Fallout Equestria: Equalizer

Chapters

Chapter One: Class
Chapter Two: Stable Doors
Chapter Three: Stable Lies
Chapter Four: Friends, You'll Need 'Em
Chapter Five: The Long Stretch
Chapter Six: Welcome to Silo
Chapter Seven: It's You and Me
Chapter Zero: New Equals

Chapter One: Class

We have a very important lesson today…

Perspective: Lucky

“*Thud thud thud* AH! NNGH! HAH! *Thud thud thud* OH YEAH! AH! YEAH! YES!”

I lean back in my seat and sigh deeply as I try my best to ignore the noises coming from the other room. It’s Wednesday, and I’m supposed to get breakfast with my best friend; Cinnamon Swirl. It’s a weekly tradition that the two of us started doing early in our friendship. Sadly, most of the time…

“*Thud thud thud* KEEP GOING! OH SISTERS ABOVE! *Thud thud thud* ALMOST THERE! AL-ALMO-HHHHNNNGAAAAAAH!” She was usually busy.

Cinnamon and I are both First Class mares. Cinnamon was born into her place and earned her keep by having two high ranking sons in the guard. Even though she works as the lead assistant in the local diner, she lives a fairly comfortable life. Her room, the one I’m currently waiting in right now, is one of the larger rooms First Class citizens enjoy. It’s nicely furnished with the best Stable-Tec has to offer.

“...”

“Bout time.” I grumble as silence thankfully fills the room. I glance at the Pipbuck fastened to my right forearm and move a delicate finger over the screen. Only fifteen minutes this time.

I stand up and start walking around the room as I wait for one of them to leave. I’ve always really liked Cinnamons room, even a bit jealous at times. Like most Stable-Tec products, most of the furniture within are a nice blend of blue and yellow with metallic frames. The carpet. The chairs. Even most of the clothing are all a nice blue… and yellow. After a while this color palate became dull to me, except here. Somehow, Cinnamon made it work; and she has no clue how.

“Hm.” I pause at one of the many mirrors in the room and look myself over briefly. My shamrock green coat is neatly brushed out, running smoothly down my athletic body. I check the makeup around my magenta eyes and find it still sitting perfectly. My ivory white mane is neatly tied back with a single black stripe curving around the right side of my face. My suit fits snugly against my well toned earth pony body.

Unlike the other Stables, Eighty-eight has different types of stable suites. As an example, mine is a two piece. Tailored by the residents of Stable Eighty Eight, the top follows the curvature of my lower chest and comes up just below the valley of my bust. My pants mirror this design, sitting snugly above my flanks and curving in the front away from my belly button. All together this showcases my flat stomach and curvy waistline. Each piece was made to tease the fantasies of those who looked, bringing them close to my treasures without actually showing them.

I have often been told by Second or Third Class ponies that I was gorgeous! A sight to see! I apparently hold such a natural beauty that it practically radiated off of me. I did work hard to keep my figure well in shape, and life was nice enough to have given me a very mature body. Without even trying I was a nine out of ten, or so I’ve been told. Sadly, for those in First Class, I’m sadly a nine out of ten.

“WHOO!” I jump slightly when I hear my friend stumbling out in nothing but her creamy tan coat and disheveled dark brown mane. The first few times this happened, I would blush deeply and avoided looking at the mare when she was in the buff. Now, there was little the unicorn could do to embarrass me. “Lucky… y-you have got to ride that cock!”

Well… the little that could make me blush never failed.

“U-um, I don’t think I have the time...” I mutter as she wobbles towards me. I step back to try and avoid her, but she was somehow too quick for me and grabbed my wrist.

“You can be late for once in your life Lucky Lou! Right now, Steel Baton is waiting!” I nearly fall over when she drops that name. Heck, I probably should have!

Steel Baton is the second in command of the security force. He is one of the most sought after stallions in the Stable because of that. I have... admired him from afar and often dreamt of the stallion whisking me away to some happily ever after that I may have dreamt up when I was a little filly. In reality, I don’t think I’ve said more than ten words to the stallion. He’s never noticed me before, and I’ve always been too shy to say anything to him.

And now I have a chance to possibly say another ten words to him! My heart started trying to eject itself out of my chest as my palms began to sweat. I tried to gulp my fears away, but they just went down to my knees instead; making them shake. What should I say? Would he even consider me? What if he actually wanted to do… that? Could I do it? Would I do it? Would it be good? Would-

“Hey Steel, this that friend of mine I was talking about earlier! Lucky, this is Steel Baton. Steel, this is Lucky.” I made a small eep when Cinnamon suddenly pushed me forward into the nude stallion.

I had to tilt my head back to even look him in the eyes. He was well over a head taller than me. His steel coat was slightly slick with sweat from his previous activities, making his short black mane glisten as well. His face is rugged with strong prominent features while his body appeared to be made of nothing but muscle. His arms are nearly as big as my head and his pectorals look as if they’re going to rip right out of his coat.

Needless to say, I was immediately intimidated, taking a few steps back and folding my ears back. The few words I had ever said to him were over the intercom, so I had never actually met him before. This was the closest I had been to this stallion. And here he was, dressed in his birthday suit waiting for me to do or say something. I tried to take a glance down, but immediately brought my eyes back up when I saw the top of his grey pillar.

Of course this would be how I meet the stallion of my dreams. Just my luck helping me out again.

“So, what do ya’ think? She’s cute, huh?” Cinnamon teases, giving me another nudge forward. Steel cracked a smile and started to walk around my dazed form, eyeing me closely.

“I’ll be honest, I thought you were talking about your friend from the diner. You know… the First Class mare?” His voice is deep and came out slow and deliberate.

“I-I am First Class! S-see!” I quickly inform him, pointing to the large one embroidered in the side of my shoulder. Steel moved closer to look down at the number, but only frowned slightly in reseponse.

“Besides, Toffee is a cancerous whore from whore island! I’ve bet you’ve never been with a mare like Lucky before, have you big guy?” Cinnamon asks as she pushes him closer to me. At the word ‘big’ I chance another look down and nearly yelp at the sight of his rod swaying between his legs. The heat coming from my cheeks is boiling to the point where I’m about to start sweating!

“I dunno.” Steel mused as he reaches forward and cups one of my breast, giving it a light squeeze. At this point I’m pretty sure my entire coat was red! “She’s pretty flat.”

FLAT! I glance at my nude friend and eyeing her bust for a moment. Sorry for not having back breaking gozongas! I’ll just take my D’s and go back home then!

“And I tend to like a mare with more booty too.” I had to roll my eyes at that as well.

I guess not having any kids is a bad thing. Why do I even bother going to the fitness center four times a week? It’s starting to really seem like a waste of time now.

“Besides, I don’t think I’m getting back up anytime soon. Maybe another time. I’m going to use your shower before heading out Cin.” With that the stallion grabbed his clothes and went to the restroom, closing the door behind himself. Once he was gone I let out a frustrated sigh and flopped back onto the bed, utterly crushed by the few words the stallion had said.

“Sorry Lucky, I tried.” Cinnamon told me as she took a seat beside me, rubbing my leg comfortingly.

“Just once I’d like to meet a First Class stallion who didn’t grab my tits and just walk away! Just once!”

“What if I grabbed them? Would that be okay?” Cinnamon teases, making me glare at her for a moment. “Don’t be so moody-”

“I’m not moody-”

“Are too! And you know what?” She pauses for a moment, so I look back to her. Cinnamon simply smiles and positions herself to be sitting between my legs, making me blush again due to her nude and slightly sweaty form. “If I had a dick, I would totally grab your tits and not just walk away.”

“Thanks Cin, that means a lot.” I drone, rolling my eyes with a huff.

“I would totally grab a tit and some ass!” She gives me a slight slap on the flank and gives me a firm squeeze, making me jump and yelp.

“Cin!” I struggle to get her to stop, but quickly find myself trapped beneath the larger mare. “Let go of me!”

“I’m not letting go until you stop being so moody!” she demands as she snakes her other hand up my side to just below my rib cage.

“Cin! CIN! STOP, STOP!” I yelp as I begin to laugh hysterically. One of my fatal weaknesses is that I’m extremely ticklish, something Cinnamon found out quickly in our friendship and uses frequently against me.

“I want to see that smile! Smile dammit!” Cinnamon demands, moving to tickle me with both hands. The effect is immediate.

“Cin- CINNAMON SWIRL!” I hiss out between labored breaths as she assaults my sensitive areas, making me laugh uncontrollably. I try to escape by twisting from side to side and wiggling away from her fingers, but only managed to pull her on top of myself. With evil eyes and a large smile I lock my legs around the unicorn and roll over, putting myself on top of the mare. “GOT YA!”

“How do you always forget about this?” Cinnamon asks with a smirk of her horn lights up.

“That… is a good-EEP!” A wave of magic washes over me and forces me back onto the bed. Only this time, Cinnamon went about getting ready for the day as her magic tortured my non-magical body. Every sensitive spot is simultaneously affected, making me curl into a ball of tears and laughter. In the few minutes it took Cinnamon to take a quick shower, flirt with Steel Baton, dry off, and get dressed; I had gone nearly comatose from laughter. Apparently satisfied with the look on my face, she finally drops the spell and takes a seat beside me again.

“We still have a few minutes, coffee?” she asks me in a slightly condescending tone, getting a tired nod and several huffs from me. “Do I need to carry you?”

“No, *huff huff* no. I can… *huff* two seconds.” I was at least able to sit up while regaining my breath. But it still took me a moment to get my breath back to a manageable rhythm. Cin offers me her hands, which I take, and helps me up.

“Any chance you two could continue for just a little longer?” The both of us look over to Steel as he stands in the doorway, obviously mid enjoyment of our actions. I simply waggled a single finger at him before leaving the room, still giggling from earlier.

-o-0-o-

Walking through the steel halls of Stable Eighty Eight was always odd for me. On one part, I received many looks from the stallions around myself. Even some mares. It was a confidence builder. I know I’m attractive, but there is a problem with my attraction beyond the perverted stares. I rarely, if ever, turned the heads of any other First Class ponies. Unless I bumped into them or called them out specifically, I may as well have been a part of the walkway.

To the underclass, I’m an object to gaze at from afar. Like some kind of unattainable dream. To my peers, I may as well have been a mop bucket. Something you tried your best not to walk into. The few times I tried to explain this to the few acquaintances from the Second Class I had, they never understood.

You’re still beautiful! And even if they don’t look at you, so what? You still get all the benefits of being First Class!

Many didn’t understand the attraction part, but it was clear to me. To be a beautiful mare in First Class, you have to fulfill certain requirements. Or, more accurately, certain measurements. Cinnamon was as good as an example as any. She had a giant bust, impressive birthing hips, and a thick waist that -with the rest of her body- evened her figure out to the extreme ideals of what a mares body should be. On top of that, she wore a constant smile that couldn’t falter and had a fun, perky attitude. She was everything that the stallions of First Class wanted without even trying.

I tried my best to fulfill those ideals, even receiving help from Cinnamon. I wore clothes that helped accentuate my figure. At first I hated wearing them, but over time I grew accustomed to it. I worked out constantly to keep myself in near perfect shape. Since I wasn’t going to be the biggest, I figure I’d be the best. And since my best friend is as happy-go-lucky as one could be, I learned to be more positive.

I’m not perfect obviously. After lousy days I frequently binge on Fancy Lady Snacks and then hate myself for the poor self control. I’m constantly jealous of Cinnamon because of the simplest, and often dumbest things. And I knowingly contradict what I want far too often. One moment I want to be a strong, independent mare; the next I’m fawning over the fact that I wasn’t as ‘attractive’ as Cinnamon Swirl.

It wasn’t the attraction that bothered me though. There were those I did fancy strictly on appearance, like Steel Baton, but there’s something more I want beyond somepony finding me attractive.

I just want to be there. I’m tired of working my ass off just as much as those around me, if not more, and not getting the recognition I feel I deserve. I just want somepony who is suppose to be my peer to treat me like so. I am a First Class mare. The Third Class treats me like some kind of cross between a deity and a disease. The Second Class are usually too apprehensive around me. And the First Class barely recognize my existence! I don’t want to be put on a pedestal, but I don’t want to be ignored either.

I just want to be equal.

-o-0-o-

Perspective: Reckless

“*Sigh* only three hours to go.” The halls around the main gate were never exciting. The worse crime that occurs around these parts were the occasional group of teens that hide their drinking here. Nothing noteworthy really. I often scolded them for breaking the rules and send them to their rooms, after taking a beer for the road.

I’m not really all that fond of these patrol shifts. More often than not I would spend my six to eight hours walking the same route while twirling my baton around, trying to beat my previous record for number of spins (two hundred and fourteen). Most guards hate these shifts as well. They were the longest and often never had anything happen in them. I wasn’t a fan of them, but I take them as often as I can now.

It wasn’t that I necessarily wanted to work this hall, far from it. But, there was one perk that made working these long hours completely worthwhile.

“... so I told him to swing by and we’d have some fun-”

Them. Two First Class mares that often took this route on their way to… wherever they were heading. During one of the days I was actually assigned here I had accidentally bumped into the earth mare, and that was it. She was perfect in every way possible. Her laugh cured cancer, her smile melted ice, and her figure kept me up at night. The moment we locked eyes that fateful day, that was it.

I’ve never had feelings like this for a mare before. I’m by no means ugly; I often found myself in the company of the fairer sex. At first I simply blamed it on her position and physical appearance. She is a First Class mare, so obviously she was suppose to be very attractive. But, something different was happening to me.

I often find myself thinking back to the mare, wondering about various meaningless things. The first were the obvious perverted choices. But as time went on I started wondering about seemingly pointless things. What did she like to eat? Who did she like to listen to? Did she have hobbies, and if so, what were they? Did she play sports? Was she funny? Smart? Athletic? Did she even look at Second Class ponies? What was her opinion of the class system? Most mares didn’t approve of it, but she was First Class. All that I know for sure is that she worked in the Overstallions office and that her name is Lucky.

“He was pretty good though. Top five for sure.” I gulp when I round the corner and see the two of them walking towards me. I’ve never said a single word to the mare before, beyond the apology for bumping into her that one time. I came close once, but was stopped when my dick of a friend made an ass of himself by asking out her friend. Ever since then I’ve been convinced that I share a bit of the shame that came with his terrible pick up line.

“I bet he was. That thing was… scary.” They’re only a few feet away at this point and I can feel my nerve starting to waver. Even though I planned daily what to say- and how, in the moment it always escapes me. For me, she is too beautiful to approach. This was another odd sensation for me. I’m rarely nervous when speaking with mares. It didn’t make sense for her to be any different. But... she was. Oh boy, was she different.

Okay. Just play it cool. I don’t need to say anything special. Just a hi and maybe a compliment. A nice smile, stand tall, chest out, wings fluffed…

I took one last breath as I made the final steps to approach the two mares. Here we go.

“...”

What the shit! Talk you idiot! Say something! Anything!

“Er… Uh.. Baseball.” The two mares stopped and looked at me, waiting for some form of explanation.

“... baseball?” The cream-tan unicorn asks, looking for her friend for help. She merely shrugs and stares at me, waiting for more.

“S-sorry. I was… thinking to myself… about the… Eighty Eighters…”

“... Oh!” Lucky chuckles, crushing my optimism momentarily. “Sorry to say, but the Wall Whackers are gonna crush them!”

“Is that so?” I ask with a chuckle, my confidence rising slowly.

“It is so! Slugger has the best batting average in the Stable!” she tells me confidently, crossing her arms while smirking at me.

“Yeah, Slugger is good. But Left Hook is having the best pitching season of his career!” I try to match her confidence, crossing my arms like her. She laughs and shakes her head at me, making my pride soar. This is going well… should I push my luck? I’m doing pretty well so far…

“Well, as much as I’d like to prove you wrong, I have to get to work. Try not to cry when the Wall Whackers crush the Eighty Eighters.” She blows me a raspberry and winks before walking off, her friend giggling after her.

“I’ll try my best not cry from laughter when Hook strikes out your team!” I yell back to them, making Lucky laugh again. She glances back at me and I feel myself melt from that smile. I stand there in a daze as she walks away, my eyes glued to her confident, charming smile.

I did it! I said more than three words and didn’t completely screw it up! Heck, I practically had a whole conversation! That was amazing! She knows me now! …maybe not by name, but she knows of me! It’s a start. With a blissful smile I fall back against the wall, feeling a wave of relief and confidence wash over me. All of my previous feelings now seem to have grown significantly. I have a chance! Given, there’s yet to be anything to really latch onto as of yet, but it’s something! Just… something I’m a bit unsure of...

I really needs to stop thinking. My brain’s a bit of a downer.

Leaning against the wall, a faint noise catches my attention. It’s near silent at first. Had I not leaned against the wall, I wouldn’t have heard it. I move closer to the nearby door and press an ear against it, listening closely.

Is… is somepony rutting back there?

I press the switch by the door and step inside. This is the main entrance, nopony is supposed to be here except for maintenance and security, and that’s usually only for emergencies. I look around the room and spot the stallion in the technician room to the side. He’s shirtless and currently thrusting into something that’s out of sight. Sadly, I know this guy all too well.

Control Shift. A lanky white Second Class stallion with red hair that works as a computer engineer. I had the privilege of sharing a room with him during my post G.O.A.T. exams.

Once you had you Cutie Mark Party, you had to take courses and aptitude test to earn your position in the workplace. Something the egg heads that founded this place thought of. Just because you have a talent for fixing things or typing, doesn’t mean you’re the best at it. So, you have to test into your position. They vary from profession to profession. Guards have to study law as well as pass physical exams for example.

Control Shift was an apprentice for the head technician for the water talisman. Once the old geezer currently overseeing it passed on, he would move up in the maintenance track. He would still be second class, but it would put him that much closer to being First Class.

Which is why I’m confused as to why he’s here to begin with. Public sex is a serious crime and could damage his career greatly. He’s not normally somepony to break the rules either. What could have possibly posses him to do… this!?

“White wonder!” I yell out, making him yelp and fall back. I march up to the doorway and stand there, blocking them from running away. He quickly grabs some clothes to cover himself, but the mare in here continues to assume the position.

She’s a white mare as well, with short, black, cropped hair that resembles that of a boy more than a mare. She has a thin body and has a mark of a computer screen with a wrench in it. She looks… older. Early to mid forties maybe. She’s half standing there, half laying over an active computer station. Probably due to their previous actions. I look them both over for a second before I kick the clothes before me over, sighing as I see the stitched number on the overalls.

“Control, I thought you were better than that.” I mutter as I look down at him.

“This is consensual! R-right?” He asks the girl, getting her to nod quickly. “I-I can explain-”

“Please do Control, because it is not looking good right now.” He stands up awkwardly and holds the clothes against himself as he motions for me to step back. I roll my eyes and pull him out, being sure to shut the door I entered from.

“Alright, like I said, this is consensual. I want this, she wants this, nothing fishy happening here.” He tells me as he fumbles with his clothes.

“Control Shift, you couldn’t even open a jar of pickles. I highly doubt you have it in you to take advantage of a mare. Third Class or not.”

“R-right. Anyway. I was working late one night and she happened to walk in and started working on the terminal next to me. Next thing I know, we’re talking and laughing. She asks me, and I’m not lying here, she asks me if I’ve ever had a-”

“I don’t need those kind of details Control. Just get to the point.”

“But-”

“Shift!”

“But that’s really the only point there is to make! She… does things I didn’t even know you could do! Have you ever-”

“Control Shift, do I need to remind you that you are poised to become a First Class Citizen?” I cut him off sternly making him fold his ears in.

“N-no. I know that,” he says meekly.

“Then I don’t need to remind you that being First Class is more than just work. They’ll look into your social life as well!”

“I-I already took care of that! We made a copy of the camera video and loop it while we’re-”

“YOU WHAT!?” He goes silent when I explode. I double check to make sure nopony is nearby to hear the commotion. I grab him and pull him inside the maintenance room, shutting the door behind us. “Control, are you stupid or just that desperate!?”

“I-I-”

“I could arrest the two of you for tampering with Stable-Tech systems, public indecency, trespassing in a restricted area- did you even think about any of that!?” He fumbles with his words for a moment as he tries to think of what to say. I can see the devastation clearly written on his face. Normally, I would arrest the perps without a moments thought. But, he is one of my best friends. And I know we've done our fair share of stupid before. I begin to pace around as I try to think of a way out of this.

“What if you just… let us go?” I look back to Control Shift and stare at him, completely dumbfounded.

“Let you go? Just like that?” I ask for clarification. He nods and approaches me, grabbing my arm firmly as he starts to talk.

“Yeah. There isn’t any video feed of this area, won’t be for another hour. The only pony that knows that we’re in here is you! All you’d have to do is just walk away! I get my future back, I owe you the worlds biggest favor, everypony wins!”

“I think this goes past just a favor, Control.” He bites his lip and tries to think of something. I highly doubt that he’ll be able to come up with something that will cover this, but… it is his future…

“Name it. Whatever you want, it’s yours! Money? Food rations? Want to have a go at Hot Wire? I’m fairly certain she’d let you, given the circumstances-”

“No, Control Shift. Just… no.” I shake my head and rub my temples, giving my wings an uneasy flap. This goes against everything I trained for. If I’m caught, I’d lose everything. There is no coming back from something like this.

“What? Are you still fawning over that Lucky girl? The First Class mare?” I look over to him and give him a look, getting him to back off immediately.

“You know Lucky?” We both look over to the mare as she walks out of the small room, fully dressed in her work jumpsuit. “Green coat, white hair?”

“Yeah, you know her?” She folds her ears and looks away from me, thinking deeply about something. I look over to Control, but only get a shrug from him.

“If I could get you a meeting with her, would you let us go?” My eyebrow nearly break off when she offers this. This… this sounds too good to be true.

“How exactly would you do that? Do you know her?” I highly doubt she does though, she is a Third Class mare.

“I don’t know her personally, but I have connections. If you let us go, I’ll personally make sure she talks to you soon. Though, how far you get isn't really up to me.” She fidgets slightly when she says this. She’s… not lying, but there is something she’s holding out on me.

“How soon would you be able to get us together?” I ask cautiously.

“Reckless, what are you doing?” Control asks me slowly. “Think carefully about this-”

“Like how you thought carefully about this?” I ask quickly, getting him to shut up. “How are you going to do this?”

“I know… or, I can learn her schedules. Assuming she uses a computer in the Stable, I can learn anything you might want to know. From there, it’s simply being at the right place, at the right time.” I mull it over for a second, weighing my options-

“Deal.” Well that was quick. “You get me that schedule, you owe me a huge favor, and I look the other.”

“Deal.” They both say together, visibly relaxing.

“Also, you both stop doing this. If I find you two in here again-”

“It won’t happen again! I promise!” Control Shift tells me, moving to shake my hand. I stare at his hand for a second before he pulls it back. I don’t need whatever is on there on my hand. No thank you.

“Thank you so much for this! You have no idea how much this means to me.” Hot Wire tells me, smiling deeply to me. “I’ll have it on a holo-tape for you in a few days-”

“A few days!? Why is it going to take so long?” I demand.

“Because, I need to be sneaky about this. Unless you want everypony knowing you have a copy of Lucky’s schedule on your Pipbuck!” I go to argue, but nod to her logic. Definitely don’t want that happening. “Good. Then I think we’re done here. I’ll see you in a few days Reckless.”

“Right, just get out of here already.”

“Hot Wire, uhm… can we… uh… you know?” Control asks awkwardly, making me shake my head at him. Hot Wire laughs a bit at him and whispers something into his ear. I try my best not to listen, not wanting to know what they’re doing. “Hehehe, awesome. See ya Reckless-”

“Get dressed first.” I drone out.

“Oh… right. Thanks again.”

-o-0-o-

Perspective: Lucky

I stay at the diner for a few minutes to finish talking with Cinnamon before heading to my work area. I make my way carefully through the halls with my hands occupied by a warm beverage in each. I have my coffee; double shot of espresso with caramel and whipped cream, and then I have Dad’s; a simple black coffee. Though I do have two sugars and one cream in my pocket, just in case it’s a bad day.

My father, Swift Justice, is the Overstallion. He oversees all of the operations and is tasked with keeping both the peace and the prosperity of the Stable. It’s not an easy task to take on day after day, but he does his best. He’s the epitome of what a stallion should be in Stable Eighty Eight. He’s tall, works practically every possible moment he can, and is built like a freight train. Even in his old age he can still go toe to toe with the young bucks of the Stable. Something that I know he’s done from time to time.

From what I’ve learned he used to be a completely different stallion, according to the stories that is. He was a ruthless, cruel, evil stallion that used cut throat tactics to get into his position. Literally, depending on who you asked. If you even looked at him the wrong way he’d wallop you into the wall and demote you. Stallion or mare.

He had issues back then, for whatever reason. He would commit sexual assault on a nearly weekly basis, hit kids, and demanded total control over the everything in the Stable. He was nearly overthrown a few times by those around him. He was stabbed twice, shot three times, and even poisoned once! None of those attempts were successful though. He nearly declared martial law at one point, but then something happened. Something dramatic.

From what I’ve been able to pry from him, and learn from those around from then, I changed him. By the time my mother was pregnant with me he already had two sons, Ironclad and Bootstrap. Both of them are guards now. My mother died giving birth to me. I don’t think Dad even noticed or cared. It's hard to tell from the stories. Every time I ask about that he usually dodges the question.

Once she was declared dead, my dad was about to pass me off to somepony else. But, the doctor there had him hold me first. I guess something clicked in him in that moment. He says he saw everything he had ever done put on me. An innocent little filly being put through so much hate and neglect…

He’d never admit it, but the nurses swear he fell to the ground crying like a baby. He was devastated! He didn’t know what to do. So, he made a vow that day. He’d better himself to make the Stable a better place for his little filly. It was hard at first; old habits and all. He tells me that if a decision would come up, he’d think on how I would react to it. It’s hard to force yourself on mares when you’re thinking about your daughter.

I know he still has a way to go to make up for his past. He still has a few things to unlearn, a few things to learn, but I’m proud of him regardless. In Stable Eighty Eight, not many stallions would willingly change their ways, let alone for a filly. He gets a lot of flak for that. Plenty of stallions are still trying to pry him from power. Luckily for us, he’s still the toughest stallion in the vault.

“Please tell me you brought two sugars and a cream,” he grumbles from his desk as I walk in, running his hands though his pink mane and over his coal colored muzzle. I smile at my forethought and set his drink before him, pulling out the two additives as well.

“What happened this time?” I ask as I take a seat in front of his horse shoe desk and grab the nearby clipboard to take notes. He takes the sugars and creams and adds them to the coffee before stirring it slowly.

“The bill I was trying to get into the charter failed, again.” I frown at that as well. For the past three years he’s been trying to get a bill into the charter that would raise the age of consent from sixteen, to eighteen. He grumbles to himself as he rubs his hands over his face some more. He leans back in his seat and looks back to me evenly. “I swear every time I look at you you’re pants are lower and your top gets tighter.”

