me. “Just go on in.” The door opened with her clear colored magic.

I entered the room, Whisper followed after me. The mare stayed outside. The inside of the room was decorated in the style that seemed dominant in Circus. Colorfully painted walls, vast amounts of balloons and streamers, the floor seemed to predominantly use the color red. No wait, that was dried blood. Lots of it.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome!” I heard a voice say in a chuckle. I looked up from the blood caked floor to see an earth pony sitting behind a large desk, his coat was mixed with various colors, similar to my drunken mishap, although I could tell that his coat was originally white. His mane was also mixed with colors, the original was indistinguishable. His eyes were mismatched, one was blood red, the other was pure white. He had a grin on his face that seemed to never cease, even when he spoke. “I am Glasgow Smile, but you can just call me Smile.”

“Hello, my name is Live Wire,” I responded.

He only laughed some more. “Oh, I know who you are. I know a lot about you.” His smile was starting to creep me out. “You see, I have eyes all over the wasteland, although I only have two here. Only one works though.” He laughed at his attempt at comedy. I hesitantly chuckled as well. “You have earned quite a reputation in Circus. You took out Jackhammer’s raider group. I can not express the joy you brought me when you put a bullet in that Delta bastard’s skull.” He started laughing again. “And then you managed to save Whisper from another band of raiders? You have proven to be able to handle yourself quite well.” He roared with laughter for about a minute. I looked over at Whisper.

“It isn’t by his own choice,” was all I heard in my head.

The pony stopped laughing, or rather, he reduced the laughing to a light chuckle. “So, what are your plans?” he asked in between giggles.

“What do you mean?” I questioned.

“I mean, you fought through several raider camps, and even a few rangers in order to get here. You heard what Shock had to say. What I am wondering is what you are planning to do now.”

I thought for a minute. I hadn’t actually considered what I was going to do after finding Volt. I had assumed that I would be able to either talk him into giving me back the gems so that the Stable could be fixed, or I would just take them from him. Now, that wasn’t an option apparently. I had no home to return to. What was I going to do now?

“I...I have no idea,” I responded.

He paused his laughter for a brief moment. “The Laughingstocks sure could use a pony with your abilities,” he said as he started laughing some more. “I know you aren’t cursed like the rest of us, but anypony that can take down a high ranking member of the Iron Hoof is welcome.”

“I’m not sure...” I was new to the wasteland, I wasn’t prepared to be picking sides. Although I think I sealed my fate by taking down the Delta and the other ranger. I was either going to join the Laughingstocks or be killed by the Iron Hoof. But maybe I could make a living someplace far from this war. Someplace where there weren’t any raiders or Steel Rangers wanting to kill me at every turn, someplace that wasn’t deadly. Were there places like that in the wasteland?

“You are going to be in Circus for a few more days at least, right?” I nodded. “Well, think over the proposition. Let me know where you stand on the offer.” His good eye stared at me as he continued to chuckle.

“Uhm, thanks,” I nervously responded. I quickly tried to exit the office.

“One more thing before you leave,” he said in his exceedingly joyful tone. I turned back to his smiling face and his one dead eye. “Whisper here is in need of some assistance. He botched his last attempt at meeting with a caravan, and I think he should have some helpers to protect him. He seems to have taken a shine to you, and requested you and your friends specifically.” I looked at the young pony to my side. He just stared back at me with his usual scowl. “There is good pay if you get him back here alive with the information I require.”

I mulled the idea over in my head. I wasn’t a mercenary. But at the same time, I was stuck in the wasteland, likely for the rest of my life. I was going to need caps if I was going to survive. Plus, I couldn’t live with myself if the little guy got hurt.

“I’m not that little.”

“Okay, I will take the job,” I announced to the disturbing pony with the painted hide. “Although I am not sure if the ponies that have traveled with me will join. Two of them came here to escape the Iron Hoof, while the other...Actually, I have no idea why she traveled here.”

The once white coated pony laughed, although there was a hint of sincerity to it. “If somepony follows you around without a real reason, that means either they are your friend, or they are lovestruck.”

He kept chuckling, both at the comment and because he had to, as I left the office. Whisper followed me out of the room.

“If you think he is creepy on the outside, pray you never see him on the inside.”

I shivered a little at the thought of how he could be any more disturbing.

My Pipbuck beeped again. I decided to just ignore it. It probably said I had met Smile and now I had to escort Whisper to the caravan. It was beginning to seem a little redundant. I would have to remember to ask Volt if he knew how to turn off the constant notifications.

* * *

The door dinged as it opened into the lobby. I looked around the large room. Various Laughingstocks wandered around.

“Any idea where the others are?” I asked the small colt.

“Do I look like a compass to you?” he sneered in my head. A moment later I heard his voice again. “Razor went back to the bar and is getting drunk again.” No surprise there. “The siblings are speaking with Doctor Harvest. Something about starting up a clinic.”

“So where is the Doc?” I asked.

“Basement level. Just follow me.”

The blue colt lead me through a series of hallways and down a flight of stairs. We passed through a door that said “No Unauthorized Access” with the handle bashed in. I think that counts as unauthorized.

We eventually entered a large room that resembled the operation room I had woke up in back at the clinic. The walls bore no colorful paintings. They were grey, like those of the Stable. The room had no party decorations. Shelves were lined with jars that contained various...things that I am unsure what they were exactly, but I wasn’t wanting to find out anytime soon. A few tables were bolted to the floor, they looked like metal slabs. One of the walls was adorned with several metal doors. A small gathering of ponies spoke in the center of the disturbing room.

“-would really benefit from having easier access to medical attention of a more...benevolent nature,” said the large unicorn.

His sister sat next to him, looking fairly bored of the conversation. She was the first to notice our entrance, a small smile formed on her mouth as she saw me. “Well, look who survived his encounter with big bad Smile,” she chuckled. “What did he want?”

“He wanted me to join the Laughingstocks,” I answered.

“Did you accept?” she asked.

“I still haven’t decided. He also wanted the four of us to help Whisper out,” I said. “That is, if you two don’t have plans to stay here,” I added.

Needles spoke up first. “Actually, we do have plans. We plan to take up residence in Circus, to set up a clinic to aid these ponies.”

“That is what you plan to do,” interrupted the small mare.

“I thought we both agreed on this,” said Needles in a stern voice.

“I never agreed to this. I don’t want to stay here, and I don’t want to start a clinic. I came here to help defeat the Iron Hoof, not to be a nurse mare for some sick pony.”

“Children, children. There is no need to fight right now,” said a calm but raspy voice. I now noticed the other two ponies in the room. One was a ghoul, his coat had long fallen out and only a few strands of black mane connected to his skull. He was a unicorn. The majority of his face had been degraded, his mouth was covered by a surgical mask that seemed to connect to his face. Wait, I think it did. The other was a pony from my stable, he looked pretty bad, a look of pain upon his face. “Younger one, your brother has brought you here so you can be safe, so you can help ponies.” He stared at the dark colored pegasus who just frowned at his words. His gaze then shifted to Needles. “And older one, your sister does not wish to be caged. She must be free to do as she desires.” Then he looked at me. His pure black eyes seemed to look through me. “And you, my friend, you appear to not know what it is that you want.”

“Enough of the therapy session,” interrupted Pinprick. “I am going to help Live Wire.” I guess that made her my friend by Smile’s logic. I didn’t have many friends back in the Stable, stealing a lot of things from the ponies around you tends to do that.

Needlepoint stared at me with a grimace, but said nothing. The strange ghoul looked back at me. “Ah, I do not believe we have been properly introduced. My name is Doctor Harvest, resident doctor, surgeon, engineer, haberdasher, therapist, and pharmacist of Circus.” He turned to the unicorn next to him. I recognized him. “And this is my new assistant, Clockwork.”

Flange looked over at me. “Hey, Live Wire! I haven’t seen you since the whole Stable incident. How have you been?” He looked terrible. His tan coat was riddled with scars. He looked like he was in intense pain even though he tried to act normal. How painful could it be to have insides made of metal?

“Better than most ponies out here.”

“Good to hear. I have been bad, though now I am set up with Harvest as his assistant. He makes sure I have enough pain killers.” He looked like he needed a larger dose, as the pain was apparent in his expression.

“Yes, well, if you would kindly excuse us, there are bodies with organs that have yet to be recycled,” chimed the ghoul. There was something eerie about his cheer. And I did not want to wait around to see what ‘recycling’ entailed.

* * *

We spent a few hours investigating what Circus had to offer. A visit to a few shops, and I had a small fortune of caps in my bag thanks to many of the scavenged items I managed to sell. I managed to buy myself some better barding, some that might actually manage to stop a bullet from a light weapon. I also managed to purchase a good amount of ammo for my weapons, the powerful revolver now had a few shots to spare. I actually felt prepared to face the wasteland.

Needles and Pin talked to each other as least as possible. They were both still angry at the other. I felt a little responsible for driving a wedge between the two.

Eventually, Needles just left. Said he had things to attend to. This left me wandering the city with the pegasus mare and the mute colt. We eventually found a small shop that sold food. I purchased a Sparkle-Cola and a some sort of pre-war cereal. I sat at a makeshift table, Pin sat across from me with some sort of cooked meat. I wasn’t sure it was edible for ponies, but she was both a medic and had been in the wasteland longer, so I wasn’t going to pester her about it. As it turns out, sugary cereal plus cola is incredibly delicious.

“So, how are your wings?” I asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

“Better,” she replied, stretching out the bandaged limbs. “I might be back in the air by tomorrow.” She had a smile on her face. “What about you? How are you with your brother?”

“Bad. I guess he was justified in his actions, but I can’t help but feel that there might have been an alternative solution, one that didn’t end so poorly, one that didn’t leave me in the wasteland.”

“Oh come on, your experiences in the wasteland haven’t been all bad, have they?”

“Majority of them. I get shot at almost hourly, a group of metalclad ponies are all eager to blow me up, and now I am getting recruited by insane gang leaders.”

“Yes, but you saved many ponies. You saved Razor from a hellhound, or a pack of hounds if you listen to the way she tells it. You saved Whisper from those raiders.” She looked at me with her golden eyes. “You saved me from the ranger.”

“Yeah, I’m a hero. And heroes die in the wasteland. You said it yourself.”

She was silent for a moment. “They do, but that doesn’t mean what they do isn’t worth anything.”

“I don’t want to be a hero, I just want to live my life. I just want to survive.” I remembered Razor telling me that she became a bandit so that she could survive. Was surviving in the wasteland that slippery of a slope? In trying to just survive, you become the one who takes the life of an innocent pony?

“Hero or not, you are a good pony,” she reassured me. “It’s getting late, we need to head back to the tavern. Needles will probably have a heart attack if I don’t return soon.” She looked at Whisper. “Do you have someplace to stay?” Whisper nodded.

“I’m a Laughingstock, of course I have a place to stay. Not a bright pony, is she?”

“She was just being nice,” I said. The look from the pegasus reminded me that she couldn’t hear Whisper, and I had neglected to inform her that I could. “Telepathy,” I explained, pointing at Whisper who simply gave a nod.

“Oh, okay. Better than the alternative of you just being crazy,” she said with a little chuckle as she headed in the direction of the tavern. I followed after her as Whisper departed for the tower.

* * *

“Is she drunk already?” asked Pin.

We were met with an odd sight as we had entered the tavern. At the bar was Razor and Martini, kissing each other.

“Yes,” replied Needles as he sat at a table listening to some song on the radio.

“I’m always drunk when I can help it!” slurred Razor.

“I’m just enjoying this while it lasts,” hummed the bar pony.

Pin leaned over to me. “Guess I was wrong about her liking you,” she chuckled.

“Which one were you wrong about?” I replied with a laugh of my own. She only laughed in response. “Was I this bad while I was drunk?”

“Well, you weren’t making out with anypony while you were drunk, but at least she seems to not be setting herself on fire. Yet at least.”

“Right. Well, I am going to sleep.” As hilarious as it would be to watch Razor make a drunken fool of herself, I needed rest.

I ascended the stairs to the second floor of the buildings and entered the room I had occupied last night in my drunken stupor. I noted that it had been cleaned of the vomit, and the walls had a fresh application of paint that covered the drunken scribblings. I lied down on the mattress, which I had missed by a few feet when I passed out last night. I began to just think over the events of the day.

* * *

The memories of another pony met me when I fell asleep. The sounds were becoming clearer, and I could see blurry colors.

I was in the wasteland. I stood at the apex of a hill, looking down I saw a small army of ponies charging at us, weapons in their mouths, some weapons levitated behind the unicorns that held them. Straight ahead on an opposite hill was a small group of metalclad rangers, firing at our position with heavy rifles and explosives.

“Damnit, watch the left side!” my host shouted. “We don’t want to be overrun!”

On both sides was a small group of ponies, some of which I recognized. They all were firing various weapons, each taking down raiders at a startling rate. The left side was being neglected, as a few raiders were ascending the hill to our position. I levitated my rifle and put down two raiders with two shots. Whoever I was, I was an awesome shot.

“Why does nopony ever listen to me?” my host mumbled to himself as he took down a raider that had two shotguns attached to his saddle.

“Clef, look out!” shouted a red mare as she took down a raider that had charged my side with a knife in his teeth. The raider was quickly filled with holes as the red mare fired a clip from an automatic gun.

“Thanks, Summer,” he mumbled.

An orange colored earth pony slammed his hooves down on a raider that had surmounted the hill. “We are getting overrun!” he shouted.

“Pick is right, we need to retreat!” said a yellow pegasus.

“Down the hill!” my host shouted as he quickly followed his own command. Only the red and orange earth ponies, along with the pegasus made it down the hill before it erupted with a potent explosion, decimating the troop that had once been on top of it. The orange pony tumbled down the hill, hitting his head on the ground with a long crack.

“Are you okay?” the mare quickly asked.

“Yeah, yeah. My head is like a rock. Going to take a lot more to harm me,” replied the buck as he rubbed a forming bump on his head.

“Damnit, get a message to Smile, tell him we lost this area to the rangers!” I felt myself shout at the pegasus, who gave a nod and shot off. My host turned to the two survivors. “We have to get out of here before the raiders get us.”

“Let’s just run south, straight to Circus,” said the mare.

“No, that would put as at risk of encountering Killing Joke. We should head east first, and circle around,” my host said.

“That would take too long, we need to get back fast. We don’t have time to move so slowly,” she argued.

“I agree with Summer Days, going east would put us at risk of raiders who are loyal to the Hoof. Besides, I heard that somepony cleared out most of the Joke,” replied the other earth pony.

“Pickaxe and I will go straight to Circus, you can go the long way if you want, Bass Clef,” replied the mare, Summer Days. My host grumbled something as he followed after the two.

The void filled the wasteland with its familiar white emptiness. The voice penetrated the abyss. “Hello again, Live Wire.”

“Who are you?” I shouted at the vast nothingness.

“There is that question again. Who I am is nothing more than a simple pony trying to survive in the wasteland,” it responded with a hint of amusement.

“Are you what drove Volt to leave the Stable?” I asked. I had to know if the same entity that controlled my brother was trying to control me.

“Ah yes, your brother. Did I speak with him? Personally, no. But one of us did.”

“One of what?”

“Another question that you are not yet ready for. In due time, in due time. But as for your brother, I deeply regret that we had to take such a direct role in his endeavor, but we needed him in order to get to you and a few others from your home.”

“Me? Why me?”

“Because you are a special pony, Live Wire. Very important for our plans.”

“What plans?”

“More questions that I can not answer. Please, Wire, you are wasting the short time we have by asking them.”

I was getting angry. It was avoiding my questions and mocking me for asking them. “Well what can you tell me without giving a cryptic response?”

“What can I tell you? Not much. We are letting you follow your own path. We want to see how you will react to the challenges ahead. Then we will be able to decide if you are who we need.” With that, the void began to fill with darkness as I began to wake up. “You have a lot to do, Live Wire. So much to do in so little time.”

* * *

I woke up from the encounter with the strange voice. This only created more questions than it answered. Why did it need me? What was it? What was it planning?

These thoughts were interrupted by the light snoring of Razor, who had somehow stumbled into my room and collapsed on the floor sometime in the middle of the night. A few empty bottles laid next to her. I began to wonder if she was my friend as well. She had saved me on numerous occasions, and I had saved her as well. Did that make us friends?

I rose to my hooves and trotted out of the room. Razor was too much of a chore to wake up, so I just left her there. Instead, I went downstairs to the bar part of the tavern. The olive mare was behind the counter as usual.

“Morning,” she chimed in her happy voice.

“Don’t you ever sleep?” I asked.

“Not very often. I only need a few hours anyway.” Strange. But considering some of the things I had seen in this town, I didn’t pay it much thought. “I heard that you were thinking about joining the Laughingstocks.” Word travels fast apparently.

“Yeah, though I am not really sure. I’ve only been in the wasteland a few days.”

“I think you should. We are like one big family.”

“You’re a Laughingstock?” I asked in disbelief. She didn’t seem to be affected by Killing Joke, and she didn’t look like much of a fighter.

“Well, kinda. My father is one, and the majority of them come to the Drunken Princess in order to get drunk. Though for some it ends badly.” She looked at one of the walls that had a more recent coating of painted swirls on it. “I just fixed the damage of when Reverb got drunk and started to talk.” She turned back to me. “Although I have to say that you were among the funniest drunks I have ever seen.” I doubted anypony would let me forget this any time soon.

“You said your father was a member?” I quickly tried to change the subject.

“Yeah, I think you might know him.” Her smile as she said this was a little disturbing. “His name is Shining Smile. Though he goes by Glasgow Smile these days.”

I felt the color drain from my face. “You...You mean your father is...What?” I stammered.

“Of course he is. How else do you think I could own such a lovely establishment?” She simply smiled at my confusion. The idea of a pony such as Smile having children was something I hadn’t thought about, though it did explain a lot about the olive mare.

My thoughts were interrupted by one of my companions descending the stairs. The small pegasus looked over to the bar, at me sitting there speaking with Martini. She frowned a little.

“Getting drunk already?” she asked, a smile reforming on her face. “Don’t you remember the last time? Oh wait, you don’t.” She simply laughed, the bartender laughed with her. I could tell that I would regret that for a long time.

“Whisper wanted us to leave today, so get anything you need for the trip. Go get Needles, and I will try to wake up Razor,” I said in order to change the topic away from my drunken mishaps.

“I have more paint if you need it,” the olive mare said with a smile.

* * *

About another hour had passed. Needles and Pin were outside preparing the cart. Whisper had arrived a few minutes ago, his small frame was loaded down with a few packs. He wore a holster on his leg, a small revolver was inside it. I doubted he had any training with firearms, but then again, I hadn’t either until a few days ago. Razor was still in the bar, both saying goodbye to her new friend and buying as much alcohol as she could carry. Finally, she exited the building levitating about half a dozen bottles behind her.

“What? It is going to be a long trip,” she tried to reason. I said nothing, but silently agreed with her.

This was going to be a long trip.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Shotgun Surgeon- When using shotguns, regardless of the type of ammunition used, you ignore an additional 10 points of a target’s damage threshold.

(I would like to thank Kkat for writing Fallout Equestria, one of the best stories I have read, and I would like to thank Somber for writing Project Horizons, another great tale. I would also like to thank Melon Hunter for reviewing the chapter and submitting suggestions.)

Chapter Seven: Excursion

Chapter Seven

Excursion

Daylight.

It was something I was still not used to. After years of living in the dull synthetic lighting of Stable 7, my eyes have yet to adjust completely. My companions tried to explain that the permanent overcast actually made the wasteland rather dim most of the time, but I still think it was too bright. I remedied this problem with the purchase of a pair of welding goggles from one of the shops back at Circus. They would shield my eyes from both harmful brightness and harmful shrapnel.

We had been traveling for a few hours, making good time. Whisper had told us, or rather, told me and then I relayed to the others that the caravan was supposed to be passing through our destined location in a few days, so we didn’t have time to waste.

Strangely, we encountered very few raiders. I assumed it was because we were fairly close to Circus, and a few of the Laughingstocks cleared them out. Either that, or we were just lucky. Though I doubted we could really be this lucky.

“-and then he smashed the raider’s skull in with the barrel of his rifle,” said Pin as she finished some long story about a mercenary she worked with. I wasn’t really paying attention to all of her tales. She seemed to have one for just about any scenario.

“Speaking of raiders, where are they?” I asked. The other three in the back of the wagon just looked at me confused. “I mean, on our way here, we couldn’t go two steps without one of them attacking us. Now, it has been almost an hour since the last one, and he was just a loner with a combat knife in his mouth.”

“Yeah, it is strange,” agreed Razor. “Surely the wasteland couldn’t have run out of raiders already.”

“They are plotting,” said the small voice in my head. “There is a small group of them following us, just outside the detection range of E.F.S., but I can still occasionally hear them. They likely won’t attack until they think out guard is down.”

“Whisper says there is a small group of them following us.” Razor just rolled her eyes, likely thinking something along the lines or ‘freaky Laughingstock powers’, while Pin looked at the empty horizon that was behind us.

“That’s odd,” said Razor. “Raiders aren’t normally the type for planning. They mostly just run straight at you with their weapons out, some are even smart enough to seek cover.”

“I will do a flyby and see how many we are dealing with,” began Pin. She stood up and extended her wings out, but they retracted in pain as she tried to lift herself up. “Gah, still not healed enough to be in the air.”

“Likely for the best,” said Needles, breaking his usual silence as he pulled the cart. “The last time you tried to scout the enemy, you winded up with a hole through one wing and broken bones in the other.”

“I hate being grounded. A pegasus that can’t fly is like a unicorn without their magic,” she grumbled as she sat back down.

“Hear anything that might explain what they are up to?” asked Razor. She looked at the small colt for a second, then shifted her gaze to me, expecting an answer.

“Not much. I can tell that they aren’t just random raiders. They are Iron Hoof. Other than that, I can’t tell.”

“He says that all he can tell is that they are Iron Hoof,” I relayed.

“Good. That means that I can enjoy putting needles in their eyes,” said the dark mare in a grim tone with a disturbing smile. She could really scare me sometimes.

“No. We are not going to take unnecessary risks,” said the unicorn pulling the cart. “Not any more...”

Pin just harshly sighed in return. I could tell that they still had yet to resolve their differences brought about by this journey. I felt a little bad for causing this, though I expected that it was something that wasn’t entirely my fault. Pin would become angry over her brother’s overprotectiveness, and he would become irritated at her as well. Fights between siblings were a common thing, I had first hand experience with them thanks to Volt’s constant scheming.

“So what are we going to do? Just sit here and wait for them to overrun us?” retorted the small mare.

“We don’t even know how many there are. Attacking them would just get us killed.”

“I think I might have a solution,” interjected the unicorn mare as she levitated a rocket into the launcher. She bought more ammo for it I guess.

* * *

“Why do we let her come up with ideas?” I yelled at nopony in particular.

“Shut up! It took out almost a third of their squad!” yelled back the voice of Razor from behind the rubble that had once been our cart. “How was I supposed to know they had rockets as well?” She popped her head over the cart and fired a round from the floating rifle into the head of one of the raiders.

Razor had fired a volley of rockets at the locations where Whisper had told me the raiders were hiding. What we did not expect was there to be almost twenty raiders and two steel rangers, one of which wore a launcher on his armor. They fired at the cart, and had turned it into rubble. Luckily, the only injuries we sustained were minor, although Needles had been battered heavily by the shrapnel of the cart he had been pulling. Judging from the raider that laid on the ground with a crushed skull, Needles was feeling better.

The rangers that had attacked us wore the standard issue power armor, and were thankfully not Deltas. Regardless, they were still tough enemies. The constant explosions that hit the area around us verified their continued aggression towards us. If the Iron Hoof was sending out hit squads, we obviously did something right.

The soft sound of the syringe pistol was playing beside me as Pin took down three...four...five raiders with it. I had managed to purchase a fair amount of ammo for the revolver, and it seemed to be the most useful. Razor had tried to use Can Opener (Goddesses, was I referring to it by name now?) but the raiders quickly opened fire on her as she tried to take aim on one of the rangers. We would have to thin the ranks of the raiders before we would have an opening.

I peeked my head out from behind the rock I took cover behind. I entered S.A.T.S. to survey the enemy ranks. Roughly ten raiders and the two rangers. I fired a shot into one of the raiders that was trying to snipe Razor, taking out the majority of his chest cavity in doing so. I also attempted to fire on the shotgun wielding raider, but the shot missed completely. I lamented the waste of an expensive bullet, but quickly resumed firing on the enemy.

A shot from one of the raiders hit me square in the chest. Thankfully, I was right about my new barding being able to stop a bullet. That didn’t stop it from hurting though. I turned to the raider, a lavender earth pony mare wielding a pistol in her mouth. A shot from the revolver dealt with her. I popped fresh bullets into the chamber, and resumed firing on the other raiders.

Another raider fell to the ground, blood spewing from her throat after the surgical tool had made short work of it. Then another fell when the poison that a syringe in his leg had provided had finally caught up with him. One had their head receive a new opening thanks to Razor, while a fourth simply had theirs burst due to a revolver round.

I saw an opportunity as the amount of raiders was quickly diminishing. “Razor, see if you can take out the ranger with the launcher, I will get the rifle one!” I shouted in the direction of the demolished wagon. She raised above the rubble with the large rifle in tow, took aim, and fired on one of the rangers. I think she tried to compensate for the knockback of the shot with her telekinesis, but it still was pushed out of her magical grip by the force of the shot. The shot’s force was felt on the receiving end as well, as the bullet pierced the helmet of the ranger that had menaced us with his launcher, and he crumpled to the ground with a metallic clatter.

A rifle shot ricocheted off the rock I ducked behind, almost hitting my skull. I looked over at the other ranger that had grown angry at the loss of his comrade. I galloped to another rock, closer to the enemy. He opened fire on me several times as I clambered to get closer, but the majority of his shots went to Razor, as he tried to keep her from adding a few air holes to his helmet. What he didn’t know was that I had something much more threatening.

I was close to the ranger. My horn came alive with crackling energy as I charged the lightning spell. The ranger took notice of this and quickly swung around to try to fire at me, but the spell was complete before he got a shot. The bolt arced to the ranger, electrifying the armor and crashing the spell matrix. The metal armor fell to the ground dead with the living ranger trapped inside.

The remaining raiders went down with little effort, as they had lost their morale the minute the bolt connected with the ranger. All that remained of the enemy was the lone steel ranger in the powered down power armour.

“Well, isn’t this an oh so familiar situation,” hummed Pin as she walked over to the encased pony.

“You bitch!” shouted the ranger from inside his shell.

“You know, I don’t particularly like Steel Rangers. They killed my home and my mother, and the last time I met one, he tried to rape and murder me. The one before that? I stabbed him in the eye with a syringe full of poison. So go ahead, be uncooperative. I have a loooot of pent up anger I need to let out.” The ranger fell silent. “Good. Now, tell us why you were sent after us!”