“Dad!” I gasp with a blush. “This is about your failed bill, not my attire!” I snap back at him, making him shake his head.

“Can you at least pull your pants up a bit? I’d rather not be able to… see things.” I roll my eye at that, knowing well enough that nothing is showing.

“Dad. Please. Can we focus on work?” He takes a drink from his coffee before motioning for me to continue. I take a look at the agenda and sift through it. “Right. We still need to allocate more hours for maintenance to fix the back up water talisman.”

“Is that thing still broken? Didn’t they fix that last month?” he asks bitterly, turning to look out the window to the atrium below.

“That was for the main water heating unit. This is the cleanser. They say it’s a simple fix and that we have the parts. The issue is that the part that needs fixing is near-”

“SWIFT!” I jump when somepony burst through the door suddenly. I jump up and back away as Stun Gun barges into the office with Steel Baton following close behind. He’s a burly unicorn stallion with an electric yellow coat and white hair. He stands just a few inches shorter than Dad. “What is this that I hear about you cutting hours from Security!?”

Stun Gun is the Chief of security, and my fathers main competitor. Back before I was born, the two of them were best friends. When I came along, and my father had changed his ways, he was not happy about it one bit. Though he throws a lot of that anger at him, he tends to throw it my way too. Never directly of course, but he has plenty of loyal cronies that are willing to do his dirty work for a pet on the head.

Stolen possessions, lewd comments, and plenty of rough passes are thrown my way by most of the higher ranking guards. There are a few that refuse to do it though, like Steel Baton, but they don’t stop the others either. I try to not tell my father about it too much though. I can handle them most of them time. Plus I don’t want him butting heads with Stun more than he needs to.

Dad stands up and glares at Stun Gun with the kind of death look one gets after their third shooting. He’s looking him through, over, under and all other kind of different ways. I just back up against the wall and wait for them to butt heads once again, having Steel join me. I can’t help but blush as thoughts from earlier come rushing to mind. He doesn’t seem to mind all too much though…

“Stun Gun, if you have a complaint you can submit-”

“Shove it Swift! Do you really think you can cut guard hours by a hundred and get away with it!?” He demands as he steps closer to Dad, poking his chest with a finger.

“I know I can if it means getting the water heaters and talisman fixed. And I suggest you put your finger away before you lose it.” He warns him, setting a hand on his sword. No matter what I say, he never goes anywhere without his officers sword. Dinner, work, shower; that sword will be at his side. It may as well be a part of him. Stun Gun eyes the sword for a second before backing up slightly, making Dad smirk.

“Ponies won’t stand for this-”

“Won’t stand for what? Hot showers and clean water? Do you even think before stomping around? Or is that all you’re good at these days?” Stun grits his teeth as he straightens out his posture, eyeing Dad as if he was trying to set him on fire. “Are we done?”

“...”

“Thought so. Now, get-”

“No, I’m not done.” Whoa, this is new. Normally he’d back off by this point. I glance over to Dad and watch him stare down Stun.

“Steel Baton, Lucky, step out of the room. I need to have… a word with Stun Gun.” Steel and I glance to each other before rushing out of the room, closing the door behind us. Even through the thick metal door I can still hear my father yelling at Stun.

“So…” I mutter as I step away from the door and take my seat at my desk. “You ready to be chief?”

“He won’t kill him… right?” he asks as he moves to sit on the edge of my desk. “Right?” I smile up to him before logging into my work computer.

“So, what kind of new policies would you be willing to enforce as Chief of security?” I ask jokingly, much to his bemusement. The yelling intensifies for a moment before it suddenly ends with the sound of furniture hitting the ground. A few moment go by before the door opens up and Stun Gun comes stumbling out. He’s got a nasty bruise on his right cheek as his uniform is tussled in various spots. I try to suppress a chuckle as he leans against the wall, trying to catch his breath.

“Um…”

“Go to the security office and wait for me there… NOW!” He snaps at Steel Baton, getting him to hurry out of the room. I try to focus on my computer, but find it impossible to do so with him just standing there. Something should be done… I guess.

“Would you like me to call first aid?” I ask, half serious and half joking. He glares down at me before rushing towards me. I try to get out of the way but he moved too fast for me. In one swift move he grabbed me by the neck and pinned me against the wall, choking me with his powerful hand.

“Listen here you little slut!” he hisses at me through gritted teeth as he holds me there. I try to break out of his hold, but he pins my other arm against my back. My other hand tries to find something to hit him with, but there’s nothing there to grab. “Don’t you dare ever talk down to me like that again! I am the head of security! You’re just some little tramp trying to get some cock.”

“F-fuck… you.” I rasp back at him, still searching for something to hit him with. He smiles at that, looking over my body for a moment.

“You know, the minute daddy is out of the picture, I might make you my personal fuck toy. I’m sure you’d enjoy being treated like a bitch in heat wouldn’t-”

WHACK

When my hand finally finds something I grab it and swing it across his face with all of my might. The lamp shatters and sends him reeling back, dropping me in the process. When my feet hit the ground I race over to my filing cabinet and grab the bat I keep above it. It’s signed by the famous Stable batter, Home Base. I turn around as he starts to stand as well. His nose is bleeding now and he has a few shards of glass embedded in his muzzle.

“Try that shit again and I’ll personally bash your head in with this bat, you little prick!” I warn him as I tighten my grip on the bat. He chuckles at that as he grabs his side arm, leaving it in the holster. “Go ahead, draw your pistol. Give my Dad a reason to skewer your ass.”

“Soon enough. Sleep tight, Lucky.” He removes his hand and slowly walks out of the room. When he shuts the door behind himself I drop the bat and fall back, leaning against the filing cabinet.

“How far did he get?” Dad asks as he enters the room, holding a cloth of ice against his head. I force myself up and take the bundle from him to take a look. “Lucky-”

“Just empty threats and some rough housing. Nothing he hasn’t done before.” I tell him, eyeing the bump on his head. “We should get this looked at.”

“Like hell I’m going to the doctor-”

“I bashed a lamp against his nose. Unless he wants to bleed everywhere, he’s going to the doctor as well.” I tell him, knowing full well about his pride. He smiles down at me and scruffs my mane, annoying me slightly. It took him awhile to learn how to treat a mare without being like Stun Gun, but I guess that’s why most of the other mares think of me as a tomboy then.

“That’s my girl. Gave him the one-two then huh?” He asks, mock jabbing at me. I laugh at that, letting him nudge me with each hit.

“Do you mind if I stay with you tonight?” His smile falters at that and he nods. He may be the Overstallion, but that doesn’t mean he can stop anything from happening.

“Of course.” I smile up to him as he sets his hands on my shoulders. “It’ll also give me a chance to check up on your fencing-”

“Dad-”

“Don’t sass me girly! You only busted his nose! Next time I want you to take his whole head off!”

-o-0-o-

Perspective: Reckless

With my shift finally over I drop my gear off and head home. On a normal day I would hang out with the guys at the diner, but tonight is different. I need to prep for my meeting with Lucky. I agreed to getting her schedule, but like always, I didn’t think it through! This is a totally new level of creepy. Before, it was simple infatuation. But now… now I don’t even know what to think!

Should I even go through with this? Should I just take the information and throw it away? Will I even get another chance like this? Even if I take every front entrance shift, what am I ever going to achieve? Will I really be content with just small talk? What if she found out? She would be creeped out beyond all belief! What if she reported me!? What if her father tied me to the ceiling and beat me with that sword of his!?

What if things go well and we fuck like it’s spring heat?

…

Okay, both are very good arguments.

So, at the very least I should get the information from that one mare. What was her name… um… white coat… small chest… um… er… shit. Well, I’m sure she’ll come around eventually. As long as she doesn’t want to get turned in that is.

Knock knock knock

I look up to my door and stare at it for a second. It’s still early in the day, nopony should be swinging by here. I go to the door and press the switch to open it, frowning when I see who’s there.

“Valve Switch, what are you doing here?” I ask as the maintenance mare stands before me. In my twenty years in this Stable, nopony has been able to get under my coat as easily as this mare right here. She’s annoying, stubborn, and stupidly hot. Her brass coat goes well with her rusty red hair and her form leaves little to be desired. She’s a Second Class citizen, like me. She pouts back to me, swaying back and forth before me.

“Well that’s a fine hello. And here I thought we’d have a nice little get together after a long day of work,” she feigns offense, stepping closer to me. I roll my eyes at that, knowing she doesn’t care.

“Look, I’m not in the mood today. What is it you want?” I ask bluntly, making her drop the act.

“Fine. A technician was supposed to help me with a repair today, but she never showed up. I want you to track her down and arrest her.” She tells me this as she forces her way into my room. I let out a sigh of annoyance and shut the door, knowing full well that she won’t leave until she gets what she wants.

“Valve-”

“This isn’t the first time this has happened either!” She tells me as she drops down onto the couch. “Once a week, for the past month she’s been disappearing on me! I want to know once and for all what she’s been up to! I’m going to get that little tramp if it’s the-”

“Valve.” I cut her off firmly, getting her attention. “Tell it to your supervisor. The pony who can actually do something about it.” She stares back at me for a second before standing up and undoing the zipper to her jumpsuit. It drops to the floor revealing her nude body.

FWOOSH

“But I can’t seduce that geezer like I can you.” I try to form a rebuttal, but my entire focus is on the two mounds slowly making their way towards me. I finally snap out of it when a cold sensation starts to form on the tips of my wings. Thank you steel ceilings.

“Valve, I’m not in the mood for that.” I tell her as I move around her, heading to the other side of the room. She chuckles as she follows after me, bringing her hands onto my shoulders.

“Recky, you know what I love about you pegasi? I know when you’re lying.” She snakes a hand around and starts fondling my member through my pants. I let out a sigh as I feel the arousal begin to build. I want to tell her off, that I don’t want this. But, there really is no reason not to. I mean, I’m not with Lucky yet. I have no commitment as of right now. She wants to do it, so why not?

“Digging up dirt on somepony will cost you.” I warn her as I turn around, sliding my hands to the curve of her back and pulling her in.

“I don’t have any plans until tomorrow,” she laughs. I begin to walk backwards towards the couch as she begins to fumble with my belt. I trip and fall back onto the couch, getting her to crawl onto my lap.

“So, who has you so worked up you’re going to spend the night with me?” I ask as I move my hands up to her chest, giving each mound a firm squeeze.

“Some Third Class bitch named Hot Wire.” I stop my movements and stare at her blankly, instantly recognizing the name. “She been ditching out on me and making me do extra work for the past three months now. It’s about time she learned her place. But enough about that, let’s focus on this.” I lose focus as she guides me into her warmth. Control Shift has been doing that for three months now? It can’t simply be chance. Something is going on between the two of them. “So, how do you want round one to go?”

Well… I guess it can wait till morning.

-o-0-o-

Perspective: Hot Wire

I make my way to the depths of the power station where I meet up with a few of the other Third Class mares. After we check to see if the coast is clear I nod to them.

“Everything is set. Tonight is the night ladies. Meet back here at midnight and we’ll get this show on the road.” They all smirk to me and rev their auto axes, making me smile. This is it. The end of oppression. Stable Eighty Eight, it’s time for a new Overmare to take charge.

Lucky Level 1

Strength 7

Perception 3

Endurance 4

Charisma 6

Intelligence 7

Agility 4

Luck 9

Perks

Wild Wasteland

Barter 19

Energy Weapons 13

Explosives 13

Guns 15

Lock Pick 13

Medicine 21

Melee Weapons 36

Repair 21

Science 36

Sneak 15

Speech 34

Survival 15

Unarmed 15

Reckless Level 1

Strength 6

Perception 7

Endurance 7

Charisma 3

Intelligence 5

Agility 9

Luck 3

Perks

Skilled
Heavy Handed

Barter 15

Energy Weapons 23

Explosives 38

Guns 42

Lock Pick 38

Medicine 21

Melee Weapons 21

Repair 19

Science 19

Sneak 27

Speech 15

Survival 23

Unarmed 23

Author's Note

I'm going to try and have every chapter end with the two of them leveling up. Though I already have their first few levels planned out, that is not to say I'm not open to suggestions. I tries to get the bottom parts to level out properly, but... I don't know. If you have a suggestion, I'm all ears.

Leave a comment, like if you liked, track if interested, and like always;

Brony on!

Chapter Two: Stable Doors

My dear... I have an even more essential task for you to complete...

Perspective: Lucky

I pull my blankets closer to myself as a light humming sound attempts to wake me. Sleeping on Dads couch is never optimal, but I always feel bad taking his bed from him. To put it simply, he's getting old. He'd probably throw his back out if I made him sleep on this lumpy old couch. He tries to convince me otherwise, mostly as an attempt to appear younger, but I know better. One day with a stiff neck versus a month of a bad back? It's an easy choice. Though I did take the liberty to claim his best pillow and blanket.

I groan when I hear the door open, letting in the loud humming from outside momentarily. Whatever is going on outside can wait, for me at least. It's sleep time for Lucky-

"Get up!" I let out a yelp when somepony suddenly yanks my blanket off. I blink a few times as the pony before me shakes me awake. "Come on! Wake up already!" she yells over the emergency sirens as I finally register what's going on.

The mare before me is some random Third Class mare with a large construction saw hefted in one hand. She has a white coat with short, cropped black hair. Blood drips from all over her body as it oozes from the massive construction blade. I try to back away from her, but she grabs my arm and pulls my to my feet.

"C'mon! I said get up already! We have to get moving!" she yells at me again, tossing me towards the dresser.

"P-please! I don't want any trouble-"

"Then shut up and pack this bag already! We have to get moving now!" I flinch from her voice and start to toss stuff into the duffel bag she threw at me. Anything within the dresser is quickly thrown into the bag, seemingly appeasing the mare before me. I pause when hear a bit of gunfire from the door followed by the sound of a saw going off and blood curdling screaming.

I feel my hands being to shake as everything around me starts to settle in. The Third Class must have started a revolution! Is Dad safe? What about Cinnamon and her boys? Am I even safe? Why is she making me pack a bag? I grip the dresser and try to swallow my fears, feeling my legs start to give out as well. I flinch when I feel a hand on my shoulder. The mare is looking at me with compassionate eyes, something that only confuses me further.

"I'm not suppose to give this to you now, but... listen to this while I finish packing, okay?" She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a holotape. I glance between her and it before slowly taking it into my hand, eyeing her cautiously. "Everything is going to be alright, I promise." I watch her as she steps away from me and walks into the kitchen. Confused, I take the holotape and insert it into my Pip-buck, playing it immediately.

"Lucky-" that's Dad! "Look, I know this is all... sudden. The less that knew the better. Even now I have to withhold information from you, and I'm sorry for that. All that I can tell you is that the mare before you is somepony that you can trust. She's going to take you somewhere safe for now... relatively safe, that is." Relatively safe? What does he mean by that? How does he know this mare?

"Where you're going... just listen to Hot Wire. She knows what she's talking about, she'll keep you safe. I never wanted it to come to this, but I have no choice now. Just remember that... you were the star of my eye, Lucky. Don't you ever forget that." Dad...

"We have to get going Swift!" Somepony in the background yells.

"Alright! Lucky, go with Hot Wire, do as she says, and... and... and you come back here when everything settles down, ya hear me? And I mean that! You come back here! Don't let them change you, no matter what!" Let who change me?

"We have to go Swift! C'mon!" The background pony yells again, ending the message. I stand there in a daze as I try to process all of this. What could have happened in the past few hours that would force Dad to come to this? And where in the Stable could we possibly go that would escape this? I look over to see the mare from before -Hot Wire presumably- standing with a small bag of food in one hand.

"I'm sorry... for this. If things were different... maybe... I..." She looks away from me, fidgeting with the objects in her hands. I look back down to the message file before shaking my head. Dad says it isn't safe here, so I have to get going. I look around for a moment before looking back up to the Hot Wire.

"Where are we going?" I ask quietly, yet she still seems to hear me over the sirens.

"Dress heavily. We're going to Silo."

Perspective: Reckless

One Hour Earlier

The night was... fun. I guess. There wasn't really much to it, to be honest. She rode my lap, we both came, showered, and went to bed. I didn't really want her sleeping over, but she insisted. Even with the sub par encounter with Valve Switch my mind is still abuzz with the events of earlier. She spoke with me! We had a full conversation that ended with playful banter! Now that it's a bit later, I don't feel as... ecstatic about it. But I'm still feeling that high. It's like there's a fire burning in me! That's probably why I didn't sleep all that much too. I had too much energy!

I look to the clock on my night stand and let out a sigh. It's still fairly early, but I may as well get up now. It's not like I'm going to sleep all that much anyway. Val mumbles a bit as I crawl over her to get up, rolling over to get away from me.

"What time is it?" she asks groggily.

"A little past six, go back to sleep." I tell her quietly as I go to my kitchen, getting some coffee ready.

"Why are you up so early?" she asks, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. I stare at her bare chest for a moment before shaking my head returning to my remedial task.

"Couldn't sleep." I leave it at that, knowing the truth would only hurt her. I hear her get out of bed and start getting dressed. "Val?"

"Can you make me a cup to go? I want to-"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

We both jump slightly when somepony suddenly pounds on my door. We look to each other, confused, before Valve goes to answer it. I step out just in time to see her press the button to open the door.

VRRRRRRRR-SPLECH

A massive construction axe swings in and pierces Valve right in the center of the chest. Blood and gore fly everywhere as the automated tool rips her to shreds in seconds. She didn't even have time to scream...

"Dammit Polish! That wasn't him! Get in there and get that guard asshole already!" Some mare yells from the doorway. I run into the kitchen and start to go through all of my drawers in search of some kind of weapon. Just as I find a cleaver I hear them start to rush into the front room. In a panic I rush out while screaming my head off... hopefully metaphorically.

Two mares with large automated axes stand in my living room. The closest one jumps slightly from my sudden appearance while to the other one charges right at me, revving her axe as she brings it over head. I see a part of the body that holds the blade in place and swing for that point. I feel the blade in my hand nearly force its way out as the weight of the machine comes down on me, the spinning blade mere inches away from my shoulder. I grab the end of the cleaver and start to push it away from myself, fighting with all my strength to keep some form of distance.

VRRRRRRRR

The other mare revs her weapon and begins to swing it at my exposed side. I shut my eyes and wait for my impending death. I should have thought this through a bit more. Given, I should have answered the door as well. Here's to forethought...

PAT PAT PAT PAT

I open my eyes and look to the doorway. A fellow guard has fired a few rounds into the other mare, killing her before she could finish me off. I give another yell as I shove the heavy blade aside and bring the back of the cleaver against the first mare. It smacks against her unprotected head and sends her falling back. I spin the blade back around and go to finish her off when the pony in the doorway grabs my arm.

"Save it Reck. She'll pay for it later," he tells me. With his face guard on, I don't really recognize him, but nod along regardless. He reaches behind himself and pulls out a pair of hand cuffs. She's in a daze, not entirely unconscious, but does't fight him cuffing her.

"What the shit." I mutter as I look back to Valve Switches mutilated body. Sprays of blood and innards lay all over my living room floor. With so much of it out, it starts to pool around her and creep towards me, making me back away slowly. "What the SHIT!" I yell right before tripping over the dead attacker, falling onto my backside. I bring my hand up and stare at the thick, red substance slowly running down my arm, staining my grey coat along the way. "WHAT THE SHIT!"

"Reckless!"

"What the shit!"

"Reck-"

"Wha... wha... WHAT THE-"

SMACK

I blink a few times as the stinging in my cheek brings me slowly to reality. I look up to the guard before me and stare at him, unsure of what to do. I've never had to deal with... this! There are two dead mares in my living room! I was nearly splattered all over the walls! He shot one of them! Four times!

"W-what's going on?" I ask meekly. He sighs and offers me a hand, helping me to my feet.

"I'm not entirely sure. All that I know is that a bunch of mares decided to take some axes and cleave a bunch of guards up. The Captain sent me to check up on you. We need to head to the armory and meet up with the others. You think you can manage that... while carrying our friend over there?" I look over to the mare and size her up. She's not the biggest thing ever, shouldn't be too much of a problem really.

"Y-yeah. I think I can manage that. Sure..." He grabs my shoulder and gives me a quick shake. I blink a few times before looking back to him. "I can do it. Let's go." I shake myself from his grasp and go to the cuffed mare. She's not that heavy, so throwing her on my shoulders isn't that much trouble.

"Alright, follow me and stay close. I don't want any other mares getting the jump on us." He tells me as he goes to the door, peering out cautiously. He gives me a nod and runs out, so I chase after him, giving one last glance to the two mares in my room.

The halls of the Stable are bathed in yellow caution lights as the emergency sirens sound off. I can see several of the other living quarters are opened as well. Those two mares must have killed a few other guards before getting to me, if the blood stains are anything to go by. My neighbor was a guard, Bronze Star I think was his name. I can't seem to recall perfectly right now. There's blood in his doorway. I don't look inside though. I have a feeling I already know what happened.

When we reach the stairs to the Atrium we come to a stop. There's another guard in front of us fighting off two more mares with auto axes. These two seem to be wearing modified jumpsuits, having slates of metal on their clothing. The guard next to me surveys them for a second before grabbing me and pulling me aside.

"He won't make it on his own. I'm going to rush in and grab their attention. You need to rush to the Armory and get you gear, got it?" I nod to him, getting ready to make a dash for it. "Alright. One, two, three!"

I rush out into the hall way and make a mad dash for the stairwell. One of the mares notices me and moves to engage me, but staggers back when the other guard shoots her in the shoulder. I run past her and start to force myself up the stairs. I hear the axes roar again and one of the stallions scream in agony, followed by even more gunfire. I try to force it out of my head and focus on the stairs before me, using the physical strain to distract myself as best as possible.

When I make it to the top of the stairs, calves burning from the added weight, I continue on my way to the armory. It should be just beyond maintenance. Two flights of stairs, five of six doors, shouldn't be too far now. I'm just glad this mare is as light as she is. I can hear more gunfire all around. Screams echo all over as well. It's hard to tell what's exactly going on here. Less than ten minutes ago I was in bed with a mare, getting ready to pursue the beauty of my dreams. Now that mare is dead. All I did was stand there and watch as her innards were spayed on my living room walls. I know there wasn't really anything I could have done, but that doesn't help much. I'm a guard. I keep others safe from lunatics like that. And I've failed.

I really need to stop thinking. My brain's a real downer. At least I'm half way there.

Perspective: Lucky

Once we get my bag properly filled, I grip my Ponyville Slugger and follow Hot Wire out of my fathers room. She told me to grab anything that could be a weapon, and the bat was the best option I could think of. It's actually my fathers, but I don't think he'll mind me taking it.

The emergency lights are filling the room in bright yellow lights as the sirens force my ears down. Hot Wire doesn't seem to mind all too much. She takes lead and starts to charge her way through the hallway. I run after her, eyeing everything cautiously. With the exception of the emergency alarms, everything seems normal enough. A few neighbors are looking around, trying to understand what's going on. Most run when they see Hot Wire running down the hall, I don't blame them. She looks as if she'll rip the head off of anypony who gets in her way. I'm just glad I'm behind her. We make a few turns before taking the stairs out of the Living Quarters.

"Where are we going?" I finally gain the courage to ask her.

"I already told you, Silo," she tells me as we come to a stop at the top of the stairs. She peers around the corner before running out, so I follow after her.

"And where's that?" She reaches back and grabs my top, forcing me to a stop. She looks around for a second before she starts to drag me to the side. "What-"

"Get down!" she yells as she tosses me aside. I fall to the ground and scurry to the wall as she revs her axe, taking a fighting stance. From behind two post a pair of guards come out and start to shoot at Hot Wire. She lets out a scream as she charges at them. Bullets ping off the metal plating on her suit as she brings the massive industrial blade overhead. The guard before her tries to duck away, but the heavy weapon gains purchase on his thigh and starts to cut it off. He screams in terror as the blade digs deeper and deeper into his thigh. "YEAH! YEAH! WHAT'S THE MATTER!? DON'T LIKE THE SIGHT OF YOUR OWN BLOOD!?"

"FUCK!" The other guard yells as he starts to reload. Hot Wire looks at him and lets go of her axe to draw out a piece of metal that's sharpened to a point. She lets out another scream as she rushes him, just as he begins to shoot at her. Hot Wire thrust forward and shoves the metal into his stomach, getting him to scream in pain. She draws it back and rams it back in over and over again. Blood gushes from his gullet as he grabs her, trying to choke the life from her. She smacks one of his hands away and drives the metal into his throat, finally getting him to fall to the ground.

She stares down at him for a moment, huffing to gain back her breath. Her ear twitches and she looks back to me. I watch the blood wash down her as she stands there, looking down at me with those wild eyes. She looks down for a moment before going back to the first guard to retrieve her weapon. He's dead now, or so I assume. Bled out most likely. She walks back to me and stares down at me again, ears folded back as she bites her lip in thought. I just stare up at her, unsure of what to think.

That was barbaric. She killed the two of them, in the most gruesome way I could have ever imagined. The logical part of my mind is telling me to run. To get as far away from this mare as possible. But... Dad said I could trust her. He said she would keep me safe, and she has technically. He also said that I would be going somewhere that isn't safe too. Maybe... maybe her being so... brutal, isn't a bad thing. I know I'm not going to get used to it any time soon, but... Dad said to trust her. I gulp down my fears and stand up, refusing her assistance. I need to be strong for this, stronger than I had previously thought.

"C'mon. We need to keep moving." I nod to her, still shaking from the scene that played out before me. She gives me a sad look before forcing herself to continue on.

"I hope you know what you're doing Dad... for the both of us." I mutter before I follow after her.

Perspective: Reckless

I made it to the armory fairly easily. Thanks to the high amount of guards here, I didn't run into any more trouble. I dropped the mare off at the jail cells and made my way into the armory to get suited up. Along the way I met up with my superior and he gave the gist of what's going on. Apparently a bunch of maintenance mares got it into their head to turn construction equipment into weapons and are trying to form a coup. The Overstallion has ordered us to shoot on sight unless they surrender. A lock down is in order as well, meaning nopony should be out of their living quarters except security officials. That makes it a bit easier for me, I guess. Now I know not to trust anypony walking around.

My security armor fits well, but my riot helmet makes it a bit odd to look around. I've got my baton, my weathered 10mm pistol, a few rounds of ammo, and a set of hand cuffs. I don't know how this will all hold up against an automated buzz saw, but it does make me feel a bit safer. I finish strapping my armor on at take a look at myself in the mirror I have in my locker. I look... scared. I know I shouldn't be, I mean, I do have a gun on my hip. But... I've never really used it on somepony before. In the moment though, if one of those crazy bitches is coming at me with one of those saws... I don't think I'll hesitate... it's hard to say really.