The ranger hesitated to respond, but the smile that was growing on her face caused him to change his mind very quickly. “Bronze sent us! As revenge for Jackhammer! Please don’t kill me!” he pleaded in the most pathetic voice he could manage.

Her golden eyes met with the visor of the fallen ranger. “You rangers think that you can do whatever it is that you want just because you have powerful weapons and armor. You were like this even before Silver Star formed the Iron Hoof. Take away your technology and what are you? A bunch of cowards.” She turned back to the direction of the destroyed cart. Needles was walking toward her. “Crack his visor,” she commanded her sibling. He just stood there, unresponsive to her request.

“Pin...” I mumbled.

She looked at me with her emotionless eyes. Slowly, a frown formed on her face. I just stared at her for a few seconds. “Damnit, fine!” she shouted. She walked away from the ranger, turning her back to me.

“You’re...letting me go?” asked the ranger, still attempting a pitiful voice.

I sighed. “No, but this is kinder than anything she would have done to you.” I pressed the barrel of the gun to the glass of the helmet. The revolver fired twice into the visor of the ranger, cracking, and then shattering it, killing the pony behind it.

* * *

It took about almost an hour, but somehow we had managed to repair the cart. During the fighting, I had lost track of Whisper. Now, he sat in the back of the cart across from me, wearing his usual scowl, but it was mixed with a slight look of pain.

‘What’s up?’ I asked mentally.

“One of your companions is thinking...unpleasant thoughts. But it is one of the burdens I must deal with regularly,” his mental voice said with a hint of sadness to it.

‘Who?’ I asked.

“The one that like syringes,” he replied with annoyance.

I looked over at Pin. She had a scowl that could rival Whisper’s. “Are you okay?” I asked her.

She looked up at me. “You should have let me kill him,” she replied in a harsh tone. “After all they have done to me...You should have let me kill him!”

“What you would have done would have been worse than simply killing him. You’re not a monster, Pin.” I stared at her a second. “Don’t try to do what your brother did,” I added with a whisper, ensuring that the large unicorn didn’t hear us. She simply look at me for a moment, then her scowl disappeared. With it, the look of pain on Whisper’s face diminished as well, replacing it was a look of annoyance.

“Great, now I have to listen to this as well.” I wasn’t sure what he meant.

“Now, what ya need to be doing is not be worrying about the rangers,” slurred Razor. She was already halfway through a bottle of whiskey, though what number bottle I was unsure of. “What ya need to be doing is worrying about the wingy bitey things.” She gestured towards the clouds. “They get hungry at night, drink the blood from ya in seconds. Don’t know why though, whisky is much better.” Even though she was just drunkenly mumbling, she did have a point, it was getting dark.

“We have to find someplace to make camp,” declared Needles, having apparently deciphered the drunken babbling. There were no large buildings, only rubble and more rubble. We settled on the rubble that had once been a building. It had two and a half walls and part of a roof. Provided it didn’t collapse on us, it would make good shelter. I think...

Needles opted to take first watch, which was likely for the best. He seemed to not need sleep as badly as the rest of us. I was mentally and physically exhausted, Razor was drunk, Pin looked like she was worn out as well, and I don’t even think that Whisper knows how to wield a gun, so Needles was the only actual option for keeping guard. At least for now.

I lied down on a patch of cleared ground and went to sleep.

* * *

My dreams were not disturbed by the memories of another pony, followed by the voice’s cryptic messages. No, my dreams were normal, regular dreams. This was the first night I had fallen asleep in the wasteland that was like this. Except the time I was drunk, but I don’t even know if I dreamed that night. Unfortunately, my restful sleep was interrupted by shouting, and...screeching?

My eyes shot open at the sound of gunfire. I rose my head to look around. Needlepoint had a pistol in his mouth, which was odd for him. The soft firing sound of Pin’s custom pistol was occasionally heard as she fired it into the sky. I followed her aim.

I saw the ‘wingy bitey things’ as Razor had called them. Bloodwings, and a whole swarm of them from the looks of it. The swarm itself stayed in the air, appearing to hover in place while the bloodwings that it was made of circled and flew around it, some of them released themselves from the conglomeration and descended on us to feed.

Next to me came the familiar sound of a rocket propelling itself through the air. Razor had actually managed to wake up, and from the looks of it, was likely still drunk. Unfortunately, the swarm was happy to make room for the rocket as it passed through the blob of flying wings and gnashing teeth. Rockets weren’t going to work.

I levitated the revolver out of my pack. I hopped into S.A.T.S. and put one of the bullets into a swooping bloodwing, another into the swarm, hoping it would hit one. From the two bloody corpses that fell to the ground, it seems I had managed to hit my marks.

“Damnit, how are these things so coordinated?” shouted Pin as she fired another burst of syringes into the swarm. Although the poison she had loaded them with was fast acting, it still didn’t function well against attackers that were nearby. Poison takes time to work, a bullet is instant.

“Don’t know! Better question, how are we going to survive?” I shouted back, taking down another bloodwing as it attempted to latch onto me. These things were relentless.

“We need some form of bright light, that usually scares them off!” shouted Needles, hitting one of the bat creatures with his metal hoof as it swooped down.

Another gun entered the orchestra of cacophony. I glanced over to see if Razor had picked up her pistol, but she still was trying to fire another rocket at the swarm. Instead, I saw the blue colt wielding a revolver in between his teeth, firing at a few bloodwings as they separated from the swarm.

“I live in a tower full of mercenaries and I am forced to read their minds constantly. Knowing how to fire a gun is one of the pleasanter bits of information I gathered,” he replied to my unasked question.

With a screech, one of the Bloodwings flew into Pin, knocking her down. I quickly brought my revolver over to face the beast. I fired a round into its skull as it bit into the mare’s side, her yelping in pain as it did so. I ran over to her, levitating a healing potion out of my pack. She quickly drank the contents, the puncture marks in her side slowly stopped bleeding and sealed.

“Thank you,” she mumbled after drinking the concoction.

I stood guard over her as she rose back to her hooves. I took down another two bloodwings before my revolver ran out of ammo. Not wanting to waste time reloading, I dropped the revolver and levitated out the shotgun. The buckshot was hardly accurate, but it packed enough of a punch to take out a swooping bloodwing.

Razor had fired another rocket into the swarm, hoping for it to connect with at least one of the creatures so that it would explode, but the swarm moved apart again. The rocket would have to hit something solid in order to detonate...or be hit by something solid!

“Razor, fire another one!” I shouted at the still drunken mare as I took out my rifle. She just nodded her head and levitated another rocket into the launcher.

She took aim at the mass of bloodwings and fired. The rocket started sailing towards the swarm at a fast speed. The flying enemies took notice and began to move apart as it pierced the heart of the swarm.

I dove into S.A.T.S.. The swarm registered as hundreds of targets, but I only focused on the one I needed; the rocket at the heart of them. The rifle fired. In the slowed time flow, I watched the bullet fly straight at the rocket, guided by the targeting spell. It hit the rocket, and then the explosive projectile engulfed in a ball of fire and sent shrapnel in every direction. The swarm of bat like creatures had little time to react. Most that were near the center were either blown to pieces or were ignited and fell to the ground. Others were hit by the shrapnel and died as well. The rest of them scattered in the chaos created by the bright explosion at the heart of the swarm.

The bloodwings fled, leaving behind a mass of bloody, dismembered, and flaming corpses. I let out a sigh of relief. I looked over at my companions. Pin sat on the ground next to me, staring at the devastation the explosion had created. Needles was tending to her wounds. Razor had popped open another bottle of alcohol and had begun to work her way through it. Whisper just put the revolver back in its holster and stared at me with a scowl on his face, with a familiar look of annoyance mixed in.

“You just had to be the one to save her, didn’t you?”

‘What do you mean?’ I asked mentally.

“Wow, you are oblivious.” He then proceeded to start chuckling in my head. I just ignored the mental intrusion.

“Now...you see why we don’t travel at night,” babbled Razor in her drunken stupor. “Lotsa the bitey things.” Even though she was drunk, I had to agree with her. I did not want to be out at night without adequate shelter ever again.

“Well, we were lucky it was only a small swarm,” said Needles. What? There must have at least been a hundred of them! That was small?

“I guess we won’t be getting much more sleep tonight,” yawned the dark colored pegasus. She looked at Razor who had just passed out. “Well, she might.”

* * *

We decided to continue traveling. Our shelter didn’t provide much shelter, and we had killed the majority of the swarm, so they wouldn’t be returning anytime soon. I decided to sleep through the night on the back of the cart.

I was shocked again to find that my dreams were not memories, and that I did not hear the enigmatic voice again. I was beginning to think that it was shunning me for some reason. I was just glad I didn’t have to deal with all the riddles and confusion it brought each time it spoke.

I woke up a few hours later as the cart hit a major bump. One that I feel could have been avoided if Needles had chosen to. I opened my eyes to the wasteland, then immediately shut them as daylight flooded into them. I lowered my goggles, which had been resting neatly on my horn throughout the night, then I again opened my eyes to the now dimmer wasteland.

We were on the long destroyed road that we had been traveling on since yesterday. Our hours of traveling seemed to provide no actual progression towards our goal. Even the ruins along the sides of the road looked similar. If it were not for the lack of bloodwing corpses, I would have assumed that we had been traveling in circles.

I looked to my side to see Pin asleep next to me. Weird. I looked to the opposite side of the cart and saw that Razor was actually awake. Even weirder. She glanced over at me as she noticed I had woken up.

“Mornin, stable pony,” she chuckled. “Sleep well?”

This was getting even weirder. She had no obvious signs of being drunk, and she lacked her usual hangover. “I slept fine. How is it that you don’t have a hangover?” I asked.

She laughed in return. “I had your marefriend whip me up a cure for it. Little bit of radsnake venom, a Sparkle-Cola, and some other ingredients I was too drunk to remember.”

“Marefriend? You mean Pin?” I looked at the small mare that was asleep next to me. “She isn’t my marefriend. For all I know, she would sooner inject me with some strange venom.” Razor just laughed some more. From the front of the cart, I heard Needles grumble something, though I didn’t know, nor did I want to know, what it was.

My thoughts were interrupted when a single red dot on E.F.S. appeared. Another lone raider likely. I glanced in the direction that the dot was, but I didn’t see anything. Suddenly, the dot swooped to the side, and then back around. It was above us.

“Something is flying around us, something hostile!” I shouted to my traveling companions. This caused Pin to stir from her slumber.

From above the cloud cover came an orb of glowing energy, heading straight for us. Needles pulled the cart to the side, managing to avoid the purplish blast. Razor and I dismounted the cart with our rifles levitating in our respective magical glow.

“Are we going to be hunted this entire trip?” shouted Pin as she managed to pick herself up with her wings. It seems the rest had done her well, as she was finally off the ground, though I doubted she would be able to deal with the aerial menace.

“We likely will be. I am a Laughingstock, and you four took out a Delta. I’m just surprised they brought out Lead Wing so soon. They must really not like us.” Whisper stood next to the cart, his revolver in his mouth. The colt was really good at going unnoticed for long periods of time.

“Lead Wing?” I asked out loud.

“Oh shit...The griffin?” asked Razor with a look of both shock and horror on her face. I had heard of griffins before. Apparently, they were bird lion things. They could fly, and they were pretty tough. “We are dead if he is hunting us.”

“Who is he?” I asked.

“He used to be a Laughingstock, but he betrayed Smile and joined the Hoof. His skin is made of a tough metal, and his wings can cut through a pony very easily. Not to mention how deadly he is with an energy cannon.” Well, I could tell this would be a fun experience.

The red dot did another turn. Another orb of deadly energy propelled itself from the cloud cover. I couldn’t see him, and E.F.S. only told me his general direction. The projectile missed the cart, but it was dangerously close. I guessed that he couldn’t see us very well while he was in the clouds.

I started firing at the general area that the energy blast had come from. I didn’t know what I had hoped to accomplish. My chances of hitting him were almost nonexistent, and even if I did hit him, the shot would do very little damage, if any, to his metal skin. Razor did the same thing, though she opted to have Can Opener on standby in case she could actually get one to hit.

“We need to leave. We have no chance of fighting him in this situation,” said the colt’s voice in my head.

“How can we escape him? He can fly!” I shouted in response, though it was unnecessary.

“I have heard memories about Lead Wing. He can barely fly due to his metal body weighing him down. If we can just avoid his energy cannon for a while, we will be able to outrun him.”

I doubted the plan, but it was better than what we were currently doing. “Needles, get us out of here! Whisper said we can outrun this guy!”

I jumped into the cart, I picked up Whisper in my magic and set him down next to me. Razor hopped in as well, firing another round off into the sky, although it did nothing but waste a bullet. Pin landed next to me, wielding her custom pistol in her mouth. Of all of our weapons, syringes would likely be the worst option against the metal enemy.

We were off as fast as the cyber pony could pull us, which was really fast. We passed the red dot in a second, and I could almost see the shape in the clouds scramble to follow after us. Another orb of energy emerged from the clouds. Big mistake.

By flying after us, we knew he was traveling this direction. By firing at us, he gave away his relative position. The increasing distance between the shots gave us an estimate as to his speed, which was slower than ours. Razor may not be the smartest pony, but she knew a lot about shooting. Her yellow magic enveloped the oversized rifle she had affectionately named Can Opener, the weapon hovered in front of her as she appeared to calculate the position of where the griffin would be.

KRAKOW!

The bullet from the cannon like rifle flew ahead. A metallic screech was heard as the griffin descended from the sky and landed with a clatter a distance away. She may have been drunk ninety percent of the time, but she was always deadly accurate.

“Don’t start celebrating. Lead Wing is a tough bastard, it will take a lot more than an anti-machine rifle to the chest to kill him. That did, however, stop him from pursuing us. He will be back though, likely with allies.”

‘But for now are we safe?’ I asked.

“As safe as a pony could be while traveling in the wasteland with a group that is being hunted by the Iron Hoof.”

“Ha! That’ll teach that metal bastard!” shouted Razor in victory.

“He isn’t dead, but we should be safe for a while,” I relayed Whisper’s message.

“Well, I still say that is cause for celebration. We put one of the Hoof’s toughest members out of commission for a while,” declared Razor. Out of her pack she levitated three bottles of whiskey and a Sparkle-Cola. She gave each of us a bottle, thankfully she gave Whisper the cola.

I eyed the bottle warily. I looked over at Pin, who was also looking a bit concerned. Neither of us were like Razor, I doubted we would be able to fight while we were drunk. I knew for a fact I couldn’t. I opted to simply place the bottle in my pack. Pin decided to save hers as well.

“Lightweights,” mumbled Razor as she continued drinking from her bottle. Whisper just sat there drinking the cola. I watched as the red dot on E.F.S. blinked out due to being out of detection range.

* * *

“You think they finally gave up?” asked Pin. It had been a few hours since the last attack.

“Doubt it. They are probably just waiting to attack us when we least expect it,” I replied. ‘How much longer are we going to be traveling?’ I asked the young earth pony.

“We should reach our destination tomorrow. Then it will be a few more days of traveling before we return to Circus.”

‘Why does Smile want to know if this caravan is with or against him so badly?’

“Because if they are with us, that means that Circus can have another trade caravan, which will provide us with more supplies that we need. If they are against us, then he will have to find a way to deal with them, or else the Iron Hoof will be able to spread their influence. This is one of the larger trade caravans, about a dozen or so ponies, so they could either be a powerful ally or dangerous enemy. Believe me, he wouldn’t want me going out here unless it was necessary.”

“Hey, there is a house up ahead,” interrupted Needles. “I think we should just go ahead and stop for today. I don’t want to risk being caught by the bloodwings without shelter again.” It didn’t appear to be that late, but he was right. I doubted we would survive another encounter with the bloodwings.

Needles pulled the cart to the building. E.F.S. showed the building was clear of enemies, clear of any life to be exact. Probably for the best, as either we would have had to kill raiders or we would have been conned out of our hard earned caps. We entered the building. Razor had fallen asleep a long time ago and was now being levitated into the building by Needles.

The interior of the building was in ruins, but it was shelter at least. The house had a second floor, but the staircase had been destroyed. The bottom floor had been picked through thoroughly, but I managed to find a few spare bullets in a locked desk drawer. Revolver rounds, just what I was in need of.

The upper level beckoned for me to investigate it. Surely there was some undisturbed treasures or something up there. Maybe it was just my habit of taking things nagging me, but I felt that I needed to find a way to get up there.

“Hmm...” I hmm-ed aloud. Near the ruins of the staircase was a bunch of small bits of rubble. Maybe...

My horn started to glow grey as I picked up various pieces of the rubble in my magic. I hovered them in front of me, and I stepped on the first piece, an old board by the looks of it. It was difficult to hold the board while I was on it, but it stayed afloat. I stepped up to the next piece, and then the next, until I had reached the top of the destroyed staircase.

“Clever,” said a voice behind me. I turned to see Pin hovering next to me. Right, pegasi got to fly around wherever they wanted while I had to work in order to get up here.

“What are you doing up here?” I asked.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I thought that it would be worth checking this place out. With the stairs destroyed, I doubt very many scavengers would be able to get up here. There is probably a ton of valuable things ripe for the taking.” She simply chuckled in return.

As it turns out, I was right. I managed to find an assortment of ammo, a pistol in fairly good condition, and a few Sparkle-Colas. Nothing too valuable, but worth searching.

“So, anything good?” asked Pin, who was standing right next to me.

“Eh, mainly just ammo. I did find these however,” I said as I levitated one of the bottles of the cola over to her.

“Thank you.” She opened the bottle and started drinking from it. I took out one of my own and did the same. She looked at me with her golden eyes. “I...I wanted to thank you.”

“For what?” I asked.

“For saving me all those times.” She blushed a little. “You saved me from the Delta.”

“That was mostly Needles. I was just the one who put the bullet in his skull.”

“Yes, but you were the one who stopped him from...repeating himself...” Her eyes turned to the ground. “And...you saved me again today.”

“From the bloodwing?”

“That, and you saved me from myself.” What? “I...wasn’t sure what I would have done to the ranger today, but I knew it wouldn’t have been something I could have lived with. The Iron Hoof took everything from me, and...I wanted revenge. I wanted somepony to take it out on.” She was trembling a little. She looked back up at me with tears starting to form in her eyes. “And you saved me.”

Then she kissed me. My brain short circuited, I didn’t know how to respond to this. I just stood there, shocked. She opened her eyes and saw my reaction. She frowned.

“Damnit, I am such an idiot!” she shouted as she turned away. “How could I delude myself into thinking you liked me?”

I fought to regain the ability to speak. “I...I am just surprised.” She turned her head to face me, tears streaming down her face. “I didn’t know that you felt that way.”

“Razor was right, you are oblivious,” she attempted a laugh, but it was more of a sob. Wait, she had talked to Razor about this? “You didn’t notice me? All those times...” I shook my head.

“Nopony has ever been interested in me before,” I admitted.

“That’s a shock,” she remarked with an actual chuckle. Her tears had slowed their rate, and she was attempting a smile. Then she stared at me, her eyes piercing me with their stare. “So...do you maybe feel the same way about me?”

Truthfully, I was terrified of her. But I couldn’t tell her that. It would have crushed her. Instead, I settled on being undecided. “I am not sure.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. While I was terrified of her, I did see a nicer side to her as well. That didn’t seem to help her though. She just frowned at me, looking broken. “But this gives me a lot to think about,” I quickly added, hoping it would alleviate any grief I might have just caused.

She just sat there for a minute, letting herself run out of tears. Then she looked back at me. “Lets just get back downstairs before Needles has a heart attack and takes down the whole building looking for me,” she said as she lifted herself into the air.

I jumped down to the first floor, landing neatly in an area clear of debris. I discovered that Razor was still asleep where Needles had left her. Needles was speaking with Pin, occasionally shooting a scowl in my direction. I really didn’t want to know what they were discussing. I had no idea where Whisper was, but he was nearby, his voice in my head made that clear.

“You are an idiot.”

‘What?’ I asked him mentally.

“You honestly didn’t realize that she liked you?”

‘It isn’t easy knowing how another pony feels when you aren’t a mind reading weirdo!’ I shouted in my head.

“That was cold.” I did feel a little bad, but I was tired and I was getting annoyed by everypony apparently knowing about this but me.

I went into one of the long abandoned rooms and lied down. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, hoping that I would wake up without having my chest flayed open or having my skull crushed by a mechanical hoof.

* * *

I awoke from my dreamless sleep due to a sudden pain occurring in my head. I opened my eyes to find Razor standing over me with a scowl on her face. My head was throbbing.

“Dumbass,” she grumbled. “Get up, it’s time to leave.” She mumbled something under her breath as she turned to leave. I take it she had learned of last night’s events.

I rose to my hooves and grabbed my packs. The main room of the house was alive with the ponies that had traveled with me here, all of them angry at me for one reason or another. Today was going to be a long day.

We set off without a word. Pin had a frown on her face, Needles had a scowl, and Razor wasn’t drinking, instead, she glared at me with murder in her eyes. Even Whisper had a scowl that was grumpier than his usual one. I pitied any raider that crossed their path, as they needed an outlet for their anger.

Of course, we were still having the same strange luck that he have had for the past few days. No large bands of raiders, even the lone raiders had become more scarce. This allowed us to proceed to our destination unhindered.

We were in sight of the location we were supposed to meet the caravan at. Whisper had left out something. He neglected to tell us what place we were actually going to. I recognized the ruins, although now it was colored. I knew the destroyed settlement.

Armistice.

Footnote: Level Up.
New perk: Bloody Mess- Some ponies like a clean fight, but not you! Enemies have a tendency to explode into a shower of gore whenever they are killed by you. Also, have a 5% damage increase, because hey, why not?
Quest Perk- Lightning Bolt (Level 2)- You have been practicing, and perfecting your spell casting. Lightning bolt now deals more damage against organic enemies, and has a higher chance of stunning them. The number of times you can cast it in a day has increased by 100%, so...The lightning bolts have been doubled!

Chapter Eight: Suffering

Chapter Eight

Suffering

Ambush.

The caravan was a trap set by the Iron Hoof. There were about a dozen yellow blips on E.F.S. when we entered the ruins of Armistice. I am not sure how, but they managed to avoid being detected as hostile long enough for us to get within range. I was a bit afraid of how they managed to avoid being detected as threats, but that wasn’t what scared me most. They managed to conceal their intentions from Whisper.

“I...I can’t tell what they are thinking,” I recalled the blue colt mentioning to me. “Their thoughts are all jumbling together, I can’t tell what any of them are thinking!” He had a hint of frustration mixed with fear in his tone. “We need to get closer in order for me to hear them clearly. Just act like you are going to trade with them. Or actually trade with them.”

They were smarter than the average raiders the Hoof usually managed to scrounge up. They knew how to avoid being detected as hostile by E.F.S. and how to conceal their thoughts from mind readers. They were also much more well trained, and were better equipped.

“Well well well, what do we have here?” spoke the voice from inside the power armour with the yellow stripe on the shoulder. Another Delta. There were maybe twenty ponies around us, one of which was the Delta, another two were regular rangers, and the rest were raiders that were equipped with better armour and weapons than any raiders we had encountered earlier. The Delta turned to face his allies.“Boys, I think that our waiting has finally paid off.” He turned his head back to us. “It looks like Smile’s personal spy has fallen right into our hooves. Oh, and it seems he has brought his little friends too, the assholes that offed Jackhammer and his crew.” I was a little worried as to how he gained the information. It seemed almost everypony knew about it.

How were we going to handle this? The Delta had what looked like a grenade launcher on his battle saddle, one of the rangers had an anti-machine rifle, and the other just had a minigun. The raiders were mostly equipped with rifles and shotguns, though a few had knives and pistols. They had us outnumbered, outgunned, and out strategized. We were screwed.

“Hey, Sledge,” said one of the rangers to the Delta. “Why did Tin send us after these guys?” I could tell he was a little slow, but his minigun still made him a threat. “Theys just a kid, two bitches, a stable pony, and a big guy.” I was amazed he even knew what a stable was, he didn’t seem very bright.

“Damnit, Molasses, what did I tell you about asking idiotic questions?” replied the leader with annoyance. “The colt can read minds, and those four took out Jackhammer. We can’t have ponies that can take out a Delta wandering around the wasteland. She wants us to take them back to her. She also wants the little guy for some weird experiment of hers.” I could tell he was glaring at the minigun wielding ranger, even though his visor was nearly opaque. “With as few bullet holes as possible,” he added.

I was beginning to think that all Deltas were inherently not very bright. He just gave away his intentions to us. While I didn’t know who Tin was, I knew that if she was a member of the Iron Hoof, she wasn’t a pony I would want to be meeting any time soon.

The Delta glared at Pin and Razor. “Though...I suppose she wouldn’t have a need for the mares,” he chuckled grimly.

Needles’s horn flared with his white aura. Suddenly, a wall of white energy formed between us and the raiders. “Get ready!” he shouted. I pulled out the revolver, while Razor took out the rocket launcher and Can Opener. I briefly wondered why she didn’t name the launcher, but the thought was quickly forced out of my head as Needles freed himself from the wagon and overturned it for cover. Pin caught herself with her wings and ascended into the sky. Whisper just dove out of the cart and disappeared behind some rubble.

I heard the chatter of the minigun as it began firing many rounds into the magical barrier. Then the grenade launcher fired, smashing against the wall and exploding, shattering the protective spell. This was followed by the whoosh of Razor’s own launcher, as a rocket propelled itself towards the crowd of raiders. The resulting explosion helped to even the odds some, but they still outnumbered us by five or so.

I dove into one of the buildings in order to escape the second grenade’s blast. I felt briefly ill as I realized that the building I had entered had once bore a red cross outside it. It was the clinic from the memory I had experienced of Armistice, though now it was mutilated with debris and bloodstains. Once the home of two of my friends, this building now sheltered me from the explosion that erupted on the street I was on not two seconds ago.

“I was really hoping to take you, or at least a few of you, alive. You just had to make things difficult, didn’t you?” called the Delta as he lobbed another grenade at my friends. The blast missed Razor as she dove behind the cart. It had taken a heavy beating from the explosions and the minigun rounds.“Now, I have to deal with Tin’s bitching about why we didn’t bring you back alive.” He fired another grenade, but it missed as well.

A S.A.T.S. guided revolver round pinged off his helmet. I could tell that even though it didn’t pierce his skull, the bullet had still caused him some harm. This at least shifted his attention away from my friends and towards me. He rushed at me. I briefly saw my reflection in his visor.

The reflection was interrupted by the large, partially mechanical body of Needles as he tackled the Delta. Needles showed his full weight as he managed to knock the Delta to the ground. “You!” Wham. He brought his mechanical hoof down with as much force as he could manage. “Will!” Wham. “Not!” Wham. “Hurt!” Wham. “Him!” Wham. A large dent had formed in the Delta’s helmet, but I could tell from the struggling that he was still alive.