"Reck." I look over to see another guard approach me. With all of the heavy armor on, it's hard to tell who he is. Sadly, my wings won't allow me to wear the heavy armor. Hopefully the standard issue armor will suffice. "C'mon. We've lucked out."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We've been assigned door duty. Since it's not likely that they'll attack there, it'll only be me and you there. Let's go already, getting there is going to be the hard part." I nod to him and follow him back out of the armory. Along the way I get another view of the guards as they scramble about the small room. A few are on the ground, missing a limb or two. There are a few that have blankets drawn over them as well. Groups hurry from one place to another as ponies yell orders and responses all over. A few bump into me as well, but I pay them no mind. I just want to get to my station and focus at the task at hand.

We step back out into the atrium and start to jog out towards the main bulkhead. It doesn't take long for us to lose the roar and commotion of the main floor for the relative silence of the hallway. I keep fidgeting with my gun, waiting for some mare with an axe to spring up and try to hack off my head.

"Man, I tell you one thing; if I get my hands on one of those crazy bitches, ooo! I'm going to teach her a lesson she won't forget." The other guard tells me. I nod to him, trying to keep my focus on the area around us. "You alright Reck?"

"Y-yeah. I'm... I'm good." I tell him, getting him to come to a stop and stare at me.

"Stallion up man. They're just a bunch of mares with power tools. I'm sure if we see any, which we probably won't, they'll give up the minute we flash a gun at them." He jabs my shoulder, making me nod to him.

"I hope you're right." He chuckles at me as we continue on, walking at a much slower rate.

"Hey," he says with an excited whisper. "If one does surrender, you know what we should really do?" I give him a look, making him laugh at me. "Ah, c'mon! Don't tell me you wouldn't take a whack at some free action! After this, that's all they'll be good for!"

"Right..."

"Pfft, please. I bet you won't be so modest if it was some First Class mare." I pause at that thought. No... no, why would she be a part of this? She has no reason to be... right? "Hold up, you hear that?" I stop and listen carefully, hearing some voices up ahead. He motions for me to get down, so I squat down and follow after him to the main door. We find it open, so we peer in and take a look inside.

I don't believe it. It's her... and her! What's Lucky doing here! And with Hot Wire for that matter! They're both inside the control station, Hot Wire typing away while Lucky is keeping watch. She hasn't seen us yet though, so we back off a bit to discuss what we just saw.

"I don't believe it." I mutter as I take a knee.

"I know, did you see that one mare! She's a First Class bitch! Score! What did I tell you? Let's get in there, kill the skinny one, and take a whack at the other one before we arrest her. You in?" I rub my face for a moment as I try to think clearly about this. First off, there is no way I'm letting this asshole touch her. But... short of arresting him and breaking rank, I have no clue how I'm going to convince him otherwise. Maybe he'll listen to reason?

"Look... I-I just... don't know how I feel about killing a mare. Let's just arrest the both of them, yeah?" I ask him, getting him to scoff.

"Did you see the rack on that green bitch? There is no way I'm passing up an opportunity like that. You want to sit here and jerk yourself, fine. Me, I'm going in there and having a good time. Later!" Before I could say anything else, he gets up and runs inside. Dammit... I was never really that good with words-

BANG

I jump when a small explosion erupts from inside, followed by a thud. I stare at the bottom of the doorway until I see a small pool of blood start to flow out into the hallway. I feel my heart race as I back away from the door, only stopping when I hear the two inside start to talk.

"That was loud." Lucky grumbles.

"Yeah, well, that's what he gets for trying to get the drop on us. Now get ready, the program is set, so the door should open in a few minutes. Are you ready?"

"..."

"... we'll get through this... we have to..." I back away from the door some more before I pull out my radio and contact the others.

"This is Officer Reckless, reporting one Officer down and two fugitives attempting to leave the Stable. I repeat, this is Officer Reckless, reporting one Officer down and two fugitives attempting to leave the Stable, over."

"Roger that, assistance is on the way, ETA two minutes. Buy them some time Reckless." Fuck, I was afraid they were going to say something like that. Well... Hot Wire said that it would be a few minutes for the door to open, and the others are going to get here soon as well... I'll wait for a moment or two. For... strategic purposes of course.

Perspective: Lucky

I try my best to not look at the mangled corpse of the guard, but I keep taking glances at it. I guess he really wouldn't expect a lunch box to explode. Where did Hot Wire even learn to do that? Even worse, now she's digging through the corpse to scavenge stuff from him!

"I know it seems gross, but this is essential for survival. You'll learn to bear with it soon enough... we all do eventually," she tells me. I glance back to tell her something, but nearly lose it when I see the mangled remains strewn about the floor. "It's not even that bad! He's just missing a leg."

"Just missing a leg!" I snap, turning back to face her. "He was still a living being! Not some... some... some piece of decor you shrug at!"

"Who's shrugging?" she asks nonchalantly, standing up casually. I huff at her and turn back around, trying to forget the image of his bloody stump... GAH! "Look, where we're going, this is normal. And trust me, it will get worse than this."

"How exactly do you know that?" She smirks at that, looking back to the door. I was about to press on when a new siren caught my attention. This one is accompanied with bright yellow lights spinning around as the sound of old metal grinding against even older metal fills the room for a moment. I turn around and watch as the Stable door slowly rolls to the side, opening up to the world beyond.

"Let's do this." Hot Wire says as she starts to walk towards the entrance.

"HALT!" I jump from the new voice and spin around to see a few security guards running into the building. I back up nervously as they rush Hot Wire, who tries to fight them off by swinging her weapon wildly.

"RUN LUCKY!" She yells as she catches one of the guards in his leg, sending blood spiraling around the room. I go to make a run for it when somepony grabs my wrist and yanks me towards them. I look up to Steel Baton and gulp as he leers down at me.

"Well... isn't it my lucky day?" UHG... I hate that pun... so much! I grit my teeth and remember back to all of the lessons my father had given me to protect myself. A particular technique comes to mind that's perfect for this moment.

"Just because you're lucky, doesn't mean you're fortunate." I tell him before I bring my leg back and-

THUNK

I bring my leg right up between his legs, putting as much strength into it as possible. He lets out a slightly higher pitched yelp as he lets go of me and drops to the ground.

Don't be afraid to hit a stallion in the junk. Protect yourself first, worry about ethics later.

Good advice Dad. I look back to Hot Wire and watch her struggle to fend off the other two guards. They each try to shoot her down as she charges at them, but the rounds just ping off her metal armor. She brings up the heavy blade and digs it right into the center of the left most guard. An instant later he explodes into a gory mess all over the room, sending bits and chunks of flesh and bone flying everywhere. I jump back from the spray, getting a good amount on myself.

"RUN DAMMIT! I'll handle these idiots!" she yells as me as she squares off with the remaining guard. He looks as if he's about to puke, I'm not that far off either.

"O-okay!" I turn and make a run for the Stable door, losing my footing slightly due to all of the gore on the ground.

THUD

Just as I was about to cross the threshold, somepony tackled me from behind and knocked me straight to the ground. I try to struggle free, but when he presses a gun to the back of my head I freeze up. We both stay still for a tense moment as we both wait for the other person to act. I can feel the gun start to shake, as well as the guy behind me. I look over my shoulder and stare up at him... he seems... familiar...

Perspective: Reckless

I sat most of the fight out. I... I didn't know what to do. If I run in there, and Lucky fights back... I don't want to hurt her. And that other mare, Hot Wire, she looks crazy! She keeps chopping people up! I sit back against the wall and try to collect myself. I try to think back to my training, thinking back on what to do when facing an armed suspect. Given, the suspect they were talking about didn't have a fucking giant ass saw that tears ponies apart!

"GAH!" I jump slightly when Steel Baton crawls through the doorway and sits at the other end. He's rubbing his groin... ow. He glances over to me and shakes his head. "What are you doing, get in there!"

"B-but-"

"GO!" I jump again from his shout and get to my feet. I turn the corner and take a quick look around. Lucky is making a run for it while Hot Wire is facing off with Ironclad. He's put a round in her leg, getting her to drop, if only momentarily. Well... he has her, so that leaves... Lucky. I raise my gun and point it at her. I really don't want to do this. She doesn't even have one of those weapons! All she has is a baseball bat for Celestia sake! "What are you waiting for? Shoot the bitch!"

"... fuck!" With a powerful flap of my wings I propel myself forward and tackle Lucky, making us both fall just outside the Stable door. She starts to struggle against me, trying to free up her arms to hit me. I bring my pistol up and press it against her head, getting her to freeze up. I swallow the lump in my throat as I hold the gun there. I can feel my heart racing a mile a minute as sweat starts to build up on my brow. This... pretty much ruins everything. She slowly glances up to me and makes eye contact. I have to swallow another lump as we simply stare at each other, waiting for... something to happen.

"Arrest her already!" I look back to see Steel Baton arresting Hot Wire. I can't see the other guard, but something tells me that it's better that way. Hot Wire has a few rounds in her guts and limbs, but is holding it together... mostly. I nod to him and pull out my cuffs, applying them to Lucky slowly.

"I... I'm sorry." I whisper to her as I tighten the last band around her wrist. She glances to Steel before looking back up to me, pleading with her eyes.

"Please... help me," she whispers back. I have to look away from her. I... I can't do this while looking at her, I can't. "If you bring me back there... Steel... he'll... please."

"I... I'm sorry." I push myself up and start to bring her up with me when I hear a light thud from behind. I spin around just in time to see Hot Wire bite onto the lever and begin to shut the door to the Stable. Steel Baton is back on the ground, nurturing his groin once again. Hot Wire and I make eye contact for a second before she smiles to me, slowly standing up.

"I told you I'd help... do me a favor, keep her safe for me." I try to run through the door before it shuts, but don't make it in time. The massive metal cog rolls over the dusty track and seals the Stable shut. I stare at the massive Eighty Eight before the panic starts to set in.

"No... no, nononono no!" I pound my fist against the door, as if that'll do anything. I look around in a fever and see the out control panel sitting right next to me. I rush over to it and push the lever up... then pull it down... In a new wave of panic I slide the lever back and forth before I try to figure out what's wrong with it. It looks like the one inside, why isn't it working? I follow the wires coming from the back until I find where they would normally meet up with Stable, only they don't. A large section has been cut clean off, leaving a hole in the Stable wall. I crouch down and try to force the remaining amount of wire into the wall, but it simply won't reach.

"..." It's too quiet. I turn around to see that I'm alone in this dark hallway. I can see a small sliver of light at the end before it's cut off by the sound of a door shutting.

"Where are you going!?" I yell as I fly off down the hall. I make it to the door and throw it open, nearly crashing into Lucky. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm... I'm going to Silo! That's where my father wanted me to go, so... back off!" She pushes past me, giving me a view of the world behind her. I take a few steps out before I come to the edge of what was a stairwell. The stairs down here have been blown to smithereens, leaving a pile of metal in the dark cave. "Take these off me already!"

"Do you even know where... wherever that place is?" I ask I turn back to her, turning on my Pipbuck for some light. She glances around for a second before marching back to the broken stairwell. "What are you doing?" She starts to attempt to climb up the rubble, but having her hands cuffed behind her makes it nearly impossible for her. "Lucky-"

"I'm going to Silo, and that's the last-"

"LUCKY!" I yell as I grab her by the shoulders and pull her back to look at me. "What's out there is nothing but a wasteland of radiation and whatever living hell makes that toxic dump its home! For all we know, we'll die the second we breath that filth. Not to mention that there are probably terrifying monsters! We should work on getting back into the Stable, where it's safe-"

"Safe?" she asks with a scoff, shaking her head at me. "I don't know if you noticed, but the Stable isn't safe right now. My father, the leader of the Stable, told me to leave. How safe could it be in there for me? Then again, what would you know about keeping mares safe?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, backing off slightly. She shakes her head again and looks back to the stairwell.

"Look, even if we were to go back, we can't. Hot Wire told me so. It's a one way trip until my father tells me how to get back inside. So, the way I see it, we have two options. Option one; we stay here and wait for them to open the doors. Option two; you un-cuff me and we brave whatever's out there. Now, are you going to sit here and cry like a little colt, or are you going to stallion up and take a chance up there?"

"... are you insane? Why the flying fuck would I go up there!? You mean to tell me that all of the technicians in the Stable won't be able to figure out whatever pass code you dad put on the computer!" She deflates from this, so I press on. "If we wait here, then at least we won't contract some terrible disease that... that... I don't know, turn us into giant yellow freaks!"

"That's just stupid-"

"I agree! Waiting here is the best option, so that's what we're doing!" I yell as I cross my arms.

"No, that's what you're doing. I'm getting the hell out of here!" she yells back at me, stomping a foot down.

"You can't climb that wall without your hands, and I'm not going up there. End of story." I fold my arms and stare her down. She bites her lip and tries to think of an answer. She looks back and gives a final huff before she marches over to the rubble. "What are you doing?"

"Getting out of here," she tells me before she starts to climb up on the rubble. I throw my hands up and walk back to the Stable door. I take a seat against it and watch her try to climb up.

"Fine, do what you want to. You'll see, they'll open the door soon enough... you'll see."

Three Hours Later

THUD

"Ooo, that one looked like it hurt." I comment from the side. Lucky grumble her response into the ground before she sits up. She blows her bangs out of her face and glares back at me. I chuckle at her, getting up and stretching a bit.

"I've made it closer to my goal then you have," she grumbles.

"My goal will take time, yours is the distance one." I tell her as I turn back to the Stable door. Why haven't they opened it yet?

"You do realize that almost all of the maintenance ponies were fighting the guard just now, right? They aren't opening the doors anytime soon." I try to ignore her as I run my hand down the front. "Look... it's been a long day. Can you at least un-cuff me so I can rest my arms?"

"And risk you running away? No dice. Look, this is for your safety Lucky. We don't know what's out there. We don't even know if we'll be able to survive there! All that we know is in the Stable. So... just... wait it out a bit longer, will ya?" She pouts a bit as she looks down, thinking to her self. I groan and walk around the small cave entrance, trying to think of what to do to pass the time.

"How about this," Lucky tries, making me roll my eyes. "We wait a few more hours. If nothing happens by then, then we take a look around up top. just a few minutes! Then we can at least know what's going on out here. How's that sound?"

"... how do I know you won't just knock me out with that bat the minute I let you go?"

"I... I'll give you the bat then. Please, my father sent me out here. Do you really think he would endanger me?" I look back to the Stable door and think about what she said. If they don't open the door soon, we'll have to leave anyway. Or else we'll starve to death. And if I take her bat from her, she can't really harm me too easily.

"Hmm... we'll wait four more hours before we take a look up there-"

"Two-"

"It's either four or none, your call." She grumbles to herself before nodding to me. I nod back and walk up to her, helping her to her feet. I'm not going to take them off until we're sure we're going to leave. But I can at least let her walk around. I stand there awkwardly, unsure of the plan altogether.

"So... what's your name?" she asks me, turning back to look at me. I feel a lump grow in my throat as I look into her eyes. It's amazing how beautiful they are when they aren't glaring at you.

"Re... my name is Reckless... but, my friends call me Reck." I tell her, getting her to smile.

"Well, Reckless, we have four hours until we make that trip. So rest up!" I swallow the lump in my throat from that. I guess I deserved that, even if it was a bit harsh.

Author's Note

Sorry for the slow updates, life be crazy right now.

Brony on!

Chapter Three: Stable Lies

Secrets and lies! It's all secrets and lies with those ponies!

Pespective: Lucky

Waiting for the clock to run out was gruesome. Sitting with my wrists cuffed with a complete stranger meant I couldn't really get comfortable. I spent most of the time pacing around while trying to think of a way out without Reckless. He's just been sitting there fiddling with his Pipbuck. By the sounds of it, he's getting close to beating the Striped Menace. I guess he gave up on sending a message to the others. That, or he's made contact with them and is waiting for them to do something. I'll go with the latter of the two.

On occasion he would glance up to me and try to say something, but he'd lose it immediately. If I had to guess, he's probably trying to think of a good pick up line. I do my best to ignore him though. After an hour or two of this he finally gave up, apparently due to him losing at his little game.

"Is it time yet?" I ask shortly, stomping a hoof down.

"It's only been two hours," he replies, not even looking up from his Pipbuck. I huff in return, irked at the stallion.

"Can you at least remove these?" I ask while showing him my hands. "They're really starting to chaff." I add a little pouty face to my complaint, hoping it'll sway his mind.

"No." Well that didn't work.

"Why not?" I ask, trying my best to sound as reasonable as possible.

"Because I don't want you climbing your way out of here. That's why." Well... He's not wrong. I would have tried that. After kicking him in the nuts of course.

"I'm not going to make a run for it. I just want to relax my arms a bit." He gives me a deadpan look before going back to his Pipbuck. Well... I guess there's always... the look. I hate doing this, but it's the best way to get a stallions attention. The problem is that it's going to take some finagling to get set up. It's worth a shot, I guess.

I walk away silently and head back down the hall towards the destroyed staircase. Along the way I stop when I see a broken light fixture. The top screws have broken off, getting the actual fixture to hang down. It's set at the perfect height for this, so I step up to it and get to work trying to lower the zipper on my top. This is too demeaning, but it works a majority of the time. I just need to get it down a tad and I'll be set.

My first few tries don't catch on. I squat down a bit more and try again, almost getting it to latch. I bite my lip and try again, leaning forward to get a better angle. I struggle for a awhile until I feel the cold metal rub against my coat-

"What are you doing?" I let out a small yelp and try to straighten myself out, only to snag onto the broken light. I frantically try to free myself, but only manage to bring my zipper down further. Of course now it would do that! Why wouldn't it? I only put myself in the most awkward position possible! It had to end like this!

"W-well... You see... The thing is, uh..." I try to think of something to say to him while also trying to free myself, but neither seem to be getting me anywhere. I see him glance at my slightly exposed chest and begin to blush. Great, let's add that to this mess too! I'm stuck with a perv in probably the worst possible position! Why me?

"L-look. I'm going to un-cuff you so you can... fix yourself. Just... promise me you won't run off. Okay?" I stop fidgeting around and stare at him, unsure how to react. Most stallions would take this opportunity for a free grab. Or worse. Why not him? Am I not attractive to him? That's impossible! I'm a first class mare! He's only a second class stallion. Why isn't he taking this chance?

Why am I questioning it?

I nod to him and stand still, waiting to see what he does. He walk behind me and begins to fumble with his keys. I try to keep an eye on him, still expecting him to do something stupid. I wouldn't put it past one of Stun Gun's cronies to take advantage of a mare. Though, to be fair, I was about to use my looks to take advantage of him. They're not on the same level, but I guess the idea is close enough. Still, it's not like I had a choice to be like that. They choose to do that, that's where the line is.

Click

I break away from my chain of thoughts when I hear the cuffs click open. A moment later I feel them leave my wrist, freeing my arms. I watch in slight astonishment as Reckless turns and steps away from me. Giving me a moment of privacy. I... don't get it. He didn't do anything. There has never been a guard that hasn't passed on an opportunity like this. What is his deal?

Why am I questioning it, again?

I bring my arms forward and unhook myself, zipping my top up quickly afterwards. Once done I turn to Reckless and approach him. He has his back to me, waiting for... something. I don't know what to say to him either. Do I thank him? I don't think I should, seeing as it's his fault I was in that position... mostly. I guess it's fifty-fifty.

"So... what happens now?" I ask, getting him to turn back to me.

"We still have a few hours left," he responds slowly, turning to face me. I nod to that, thinking to myself for a moment.

"We could sit here for a few more hours and wait to see if anything happens. Or..." I give him a hopeful look, making him shift his stance as he thinks about it. "We don't have to go far! Just up those stairs, poke around a bit, see what's up there, and be back within the hour. Aren't you the least bit curious to see what's up there?"

"Well-"

"Forty five minutes!"

"I don't like this-"

"Thirty minutes!"

"Mmm..." I hold my hands before myself and do my best to beg with my eyes. He tries to avoid my gaze, but glances over one too many times. "Alright. We'll go up and take a look around. But no longer than thirty minutes! After that we head straight back here, got it?"

"Yes sir! Thirty minutes and then right back here!" I tell him excitedly, giving him a quick salute. He lets out a groan before walking towards the stairs. I give an excited little dance before chasing after him. Originally I was scared to go out there. But after two hours of waiting around, I'm ready for anything.

We both come to a stop before the broken stairwell and gaze up at it. All of my previous excitement has left me as the weight of what we're about to do settles on me. Who knows what's out there? For all we know the Equestria we read about is alive and thriving. It could equally be a death pit full of monsters and radiation. We're leaving everything we know all on the words of what my father and some psycho mare said.

"Do you need me to lift you up?" Reckless asks.

"I can get up there myself." I answer quickly. He nods to me and steps forward, opening his wings completely. I've never seen a pegasus up close before. I didn't even know there were any in the Stable. If he wasn't such a jerk, I would say his silvery grey wings were beautiful. Sadly, he's still a jerk. He gives a few flaps before jumping into the air, making it to the top of the stairs quickly.

Show off.

I take a look at the rocks before me and try to find a path to the top. Let's see... If I jump from that rock... To that rock... To that rock, I might be able to make it to the side of the stairwell. From there I can climb up its metal frame. Easy enough.

I go to the first bolder and hop onto it. Simple enough. The next one I have to pull myself up, but I climb it quickly. Now, onto the last one. It's a bit higher than the others, but there are a few spots where I can insert my hoof to climb up. It shouldn't be a problem. They look sturdy enough to support me. I bring myself up to that point and test my weight there, deeming it suitable to continue. I reach above my head and grab the next point, digging my fingers into the ground a bit. I let out a huff as I bring my hoof to the next point and test my weight there. It's a bit of a stretch, but shouldn't be too much for me to handle.

I take a look around before I reach out and grab the stairwell. It's not the most sturdy thing ever, but it'll do. I move one limb at a time before I'm completely on the metal frame. It sways a bit from the new weight, but stays standing. I start to climb up it, making it sway even more. I slow myself down in an attempt to keep it from moving too much, but I make it to the top soon enough. Once there, I throw my legs over the railing and finally stand.

Crack

I feel my heart stop when the stairwell cracks beneath my weight. I tighten my grip on the railing and wait for something to happen. Any second now this entire thing could come crashing down beneath me. I hear some silt slide out, but other than that, nothing is happening. I open an eye and take a quick look around, noticing that the stairwell tilted slightly to the left. But somehow it's holding. I step back and let out a relieved breath-

CRACK

I look up and make eye contact with Reckless before the ground beneath me crumbles away. I let out a small yell as I try to make a run for the cliffs edge, but I drop too fast to make it. In a last ditch effort to make it to safety, I leap forward, trying to catch myself on the side of the cliff.

THUD

I smash against the wall and start to slide down. I try to grab onto anything I can get my hands onto, but instead I slide halfway down before I finally get my hooves onto something solid. In a panic I grab onto the wall and hold onto it for dear life. I hear all of the metal framework crumble beneath me, but luckily for me it stops there.

"Are you okay?" Reckless yells down to me.

"I'm fine. A bit dusty, but fine." I tell him, glancing over myself momentarily.

"Hang on. I'll come down there and-"

"No! I'll be fine." I yell back stubbornly.

"Are you crazy?! This wall could come crashing down on you!" he yells back at me. I ignore him as I try to find a way up top... it isn't looking good right now. I try to move an arm to reach up higher, but the spots holding me up nearly give out. After a few more tries I hear a few flaps before all of the dust around me is thrown up. I have to shut my eyes tightly to prevent myself from being blinded. At the same time I feel Reckless wrap his arms around my waist and lift me up. A moment of degradation later and he sets me on solid ground.

"I could have done that!" I complain as I step away from him and rub the dirt from my face.

"Of course. Look, that was clearly a sign to not head on. We should go back before anything worse happens." I roll my eyes at that, looking at the rest of the tunnel.

"You promised me thirty minutes," I tell him.

"I didn't promise you anything!"

"It was an assumed promise!" I yell back, making him throw his hands up in anger. "Look, that was obviously unsafe. We'll be more careful in the future. We're already here, why not go further?"

"Because I'd rather you stay alive then end up at the bottom of a pile of scrap, that's why," he tells me flatly. I shake my head at that and start to walk down the tunnel, getting him to chase after me. "Do you have a death wish?"

"No! I have a 'don't get raped' wish!" I yell back at him, making him take a few steps back. "There isn't anything for me back at the Stable, not now at least. I was seen by the guards with those mares. If I go back... nothing good will happen there. I'm just as safe out here as I am down there. And, you know what? I might be a little safer if you'd stop complaining and help me!" He takes another step back, folding his ears along the way.

"I-I... Uh... you... Er..."

"If you want to wait, then wait. I'm not sticking around for that kind of future." I turn away from him and march down the tunnel. Now that I've walked away, I feel slightly guilty for yelling at him like that. But I meant every word. I know what's back there for me. Dad knew that too, that's why he sent me out here I guess.

"Lucky?" I stop and turn back to him, crossing my arms tightly. He walks up to me and bites his lip for a second before passing me my bat. "I'll take lead. Follow after me and keep close, okay?" I look down to the bat for a moment before taking it from him, nodding slowly. "Also, take my helmet. It's not much, but it'll provide some protection at least."

"Thanks." I mutter to him as he hands me the riot helmet. I stare at it for a second before taking it and looking it over. It seems as if he's sweated in it for awhile, but I won't complain about it. It beats nothing.

"And... please don't bash my head in." I chuckle at that. I can't say the thought didn't pass my mind.

"I'll try, you ready?" I ask teasingly. He shoots me a small smile before stepping in front of me. I smile as well, tussling the helmet in my hands before sliding it over my head... yup. He's pretty much sweated into the core of this thing... Not that I'm complaining.

I grip my bat in my hands and walk after Reckless. He's crouched down and is fiddling with the door at the end of the hall. I wait behind him and slide the face guard down. It's a bit more difficult to see through this thing, but I definitely want any form of protection I can get.

Click

I feel my heart skip a beat when Reckless gently opens the door. He doesn't open it all of the way though. Just enough to have a sliver to see out of. I swallow the lump in my throat as he peers around the corner. This is it. No backing out now.

"Alright, here's the plan." He tells me as he closes the door quietly. "The coast appears to be clear. I take the lead out there and you'll follow close behind me-"

"And why can't I lead?"

"Because you don't have any armor on." That's a good point. "Just keep low, keep quiet, and stay close. It looks as if we're in some sort of office building. So we'll take a look around to make sure the coast is clear before moving forward, got it?" I nod to him, holding my bat a bit higher. He nods back to me before crouching back down. I mimic his movement, though I have a bit of difficulty maintaining it.

I follow after him and get my first look of the outside world. It's bleak. As he said, it looks as if it was an office, but it's clearly been destroyed now. The ceiling above has mostly collapsed, leaving the area before us a cluttered mess. There are still a few cubicles here are there, though they too are destroyed mostly. A dim light comes through the cracked walls up above, though the walls around us are dark. They also seem to lack windows, telling me that we're probably still underground. With only the dim light to guide us I switch my Pipbuck light on, only to shriek when I see the skeleton before me. I jump back and trip over something, making a rattling noise. I look down to see that I fell into another skeleton, making me shriek again and jump to my hooves.

"WILL YOU QUIET DOWN!" Reckless yells at me in a hush tone.

"Why didn't you tell me there were skeletons right at the door!" I yell back, trying to step over the bones to get away from them. But with my light on I can see that there are dozens here.

"I didn't notice it. Will you please be quiet now? And turn off your Pipbuck!" I take a few more squeamish steps over the bones before making it to the other side of Reckless. I turn my light off and take a moment to compose myself. Why were there so many bones there to begin with? Were they trying to get in the Stable as well? Do we just leave them there? "We should head back-"

"What? No! We only just started!" I complain, making him stare at me. I blush a bit as I nod to him, knowing I may have thrown a bit a of fit there. To be fair! He should have warned me. "I-I wasn't ready for that."

"We aren't ready for any of this! Look, let's head back and I'll watch over you. I won't let them do... that, okay?" I scoff at that.

"And why would you do that? The longer we're here, the longer we're on equal grounds. You promised me at least an hour. And I intend to stay up here for an hour. So either get out of the way, or start leading." He groans from that, standing back up as he rubs his face.

"Fine! But one hour!" he tells me as he walks off. "... And it was thirty minutes!" Dammit, I thought he wouldn't notice.

"Aren't we sneaking?" I ask as I stand up.

"Not any more. After what you pulled, if something was in here, it would have found us already." I blush a bit more from that. I was just caught off guard! It's not like I was planning on falling into a pile of bones. And he doesn't have to be a jerk about it either!

Reckless moves towards the closest door with his pistol out, aiming at whatever might come out. I glance from poster to poster as I follow behind him. Most of them are still hanging on the walls, astounding me. I can't even keep the files to stand back home, how did they get them to stay up after who knows how long? A lot of them are basically the same. Pinkie Pie is watching you; fight the Zebras, do your work; Use less, Feed troops; a bunch of propaganda stuff. I remember when I was little I found a storage closet with a bunch of this stuff back at the Stable. Dad told me that it was mainly useless now that the world blew up.

We make it to the end of the hall where we find another locked door. Instead of opening it though, Reckless just stares at it.

"Something wrong?" I ask him quietly.

"Two locked doors in an office building. It... just seems weird to me," he replies. I shrug his worries off though.

"We don't know what they were an office for. They could have been for one of the Ministries for all we know. If we can find a working computer, I might be able to pull up a file that could tell us more about what happened here." He nods to that, kneeling to start picking the door. "Where did you learn to do that? I doubt they teach you that in guard school."

"They don't. But... let's just say I had to be skilled growing up." I roll my eyes at that. He can stroke his own ego. I hear something snap and Reckless curses under his breath as he stands back up. "Do you have any bobby pins with you?" I pat myself down until I pull the one from my bangs out. I normally need two to hold them in place, so I pocket the other one.

"Well... let's just hope there aren't anymore locks," I tell him. He bites his lip for a second before taking it and getting back to work on the door. "Wanna place a bet?" I ask eagerly, finding the dull, deteriorating office boring.

"On what?" he ask absentmindedly.

"On what this building was before! My guess is that it was a branch of the Ministries. What about you? And... try to keep it PG." The door clicks open as Reckless stands up and thinks about it for a moment. A small smirk grows on his face as he thinks about it. He better not get perverted about this.

"Before I make my bet, you'll have to narrow your guess. There were a lot of Ministries from before, saying any of them is pretty broad." I nod to that, glad that he's playing along. I imagine a defense building would have better enforcement's, so that's not it. There's a lack of tech, so that rules out magic... hmm...

"I'm going to go with Morale." I tell him confidently. [Luck 7] "And if I win, I get your handcuffs!"

"Morale eh... I can see that, what with all the posters and stuff. Okay, so if it's a branch of the Ministry of Morale then you get my handcuffs. I bet that it's a technology office building, possibly Stable-tech."

"Why do you say that?" I ask curiously, making him smirk.

"Because there's a Stable underneath it." [Intelligence 1]

"I... didn't think about that... huh. Well, anyway, if you're right?"

"If I'm right, you have to call me Reck. Deal?" He holds his hand out to shake, eyeing my seriously. That catches me a bit off guard. I was expecting for him to try something remotely perverted at first. This... makes me feel like a jerk for not calling him that to begin with. But, I stand by my decision not to. I reach out and grab his hand, giving it a firm shake.

"Deal. Now, let's see what's on the other side of that door already." He nods to me and motions for me to back up a bit. I roll my eyes and step back. I doubt there's anything in here, but I'll let him play the role of protector. He brings his pistol forward and slowly opens the door, only bringing it forward enough to peer through.

"Clear." Called it. We step into a more intact office that's much darker then the room prior. There's an emergency light in the back, lighting another doorway, but everything else seems to be shut off. "By the way, why are you making bets all of the sudden? A few moments ago you were screaming bloody murder because of some bones."

"Well... why are you so casual with bones?" I ask defensively as we make our way through the dark office.

"They're just bones. Plus I didn't know them, so I really don't have any connection." I silently nod to that. That's a good way to look at it, though I'll never tell him that.

"They were ponies once." I tell him quietly. "Plus... stuff like that creeps me out. They're bones, they belong inside ponies. That's just... uhg!" He merely shrugs in response.

We make it to the lit door and go through the same procedure, finding another dark room. Like before, there are some emergency lights dotting the sides, giving us a vague idea of where we are. It looks like some kind of power station, but it's set up a bit differently. The center of the room is filled with large machines that have thick antennas standing on top of them. A large, strange object stands in the exact center of all of this machinery. It looks like some kind of tower with a glass tube going around it near the top. I've never seen anything like it before. And don't have a single clue as to what it does.

There are two doors nearby, one on the left side of the room and one the right. We both pause and stare at the two doors, trying to make a guess.

"Left or right?" Reckless asks.

"Mmm... I don't know. You pick." He lets out a grumble before heading towards the left one, probably because he was standing closer to it. We go to the door and find it locked mechanically. No tumbler to pick. "There has to be a switch or computer to activate this. One that would be connected to the emergency grid. Lets take a look around."

"Alright, stay close." I nod to him as I turn on my Pipbuck, lighting the area around us. There isn't much here at fist glance. Some old documents, some dusty terminals, and a trash can filled to the brim with bottle caps. Nothing worth taking really. When we make it to the back of the room we find an old terminal. I move ahead of Reckless and press it on, getting the screen to come to life. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"I've worked on computers all my life. My dad never really did like the computer technicians, thought they were too nerdy for their own good. I might not be the best, but I definitely know what I'm doing." I tell him as I wait for the command screen to come up. Once it does, I try to access the main page, only to get hit with the firewall. Not a problem. The good thing about these computers is that they were all made with the same idea for security measures. I just have to guess which word is the right one and we're in.

"Right... well, I'll just keep watch then, I guess."

"You could go check out that other door. I'm going to be a minute here." He doesn't respond. He just walks to the back. I ignore him as I take a seat and try out a few phrases.

Seeking... no. Four out of seven though, and it probably has the ING in it.

Dud...

Slating... no, but four out of seven.

Dud...

Allowance replenished! Whoo!

Dud...

Only a few left, Leaking... Yes! [Science 25]

After I punch in the password I open up the main menu. There are three options; Work Memo, Personal Messages, and Power Grid Options. Well, we're trying to figure out what's going on here, Work Memo First.

Syn-Tech Administration

Syn-Tech would like to remind its employees that, even though we happily endorse inter-workplace relationships, we will not tolerate workplace fraternization. This is in regards to the now infamous copier incident. As such, the following rules will be implemented:

Mares will no longer be allowed to wear low cut or revealing attire.

Stallions will no longer be allowed to wear cologne.

Everybody will be required to punch in for their breaks and lunches. This includes all smoke breaks, bathroom breaks, and any other time you must leave your cubicle.

Cameras will be installed in all copier, closet, and non-visible public places.

We want to thank you for your cooperation and hope you enjoy the rest of your freedom loving day.

Signed, Miss Seed.

Huh... I can only imagine what happened... Do I really need to read the personal messages... dammit. Curiosity wins again.

Re: Never Again

Dammit D.J. I told you to stop grabbing my ass every time we pass! We may have gotten away with the whole copier thing, but they won't let us keep our jobs if you keep doing that shit! (I'm not mad, I'm just on edge. As much as I may or may not like it, I like paying my bills more :P) It's bad enough that I can't walk down the hall without five cameras following after me. I don't need them breathing down my neck every time we make googly eyes. And lay off the cologne, I can smell it from my desk up front. (Dumbest rule ever >.<)

Anyway, I got your text and yes, I would like to go out next Friday. And if you're a good colt, I'll wear that special little thing I got just for you. ;D

See ya then, P.

P.S. Thanks for wearing that low cut/revealing shirt to work. Too funny! XD

Well... that was a little cute. It's also a weird glance into life back then. I didn't really imagine mares and stallions being flirty back then. With all of the pictures and the way the Stable was, ponies back then seemed more stiff. As if those kind of things were for only the bedroom. I guess we just remember things differently.

Also, this place was called Syn-Tech. So, it most likely wasn't a part of Stable-Tech. But I doubt that the Ministry of Morale was a part of any technical aspects of life, so I don't think I won either. We'll have to check a few more terminals before we declare a winner. Onto the last option; Power Grid.

At first I get a few readings about the amount of energy being produced, and it's a bit... odd. It has two sources; a grid of panels on the top of the building, and some generators from beneath. But, that can't be. The Stable is beneath this building. Our generators couldn't supply this building with the energy it needs... unless it had that second source. But, why would they do that? The stable wasn't built until the climax of the Great War. I doubt they would build an administrative building during that time. It doesn't make any sense.

"That door is not opening." Reckless tells me as he walks up. "Anything good? Was I right?"

"This building is partially powered by the Stable." I tell him, turning around in my stool to look at him. He's just as shocked as I am. "And no, this place was a part of something called Syn-Tech. So you're not right, but there's still a chance that I am. But, I don't think you're grasping the situation completely. This building is partly powered by the Stable, our Stable! You don't find it odd that an administrative building is powered by a Stable?"

"Well... no. Not really." I stare at him for a second as my ear twitches. He can't be that dumb. "Don't give me that look without hearing me out!"

"Then spit it out already! Because this is freaking me out!"

"Well... This building was probably built before the war. They probably put the generators in before they put the Stable. And... well, when they started building the Stables, they probably saw the perfect start to build here. It was partially dug out, had the power it needed, and was probably cheaper than making an entirely new Stable. So... yeah."

"But why wouldn't we know about it? How could we have gone for so long without knowing part of our power was leaving the Stable? There's something else to this, I just know there is." I spin back and start to read the rest of the options. I know there is more to this than just simple planning and logistics. There has to be.

"Well... are you able to turn the rest of the power back on? Or are we stuck here?" I read all of the options once more before turning back to Reckless.

"It looks like we have some options. The connection to the Stable has been turned off. If we want to open the doors we'll have to divert some of their power to us. There is an option to have it spread evenly or take all of it."

"But that would doom the Stable."

"I know. I only mention it to make a point. There is more to this building than just an office. Why would they have the power to do that if there wasn't something else going on?" He shrugs and scratches his head, trying to form a rebuttal. "There is one more option, but I don't know what it would do. Something called the... S.A.S.S.?"

"You have to be making that up."

"I wish I was, but no. There is an option to power something called S.A.S.S." I stare at it for a moment before chuckling a bit. Reckless laughs a bit too, making me laugh a bit more. "At least they had a sense of humor back then."

"I'm feeling a bit sassy, can you click it to find out what it does?" He asks as he leans down to look at the screen. I chuckle a bit more before clicking it. The link brings me to the confirmation page to activate it, but doesn't elaborate on what it does. "I guess that answers that. Alright, spread the power and let's head out."

"Alright, spreading the power... done!" With a final click the screen locks me out as it begins to transfer the power.

The sounds of machines whirring back to online fills the air around us. Old lights flicker back to life with a few exploding loudly. In the distance a siren begins to drone as rusted gears begin to turn once more. The large structures in the center of the room begin to hum as the center object slowly beings to fill the room with a blue glimmer.

I stand in awe of the light glowing brighter and brighter until it begins to be too much to look at. I shield my eyes from it just as thunderous arcs or electricity start to jump from the center object to the outer machines. I duck instinctively from the sounds as more and more arcs jump around. Reckless grabs me and rushes me towards the side as the lights in the room begin to blow out. The metal door grinds open and we rush through it, pressing the switch to close it immediately.

We both lean against the wall and catch our breaths, obviously caught off guard by what happened. Most of the lights in this hallway have blown out as well, but the few that are intact are shinning brightly. The hall itself seems just as bland as the rest of the building, being in the same state of disrepair as well. There are a few bulletin boards with sparse papers, but nothing else.

"What was with that thing?" Reckless asks as he stands upright.

"I don't know, but at lease we made it past the door." I offer him a smile, but he only shakes his head. "Well, anyway, we're here now. Let's take a look around."

"Okay... follow me," he tells me as he crouches down and steps towards the closest door. I shake my head and walk after him. If there wasn't anything before, I doubt there's going to be anything now. But I'll let him think he's leading. If only to save me from the headache.

He takes a look through the door and peers around. He takes a few steps inside before looking back to me and motioning me inside. I smile back and curtsy before pushing the door open and walking in. I hear him mumble under his breath and holster him pistol, following after me. It's another office, but this one is filled with cubicles that mostly look intact. I walk through the spaces and look through them quickly. All of the computers don't seem to be working, mostly due to blowouts. Most of the desks are filled with old knick-knacks and photos of long dead families. Couples, friends, and foals all smiling back at me, covered in a thick layer of dust.

I stop at a cubicle that has a glowing computer at it. Interested, I step inside and flick it on. I search through the files on it, but can only find old memos from management. Nothing worth looking into, since none of them really seem to give me the information I want. I go to leave, but stop when I see a photo sitting next to the screen. It's some rose colored mare with her little pink filly. They're smiling back at me while hugging one another, without a care in the world. I wonder if they ever made it to a Stable. Maybe the mega-spell attacks never made it here. I mean, this building is still standing. Maybe this area wasn't hit as hard by the war.

"Hey." I look back to Reckless and see the worry on his face. "Let's keep moving." I nod to him and stand up, wiping my watery eyes dry.

We continue down the rows of cubicles in a similar fashion. We check each working computer for any details about the facility and come up short handed. It doesn't seem as if there is anything to learn about this building, which is confusing. How could an office run without records of its accounts? Did they transfer them to a central terminal? Or were they deleted after a period of time to keep them secret? I hope it's not the latter.

I tried my best to ignore all of the mementos and photos left behind. Though there was one very nice looking pen I was interested in. I didn't take it though. It didn't feel right to take something that didn't belong to me, even if the owner is now long deceased. Reckless didn't have that trouble though. He found a pocket watch and slipped it into his strap case. I tried to get him to put it back, but he didn't understand why. He doesn't get that taking those items from here is disrespecting the dead. He doesn't care about the legacy these ponies had, he just wants the watch. Maybe I'm just too sentimental for a place like this, but I still feel it should matter.

"We're almost finished with our half hour here." Reckless tells me as I take a seat at another computer desk. Like the others before, I quickly turn any photos down.

"Did your pocket watch tell you that?" I ask dejectedly. I turn on the screen and immediately go to the firewall screen. Odd, none of the other ones did this.

"It did actually. And it also said that I kept my end of the deal, so you should too." I try to ignore him as I try a few keys. It gets to the point where I have to back out and start over again. "Are you listening to me?"

"No. But I do hear you, and it's breaking my concentration. So SH!" He mumbles something before stepping aside, leaning against a filing cabinet casually. "And stop mumbling. I swear that has to be the least attractive thing I've ever heard a stallion do." He starts to mumble something, but goes quiet halfway through.

After a few more failed attempts to open the computer, I finally find the password: Apple. With that I find a personal correspondence from somepony named Miss Seed to a Mr. Desk Jockey.

Dear Mr. Desk Jockey,

I am going to be frank with you, D.J. The file you found can very much be the end of my career here at Syn-Tech. The Synth Warrior Prototype, mark 1, was a failure on my part. I know now that I should not have gone ahead without proper clearance. I have already talked with my cousin in Canterlot about this, but it has to remain under wraps.

We need you, plain and simple. You write the best lines of code in the entire office. If I go, this branch will be dismantled and everypony will be shipped out all over Equestria. That is something I will guarantee will happen should I go down. So here's my little deal for you:

1: I will erase all of your previous misdemeanors with the company.

2: A ten percent raise in salary.

3: The corner office on the northeast side.

Please respond quickly to my offer, thank you.

Miss Seed.

RE:

Dear Miss Seed,

I will take you up on your offer, with two more exceptions.

I don't want the corner office. I want cubicle B2 - 413. I'd also want you to remove the cameras in the janitors closet on the west side of this office floor. And I also want you to clear Primrose's record too.

Just so you know, the guys over at the Enclave are interested in my abilities too. Best wishes,

D.J.

RE:RE:

Dammit D.J., don't be a dick about this! Do you really think I'm going to let you keep fucking around? I can do everything except the closet cameras, don't push your luck!

Seed.

RE:

Seed, it's D.J. We gotta talk.

I found another little file of yours. How in the hell did you pull something like that off? Stable-Tech, Ministry of Morale, you and your little cousin, I know it all. All I want is in. For me and Primrose. Don't keep me waiting.

RE:

You little stripped bastard! Stop hacking my computers! I can't get you in there, the list is already full! I can at best try to get you and your little floozy in somewhere else, but it might already be too late! Don't do anything stupid, let me see what I can pull.

Seed.

Huh, this last one is just a note, interesting.

P.,

It was fun while it lasted, but all good things come to an end, I guess. I saw the clouds. They were awesome and beautiful. Sorta reminded me of you a bit, but they hurt less.

Look at me. Sitting here bleeding and I'm still trying to make you laugh. You always had the best smile. I can hear the ponies outside. It's a full scale war out there, and I thought the fronts were hellish. I locked down the building, wasn't hard. I wrote most the script. I left this computer to be easily hacked so you could get these few files. I couldn't put them all here, but there's enough for you to follow the trail. They were hiding something, and you're going to have to make them pay for it.

I'm just glad I got you down there. You'll be safe there. You won't have to see the hell that's bee unleashed here.

Remember where this all started? I left you a little gift there. It'll help you get what you need to figure out this game Syn-Tech made. Your own little cheat code.

Do me a favor, will ya? When you meet the Overmare for eighty eight, slap her for me, will ya? That bitch needs to be put in her place.

Oh, and I know I'm being a douche, but if it's a filly, give her your family name. A colt, mine. I know you wanted it to be half and half, but a flower computer nerd doesn't really bode well.

It's getting hard to type now. Think I'll head up top and watch the world burn for a bit. I always hated being outside.

D.J.

There's a response dated nearly ten years after the first one.

D.J.,

You didn't have to ask, I got her pretty damn good. Nearly broke my hand in the process. I got the files, and the cheat code. I'm going to right this wrong, for you. I promise. And don't worry, Hard Drive is safe down below. But I have to do this. I can always come back, but I can't always right wrongs. I'll see this through. Hopefully Syn-Tech North is still there...

Love, Primrose.

Quest: Syn-Code
Find the clue to the cheat code.

"So... who wins the bet?" Reckless asks from behind. I take a moment to think to myself before I bring up my Pipbuck and connect to the computer, copying the files over. "What are you doing?"

"I'm copying the files over so I can use them later. They might come in handy." I tell him as I wait for the data to transfer over.

"How would they come in handy? If there were any files in the Stable we would have found that by now." I stay quiet, seeing if he'll figure it out. "Right?"

"... look, Reckless-"

"We had a deal!" he snaps, making me jump slightly. "You said, half an hour up here and we'd go back! That's what you said!"

"I'm not going back there Reckless! You know why I can't-"

"They're not... it's... you don't know that will happen!" I laugh at that, unhooking my Pipbuck from the computer. "We had a-"

BZZT

A loud blast fills the air as something smacks right into Reckless, knocking him onto the ground. I throw myself down as well as more shots fill the room. Several of the shots explode behind me while some hit the cubicles around us. Papers are thrown into the air as monitors and other office supplies explode as large red bolts fly all over the room.

"Reckless!" I yell out as I crawl under a desk. I look over and see him grabbing his pistol as he tries to squirm over to the opposite desk. More shots sound out all around us, destroying the cubicles and work stations. I pull out my bat and grip it tightly. What's shooting us? Where did they come from? WHY are they shooting us!?

Reckless jumps up quickly and starts to shoot back. I hear several pings of metal before he ducks down, quickly followed by a torrent of red bolts of energy. He moves down the line of cubicles as he reloads before popping back up to fire again. I close my eyes and try to calm myself down. I need to join this fight if I'm going to convince Reckless that we can make it up here. I need to join this fight if I'm going to make it up here. I don't need to be protected. I can take care of myself. I can do this!

I jump to my hooves and pause when I see what's attacking us. I want to say it's a robot, but the brain in the glass dome makes me doubt that. It's long, tubular arms have open metal claws that are shooting bolts of energy. It has a round metal body that sits on a pair of treads that have become incredibly rusted.

"Please don't run, that's less efficient." Oh sisters above... it's speaking to us! It almost sounds like a pony! But... it's not. A pony wouldn't just start shooting at somepony! Ponies don't attack one another without a reason!

With a primal scream I run forward and swing my bat over head. The wooden club smashes into the glass dome and sends webs of cracks all around. I pull my bat back and strike again, sending more cracks over the glass and making the liquid inside begin to gush out. One of the tubular arms tries to grab me, but I smack it away with my bat before it could. A few pangs of gunfire sound off from my side and the dome explodes in a shower of questionable liquid, glass, and brain matter. As luck would have it, I happen to have my mouth open as a slather of the liquid finds its way around the face guard and into my mouth.

"Gah! Pwah! SICK! Guh!" I scream as I toss my helmet off to spit out the bile substance. Of course I got some in my mouth, where else would it go!? I start to check myself over, finding myself relatively clean and injury free.

"Are you okay?" Reckless asks as he rushes over to my side.

"I might puke, but other than that, yeah." I tell him as I slowly get control of myself. "What was that thing?" I ask as I take a new look at the robot before us.

"Must be some kind of pre-war robot. Nothing like the Mr. Handy's from the Stable though." He tells me as he walks over to the door. "Shit. I can see a few more down the hall. Go check if the other door is clear." I nod and run to the other side of the room. I slide the door open and poke my head out. Right sides clear-

BZZT

I let out a yelp when a bolt of energy nearly takes my head off.

"They're surrounding us! Where can we go?" I ask as I run around the office space, looking for another way out. Those were the only exits! We're trapped! Maybe we can fight our way through them! Or we can hide in here? There has to be a way out of this!

"Over here!" Reckless yells from the back of the office. I run over and take a look around, not seeing a way out. Before I could question him, he pulls me in close and gives his wings a powerful flap. I scream again when I lose the feeling of being on the ground as air rushes through my hair. Everything goes slightly blurry before we come to a rough stop.

Perspective: Reckless

I come to a quick landing on the floor above us with Lucky grabbing me tightly. It's another destroyed office, but it's stable enough to stand on.

"Enemies detected. Please don't run-"

"Shit!" I yell before flapping my wings again. Lucky lets out another scream as we begin to race through the massive holes above us. There has to be an end to this somewhere. An empty room, a broom closet, anything!

I come to a stop another two stories up and take in my surroundings. This seems like an office similar to that of the Overstallion. There's a desk in the center of the room and a few filing cabinets in the back. Everything is just as dusty as before, but there is a sense of order within the room. Nothing here has been touched in a long time. I set Lucky down and step towards the desk slowly. Lucky wavers for a moment as she tries to keep herself from vomiting.

The computer here is glowing with the screen showing a blur of words and numbers. I stare at it for a moment but can't make heads or tails of it. It's working on something, that much is clear. I try out a few keys, but nothing seems to affect it. I open the drawers on the desk, but there isn't anything in them. There's nothing I can do here.

"Lucky!" I call out as she finally settles down. "Come here and check this out."

"Yeah... next time warn me before you do that. I'd rather not puke my brains out," she tells me as she stumbles her way over. "Whoa. What did you do?"

"Nothing," I tell her as I move aside, letting her get a better look. "It was like that when we got in here. Do you know what it's doing?"

"Not a clue. Some sort of... command, probably. This is way out of my league though." Well, that sucks. "There isn't a power button on this computer either. Whoever this was for, they really wanted to make sure that this code made it through."

"So... whatever it's doing, it's not stopping. And we turned it on." She looks up to me and shrugs. Hopefully it doesn't do anything bad.

"It might just be running all of the robots downstairs," Lucky suggests.

"Yeah... yeah, that sounds most logical. Well... now what? I don't really feel like going back down there with all of those weird robots-"

"Then that means we're leaving the building," Lucky tells me confidently. I swallow the lump in my throat as I nod to her. If only for the time being, we have to leave. Maybe it won't be so bad. Who knows, we might even find some help. Or even another way in! But, there is no way we can go back down there and face all of those robots. I only have a few magazines for my pistol left. And Lucky only has a bat with her...

"Did you really leave my helmet down there?" She think about it for a second before smiling up to me, ears falling down. "Uhg, stay here. I'm going to race down there and get it. If we're really going to leave this place, you'll need it."

"Right... thank you. I'll be here, so... hurry back." I nod to her and hop down the hole in the front of the room.

When I land I am immediately fired upon. I try to run for the hole in the ground, but take a hit on my lower back in the process. My guard armor takes the brunt of it, but it's still enough to send me toppling over into the next opening. I grit my teeth and push myself forward with my wings, racing forward with great speed. In the Stable, I never really had this much room to use my wings before. I trained them, practiced my maneuvers, and used every opportunity I could to fly. But being in an underground bunker, my chances were far and few.

Here though, racing through this tall building, I can really start to push myself. More than back then at least. Even with the slight pain in my back, I can weave and glide my way through the lasers and debris with so much speed! I make it to the bottom faster than I had thought possible. But I only get a second to think about it before the room lights up with energy again. I duck down at look for the helmet. It should be by the destroyed robot... there it is! I rush over to it and grab it, ducking from all of the over head fire. I take a look around as several robots start to move in on me, their aim getting closer and closer. I need to think fast right now.

I turn on my heels and whip out my pistol, taking aim at the closest robot before me. I start to rush it as I unload on it, my rounds pinging off of its metal body. It fires back at me, piercing my shoulder with a red bolt of energy. I grunt the pain out through gritted teeth as I continue rushing forward, colliding into it a moment later. I throw all of my weight into my shoulder and force it back a few steps before nearly being thrown off. The robot goes to grab me, but my wings get me out of the room before it could. I race my way to the top and practically fling myself into the top office, a torrent of red bolts chasing after me. It was close, but I made it.