I used my revolver to dispatch two raiders that attempted to attack Needles. He saved me from the ranger, which I don’t understand why, so it was only fair I save him from the raiders. Though I would have saved him either way.

The chatter of the minigun stopped with a familiar cannon-like boom. Molasses fell to the ground in a crumple, his helmet now had a new opening in it, courtesy of Razor. Pin made her presence known as another two raiders fell to the ground, syringes sticking out of them. I had lost track of Whisper in the chaos, but I was sure that he could handle himself.

KRAKOW!

I thought that the final ranger had fallen to the ground with their skull blown open. What had happened was worse. The bloodspray hit me as the large unicorn fell to the ground, the center of his chest had a gaping hole in it. The Delta beneath him had finally given in, and had ceased his existence. Needles laid on top of him, slowly breathing out the last of his life as his blood coated the metal armour.

“NEEDLES!” shouted the three of us in unison.

The rifle wielding ranger stood a distance across from the scene. I charged her, my horn glowing with a grey aura. I let loose a lightning bolt, more powerful than any I had fired before. The armour of the ranger was hit by the spell, full force. The area where it connected became blackened, scorched as the electricity flowed through it into the pony inside. She let out a shout as the bolt seemed to pierce the shell, hitting her as it did so. The dead armour fell to the ground with a dead pony inside. The few remaining raiders witnessed this and fled in fear. My head throbbed from the over exertion, but I rushed to my fallen friend.

“Needles!” I said in disbelief. Surely he could recover from this. He has taken shots to the chest before. He was indestructible, he couldn’t die. Not like this...

“Wire...” he rasped. “Tell Pin...I am sorry...for Armistice.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why did you risk yourself to save me?”

“Because...you are my friend...and Pin would want you to live...” It seemed that everything he had done had been in his sister’s best interest. She was all he had. “You’re...a terrible influence on her,” he added with a groan.

His sister stood over him, trying to inject medicine after medicine into him, hoping that one would manage to save him. The area around the hole trembled some as the tissue tried to reform, but the damage was too extensive to be fixed.

“Just hold on!” she shouted. She glided to the fallen cart that had been the victim of explosions and minigun fire. She flew back to her brother, one of the cases of medical supplies. She tore it open and pulled out a single syringe. One that I had seen earlier.

“Pin...don’t,” he pleaded. “It...isn’t worth it...”

“I’m not going to let you die!” she exclaimed, tears filling her eyes. She plunged the syringe into his side, letting the powerful drug take effect. Hydra. I saw now how potent it was. The wound quickly closed, but I saw the terrifying truth. Needles was right.

He screeched in pain as his skin began to grow over the mechanical leg. Eventually, the appendage tore off, only to be replaced with flesh and blood. He screamed as his chest was tore open once again, this time by his own mechanical organs being forced out.

“Oh goddesses, what have I done?” Pin whispered.

Needles continued screaming until finally another mechanical organ popped out of his chest. His heart. Then his screaming stopped. Forever.

I stood next to the trembling mare in silence. Razor had silently walked over to us. Whisper even appeared as well, his usual scowl had been replaced by a look of horror. Pin began to sob, quietly at first but gaining in intensity.

She had killed her own brother trying to save him.

* * *

I spent a few hours digging a grave for Needles. It was a difficult task with the tools we had, but I managed. Razor sat next to Pin, who still had tears trickling from her eyes, rolling down her face and falling to the ground. Whisper was somewhere. I had trouble keeping track of the colt normally, but now I was too focused on my task to think about him. Too focused to think about anything.

Finally, I reached a point at which I deemed the hole in the ground to be sufficient. I gently levitated the corpse of my friend into the ground. I allowed Pin to get a last look of her brother before I began to seal him in the ground. I had finished my task, and the three of us just stood there in disbelief, mourning, and sorrow. I stood in between the two mares, all of us were silent except for the occasional sobs.

Pin finally broke the silence, her voice faltering with every word. “He...he would have...wanted to be buried in Armistice. It was the only place we had good memories of...the last place we were ever really happy.” I felt my own eyes begin to water as well.

This wasn’t fair. They had already taken so much from these two. The Iron Hoof had taken their home, their friends, their family. They had cost Needles his leg, and now his life. Pin had been traumatized and harmed by their actions on multiple occasions, and now she had lost the only family she had left.

No. They needed to pay. I am not going to let these bastards win. I will not let them harm another pony so long as I am able to prevent it. I will take them down myself if I have to. Smile has just gained another ally in his cause, one that is ready and willing to take down the Iron Hoof.

My thoughts were interrupted by the small crying mare. She had wrapped her forelegs around me. I didn’t say anything, but I put my leg around her to comfort her. She continued to cry softly as tears of my own rolled down my cheeks. Razor just sat next to us, her face was stoic, showing no emotion. This wasn’t the first friend she had lost.

* * *

Another couple minutes passed before I went to look for Whisper. We may have lost a friend in this fight, but we had completed our mission and needed to bring Whisper back to Circus, safely. I think that we all needed to be in a safe place for a while, somewhere that we would have time to deal with this without being shot at on an hourly schedule.

‘Hey, Whisper! Where are you?’ I shouted in my head. I wasn’t sure if thinking loudly would help or not, but it was worth a try.

Then, I heard the sound of a gunshot. I rushed to the direction it had come from, levitating out my revolver. It had come from one of the destroyed buildings. I entered and found Whisper standing over a dead raider, a gun in one’s mouth and a bullet in the other’s head.

“What...” I stammered out loud.

“I came here to get information, I wasn’t going to leave without getting information. Intimidation is a wonderful means of getting it, even if they don’t say it out loud. Makes them start to think, especially about what they were sent to do.” He holstered his revolver and looked back up at me, his scowl had returned. "Apologies for causing you to worry, the raider simply needed to die.” I suppose when you can read a pony’s mind, it is easy to tell whether they are truly evil or not.

‘What did you find out?’

“Something unsettling. I am not certain, but I know that the Hoof is plotting something big. These rangers and raiders didn’t know much, except that they needed to capture me, and likely needed to kill you as well. But from what I gathered from the other rangers and the griffin, I think that Circus is in danger.”

He walked out of the building, I followed after him. Pin was still sitting next to the makeshift grave. Razor was attempting to fix the cart. I don’t see why, as none of us were strong enough to pull it very far. I walked over to the scarred mare.

“So, what are we going to do?” I asked. She levitated a box from the debris of the cart, then looked up at me.

“What do you mean?” she asked as she pulled more supplies from the ruins.

“I mean, what are we going to do about Pin?”

She frowned at me. “She has been through a lot of trauma today, I think we should just rest here for the night, and decide what to do in the morning.” She turned back to the cart and began trying to attach a wheel, but it was in vain.

I was silent for a few seconds. “Why are you following me?”

She looked back up, a bit surprised at the question. She tried to say something, but she eventually just sighed. “At first, it was just about survival. Two ponies have a better chance at surviving than one. Eventually, I just felt like you were a good pony, and soon you became my friend.” She didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Whether that is a good or bad thing remains to be seen,” she mumbled under her breath.

“And what about her? Why did they follow me?” I asked, gesturing to the pegasus and the grave.

“Because she loves you, and because her brother would never let her travel the wasteland alone.” She looked at me with a scowl. “Though now that you shot her down, I don’t know why she follows you.” She turned back to her work, though she had made no actual progress in repairing the cart.

That hurt a little. I did feel responsible for the death of Needles. I drove a wedge between the two of them, I was the reason Pin traveled with me. If it hadn’t been for me, they would still be in Circus, safe. I was as much to blame for this tragedy as the Iron Hoof was. But I wasn’t the one that intentionally caused this. They were the monsters that had killed him, they were the ones who side with the raiders. That eased the pain some, but I still felt somewhat responsible.

I entered the clinic. It was as good a place as any to sleep for the night. Razor and Whisper followed me in as well. Pin stayed outside next to the grave. I sighed, and went outside to speak with her. It would be fair for her to stick a syringe in my eye as well. I might not have been the raiders that killed her home, but I was the pony that had killed her brother.

I walked up next to her. She looked up at me with her golden eyes, though they were reddish from all her crying. “Come to put me out of my misery?” she moaned.

“I’m sorry,” was all I said.

“For what? You didn’t do this to him. An Iron Hoof bastard put a bullet in him, but I was the one who killed him!” she screamed in response. “He warned me not to use Hydra on him, several times before. He said it could kill him just as likely as it would save him, and he was right!” Her eyes somehow managed to find more tears to release. “But I thought I could save him, that I might still be able to have something that the Iron Hoof didn’t destroy. But they took everything from me! What do I do now?”

“Make them pay.” Either she would, or I would. This crime would not go unpunished, nor would all the countless other crimes they had committed against innocent ponies.

She looked up at me with her golden eyes again, tears had resumed their torrent. She hugged me again, letting her tears flow into my coat. I didn’t say anything, but wrapped my leg around her to comfort her. We stayed like this for a few minutes. “Come on, it is getting dark.” She seemed to have no will to move on her own, as she just sat there crying. I picked her up and laid her across my back, she had no objections to this action, as she only kept crying while I carried her into the building.

I set her down inside the destroyed clinic next to Razor. Razor looked at me with a sad smile as I had brought her in. I took a spot in the room next to theirs, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

My dreams were plagued by nightmares. I was beginning to miss the memories of other ponies, beginning to miss the voice. The voices in my dreams confused me. This dream terrified me.

Bloodied faces of the ponies I had killed during my time in the wasteland appeared before me, some of which deserved it, but I remembered that some of them did not deserve this fate. One in particular stood out; shotgun pony from the stable. I had taken killed him because I considered him a threat, but he was like the other two security ponies, forced into this position by Sceptre’s influence. The saddest thing was that I knew him my entire life, but I couldn’t even remember his name.

The blood coated ponies scrambled towards me. They swarmed me from all sides. In total, there was likely close to fifty ponies that I had killed. A cacophonic symphony of screeching roared out around me. Their bloodied limbs reached out of me as they surrounded me, I was soon swallowed by the mass of walking corpses. Everything went dark.

I felt myself falling through the darkness. I immediately ceased my descent, a little disoriented, but I was quickly brought back to my senses with a pain in each of my legs, followed by a numbing sensation. I tried to move one, but the pain quickly returned as I did so. I tried to see what had happened, but my neck was pressed to the ground by a cold force. The darkness prevented me from seeing my limbs, from seeing what kept me from moving my head again. And then I felt a pain in my chest.

It felt as if I was being cut open. Then I felt myself being numbed again, only for the numbness to be overpowered by the pain as I felt something being ripped out of my abdomen. I felt my ribs being broke apart, one by one. I found that I was able to scream, but then a voice spoke to me.

“You deserve this,” it said in a familiarly calm but bitter tone. “You broke her heart, and ripped mine out.” I heard the crying of a mare echo around me. I let out a scream as I felt a blade pierce my insides again. “Only fitting that I do the same...” I tried to let out a scream, but all I could manage was a gasp as I felt one of my lungs be tore open. “Was it right for me to die because of you?” The other lung was ripped apart as he spoke. “Was it right for her to endure so much pain because of you?” I felt my heart racing, beating quickly in an attempt to stay alive. Slowly, I felt his magic wrap around it, causing it to strain with each beat. “Goodbye, Live Wire.” With that, Needlepoint ripped out my heart, still beating in vain.

* * *

My eyes shot open. I gasped deeply as I woke up, verifying that my lungs were still intact, that my heart was still inside me.

I rose to my hooves. It was still somewhat dark out. I was the first one awake. Razor was asleep in the other room, Pin was curled up next to her. She was shaking in her sleep. I felt a little bad that I had a nightmare about the same pony she is crying over. She let out a few faint sobs, still asleep.

“It isn’t just her brother she is crying about.” I had no idea where he was, but Whisper intruded on my thoughts again. “Some of it is about you.”

‘Yeah, I know I screwed up. She probably hates me now that I got her brother killed. She is likely going to take a syringe to my eye..’ I thought as I sat in the ruined clinic’s main room.

“She wouldn’t do that.” He paused for a moment. “Well, she is unlikely to do that to you.” I rose to my hooves again and started looking for the telepathic colt. I hated speaking to him when I had no idea where he was. It just seemed...off.

“She needs you. She needs somepony to keep her sane, somepony to live for, or else the grief is going to eat away at her until she is nothing. I have witnessed it happen all too often.” The colt knew the thoughts and feelings of those around him, no matter how gruesome the thought or tragic the memory. He heard whenever a pony was suffering, likely felt the pain as well. In the wasteland, everypony suffers...Whisper especially.

I finally found the young colt in what looked like a small office. He had his eyes closed, softly snoring. Was he communicating with me in his sleep? This just brought a new level to the weirdness of his mental intrusions.

‘Are you-’ I began.

“Physically, yes. Mentally, no. My mind is rarely allowed to sleep; the shouts of pain of those around me keep it awake. My life is a living hell, made worse by the sufferings of others. Do you know how many memories I have heard of ponies being tortured? How much pain I feel from the misery another has? Ponies like Smile want to use my power for their own benefit, but it is a curse.”

‘Then why do you do what Smile wants? Why not just leave?’
“Things are never that simple. Few places in the wasteland are as safe as Circus. Besides, Smile is not a bad pony, he is just pressured by being the leader of one of the only groups of ponies with the guts to fight the Iron Hoof.” He sighed in my head. “We have to leave soon. We need to return to Circus as soon as we can. I just know something is going on.”

‘I will go wake up the others.’

I left the room and returned to the two sleeping mares.

“Hey,” I said gently as I poked Razor in the side with my hoof. She proved just as hard to wake up as usual, so I moved to the small mare beside her. I looked at her small frame as she shook with an occasional sob. I poked her even more gently. She stirred a little, and then woke up. “Hey.”

She looked up at me with her golden eyes that had become reddened through the vast amounts of crying she had done. “Hi,” she replied in a meek voice.

“We need to be leaving soon,” I said as I continued trying to wake up Razor. Even when not drunk, she was impossible to wake up. I levitated out a canteen from one of my packs, pouring a bit of water onto her head. She sputtered awake, shouting profanities at me as she did so. I looked over at Pin to see if she had gotten a smile out of it, but she had no reaction to the event.

A few minutes passed, and we were all outside, though we were not ready to leave yet. Pin sat at the patch of dirt with the makeshift grave marker on it. ‘Needlepoint. Brother, hero, friend,’ it displayed. Although it was made only from a few things we scavenged, I think it turned out well. I walked over to her.

“I just don’t want to leave him,” she said as tears streamed down her face again. She didn’t look at me as she spoke. “He was all I had.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to do what you said,” she sniffed. “I’m going to make every last one of those Iron Hoof bastards regret everything they have done to us. They took everything from me, now I have nothing.” She started to cry a little more.

Gah, I couldn’t stand this anymore. “That isn’t true. You still have me.” Her eyes shot up at me as I said those words, a glimmer of happiness shone from the golden orbs. Tears streamed down her face as she hugged me.

I felt bad for her, I really did. At the same time, I admired her. She was able to endure such pain, such loss, and she was still a good pony. Though she did scare me at first, I managed to see beneath the psychotic layer to see that she was a caring pony beneath it.

But I didn't just want to pity her. I didn't want to stay just to stop her spiralling into an ever deeper depression. I wanted to stay because I cared for her, wanted to make her happy; as a friend, and maybe as something more.

At first, I'd been afraid of her... terrified, even. A cold-hearted killer, just itching to use her poisons. But that wasn't really Pin. I'd seen the real Pin; shining through in the markets of Circus, and when she'd confessed her feelings for me. Perhaps I was afraid not of her outer shell, but of confronting my feelings for the real pony within.

I held the small mare in my arms as she hugged me in both happiness and sadness. She was crying still, but at this point, tears in my coat were not a problem.

“You two lovebirds done?” shouted Razor from inside the clinic. “We need to leave is what you’ve been preaching all mornin. If all ya’s going to do is hug each other all morning, I am going back to sleep.”

I released Pin and walked over to the cart. It had been mostly destroyed, but it would still serve well enough to carry medical supplies. We would just have to walk. Walk all the way back to Circus...great.

* * *

We should have just left the cart. I didn’t care about all these medical supplies at this point. I had been pulling the cart for several hours, and although it wasn’t weighed down with an unconscious pegasus and an injured cyber-pony like it was last time, it was still exhausting to be pulling this thing.

Pin hovered next to me, her emotional state was somewhere between depressed and joyful, but she had at least stopped crying, which made me a little happy. Razor was grumbling as she walked. I had learned that we had run out of whiskey, though I remembered the one I still had in my pack. Pin likely still had hers as well. Though we both opted to keep this secret from Razor, as I did not want to lug her around for hours because she passed out drunk again. Whisper was walking behind the cart some. I would occasionally let him ride. He was the lightest of all of us, and I could tell that the long walk was tiresome for the young pony.

I continued pulling the cart ahead, but then I started hearing...something. I guess I was bored, so my brain started imagining music to cope. But then it started getting louder. It seemed to be getting closer as well.

“Hear that?” I asked.

Razor raised her ears to the sound. “Yeah, sounds like one of those spritebots that are always wandering around.”

“Wait, I think we might have a way to communicate with Circus.”

I turned to the colt. “How so?” The two mares only looked at me, unaware of the mental conversation.

“Long ago, back before the balefire bombs dropped, Circus used to be a major Ministry of Morale hub. Not so long ago, the Laughingstocks stumbled upon a system inside Circus that could be used to control the spritebots.”

“So? How does that help us?”

“The spritebots are so much more than flying radios. They have built in surveillance systems, communication devices, and even some weapons systems as well. They are the perfect method of watching the entire wasteland with nopony being the wiser, they just assume them to be floating radios.”

“Wow.”

“Yes. Of course, seeing as the network went down when the bombs fell, the Laughingstocks only have control over spritebots within a fairly large area around Circus. It isn’t the entire wasteland, but it suits our needs.”

“So what do we do?”

“I need you to locate the spritebot, and speak with it. Just say what I tell you to.”

“Fair enough.”

“Mind clueing us in on what the hell you are talking about?” asked Razor.

“Whisper told me that we have a way to communicate with Circus; the spritebot,” I responded.

The spritebot was easy to track down, just follow the accordion heavy song. The machine bore a resemblance to a bloatsprite, although it lacked the tumors and it had metal instead of flesh. It was also much more annoying.

I managed to catch it in my magic although it struggled to fly out. “Ok, what do I do?” I asked the colt. He didn’t say anything in my head, he just took a screwdriver out of his pack and walked to the back of the bot. A few seconds passed as he popped open a panel and began messing with a few wires and various things. I don’t know mechanical parts. I may have been maintenance, but I didn’t know the first thing about maintaining something.

“There,” he said in my head as he walked in front of the machine. “I’’m going to need you to speak for me. Okay? I can’t communicate through these things.”

“Okay.” I was used to relaying his messages anyway.

“Ask for Illex.”

“Hello? Is Illex there?” I hesitantly asked the hunk of metal. I doubted I would receive an answer, but the music suddenly cut out with a crackle.

“Who wants to know?” said a tinny voice through the spritebot.

“My name is Live Wire, I was sent to accompany Whisper on a mission.”

“Ah yeah, you’re that new guy that killed the Delta. What do you want?”

“Tell him that I have gained some information that Circus may be in danger.”

“Whisper says that Circus is in danger.”

“Huh. I’ll be sure to tell Smile you said that. Anything in particular I should warn him about?”

I looked to the small colt for an answer. “An Iron Hoof attack maybe?”

I heard a sigh from the Laughingstock talking through the hovering machine. “Look kid, Circus is built like a fortress. We have survived a lot of attacks from the Iron Hoof. I don’t think we have much to worry about, but I’ll warn Smile regardless.” He then mumbled something quietly, I didn’t hear what it was. “Alright, done wasting my time? I have a lot of more important things to do, and I don’t have the time to be Smile’s secretary.” The voice over the spritebot cut out, quickly being replaced by the annoying music.

“He isn’t that bad when you get to know him. He is usually a lot worse.”

“Hey! Are you two done already?” shouted Razor from beside the cart. “Waiting around is boring!”

* * *

Traveling wasn’t much more interesting either. We hadn’t encountered any real threats since Armistice. Only a few lone raiders tried to attack us, and they quickly stopped dead in their tracks, quite literally thanks to Razor’s sniping. But it was getting late again, and I did not want a repeat performance of our encounter with the bloodwings. We were down a friend, and I didn’t want to lose another any time soon.

Luckily, we found a small building that was still in decent shape. It was completely devoid of life, but at least that meant no raiders. I pulled the heavy cart to the building.

This building looked to be some sort of home at one point, though nopony lived here now. It also was picked through very thoroughly, as I was unable to find anything of value.

“Hey,” chimed the pegasus. She seemed to be in better spirits now. She was standing next to me in what looked like an old library of sorts, all the books were either destroyed or taken by scavengers. Razor was searching the kitchen for any hint of alcohol, while Whisper was somewhere. Not that it really mattered where he was, he was still present in my head. “So...” I could tell from the look on her face that she was plotting something. “Earlier today, did you really mean it?”

“Yes,” I answered. Her face instantly lit up as her face turned into a wide grin. I wrapped my foreleg around her in a hug. She buried her head into my neck. “I’m sorry for earlier.”

She sighed. “I thought we covered this, you weren’t responsible for his death.”

“Not that...I’m sorry for turning you down earlier. I just...needed time to think about how I really felt about you.”

“You are so cute when you are awkward and shy,” she giggled as she buried her head in my neck again.

“Bleck,” interrupted Whisper.

‘Shut it,’ I bitterly responded in my head.

“Why is it that the first thing the scavengers go for is the damn whiskey!” shouted Razor from the other room, followed by something falling over with a loud bang. “Ow! Damn fridge!”

Pin sighed and broke from my embrace. “I better go make sure we don’t have to amputate her leg,” she sighed.

“She’s fine,” I replied.

“Should legs bend this way?” Razor shouted from the kitchen. “This is a lot of blood. Can somepony help me? Please?”

Pin grumbled something as she walked out of the room. I heard shouting from the other room, but I didn’t really pay much attention. I was worn out from pulling the cart for hours.

I needed rest, whether it came with nightmares or not.

* * *

Strangely, what I found in my sleep was not a nightmare. It was a memory.

My body felt heavy, weighed down by clunky metal armour. My host was an earth pony buck, and was a Steel Ranger.

“Damnit, why did Blueberry order us to this hellhole?” complained one of the rangers to my side.

“Shut it, Custard. You don’t question a Star Paladin’s orders,” I felt my host respond.

There were about five rangers in the group including the pony whose memory I was intruding on. They were packing heavy weaponry. Two had what looked to be more powerful versions of the grenade launcher the Delta from earlier had. Another had an anti machine rifle, while the other had a minigun.

“Ah, kill the act, Mocking Bird,” said another one of the rangers. “Your marefriend just sent us to certain death just because she doesn’t like you.”

“First of all, that would be a direct violation of Ranger code to be in a relationship with a commanding officer. Second, this is not a suicide mission. We were sent to deal with Silver Star’s secession, violently if need be.”

“Yeah, the five of us taking on her entire chapter. No way this will end badly,” snarked another of the rangers.

“Are you questioning a Paladin, Buzzsaw?” my host asked.

“No sir,” he responded with a hint of bitterness.

“Good. Now, the traitors are stationed in Stable 9. We go there, deal with Silver, then we head back for drinks.”

“It is never that simple,” grumbled another ranger as they continued walking in a direction that the E.F.S. in the suit proclaimed to be southeast.

The memory flooded with the white void.

“Alright, what now?” I shouted. I knew the voice was there. It was always there.

“What now? That is for you to decide, Live Wire. What we want will become apparent soon enough, but whether or not you decide to aid us is up to you,” remarked the voice from the endless whiteness.

“Bullshit! You didn’t drive Volt insane and cause him to leave the stable for nothing! What do you want from me?” I had had enough of the cryptic riddles and confusing answers.

“We want your help.”

“Mind elaborating?”

“I do, but I suppose I must tell you what I can. This war that is going on could decide the fate of the wasteland. There are many possible end results, but the most desirable of those is also the most difficult to obtain. Our goal is to influence events so that the desired outcome happens.”

“And just how do you know what you are doing will cause this?”

“We can’t be certain. The future is always changing. We do know that a wasteland under the control of the Iron Hoof is one that nopony desires. So you see? We have similar goals.” I was still not convinced that the voice was as benevolent as it tried to appear, but if it meant bringing down the Iron Hoof, I would at least listen to it.

“I still don’t know who you are, so why should I trust you?”

“We are The New Equestrians. We hope to return the land to its former glory one day.” Using mind control, telepathy, deceit, and betrayal. Yeah, former glory indeed. “You will learn more about us in time, but for now, your efforts are needed elsewhere.”

Darkness.

* * *

And then dawn.

I awoke to find that Pin was asleep next to me. What was more of a surprise was to find Razor asleep in the same room, one of her back legs wrapped in bandages. Whisper was somewhere else as usual. The foal had a habit of slipping away unnoticed, though I guess that nopony really notices the silent colt unless they hear him in their head.

I wandered around the small building, looking for nothing in particular, just wanting to kill some time before the others woke up. I entered the kitchen. Razor was right, that was a lot of blood. It had dried in a pool around a toppled over fridge. Sober Razor was more clumsy than Drunken Razor apparently.

I popped open a bottle of Sparkle-Cola and enjoyed the lukewarm carrot-y flavor. It was a couple minutes before Pin woke up. As she walked into the bloodied kitchen, I levitated my last bottle of Sparkle-Cola out of my pack and over to her. The only thing left in my pack that was drinkable was some water, and the bottle of whiskey, which I would gladly put off drinking until I was somewhere where it was relatively safe.

“So how is she doing?” I asked, looking at the large bloodstain on the ground.

“Razor? She’s fine. Probably permanently brain damaged, but that happened well before any of us met her,” she said with a chuckle. It was good to see her laughing again, even if it was at the expense of another. “She banged up her leg pretty bad. Caught her leg under the fridge as it fell, fracturing a bone or two and causing a lot of cuts. She shouldn’t be walking very much, so either we stay her for another day, or you pull her with the cart.” I was fairly certain she wanted the former option rather than the latter, judging by the slight smile on her face.

“As much as I would enjoy staying here for a day, you know that we have to reach Circus as soon as we can.”

She pouted. “Fine,” she grumbled as she went back into the room where Razor was asleep. I knew she was a little upset at my decision, but I didn’t feel safe out in the wasteland. I doubted Circus was very safe, but it was certainly better than wasteland. I heard water splashing, followed by Razor shouting. Pin entered the kitchen a moment later. “Razor is up, now where is Whisper?”

With that, the young colt emerged from the hallway. The kid was sneaky, I had to give him that.

* * *

“Gasp! Wheeze! Groan!”

“Whining won’t help you pull any faster, Wire,” retorted Razor from the back of the cart. “Circus is still another day away, so GO!” She jabbed me in the side with the levitating rifle.

“Ow!” I yelped. “Stop it!”