I drop onto the floor and let the adrenaline run its course. That was... a little crazy. I made it, but I don't think I'll be going down that way anytime soon. I look around and notice that I'm alone in the room, with the front door being slightly open. She didn't... did she? I really don't think she'd run away from me right now. But...

I force myself up and walk towards the door, being mindful of any potential threats. When I come to the door, I lean forward and bring my ear towards the crack, listening for anything. It seems silent. I catch my breath at first, but hold it as I start to push the door forward. The hallway is empty, save for the random picture frames clinging to the walls. I look both ways before stepping out completely, gripping my pistol a bit more tightly due to the silence.

She wouldn't just up and leave me like this, would she? Given, we seem to have different goals when it comes to priorities right now. But I'm the only pony she can trust out here. Why would she just leave like this? Something must have scared her off. Maybe another one of those robots? No, I would hear its rusted treads. Maybe there's a Mr. Handy here that's on the fritz... maybe?

I jump slightly when I hear heavy hoof steps coming down the hall. I jump out, thinking it's Lucky, but freeze when I see the thing before me. It's shaped like a female pony, but very clearly isn't. Patches of its... skin, are missing and reveal the mechanical parts underneath. The top of its head looks like a glass dome with most of a brain inside. It's face is missing most of its skin as well, showing the mechanical nightmare gritting its teeth at me. I stare into its piercing yellow eyes for a moment before it blinks and looks me over.

"Who are you?" Its voice is that of a pony's. If I wasn't looking at it right now, I would have said it was a pony.

"I-I'm... uh..." What is this thing? Why would it need to look like a pony? Where is Lucky?

"No matter. Down the trash you go."

"What!?" It lunges forward with amazing speed and grapples me in its arms. I try to break free, but it's simply too strong to break out. I start to flap my wings as a last ditch effort, but only one of them is free. It's still enough to rock us back and forth, so I put as much effort into that as I continue to struggle.

"Stop fighting me! Hngh! Calm down already!" It yells at me as we wobble down the hall.

"Fuck you! Let me go!" I yell back.

"It'll... be... quick! Just... down the... shoot... and-"

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" I look back and see we've stopped before a panel on the wall marked 'Waste'. What can I do!? Where's Lucky? Did this thing get her too? We fumble around a bit more before the machine gets the panel open. It's a little trash shoot that doesn't look as if I'd fit inside. It's goes straight down into darkness, sending a cold shiver down my back.

I intensify my efforts to break free as it starts to try to force me into the small opening. It tries to get my legs first, but I simply keep my hooves planted on the walls around it. It spins around and starts to force me down head first, but I push my wing forward to stop it. My head still goes in, but my wings painfully catches on the wall and stops me from falling down the metal tube.

"Why are you making things so difficult! Just! Go! DOWN!" It yells as it starts to force me into the hole. I scream out in pain as I feel my wing scrap against the wall, tearing feathers out along the way. I start to kick at it and force my arms out, trying anything to break free. With how tight this hole is, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from falling to my death with my wings. I might be able to slow myself with my arms and legs, but going upside down will be problematic.

BZZT

Everything turns white when a sudden burst of energy rattles my entire body. My vision goes fuzzy as I feel myself become numb, falling into the darkness. My body bounces violently back and forth as I fall, head first, into nothingness. I try to blink my way back into consciousness, but my eyes are getting heavier and heavier that faster I drop.

THUD

Everything comes back to me in a blur. First I hear a light rumbling in the distance. Then I feel the throbbing pain in my wing, back, shoulder, and head. And lastly, the smell. Something far more foul and disgusting than I could ever imagined. With that alone, I force myself awake and take in my surroundings. I'm in some kind of large metal bin filled with black trash bags. I'm slightly buried, but I should be able to get up-

SHLUNK

My hoof slips on something just as I was about to stand, forcing me to fall face first into something. Whatever it is, it's equal parts soft and firm. I push myself up and notice that I fell right onto Lucky's unconscious form...

"SHIT!" I yells as I start to pry her out of the wet garbage. I slip over the wet refuse as I try to pick her up. I groan out loud as the pain all over my body fights me the entire way. I fall back with her on my lap, panting from the exertion. I've never been in this much pain before in my entire life. I need a Stim-pak, maybe some Med-X. I fumble with the pouches on my belt as I hold onto Lucky until I find my medical supplies. Reaching in, I can only feel that I have two Stim-paks. Not good. I need one now, meaning Lucky probably needs one too.

No. I can tough it out! For now at least. And I don't even know what condition she's in. First things first, check on her. Then do the medical thing. I wrap my arms around her midsection and begin to pull again. I start to yell as the pain grows and grows within me. My back is tightening up, my wing is stinging, and the numbness in my head is making everything blur together, but I keep pulling. We have to get moving. We're in the middle of nowhere; with no food, no water, injured; we need to get moving.

"GAAAAAAH!" I let out one final scream as I finally pull Lucky out from the trash. I pull her all the way up until I'm standing with her in my arms, heaving. A low rumbling sounds over head as I begin to feel dizzy again. I may have pushed myself a bit too much...

THUD

I let out a slow groan as I stare up at the grey sky, watching the water droplets fall all around me. I really should get out of this, who knows what we'll catch. I try to move, but my body simply refuses to respond. At least I broke the fall for Lucky, I guess.

"Reckless... Reckless!"

Not now Ma, I'm tired.

"Wake up... please wake up..."

Later, I want to sleep.

"Please work... you have to work..."

That's all you ever talk about...

"GAH!" I give a violent jolt as something pierces my chest. I try to move, but something is weighing me down on my abdomen. I blink away the fuzziness as the figure on top of me continues to hold something against my chest. On reflex, I bring my knee up and force it against its side, knocking it over. I roll with the figure and pin its arms down, slowly getting my vision back. "Lucky?"

"Calm down," she says quietly from beneath me. I look around and realize that we're still by the trash bins. I take a look at my chest to see that my shirt and armor has been moved so a Stim-pak could be injected into me. I then look down and realize the compromising position I'm in with Lucky and quickly back away from her.

"Sorry! I was... uh... sorry." I tell her as we back away from each other. I feel my cheeks burning slightly, so I look away from her. That was stupid.

"I-it's okay. You were really injured, so I had to use a Stim-pak. I used it broadly, so try and take it easy." I nod, slowly looking back to her. She's completely soaked, with her hair clinging to her as rain washes down from above. I thought her clothes before were risque, but now seeing them on her and completely drenched... I avert my eyes again.

"T-thanks. Um... what about you? Were you hurt?" I ask, trying to normalize the situation, as impossible as that might be.

"I hit my head... really bad. I had to use the other Stim-pak for it." We both go quiet after that. We can't go back up there. Not with all of those robots still lurking around. We don't have any medical supplies. And, to top it all off, we barely have any ammo or weapons! We're stuck out here in possibly the worst condition imaginable! "Look at that."

I look over to her and then up at the sky she's staring at. Up in the sky there's a large mass moving behind the clouds. It's a bit difficult to see at first, but whatever this thing is, it's leaving a trail of thunder and lightning. It's not moving too fast, by our perspective. It takes about a minute or two for it to move to the point where I get a glimpse of the world I'm now stuck in.

The barren landscape before me looks to be a desert of some sorts. There just isn't much out here. Muddied grounds, tall sticks that were once trees, nothingness. All of the rain water is flowing down the center and away from us, telling me we're at least on the high ground. I look behind us and see the large building we just left for the first time. It's a box. Five stories tall, ten windows wide, grey stone, all of this blandness sitting on top of a lone hill. It's literally the most boring thing in these parts, and there's nothing out here.

THUM

"We should get going," Lucky tells me after a loud crack of thunder. "Any ideas?"

"Um..." I mumble to myself as I stand up. "Not that way. The waters look like hell."

"Right," she says as she stands with me. "And I think we should really put some distance between ourselves and this place as quickly as possible."

"Yeah. So left of right?" We both look in each direction and try to decide where to go... but it's literally going to be a guessing game. Both ways look to be about the same. Muddied nothingness. I glance over to Lucky and realize that she doesn't have the helmet with her. I did not go through all of that just to leave it behind. "You pick, I'm going to check the trash to see if your helmet is in there."

"Right," she tells me as she goes to her Pipbuck. I don't know what that's going to do, but whatever.

I give my wings a test flap before judging them fit for flight. Maybe not extended flight, but enough to be a bit lazy. I jump into the air and hover above the garbage bin. The black bags are starting to float as the bin fills with water, but I can still see where we were clearly. With that I find where Lucky was and poke around there. I get a glimpse of something at the bottom of the crevice she was in and land to take a closer look.

It's down there, all I have to do is stick my hand in and grab it. So, I do.

SHLICK

And immediately regret it. This bin is filled with some kind of gross, greasy substance that smells awful. I have to fight to not yank my arm out, and push myself to grab the helmet. I use my wings to pull myself out and claim my prize, turning it over so all of that gunk pours out. While I pout it out though, I notice something down beneath. Floating in the sewage is... a skull. Well, most of a skull. How in the world did a skull get in there? What am I thinking? Look at this place! Some poor sop probably found his way here and tried to hide in the bin, then died of exposure!

I land beside Lucky and go to offer her the helmet, but stop when I realize how disgusting this thing is. I take a look around, but there isn't anywhere to really wash it out that well. Unless I went to the water over there-

"Don't fly off," Lucky warns me as she flips through her Pipbuck.

"Do you really just want to wear this after it's been in trash soup?" I ask her sarcastically, getting a quick glare from her.

"Do you really want to be electrocuted and then drown?" I go to respond, but mumble awkwardly to silence. She has a point, and I would like to not die right now, so I guess we'll have to find another way then. "Here, I'll wash it off as we head out using the rain."

"Where we going?" I ask as I pass it to her.

"This way is north. For some reason my Pipbuck is telling me to go that way. So, it's better than staying here. Now let's go already! I'm starting to freeze my tail off!" I nod to her and together we start to walk north.

"Why is your Pipbuck telling you to go north?" I ask her.

"I'm not entirely sure. It's just has a marker up there. It's also is showing me a map of the area." I pull up my Pipbuck and take a look at the map. Sure enough, there it is. A map, with a marker pointing up.

Quest: Humble Beginnings
Find Silo.

"How does it know where that is? Or, even better, how it would know we would want to go there?" I ask in astonishment, putting my Pipbuck away. Lucky merely shrugs, focusing on her helmet as she tries to use the rain to wash it. I try to think of a possible answer, but give up quickly. I'm not a Pipbuck repair pony, I'll leave it to the experts.

Walking in the rain is terrible. The mud is heavy on my boots, the water is cold, I can barely see twenty feet in front of myself, every beat of water stings, and it's freaking cold. I've taken showers with no hot water that were warmer than this! And Lucky has it even worse than me! At least my midriff is covered. She put the helmet on, so her head is relatively fine, but her Stable clothing is not helping at all. After about thirty minutes of walking, we didn't even have to ask each other for shelter. But, out here in this wasteland, there isn't anything left! No buildings, no infrastructure, nothing! I'm starting to fear that we passed something and didn't see it due to the rain! I can see how that pony died in the trash bin now. I'd kill for that thing if it meant getting out of this rain for a few minutes!

Lucky comes to a stop and starts to look through her Pipbuck suddenly. I don't ask her anything though. I just watch her as I try to keep myself warm by holding myself. It's not working.

"There's a building to the west, just a few minutes away!" she yells over the rain.

"Let's go then!" I yell back, getting a weak nod from her. I use my Pipbuck to find west and trudge my way there. I never thought rain could be so deadly, but now I know. It slows you down, makes you cold, not to mention I'll probably get sick because all this! What would I do if I got sick out here? Are there doctors out here? Would they have cold medicine? Would they even help me? We should have stayed by the door. At least there we wouldn't have had to deal with all of this bullshit.

Even though it only took a few minutes, they felt like hours. Maybe because I knew there was finally something out there, I don't know. A building came into view through the rain, and I nearly cheered for it. It looks as if it was some kind of garage from before nestled at the base of a hill. Most of the building has been destroyed, leaving half of the garage portion standing. A few large mechanical pieces are wasting away in the rain, but we pay them no mind as we rush to the portion that's dry.

When we get around the still standing wall, our hearts sink. The roof has fallen in, leaving the inside completely exposed to the weather. We both stood there in disbelief. There's just no escaping this, is there! Lucky leans against the wall and starts breathing heavily. In anger, I kick some of the rubble and take a look around. There has to be something useful here, there has to be! Empty drawers, piles of rubble, anything that could have been of use was probably taken a long time ago. I pace around a bit more before I give up. This place is useless!

I was about to walk away, when some shifting rubble caught my attention. I move over to it and take a better look. Underneath where I kicked the floor has a black and yellow design. Curious, I use my foot to clear some of it away. 'Caution' is written beneath the fallen roof. Going off on a limb, I clear a bit more of the rubble. Underneath all of this debris, is some sort of metal door. Why is there a metal door leading underground? Unless...

"Lucky!" I yell back to her, still staring at the ground. "Lucky, come help me clear this door!"

I start to move around in a panic. I throw rocks, kick debris, anything that might clear this door faster. I start out with the side, making my way around the box. Then I take the heavy stuff off. Support beams, large sections of bricks and concrete, all of the stuff that takes all of my effort. The old stones cut at my pruny hands, but I ignore the pain and push myself. Lucky is still holding herself at the wall, heaving. I paused for a second to say something to her, but went right back to work. The faster we get out of this rain, the better. We can talk when the hypothermia kicks in.

While moving a particularly heavy piece of wall, my foot trips over something on the ground. I was fortunate enough to have been bent over, so the chunk of rock couldn't fall on me. With a tired groan, I sit up at look at the green button protruding from the floor. I stare at it for a second before I realize what it is, and quickly kick it. Rusted gears and whining metal fill the air as the metal doors start to lift up. They make it about half way before they come to a loud stop. They vibrate for a bit before a yellow light on the still standing wall starts to flash. I stand up and walk over to the edge, peering inside. There's a car down there, mostly intact! It's not much, but it'll get us out of this rain!

"Lucky!" I yell as I run over to her. She's still leaning against the wall and holding herself, staring down at the floor. "I've found shelter, let's go!"

"..."

"Did you hear me? I said-"

"I'm sorry." I pause at that, unsure of how to respond.

"Uh... that's... t-that's okay. But let's get down there-"

"No, it's not okay!" she yells, silencing me. She removes her helmet and looks up at me, showing me her bloodshot eyes. "I thought I could handle this, I really did! But we almost died to rain! When I saw the collapsed roof... I gave up! I though we were dead! And you... and you..."

"Lucky-"

"You just... kept going! Not even an hour out here, and I gave up! I actually thought that we would die in the mud. I thought that I failed the both of us because... I don't even know! How are we going to make it out her if I can't even go thirty minutes in the rain?" She breaks down again, crying deeply. I... just stare at her for awhile. I don't know what to say. I am mad that she forced me out here, but... She already feels bad for that, there's no point in throwing it in her face now.

I bit my lip as I try to think of what to do here. I've never consoled somepony before. It's even worse when you have feelings for that pony. I want to tell her everything will be alright, but I don't even believe that. Is this the time to tell her I'll be there for her? Or would that be inappropriate? Is that even an option out here? And every time I think of that, my mind tells me not to. That she's the entire reason I'm stuck out here, she deserves this. But, then I look down at her, crying...

"Lucky," I say quietly as I bring a hand to her shoulder. She looks up to me with those tear filled eyes and I pause. I want to be mad, and I want to forgive her. What should I do? "Look... this isn't going to be easy. I'm not going to lie, I'd rather be home right now. But, we can't change that. Not now at least. So, how about this. I'll forgive you, for everything, but you have to make me a promise, okay?"

"What?" she asks as she wipes her eyes, still sniffling.

"Don't ever give up." I give her shoulder a firm squeeze when I say that, trying to add to my statement. "You were a secretary, I was a guard. When I saw the roof was gone, I was just as sad as you were. But I had training to keep me going. You were never supposed to go through shit like this. I don't expect you to deal with this kind of shit by yourself, because I can't even do it myself. I need somepony to help me through this, and that's going to be you Lucky. If we're going to make it out here, we are going to need to work together. So I need you to promise to me, right now, that you'll never give up on me again. Because if you won't, I won't. Promise?"

She stares up at me for a moment before smiling to me. I swear, with that alone, I warmed up enough to forget about the rain. She nods to me and brings her hand up to shake. I smile at that, shaking her hand firmly. It may not have been the dreamy make-out session I may have thought of, but it's still a step in the right direction.

After that we rush over to the opening and slide inside. Even just being out of the rain is a blessing! The door to the car is locked, but I get it open rather quickly. Didn't even have to move the bobby pin, oddly enough. The door screeches open and we rush inside, taking the front seats. It takes a bit of effort, but I close the door and lock it.

"Aaaahh, I never though I would be so glad to be sitting." I tell Lucky as we start to get comfortable. We share a small laugh together before falling silent. As comfortable as I am, I need to get out of these clothes or I will get sick. I lean forward and start to undo my riot armor, getting a confused look from Lucky.

"Um... Reckless?"

"Yeah?"

"I know we had that... little moment, but..." She pauses when I pull my shirt off and toss it behind myself. We stare at each other before I realize the awkwardness of the moment.

"Oh! No, no, no, no! I'm not trying... this is only because of the water! Keeping wet clothes on will get you sick!" I almost yell in defense, making her relax.

"Right, right! Of course! Sorry," she tells me, half laughing. She suddenly goes wide eyed as she thinks about something to herself. Shit! I just told her that we have to take our clothes off! What was I thinking!?

"You don't have to!" I suddenly yell, scaring her slightly. "I-I mean you should, but... uh... I can, no wait... we should-"

"What did you throw your shirt onto?" she asks as she reaches to the back seats. I turn around and see the large dufflebag sitting beneath my soaking wet shirt. She pulls it closer and pulls the zipper down, revealing tons of clothing.

"Huh. That was luc-"

"Do not finish that sentence." Lucky warns me, pointing a finger at my face. "I can't stand those jokes."

"I wasn't joking-"

"Regardless. Do me a favor, and never make those type of comments again." I was going to make a joke, but stop when I see the stern look on her face. "Thanks... um... can you cover your eyes. Please."

"Of course." I bring my hands up and cover my eyes, locking my fingers over them. The car shifts around as she climbs in the back seat and starts to change. Even without looking back there, I can feel my cheeks stats to burn. I don't understand why though. I've been around plenty of nude mares before, this shouldn't be any different. These emotions are driving me crazy! I can't look at her without my stomach feeling as if it's going to rip itself out, I can't be in the same room with her changing without getting flustered, what the shit is wrong with me!?

"Why do your wings keep doing that?" Lucky asks suddenly. I shift my shoulders around and feel my wings trying to stand up. Of course this would happen too.

"Um... they, uh... it's better if you don't ask." It goes silent. She moves back to the front seat, but doesn't say anything. Here it comes, bit my head off. Any second now... start yelling... dooo it.

"So... are you going to change?" I uncover my eyes to look over at her. She's wearing a long red and black plaid shirt that's several sizes too big with baggy jeans. She has her hair down and pushed behind her shoulders. We stare at one another for a moment before I notice her blushing lightly. Shit, I made it weird. Uh....guess I'll just change then!

I climb over to the back seat and start to go through the bag, trying my best to ignore the awkward moment I just made. There are a lot of clothes in here. They're all old and worn, but they're all dry. I find a white shirt and jeans and start to switch into them. I go to take my pants off, but stop to glance back at Lucky. She's looking forward, paying me no mind at all. There is a ping of disappointment, but I let it go quickly. It would be a little presumptuous to think she'd be interested in me like that. Slow and easy...

"There isn't any in there," Lucky tells me from the front seat.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"I already looked. There isn't any underwear in there. You'll have to go commando for the night." I look down at the bag and think about what she said. How could somepony put a bag of clothes together and not include underwear? That would have been the first thing I put in there! Well, I guess I can go one night while these dry out... wait. Shit! That means these will be the only pair I have until we find more! That's... that's... that's disgusting!

"What do you think the chances are of finding a clothing store out here?" I ask as I slip out of my clothes and quickly throw on what I picked out. It feels a bit weird, but I'll make do. Not like I have a choice.

"Not likely. If there was anything out here, it probably washed away with the rain." Lucky tells me as I climb back to the front seat. I scoff at that, feeling a chill wash over me at the thought of being in the rain. "But... if we find one-"

"If we find one, we're breaking down the doors and taking everything that isn't nailed down." She laughs at that, making me perk up a bit.

We both lay back in our seats and starts to relax. It's a bit cold in here, but it's manageable. The windows are starting to fog up as our slow warm breaths fill the air, slowly sealing us away from the world around us. I still can't believe that a few hours ago I was asleep in my bed. Warm, carefree, safe. Now I'm out in this wasteland, cold, no food or medical supplies, and wearing some dead ponies shirt. Part of me wants me to go to sleep and wake up back in bed. That Valve will still be alive. That this was all some kind of terrible dream that I'll laugh about over breakfast. I know better though. You can't fake pain, and you definitely can't fake the cold. I'm stuck out here.

"What do you think Silo will be like?" Lucky asks me quietly. She curls into a ball and moves to look over at me, hugging her legs to her chest. I think about it for a second before shrugging to her.

"I don't know. Most likely a settlement, but I'm not sure. You?" She shrugs back to me, curling deeper into a ball. "So... I bet you... that it's a settlement with nothing but... nuclear powered robots."

"... pft, what?" she asks with a slight chuckle.

"You heard me. Nuclear powered robots! If I win, you have to wear your clothes backwards for a day." She laughs again, loosening up a bit more.

"Alright, nuclear powered robots. I bet you... it's a settlement of... old war ponies." I laugh at that.

"Explain that. Old war ponies? Like, they were born before the war and run the place?" I ask, shifting onto my side to talk to her. She nods to me eagerly, scooting closer.

"Yup! Ponies that somehow time traveled to the future and made a new town! And if I'm right... you have to wear the mares shirts inside that bag!"

"What? If there's mares clothing in there, why aren't you wearing them?"

"I am! It's freezing out here! I have two pairs of pants on and three shits!" I laugh at that as she shows me the multiple layers of clothing. At least I'm not the only one who's could... Why didn't I put multiple layers on?

"It's a bet then." I tell her as I bring my hand up to her. She stares at my hand for a moment before shaking it firmly. I guess being out here isn't too bad, all things considered.

...Reckless, move!

...it's time to get up honey...

...it's so cold out there...

BZZT

"AH!" I jolt forward and throw my arms up to stop the blade from slicing me in half. Lucky lets out a yell as she jolts up as well. In a panic I start to check my surroundings, looking for the mare with the buzz saw. Slowly, I start to remember where I am. I fall back in my seat and continue to pant, feeling the light layer of sweat over myself.

What was that?

A nightmare obviously.

I've never had a nightmare like that before.

You've never been in a situation like this before. Get over it, you're freaking Lucky out.

How is she not freaking out?

Get a hold of yourself! Pull yourself together already!

I can't do this! I won't do this!

Don't be a little bitch and do it already!

I'm not going to be like you Dad!

"Reckless?"

"WHAT!?" I yell, turning to Lucky quickly. She cowers away from me, gripping her bat closely. I look at my reflection in the window and see what I'm doing. I sit back down and rub my eyes, tired beyond belief. "I'm... I'm sorry. It was... just a bad dream. I didn't mean to yell, sorry."

"It's... it's alright. Do you want to talk about it?" I shake my head immediately, not wanting to recount what just happened.

"No, no, it's just all the stress coming to a point. I'll be fine. Sorry. Do you want to go back to sleep ? She glances around before shaking her head no. I nod to her, reaching in the back to feel my clothes. They're dry enough to keep going. I crawl back there and start to put my suit on, putting it on over my current clothes for added warmth.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? You look terrified." I finish putting on the suit and start on the riot gear.

"No... no, I'll be fine, really. Sorry, to worry you that is. It was just a bad dream, that's all."

"Okay," she says slowly, letting it be what it is. I don't think I'm ready to talk about those thoughts yet. Let alone with Lucky. I move to the front seat and force the door open.

"I'll step out to let you get ready. Be sure to bring that bag of clothes up with you." She nods to me, still looking scared. I step out and submerge my hoof into some ice cold water. It looks as if the rain has flooded this compartment at least six inches, give or take. I step completely out and climb out of the opening above. I have to shield my eyes when I make it out. The sun is high in the sky and shining brightly over everything. Shouldn't it be late in the afternoon? Why is the sun so high?

With the sun positioned high, I can see the surrounding area. To the south is a large wasteland, devoid of anything other than mud and running water. Far to the east is the silhouette of a city. Tall buildings poke at the horizon with smaller houses dotting the area before it. To the north is an expanse of hills and some smaller buildings. Maybe a suburb? It's hard to tell from out here. After a few more moments of staring out there Lucky joins me at my side. We both stand there silently. Even though she's staring out at the horizon, I can still see the concern on her face.

"Sorry... about earlier-"

"You don't have to keep apologizing about it. I understand," she tells me, giving me a compassionate look.

"I know. I just... don't want you having to worry about me. I can handle it." I leave it at the, walking off to the north. I can feel her eyes on me, but I don't wait for her to way anything. I can handle this, just like before. She follows after me, muttering something to herself quietly. I ignore it, focusing at the task at hand.

As we walk I keep my pistol out and my head on a swivel. Something has to be out here, I know it. I don't want anything to surprise us. Lucky has her bat out with her helmet on. But she doesn't seem to be looking for threats. Her mind is elsewhere. Looking at the clouds, eyeing puddles, staring at the horizon. She's paying attention to everything except the possible threats. I guess that leaves them to me then.

I am a little surprised at how quickly the ground dried out. Maybe the ground here wasn't rained on as harshly. Without pegasi to control the clouds, the rain literally could have been just over us. But... does that mean that there aren't any other pegasi out here? Am I still the last one of my kind? I guess that doesn't really change anything then. I guess, somewhere in the back of my mind, I was hoping to meet at least one other pegasi. Would have been nice.

After an hour of marching through this wasteland my eyes start to get tired of staring at the same thing over and over again. There's literally nothing here besides sand and rocks! In the distance there's a bent over tree, but there's even less to say about that! Lucky isn't talking either. I guess I scared her too much for that. Great. There has to be something here! Any-

THUD

I let out a slow groan as I let the feeling ebb it's way back into my face.

"How did you not see that?" Lucky asks. I push myself up and look back to her, only to realize that I fell down into a small canyon of sorts. I look around and note that it goes for miles in east and west.

"What the hell is thing?" I ask as I stand up.

"The Westfield River, according to my Pipbuck." Lucky informs me. "Actually, we can follow this to another river, the Conneticolt River, and take that north to Silo. It adds to our journey, but that way we won't get lost."

"Well, it's a plan at least. Let's-"

"Help!" I look down the dry river bed and see some guy running towards us. He's appears to be an earth stallion in rags running from... nothing. "Do you have a gun? Help me! They've been chasing me for miles, HELP!"

"Am I missing something?" I ask aloud as I draw my pistol.

"Um... WHAT ARE YOU RUNNING FROM?" Lucky yells back to the guy.

"HEEEEEEE-HE-HE-HELP!" he yells in desperation as the ground behind him explodes into a ball of dust. A massive four-legged creature comes running out of the dust cloud and thunders towards the stallion. It looks like a glowing green crocodile made of stone. It's mouth opens four ways as it let out a massive roar, taking a bite at the guy. Just before it connects though, another explosion of dust erupts up as another creature appears. It crashes into the first creature, sending it reeling to the side as it takes over chasing this poor stallion.

"Reckless!" I shake myself and look back to Lucky, who's gawking at me. "Don't just stand there! Help!"

I nod to her and lunge into the air, heading straight to the fleeing stallion. His widen even more as I grab his wrist and begin to gain altitude. Those things are land locked and heavy, we'll be safe up here-

GLOMP

"WHOA! What the shit!?" I yell as the stallion starts to grab me as tightly as possible. I try to push him back to stay air born, but he refuses to let up!

"What's going on!? How did we get up here? Why are we up here!? GET ME DO-OW-OW-OWN!" We lose about ten feet when yells directly into my ear, making him scream even more. I take a look down and notice that the two monsters are busy fighting each other and that Lucky has ran past them.

"Stop- OW! Stop fidgeting while I -stop kicking! I'm bringing us do-down!" I yell at him as he continues to fight. He just keeps screaming for help, so I just ignore him as I make my way down. First contact and he's nearly kicked me in the nuts, great. I try my best to maneuver our way down towards Lucky, but with this guy fighting me the entire way we crash a bit early.

Lucky for me, the stranger broke my fall, so it didn't really hurt that much. I get up and dust myself off as he groans on the ground, holding his sides. I'm sure he's fine... probably. When Lucky runs up to us I hold up a hand to her, getting her to stop a few feet away. We may have saved this guys life, but we still don't know him. He could be dangerous. I wait for him to get his bearings before I offer him a hand up. He grabs it and uses me to stand.

"Thanks for that, I thought I was a goner!" he pants out.

"Don't mention it," I reply, eyeing him closely. He doesn't really have much to him. Thin arms, shabby brown hair, yellow coat with dirt smeared all over; he's extraordinarily plain. He looks between Lucky and myself as he starts to back away, giving me the stink eye.

"So... how does this work?" he asks cautiously.

"How does... what work?" Lucky asks, equally confused.

"You're Enclave, right? I've heard about you fly boys. Got your flanks kicked back at the Capitol so now you're looking for somewhere new to settle, is that it?" Lucky and I look to each other as we think about what he said. Whatever this Enclave thing is, it has him pretty scared. I could probably get him to guide us to Silo in exchange for saving him. He doesn't look as if he has any weapons, so I doubt he'll be a threat. It'd be a pretty dick thing to do, but we're desperate.

"We're not Enclave," Lucky tells him. Whelp, there goes my plan! "We just came out of a Stable, Stable Eighty Eight. We stumbled into the river and... well, right time, right place I guess." The stranger looks between the two of us in confusion, so I pull the extra shirt off to show him my stable suit.

"That's Stable wear alright. I didn't know there were any Pegasi in the Stables. Figured being underground was against their nature." I stay silent at that. I really don't know how to answer that. I was the last Pegasi in the Stable, so obviously not many of my kind went down there. And I've lived there my entire life, so I don't know if I prefer it down there or out here... besides stating the obvious. "The names Tweak."

"Reckless," I tell him, shaking those thoughts from my mind.

"And I'm Lucky." He laughs at that, still backing away slightly.

"I guess they would be, huh? Well, look, here's the thing. I appreciate your helping me, but as you can see I don't have anything with me. That Radcrag ate everything I had. But my camp is just up past the riverbed, just north of here. If ya'll come up with me, I can give you a little something for rescuing me. I don't have much, but I still want to give you something. Back at my camp, that is. Sound good?"

He keeps looking behind himself for some reason. I want to pass it off for almost being eaten... but something about him is making me uneasy. Lucky and I look to each other, trying to see what each other thinks. She doesn't seem too thrown off about this. I don't really have much to go off of other than my instincts. But I don't know if those are valid up here though. I could be a trap, he could genuinely be trying to help us. There's really not much else to go off of.

"Alright, we'll follow you back to your camp," I tell him, getting him to smile. His teeth are a disgusting shade of yellow, with pockets of black and orange-ish red.

"Good, good! Follow me, and let's hurry! We don't want those things chasing after us." We nod to him and follow after him, letting him walk ahead of us.

"Keep your eyes on him," I warn Lucky quietly. "I don't trust this guy entirely."

"We just saved his life. Why would he turn on us?" Lucky whispers back to me.

"I don't know, that's why I said we'd go to his camp. But there's something about him that I can't quite put my finger on. Don't get too close to him." She shrugs to me and walks on. I reach down and un-clip the strap on my pistol, leaving it at the ready.

Much of the wasteland here is different than the area we first appeared in. Not too far on the other side of the riverbed are more dead trees and crumbling buildings. None of them look inhabitable, but it's obvious to tell that most of them were houses. Looking back, you can't even tell that there was a hill back there. Must be some sort of mirage or something. The road we're walking on is cracked and split apart, but still acts well enough for a road. I wonder why it's so much worse on the other side of the riverbed. Maybe it was closer to where the bombs fell? I doubt we'll ever really find out.

Walking between the buildings is nerve racking. Every few feet some ruble settles or a rusty piece of metal creaks. My mind tries to tell me that it's just the wind making noises, that there's nothing out there watching me. But I know better than that. We found Tweak, so we know there are other ponies out there. We saw those Radcrags, so we know there are monsters out there. We're not alone out here, and the fact that we appear alone right now is driving me crazy. Something is out there, it's only a matter of time before it pops out.

But, there has to be good things out there too, right? I mean, Tweak might be good. He's bringing us to his camp for some sort of reward, that counts for something. Maybe there are even ponies out here with a fully functioning town and everything! Ponies with laws and structure living completely civil lives. It's just as possible as the alternative.

Then again, it's more plausible that both exist.

"So, what happened to your Stable?" Tweak asks, a little too loudly for my taste. I really think we should keep a low profile out here.

"There... were some riots. I'm not sure why, but ponies started fighting. I tried to leave, and Reckless... well, the important part is that we got away." I glance to Lucky for a moment from that. I don't really know how I should feel about that. Guess I'll have to think on it some more... I hate thinking on things.

"Hm, that's pretty tame. Compared to some of the other stories I've heard at least."

"What do you mean by that?" I ask.

"Some of the other Stables have been opened up now. There aren't that many Stable dwellers out here though. Some are filled with terrible creatures. Others were just empty, unless you count all of the bodies that is. Most of them end up that why, now that I think about it. The only two Stables that I know of where the ponies made it through are yours and sixty five."

"Stable sixty five?" Lucky asks curiously.

"Yup. Northeast of Silo there's an old airport where the residents now reside. Seems like they're mostly normal, but they don't really like socializing with others. Unless you've got Stable wear, that is. Might as well be family to them then." My Pipbuck blinks after he says that. Apparently it found the place he's talking about and marked it on my map.

"You know where Silo is?" Lucky asks, somewhat desperately.

"Everypony knows where Silo is... unless you were underground that is," he laughs awkwardly at that. I guess it's funny to have lived underground... I don't get it. "You two heading there?"

"That's the plan." I tell him quickly. He doesn't need to know anymore than that.

"Should'a figured. That's where most ponies try to go. Safest place to settle down, for the most part." I was about to question him about that when he stops suddenly. "I just remembered something. Would you two mind... shedding your clothes down to just your Stable wear?"

"What, why?" I ask, caught off guard by his request.

"There are a few others at my camp up ahead, but they don't trust outsiders all that much. But if you show up in your Stable wear they'll understand the situation a little bit more. I know it's a bit awkward, but trust me on this one. You can't be too careful with the strangers you bring in." Lucky and I look to each other before shrugging. It makes sense, sort of.

I take the extra shirt and pants off easily enough. When Lucky does it though, I notice Tweak gawking at her. I guess he wasn't expecting... her. I bit my lip to stop myself from saying anything though. I don't want to make it awkward for Lucky, especially with how trusting she seems to be with this guy. When she starts to remove her extra pants Tweak looks over to me and mouths: are you serious? I just shake my head and stuff my clothes away. As long as he keeps it to himself, we won't have any problems.

"How's this?" Lucky asks, unaware of his previous perversion.

"G-great... uh... anyway, let's keep going. And when we get there, let me do the talking. They may point some guns at you, but pay that no mind. Like I said, you can't be too careful out here."

As we continue to walk after on, Tweak keeps sneaking glances at Lucky. I keep my mouth shut, but it's bugging me to no end. We could be in danger at any moment, and he can't go thirty seconds without taking a glance at Lucky. I want to say something, but I don't want to freak Lucky out. And, he's only looking, which is safe enough. I guess. If he tries to do anything, I'll put him in his place for sure. Plus, he looks pretty weak. I'm sure even Lucky could take him. So if he does try something, I don't think he's getting very far.

The longer we walk, the more intact the buildings become. Some at this point look as if you could even reside inside them. I don't think I'd want to, but the fact still remains. There's even some living plants here! Some of the fences have been taken over by some sort of bramble, making it impossible to climb over. I don't know how those plants have made it through a nuclear apocalypse, but they did it. If those plants made it, then there are probably plants out there that you can eat too. Maybe there are ponies out there farming like in old times. That's just another indicator that there might be some sort of society out there. That it's not just a dog eat dog world. That thought alone puts me a bit at ease.

"Alright, they should be just down this block and around the corner." Tweak tells us excitedly. I nudge Lucky as I rest my hand on my pistol. She frowns at that, but pulls her baseball bat out anyway. Like he said, you can't be too careful.

When we round the corner I stop in my tracks. Ahead of us on a large road is a massive metal structure that looks like it used to be part of a truck. The cargo portion of it has been stripped in certain parts to look more like a cage, while the rest of it looks like it's been fortified. The wheels on it look like they're made of solid chunks of rubber that have been taped together. A long line of two headed cows have been tied to the front of it, at lease twelve all together. The top of the carriage has been built to have a small room towards the front with waist high fencing going around the rest of it. There are a few lights on the corners as well, but they're off right now. The entire rusted structure looks fairly imposing by itself, but the few armed guards add to its overall intimidation.

There's six of them that I can see. Three of them on top of the structure, two by the rotting cow things, and one on the floor at the end of the contraption. They're all wearing patchwork armors that look as if they're made of scraps of metal glued onto leather. The guns they're wielding looks just as thrown together as well. Some of them don't even have guns! Instead having metal pipes or bats with nails going through them. Overall these ponies look as dirty and dangerous as the rest of the world out here. When one of the ponies on top spots us, he immediately starts yelling to the others.

"Tweaks back! And it looks like he has some fresh meat!" he yells. The others look down at us and raise their weapons. I swallow the lump in my throat as I watch the closely, keeping my hand on my pistol. I don't like this, but everything's happening the way he said it would. The few on the ground quickly rush towards us, Tweak moving to meet them just as quickly. Lucky and I hang back, not trusting the situation.

"Tweak! Ah man, I thought you were a gonner!" One of the stallions from the two headed cows tells him, grasping his hand for a quick shake. "How'd you shake that Radcrag?"

"Those two back there saved my ass," he tells them, motioning back to us. "Is Jack here?"

"Boss is up top," he tells him before looking back to the others. "Get Jack out here! We've got a score!"

"What does that mean?" I whisper to Lucky, getting her to shrug. She looks nervous, turning her knuckles pale as she grips her bat. I don't care what the reward is anymore, I want out of here too. "Hey Tweak, now that you're back-"

"Right! Your reward. The boss will give that to you, just come on over!" Tweak cuts me off, getting the others to grin with him.

"We don't need a reward. We're just going to head out now, bye." I tell him bluntly. Lucky and I start to head out when a mare runs in front of me, blocking my way.

"You can't just leave now! That'd be rude to Jack! Do you really want to disrespect him like this?" she says cutely, stepping closer to me.

"We don't want any trouble." Lucky tells her, her voice betraying her confidence. By now the others who were on the floor have walked behind us and have surrounded us. It doesn't look like we'll being going anywhere without starting something. I'd prefer to just make a run for it, as we don't have the ammo to fight all of these ponies.

"What's going on here?" A new voice asks. We look over as a new pony approaches us.

He's a decently tall stallion, maybe a few inches shorter me though. Light caramel color coat and long brown hair that's tied back into a ponytail. He's wearing a long black duster over a red button up shirt and black dress pants. He's wearing a stetson hat that has the left side folded up as well. Overall, seeing him with all of these ponies is a bit odd. He's clean cut, pressed shirt, white teeth, and doesn't have a spot of dirt on him. I look him over some more when I notice the massive revolver on his hip. It's a forty five for sure, but something seems off about it. I can't put my finger on it though.

"My, my, my. Look what we have here," he says as he walks around Lucky. She flinches up under his gaze, keeping her eyes on him. "And who are you, my delicate little hubflower?"

"Lucky... Tweak said there was a reward for rescuing him from some Radcrags," Lucky tells him, getting quieter as he stops in front of her.

"But we don't need it," I say out loud, getting his attention for the first time. "We'd like to get going now-"

"Stable eighty eight huh? Where is that? I'm not familiar with it," he tells me, turning to look at me. "Or are you Enclave, bird boy?"

"I already asked boss!" Tweak tells him excitedly, stepping up to his side. "They don't even know who the Enclave are! They're genuine Stable Dwellers out from the Everglow."

"Is that so?" he asks smugly, shooting me a toothy grin. I wrap my fingers around the handle of my pistol as I glance around. They have us surrounded and out gunned. I could try to fly straight up, but I couldn't make it with Lucky. Not to mention they'd just shoot me. I could try to take Jack prisoner. Just pull him in and point a gun at his head. But then they'd just do the same with Lucky. Maybe we could just make a run for it, break through and head for the closest building. With the way most of the stallions are looking at Lucky, I doubt they want to shoot her, and I can dodge fairly well with my wings. It's our only bet.

"Well... what's this reward Tweak was talking about?" Lucky cuts in, moving to my side. "If you're so adamant about giving this to us, what is it?" Is she CRAZY!? Why is she asking this now!? We need to get moving! We should just start running, not talking about stupid ass deals!

"Whelp," Jack starts out, holding his hands behind himself as he walks around us. "Normally we'd take ponies like you, rough 'em up, take their belongings, and take them down to the Commerce Center. There you'll both be sold as slaves where you'll live the rest of your lives doing whatever your masters want of you... I can think of a few things for the likes of you two." We share a look when he says that. It was directed at the both of us. How are they going to do that to me... better not to think about it.

"But because we helped one of your guys you're not going to to that?" Lucky asks. [Speech 34/50]

"No, no, no, no," he says with a smile as he stops before both of us. "With you two, we're going to offer to skip the part where we rough you two up." I pull out my pistol when he says that. I knew we shouldn't have come this way! I knew it! But I had to listen to reason, didn't I!? I should just follow my gut more often, then I won't be sold as a slave! ONLY NOW I WILL! All of his crew members start to holler and laugh at us, especially Tweak. There are two mares here as well, making lewd gestures at me. I look to Lucky again and try to think of a way out of this, but there doesn't seem to be one. Not without immediately getting shot at least.

"So... we surrender peacefully, we won't get roughed up? Can I add one more thing?" Lucky asks, almost sounding as if we weren't about to be sold into slavery.

"Lucky, maybe now isn't the right time for this?" I mention to her quietly, but she ignores me.

"Depends on what it is, my little hubflower." Jack tells her.

"Can we each get a free punch on Tweak?"

"WHAT!?" Tweak and I both yell. Of all of the things she could ask for, that's what she decides on! Jack laughs as well, gripping Tweak on the shoulder and giving him a firm shake.

"Tell you what. If you convince birdboy here to hand over his pistol and surrender, I'll allow one of you to punch him. Deal?"

"Uh... boss?" Tweak asks quietly, but stops when he gives him a firm shake.

"Punch first, then surrender. Deal?" Lucky asks, sounding too confident. I don't even know what to say at this point. She's practically giving us away. Where's all that fight she had earlier? Why is she giving in so easily? I don't understand her at all right now.

"Deal," Jack tells her, getting the others to laugh. Tweak goes a little pale, but manages to chuckle slightly. Lucky grabs my arm and pulls me closer, shaking me from my thoughts.

"Are you insane? Why are you making this deal?" I ask, ignoring the others around us.

"First, never call me crazy. Second, take a look around. We're surrounded, out gunned, and wouldn't know where to run even if we could escape this situation. Right now our best bet for survival is to play the status quo until it works into our favor. Right now survival is better than freedom, understand?" When she asks that she reaches up and grabs the back of my neck, forcing me to look her in the eyes. She tries to sell her conviction with her eyes, but I'm still hesitant. There's too much risk with this to not be worried. They've obviously done this before, what makes us special? "Just trust me."

"... alright." Damn gut, telling me to do stupid shit for pretty mares. "But then I get to punch Tweak."

"Like hell you do. He ogled me the entire time we walked here! I get to knock his puny ass out." Lucky tells me confidently, playfully pushing me back. I smile at that, despite the situation. The others around us cheer at this, pushing Tweak before us. He tries to argue back, but Jack just smiles and watches. I really hate that guy right now.

"Alright, alright... I-I'll let the little filly get one in. Just to s-settle her little fit!" Tweak tells the others as he submits to his fate. He scrunches up and waits for Lucky to deliver. She looks him over for a second before taking her stance. She positions herself as any professional would, telling me she's had at least some training in this. She brings her fists up for a second as she takes aim, spits on her knuckles, and-

WHAM

THUD

In one solid punch to the eye, she sends him flat straight to his back. Everypony cheers and laughs at Tweaks as he lays there in the dirt, moaning. I blink a few times myself. I didn't know she had that in her.

"I've held up my part of the deal," Jack laughs over the crowd, stepping towards me. "Now it's your turn. Your pistol, if you'd be so kind," he asks as he raises a hand to me.

This is the last chance where I could take him prisoner and make a run for it. Just grab his wrist, twist him in, and put the gun to his head. If any of them try to shoot, then I'd have a meat shield at least. They'd take Lucky though. There isn't anything I could do to stop that. Not to mention they could just put a blade in my back, or shoot me when I make the wrong move. Turn it in, or make a run for it. This is it.

When I pull my gun up everypony around us fidgets slightly. Some point their weapons at me, while others simply ready them. I pause to look over the pistol. It's just a weathered ten millimeter, nothing too special about it. It's been the same pistol I've always had ever since I joined the Stable Guard. I glance up at Jack and notice that he has his left hand at his side, palming something. I guess he's ready for anything, leaving me no choice. I press the side action to drop the magazine, pocketing it as I hand him the pistol. Here's hoping Lucky knows what she's talking about.

"That's a good boy," Jack says condescendingly as he pockets my pistol. "Now, the bat?" Lucky hands over her bat to the nearest crony. "Excellent. Now, if you two will join us at the caravan, we have some business to finish."

The others cheer as they start to push us towards the metal crate. I rush over to Luckys side in an attempt to give her some form of protection. I don't know how well I can do that, I try my best at keeping their hands at bay. The entire way over they yell various lewd comments at us. I'm going to fuck your titties! Your ass is mine bitch! I'm going to squirt on your face! I know several of them are directed at me, but I'm a little unsure which ones are.

When we get to the back door they swing it open to reveal a bland interior. In the back are a few dog bowls, but other than that there's nothing in there. I go to walk in, but one of the mares stops me.

"Alright birdboy, drop 'em!" she commands me.

"Excuse me?" I ask, not entirely sure what she means.

"What? Do you really think we're just going to let you in there with all of your stuff? Drop everything on you, even your clothes." I look around to see if they're serious, only to get Jack to chuckle at me.

"Don't be shy birdboy, we've all seen 'em," he tells me comfortingly. I glance to Lucky to see her blushing as well.

"Um... all of my clothes?" I ask as I start to unzip my jumpsuit. If I can keep my underwear, this won't be as bad.

"Down to your skivvies." By Celestia's tits, thank you! With that in mind I undo my suit and drop it to the ground, stepping out of them. I immediately feel the cold wind on my coat as the air thickens from all of the attention. A few of them laugh at me while others make jokes or whistle. The few mares in their group are the loudest of them all. I rub my arm from all of this, not enjoying all of their stares. "Your Pipbuck too."

"What? Why?" I ask as I grab it. What am I going to do with this thing? Hit somepony over the head? Actually...

"Rules are rules. Take it off and set it on your clothes." I think it over for a second before sighing in defeat. There isn't anything I can do with it anyway, may as well. I unhook it and set it on my clothes. I can practically feel the mares ogling me as I squat down, but I do my best to ignore it.

"What the hell kind of mark is that!?" One guys laughs. I glance down at my cutie mark and sigh. It's an outline of a bull with the inside being a fine tea set. Like the old saying, a bull in a tea shop. It's suppose to represent my bullheadedness, but mostly it gets ponies to laugh at me. Like now, for instance. "Alrighty girly girl, your turn."

Everypony turns to Lucky in excitement. Her blush grows a bit more as she motions to Jack to come closer. He obliges and leans in, where Lucky whispers something to him. He lets out a massive laugh as he stands back up, making Luckys ears drop.

"I guess we're in for a treat then! Underwear or no underwear, you have to drop 'em!" The crowd goes wild. Cheering, jumping, shaking, laughing, everypony is beyond livid at this point. How could she not have underwear on! How! Didn't she know she was coming out here! Did she really think this was the best time for that sort of fashion choice! What the serious shit!

In either a moment of genius or utter stupidity I do the one thing I can think of to save her. I take my underwear off and offer them to her. The move catches everypony off guard, myself included. I can feel all of the staring from before return, only now it's much more heated. Many of the stallions look... mad? They aren't happy with my move, that's for sure. The mares seem to be stuck in some sort of star eyed state, making me even more uncomfortable than before. When Lucky doesn't take my underwear right away, I start to think that this was a bad idea. Would these even fit her? I would look at her to see what she's thinking, but I can't force myself to do it. I might have jumped off a cliff this time-

"YEE-OW!" I let out a scream when she suddenly grabs my wing and pulls it out. I try to pull it back it, but she refuses to let go.

"Stay still dammit!" she commands me as she positions my wing. I go to look back, but I see her glare and quickly avert my eyes. She pulls me back to the point where I feel the tips of my feathers brush against the carriage thing, blocking everyponys view. They groan and try to steal a glance, but Lucky is keeping my wing fairly close. My arm is still hanging out there, but I leave it. I'm a little to scared to move at the moment. The thought of covering myself suddenly comes up... but it's pointless now.

Luckys top comes flying into view, falling before me. Shortly after comes her Pipbuck. Now that she's topless everypony tries to get a better look. Why they don't just force me to move my wing is beyond me, but I keep my mouth shut. Either it's a rule of theirs or they're just that stupid. I'm sure it's the latter.

Everything suddenly stopped when she grabs my wing with her arm and pulls it into her chest. I don't know why she does this, but she did. Now my wing is squished between her arm and her chest... and it's awesome. I've always heard that you're either an ass guy, or a tits guy. Me? I never really understood why I had to choose. But, if I had to, I'd be a tits guy. I don't think she really knows what she's doing to me, but I don't question it. I'm too afraid that if I try to say something she'll hurt me one way or another.

"Happy?" Lucky asks shortly as her pants come flying into view. Jack chuckles as he motions to the door. I let out another scream as Lucky yanks my wing with her, dragging me with her. With the way she pulls me over I get a look at her. She has has one arm covering her chest while the other works the door. She has my underwear tied at her hip, barely keeping them on.

The inside of this thing is completely bare. Just metal flooring with metal walls and bars. We go to the closest metal wall and take a seat against it, having nothing better to do. They slide the door behind us and lock it shut. We can hear the few on top running back and forth as the others press up against the door. They're still yelling obscurities at us, but this time they're all directed at Lucky. I guess for denying them a show, they're going to get their revenge. One way or another. Most seem to think that whoever buys her will let them pay to rough her up. Lucky just buries herself under my wing, trying to hide from them. I glare at them, hating every single one of them. When we get out of here, I'm going to gut every one of them.

"Alright you two. Just hang tight and we'll get you to your new homes," Jack tells us as he starts to walk towards the front. He stops at one of the side bar panels and makes eye contact with me. His eyes are... amused. He doesn't feel threatened by me, not even slightly. If anything, he finds this amusing! "Do you hate me?"

"Hate you?" I ask, bewildered. "What kind of stupid ass question is that? Of course I hate you, you sick piece of shit!" He laughs at that, turning to face me properly.

"Good, that's good. Trust me, hang onto that for as long as you can. Wanna know why?" I choose to stay silent, but he continues anyway. "Because the day you stop hating me, is the day we break you. And trust me, we are going to break you."

I spit at him, getting a mist to hit him in the face. He just chuckles and wipes it off with a scarlet neckerchief.

"I love you fighters. You think that you'll get through this, somehow. You rationalize it in your head. But it's a slippery slope my friend, and I'm going to watch you fall down it. Trust me on this, I've seen it before. You wait for an opening, but there isn't ever one. You start to think about just running for it, but you never do. Something new always holds you back. Fear of death, beatings, a pretty girl, something always keeps you in your place." He stuffs his neckerchief away and pulls out a pocket watch, taking a moment to think to himself.

"You should have flew away when you had the chance, Birdboy. You probably would have gotten away. We're heading to CC!" Everypony cheers when he announce that. Some whips snap overhead as the best in front of the carriage start to pull us forward. The rusty wheels fight, but eventually start to squeak at a steady pace. I swallow the lump in my throat as I bring my knees up to my chest and hold them. I don't intend to go to wherever they want me, but I have to play it safe. For both Lucky and mines sake.

"I'm sorry," Lucky whispers to me, breaking my chain of thoughts.

"Don't be. How could you have know?" I ask, getting her to shake her head.

"He was right, you know. You could have gotten away without me-"

"And be alone out there? I don't really think that would be much better than being here." She tries to offer me a smile, but somepony behind us smacks the wall.

"Shut it in there! I don't want to hear any of that crap!" I share a frown with Lucky before looking away. We'll get through this, somehow. We have too.

"We're in this together, remember?" I whisper to her. She nods in return, but looks distant. She tightens her grip on my wing, pressing it closer to her. "Um.... Lucky?"

"Hm?"

"So... don't get mad but..."

"What?" she asks flatly. I bite my lip for a moment before deciding to just blurt it out.