Razor began chuckling to herself. Even with an injured leg, she was still a deadly shot, which she proved when a group of raiders decided that we were an easy target. She dropped three of them with only three shots, and Pin dealt with the other two. I was unable to help them due to being strapped into the harness for the cart.

Several hours passed, raiders attacked, raiders got killed, and I pulled the cart the entire time.

“Can...we please...stop now?” I panted. Pin fluttered next to me, a look of concern on her face. Whisper was walking next to the cart. Razor was happily working her way through the bottle of whiskey she snatched from Pin’s pack when she wasn’t looking.

“Nope,” chimed Razor as she resumed drinking merrily.

“Yes,” said Pin. “Circus won’t be destroyed if we don’t return there immediately. I don’t see what the rush is.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go make out with your buckfriend, I am going to take a nap. Wake me when we get attacked,” yawned Razor. Pin blushed at the statement, and I could feel my face turn a little red as well. “Ah, not even going to dispute it this time? Thought it might be true.”

“We...well we...uhm.” I was at a loss for words.

“Heh, just glad to see you two are happy,” Razor concluded as she fell asleep.

* * *

I rested for about an hour, speaking with Pin about various things such as Stable life and her life in the wasteland. Another few hours of traveling, and then it began to get dark.

“We should be at Circus tomorrow,” declared Pin as we entered a building for the night. Razor had woken up a little bit ago, amazingly it was all on her own. The building was another house, thoroughly looted just like the other one. Razor even lamented the lack of alcohol, even though she just had a bottle a few hours ago.

I was tired, but I didn’t want to sleep. I knew that I would either be plagued by nightmares or I would be visited by the strange voice. That reminded me of something.

“Either of you ever heard of something called ‘The New Equestrians’?” I asked. The mares looked at me with confusion, answering my question.

“No, what are they?” asked Pin.

“No idea, but they are the ones that caused Volt to leave the Stable.” I explained to them about the voices in my sleep, and how they drove Volt to do what he did. Razor just chalked it up to ‘freaky powers’ while Pin thought I had gone crazy. “And they said they were called The New Equestrians.”

“Well they sound like bad news to me,” Pin replied. “They may oppose the Hoof, but I think they are plotting something bigger. And messing with your head like that, unforgivable.”

“They are a faction of powerful magic users,” said Whisper in my head. “I don’t know much about them, but I managed to gather some info from Volt and other ponies they influenced. From what little I know, they seem to have mastered a form of telepathy, one more powerful and better refined than mine. Very secretive bunch as well, they do not make their presence known but to a few ponies, and even then they limit what they tell them. I have to agree with your marefriend, they are up to something.”

“Well that is reassuring,” I lamented. I then relayed Whisper’s message to the two mares.

“Wow, you know they must be secretive when the mind reader doesn’t know much about them,” chuckled Razor. “Look, just tell these psychic ponies to piss off. Don’t get involved in whatever scheme they have.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “They screwed up my life by killing my stable and throwing me into the wasteland, and now they expect me to help them?” I looked over at Pin, who had a small frown on her face. “Well, some things are better now.” She smiled again. I sighed a little in relief. “I am going to sleep. Razor, you got first watch?”

“Fine,” she grumbled.

I collapsed on an old mattress in the ancient bedroom.

* * *

My sleep was dreamless. I suppose it was better than intruding on the memories of another pony and arguing with the voice, and it was certainly better than having more nightmares.

I woke up while it was still dark. Pin was asleep next to me. Razor had passed out in the main room. I found Whisper sleeping underneath a table in the kitchen. I waited about an hour before Whisper and Pin woke up. We decided that it was too much effort to wake up Razor, so I just levitated her onto the cart.

We would be reaching Circus today, so I didn’t want to waste any time. We set off for our destination.

* * *

“Shit...” Razor gasped as we watched the horrifying spectacle from a distance.

Pillars of smoke were rising from the once sickeningly joyful settlement. What looked to be over one hundred ponies were fighting around the city. From the distance, I could still make out the metal armour of a few steel rangers, what looked to be almost twenty of them. In the sky above, a few flying combatants from either side engaged the others in strife. Some of them were pegasi, but I noticed a few of them were griffins, or at least they resembled the pictures of griffins I had seen in the Stable.

The Iron Hoof was throwing everything it could at Circus, and it looked like it was working.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Tough Hide (level 1)- The brutal experiences of the Equestrian Wasteland have toughened you. You gain +3 Damage Threshold for each level of this perk you take.

Chapter Nine: Strife

Chapter Nine

Strife

Pandemonium

The entire area around Circus was plunged into chaotic warfare. Many of the combatants bore Laughingstock armour, others wore whatever they could as a substitute for barding, while a third group was enclosed in protective power armour. The two latter groups were attacking the former. The sheer amount of enemies and friendlies caused E.F.S. to turn into a bar of red with a few patches of green.

We had rushed to the aid of Circus, though our efforts had little impact compared to the power that both sides possessed. The raiders had their sheer numbers, the rangers had their power armour and powerful weaponry, and the Laughingstocks had their ‘freaky abilities’ as Razor called them.

I watched the battle for a brief moment as we got closer.

Stoneface, the mud colored earth pony buck that had escorted us around Circus, was on the front lines, beating raiders to death with his own bare hooves. He wore a battle saddle, but I assumed the ammo to it had run out long ago. Occasionally, he would be hit by a bullet from one of the raiders, but that didn’t do much to him. I saw that he wasn’t a regular pony. He was made of stone.

His body cracked where the bullets hit, but even when they pierced him, no blood was ever spilled. Dust would swirl around the wound and begin to seal it. “Gah, I hate it when I get shot!” he shouted in anger. He could apparently feel pain, as he winced each time a bullet hit him.

The small caliber weaponry of the raiders did little than cause a spiderweb of cracks to form along the outer layer of his body, occasional perforations caused by bullets dotted the cracks. A dust cloud swirled around him as he continued to reform and heal.

KRAKOW!

The cannon shot of an anti-machine rifle roared out as the round tore through his earthen skull (did he even have a skull?) causing his head to shatter and fragment into many pieces. I feared that he had been killed, but the dust cloud continued to swirl as the chunks of missing stone reassembled. Stoneface was a tough pony to kill, and those hooves of stone packed a punch, smashing open raiders with ease.

Suddenly, a loud, roaring boom tore through the battlefield. I looked over to see several raiders go flying through the air, their ears and eyes bleeding, a few had their limbs bent in unnatural ways. The ringing in my ears subsided, and I noticed the cause of the disruption; the familiar unicorn with the chalkboard still tied around his neck.

Reverb opened his mouth as another small group of raiders charged him. The resulting noise was so powerful, I could see the air move because of the force behind it as it slammed into the enemies, tearing into them with such power that it broke bones and caused their ears and eyes to bleed. Reverb started cackling, sending bursts of sonic waves into the enemy ranks, quickly decimating a few that were unlucky enough to be hit head on. The Laughingstock wasn’t bluffing; he was hardly mute, his voice could kill.

The red mare moved between the enemies with such grace. Stopwatch dispatched enemies with speed and precision, her reaction speed was astounding. I recalled Stoneface explaining that she experienced time at a slower pace. This must have been what granted her these abilities.

She was as dead accurate as Razor was, maybe even more. Her rifle fired at one of the Steel Rangers, missing the body of the pony, but hitting the rocket that was in their launcher, detonating it and the rest of their ammo, killing the ranger and his allies around him.

Next to her fell a dead griffin, clad in what looked to be a griffin version of the Steel Ranger power armour. I looked up to the sky to witness a sight I thought I would never see; an alicorn. The large winged pony flew through the sky, dodging the attacks of his foes. He had a white coat, but a forest green mane, unlike any alicorn I had heard of before. A few griffins and pegasi flew around him, some friend, some foe. One pegasus foe tried to fire at him with a magical rifle, but the alicorn dove down to avoid the blast, then rose up swiftly and fired a green bolt that appeared to be made of pure magic into the body of the offending pegasus, sending them plummeting to their death.

“That...would be Illex,” declared the young Laughingstock. I was speechless at this revelation, but I quickly regained my senses as another raider started shooting at me.

I brought my revolver out, and swung it to the offending raider, but I quickly saw their head explode into a mass of blood, bone fragments, brain matter, streamers...and balloons? I heard a maddened cackling that could only come from the insane gang leader known as Glasgow Smile. I looked over and saw him holding a strange revolver in his mouth while he laughed like crazy. The revolver fired with a loud...kazoo sound? The muzzle of the weapon flashed with the gunshot...and released confetti? Ok, what the hell?

“The Party Cannon MK. II, Smile’s personal sidearm. An enchantment on the weapon causes it to fire explosive rounds, no matter the ammo type loaded. Of course, the explosions that result are..strange.”

“Who would design something like that?” I shouted in pure confusion.

“A crazy pony maybe?”

Although the small weapon was incredibly disturbing, I couldn’t dispute the devastation that it brought. But despite all the power that many of the Laughingstocks possessed, they made little impact in the raider numbers, and the Steel Rangers were still powerful adversaries.

I heard a familiar crackling of energy, and I looked over to see a lightning bolt fly through the air and connect with one of the Steel Rangers, causing them to fall to the ground, powerless. I looked over to see myself cheering, wearing barding that many of the Laughingstocks wore..

“Take that, you ruffians!” shouted Volt in triumph. His horn began glowing with light grey energy as he prepared another lightning bolt.

Okay, enough admiring the powerful ponies, time to join the fight. I ran onto the battlefield, the cart still trailing behind me. My horn crackled with the same spell volt had cast not seconds earlier. I picked a target, a Steel Ranger that was preoccupied mowing down a group of Laughingstocks with his minigun, and fired. The charged up spell leapt from my horn to his power armour, killing the spell matrix, possibly killing him. Either way, that was one enemy that was dealt with for the moment.

I heard the familiar firing of an anti-machine rifle, this time coming from the back of the cart. Razor was too injured to be running around and fighting, but she was still a force to be reckoned with. Besides, when a sniper has a good vantage point of the battle, they don’t really need to be running. Can Opener was floating in her yellow magic. She had at some point learned how to account for the kickback of the powerful weapon, as it didn’t go flying out of her grasp. The round she fired punched through the skull of a ranger.

Pin was gliding over the battlefield, her custom pistol in her jaws fired a few syringes at small groups of raiders. A few of the raiders fell to the ground as the poison started to take effect, killing them seconds later. One of the Iron Hoof griffins took notice of the devastation she brought to the land based enemies, and swooped after her.

Pin was a very graceful flyer, but she was still recovering from a broken wing. The griffin, however, was a mercenary that likely had years of flying experience, and a powerful shotgun in his talons. I doubted that she would be able to evade the powerful flyer for long.

“Damnit!” I shouted as I noticed that S.A.T.S. had such a low chance of hitting the aerial enemy. The shot missed the griffin entirely. “You win this time, probability!”

The griffin fired a few shots at the small pegasus, but Pin was nothing if she wasn’t agile. She dodged the shotgun slugs with ease, firing her syringe pistol in return. Many of the syringes shattered on contact with the griffin’s armour, other simply bounced off, but I noticed as a few hit their mark. She just had to keep dodging until the enemy finally succumbed to the poison.

I gasped as one of the slugs hit her in the side. I wasn’t sure how badly she was injured, but it knocked her out of the sky. I rushed to her position, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to catch her in time.

I sighed in relief as I watched her be enveloped in a green aura, slowing her descent until she was floating in the air. The Laughingstock alicorn soared over to our area, his horn glowing green as the injured pegasus floated behind her. The griffin tried to chase after the two, but he grasped at his chest and gave a screech, though it was more like a squawk. His wings twitched and then stopped flapping, sending him plummeting to his death, but he was dead before he even hit the ground. Pin only had to hit once to get her kill.

“Tell her to stay out of the air unless she can handle a dogfight!” shouted Illex as he set the injured mare down next to me. He then turned and dashed back into the air.

I levitated out a healing potion and Pin quickly downed the contents. The slug hadn’t breached her barding, but I knew it still caused a lot of damage. She looked up at me with a half smile, and then rose back into the air. Her face quickly turned to a frown. “Damnit, I dropped my pistol!” she grumbled.

I levitated one of the spare pistols over to her. It was the only thing I think that she could wield unless she had a battle saddle. She bit down on the handle and flew back to the fight.

I began charging up another blast of lightning bolt. I took aim at the nearest ranger and fired the bolt at him. The electricity arced on his metal armour, but he remained upright. Only now did I notice the yellow stripe on his shoulder.

“Delta!” I shouted in warning as he fired a rocket in our direction. Razor jolted as I pulled the cart away from the explosion, the shock waves still hit the wagon hard, toppling it over, and knocking me over with it. “Gah, get me unhooked!” I shouted at Razor. The harness glowed yellow as it became unhooked. I rose back up and levitated the revolver out.

The Delta was charging at us, another rocket was loaded in his launcher. He could survive the blast, we likely wouldn’t. I fired at the metalclad pony, but the shots pinged off him. Not good. Think, Wire, think! There must be a weak point or someplace I can hit to stop him. Wait, stop...Stopwatch!

I kicked on S.A.T.S. and found my target. I hoped that the targeting spell was as accurate as the Laughingstock had been. The last shot in the revolver fired, sending the bullet straight at the Delta...only, I wasn’t aiming for him. The bullet hit the mark dead on, the rocket in the silo. The payload of the missile exploded, destroying the launcher, but more importantly taking a chunk out of the ranger’s side. The ranger fell to the ground, bleeding heavily from the giant wound, though I doubted that he had any life left to bleed out.

“Ha!” I cheered. The celebration was largely premature. Unlike the other two Deltas I encountered, this one wasn’t in charge of the battle. No, their leader was something much worse.

An explosion of a gunshot, louder than Can Opener times ten, sounded across the battlefield. This noise could give Reverb a run for his caps. Roughly a third of the ponies on the battlefield turned to the source of a noise. The monster was a thing of nightmares.

The creature was large, much larger than even a hellhound. Horns grew from its head, though they were unlike unicorn horns, they were on the sides of his head and curved upward. At least, one did. The other was broken off halfway down. The monstrosity wore what looked like a patchwork of Steel Ranger armour, mixed with armour that was pure black. In its hands (not hooves, hands) it held what looked like a much larger version of an anti-machine rifle. The cannon it held fired again, creating a powerful explosion where the round hit, decimating many ponies, Laughingstock and raiders alike.

“Um, Whisper...please tell me that thing is on our side,” I muttered.

“No, that is Bronze, one of the leaders of the Iron Hoof. He’s a freaking minotaur with a tank barrel for a gun and power armour. We’re screwed.” Well, that was reassuring.

“I got this!” shouted Razor from beside the fallen cart. She levitated Can Opener in front of her, and fired. Now, Razor may be the best sniper pony I know, but even she isn’t a miracle worker. The round hit the monst-Minotaur square in the head. The round pierced the helmet, but I didn’t do much else.

It momentarily recoiled from the hit, but it stayed alive. The cannon in its hands fired again as it seemingly shrugged off an anti-machine rifle to the head. The shot did alert it to our position, and it made it a little angry.

“Great, you just pissed it off!” I shouted as I picked her up in my magic and started running. Whisper was running beside me, managing to keep up.

The explosion was larger than any rocket that had been fired at me, larger than any grenade I have seen thrown. How we escape with our lives is a miracle, but the shrapnel from the blast embedded in my back, Razor was hit badly as well as she fell out of my grasp. Whisper was knocked to the ground, a large gash in his side with a few cuts had appeared.

No, can’t die here. I rose to my hooves and dug out healing potions. Shit, only two. I looked at the bleeding colt. I limped over to him and pulled out the pieces I could see, then I forced him to drink the restorative brew. I limped over to Razor next. She had a few pieces lodged in her side as well.

“No...you dumbass. You drink it,” she struggled to say. She was a lot worse off than me, especially since she had already been injured earlier.

“No, you need it more than I do,” I replied. I would be fine...I hope. I didn’t want to lose another friend.

I removed the stopper from the bottle and poured the contents down her throat. She tried to resist, but she eventually drank the potion.

Unfortunately, the enemy was not going to give us much time to doctor our wounds. A small band of raiders started charging at us. Razor levitated out her regular rifle, I pulled out the shotgun, and Whisper had his little revolver in his teeth. We wouldn’t go down without a fight, which the raiders soon learned.

The shotgun was hardly accurate, but the buckshot peppered them with the pellets, causing a few injuries as the rifle and revolver finished them off. The shotgun’s true potential shined when one of the raiders managed to get close to me with a combat knife in his teeth and an empty battle saddle on his back. I put a shot directly in his chest, bursting it open. Bits of his corpse flew in every direction as he exploded into a shower of blood. Messy.

The shrapnel wounds were starting to get the better of me as I limped backwards in an attempt to escape the oncoming raider while I popped fresh shells into the chamber. I could feel the bits of metal tearing away inside my back and my legs. I needed a medic.

“Pin!” I shouted out. I had no idea where she was, I didn’t even know if she was still alive in the chaos. If she was alive, then she couldn’t hear me. I shouted again in vain.

“Damnit, there are just too many of em!” Razor shouted as she dropped the empty rifle to the ground and brought out the rocket launcher. We had taken out a lot of the raiders, even a few rangers, but for every one we killed, another two took its place.

A deafening roar tore through the raiders that were attacking us. I looked over to see Reverb charging at us. He opened his jaws again in a shout and knocked the last of the raiders in front of us away. He stood next to me, his magic writing out a message on his board. “Are you okay?” it said.

“Ugh, I need healing potions. And I have a ton of shrapnel in my back.”

He took a syringe out of his pack and levitated it in front of me. “Sorry, all I have,” his board read. I held it in my magic as he dashed off into the enemy ranks. I looked at the drug he gave me; Hydra.

I saw how powerful this thing was, it could easily take out the shards of metal that were buried in me and close the wound. But Needles said that this stuff was dangerous, even if you weren’t a cyber pony. I regretted remembering these things, but I made a decision. Dying of tumors and hideous growths later would be better than dying of bloodloss now. I stabbed the needle into my leg and almost immediately felt the drug take effect.

Shrapnel forced its way to the top layer of skin, tearing it open and dropping out. The wounds quickly sealed behind the pieces of metal. I felt all the various cuts I had diminish and close. I felt a large piece of metal tear its way to the surface of my flank, flesh had long since formed over it. I had completely forgot about that bullet. Hydra likely saved my life, I just hoped it didn’t cost me it as well.

I surveyed the battlefield for a quick moment. Dead bodies covered the wasteland, while living ones fought over them. Both sides had sustained heavy casualties, but neither side was intending to give up yet. The raiders still had several dozen of their combatants left, and the rangers hadn’t lost very many of their soldiers. The Laughingstocks were powerful, but fewer in numbers, and the numbers they had were dwindling.

I picked up my revolver, put fresh rounds in the chamber, and continued fighting. A few of the raiders had picked themselves up after their encounter with Reverb, though many of them were bleeding heavily from various internal injuries. Those that could drank potions to heal the wounds, those that couldn’t fought on in pain. Even when close to death, they wouldn’t give up. That is, until they actually died.

I opened fire at the raiders. Razor had managed to get her rifle reloaded and dropped two of the closest attackers. Whisper was firing at them as well, though he was not nearly as effective as we were; partially due to his inexperience, partially due to his lack of telekinesis to aid him in fighting.

The battlefield proved to be harsh terrain to be fighting on. Aside from the continually forming craters, there was little cover provided. We managed to take cover behind a big rock, though a direct rocket would likely reduce it to rubble and reduce us to bloodstains on the wasteland. It still protected us from the bullets that were flying at us. Mostly...

A bullet grazed my side. The round was powerful enough to tear through the barding that it came in contact with. I was lucky it didn’t hit me dead on, but it created a major gash as it contacted flesh. I was amazed as I watched the wound begin to close at a rapid rate. The wonder drug was still in effect. I fired the small but powerful weapon at the raider that had shot at me. The bullet sunk into her neck, almost severing her head.

A Laughingstock pegasus slammed to the ground next to us, breaking his neck in the fall. He died as he hit, if he wasn’t dead already. I took a second to examine him. He was one of the Laughingstocks that had been affected by Killing Joke, the blood that spilled out of him was green in color, and it sizzled as it ate through the ground it came in contact with. Acidic blood, how anypony could even survive that was beyond me, though I knew it likely wasn’t an enjoyable survival.

I cautiously backed away from the growing puddle of caustic liquid. It seemed like almost every Laughingstock must be suffering from their curse, whether it be physically or mentally. The nameless pony started dissolving because of his own blood, as whatever magic kept him from being eaten by the acid previously had ceased its function with his death. Before his body had been completely disintegrated, I noticed a peculiar scar where his cutie mark should have been; it resembled a cloud with a lightning bolt beneath it. It looked to have been burnt into his flesh by magical means. A result of Killing Joke maybe?

The ground next to me exploded into a cloud of dust. I leapt back and glanced to the sky. A raider pegasus hovered in the air, a pair of rifles attached to his saddle clicked as they expelled the spent casings. Fresh rounds popped into the chamber with the aid of an auto-loader.

S.A.T.S. had proven itself to not be very useful against flying foes, as they were often flying quickly, and there were many directions in which they could dodge. Of course, when the target flew in place, they tended to be an easy target. Both shots of the revolver hit their mark; one in the wing screwed up his aim, the other in his head to finish him. I grimaced at the memory of how Pin had been shot in the wing, but quickly cleared it from my head. Getting emotional would only get me killed.

I looked over to the city that we were defending. Smoke was rising from a few of the buildings, likely the result of artillery fire. There were many Laughingstocks running out of the town, while others carried their injured allies inside the protective walls. The band of mercenaries and bounty hunters had managed to keep their enemy away from the settlement, but their hold was faltering under the continued advances of the enemy. The Iron Hoof seemed to care little for the growing amount of dead and injured, instead they continued to throw more of their soldiers at their opponents.

The battle in the air fared no better, as pegasi and griffins of both sides clashed and fell to their deaths. Though the griffins were fewer in number, they were still powerful combatants. Occasionally, I would see the green magic of the Laughingstock alicorn flash in the cloud filled sky.

Another explosion rumbled across the battlefield. Bronze had fired his cannon again, this time taking out a large group of Laughingstocks and raiders that were fighting.

“Can that thing be stopped?” questioned Razor as she levitated Can Opener in front of herself again. The powerful rifle fired at the creature, this time clipping a shoulder. It dropped the weapon for a second as it grabbed at the wounded arm. Somehow, she had managed to find an opening in its armour. The minotaur turned to us and lifted his weapon. “Not happening!” shouted Razor as she fired again at the beast. The shot hit an area of exposed flesh on his other arm. The creature recoiled from the injury, dropping the weapon again.

“Hit it again!” I shouted as I took down a raider that had tried to attack Razor.

KRAKOW!

The beast went down as the shot hit one of its legs, which were small for a creature that size. It was still alive, but the continued shots had crippled its limbs. Then something terrible happened.

Click.

“Shit!” shouted Razor. She ran out of ammo for the powerful rifle. She repeated it many times as she dug in her pack. “I’m out of ammo!”

The Minotaur rose back up, though it was clear that Razor had severely wounded it. A small group of Steel Rangers stood by him, despite the distance between us, I recognized the yellow stripe that adorned the shoulders of a few of them. The Deltas appeared to be conversing with Bronze for a short moment.

My attention shifted to more immediate threats. While I had been paying attention to the enemy leaders, a small group of raiders decided to attack us. A pistol round biting into my barding brought my attention to them. I brought the revolver up to meet them. Click. Out of ammo.

I ducked behind the rock and dropped the revolver into my pack. In its place, I brought out the shotgun. I wouldn’t get a chance to fire it at these enemies, as the erupted into a cloud of dust, blood, and smoke. Above me, a griffin with bizarre golden feathers gave a small cheer as she put fresh grenades into her launcher. She caught my gaze, gave a wink, and flew off. I was a bit shocked by this display, but I quickly regained my senses when more Iron Hoof soldiers started firing at us. We were soon pinned behind the rock by a Steel Ranger with a minigun.

“Get his attention on the other side,” I commanded to Razor.

“Gotcha,” she replied as she levitated a large rock in her magic. She popped her head to the side of our cover and flung the large stone at the ranger. It connected with her helmet with a loud ping. The ranger shouted something in return, but it was quickly drowned out by the crackling that resulted when the bolt of energy hit her power armour. She flopped to the ground with a clatter, still shouting profanities from inside the metal covering.

I looked around again. The battlefield was changing drastically. More and more raiders fell, even the Steel Rangers took major hits to their numbers. The Laughingstocks had also lost many of their combatants, but they kept their hold on the city. They might just be able to withstand the attack.

A bullet slammed into my barding, puncturing it and causing the bullet to sink into my shoulder. I winced in pain, but the bullet dug itself out. The wound sealed as the round fell to the ground. I looked over at the pony that had shot at me, only to see him collide with a diving pegasus; our dark colored medic.

The raider was knocked over by the hit, but quickly tried to rise up. Pin didn’t give him a chance to, as she pressed her forelegs onto his side, preventing him from escaping. She raised her wing and bit down on a syringe that was concealed within it. She plunged the needle into his side, sending the vile concoction into his bloodstream. He struggled for a few seconds, trying to kick the small mare off of him, but he eventually ceased moving.

She looked over at me and glided across the battlefield between us. “Are you okay?” she exclaimed. “I saw him shoot you, and...and I saw the blood...”

“I’m okay, calm down,” I responded.

“But...how? I didn’t see you drink a potion or anything.”

“Hydra,” I replied grimly. She looked traumatized, though whether it was from worry for me or from the memory, I wasn’t sure. She simply nodded. “Razor and Whisper are hurt, hit with shrapnel from the minotaur’s cannon. I dug out what I could, but a lot of it is still embedded in them. I gave them potions, but the injuries are starting to reopen.”

“Quit worrying about me, I’ll be fine!” Razor shouted as she took down another raider with her regular rifle.

“Just hold out a little longer, the Iron Hoof is starting to retreat. That minotaur and his Deltas have already left the raiders,” said Pin. I glanced over at the area where the enemy leaders were gathered. Sure enough, Bronze and the Deltas were gone.

The raiders had either begun to flee or continued to fight. Without their leaders, the Iron Hoof soldiers had lost their coordination, some had even lost the will to fight. The Rangers escaped from the fight as well, though some were still firing at the Laughingstocks to provide covering fire for their allies. Even though the Steel Rangers, and by extension the Iron Hoof, were a group of murderous ponies, they showed that they had remarkable tactical skill when in combat.

“Let’s give them the last push we need to take them down!” I shouted, rallying my companions and a few of the Laughingstocks around me. A few of the Laughingstocks were poorly equipped for battle, no better than some of the raiders. Their barding looked like it couldn’t even stop a pistol round, let alone any of the firepower the rangers were packing. Their weapons were anything that they could use against the onslaught of raiders. These weren’t Laughingstocks, these were the poor ponies of Circus, all united in their desire to protect their home.