"Pegasi wings can be as sensitive as fingers... so... maybe arms first?" She stares up at me for a moment before turning red and quickly readjusting herself. I blush as well, but mainly from the peek I got. I'm glad it's cold out here, I don't know if I could control myself otherwise.

Perspective: Lucky

I don't know when I went to sleep, sometime after the sky turned dark I think. I'm just glad that I was asleep under Reckless's pervy wing. It tried to curl back up, but I was in the way. He's been... good to me. Some of the things he does are strange, but I think I can trust him. I don't know if he slept though. His eyes are tired, but he's up. I take a look outside and note that we're moving through some town. All of the guards are silent, keeping their eyes on the buildings around us. I keep silent too, not knowing what else to do.

"Don't scream," Reckless whispers to me as silently as possible. "Something called raiders live nearby. Apparently they don't take prisoners. According to Pike that is."

"Pike?" He nods to the guard at the back. He's one of the slavers with a melee weapon, a ripper. "And you trust him?"

"They put three of them down already. I'm a little surprised you slept through it. They didn't look friendly at all." I nod to that, going silent. With the way he looks, I should listen to what he's saying.

"You should sleep-"

"I'm fine." I glance up to him before sighing in defeat. He's not going to listen, not now at least.

Another day went by. This thing moves super slow, but I guess that's the point. Those brahmin don't look like they're made for speed. Plus they stop at night to rest. It's hard to tell how far we've gone, but I think it's been at least ten miles. They get moving early in the morning too, so I slept through the beginning part. Reckless slept last night too, but not well. He had another nightmare. One of the guards was talking about putting a bullet in him if he got too loud. I tried to help him sleep, but the best I could offer was to stroke his mane and hold him. It helped, but it didn't end his nightmare.

Both of our stomachs are growling at us. It's been two days since I last ate. I feel as if I could down a fridge full of Dandy Apples and still be hungry! To make matter worse, the guards around us eat as they walk. Though the food they're eating looks questionable, the fact that they're eating it is getting to me.

"Hey, girly girl," the guard at the back, Slick I believe, calls. "Give me a show and I'll give you a carrot." His friend, Duster, laughs with him. Reckless growls a little at that, but I get an idea.

"How about you give me a carrot, and I'll give you a show?" [Speech 34/15] I lean forward and push Reckless's wing down a bit to show some cleavage. Not a lot, but enough to get them thinking... which isn't a lot, really. The two of them stop in their tracks as they stare at me, lost in their perversion. Duster starts to tear through his bag as he looks for a carrot, making Slick join him. They both come up with one and rush to toss them to me. I let a low chuckle escape me as I take them and sit back, eating one normally.

"... son of a bitch," Slick mumbles as he realizes his mistake. I just laugh and offer the other carrot to Reckless. He takes it, but seems a little upset by that. Whatever, he can complain about it later. We have food now, that's all that matters.

The day dragged on, just like the last two. I almost didn't realize it until the sun went down. It was a beautiful sight to see, even if it was from behind bars. Every other day there were too many clouds in the sky to see it properly. I didn't think there would be so many colors or that there would be rays of light reaching over us. It was inspiring to see. No matter what, there's always tomorrow. And even in this hellscape, there is still beauty to be found.

"Listen up!" Jack yells from above. That's weird, he's been silent this entire trip. Something big must have happened.

"What's up boss?" Pike asks, looking up to Jack.

"I just got word from the brass. Ends up there's a settlement west of here that's been putting up a fight. Raven Claw's asking for assistance on this one, and we're the closest to his position."

"Damn, if Raven Claw is asking for help, you know it's bad." Pike mentions. Reckless and I look to one another for a moment. This seems too good to be true.

"Alright, Pike and Slick, you're both going to stay here and keep watch on these two. Everypony else is going to gear up and head out. Got it?"

"How big is the score there? Shouldn't we be more worried about these two?" Tweak asks from the side as everypony else starts to run around, gathering their supplies.

"Apparently the score they found is worth ten of these fuckers, so we'll be compensated for this easily. Now pack up! We're leaving in five minutes. Bring food, water, plenty of ammo, and whatever else you need for a fight. Travel light, because we're coming back heavy!"

Everypony moves quickly to gather their gear and meet up at the back of the truck. A few minutes later they head out together, leaving the four of us behind. I can't believe it. If there was ever a chance to escape, now is the time. Pike and Slick talk to each other for a moment before climbing up top, giving us the best chance to discuss this.

"Alright, are you ready to escape?" I asks Reckless in a whisper. He nods to me, sitting up right. I reach up to the back of his head and grab the bobby pin I placed there, making him go wide eyed.

"How did you manage to do that without them noticing?" he asks in astonishment as he takes it in his hands.

"I blame them being idiots." He chuckles at that, moving to pick the lock. I grab his arm and stop him, getting a confused look in response.

"Not yet. Give it around an hour. That way the others don't hear anything that might happen." He nods to me, sitting back down. I take the time to stretch out properly. Sitting for this long has taken its toll on my back. Reckless averts his eyes, but does the same. We're under fed, weaponless, and nude. The odds are against us, but we have to prevail. This is our one and only chance.

I try to time it off the sunset, but I don't know if that's a good indicator to go off of. It certainly felt like an hour. I give Reckless a nudge and we move over to the lock. As he starts to work on the lock listen in on the others. One of them is sleeping, but I'm don't think they both are. I can't tell where the other one is though, making me nervous. I never saw or heard him climb down, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have. If he finds us-

Click

My heart skips a beat when I hear the door click open. Just like that? We're free?

"What was that?" I hear Pike on the side mention, along with hoof steps. Reckless pushes the door open slightly and crawls out, pushing it closed partially before sneaking to the right. I was about to question him when Pike walks in front of the door. "Hey! Where'd the-"

Before he could finish Reckless sprung up from the side and punched him across the face, sending the both of them toppling over. I rush out to help him, finding them wrestling on the floor. Pike is trying to grab his ripper, while Reckless has him in a sleeper hold with his arms and is trying to pin Pikes arms by wrapping his legs around his waist. It doesn't seem like he'll be able to do both, so I rush forward and take the Ripper away from him, revving it on.

"What the hell is that!" Slick yells from up top. Reckless looks up for a second before pushing Pike away and launching up at the roof.

BANG

A gunshot rings through the air as Reckless disappears up top. I watch Pike stand up slowly as I try to prepare myself for this. As long as he doesn't try anything, I have no reason to harm him.

"Just go into the truck and I won't hurt you." I tell him nervously. He chuckles at that as he whips out a switchblade. I don't like where this is going.

"Nice try girly girl. Now give that to me before I rip out your ovaries." I gulp at that, believing he would. But I shake my head, making him smile. "I'm going to have some fun with you-"

BANG

SPLAT

A piece of light races from my right and straight through his head, making it explode. I let out a small scream as I move behind the truck. Somepony just shot his head off! I hear Reckless and Slick struggling with each other for a moment before another gunshot rings out. Slick falls off the top and hits the ground, bleeding from a large hole in his chest. Reckless jumps down after him, moving beside me for cover.

"Please tell me that was you," he asks desperately.

"No... no that wasn't me," I tell him, making him groan. He has a few bruises on his sides, but they don't look too bad. "Well, let's make a run for those buildings over there and hope..." He stops mid sentence and stares at something behind me. I look over there to see a dog standing there. It looks like a pretty old dog, with its grey eyes and chin. The old Shepard dog stares back up at us as we just stand there, unsure of what to do.

"Um... shoo dog?" Reckless says. The dog gives a quick woof before running to the right, where the gunfire came from.

"I'm not questioning it," I tell Reckless as I walk around him.

"But-"

"But nothing! Let's get our clothes back on and get the hell out of here while we still can!" He tries to argue with me, but ends up mumbling to himself instead. The only place that could have had our clothes is the small room up top, which is a problem. I'm not sticking my head up there while that sniper is out there. "How are we going to get up there without that sniper shooting at is?"

"Why don't you just climb?" an old voice asks. I feel my stomach drop as I step back beside Reckless as a pony walks around the back. He's easily the oldest looking stallion I've ever seen before. His face is wrinkled, his mane and tail are grey, and his eyes are as grey as his dogs. He's wearing an old faded leather jacket and a red scarf. His dark plaid button up shirt and slacks are much cleaner than everything else out here, and... he's smiling. I swallow a lump in my throat as my eyes make it to the repeating rifle in his hands. Is that what he used to shoot those two?

"Looks like I got here in the nick of time. Now, why don't we get you two your cloths and head out. I'm sure the others would have heard that," he tells us as he holsters his rifle. Reckless and I look to each other before looking back to the stranger.

"Who are you and why should we trust you?" Reckless asks bluntly, making the stranger chuckle.

"That's right, introductions. Sorry, it's just been awhile since the last time I was out here. The name's Doc Waster, welcome to the Commonwealth." [Wild Wasteland]

Level Two

Lucky

S 7
P 3
E 4
C 6
I 7
A 4
L 9

Perks

Wild Wasteland
Black Widow

Skills

Barter 20

Energy Weapons 13

Explosives 13

Guns 18

Lockpick 13

Medicine 21

Melee Weapons 36

Repair 25

Science 36

Sneak 15

Speech 35

Survival 20

Unarmed 15

Reckless

S 8
P 7
E 7
C 2
I 5
A 9
L 2

Perks

Heavy Handed
Skilled
Rapid Reload

Skills

Barter 14

Energy Weapons 22

Explosives 40

Guns 41

Lockpick 40

Medicine 18

Melee Weapons 24

Repair 20

Science 18

Sneak 28

Speech 12

Survival 22

Unarmed 22

Chapter Four: Friends, You'll Need 'Em

Author's Note

Just a forewarning for this chapter. There is more sex in this chapter than I thought there would be. Though that tag is there for a reason, it is not the focus for this story. I also will warn that this chapter gets a bit tense, mainly towards the end. I figure that if you made it past the first chapter, then you'd be expecting it. This is the only time that I will warn about things like that happening in this story. Enjoy the chapter otherwise!

Brony on!

Chapter Four: Friends, You'll Need 'Em

Friendship isn't always easy...

Perspective: Lucky

Reckless and I stay silent as Doc Waster stands there, staring at us. I'm not sure what's going on, but I don't want to be too brash about anything. The last stranger we met tried to turn us into slaves. He said we could go, but what's to say he wouldn't just shoot us in the back? Or what if he has friends waiting for us around the corner? I don't want to trust him so quickly after what just happened.

"Heh, I get it," he says with a smile. He slowly reaches back and pulls out his rifle. I feel my heart race a bit as he brings it forward, but that all fades when he sets it on the ground. "Go ahead, take it. I'm not going to do anything. But I'd suggest getting your clothes on, lest you want ponies to question your decency."

He turns around and holds his hands up. Reckless looks between him and the gun before rushing forward and taking it, aiming it at his back. I run to the front of the wagon/truck and try to open the door, but it's locked. I grab a rock off the ground and smash the window in, unlocking it quickly. Our bag of clothes is sitting right there, looking heavenly. I go through it and quickly put on my Stable clothes, glad to be covered again. Even better, my bat's in there too! I grab it and take a position to cover Reckless. He doesn't move right away, instead glaring at the pony before us. I have to nudge him to make him break eye contact with him. He forces out a breath before moving to get dressed, only taking his eyes off of him at the very end.

"Antsy, isn't he?" Doc asks with a dry laugh.

"Given the circumstances; understandable," I tell him, getting him to nod.

"Are you two heading towards Silo?" he asks, glancing back at me.

"... maybe, why do you ask?" He chuckles again, muttering something to himself.

"Well, if you were heading towards Silo, I'd tell you that there's another storm about to roll through here. I don't know if you've seen it yet, but the rain here can be a bit wild at times. If you were heading that way; I'd suggest finding somewhere to settle down until the rain passed over. Now, with you two being new to these parts, I would offer my residence as a place to settle for a few nights. That way I could also give you dwellers some advice on how to survive out here. But, that's only if you were willing, of course. So, what'll it be? Risk the commonwealth again, or take an old stallion up on his offer? Your choice." Having somepony give us some advice about this place would be nice, but I'm not trusting him that easily!

"How do I know you won't try any funny business like those other ponies?" I ask as Reckless steps up beside me. He seems like he was listening, so I keep my focus on Doc.

"You don't. That's the first rule of the commonwealth: Trust no one! At least not until they earn it, that is. Ponies out here, they're just trying to survive. We don't have it made like those NCR ponies. To survive, sometimes, that means taking advantage of others. It's a slippery slope though, and most lose their way." He turns around and lowers his hands slowly. I keep the bat pointed at him though, unsure of his intentions. "You can trust me though. I saved you for a reason, as proof that you can trust me. And I'll give you something else to prove it. If you don't want to come with me, then don't. Head east till you cross the riverbed then head north east. You'll find the signs for Silo along the way. Take the rifle too. You'll need it to get through the city. If you can beat the storm, the subway tunnels are faster. But they have their own dangers too. It's your choice. Come with me, or go to Silo. What'll it be?"

I think about it for a moment before I make a sudden choice. I grab Reckless by the arm and pull him aside. We're in this together, so the decision shouldn't be left to one of us. I glance back to make sure Doc isn't doing anything weird, and he's just standing there. Smiling. I guess that counts as weird?

"What do you think?" I whisper to Reckless, getting him to bobble his head.

"He seems legit. But there's really no telling. But if there's really a storm coming, I think it would best to find shelter soon. Regardless of which choice we make." I nod to him, thinking back to our trip through the rain. I don't want to go through that again. Ever.

"I want to trust him," I confess to Reckless. "He saved us when he didn't need to. And he gave us the chance to leave if we wanted to."

"He also could have said that to trick us into trusting him." Reckless points out. I nod to him, having had similar thoughts on it.

"That is true. But... call it a gut instinct I guess. He doesn't look like a bad guy. He might... be good. But it's not just my decision. What do you think about him?" Reckless looks back to him and stares for a while, thinking to himself silently. I want him to at least give him a chance. If he can teach us anything about this place, it will be invaluable to us.

"I say we go with him on the condition that I keep the rifle. If he doesn't agree with that, then we head out on our own."

"That's fair enough," I tell him with a nod. We turn back to Doc where Reckless steps up to him, flaring his wings for some reason.

"We will go with you. But I'm holding onto the rifle until I decide you aren't a threat anymore. Am I clear?" Doc chuckles in response, making me a little nervous.

"You two are smarter than you look. Fine, it's a deal. But! I have to warn you. I have a robot at my home that... well... just let me do the talking and please don't shoot him. He's been through a lot and he gets a bit... edgy, when I come home at gunpoint."

"How many times has that happened?" I blurt out in curiosity.

"Heh, often enough. Come now. We need to get moving if we're going to make it there before the rain. But first, loot." Reckless and I look to each other in confusion as he moves to the closest body. Is really telling us to loot the dead? Does he have no respect at all!?

"What are you-"

"This will take some getting used to, but if you're going to survive it's necessary," he informs us as he pats down the body. "Supplies are hard to come by, so most don't bother to look for it. It's just easier to take it off somepony else. Food, water, ammo and weapons; you'll find them all on your enemies. If you really are against it though, rationalize it like this: They were going to kill you. By taking their gear, you are that much more likely to survive yourself. As long as you use it for self-defense, you're making better use for it than they were."

"Won't others get mad?" I ask as he makes a small pile of stuff. Some bullets, a water bottle, and some melee weapons.

"Not out here. You can walk down a street and kill a pony in cold blood and no one would care. Out here everypony is out for number one, themselves. Even those in groups are self-centered, for the most part. Even those rags are worth something to somepony. They'd slit your throat if they could, and don't you test them. The minute you let you guard down... they get you." He says the last part rather solemnly. He must have firsthand experience with that then.

We go through all of the bodies and come up with a handful of weapons and ammo, and some scraps of food and water. Doc tells us that doing this will make the difference between life and death. I don't like the idea of taking possessions from the dead, but I can see why it is necessary. For now, at least.

Once we finish bagging our new items, which Doc informs us to keep, we head out towards his home. Along the way he explains the currencies out there, and I start to feel my head spin. There are apparently four sets of currency out there! There's pre-war money, NCR bills, caps, and general trade. The money from before still holds value today and is apparently easy to find. The problem is that some ponies don't consider it money and won't accept it. The NCR, or New Canterlot Republic, is the largest settlement in the area and has made its own currency system. Most ponies accept their money, but there are a select few out there that don't. Caps are... bottle caps. Somehow, the little metal caps from sodas are now money. And they are accepted everywhere. They're sort of hard to find, but Doc says most Prospectors have an easy enough time getting their hands on them.

The last one is the easiest one to come by, according to Doc. Everything is worth something to somepony. So picking up almost anything will hold value to ponies. Weapons, junk, food, clothing, it all holds a value to somepony. There is no set value for items though, so they're price is floaty and can be haggled. That's something he points out as well. Haggling happens everywhere for everything. We should never buy something at the price that pony asks for. We need to learn to negotiate prices down and how to make deals. Otherwise ponies will take advantage of us. This is also most of the trading we'll be doing also... so we might be boned on that one.

We follow the dry riverbed out of the suburbs and make our way into the what Doc calls the wastelands. When the bombs fell, one of them hit nearby here and wiped everything out completely. His home is just past this area, on the edge of something called the Gash. It's a massive canyon that formed from the bombs. Nopony travels beyond the Gash, nor within it. From the sound of it, I know I don't want to.

The walk with Doc and his dog Dogmeat XIIV is... pleasant. Doc seems to ramble on and on about the things we might encounter. And even though I am grateful that he is telling us this, I'm a little confused as to why. From everything he's told us, we shouldn't trust him. Accept for the fact that he saved us, which is the only reason we're here in the first place, he still is a stranger to us. He could literally turn around after his speech and shoot us in the stomachs, and it'd be our faults! I want to trust him, I really do! He's done so much for us and hasn't asked for a single thing in return! But, going by his advice, I shouldn't trust him until we have absolute proof that we can trust him. And I don't know how we are ever going to get that...

Aside from him saving us and giving us all of this information... And letting us stay in his home. It's all confusing really.

It takes us the day, but we finally make it to his home. Just in time too, as the rain started to fall in the last hour we were walking. His home is large and a little run down, but it's a beauty in this rain! It's two stories tall with a large patio in the front. The patio sits underneath a balcony that is supported by large white columns. Most of the wood paneling has chipped away or faded, but there are splotches for blue and white throughout the building. Behind the house is a large willow tree that's easily taller than the house. I have to stare at it for a moment as something odd strikes me about the tree. Then it hits me. It has leaves. I haven't seen a tree with leaves... ever! None of the trees out here have any, and the Stable sure as heck didn't have any. How did he get a tree to grow its leaves back?

"Now remember, my robot will be a bit on edge and will... yell somethings. Just let me do the talking and don't make any sudden movements. And, if you can, try not to stare. He hates it when ponies stare." We look to each other before nodding back to him. I'm not sure what's going to happen, so I'm just going to let it happen and deal with it as it comes. "Major? Can you come out here please, we have... guest."

We wait for the robot to come out, having no clue what to expect. Does he have one of those pony-like robots? Or what about those brain bot things? Thinking back to them is starting to make me nervous, but I try my best to look impassive. I don't think it's working though. Reckless keeps looking back to me, looking more and more concerned. Maybe he's just as scared as I am. I mean, they attacked us both. And he's admitted to being scared out here too. I could just be reading too much into those glances... I really hope I am.

The front door opens and a Mister Gutsy float out. I let myself relax when he makes his way down to us. He's just a normal robot, nothing to be too worried about.

"Where the hell have you been General!? Those blasted commie rats went through the garden again! I had to set them all on fire to teach them to mess with Equestria's grand army!" he announces loudly, ignoring us completely. Doc chuckles nervously, glancing back to Reckless.

"Major, we have some guest with us today," he tells him, getting the robot to look at us. He seems to stare at Reckless more than myself, judging him intently.

"... Is this Enclave separatist troubling you and this concubine sir?" he asks, pointing one of his weapons at Reckless.

"What!?" I yell out, scaring everypony. "Why am I the whore? Why can't he be the whore!? What about me screams whore?" Everypony avoids eye contact with me, keeping silent. The robot, Major, doesn't seem to get the hint though.

"Shall I take her to your quarters and prepare her for you sir-"

"Major! He-heh, that will not be necessary. Just go prepare the guest room for them, please." Doc cuts in, stepping between the two of us.

"Affirmative. Concubine and Enclave scum, your rooms will be waiting for you shortly. Prepare yourselves and be sure to read through the safety guidelines listed in the main room. Good day!" And with that, he floats back into the house. I don't know what he's talking about. Why am I the whore? What about me screams whore? I hate that robot!

"Sorry about that, he's... an odd one," Doc apologizes, rubbing the back of his neck coyly. "He has three personalities going through him, so he tends to... anger, a lot of ponies when they first meet him."

"Why am I the concubine?" I demand from him, getting him to back up slightly.

"Well... your attire isn't the most... modest," he tries to reason, but I'll have none of that.

"So because of that I'm a whore?" I ask, folding my arms together and glaring at him.

"Lucky, it's a robot. Don't read too much into it," Doc tells me compassionately. I just avoid his gaze, still bitter about the interaction.

"Who are the Enclave?" Reckless asks seriously, getting Doc to sigh.

"That's... that's a story and a half. Let's get out of this rain and talk about it over dinner. It's going to take some explaining." Doc doesn't wait for us to respond, heading inside with a tired groan. I look to Reckless, but he just follows him inside without looking to me. I glance to Dogmeat and stare at him for a moment before following after them.

Docs home is warm and cozy, a welcomed feeling compared to the Commonwealth. All of the old furniture is patched together from various clothes, but they are still a sight for sore eyes. I never thought I'd miss the comfort of a couch, but several days of being nude in a metal carriage has given me much to appreciate. There are also various book selves lining the walls. Many of the books on them appear to be old and partially destroyed, but there are some that look good as new. There's a definitive dusty smell over the entire home, distinctly reminiscent of the old stallion. I follow the two stallions to the dining room where we sit at a rickety wooden table.

"The Enclave," Doc starts out, waving his hand to Dogmeat. He goes to the fridge in the kitchen and pulls on a rope that has been tied to the handle, opening it. A quick search later he steps back with a beer bottle in his mouth and brings it to Doc, repeating the action for Reckless and myself. "Where do I even start?"

"From the beginning." Reckless tells him, twisting the top off of the beer and taking a long drink from it. Doc hums to him and thinks to himself as he opens his beer as well. I try to open mine, but it doesn't seem to want to.

"Well, the Enclave are a Pre-war group made up of predominately pegasi. They used to rule the cloud ceiling before harmony was restored to the Capitol Waste. Now, those that remain are bent on making sure that harmony stays at the NCR. Because of that, pegasi get a bad rap. I'm surprised those slavers didn't kill you on the spot really."

"What is the NCR? And what do you mean by 'making sure that harmony stays at the NCR'?" I ask. Doc takes my beer and slams the top against the table, popping the cap off. Why would he give me the pop cap and the others the twist tops?

"Let's see... Well, this all started about ten years ago. A Pipbuck repair pony made her way out of her Stable and into the waste, looking for a friend of hers that ran off. Along the way she made some friends, made even more enemies, and eventually came across... sorry, memory isn't what it used to be. There are these towers that have the capacity to control the weather. With them under her control, she tamed the capitol wasteland and freed a lot of ponies from its horrors."

"That's amazing," I tell him before taking a drink. I normally don't like alcohol, but this flat beer is the most amazing beverage I've ever had.

"Well... not entirely," Doc tells me, frowning to himself. "You see, that tower I told about, they all didn't come back online. There were enough to gain control of what would become the New Canterlot Republic, but... Well, when the bombs fell, the zebras had some obvious targets on their minds. Most of them were destroyed hundreds of years ago. Those that weren't completely destroyed are in desperate need of repair."

"So why don't ponies fix them?" Reckless asks.

"How would they? Nopony knows exactly how they work! That technology was lost with the war. There are ponies that could engineer the parts, but who would install them? With their newly found peace, the ponies of the NCR are a little unwilling to help those of us out here. Not to mention how dangerous it is now. When the clouds changed and ponies started to flock to the city, all of the hells of the capitol moved out. They had to go somewhere, and we were the unlucky lot to receive them. Maybe they are working on a plan to fix them all, but something like that will take years to form -let alone enact. I've seen some ponies try to leave and make a difference from that city, but they're never truly ready for what's out here... and it usually consumes them in the end."

"What about the stallion from before?" I ask, getting a confused look from Doc. "The repair pony? He fixed it before, couldn't he just lead the team and help us?" Doc stares at me for a second before setting his drink down.

"She... is a bit busy at the moment. She has to run the weather machine constantly or things will simply return to the way they were. I'm sorry, but I have to ask. What happened in your Stable?" We both flinch from that. I don't know if I want to talk about that, not in detail at least.

"There was fighting," Reckless starts, eyeing his drink as he spins it in his hands. "Some ponies... wanted to change things, I guess. I wasn't really a part of it. I was just a guard who... did his job." He takes a drink at the end of that, leaving more out than what I even know.

"There were ponies that didn't like how things were run," I continue, getting both of their attention. "You're only worth what you work. And your work is determined by whatever class you're born into. A lot of mares wanted to change that."

"Mares?" Doc asks, confused. "Weren't there any stallions who wanted to change things as well? Why only the mares?"

"It just ended up like that," Reckless tells him, taking another drink. I get a little angry from that and snap a little.

"It's because mares are being held back! If you stop working, you lose your rank! If that fails then you have to bank on your foals doing well, if you get to have foals! To have a better chance at having a successful foal, you need to breed with the upper class, who demand a certain ascetic! So because we have to work constantly on being worthy of attention, then have to bare a foal and raise it to perfection, we lose out on our capacity to change legislation! All the while stallions just work and fuck, knowing that all they had to do was the bare minimum to stay on top!" Doc and Reckless share an uneasy look with each other, taken aback from my outburst.

"I see... I'm a little confused about a few things, but that can wait. I think now would be the best time to go to out rooms and rest. It's been... a long day, for all of us." I let out a huff of annoyance as I down the rest of my beer. I let myself get riled up, which is never good. Now I'm just the emotional mare that can't handle conversation, great!

"Yeah... I think that would be best," Reckless agrees, downing his drink as well.

"Fine," I tell him setting the empty bottle down. Doc stands and escorts us upstairs where he informs us that there's only one guest room. He stares at Reckless until he takes the hint and goes back downstairs to sleep on the couch. Doc opens the door and shows me the guest room.

It's a fairly large room to be a guest room. The bed looks as if it's two Stable beds set next to each other and has layers and layers of blankets on it. There a few dressers and a desk in the room as well, with various knick-knacks on them. There are several pictures on them, but none of them seem to be of Doc. The window has bars on the outside wall and appears to be reinforced with wire in the glass, looking extremely sturdy. I turn to thank Doc for his hospitality, but stop when I see the look on his face. He's serious about something, far more serious than I've seen him yet. It scares me a little, not enough to back away from him though.