The real Laughingstocks wore barding that was just short of being power armour, though some opted for lighter versions of it. Many of them had battled saddles with powerful rifles and shotguns attached, one even had a minigun on it. The small group, little more than a dozen ponies, gathered and charged the last of the raiders.

The raiders wore their typical barding, a mishmash of whatever scraps they could piece together into some form of protection. Their weapons were somewhat more advanced than usual raider armaments, several wielded rifles and shotguns, some even had box shaped guns that fired magic beams, but many of them still wielded makeshift melee weapons. I guess siding with the Iron Hoof did have a few perks. Aside from their weapons, the raiders still had their numerical advantage. There were roughly two dozen of them, possibly more.

One of the raiders ran to meet our assault. He wore strange barding, much more protective than most of the other raiders. His battle saddle was a peculiar one, both sides held a strange pipe, both of which were connected to a large canister on his back. He leapt at us, bullets pinged off his armour. Flames erupted from both barrels of the weapon, engulfing many of the Laughingstocks in fire. The raider cackled madly as he burned through many of his opponents.

“Shit, he’s on Stampede!” shouted Razor as she fired a round into his shoulder. The raider seemed to ignore the wound that would have otherwise crippled him. Stampede was one of the combat drugs used before the war. Razor had told me that they somehow resurfaced in the wasteland. Stampede was one of the tougher drugs, creating blood crazed soldiers that had no sense of pain. I wasn’t really sure how she knew so much about all these drugs.

My revolver punched a few holes in him, but a combination of his tough barding and the chems coursing through his veins made him shrug off the injuries. The flames rolled across my sides as I tried to leap out of the way of the flame. My barding wasn’t designed to be heat resistant, in fact, it seemed to catch the fire and heat up. I burned badly, but I didn’t catch on fire. Other, more unfortunate souls couldn’t say the same.

The last bullet from my revolver pinged against the canister. I had tried to shoot him in the head, but S.A.T.S. missed the shots, even at so close of a range. A hissing sound came from the tank, I noticed a hole had formed in the metal. Gas! That was how the flamethrower functioned, it expelled gas which was then caught on fire as it left the weapon. But if the fire went back into the fuel source...

“Worth a shot,” I declared.

My horn crackled with the light grey aura as electricity began to build up. I decided to try something. I kicked on S.A.T.S. and saw that I could use the targeting spell to direct the offensive spell. I picked my target; the canister on his back. Only after the lightning bolt fired from my horn did I realize that this would result in an explosion.

I tried to escape the blast, but I was caught by the flames and the force. The raider was obliterated while I was knocked back by the blast. I felt my legs bend in unnatural ways, bones inside them snapped and cracked. Shrapnel embedded into me.

Then the wounds fixed themselves almost as quickly as they appeared. The hydra was still working even though it had been a few minutes since the injection. The shrapnel dug itself out, the burns healed themselves, even the broken bones realigned and knitted back together. My pain was numbed some, but I was still hurting a lot.

The explosion has taken out a few of the raiders that had started attacking with the flamer raider. Unfortunately, it also took out a Laughingstock and two of the citizens. Many others were injured by the explosion as well.

The raiders soon crumbled under the remaining defenders of Circus. I didn’t have much time to celebrate the victory. I didn’t even see the sniper, nor did I hear the blast. I watched as a spray of blood gushed in front of me, then I felt the immense pain in my neck as the sniper’s bullet tore through the soft tissue, shredding the veins.

I collapsed on the ground in pain. The hydra seemed to have run out, as the damage wasn’t repairing itself. Or maybe the injury was too much for hydra to repair. Either way, I lied on the ground, slowly bleeding to death.

I heard shouts around me, but I couldn’t understand them. My vision was blurring, though I could see shapes moving around me in panic. I felt syringes dig into my flesh. My neck was wrapped in some kind of cloth, tightly. I felt claws dig into my sides as I was lifted up into the air.

I tried to look over to my side, a blurry black shape glided by me. I recognized Pin’s voice, though I couldn’t understand what she was saying.

Then everything went dark.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Stable Shot-Your attacks are smooth, graceful and precise. You have a higher chance to score a critical hit on an opponent in combat, equivalent to 5 extra points of Luck.
Quest Perk: Friend of the Laughingstocks- You came to the aid of Circus when they needed it most. You are now a welcome member of the Laughingstocks. Friendly Laughingstocks will aid you in combat, some may even follow you. Unique dialog options when talking to citizens of Circus and Laughingstocks. Unfortunately, this also means more hostile encounters with the Iron Hoof.
Reputation with Laughingstocks is now set as Liked
Reputation with the Iron Hoof in now set as Hated

Chapter Eleven: Revelations

Chapter Eleven

Revelations

Secrets.

From what little I knew about The New Equestrians, they were a group of ponies who were very secretive. Almost every question I asked the voice in my head was one that it couldn’t answer. But now the pony that had been contacting me in my dreams was here.

“Who are you?” asked Pin. She was standing next to me, glaring at the mare.

“You may call me Lumina. I am a representative of The New Equestrians, sent here to speak with your buckfriend,” answered the mare. She seemed disinterested in the conversation, taking another drink from a bottle that she held in her magic. “I am the one who has been speaking with him in his sleep, though he has proven to be stubborn.”

“You were the one who caused his brother to destroy his stable!” Pin accused.

“Nope,” the mare replied flatly before taking another drink. “But one of my colleagues did.”

“How could you do such a thing? You ruined their lives!”

“Nope. Their lives were about to be ended, which is kind of worse than ruined. Also, ruined implies that things are worse. Your buck’s got friends now, and he’s got you, so unless you don’t think highly of yourself, I think that’d be an improvement over his life in the Stable.” She didn’t even look at Pin as she spoke, instead focusing on her bottle, which was now empty. “Miss, could I get another?” she asked Martini as she levitated out a few caps from one of the packs that laid on the ground next to her. The olive mare set another bottle down, taking the caps in exchange.

“What makes you think you have the right to decide his fate anyway?”

“It’s what was needed to be done. He’d have died, and we wouldn’t be able to use him. Plus his whole Stable would have died due to a faulty air talisman that was slowly poisoning the Stable. This was the best course of action for all.”

“You...but he...Gah!” Pin was furious now.

“Look, I came here to speak with him, not you. I’ve entertained your questions for long enough. Now run along and let the big ponies talk.” Lumina actually let out a half-hearted attempt at a laugh.

“Bitch!” Pin shouted.

“Midget whore,” Lumina replied without concern.

Pin leapt at the mare, pulling a syringe out of her feathers in midair. She never had a chance to connect with the New Equestrian, as Lumina’s horn glowed with a reddish light. She didn’t even look at Pin as she hovered next to her, enveloped in a red aura. Pin’s wings beat furiously as she tried to escape the grasp, but the magic didn’t yield.

“Let her go,” a voice came from behind me. I looked over to see Razor standing behind us, a rifle floating next to her, aimed at the mysterious mare’s head.

“Ah, the drug addict. Now all we need is the griffin, the foal, and the dead buck to complete the circle of friends,” replied Lumina, not even acknowledging the fact that she was being threatened. “I came here hoping to simply speak with Wire, but the short one had to become defensive of him. Fine, I will let her go.” Her horn flared and Pin was sent flying backwards into the ground.

“Enough. Razor, put the rifle away and make sure Pin is okay,” I declared. “And you, what do you want?”

“I’m just here to answer your questions.”

“Alright.” I didn’t trust the voice in my head when it didn’t have a face, but now I was beginning to hate Lumina. “Why me? Why all the trouble just to get me?”

“To be honest, there were dozens of others that we could have chose from. In fact, you are just one of our many projects. But as for why we chose you, you are special Wire.”

“You said that already, but you haven’t told me why I am special.”

“Don’t know. I’m just one of the messengers, they tell me what I need to know and usually nothing more. Though I can say that you are special because you can hear me. Only a couple hundred in the entire wasteland are able to, and a lot of those ponies aren’t right for what we need.”

“And just what is it that you want me to do?”

“Want the abridged version, or the entire list of things you need to do?” I just stared at her for a second. “Abridged then. We want you to take down the Iron Hoof.”

“You...you’re joking, right?” asked Razor.

“Nope,” Lumina replied flatly before taking another drink. “Though I don’t mean alone. We think Wire and a few other individuals have the potential to accomplish this. All that is really required is the death of a few select individuals, Bronze being one of them.”

“And why do you want to take down the Iron Hoof, what’s in it for you?” yelled Pin. She had recovered from being thrown, but was still pissed.

“For one, we will be another step closer to accomplishing our goal of restoring Equestria to its former glory. The Iron Hoof are a corrupt group of evil ponies who are bent on controlling the wasteland.”

“Funny, because from what we know of The New Equestrians, you just described your own group,” shouted Pin. She was glowing yellow as Razor was holding her back. If she wasn’t held back, I was certain she would try to attack the mare again, only to be injured again.

“That was funny I’ll give you that, shorty. You are funny.”

“I’LL KILL YOU!” She managed to break free from Razor’s magical hold, and flew at the mare with a syringe in her teeth. She collided with a red bubble that had formed around the mare.

“Not very clever though,” she said as she took another drink while inside her shield. Pin smashed her hooves against the barrier but to no avail.

“Pin, calm down please,” I pleaded. She turned to me, her golden eyes full of rage. She sighed and landed. “Lumina, how do The New Equestrians even know these things?”

She seemed to react to this. “Now that is an interesting question. As you know, The New Equestrians have access to a powerful form of telepathy. Now even though we can’t speak with everypony, we can hear what we want. Using the information gained, we are able to roughly predict future events. It isn’t entirely accurate, but we are accurate enough to get a general idea.”

“So how is it that you think I could take down the Iron Hoof?”

“You’ve already shown remarkable abilities in dealing with the rangers and the raiders, even a few Deltas have fallen to you and your friends. To be honest, you have done more than any of the others so far.” She took another drink and looked at the empty bottle. She realized she would have to drop her barrier for another. “I’ll be honest with you, we mainly try to guide anypony that can hear us and has the traits we want.”

“But why me? Why did you have Volt open the Stable to get to me if you could already speak with Volt? Why not use him?”

“I spoke with the buck that talked to Dead Volt. From his recount of the events, Volt wasn’t exactly what we needed, he was a little too...crazy. Especially after the incident with the Killing Joke. I want to let you know that we didn’t plan that, we had alternate methods of getting him to join the Laughingstocks. But you were much more qualified than him, and we would have had to open the Stable to get to him any way.”

“And doom every pony in the Stable to the wasteland in the process.”

“Look, you and several other ponies were about to be killed by the Overmare. What my friend neglected to tell Volt was that your Stable wasn’t even designed to run for that long. It was meant to fail long ago, to force you to the surface. As such, the air talismans had already begun to break down, slowly poisoning the Stable. Monitoring systems for the talismans were faulty as well, weren’t they?” I nodded. “The talismans could have been pouring out deadly gas and you wouldn’t realize it until you all dropped dead. Your Stable was dying in more ways than one, we just gave them a chance to survive. We aren’t monsters, we are the ones who are trying to save the wasteland.”

We all waited in silence for a few moments. Pin never stopped glaring at the mare. Razor still had her rifle on standby. I sat there, contemplating what she had just told me. Martini stood behind the bar with her usual grin, not really caring about what was going on so long as she was able to sell her alcohol.

“I was given orders to do two more things. The first is tell you that Smile is planning a small strike squad in order to attack Bronze’s camp while he is still weak. You should probably join that squad. The second is that I am going to teach you this spell,” she said as she waved her hoof at the barrier around her. Her horn began to glow even brighter. My head began to be filled with a mass of voices, voices that were indistinguishable from the others. I couldn’t understand what any of them were saying, but I seemed to know what they were teaching me. I winced in pain as the sudden surge of knowledge gave me a major headache. “There, that wasn’t so bad. That should help you out some, though I don’t recommend trying it out against heavy weaponry. Doubt it would hold up very well.” She lowered the shield that had encased her. “Damn, you three have driven me to heavy drinking again, hope you’re happy,” she said as she exchanged a few more caps for another bottle.

“How is it that you are so polite when speaking with me in my head, but now you are a total bitch?” I asked.

“Eh, mainly it is because I am watched by the others. They want us to be polite and shit in order to convince ponies like you. Also, because I only had to deal with you, not your psycho mare and the drunk drug addict.” She took a drink from the fresh bottle. “Also, I didn’t have to deal with the colt trying to invade my head. Go ahead and tell him to give up, it ain’t going to work.”

“Damnit,” I heard Whisper shout in my head. “Why can’t I read her mind? How can she block me out?”

“Because, I am part of a group of powerful telepaths. We kind of need to know how to block out others from invading our thoughts. Also pays to learn how to control what we hear, something you are probably incapable of ever doing.”

“I agree with Pin, she is a bitch.”

“Eh, I don’t really give a shit. I’ve got to be off now. Thank you for the drinks.” Her horn flared with a red aura and she disappeared in a flash of red light.

We stayed there in silence for a few seconds, that is until Aurea came down the stairs. “What the hell was all that yelling about?” she grumbled, still partially asleep.

“Some psycho mare from Wire’s dreams showed up and insulted all of us. Except Martini,” answered Razor.

“Hello,” she greeted. “Not entirely sure what that was all about, but she was a heavy drinker, so I profited,” she replied with a smile.

“Right, well, I wish you would have told me crazy shit happens to you before you hired me,” replied the griffin. She blinked her eyes a few times in an attempt to wake herself up. “Ugh, I need a drink.” At this, the mare behind the bar began smiling even more.

Aurea walked over to the bar and took a seat where the New Equestrian had been sitting moments before. Martini started levitating over drinks. She placed one in front of Aurea, one in front of Pin, who was now sitting next to me, two in front of Razor, and one on the bar in front of me.

“I don’t drink anymore,” I replied.

“Heh. Wire, you are a terrible liar,” Razor chuckled as she popped open her first bottle of whiskey. “Also an idiot,” she added in between drinks.

“Well I’m trying to not drink any more. Besides, isn’t there like some rule against mixing drugs and alcohol?” I asked Pin.

“Probably best you don’t drink. Both because you make a fool of yourself when you are drunk, and you could possibly die from it,” she replied as she started pouring the bottle into a glass. “Last thing I need is for you to be hitting on everyone here.”

“You doctor types always ruin the fun,” Martini grumbled as she took back my drink.

“Even if you could drink, you probably wouldn’t want to be drinking this early anyway,” she added.

“Then why are you three drinking?”

“Razor is probably going to stay here for most of the day, Aurea is a griffin so she can probably hold her liquor better than a lot of ponies, and I don’t really get drunk.”

“Yeah, she’s got like an iron liver or something,” agreed Razor. “I tried to challenge her to a drinking match while you were unconscious, but she said it wasn’t the time or some shit like that.”

“Well I was kind of in a coma,” I argued.

“Still don’t see how that would affect her drinking. If anything, she’d wanna drink more.”

“Drinking is your solution to everything, isn’t it?”

“Eh, probably. So if you ain’t going to be drinking, what are you doing today?” Razor asked as she set the empty bottle on the bar.

“Not sure. Probably going to go see what I can purchase at the shops, visit Volt, talk to Smile about the suicide mission where we attack a creature that shrugged off an anti-machine rifle round to the face. You know, the usual stuff.”

“So you’re actually going to listen to that crazy bitch? I think she was just spouting nonsense the entire time. Hell, the only truth I heard was where she called Pin short,” she chuckled. Pin started glaring at Razor. “Ah, enough with the death eyes. So what’d she mean by ‘teach you this spell’ anyway?”

“Yeah. I mean, did she actually teach you the spell?” Pin asked, looking away from Razor.

“I have no idea. I felt...something in my head after she said that. Like a bunch of voices telling me things, teaching me things.” The three of them looked at me like I was crazy, while Martini just set another bottle in front of Razor. “I think she did something at least.”

“Try to make a shield then,” Martini suggested.

“Alright.” My horn started to glow. I began to imagine a sphere forming around me, a bubble that protected me. I closed my eyes and focused on the orb. My head started to ache some. I opened my eyes and saw that everything was slightly gray in color. I realized that I had conjured a shield of pure magical energy around me. “Wow.”

“Impressive,” said Aurea as she finished her bottle of alcohol. “So how strong is it?”

“I don’t know.”

Razor’s face became a drunken smile. “Let’s test it,” she declared as she levitated the rifle off of her back.

“Uhm, Razor dear, I don’t think that is such a good-” began Martini.

BLAM!

The round smashed against the shield, but my magic didn’t yield to it. The bullet ricocheted off the barrier, smashing into the bottle in front of Pin.

“What the hell! Are you insane?” Pin shouted.

“Maybe a little, but don’t worry, I’m drunk. I’m sanest when I’m drunk,” answered Razor. “Besides, better to learn that it can take a bullet here than learn it can’t take a bullet while we are in the middle of a fight. And I only aimed at the empty space next to him, so if the bullet broke through it wouldn’t hit him.” Damn, her logic was flawless. Except for the fact that she fired a gun in a semi crowded bar.

“Damnit, you owe me a drink!” shouted Pin.

“Alright. But at least we know that your buckfriend is safe inside his little bubble. And he’s got a pretty cool spell,” she slurred. I had to agree, it was pretty cool having more than just two spells, especially when it was one as useful as this one. But as cool as this spell was, it was a pain to keep active. My horn ceased its shining and the barrier melted away.

“Yeah, this will save my hide on several occasions I can tell. I’m glad I could even learn this spell. I was never talented with magic when I was a colt.” I had a thought. “Hey Razor, what spells do you know?” I had only seen her use telekinesis.

“I can float things around, I’m pretty good at that. But I know a few other spells: like I can cast a light spell, create blades of magical energy, cause a pony to grow a mustache-”

“Wait, what was that last one?” I interrupted.

“Oh, the mustache spell? It’s my favourite, though I usually have problems finding ponies who want one-”

“No, the blade one,” I interrupted again.

“Oh, that one. Yeah, it was a spell I learned when I was just a filly. It even earned me this,” she said as she turned to show her scarred over flank. What had once been a cutie mark was now just a bundle of scars. “Huh, I forgot about that,” she said as she looked at the scars, a hint of sadness on her voice. “Wanna see the spell?” she asked with a sudden change in her tone, from sadness to eagerness.

“Uh, sure.”

“Great!” She stumbled over to one of the tables, her horn glowing slightly as the now empty bottle followed after her. She set the bottle on the table. “Okay, this is usually tough when I’m sober.” Her horn stopped glowing for a second, then quickly flared with a bright yellow light. The bottle broke in half as it connected with a thin wave of magic that appeared in the air and slashed at the bottle. Razor clopped her hooves together with delight. “Yay!”

I limped over to the remains of the bottle, careful to avoid the shards of glass that were on the floor. I examined the bottle. The bottom half remained mostly intact, a horizontal cut straight through the center left the bottle smoothed where the magic had connected. The top half likely would have been similar if the force of the slash hadn’t knocked it to the ground.

From the bar I heard a sigh. “You really shouldn’t encourage her while she’s drunk. Now I have to pick up the glass,” said Martini.

“Sorry,” mumbled Razor, a hint of remorse in her slurring.

“It’s okay,” Martini sighed as the pieces of glass the lined the floor began to glow and be picked up. The pieces floated by as they were dumped into a trash can.

“Shit, that sliced right through it,” exclaimed Pin as she looked at the bottom half of the bottle, which still remained on the table. “What is the strongest thing that could slice through?”

“Dunno. I know from an encounter with a frisky bandit that it can slice through bone if I concentrate enough.” She started drunkenly laughing. “My whole camp called em Stubby from then on. Boy, he sure hated me after that.” I didn’t know whether that was true, or just her being drunk, but I knew I was afraid of her. A pony that drinks as much as she does with such a powerful spell? That wasn’t a good thing.

“Do you think it could tear through power armor?” Pin suggested.

“I dunno. Never thought to try. Every time we fought a Steel Ranger, I was always out of range, and I never even fought them before I started hanging out with you guys.” Razor took her seat at the bar again and looked over at me. “You attract all sorts of trouble, don’t you?”

“Don’t remind me,” I groaned in reply. My life had become so much more complicated since I entered the wasteland.

“Yeah, whatever. Just go speak with creepy smiley guy, I’m going to get drunk...err...drunker,” replied Razor as Martini set down another bottle. Seriously, how much could she drink?

“Right. You coming with us?” I asked Aurea.

“Eh, sure. I work for you now, so I don’t really have much else to do,” she replied as she set down the empty bottle. “Gotta say, you’re the most boring job I’ve had so far.”

“Still better than the ghoul?” I asked as I started walking towards the door. Pin and Aurea followed after me.

“By a long shot. I’d rather do nothing than do some of the shit he had me do.”

* * *

“Twenty caps,” declared the trader.

“Ten,” I argued.

“Seventeen,” he countered.

“Fifteen.”

“Sixteen each, you get a cap back anyway,” he reasoned.

“Fine,” I agreed. Bartering was something I was new to, but I had a knack for it. I took the caps out of my pack and he gave me the two Sparkle-Colas. I had already purchased a few healing potions and some spare ammo for my weapons. The caravans that had come through, along with the traders that remained in town were profiting greatly from the battle that had occurred a few days ago. The Laughingstocks were stocking up on ammo and medical supplies, while citizens of Circus and other nearby settlements were in a state of panic, and most were also stocking up on supplies. The prices were high, but the trader, Fair Deal (yeah right), managed to find some leftovers.

“Got anything stronger?” asked the griffin.

“Hmm? Ah, no. Sorry. I have a deal to sell all bottles of alcohol to Martini over at The Drunken Princess,” replied the tan unicorn. “Although...I suppose a few bottles could have gone missing...for the right price.”

“Not interested. I can probably get it cheaper from Martini,” replied Aurea.

“Fair enough, fair enough. Can’t blame me for trying to make an honest cap.”

“Now, tell me if you have anything for this,” she said as she took the grenade launcher that was slung over her shoulder and placed it on the table. “Barrel is starting to crack, likely from the stress placed on it during the battle. Tell me you’ve got the parts to replace it, I don’t want it blowing up in the middle of a fight.”

“Hmm, I might have a few spare parts...for the-”

“Yeah yeah, for the right price, I know.”

I exited the shop while Aurea was still speaking with the trader. Fair Deal’s Deals was a terrible name for a store, but I guess it worked as long as it had items ponies wanted.

“Where’s Aurea?” asked Pin as I gave her the flat soda.

“Inside, fixing her grenade launcher or something.”

“So is she really going to be coming with us?”

“Yeah, I guess. I bought her contract off of that ghoul.”

“It’s just, do we really need a griffin following us around? You’ve heard the stories about how they are only in it for the caps. Once she gets a better offer, she could turn on us.”

“You saw how she couldn’t break her contract, she won’t turn on us. Besides, she seems nice enough. She saved me twice during the battle, the least I can do is trust her.”

“Fine. If you trust her, I will as well.”

Just then, Aurea exited the building. She placed a few spare grenades into the pouches on her armour, and slung the grenade launcher across her back again. “Useless trader didn’t know a thing about taking care of weapons properly, but I managed to fix up my launcher.”

“What, no special name for it?” I chuckled.

“No, that would be weird. What, is that a pony thing or something?”

“More like a Razor thing. Oh well, we still need to visit the tower.” I started walking towards the tower with the two of them following after me.

* * *

The lobby of the tower was full of Laughingstocks as usual. A few of them I recognized from other times I entered the tower, some I knew from the battlefield, but I didn’t know many of their names.

“Hey, Wire!” shouted a voice. The large form of the alicorn glided down from the second floor. “Good to see you on your feet, I got a job for you.”

“Actually, I was just about to speak with Smile about a job,” I responded.

“Tough. Smile wants you and your friends on this job first.”

“But what about the attack on Bronze?” I asked.

“How did you even know about that?” Illex asked in response. “You know what, I don’t even care. We can’t strike back against him until the spritebot control system is working again. And in order to get it working, we need parts from an old factory. It just so happens that you were available, so you and your friends get to hunt down some parts for us. Congratulations buddy, for once in your life you are doing something important.”

“And what if we refuse this task?” asked Pin.

“Eh, not a very good idea. I mean, you could refuse it. It isn’t like we’re holding a gun to your head or anything. But I’m just saying that this is actually important. I didn’t even want you all to be the ones to do it, but Smile personally requested you four.”

“Four?”

“Yeah. You, the pegasus, the griffin, and that unicorn that looked like she was in a fight with a hellhound,” he replied snidely. He actually wasn’t wrong.

“What about Whisper?” I asked.

“Smile had another job for him. Besides, why would you want a colt to tag along?” The pseudo-alicorn sighed and shook his head. “Listen, there’s a nice sum of caps if you can get us the parts.”

“From what I recall, didn’t you say that this was a dangerous mission into Iron Hoof territory?” I began. “Shouldn’t we have some form of additional payment in order to aid us in our endeavour?”

“Damn, you sound just like that annoying brother of yours. Fine, I’ll throw in some special ammo. Just get the job done,” he said as he began to walk towards the staircase. “Speak with Doc Harvest, he’ll tell you what all we need,” he called back to us.

“Yes, I need to speak with the doctor as well. I’m almost out of syringes,” said Pin as we began our descent into the hospital like area. “Come to think of it, I need to get a few things to rebuild my syringe gun.”

“Wait, you built that?” I asked.

“Yeah, didn’t I tell you the story?” She probably had. “It was back when I was just a filly, a few weeks after we had first left Armistice...”

The hallways leading to the doctors room were long and winding. We had actually gotten lost a few times, as none of us knew the layout of the tower very well. The path to the doctor’s room consisted largely of several hallways with small rooms that had been converted into makeshift medical rooms. A few injured ponies slept inside the rooms, recovering from the injuries they sustained during the battle. From a glance, I doubted a few of them would survive. Others had their limbs wrapped in gauze, a few lacked the gauze and the limb.

Damnit, dead end. I would have liked to meet the pony who designed this building and kick them in the teeth. Of course they are probably dead already, so it wouldn’t matter.

“-and when the lab caved in, I found a staircase that lead us to safety. It had a little workshop with the blueprints for a gun that fired syringes. Took me a few days to find all the parts I needed, but I managed to make one. It’s what I’ve been primarily using ever since,” she concluded. I nodded my head as if I had payed attention.

“What happened to your other one?” asked the griffin.

“Lost it during the fight. Got hit by one of the Iron Hoof griffins and I dropped it. I probably would have been killed if Illex didn’t catch me. The griffin wasn’t so lucky,” Pin murmured thoughtlessly. “Oh, I’m sorry if it was someone you knew.”

“It’s not like it mattered. I’ve killed other griffins before, killed a few that day. They were just following their contracts, I guess,” replied Aurea. “I swear, most Talons don’t care what they do so long as the pay is good. I mean, I follow my contract, but I’m usually careful when making one. Usually.”

“Yet you would still kill an innocent pony if that was what the contract said?” asked Pin.

“Have to. One of our rules. Breaking a contract is a big no no.”

Finally, we reached the large room that I had first met Doctor Harvest in. Unfortunately, the room was being used for what the doctor did: recycling as he called it.

The ghoul was standing over one of the tables, on top of which was a deceased pony, their chest cut open. The pony had once been encased in power armour, but it had been cut away, piece by piece, and placed in a small pile. Harvest took notice of our entrance into his workshop.

“Oh! Clockwork, we have guests,” chimed the ghoul as he levitated...something out of a corpse that laid on one of the slabs of metal. The organ landed with a plop into one of the jars that was on a table next to the doctor.

“Gah!” I gasped as I noticed the doctor’s assistant enter the room from a small closet. It looked like part of his face had been melted off. Where there should have been bone, there was metal.

“Sorry if I startled you,” he apologized. “Got a little too close to an explosive while we were clearing the battlefield. Burnt off part of my face. Shocked me to learn that even my bones were metal now. Although I am thankful that they are, as the shrapnel from the blast would have killed me otherwise.”

“Ah, Wire. Good to see you are on your hooves again. How is the new kidney treating you?” asked the ghoul in his eerily cheerful tone.

“Wait, what?”

He looked at me in confusion for a second. “Didn’t Miss Pinprick describe in detail the lengths to which we went to cure you? I do that with all my patients.” He shook his head. “That is poor etiquette, Miss Pinprick. I thought you would know better.” He looked back at me again. “When I cut you open, I found that one of your kidneys was riddled with growths, most likely from the Hydra you had taken earlier. I simply removed it and popped in a fresh one. I think it came from one of the raiders we collected from the battlefield.” I almost vomited right there. The combination of the putrid odor that lingered in the room and this disturbing information was a bit too much

“Ugh, that’s sick!” gagged the griffin. She seemed to have similar sentiments towards the procedure.

“No, I made sure to pick one of the healthier kidneys for the transplant. The raider it came from was surprisingly healthy. Well, that is until his head received a new opening. Bullet broke through the skull and severed the brainstem. Remarkable shot really, you could see bloodspray for a few feet away from his corpse, might have been a record even.” Okay, I did vomit. “Oh. Clockwork, mind dealing with that,” he said to the mostly mechanical unicorn. Flange only sighed and went into the closet to retrieve the cleaning supplies. “What is wrong?” he asked in his calm, raspy voice. “Is your stomach troubling you? I have a few extras if you need a replacement.”

“No, you are staying away from me!” I shouted in response. “Illex told us that you would tell us what we needed to retrieve from the Robronco factory in order to repair the spritebot control system. Just tell us what we need so I can get the hell out of this place.”

“Ah, you were the lucky ones who get to retrieve the parts. Here, let me finish my work on this ranger and then I can aid you,” he chimed as he turned back to the corpse on the table. “Remarkable case really. This ranger was trapped in his armour for a few days. Charred areas of the armor suggest an overload of the spell matrix was the cause. Either way, he was trapped for several days before I found him, and he wasn’t quite dead yet. I soon remedied that. Reminds me of an interesting encounter I had when I was a surgeon for the Ministry of Peace, before I lost my license at least.” He pulled something out of the corpse. “Oh, well that looks odd,” he remarked before placing it in one of the jars. “Back during the war...” Okay, I couldn’t take anymore of this.

I quickly left the surgery room. I was feeling nauseous, and very disturbed.

“Why does anyone even let that psycho live?” asked Aurea quietly. We stood outside the chop shop workshop, waiting for the demented doctor to finish his procedure.

* * *

A few minutes passed before the surgeon emerged from the room. He gave us a description of the pieces that we needed to retrieve. Something called a signal booster was one of them, or maybe that was what the part was used for. I’m not sure, but Aurea seemed to understand what the parts looked like and what they did.

“How does a surgeon even know all of this?” I asked.

“When you are alive for well over two hundred years, you need something to keep you preoccupied,” he replied. I couldn’t tell if he was smiling due to his mask, but his tone conveyed he likely was. “Learning various skills and things about Equestria before the war is how I spend my time. Well, that and performing surgeries on those who I think need it.”

“Right, are we done here or what?” I asked. I didn’t really have anything against ghouls, but this particular ghoul freaked me out.

“Yes, I believe I’ve covered everything that is required. Do be careful in that factory. There is likely a reason the Steel Rangers haven’t claimed its contents.” He turned and began to walk towards the double doors of the surgery room. “Clockwork, would you mind preparing another specimen? I want to get those organs before the bacteria do!”

“Let’s get out of here before Wire pukes again,” said Pin.

“Did you know he did that?” I asked.

The pegasus shifted hesitantly. “...yes,” she responded. “But it was necessary. I wouldn’t allow him to do some crazy experiment on you.”

“I have a raider’s kidney,” I replied grimly.

“Eh, it’s better than no kidney,” interjected the griffin. “So what are we going to do now?”

“Back to the bar I guess,” I sighed. Forget doctor’s orders, I needed a drink.

* * *

“No more!” came a shout from inside the bar.

“You can’t do this to me!” came a familiar slurred shout.

“You’re cut off!” replied the first voice.

We entered the bar to find Razor, drunk, sitting at the bar shouting at Martini, pissed off. Several broken bottles were scattered on the floor, an unconscious earth pony stallion was on the floor as well.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Razor attacked a customer! Again!” Martini responded with an angry shout. “She can’t have any more whiskey for quite a while!”

“But he was the one who was flirting with you!” slurred Razor. She was beyond a point of inebriety I had seen her before while she was still conscious. Her eyes were bloodshot, she seemed to stumble even when she tried to stand still. “Can I at least have the vodka?” she pleaded.

“No!”

“Ya know what? I was wrong about you, you’re just a bitch!” With that, Razor stormed off to the rooms. Or, at least she tried to. She made it about three steps before she fell to the ground, unconscious. Martini stood behind the bar, an actual frown on her face. Okay, this was serious if she was frowning.

“What happened?” I asked.

The olive mare sighed. “I flirted a little with the buck on the floor. It was only to get more sales, I swear. Ponies seem to drink more if they think they have a shot of getting lucky. Well, it was partially to make Razor a little jealous as well. I had no idea she would get so aggressive though. Then again she is very drunk...”

“Yeah, she seems to be drinking a lot more than usual, why is that?”

“I guess that is partially my fault, as I give her drinks for free. But earlier, she mumbled something about losing one of her friends, and she said she was probably going to lose another one.”

“Wait, was she talking about Needles?” asked Pin.

“Not sure. I know she meant Wire, as he was still in the coma, but I guess the friend she lost could have been him.”

I had been traumatized by the loss of a friend. It was the first actual loss I had to deal with. Pin had lost almost everything. She tried to conceal it, and she concealed it well, but she was still suffering from the pain. But Razor, she didn’t seem to be affected by it. She just kept drinking as usual.

“Drinking is your solution to everything, isn’t it?” I recalled asking her.

“Eh, probably,” I remembered her replying. Drinking was how she dealt with it. How she dealt with all of the pain and suffering the wasteland brought her.

“But I’m limiting the amount of alcohol she is allowed. She could really hurt somepony when she gets drunk, maybe even herself,” said Martini, interrupting my thoughts. “And when you’re travel, do try to watch out for her. I know she can handle herself, but I still worry about her.”

“We’ll keep her safe as best we can,” answered Pin before I could say anything.

“Thank you. Now, either of you up for a drink?” she asked, her smile reforming on her face.

“Actually, I am,” I answered. Pin looked at me, a look of concern on her face, while Martini just happily set a bottle on the bar. Aurea just took a seat at the bar as well.

“I’m in,” proclaimed the griffin. She grabbed the bottle in her claws and started drinking. Having claws has got to be strange, though I guess they would be better than a hoof at manipulating objects. Still prefer my magic though.

“I guess I will as well,” sighed Pin.

Martini placed another bottle, along with a bottle of Sparkle-Cola and a glass in front of Pin. “Cheers,” I said as I levitated the bottle up.

The alcohol warmed my throat as I drank it, even though the drink itself was cool. The liquid collected in my stomach, giving it a warming feeling.

“Wait, shouldn’t we do something about these two?” asked Pin, gesturing towards the two unconscious ponies on the ground with one of her wings.

“Eh, they’ll be fine,” I mumbled in return. Things started to blur a quarter of the way through the bottle. I blacked out before it was even half empty.

* * *

Well. This was familiar at least.

Headache? Check. Scent of vomit in the room? Check. Somepony waking me up with water? Also check. Though when I opened my eyes, I saw it was actually some griffin.

“Ugh, what the hell!” I grumbled as I woke up. A blurry image of a griffin stood above me, a bucket of water in her talons.

The blurry image turned to the blurry image of a pegasus. “Hey, you were right. It woke him up easily,” chuckled Aurea.

“It always does,” Pin replied warmly. “Now did we learn anything this time?”

“Uh, don’t get drunk?” I guessed. My head was killing me and she was playing games? Joy.

“Correct,” she said with a smile. Oh shit, I did something very bad.

“Also, I may be under contract, but try that again, and I’ll break your leg off,” hissed the griffin. Yep, something very bad.

“Ugh...do I even want to know what I did last night?” I groaned.

“Probably not,” responded Aurea. “Also, nice mustache.” What?

I raised my hoof up to my lip. Indeed, there was a mustache there. When did I get this? How could I have grown a mustache in just one-”Razor!” I shouted. I heard a snickering in the hallway.

“Call it your punishment!” she shouted from outside the room.

“Damnit,” I groaned as I shakily raised to my hooves. I stumbled across the room to the small bathroom connected to it. The room had received new graffiti since my last bout of drunken shenanigans, though to be fair, some of the older ones seemed to have been washed away, or at least attempted to be removed. There was a small pool of vomit next to where I was lying. The bathroom still held the cracked mirror.

The image in the mirror was similar to my own, though the eyes were bloodshot. The eyes also held dark circles around them. Oh, and there was a dark grey patch of hair on the lip.

“Goddesses damnit, Razor!” I shouted. The mare responded with only more laughter. Regular laughter, not her drunken laughter. I walked back into the room, Pin was still smiling while Aurea had a slight scowl. At least I think it was a scowl. I’m not very good at reading griffin facial expressions.

“Hey, I had a hangover, you were drunk, and I needed something to cheer me up. You didn’t seem to mind earlier,” she chuckled in response.

“It isn’t so bad, I like it even,” said Pin.

“Reverse it, or get me something to shave it off with,” I demanded.

“Killjoy,” grumbled Razor as she walked into the room. She looked...normal, which for her isn’t normal. She appeared to actually be sober, without a hangover even. Her horn began to glow, and it flashed a bright yellow before stopping. I raised a hoof to my face and confirmed the mustache was gone, only the hairs of my coat were present.

“Here,” said Pin as she placed a bottle in front of me. “This will help with the hangover.”

I floated the glass container in front of me. The brew smelled terrible. Sparkle-Cola, radsnake venom, and some other ingredients. Bottoms up.

I immediately regretted drinking the mixture. It had small chunks of something floating in it, which caused me to gag as I tried to drink it. The taste could only be described as terrible, as there aren't enough words to describe how bad it was. I barely managed to keep the solution down, but it began to work quickly. My vision cleared, my headache subsided, and the hangover just seemed to vanish.

“Alright, did either of you tell Razor what is going on?” I asked.

“I skimmed over it some,” said Pin.

“Heh, raider kidney,” Razor said with a laugh. “But yeah, I’m glad we are finally going. It’s been forever since I killed a raider.” Okay, her enthusiasm for killing others, even if they were raiders, was a little disturbing.

“Right...Get what ever you need; ammo, food, and anything else for the trip. We’ll leave in a few hours.”

“Good, I’ve been craving something interesting to do. At least Switchblade let me throw out customers. He was an evil bastard, but at least I did stuff,” added Aurea.

* * *

I spent the next few hours stocking up on whatever spare ammo I could get. I liked my revolver the most out of my arsenal, but ammo for it was sparse, so having plenty of ammo for the shotgun and rifle was for the best. Aurea even offered to fix my weapons so that they were in better shape. For a price of course.

Pin managed to obtain the parts needed to make her syringe pistol and had assembled it. She even went to see the demented doctor and brought back a variety of syringes, each filled with some sort of liquid. She sat next to me in the Drunken Princess, diligently placing syringes into her feathers in such a way that she could access them, but they wouldn’t fall out.

Razor had bought more ammo for Can Opener, which is fortunate, as we are heading into Ranger territory. She also obtained a few spare missiles, and a fair amount of ammo for her backup rifle. Now, she was sitting at the bar, speaking with Martini. I didn’t pay attention to the conversation, but from bits I heard, Razor was apologizing to her.

Aurea sat at one of the tables, taking apart various small weapons. She inspected each piece carefully, and selected the ones that seemed to be the best. She then began to carefully reassemble the best pieces into a single weapon. The finished rifle looked much better.

“Here,” she said as she held the rifle out towards me. The rifle began to glow, but Aurea snatched it away from my magical grip. “Caps first.”

“Fine,” I grumbled as I took a small sum of caps from my pack and levitated them to her. She released the rifle and levitated it in front of myself. The barrel looked almost perfect, a stark contrast to the previous one that had several small dents and scratches on it, along with a few minor fractures. The inner workings of the weapon seemed to be better as well, replacing the damaged and rusted pieces with more functional ones. It would certainly hold together better than the other rifle, maybe even pack a little more of a punch.

“Awesome, great job,” I said as I inspected the rifle. There were still a few flaws, but it was as best as it could be with the items we had. “Alright, are we all ready?”

“Are you sure I can’t have more for the road?” asked Razor.

“No, those few bottles will hold you until you get back. Be thankful I’m letting you have those,” Martini replied in a stern tone that was uncommon for her.

“Ugh, fine,” she grumbled in return. She levitated her saddlebags onto her back and trotted over to join us. “I’m ready I guess.”

“Hmm,” said Pin as she stretched out her wings. The syringes of liquid were visible on the underside of the wings, mixed in with her feathers. She flapped her wings a few times and the syringes stayed in place. “Alright then.”

“Yeah, let’s go already. This town is boring,” complained Aurea.

Martini waved goodbye as we left the tavern. A few Laughingstocks we passed on the way out of town greeted us with a smile or a hello. A few even wished us luck on our task. I didn’t know very many of them, but Razor and Pin seemed familiar with a few of them. Aurea seemed to not really care for the ponies that stopped to greet us. The large town gate was held open. One of the guards on the wall gave us a nod as we left.

“Alright,” began Razor as we cleared the gates. “Where exactly are we going?”

“An old Robronco factory to the East. Don’t worry, I have the location in my PipBuck,” I replied. How it managed to know where we needed to go, let alone where the location is was beyond me. I took a second to check the map. “Okay, from the looks of it, it will be a few days trek.” The factory was labeled on the map with a little indicator, but something else was labeled as well. A Stable that looked to be just a short distance away from the factory. “Huh, that’s odd.”

“What?” asked Pin.

“There’s another location on the map. Might be worth checking out later. Let’s get going.” It was at this moment I came to a terrifying realization. We were going to have to walk the entire way there.

Shit.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Sniper Pony- You aren’t as good a shot as Razor, but S.A.T.S. gives you an edge. Chance to hit the head of an enemy has increased by 25% while in S.A.T.S.
Quest Perk: Magic Shield (Level 1)- You’ve been granted the ability to cast a spell that can shield yourself. This shield is able to resist minor damage before dissipating.
Quest Perk: Lightweight (level 2)- You get drunk even easier. Unique dialog options while drunk. Too bad you won’t remember them.

Chapter Twelve: Doubt

Chapter Twelve

Doubt

Journey.

They say that it isn’t about the destination, but it is about the journey there. I’m not sure who ‘they’ are, but I’m fairly certain they were a dumbass. The journey to the factory was long and boring. We had already been traveling for a few hours, and were making decent progress. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the travel from being boring.

“Ugh, how much longer?” whined Razor.

“We’ve only be traveling for a few hours, calm down,” replied Pin. The pegasus and the griffin were both following in the air, while Razor and I, unicorns cursed with only our hooves, had to walk the entire way.

“Can we at least take a break? I’m exhausted!” she complained in return.

“No, because I know that you’ll get drunk, so it will be up to us to haul your ass around,” Pin responded sternly. She was probably right.

“Fine,” Razor grumbled in response.

Oh, hello red dots. “Hold up,” I declared.

“What is it?” asked Aurea.

“Not sure, possibly raiders. Something that isn’t very friendly,” I responded as I stared in the direction that the red dots were. I counted about five of them that were in range.

“How the hell does he even know that?” Aurea asked.

“E.F.S., it shows enemy positions and stuff,” I replied, tapping my hoof on my PipBuck.

“Huh, I wonder if they make those for griffins...” she pondered for a second.

“So what are we going to do?” asked Pin. The three of them all looked at me. What the hell, since when was I leader?

“We need to get a closer look.” We crept closer to the building that the dots were located in. They weren’t moving very much, so I doubted that they had noticed our presence. We hid behind a small rocky cliff that granted us a view of the raider camp.

Yep, raiders. A few pikes outside the building were decorated with severed heads. From one of the windows dangled a corpse, suspended by multiple hooks that pierced the flesh. A few of them moved around, visible through the windows and the holes in the building.

“Alright, there don’t appear to be very many of them. Razor, stay back here and pick off any that you are able to.” The unicorn nodded and took out her rifle, popping a fresh clip into it. “Aurea, launch a few explosives in to take out as many as you can.”

“About time,” she said as she took the grenade launcher off her back.

“But wait for my signal.”

“Aw.”

“Pin, when they run out, deal with them. I’ll get close and attack them when they scatter. Aurea, let’s get closer to them.”

It was late in the day, but the sun was still up above the cloud cover. I slowly crept closer to the building, Aurea glided next to me. The raiders didn’t even see us, mostly because they were paying attention to the other directions. That didn’t seem very wise, as it left them horribly exposed. Then again, raiders weren’t the wises-

BEEP.

I looked down to see a small circular metal plate on the ground.

BEEP.

“OH SHIT!” shouted Aurea as she tackled me to the ground a short distance away.

“What the hell, Aur-” I began. The ground that I had just been standing on erupted in a cloud of dust. The explosion’s shock wave hit me hard.

“Frag mines,” declared the griffin, answering the questions that were forming in my mind. “They explode when you get close.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled as I rose to my hooves.

A series of shouts came from the building. I looked over to see a few of the raiders wielding guns. They weren’t stupid enough to wander into their own minefield. Instead, they opted to engage us in long range combat.

One of the earth pony raiders turned toward us. His saddle had an assault rifle on either side. He took aim at us with menace in his eyes. Unfortunately for him, Razor put a bullet between them. Where his head once was became a shower of blood and brain matter.

I scrambled for cover. Standing out in the open would just get me shot again. I went back the exact path I had came in order to avoid more mines. Aurea didn’t fly towards cover. Instead, she circled the building. I made it behind a rock before I heard the explosion. I looked back at the building and saw the griffin loading another grenade into her launcher.

One of the raiders stood on the roof with a rifle levitating in front of her. She appeared to be taking aim at Aurea. I took out the revolver and kicked up S.A.T.S., tagging her head for several shots. Two of the shots missed, which is to be expected with such a low percentage chance of hitting, but one of them struck her head in a bloody blast of gore.

E.F.S. counted about four of them remaining. Two were still inside the building. Another one was positioned on the roof with a rifle. The final one was outside the house but ducked behind a rock.

A black form darted across the sky to the roof. The small pegasus circled the building. The raider on top of it tried to fire at her using the rifle, but Pin proved to be too fast to hit. The raider wasn’t as agile, being hit with several syringes before he finally hit the floor. Pin disappeared from the roof, appearing to descend into the building.

“Aurea, careful with the explosives, Pin is in there!” I shouted at the griffin.

“You’re no fun!” she shouted back before lobbing a grenade at the raider behind the rock. I heard him scream in terror but the scream was cut short by a bloody explosion.

A rifle shot sounded out as one of the raiders ran by the window. Their head burst as the round connected. Razor gave a small cheer from behind me. The final dot on E.F.S. winked out, a green one right next to where they were.

“That should be the last of them,” I called out. “Aurea, think you can do something about the mines?”

“Sure, just give me a few minutes,” she responded. She glided over the minefield for several minutes, occasionally hovering above a spot. The was fast, able to disarm the mines very quickly. Not one of them exploded. She landed next to us, several mines tucked safely away in her pack. “Great thing about mines, if you disarm them, not only are you uninjured, you get a new toy,” she chuckled as she stuffed the last mine in the pack with the others.

I ran across the now cleared strip of land to the building. Looked to be a house of some sort, but was a bit larger. Most of it had simply crumbled away. It was surrounded by various mutilated corpses, courtesy of the occupants that we had just evicted.

The interior didn’t fair much better. Bloody graffiti decorated the walls. Bones were scattered around the place. I can somewhat understand killing for survival, but this desecration of corpses was just insanity.

“Took you long enough,” said a voice from above. I looked up to see Pin standing on the edge of a hole in the floor looking down on us. “I managed to loot some ammo and a few supplies, but this case was locked,” she said as she fluttered down holding a large metal case in between her forelegs.

“Bring it here, I might be able to open it,” I said as I levitated out a screwdriver and a lockpick. I was a decent lockpicker, surely a metal case would prove no trouble opening.

* * *

Snap.

“I think that makes twelve,” said Razor as she looked over my shoulder at the still locked case. “Think it’s best time to quit?”

I ignored her and concentrated on the lock. It had proved to be very difficult, and the distractions provided by the other unicorn weren’t helping matters. I had a rough estimate as to the spot I needed to be at, but the lock was so delicate that even the slightest error allowed it to stay sealed.

Click. The lock finally gave in. I popped open the case to look at the spoils.

The case was an ammo box, and it was full. Several rounds for our rifles, a good amount of pistol rounds, even a few shots for my revolver. There were several types of ammo that none of us used, but I took them as well. Ammo is easy to carry, and is very valuable. Yeah, that’s it entirely...

“Looks like it will be getting dark soon,” said Pin, looking through a large hole in the roof of the building. “We have probably a few more hours until the bloodwings are out.”

“Well, we can’t stay here,” argued Razor. “That hole would just let them right in. Even if the hole wasn’t there, I can’t stay in a place like this. Let’s get out of here now,” she said, turning for the exit.

“What’s her deal?” asked Aurea once Razor was outside.

“She doesn’t like raiders,” answered Pin. “They tortured her, gave her those scars, even almost killed her. Staying here would likely remind her of what happened.”

“So it’s best that we try to find some place to stay that doesn’t look like a raider’s playground,” I added. We left the raider camp, our bags a little heavier due to the supplies we found.

* * *

“Well, that’s new,” said Razor. I gazed at the object on the horizon from the crest of the hill. “I’ve been here before, but I’ve never seen that before.” It was a settlement, and a large one at that.

“I don’t trust it,” said Pin. “We’re in Iron Hoof territory. That town is likely loyal to them. We should keep moving.”

“We don’t really have much choice. It’s either risk staying in the town or get eaten by bloodwings,” I replied.

“I vote for bloodwings,” replied Pin. The rest of us began to descend the hill without a word while Pin stood at the top. “Ugh, fine,” she sighed as she flew down after us.

We arrived at the entrance to the town a few minutes later. The settlement was nowhere near as large as Circus, but it was still an impressively sized settlement for the wasteland. What was more impressive was how well it was defended. A large wall protected the town, with several ponies standing on the wall, weapons ready to deal with any attackers.

The guard that stood outside the opening to the town look at us with disdain. He was an older looking earth pony, armed with a dual assault rifle battle saddle, and some pretty tough looking barding. “Great, more visitors,” he said snidely. “Few rules here. One, don’t start any shit. That means no fighting, and keep your guns in their holsters. Two, anything we deem a crime can be punished severely. And three, this settlement is loyal to the Iron Hoof, we will not tolerate any anarchists or terrorists such as the Laughingstocks.” I was glad I decided to purchase armor that didn’t bear the signature markings of the Laughingstocks. It was just average combat armor. “Welcome to Platinum Springs,” he said as he waved a hoof at one of the guards on the walls. The gate slid open slowly. “You can trade your crap over at Hilt’s store, and you can stay over at ‘Refined Tastes’ if you got the caps for it. Don’t bother me for directions, I’m not a damn signpost.” With that, the guard returned to his position outside the gate as it slammed shut behind us.

Platinum springs was a fairly large settlement. Large enough for us to get lost at least. The layout of the town was confusing, as all the houses looked just similar enough for me to become confused. We wandered down the streets, looking for either of the buildings the guard had mentioned, all the while being watched by many residents of the town. They all eyed us suspiciously as we passed by.

“This was a bad idea,” whispered Pin as she walked beside me.

“It’s better than Bloodwings,” I replied quietly.

We entered what I believed to be the center of the town. There was a large central building, ‘Town Hall’ was written above the door. A short distance away from it was ‘Blade and Hilt’s’, likely the trading outpost the guard mentioned, and another building with ‘Refined Tastes’ painted above the door in elegant lettering.

As we entered the tavern, I noticed a blue unicorn buck standing behind the counter “Ah, greetings outsiders!” chimed a buck from behind the bar. The inside of the building was surprisingly clean, missing all the clutter and destruction that defined wasteland decor. “My name is Hospitality, and welcome to Refined Tastes. How may I serve you?”

“Well, we are just in town for the night, so could we-” I began.

“Do you serve hard alcohol?” Razor interrupted.

The blue unicorn smiled in response. “For the right price, I serve anything you could possibly want.” The two conversed for a brief moment, and the bartender levitated a few murky bottles off of the shelves and placed them in front of Razor. She eagerly began to drink her way through them. The buck turned back to us. “Now then, what was it that you required?”

“Right, we need rooms for the night,” I replied. “Three of them.”

“Certainly. You know, you are some of the first outsiders that have had the pleasure of staying in my humble little inn,” he began to ramble as he walked from behind the bar with a few keys floating next to him. We, we being Pin, Aurea, and I, followed him, while Razor opted to stay at the bar. “The guards seem to scare off half of the visitors, and most of the other half don’t tend to stay very long. Really, if it weren’t for the bar, I would be out of business.” He stopped outside one of the doors. “Here we are, a room for the lovely griffin,” he said in a tone that was uncomforting.

Aurea snatched the key from his telekinetic grip. “Try anything, and I’ll break your neck,” she growled as she opened the door and disappeared inside.

“Ah, such spirit. I love it!” he remarked in that same creepy tone. “Now then, on to the happy couple.”

“But how did-” I began.

“Oh come now, it’s obvious. Reminds me of my younger days. Well, here is your room regardless,” he said as we reached another door. “I’ll show your other friend to her room when she is done.”

“That’ll be a while,” Pin replied.

“Marvelous! A customer who loves to drink, and a mare at that! Is there anything better?” he declared.

“She’s likely to get a little violent when she’s drunk, and I doubt she would take as kindly to your advances as the griffin did. She will cut your head off,” said Pin as she trotted into the room.

Hospitality gulped at these words, but continued speaking. “Ah...alright, I will keep that in mind. Now, there comes the matter of your bill. I’m assuming you will be taking care of it before you leave? Wouldn’t want to have Mercury getting involved.”

“Don’t worry, I have the caps for it.” I had a few thousand caps on me, so I was confident that I would be able to afford it.

I entered the room to see Pin standing next to the bed with a scowl on her face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“This town, that’s what’s wrong!” she growled in response. “It appears out of nowhere, and is an Iron Hoof outpost! And here we are, stuck dead center in the middle of it!”

“Just calm down. We will be out of here tomorrow as soon as we can,” I replied. “Look, I didn’t want to come here either, but just don’t act suspicious and we’ll be fine.”

She stared at me with her beautiful golden eyes for a few seconds before finally giving a sigh. “Alright.”

“Okay, now I’m going to look around town for a little bit. I’ll be back soon.”

“What about not drawing attention to ourselves? What if you run into somepony who knows who you are? They’ll come here and attack us! Worse, they could kill you!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. They don’t know who we are, they wouldn’t have let us in if they did.”

I departed the room and walked down the hallway to the entrance. I passed by the bar, where I found a semi-drunk Razor in the middle of some incomprehensible song. She briefly stopped her cacophony to wave a hoof at me in greeting. She stumbled on the stool, but somehow managed to remain upright. She then resumed her drinking.

The sun was setting on the horizon, behind the endless cloud cover. Now that it was becoming dimmer, I removed my goggles. I blinked my eyes a few times to adjust them to the light. Across the dirt road was the trade outpost. Might as well offload the spare crap I looted from those raiders.

“Welcome to... BLADE AND HILT’S WEAPON EMPORIUM!” screamed a young unicorn filly as I entered the building. The filly’s voice pierced my skull quite painfully.

“Edge, what did I tell you about shouting? You’ll scare off all the customers,” grumbled a gruff buck from behind the counter.

“Sorry, Hilt,” she replied dejectedly. She hopped down from the counter and went over to some shelves and began manipulating the objects with her magic, likely sorting them.

The buck turned back to face me. He looked pretty old, but still had that ‘mess with me and I will kick your ass’ attitude. “New in town eh? Come in to trade I hope,” he said in a stern tone.

“Actually my friends and I just stopped in for the night to avoid the bloodwings,” I replied as I looked at a few of the shelves. Some were lined with foods and other needed supplies, while the majority of them held weapons of various types and qualities. “I thought I might see what the local store has to offer, and maybe sell off some things I didn’t need.”

“Well, you came to the right place. Even though the name says Weapon Emporium, we also sell the usual supplies ponies need. But weapons are our specialty. Hardly a day goes by without somepony from the Iron Hoof coming in needing ammo or new weapons.” I winced slightly at the mention of the faction in control of this town.

I opened my pack and levitated out the spare weapons I had received from the raiders along with the unneeded ammo. “How much can I get for this?”

“Hmm,” he mumbled as he looked at the weapons, most of which were in poor shape. “Probably can’t give you more than 300 caps for the lot of em.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. I knew I was being ripped off, but I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself, and I really didn’t want to carry this crap all the way back to Circus for those few extra caps.

He set a bag of caps on the counter and greedily scooped the weapons into a pile. “Pleasure doing business with you. Hey Edge, got some more parts for you,” he called to the small filly. I looked over to see her taking apart one of the weapons on the shelf, levitating each individual part with her magic.

“Happen to have any ammo for one of these?” I asked as I levitated out my revolver, barrel pointing down. I might be fresh out of the Stable, but I knew how to avoid accidentally robbing a place.

“Ooh, been a while since I saw one of those beauties. Yeah, I got a good stockpile of ammo for it, seeing as so few ponies use one. Tell you what, I’ll sell em to you at 5 caps each. That is practically giving them away, I usually sell them for 10.” Yeah, he was still ripping me off, but I needed ammo and I didn’t have the desire to argue with him for a better price.

I purchased all the revolver ammo he had, which wasn’t much. The door behind me slammed open. I turned and almost had a heart attack. Two Steel Rangers entered the store right behind me. I managed to stop myself from taking my revolver and opening fire on both of them.

We were in Iron Hoof territory, of course there would be Steel Rangers. But they weren’t sent here to search for us. They might not even know about us. It might have only been the rangers sent after us who knew about us. We were going to be fine. I hoped.

“Knife Hilt, good to see you,” said one of the armored soldiers.

“How has Blade been doing?” asked the other one. “Is she still working on that weapon design?”

“Yeah. That and taking care of Edge. She’s quite a handful,” the buck laughed. The filly looked back at us with a frown and stuck her tongue out at him.

“The Hoof really could use a pony like you, Hilt.”

“You know that I have a family. Besides, somepony has got to supply you with ammo and weapons,” he replied. He turned to look at me. “You need anything else?”

“No...I’m fine,” I croaked and started backing out of the building.

“Citizen,” one of the Rangers said as he nodded at me. “Reason we came by was to get my gun repaired, thing keeps getting jammed when I try to reload.” I quickly passed by him and out the door before I heard the rest of the conversation.

I breathed a sigh of relief once I was outside the building. Either they didn’t know who we were, or they were waiting for an opportunity. Too many civilian casualties if they attacked me while I was in the city, so they might shoot us as soon as we try to leave. Best to avoid the Steel Rangers either way.

I wandered along the road for a few minutes. The ponies on the path and standing around the buildings paid little attention to me as I walked through the town. Though I guess the four of us might have been quite a sight earlier; two unicorns, a pegasus, and a griffin all strolling through the town together.

I eventually wandered back to the center of the town. Wasn’t much in this town besides the gun store and the tavern. The Town Hall loomed over the other two notable buildings though. Going into the town hall of a town run by the Iron Hoof was deadly, stupid, and was exactly what I was doing. Damn my curiosity.

The town hall’s entrance room was very large. It was two floors, with large columns rising into the ceiling. Large double doors were in the center of the second floor, with hallways and other doors lining the walls of both floors. A single staircase leading up to the second floor was located on the wall opposite the entrance.There was a large central desk with a few ponies sitting behind it, more interesting in the papers than my presence.

“I’m sorry sir, but Mr. Mercury is unavailable at this time,” said one of the ponies, not even looking up at me.

“Uhm, who?” I asked.

The mare glanced up at me for a second. “A visitor? Alright then. Mercury is the leader of this glorious settlement, appointed by Silver Star herself to lead this city to greatness under the glory of the Iron Hoof.” She began to wave her hoof in the air for emphasis. “For the Iron Hoof shall unite the wasteland under our great and powerful military might, and shall rebuild Equestria!” I managed to fight back a chuckle. The mare sat back down and resumed her paperwork as she spoke. “If you are interested in citizenship, please enter the door on your left. If you wish to join the Iron Hoof’s military, please register for citizenship in one of our many settlements and then contact the local recruitment officer. And if you wish to speak with Mercury, please come back at a time in which he is available.” It sounded like she had been forced to memorize those exact words.

“I’m not really interested in any of those,” I said. These words caused the mare to glance up from her papers. “We’re just passing through.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Most travelers decide to stay. The Iron Hoof provides us with a safe haven from the harsh wasteland. All they ask in return is that you give them your loyalty, and to be ready in case they need soldiers to defend against their enemies.”

“It sounds great,” I lied. “But there are things that I have to do before I can settle down anywhere.” That was partially true. That caused me to start thinking.

I had lost the only home I had ever known, and was stuck in the wasteland. I would have to eventually adjust to life in Circus, I guess. It was either that or spend the rest of my life wandering the wasteland. Perhaps once the Iron Hoof was stopped, I would be able to finally live a simple life. If that was even possible in the wasteland.

“Do you need anything else?” Her words interrupted my thoughts.

“Uh, do you have any information about the Robronco factory to the East?” I asked. Might as well know what I am up against.

“I’m sorry, but that information is classified,” she replied coldly, her eyes still focused on the papers, which by this point I was certain she was just shuffling them around for no reason.

“Oh come on, surely there is something you are allowed to tell a nice traveler like me.”

“Well, okay. The Iron Hoof has attempted to scavenge it a few times, but they rarely came back with much, and sustained many casualties when they did. Normally the Iron Hoof will prevent scavenging of locations with a lot of pre-war technology by outsiders, but the Robronco factory was declared open to any scavengers willing to enter.” She leaned in closer and her voice dropped to a whisper. “It wasn’t in the official records, but many of the ponies that came back acted insane for hours until they were sedated. The effects of whatever happened there lasted a few days, but they returned to full health eventually. If you are planning on scavenging there, I would be careful.”

“Thank you, and I will keep that in mind.” Great, something in there is making ponies crazy AND killing them. This was going to be fun.

I turned to leave the Town Hall when a door slammed open behind me. I looked to see a dark grey buck, much darker than me, standing on the second floor, overlooking the entire room. He wore combat armor that has much higher grade than mine, barely a step down from power armor by the looks of it. He glanced downward, directly at me.

His face was a scowl for a few moments, but then it parted into a grim smile. “Ah, a new face has come to my town seeking the aid that the Iron Hoof provides?” he announced to the whole room. He descended the staircase and trotted closer to me. I shrunk back a little as he glared right into my eyes. “Hmm, something about you is familiar. Tell me, have you been here before?”

“N-no,” I choked out. Damn this guy was intimidating. He appeared to be staring right into my very being. His eyes darted, searching me over for a few seconds.

“Strange, I feel like I know you from somewhere.” Shit. “But I can’t remember where.” I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t worry, it will come to me eventually.” Shit. “Tell me, what brings you to my humble town?”

“Just seeking shelter for the night,” I replied hesitantly.

“Well, I doubt there is anyplace safer in the whole wasteland,” he replied, his grim smile becoming a little kinder, though his face was still stern. “Have you considered settling down here?”

“I’ve considered settling down someplace nice, but there are things I have to do first.” That was an honest answer.

“Ah, I remember when I was a young wanderer like you. Had a band of friends and we would go adventuring and solving ponies’ problems. Eventually that life eats away at you, as it costs you friends and loved ones. It even costs you who you once were.” He sounded remorseful, but still remained stoic. “Take it from me, being a wanderer is no way to live.”

“Thank you,” I replied. I’m getting advice on life from an Iron Hoof? What is the wasteland coming to? I hated to admit it, but for the leader of an Iron Hoof settlement, he was actually not a horrible pony. Every Iron Hoof soldier I have met so far had either tried to rape or murder us, or both. But in this town, I had met Iron Hoof ponies that didn’t want me dead. Some of them actually seemed friendly to a degree. True, they had no idea who I was, but they were still being somewhat hospitable...

He turned away from me and towards the mare behind the desk, the one that had spoke with me earlier. “Notepad, when is my next appointment?” he asked her.

“In about 10 minutes. Tin wanted to speak with you over the radio about that stable pony afterwards, Mr. Mercury.”

I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, as I had fled as nonsuspiciously as I was able to. They might not have been after me at the moment, but I doubted everything would be sunshine and cupcakes when they found out who I really was, so why risk them learning it. I made it out of the Town Hall without drawing much attention to myself, and was now walking the streets of the town. Night had arrived quickly, blanketing the town in almost tangible darkness. The tavern was not very far from the Town Hall, but being in a town full of Iron Hoof at night was still something that made me a little uneasy.

I trotted up to the door to the tavern and heard shouting.

“Smash her face in!” shouted one of the voices.

“You can take him!” shouted another voice, one I recognized as Aurea.

I flung the door open and ran inside, worrying that my friends were being attacked. I was partially right. A small crowd had formed around two ponies that were fighting each other with their bare hooves. I instantly recognized the two of them. One was Razor, heavy inebriated, the other was the guard from the front gate, looking quite drunk as well. The crowd around them were cheering them on. In the crowd was Aurea, shouting cheers at Razor and jeers at the buck. A bit away from the circle was Pin, sitting alone at one of the tables, most of which had been moved to make room for the fight. She drank from a bottle, which was likely whiskey. Odd, she usually mixes Sparkle-Cola in her drink.

I sat down in the seat next to her. “Alright, what the hell is going on?” I asked.

“Razor got drunk, then the guard from the gate came in. She challenged him to a drinking contest, and then it eventually degraded into a fighting contest,” she replied tiredly. “Aurea is taking bets if you want to make some caps.”

“And did you think to stop this?” I asked.

“Didn’t really care to. Better that Razor fights a willing opponent rather than she attacks somepony and gets us in trouble. I have 50 caps on Razor winning. Went with the safe bet.”

“Right...” I looked over to the crowd that had formed. I managed to see bits of the fight.

Razor had taken down the buck and was now stomping on his ribs. The guard managed to kick her back, giving him enough time to get back on his hooves. Both of them were a bit shaky as they stood, though whether it was because of their alcohol consumption or because of their wounds, I wasn’t sure. Razor ran and tackled the buck, but he backhoofed her in the face, causing drops of blood to gush from her mouth. She twisted and knocked him back to the ground, causing one of his legs to make a small cracking sound. He managed to give her a full kick with both back legs, sending her flying into one of the tables. Razor looked up, bleeding from many of the large splinters in her sides. Her horn started to glow.

“Hey Razor, try not to kill him, okay?” I shouted. She responded by grumbling something inaudible, but her horn stopped glowing. The last thing we needed was to be arrested for murder.

“Ha, you think that little bitch can take down Riot Shield? He’s head of Mercury’s security force!” laughed one of the ponies in the crowd.

My answer to this was interrupted by a loud crack, followed by an “Ooh” from the crowd, as Razor brought her hoof down on the poor buck’s face, hard. Hard enough to knock him out. A silence rose from the crowd for a few moments.

“Ha! I told you she’d win!” shouted Aurea, breaking the silence.

The majority of the crowd dispersed, while a few of the ponies remained to collect their winnings from the griffin. From the looks of it, most of the crowd didn’t think that Razor would win. This was a fair call, seeing as the buck was much larger than her. What they didn’t account for was that Razor was incredibly drunk. The pony from the crowd walked by our table with a scowl on his face as he and another pony carried the unconscious guard outside. Hopefully we would be out of town before there were any repercussions to this.

Razor laid on the ground, not moving. A small amount of blood pooled around her. Aurea was sorting out caps and giving them to a few of the ponies who had bet on Razor winning.

I looked at Pin, who was not really paying attention to the events. “Shouldn’t we help her?” I asked.

“Probably,” she replied before taking a drink from her bottle of alcohol.

“Are you going to?” I asked after waiting a moment.

“Ugh, fine,” she sighed as she set down the bottle and rose from the chair. We walked over to the ‘victor’ of the fight. Pin began poking and prodding her, occasionally stopping to ask a question. Eventually she arrived at a conclusion. “Several broken ribs, her jaw might have been fractured, and she is going to have one hell of a hangover when she wakes up,” she said as she plucked a syringe from her wing and injected it into the collapsed Razor. “Med-X will dull the pain as I reset the ribs, but this is still going to hurt a little.” She pressed her hooves down on Razor’s chest and I heard a small crack as the rib was popped back to where it once was. I also heard Razor screaming every profanity I had ever heard, along with a few new ones. “Yeah, lied about it only hurting a little.” She pulled a healing potion out of her pack. “Drink this and you should be fine.”

Razor grumbled something as the bottle became enveloped in her magic. She drank the contents and her wounds began to seal. The cut on her jaw scarred over, a few droplets of blood still fresh on the coat around it. The injured mare looked up at me.

“So much for not drawing attention to ourselves,” I grumbled as I stared down at her. She just gave me a drunken grin, which I noticed was missing a tooth now. I looked over to the counter, where Hospitality was happily serving drinks to the remaining crowd that the fight had brought in. “I’m sorry for my idiot friend.”

“Oh, no problem at all. This is the largest crowd I’ve had since I opened this place,” replied the buck as he took caps from ponies and set drinks down. “Of course, you will have to pay for damages.”

“No problem, just add it to the bill,” I replied. He nodded in response and returned to his work. I turned back to Pin. “I’m turning in for the night.”

“Right. I’ve got winnings to collect,” replied Pin as she trotted over to Aurea.

“Great, I pissed her off somehow,” I mumbled to myself as I walked back to the room.

* * *

I woke up and found myself in the same room I had fallen asleep in. Okay, so I wasn’t captured in my sleep. I glanced around the room and found that the only other pony in the room was Pin. No assailants waiting until I woke up to kill me. I turned my eyes to the floor. No land mines or other traps for me to trigger when I walk be. Okay, either they didn’t know who we were, or they were waiting for us outside.

I got to my hooves, careful not to wake Pin as I got out of the bed. I picked up my packs from the floor. I checked the revolver, and indeed it was fully loaded. If they attacked, I would be ready. I checked the bags and confirmed that nothing had been stolen in my sleep.

I crept into the hallway. Nopony was there. The doors to Aurea’s and Razor’s rooms were shut. I had no idea if Razor was actually there, but hopefully Aurea or Pin ensured that she wouldn’t cause further trouble. I continued on to the bar.

“Ah, look who is up early!” called the unicorn behind the bar. Hospitality was the only pony in the whole room other than me. “Now, there is the matter of your bill...” he said as he levitated a scrap piece of paper with writing on it.

“FIVE THOUSAND CAPS?!?” I shouted. This was outrageous! “You can’t be serious!”

“Rooms here are expensive, because you are paying for the very best the wasteland has to offer. And your friend said that you would be willing to pay for her drinks. The rest of it is for damages your friend caused,” he replied sternly.

“Yes, and if I remember correctly, in the act of causing those damages, she also brought in more customers than you have ever had before,” I countered. “Surely we should be entitled to a discount of some sort.”

He paused for a second and seemed to think it over. “Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll take off five hundred caps from your bill, but I expect you to pay the rest in full.”

I begrudgingly accepted the offer. I had no real choice in the matter. It was either pay, or risk trouble with the guards, and by extension the whole of the Iron Hoof. I counted out four thousand five hundred caps and gave it to the greedy buck. Well, that was pretty much all of my money. I had a few hundred left, but it wasn’t much.

“Damn it!” came a shout from the hallway. “Why is she so impossible to wake up?” grumbled Aurea as she dragged Razor into the bar by her back legs. The unicorn snored quite loudly as she was being pulled, but gave no indication of waking up anytime soon.

“How much for a glass of water? Doesn’t matter if it is clean,” I said to the bartender.

“Heh heh, no charge my friend,” he laughed as he floated a glass of murky water over to me. He set it down on the bar and I picked it up with my magic. It hovered over to the sleeping mare, and then it quickly turned over, dumping the contents on the unsuspecting victim.

“Agh!” sputtered Razor as the blast of questionably consumable water spilled on her face, choking her a little. “Can’t you assholes find any other way to wake me up?” she growled as she shook her head angrily.

“We’ve tried other methods, most of them don’t work and none of them are as funny,” I chuckled. Razor kicked my front leg in response. “Ow,” I yelped. Damn, she could kick hard.

“You three are loud,” complained Pin as she walked into the room. She raised a hoof up to her eye and rubbed it. Then she looked towards me, annoyance apparent in her face. “Are we ready to go yet?”

“I’m ready,” chimed in the griffin.

“Ugh, do we have to leave right now? My head is killing me!” whined Razor. The look the three of us gave her answered her question, so she shakily rose to her hooves and stumbled off in the direction of her room. She emerged a few minute later with her gear on her back. “Alright, I’m ready I guess,” she grumbled.

The four of us departed the bar and began our way to the the gate of the town. Our original trek through the town met us with strange looks from onlookers and whispers from ponies that watched as we passed. Now, a few ponies stopped and waved a hoof at Razor in greeting. One mare even offered to buy us a round of drinks at the bar. Just what the hell happened while I was away?

As we came to the gate, one of the guards begrudgingly opened it to allow us to leave. We exited the town and passed by the security buck, Riot Shield was his name I think. His face was bandaged, and a few of his teeth were chipped and missing. His right eye was almost swollen shut. He mumbled something I couldn’t hear as we passed, but Razor took this opportunity to stick her tongue out at him. She was the epitome of maturity and intelligence.

With the town of Platinum Springs at our backs, we set off towards the Robronco factory. We would be able to reach the factory later that day. As we ventured onwards, I had one burning thought in my mind, one undeniable fact.

Walking sucked.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Lunar Blessing- You have come to enjoy the night, especially now that it actually means something since you left the Stable. You feel smarter and more aware when it is night.

Chapter Ten: Allegiance

Chapter Ten

Allegiance

Family.

Volt was the only real family I had. My father died before I was born, and my mother was detached from the both of us. But Dead Volt and I were close brothers. When we were young, I was usually the one who kept him from getting in trouble, even though he was older than me. But Stable life was sometimes difficult when the only one that looked out for me was the one who always came up with insane plans on how to escape.

* * *

“Leave him alone!” I shouted at the foals that were kicking the downed Volt. Nightstick was a terrible brat when she was young, and her favorite activity was tormenting us and other ponies. She had a small group of ponies that followed her every move.

“Why don’t you make us?” sneered the filly as she brought her hoof down on my brother’s shoulder.

“Wire...run,” wheezed Volt in between kicks.

I wasn’t very big when I was young, but I was fast. Build up enough speed, and even the lightest colt could knock over a brute like Nightstick. As she went down, the others that were around her looked at me in shock. Nopony had ever been brave enough, or stupid enough in my case, to attack Nightstick. Unfortunately, my blow had just enough power to knock her over, and no more than that. She rose to her hooves almost immediately.

“You little shit!” she shouted as she charged at me. She hit me with full force, knocking me to the ground. She followed up with a powerful kick to my ribs. I felt them crack a little. Her followers joined in on my beating, but I achieved my goal of distracting them from Volt.

He glanced at me with a solemn look and limped away as quick as he could. He was injured, and he was never much of a fighter. I never blamed him for leaving me, as he quickly came back with a few of the security ponies.

Unfortunately, Nightstick’s mother was one of them. I was written up for starting a fight while Nightstick and her gang got off scot free. But I was used to it. I was always blamed for the troubles they caused. Whenever I was in a fight, it was my fault. Whenever one of Volt’s plans ended badly, it was my fault. Whenever something went missing, it was my fault. Okay, that last one was partially true, but I was still tormented by Nightstick and her crew.

Although they did write me up, they at least took me to the clinic. The doctor was kind enough to give me some pain medicine and magically repair as much of the damage he could.

“Wow, I didn’t know you already had your cutie mark yet, Live Wire,” he commented as he realigned one of the broken ribs. After a painful snap echoed from my chest, I glanced at my side. A wrench with some sort of blue shape with a grey trim behind it.

“A wrench?” I questioned.

“Yes, and I think that is a shield behind it. Interesting,” he mused. “What did you do to get it?”

I thought for a minute. It wasn’t there this morning. In fact, I don’t think it was there before I found Nightstick hurting Volt. “No clue,” I declared.

“Well it is an interesting one to say the least. Now, as for your medicine prescription, I will need your mother to fill out...” His rambling faded as the memory faded with it.

The white abyss met me, bringing with it the voice.

“Such an interesting talent,” the voice began. “You are a protector, possibly even a fixer.”

“Yeah right. I wasn’t a protector, I was just a maintenance pony. And I didn’t even fix things!” I argued.

“That was your occupation, not your ability.”

“Well lot of good it does now. I’m dead.”

The voice chuckled in response. “Not dead yet. You have a lot more things to do. Important things.”

“Let me guess, you still want my help for your secret plots? Well forget it. Unless I get answers from somepony, I’m not doing a damn thing for you!” I had had enough of their mental intrusions, their secrecy, and how they showed me memories that weren’t even mine.

The voice was silent for a few minutes. “Alright.” Then the void faded to darkness.

The darkness brought an immense pain with it.

* * *

My eyes shot open with the pain. My neck felt like it was still being ripped open, though medicine attempted to numb the pain some. My chest felt like it had been torn open at some point as well. That combined with the general soreness that resulted from the barrage of injuries earlier. End result? I felt like shit.

I looked around. I was in some sort of clinic room, though it didn’t seem like one. It looked more like an abandoned office of sorts. The sickeningly colorful walls confirmed my suspicions that I was in Circus. I lied in a bed that had attempted to have been sanitized at some point. In a corner next to the bed slept a small pegasus.

Pin was soundly asleep. I couldn’t bring myself to wake her up after yesterday’s events. She needed rest, especially after the past few days.

I tried to get out of bed, but that attempt was short lived. The second I put any pressure on my back legs, I went down. “Gah!” I gasped as pain shot up my spine. I fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding bashing my head open on the metal part of the bed.

This series of loud events woke up Pin.

“Are you okay?” she quickly asked as she trotted over to me.

“Ugh, aside from the severe pain I am in, I’m fine,” I replied as I again attempted to lift myself up.

“Careful, you are still recovering from a major surgery.”

“What?”

“You were shot in the throat during the battle. Raider with a sniper rifle, Razor took care of him though. You were lucky the shot wasn’t a few centimeters to the left, or that would have hit your spine, likely causing permanent damage. Instead, the shot tore through a major vein. You almost bled out. I almost lost you...” she trailed off for a moment, her eyes about to burst with tears. She cleared her throat and resumed. “Doctor Harvest and I were able to stabilize you during surgery, but we discovered tumors growing in your chest. We were able to safely remove them, and it appears that the Hydra had no lasting effects on you.” She wrapped her hooves around me in a hug.

“Ow,” I moaned in pain.

She quickly retracted from the embrace. “Sorry. I’m just glad you’re still here. But you would have been dead if it weren’t for Aurea.”

“Who?”

“The griffin, the one with the golden feathers. She was the one who flew you here.”

“Hmm, I think I remember her from the battle yesterday,” I replied. Pin looked a little uneasy at this information. “What?”

“The battle was three days ago. You were in a comatose state for a while.”

“Three days!” I exclaimed. I had been asleep for three days? It barely even felt like a few hours. I tried to rise up again, but pain prevented me from doing so.

“Your legs were badly damaged as well. The Hydra you took managed to remove a lot of the shrapnel, but the injuries were still severe. They will heal, but you need bed rest. Doctor’s orders.”

“I can’t sit around and do nothing.”

Pin frowned and was silent for a moment. “Fine. I will see if Harvest has a wheelchair or something for you to use.” She left for a few minutes and then came back with a wheelchair and helped me into it.

“Is this a clinic or something?” I asked as I magically pushed the chairs through the halls. A few ponies were wandering through the hallways as well, Laughingstocks from the look of their barding.

“Sort of. This place was a major Ministry of Morale hub during the war. The bottom of the tower had a few medical rooms, one of which is the operation room we first met Harvest in.”

Pin walked slightly ahead of me, leading me through the maze of hallways. A few of the Laughingstocks we passed greeted us with a smile. Some even offered a warm ‘Hello’ to us. I knew I wasn’t the only pony severely injured in the battle, this was made especially clear from the groans of pain arising from a few of the rooms we passed. Eventually, after a brief incident involving an upward staircase, we emerged in the main room of the Laughingstock Tower.

“Wire!” I heard a shout from the upper level of the room. I looked up to see myself staring back at me. Volt quickly rushed down the stairs to greet us, accidentally bumping into a few less than happy Laughingstocks along the way. “It is good to know that you are well, younger sibling. It would be a dreadful outcome if an unfortunate occurrence were to happen to you.” He paused for a second. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Heh, it’s good to see you are okay as well. I saw you during the fight. Good work on the rangers,” I responded.

“Ah, but the merits of my deeds are outshined by the actions of you and your companions, for that is which aided in bringing about the end of the battle so quickly, preventing the loss of many of our own.”

“Do you mean Razor? She was the one who crippled the minotaur.”

“That was but one of the accomplishments of your group. It was you who took out one of the enemy elites that are known as the Deltas, you also bested a few of the more common rangers, along with many combatants that are simply referred to as raiders.” He looked over at Pin. “And your marefriend took out one of the toughest griffins the Iron Hoof had. Except for the metal one of course.”

“How did you know about us?” I asked. Why did information spread so easily around here?

“The young colt that accompanied you in your endeavours on the day of the conflict informed me of your relationship when I presented an inquiry to him as to what occurred during the travel.” He stopped for a second. “Whisper told me.” Great, he is broadcasting my love life to everypony that can hear him. “Though it would have been obvious to those that paid attention to her interactions with you as you slept. Every time I went to see you, she was by your side.”

I looked at the golden eyed mare. She smiled warmly at me and kissed me on the cheek. I smiled and nuzzled her in return.

“I do regret being forced to interrupt such a touching moment between you two, but there are matters which must be addressed when you are able to do so,” interrupted the my doppelganger. “Smile wants to see you later.”

“I kinda just woke up from a coma...”

“He doesn’t mean now, but whenever you can.” He turned to leave, but looked back at us before doing so. “There are other matters that I must deal with now, but this has been a joyous encounter with you, dear sibling.” He ran down one of the carious side hallways of the tower and went out of sight after turning a corner.

* * *

Still confined to the wheelchair, which Harvest, who said he had urgent matters to attend to but was glad I was still alive, allowed us to use outside the tower, we visited the tavern that Razor had stayed at while I was asleep; The Drunken Princess. Razor was at the bar, about half a dozen empty bottles surrounded her.

“How can she afford all of that?” I whispered to Pin as I rolled across the tavern to the bar.

“She apparently gets free drinks. Not sure whether it is because she crippled the minotaur and helped win the battle, or because of Martini’s crush on her,” she replied. Razor looked up from her drink and noticed that we had arrived.

“Hey, look who still walks among us!” she slurred. It took her a few seconds to notice the wheelchair. “Or rolls among us I guess.” She turned back to the bar and resumed her drinking.

The mare behind the counter looked at us with a smile. “Here for a drink?” she asked with giggle.

“Not after last time,” I responded. “What happened after I got shot?”

“The griffin and I quickly took you to Harvest and we managed to save you. Circus celebrated their victory, and Razor was paraded around as a hero,” Pin replied. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of Razor in her own parade.

“Any idea where the griffin is?” I asked.

“She’s been in town for a few weeks, been working as a bouncer over at Gates of Tartarus,” chimed in the olive mare as she set another bottle in front of Razor.

“Where?” I asked.

“It’s a bar on the other side of town. It’s more popular with ghouls than it is with the Laughingstocks. Switchblade is the owner, he’s kind of a nasty ghoul. He occasionally sends a few of his goons to cause trouble.”

“Huh, I’ll keep that in mind. You coming Razor?”

“Hubba-wha?” she grumbled in confusion.

“We’re going to go meet the griffin, want to join us?”

“Nah, I’ve been to the Gates before. Booze there sucks!” she slurred in response. “Sides, I ain’t gotta pay here. You two go on, I got my own company here.” Martini grinned in response to this. Okay, better leave before things get awkward.

* * *

What Martini neglected to tell us was where the Gates of Tartarus was exactly. We spent the greater part of an hour searching for the place. My horn had given out a short time ago, so Pin happily decided to push the wheelchair around. We finally found the building.

The building looked to be on the brink of collapse. The injuries to the structure looked to be very old, so they weren’t a result of the attack on Circus. A few ghouls and other rough looking individuals loitered around the outside of the tavern. They eyed us suspiciously as we entered the establishment.

The inside had not faired any better than the outside. An entire chunk of one of the walls had caved in. The few shelves that still clung to the walls looked like they couldn’t support the weight of even a single bottle. The bar counter had what looked to be a spear stuck firmly into the wood. Yet despite being in ruins, the tavern held many tables that were packed with ghouls and other ponies.

In one of the corners stood the griffin with the golden feathers. She took notice of our entrance with a slight smile. The ghoul behind the counter took notice of our entrance with a scowl.

“Well, if it isn’t Circus’s resident hero. If you’re looking for a discount, keep looking. You pay the same price everypony else pays,” he grumbled as we drew closer. “I am Switchblade, owner and proprietor of this fine establishment. Ah, who the hell am I kidding, this place is falling to pieces.”

“Why not try to fix it? Or find another building?” I asked.

“Because, dumbass, that costs a lot of caps. I’m barely able to keep this shithole running with so few customers I get. Sure, the ghouls all come here, but there ain’t many ghouls in this damn town. I’m lucky for that battle the other day, else I would have been out of business by now. Ponies got problems, and I got liquor to sell to ‘em... well, liquor and a few other pick me ups. More problems they got, more they drink.”

Switchblade was not the most charming ghoul I have seen. Most of his face was rotted off, his mane had completely fallen out, as had his coat. If it weren’t for the old business suit he was wearing, he would have been completely yellow due to his sickly looking skin, at least the skin that still clung to him. How anypony could be around him for long and not become ill is beyond me.

“I’ll tell ya why my business is doing so poorly. It is because of the damn Drunken Princess. Smile’s own little princess runs the place, and all the Laughingstocks drink there. Laughingstocks outnumber ghouls in this town five to one! How am I supposed to make a living when that bitch just has her daddy send her customers?” Switchblade was getting more and more worked up.

“Sounds like you don’t really like Martini,” I responded.

“It’s because of her that I have to sell this watered down crap.” The look in his eyes turned dark. “Say, would you two be interested in making some quick caps?”

“What do you mean?” I asked hesitantly.

“Oh, say that Martini were to meet an unfortunate accident that left her unable to continue running the Drunken Princess. The business would be up for sale, allowing a business genius such myself to take over. By monopolizing the bars in Circus, I would be in charge of the town.”

“You’re saying you want us to kill Martini for caps? Are you insane?” Pin seemed to be shocked by this.

“We are not murderers. We wouldn’t kill an innocent pony for caps,” I added.

“Oh, well if the payment is the problem, I can arrange an alternate reward.” He pointed a hoof at Aurea. “I got that griffin on a contract, so she works for me. Those Talon griffins are pretty remarkable, they follow through on their contracts regardless of what they think is right. You deal with my problem, and her contract is yours.”

“You’re not getting it. We aren’t going to kill an innocent pony,” I replied with a hint of growing anger.

“Look kid, I can tell from the hunk of metal on your leg that you’re new to the wasteland, so I’m going to explain something to ya; nopony is innocent in the wasteland.” With that, the unicorn became disinterested with us, instead opting to begin talking to one of the patrons of the bar,

“Unbelievable,” I muttered as I was rolled over to where the golden griffin stood.

“Hey, aren’t you the stable pony I rescued the other day?” she asked as we approached.

“You rescued me twice. Once from a group of raiders during the fight, and then you took me to the Doctor after I was shot. I wanted to thank you for that.”

“Eh, no big deal. All I did was kill some raiders and fly you somewhere. Ain’t like I was the one who cut ya open and did some fancy healing magic. To be honest, I broke one of the rules when I helped in the fight. That asshole Switchblade ordered me to defend the bar, and I broke contract to help the town in the attack. I was lucky the place didn’t burn to the ground, else I’d be in real trouble with the other Talons. Breaking contract isn’t something they condone.”

“Why do you work for him?” I asked.

“He bought my contract off of a caravan. Contract said I would protect and work for the owner of it, which was really dumb of me. The older Talons always warned me to always make a contract with a specific end to it, else I’d get stuck in a situation like this. But I had to be an idiot and not listen to them. So now I am stuck working for that bastard until either he dies, gives away the contract, or decides to end it.” She opened one of the pockets on her armour and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “Want one?” she asked as she offered the small carton to us.

“Those things will kill you,” Pin said.

“Pff, the wasteland will probably kill me much sooner,” she responded as she lit one of the sticks of death and began to smoke it. “And to top it all off, I gotta do what he says. Switchblade is an evil bastard, and I am lucky that so far he has only had me deal with the drunks and the troublemakers. Won’t be long before he comes and asks me to do his dirty work.”

“Yeah, he already asked us to kill a pony,” mentioned Pin. “I’m pretty sure that he would come to you next.”

“Damnit! Gah, I can’t do anything about it. Talons are bound by contract, whether we want to do what the contract entails or not.”

“Wait, maybe we can talk him out of doing this,” I reasoned.

“Good luck with that. Switchblade is nothing more than a raider in a cheap suit. I’ve heard he’s stole chems from Harvest just to sell to addicts. If it has a chance of making him caps, he will probably do it.”

“Well, what if we got him to give up your contract?” I asked.

“That could work. You two are definitely a better employer than that bastard. I’d tear his throat open if it wasn’t against the contract.”

“Hey!” shouted the wicked ghoul from behind the counter. “I don’t pay you to talk to the customers!”

She exhaled sharply. “See what you can do.”

Pin wheeled me over to the counter. The ghoul took notice of us. “Ah, came back to discuss my offer?” he asked in his raspy ghoul voice.

“Sort of. I wish to obtain the griffin’s contract, without killing Martini,” I replied.

“Now see, that would leave me at an impasse. If you don’t kill the bitch, I would have to have goldie over there do it, and if she doesn’t work for me anymore, how am I supposed to achieve my goal?” Damn, the ghoul was evil and smart.

“Do you really think that you would be able to kill Martini and get away with it? Her father is the head of an organization of bounty hunters and mercenaries, not to mention that he himself is insane. Killing his daughter would not end well for you. “

“Yeah, I thought of that. That is why I tried to hire you two. Ponies who have only been in town for a few days, and who are not known to have socialized with me very much in the past. They’d have a hard time linking it to me.” Damn it.

“So if you failed to recruit us, you would have Aurea, the griffin who is known to work for you, kill her?”

He became shocked at this realization. “Shit, I didn’t think of it like that.”

“And would it really be so hard to convince another group of travelers, those who lack our morals, to deal with her?”

“Huh, I guess you’re right.”

“So really, you don’t need her contract. In fact, if you sold it, you would likely have more than enough caps to pay off somepony to get the job done.”

“You make a good point. In fact, you likely saved my ass from getting chopped up by Smile. Tell ya what, thousand caps and she’s yours.”

I couldn’t believe that actually worked. I dug the caps out of the pack that was hanging from the back of the chair and gave them to the psychotic ghoul. In exchange, he gave me a piece of slightly faded paper. It had writing on it that was very hard to read, but there was a signature on the bottom that read ‘Aurea’.

“Hey goldie! Sold this guy your contract, you work for him now,” shouted the ghoul as he greedily scraped caps into a pile.

The griffin’s face became a smile as she glided over to us. “So, that means I no longer work for you, right?”

“Wow this bitch is an idiot. Yes, you no longer work for me.” As he said these words, Aurea grabbed him by his throat and slammed him against the wall. She held him above the ground by his neck.

“Good, that means I can do this,” she said as she pulled out a combat knife from its sheath.

“Gah! You bitch!” the ghoul screeched as the knife was plunged into one of his forelegs, pinning it to the wall. He tried to pull it out with his magic, but Aurea’s grip around his throat tightened.

“Hey Pin,” I whispered. “Do ghouls need to breathe?”

“I’m not sure,” she replied.

I watched as the ghoul’s ichor dripped from the puncture wounds the talons had made. Switchblade tried to shout something, but all he managed to do was choke out coughs and gags. The patrons of the bar all stared at the display, but none were bold enough to interrupt it. Either that or they also hated the evil bartender.

“Now, you are going to leave this town, and never come back. Understood?” The ghoul was unable to speak, so it gave a little nod instead. “Good. I am going to let the Smile know that you were planning to kill his daughter, so if I were you, I would get out of here as fast as I could.” With that, she released her grip on the ghoul, causing him to fall to the ground...or, he would have if his arm wasn’t still pinned to the wall. The force of him dropping caused the blade to tear through part of his arm, but not enough so that he was freed. The griffin then wrapped her claws around the handle of the blade, pulling it out with a quick tug, causing the unicorn ghoul to fall to the ground.

Aurea turned back to us. Her cruel scowl turned to a sincere smile. “Let’s get out of here,” she said as she began to push my chair towards the exit.

* * *

We decided to head back to the tower. I still needed to meet with Smile, so I might as well get it over with. The lobby of the tower had a small group of ponies arguing in the center. I only recognized Volt and Illex among them.

“...fix the monitoring system. Without it, we are blind,” argued a Laughingstock pegasus.

“We’re missing a lot of necessary parts, without them, the system can’t withstand controlling the spritebots very far,” responded the alicorn.

“Then get the parts! Surely there is someplace you can gut for the parts,” said another of the Laughingstocks.

“It isn’t that simple. The only place I can think of is the old Robronco factory, but that is deep in Iron Hoof territory.”

“We can’t risk getting attacked like that again, we need eyes across the wasteland. Either fix the spritebots, or find some way for us to have an early warning system!” With that, the small group of Laughingstocks departed, leaving Illex and Volt behind.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“Damn spritebots are messed up. We lost control of them everywhere except the immediate area around Circus. Our control system is badly in need of repairs that we just don’t have the parts for. We don’t even have enough spare ponies to obtain the parts from an old factory to the east,” replied the alicorn.

“Do not worry yourself with this encounter, brother, for this incident will find a way to resolve itself,” said Volt.

“Hey Illex, if you don’t mind me asking, the whole alicorn thing, is that...” I began.

“Yeah, it’s Killing Joke,” he replied grimly. “I used to be part of the Steel Rangers, the real ones, not these traitors. Rangers to the north have been having real problems with alicorns. Unlike the princesses, these alicorns are evil creatures. They serve some goddess or something. Either way, we have been at war with them for a while. A while ago, I was sent along with a small team in order to take out Silver Star’s rebellion before it got too big. Unfortunately, we encountered the mutated Killing Joke in this area. I was the lucky one, as I didn’t die from the transformation. The rest of my team died almost immediately. Unfortunately for me, I could never go home. The rangers would shoot me on sight. So yeah, I lost my friends, family, and my life. I actually tried to return to the north though, but I was ambushed by some of the crazy alicorns. They took interest in me, as I was the first male alicorn they had seen. They took me back to their hive, or whatever it is they call their home. Things weren’t so bad for a few weeks, but the alicorns were less than happy to find out that we were...genetically incompatible. I escaped, and I was found by a few of the Laughingstocks. They told me about Circus, introduced me to Smile, and here I am today. Now, if you are done pestering me about my past, I have important things to do.” With that, he beat his wings and flew to the second level of the tower.

“What a grouch,” mumbled Aurea. Volt took notice of her.

“Ah, it seems that my brother has come across another companion. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Dead Volt, brother of Live Wire.”

Aurea took a second to eye Volt, then looked at me. “So what, you two twins or something?”

“Oh here we go,” mumbled Pin.

“Nope, Killing Joke made me look like him.” I was glad that Volt had given the less eloquent version. “Also makes me talk funny sometimes.”

“At least you don’t talk weird all the time like your brother,” the griffin chuckled. Hey!

“I need to see Smile, is he busy?” I asked , quickly changing the topic.

“I believe that our leader is not currently occupied with any other task. You may convene with him.” He stopped for a second. “I gotta go help Illex with the monitoring system, catch ya later.” He ran up the staircase and went in the direction that the alicorn had went.

* * *

The elevator was a little bit crowded. Aurea was much larger than a pony, though she claimed she was a bit small for a griffin, and the wheelchair wasn’t helping with the limited amount of space.

“You should be healed enough to walk in a day or two,” Pin mentioned after I had complained about being confined to the chair.

Ding. The elevator reached Smile’s floor. We exited the metal box and walked to the door, or at least Pin and Aurea did, I was wheeled along by the griffin. The room that led to Smile’s room hadn’t changed since my last visit, except for the desk. Sitting behind it was a figure wrapped in gauze, wearing goggles similar to mine, a heavy duster, and a hat.

“Hello, Ghost,” I greeted.

She looked up from some papers that were on the desk. “Oh, hello Wire. Are these your friends?” she responded.

“Yeah, this is Pin,” I said as I nudged my head to the side that Pin was standing next to.

“Hello,” Pin replied as she was introduced.

“And this is Aurea,” I said, gesturing to the griffin behind my chair.

“Hey,” she responded.

“It is nice to meet you. You’re all here to see Smile, right?” Ghost asked.

“Yeah, he wanted to see me.”

“Fair enough. But I must warn you, he has been a little on edge since the attack,” she said as the door opened with her invisible magic. “Just go on in.”

The room was a lot like I had remembered it, except there were streaks of red along the walls that were freshly painted. The floor still had areas of dried blood, though I did notice a few new ones. The amount of party decorations in the room had increased some.

“Ah, if it isn’t Wire and his friends,” Smile chuckled. The paint that had once adorned his coat had faded, revealing the originally white coat. His mane also lacked the paint it once had, showing that it was also white. His mismatched eyes seemed to stare at the three of us, while his grin continued even while he spoke. “I’m so happy you finally decided to visit me. I wanted to personally thank you for your help in the battle.” The eyelid on his red eye lowered a little. “Err, where is the cut up one?” His smile didn’t change as he asked the question.

“She is still at the Drunken Princess...with your daughter,” Pin replied a bit nervously.

To this, Smile just laughed, though it had a sense of sincerity to it. “Ah yes, Martini told me that she was interested in somepony new. Just didn’t think it would be one of your friends, Wire.”

“Excuse me, Smile, but on the subject of your daughter, there is something you must know,” began Aurea. “You see, the ghoul I was employed by, Switchblade over at The Gates of Tartarus, he tried to hire these two to kill her.” Smile almost frowned at this information. I think he actually tried to frown, but was unable to. “When that failed, he was going to have me do it. I was lucky that Wire bought my contract off of him before he did so.”

“I see,” Smile replied with a laugh that he tried to hold back. “And did you deal with the ghoul?”

“I stuck a knife through his arm and told him to never come back here,” she responded grimly.

Smile burst out laughing at this. “Heh, I must say I admire your gusto. Do not worry, I will have that bad pony dealt with,” he replied with a chuckle. “Oh, that reminds me.” He opened one of the drawers of the desk, and pulled out a small bag with his teeth. He tossed it over to me. I leapt back a little, as I wasn’t sure what it was. Smile laughed at this. “Don’t worry, it’s just your payment for helping Whisper, and a little bit extra for helping stop the Iron Hoof’s attack.”

I levitated the bad in front of me and untied it. Inside must have been well over a thousand caps. “Wow, thank you,” I replied as I tied the bag closed and put it in my pack.

“Now, there are a few things I wish to discuss with you,” he said in attempt to be serious, though his constant laughing and unending grin didn’t help. “Have you decided if you are going to join us.”

“Yes. The Iron Hoof needs to be stopped,” I answered.

“I would like to join as well,” added Pin. I looked over to her. “Those bastards have taken almost everything from me. They almost did take everything from me,” she added as she glanced at the gauze wrapped around my neck.

“Ah, the more the merrier,” Smile laughed. He then looked at Aurea. “Well?”

“What?” she asked.

“I assumed that you were here to join as well. Both of your friends did.”

“Look, I’m already a Talon. I don’t think that they would be happy about me leaving for another group,” she replied in a gruff tone. She paused for a second. “Although, this guy holds my contract, so I guess that means I will have to help him kill those Iron Hoof bastards.”

“Splendid, splendid, splendid!” he chanted. “I will have to let all the Laughingstocks know that we have new members!” I think that he was actually happy right now, not just wearing the facade of happiness. He stopped his cheering for a moment. “Oh, but I suppose that you will need to rest a few more days before you can do anything. I will have Martini set you up with rooms at the Drunken Princess, free of charge. I’ll see about getting you a room in the tower soon.”

“Thank you,” I replied.

“Ah, it’s nothing really. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to,” he chuckled.

Aurea turned my chair around and wheeled me to the door, Pin walked beside me. Ghost opened the door and greeted us. We left the room and she entered. The door shut behind her as we entered the elevator.

* * *

Ding.

The elevator door opened to the main room of the tower. A few Laughingstocks were moving about. I realised that all of these ponies were now my allies. I barely even knew any of them, and those that I did know I didn’t know very much about them aside from their name and their ability. Then again, I was never very good at getting to know other ponies. I lived my entire life in Stable Seven, yet I barely knew anything about the ponies I worked and lived with. This was actually the first time I had real friends: Pin, Razor, Whisper, maybe even Aurea, and Needles, even though he died because of me.

I quickly pushed that sad memory out of my mind, replacing it with a question the thought had created.

“Where is Whisper?” I asked.

“No clue,” responded Pin. “I lost track of him after the battle. I sort of left him with Razor when we took you to Doctor Harvest.” She stopped for a second, a look of shock was on her face. “I don’t think that was a wise decision.” I couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that, Pin did as well. Aurea just looked at us, a little bit confused.

“Well, he knows this town better than any of us, I guess,” I said. “He is a Laughingstock, and has been in this town longer than any of us. I’m sure he is okay.”

“About time you noticed I was gone,” came the foal’s voice in my head.

‘To be fair, you do disappear a lot,’ I replied mentally.

“Fair enough. I see you have made another ally.”

‘Aurea? Yeah, I guess so.’

“You attract the strangest females, don’t you?” he laughed in my mind. “Well, at least this one isn’t as psychotic.”

‘Where are you?’

“I’m in the tower. I actually have a some things to do right now, I will join you later at the Drunken Princess.” With that, the voice in my head ceased.

“Yo, Wire, You okay?” asked the griffin as she wheeled my chair outside the tower. “You haven’t said anything and were just staring off in space.”

“Oh, sorry. I was talking with Whisper.” Her silence indicated that she wasn’t aware of his abilities. “Whisper can talk to certain ponies mentally. He can also read the minds of anypony around him, probably even griffins.”

“Right, right,” she replied. I then heard her whisper to Pin. “You think he might be a bit brain damaged?”

“Oh, I think he was brain damaged long before I met him, though he is telling the truth about Whisper. He’s one of the Laughingstocks with strange powers.”

“Hey!” I interjected. She giggled and kissed me on the cheek.

We arrived at the Drunken Princess a few minutes later, during which time Pin and Aurea decided to continue making fun of me. We entered the bar and found a few patrons other than Razor drinking. Some of them looked like Laughingstocks, others looked like civilians. Razor was also at the bar, passed out drunk.

“Did she finally die from alcohol poisoning?” Pin asked. The mare behind the bar responded by poking the passed out Razor in the side with an empty bottle. Razor responded by grumbling something incomprehensible, but remained unconscious.

“Hmm, not yet,” declared Martini. Only then did she realize I was being wheeled around by the gold feathered griffin. “Hey, aren’t you one of Switchblade’s goons? You better not be here to cause trouble.” This might be the first time I have seen the olive mare angry.

“Calm down, I work for this guy now. I stopped working for that ghoul as soon Wire bought my contract from him, even gave the bastard a knife to the leg as a parting gift,” Aurea proclaimed. “He wanted you dead so I made sure he understood that it wouldn’t end well for him.”

“Oh, well then thank you,” she chimed. It seemed the fact that Switchblade tried to have her killed was completely ignored by her. “I got the message from my dad, I’m supposed to get rooms for you four. I suppose you two would want a separate room?” she asked with a smile as she looked at me and Pin. I felt my face become red.

“Yes,” Pin answered with a smile of her own. My face only became redder.

“Good, because I only have two spare rooms left. You two take the one on the left, griffin here takes the right,” she declared with another smile.

“What about Razor?” I asked.

“Oh, don’t worry about her, she’ll be fine,” she answered with a laugh.

It was then that I encountered my greatest challenge during my time in the wasteland; stairs. My horn fizzled out when I tried to lift my chair up them.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Aurea grumbled as she lifted me out of the chair with one arm and lifted the chair with the other. She flew up to the top of the stairs and set me back in the chair. “This is the mighty stallion who took down two Deltas?”

“Thank you,” I mumbled in return. I really hoped I would be able to walk again soon...I really hoped I would be able to walk again. Pin said the damage wasn’t too severe, but she seemed worried when she told me this.

I continued to dwell on this as Pin wheeled me into the room.

* * *

My dreams were uninterrupted by the memories of others, nor were they nightmares. The dreams I had were rather lackluster, but were interrupted nonetheless. It wasn’t even the voice that stopped the dreams. No, it was something a bit more violent and almost as irritating; somepony hitting me repeatedly in the head.

My eyes opened. Razor was standing next to my bed, poking my head painfully with one of her hooves. This was likely revenge for all the times I had woken her up.

“Get up, dumbass,” she grumbled, clearly suffering from a hangover that left her a bit angry.

“Gah, what? Is Circus on fire? Is the tavern burning to the ground?” I grumbled groggily. “Why did you wake me up?

“There’s a hot mare at the bar who wants to speak with you,” she responded.

“About what?”

“I don’t know. I tried talking with her, but she only seemed interested in speaking with you.” She turned and walked towards the door. “Lucky bastard,” I heard her mutter under her breath.

I looked around the room for a second. It was the same one I had stayed in before we left for Armistice. Pin had already woken up and was elsewhere. I decided to try to stand. The pain in my legs was still present, but I should be fine as long as I didn’t stay on them for too long.

I limped out into the hallway and down the stairs. I found out I was not as healed as I thought I was, and I tripped down the last step, landing at the bottom with a painful thud.

“Ow!” I grumbled. I rose myself up to see Pin standing next to me. I felt a small bit of pain in my side as she plunged a syringe into my side. The pain in my legs and the pain from the landing subsided.

“There, you okay now?” she asked gently.

“Better.”

At the bar sat a pony wearing a cloak of sorts. It concealed her mostly, although the hood was down, revealing her red mane. Her coat was pure white. She was a unicorn. At first, she didn’t seem to notice me, but when I limped over to the bar and took a seat next to her, she looked at me. Her eyes were a silvery grey. Razor was right, she was pretty, but I loved Pin.

“Are you the one who wanted to see me?” I asked her.

I did not expect her response to be what it was. I knew that she was the one who asked for me, as she was the only new pony in the bar. But it was her voice that was unexpected.

“Hello, Live Wire,” she said. “I thought it was about time we met, face to face.”

Her voice was the voice from my dreams.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Element of Loyalty- When you drop below half health, your allies are able to withstand a lot more damage.
You are now an official member of the Laughingstocks, congratulations!