"Lucky, what I'm about to ask you is of the utmost importance. I need you to answer truthfully. Are you safe with Reckless?" His question confuses me for a moment, but I think I get where he's going with this.

"I trust him." He relaxes at that, but I continue on. "Truth be told, I don't know him at all. We didn't... we didn't choose to leave together. It... sort of just happened. But... he's different than the other stallions though, that much I know."

"Okay, good. Sorry, but I had to ask. You... he reminds me of a pony I once knew." He grows a sad look for a moment as a memory flashes over his eyes. I want to ask him about it, to offer him my condolences, but I never get the chance. "Lucky, you are very attractive."

"O-oh... thank you," I can't help but blush from his comment. Coming from him... in his home... in this room... It's just a little awkward.

"Don't worry about that. My... my plumbing hasn't worked in years," he tells me with a chuckle. I chuckle with him, more to awkwardness than anything else. "What I mean is that you will have to be extra careful out there Lucky. Ponies out in the Commonwealth aren't so candid as you might expect. And I've seen this play out time and time again. A pretty mare will have to be more careful than others. It's not fair, I know, but it's the truth."

"Trust me, I know that already. Back at the Stable... well, let's just say I've had my share of fights already." Doc frowns at that. He really seems to care for my well-being. It's a bit odd, bit in this place I'll take it. I move forward and give him a quick hug, shocking him a bit. "Thank you. And not only for opening up your home to us."

"Think nothing of it, really. It's what I do." Doc tells me with a smile, a hint of a blush on his cheeks. He bids me goodnight and leaves for the room across the hall. I go to close the door, only to have it shoves open by Major as he drags another blanket into the room.

"Aright, here's the last blanket we had in storage. Now, where would you like to proceed?"

"Pro... proceed?" I ask, confused.

"Just assume the position and relax. The feeling will return a few hours afterwards." I stare at the robot as I slowly draw upon his intentions. Why does Doc have this robot? Did he teach it to do... that?

"Um... no, no, I'm fine... Why don't you take a few of these blankets to Reckless and see if he wants to... you know?”

"Yes ma'am!" I can't help but smile as he floats into the room and grabs a few blankets and heads downstairs. This time yesterday, I was about to become a slave. Now I'm playing pranks on Reckless with a sexbot. What's wrong with me?

Sleep wasn't easy to find. The rain outside was ceaseless and the wind seemed to scream constantly as it shook the old house. A lifetime of silent nights has tailored me to have specific sleep requirements. The bed is lumpy, the blankets smell of mold, and the noise! I couldn't take it! I wanted to sleep, but there was no way that was happening, so I got up and left the room.

Walking around the house at night was disconcerting. Even though I saw everything before, seeing it all again in a new light made it all appear new. That, with the added screams of the wind, were almost enough to send me back to the room. But something caught my attention. It was faint at first, but as I slowly made my way down the stairs it became clearer and clearer. Reckless is having another nightmare. And it seems like a really bad one too.

He's nearly pushed his blankets off and is gripping his pillow tightly. His clothes stick to him as sweat builds over him. Every so often he shifts about as he kicks his legs back and forth. I can see the torment on his face clearly. He keeps muttering something under his breath too. A name? It's hard to tell. I think about leaving him for a moment and talking about it in the morning. But I can't get myself to do it. I can't even think of something that I could do that would actually help, but I have to do something!

I walk over to him and bite a finger as I watch him for a moment longer. He's still deep in his nightmare. Maybe I should wake him? Probably not the best idea. Maybe I should stoke his mane, like I did in the slaver carriage. It helped him then, but I also chance waking him. I think about it for a moment until he gives a pained moan. Either way, this will be better for him. I step closer to him and pull up on his shoulders. He lets out a gasp and sits up, looking up to me with bleary eyes.

"L-lucky? Is everything alight?" he asks groggily, giving a long yawn at the end. I don't even know if he's truly awake at this moment. I betting that he isn't, which is for the best I guess. I grab the pillow and sit where it was, getting Reckless to stare at me tiredly the entire time. I set the pillow on my lap and pull him back down onto it, getting little to no protest from him. He tries to ask me something, but I can't make sense of it. I just start to stroke his mane and wait patiently for him to go back to sleep. It doesn't come right away, but when it does it's peaceful at least.

"That's a gift, you know." I jump a little from the voice. I look over and see Doc standing in the kitchen doorway, leaning against the wall. He's in some old blue pajamas and has a bottle of water in his hands. He moves to the seat near me and motions for permission, which I give. It takes him a moment to sit, and I swear I could hear a few bones crack along the way, but eventually he gets down. "My wife had that gift too. Put the kiddies right to sleep."

"... rubbing hair?"

"Patience," he explains before taking a drink of water. "Trust me, it's something that most ponies don't have out there. Why wait for crops to grow when you can just kill the farmer and take them? Reckless here, he doesn't have the gift. I can see it. Heh, it's in his name." I offer him a small smile before looking back down to Reckless, thinking idly.

"Those slavers... they were the ones you were telling me to watch out from, weren't they?" He lets out a sigh as he thinks to himself, digging his chin into his chest for a moment.

"Sadly, no. Like I said, ponies out there aren't patient. Most just take what they want by force. Not to say that there aren't good ponies out there, and there are plenty of them out there. It's just... *sigh*, if they haven't earned your trust then expect the worse from them. You'll survive longer that way."

"Can we even survive out there?" I ask, leaning back. "We almost died walking in the rain. Then we were turned into slaves... I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come along."

"Lucky then, aren't you?" I give him a deadpanned glare that makes him chuckle. He's a comedian then, great. "Truth be told, I knew they were going to be there. I was listening in on my ham radio when their leader made that call. Figured it was as good a chance as any to hit them. Though, I was a little disappointed when I only saw two ponies in there. Thought I'd save some more." He takes another drink of water, glancing out at the rain.

"Is that what you do? Save ponies?" I ask, getting him to chuckle.

"No, no, no. That was my wife's job. I was the pack mule, heh. She was the star eyed filly that saw the good in everypony. Made me believe in some too. But, that was a while ago. And I can't really go out and hunt down slavers anymore, so I stay here mostly. Farm my garden, tinker with Major, clean up after Dogmeat, the sort. If I'm lucky, I go out and hit those slavers when I can. But, lately that's been far and few. What about you two? What's the story here? Secret lovers?" I can't help but laugh at that, having to cover my mouth to keep quiet.

"No, nothing like that." I tell him, though I'm sure Reckless would love to. "There was a revolution in our Stable. The... my father felt that it would be safer for me to hide out here in the commonwealth. But, the pony that was going to escort me out here and I were caught during our escape. Reckless was arresting me when she locked the door on us. I have no clue how she got free or if she's even alive right now, but I owe her my life... At least I believe I do."

A silence falls between us, but it's not awkward. I feel as if he really understands what I've been through. And, somehow, that's comforting. Maybe it's because of how old he is. If he could make it through something like that, then I can too. It makes everything else seem... doable.

"The road ahead of you is long," Doc says as he leans his head back, closing his eyes. "You'll encounter countless horrors, do unspeakable things, and leave a mark that will echo throughout the wasteland. Ready or not, the choice is coming. What kind of mark will you leave? What kind of pony are you?"

"... I don't know. I don't think I want to make a mark. I... I want to see my father again. I want to return home in one piece... I know that nothing is going to be the same, so I guess I want to find a new normal. A normal that will let me be... me." I stay quiet for a moment before I chuckle to myself. I need to get some sleep; I can't stand the way my mind works when I'm tired.

"*snore*" I look up to Doc and smile as he slumps into himself, already deep into his slumber. I start to lean back to sleep as well, when a thought occurs. Was that him talking, or was that a memory talking?

I shift a little when I hear a sizzling sound. I take a deep breath in and smell something cooking in the air. The thought of food is enticing, but I'm a little too tired to move at the moment. Besides, whoever that is, they're still cooking. It can wait a few more moments.

"Lucky, you up yet?" Reckless asks, making me groan.

"I am now.” I force my eyes to open and take in my surroundings. It's morning, I think. It's hard to tell because it's still relatively dark. A quick glance behind myself shows that it's still raining. How does anypony get anything done in all this rain?

"Breakfast is about to be served, why don't you join us in here." I nod to him, stretching out a bit as I stand. I scratch my sides and yawn as I make my way into the kitchen, sitting at the table in a slump.

"Not a morning pony are ya?" Doc asks with a laugh as he works on something at the stove.

"Not until I have my coffee." I tell him, spotting the coffee pot to his right.

"Then you're in luck. I just made a pot. There's some milk in the fridge if that's how you like it." I jump up and make myself a cup of coffee, ignoring the pun of his. I don't know how long it's been since I've last had a cup of the liquid gold, but I need it!

"Thank you," I tell him as I sniff the drink. I can already feel it effecting me, waking me up ever so slightly. He chuckles and nods to me, flipping the omelet in the pan. "Where did you learn to cook?"

"Oh, here and there. Cooking is just something you learn to do when you're out there. Not like you can go to the local diner and order something." I hum to him, taking my first sip. Any worry or doubts I was having before wash away as the rich caffeine enters my body. By the sun gods’ tits, this is good. "I take it you like your coffee."

"M-hm," I hum back to him as I take another sip. I hope this cup never runs out.

"You'll have to show us how you made that again. For future references," Reckless says. Is that why this is so good? Did he make this himself? That's so sweet of him! He didn't have to go through all of that effort for us, not that I'm complaining though. Heck, if he wants to make more I'd appreciate it.

"Of course. Speaking of which, there are a few more things we should discuss before you two head out," Doc tells us as he plates the omelets and turns off the stove. We move to the table and take our seats, Doc passing each of us a plate. "I can give you some provisions and a list of things that can keep you going out there, but that's about it. I'd suggest going straight to Silo as soon as possible. The path directly there takes you through the city, which makes it much more dangerous. You could go around the city and approach from the rear, but that will take you at least two extra days. And it will have its own dangers as well."

"What kind of dangers are there? For each choice?" I ask before trying the omelet. I normally don't like eggs, but I haven't had a proper meal in days, so I take what I can get.

"Well... the city is full of raiders, slavers, scavengers, beasts, and feral ghouls. To name a few of the commoners. Feral ghouls are... were ponies that were exposed to too much radiation. It rotted their brains to the point where they attack anything on sight. Avoid them if you can."

I stop mid chew when a new flavor appears. There's something in this omelet that I've never had before. It's... salty, and crunchy. But, a chewy crunchy. What is this?

"While that's terrifying, the wastes are no better. Mutated creatures roam the wastes and will kill you just as easily. Not to mention you'll be more exposed to the elements."

"I think it would be better to go through the city," Reckless tells him. I reach a finger into my mouth and pull out the piece of food that's confusing me. It's... something red? A burnt red it seems. What is this? "I can get us into better hiding spots and it'll take less time to travel. The sooner we get there, the better."

"Hmm... if that's what you believe. Honestly, there isn't really a wrong choice here. What do you think Lucky?"

"... Doc, what's in this?" I ask as I stare at the chunk of food. Doc sighs and sets his fork down.

"Right, forgot to explain that. Listen up, cause these are just somethings that will get you through the Commonwealth..."

He spends the next hour explaining what we will have to go through to survive out in the Commonwealth, and it isn't pretty. Aside from all of the ponies that want to kill us, apparently everything wants to kill us! Food is scarce. Whatever food we do find will probably get us sick. Also, ponies now eat meat. I ate meat. He fed me meat...

There's radiation everywhere, even in the weather! Ponies have left traps all over the city, so we have to watch our steps everywhere! And there are some diseases that have no cures out there! All of the buildings are hanging by a thread, so we'll have to be careful of that too! Is there anything out there that won't kill us?

He then starts to explain ways we can survive. Plants to look out for, where to look for gear and salvage, and general maintenance for some of our gear. He put quite an emphasis of the importance of duct tape, so we'll have to keep plenty of that. He also mentioned that we can modify a lot of our weapons and armor too, depending on what resources we have available. We'll have to learn more advanced modifications out there, but he gave us a few ideas. Like nails in my bat or how to extend the magazine of Reckless's pistol.

The last thing he touches upon are factions. There aren't a lot of large group out there, but there are three that we should be mindful of. The first are the dwellers from Stable Sixty-Five. They don't like outsiders all that much, but they do trust other dwellers. There's a group called the Outcasts here as well. They were a part of the Brotherhood of Steel, but when the NCR was founded, there was a split between them. Silo, Green Ranch, and a place called Tempest Towers are all part of the Minutemares. They're just a collective of farms and relatively good ponies, so they shouldn't be a problem really. There are smaller factions out there, but those are the big ones that we should be aware of.

"And that pretty much sums it up. Obviously me telling you all this isn't as informative as experiencing it all first hand, but every little bit of knowledge helps," he tells us as we finish our meals. It's a lot to take in, but hopefully Reckless got all of the things I missed.

"Is there anything else you can do to help us make it to Silo? Anything at all?" Reckless asks. Doc seems to consider this intently. There is something he could give us, but I don't know if he will.

"Maybe, but not now. You have everything you'll need to make it to Silo, and it ain't bullets or guns. Whether or not you two will make it rests entirely on your own character. You have to want it enough to defy the Commonwealth, and that goes for any and everything out here. If you're not invested one hundred percent in everything you do, you won't last out there. I've seen it far too many times before. Good ponies march right out that door, declaring that they'll fix the world. Some do good, others much worse, but it all ends the same. They all stop believing eventually, and that's when you're at your weakest." He looks down and starts to toy with his plate. I look over to Reckless, but he only shrugs.

"Well... I think we have an unfair advantage compared to them," I tell him, getting a confused look from the both of them. "How many of those ponies had somepony to rely on?"

"... none, that I recall at least."

"Well, we've got each other to keep pushing ourselves forward. We're at twice the advantage then! We may not change the world or... what have you, but I think we can at least make it to Silo." I look to Reckless and give him a smile. He smiles back to me and nudges my side with his arm, so I nudge him back.

"Heh, I guess you're right. Well, now will be the best time for you to go then. The rain's about to taper off so you'll want to leave before it comes back." We nod to him and stand to gather our gear, leaving him to clean the dishes.

"Do you mean that?" Reckless asks as he starts to put on his guard gear.

"Mean what?" I ask, strapping the duffle bag to my back.

"Do you really trust me enough to... I don't know, get us through this? I mean, I know we already said we would work together to get there, but I mean... uh..." I laugh a little as he starts to fumble over his words.

"I made a promise, didn't I?" I ask, smirking at him. "I don't give up; you don't give up. Right?" He smiles back to me, nodding in agreement. We finish getting ready in silence, but I don't think anything else really needed to be said. We know what needs to be done, and we're going to give it our all. I know we'll make it, we have too.

Perspective: Doc Waster

I smile from my porch as I watch the two of them leave my home. I can tell they were scared out of their mind, but they knew they had to leave. I hope they find whatever it is they're looking for in Silo. They need a little hope right now. Something to guide them in the right direction. When Lucky hugged me to thank me one last time, I could tell she was shaking a little. If they're going to make it out there, they'll need all the little victories they can get. Cause the Commonwealth sure as heck ain't going to give it to them.

Dogmeat nudges my hand and groans a little, waking me from my thoughts. I look down and stare into his grey eyes before smiling and rubbing the top of his head. I can worry about them later, there's work to be done.

"Major, I'll be in the basement," I tell him as I head inside. "Keep an eye on the perimeter."

"Sir yes sir!"

I go to the living room where I lift up the rug and open the latch in the floor. Inside is a small dugout that houses a single computer. Climbing the latter down first, I take a seat at it and start to type away. Passwords and firewalls blink away as I type at the keyboard. Eventually I make it to my desired location and wait. It's been awhile since I've last been here, I hope they still check.

C: It's been a while. Do you have good news?

D: It's been quiet lately. I've got two with potential. Sent them to Silo. Waiting to see what happens next. Orders?

C: Same as always. Keep in touch D. We may need you. Something big is coming.

D: Big? S. big or... what?

C: You'll hear about it soon enough. S. sent a courier, but that was weeks ago. We'll try again. Hang in there D.

D: Will do. I'll speak to you when I have more info. D. out.

Perspective: Lucky

All of my previous confidence leaves me when we start walking away from Doc's house. I do my best to hide it though. After everything I told Reckless, I need to appear capable. Even if I'm not. There's a light drizzle coming down from the clouds above, but there are some spots where we can see sunlight breaking through. There's one specific ray ahead of us that seems to be leading the way for us. I've never seen something so beautiful before. I go to ask Reckless about them, but notice how alert he is about our surroundings. I don't think somepony is nearby, but his level of alertness is a bit concerning. I guess I'll talk about the lights when we make it somewhere safe.

It doesn't take us long to make it to the edge of the ruins. Without the heavy rain slowing us down, we made great time. But now comes the hard part. We run to the closest house and take cover at its side to discuss our plan of travel.

"Doc said we should follow this road down a few miles and make a right," Reckless tells me as he peers around the corner. "Looks clear enough."

"Let's check the backyards first though. It may look clear because somepony wants it to appear that way." Reckless nods and takes off into the air. I cough a bit from the smoke, but do my best to keep quiet. I don't want to alert anypony to our presence. It doesn't take him long to return, so I make sure to have the face guard down when he lands. "Is it clear?"

"For a few blocks it is. But there's some sort of structure in the distance I think we should avoid. Nothings there, it's just glowing." I nod to him in agreement. From what Doc told us about radiation, I want to keep as far away as possible.

"Lead the way." He nods to me and starts to walk towards the back.

I wish I could have seen this neighborhood before the bombs fell. They must have been beautiful with their white picket fences, colorful gardens, and various amenities like pools or lounge chairs. Now, there's nothing but dried dirt, broken down fences, and empty pits. The occasional weed adds a bit of color here and there, but there isn't much left to this wasteland.

We creep our way along the backs of the houses, being sure to check the insides of the houses as we move along. Some of the homes are boarded up, but there are a few that are open to the world. Glimpses into the old world rust away before us, having been left long ago. Most homes look as if they've been rummaged through, but there's plenty left behind to paint a picture. Old televisions sets, molded furniture, picture frames that appear empty due to all of the dust are all abundant. Curiosity is biting at me, trying to push me to take a look inside. But, Doc told us better. We can go looking once we have better equipment. Not to mention a better understanding of the Commonwealth. I'm sure we'll come looking back soon enough, but not today.

A clicking sound starts to come from our Pipbucks, telling us there's radiation in the air. I take a look ahead and see the pool Reckless was talking about. I don't know how, but the pool is full of green glowing water. We're a full backyard away from it, but judging from our Geiger counter, we're close enough as it is.

"Hang tight. I'll take a look around and find our next path." I nod to Reckless and press my back to the wall. I don't want anything sneaking up on me. Reckless takes to the air again, blowing dust into the air as usual.

I adjust my helmet as I look from the three directions before me, a tactic Doc told us about. Left, forward, right, repeat. It's good to set a pattern, it helps keep you occupied. When I look back to my left for the third time, I hear something from my right. A gurgle of bubbles catches my attention, seemingly coming from the pool. I stand up and raise my bat as I stare down the glowing liquid, waiting for something to happen.

BLURP

My heart skips a beat when another bubble makes its way up. I was hoping that it was just my imagination! Is something actually in there!? I take in my surroundings again as I start to back away from the pool. I do not want to mess with whatever's in there! Like Doc said, 'If it has anything to do with radiation, you'd best steer clear.'

I start to back away from the pool when the bubble starts to come up more violently. I try to call Reckless, but my fear starts to get the better of me. A glowing green hand shoots out from the water and slams onto the cement. From the sludge a figure starts to emerge. Its entire body is a sickly green and its veins seem to pulsate radiation throughout its limbs. Clumps cling to its face and body as it starts to emerge, it's face looking directly at me. It resembles a pony, but is clearly something far worse.

"Re... Reckless..." I mumble as the thing pulls itself out of the pool. Immediately a ticking sound rings off in my ear as my Geiger counter starts to warn me of the invisible dangers before me. As the being rolls out of the pool and onto the cement, a blip of energy washes over my face. A bar appears in the bottom right corner of my vision and a bar appears over the green thing before me. 'Legendary Bloated Glowing One' appears over the bar, along with a skull next to the name. I gulp when the thing clumsily stands up and stare back at me, twitching with anticipation.

"RECKLESS!" I yell as the thing lunges forward. I swing my bat and smack it across the face, staggering it back long enough to run away. I don't have anywhere to go, so I end up just going around the corner of the house. I glance back and see it chasing after me, keeping pace despite it's fat, bloated stomach. I make it to the middle of the street before something grips my midsection and pulls me up. I look back and sigh as Reckless flies us to the nearest roof and lands.

"You know you're heavier than you look, right?" Reckless asks as he looks back to the Glowing One.

"Maybe you're just not strong enough!" I snap back, slightly offended. "Did you see that thing though!? What is it?"

"A... Legendary Bloated Glowing One apparently," Reckless says, slightly distracted. "Did you notice the... changes? The bar and all the other things in your view?"

"Yeah, what was with that?" I ask. I pull up my Pipbuck and start to look through it. Everything seems the same, but now there's a note in my files.

Lucky,

I had Major update your Pipbucks while you were asleep. Hope you like the changes, they should give you an edge out there. The bar on the bottom are your vitals and the vitals should appear on any enemy you are in contact with. It's not perfect, and there are ways around it, but it should help none the less.

Doc.

I smile from the note. Though I'd hate to say it, we were extraordinarily lucky to have met Doc. With this new knowledge in mind I take a look back down at the Glowing One...

"Well damn," I mutter as I step towards the edge of the roof. A mod of feral ghouls, according to my Pipbuck, have surrounded the house we're on and are trying to knock down the door. I stare down at the feral ghouls and feel my stomach twist at the sight of them. They look too similar to ponies. If it weren't for the charred skin, black eyes, and shriveled limbs; I would say they were ponies.

"What the shit," Reckless says as he notices the mob beneath us. "Do you think they can climb?"

"If they could, they would be here already." He hums in response, taking in our surrounding carefully. I can't really see a way out of this. Our only hope is to wait it out and hope they lose interest. Reckless could just fly us to the nearest house, but they'd just follow after us. How long could we go before we'd run out of roofs to land on?

"I have an idea," Reckless announces, stepping forward. "I'll fly off and have them chase after me."

"What? No! Remember what Doc said!? If you go too high somepony might just shoot you! There has to be another way." I take another look around, but there doesn't seem to be a way out of this.

"Look, I'll stay low. I'll just take them down the street and ditch them in the other neighborhood. It shouldn't take longer than five minutes, tops." He looks back to me and waits for my answer. I avoid his gaze as I try to think of a solution, but I can't think of any new ones.

"What if we tried to just wait them out? If we there doesn't seem to be a way up here, so we're safe for the time being. If we stay quiet for long enough, maybe they'll lose interest." I look back to see him standing on the edge of the building looking down. His wings are twitching a bit as he clenches his fists a couple of times. "Reckless?"

"Five minutes, tops," he tells me before jumping into the air.

"RECKLESS!" I yell, rushing to the edge. He hovers over them and starts to yell at them, getting a large chunk of them to follow. Annoyed by that, he pulls out his pistol and shoots at the ones that aren't looking. It doesn't take long for the mob to take notice of him and start to chase. He keeps himself just out of reach and flies backwards down the street, yelling all the way. What does he think he's doing!? He's going to get himself shot like this! Or worse! I run around the edge of the building again in an attempt to find a way down, but there isn't one. I could try to jump down, but that doesn't seem too safe. With nothing else to do, I move back to the front of the building and wait.

I take a seat and dangle my legs off of the edge. I listen to the sounds of Reckless yelling at them and their shambling, but that ends soon enough. An eerie silence falls over the neighborhood. I try to keep my mind preoccupied by looking at each of the homes here, but that proves to be even more tiresome! They all look the same! Minus one or two minor details, all of the homes look as if they were copies of each other! I start to flick through my Pipbuck to try and entertain myself when I find several radio stations. NCR Today, Radio Wasteland, and Classical. Curious, I decide to listen in on them, starting with NCR Today.

"-is safe. We know the journey is long, and the dangers are numerous. But you owe it to yourself and your family to make the pilgrimage here." A mare is talking. Her voice is sweet and makes the back of my neck tingle a bit. Maybe if she spoke louder that wouldn't happen. "In other news, NCR officials are reporting an increase in Rad Storms coming from the north, with another one approaching in a few minutes. If you find yourself in the Commonwealth area, please take shelter and take plenty of Rad-X if you have it. Expecting mothers should be cautious in their dosage, as should all foals..."

She continues on about Rad-X safety and other medical mumbo-jumbo. Not that I'm opposed to learning something every now and again, it's just that I'm bored. And learning isn't high on my list right now. I flip the switch over to Radio Wasteland.

"GOO-OOD MO-ORNING WASTELANDERS!" The speaker nearly burst out of my Pipbuck from this mares screaming. I almost fall off the roof myself. "How ya'll doing today? Starving? Decrepit? On the brink of losing all sense of morality? Me too! Let's check in and see what the little birdies have to say today.

Tempest Towers officials announced that they've finally clear the top floors of our little visitors, so the hostel is back and runnin'! The Minutemares won a skirmish with some Raiders out on the interstate, securing our trade route with Green Ranch. Efforts are being made to reconnect with Silo, so hang on! The cavalry is on its way! Slaver attacks are on the rise again. With the death of their previous leader confirmed -still hangin from my window by the way- it is unclear how they've become so coordinated. For all you farmin folk out there, remember: There's no shame in hiding or fleeing. They'll call you names, trash your house, even burn your crops. But it'll be worth it to be free.

That's all the new for now kiddies! This is the only straight DJ north of Canterlot, and I'll catch you all next time! And now, some music!"

I laugh a little from that. I don't know who that was, but her enthusiasm was intoxicating. Even more so, she kept me interested in the news. I wonder what's keeping them from meeting up with the Ponies at Silo? I hope it isn't anything we'll run into anytime soon. I take a look around and confirm that Reckless isn't back yet. It's been almost five minutes, but I try not to worry... by distracting myself with the last radio station.

I switch to the Classical station and listen in on the music. There's a slow cello strumming by itself, playing a somber melody. I start to listen in when I quickly turn it off. It was... nice. But I thought I heard something. I take a look around and find nothing out there. Curious, I stand up and check the backyard. There isn't anything there either. I could have sworn there was something out there-

"Boo."

"AH!" I yell, throwing my fist back.

THWUMP

Reckless falls flat on his back and groans in pain. I jump a little in place and shake my hand as I try to ease the pain.

"Why did you sneak up on me like that!?" I yell at him, gripping my hand.

"Why did you punch me!?" Reckless asks, sitting up and rubbing his cheek sorely.

"I don't know! Maybe because we're out in the middle of nowhere and you snuck up on me!" I yell at him, letting my sarcasm punctuate the statement. He groans in response and start to stand up, still rubbing his cheek.

"Well... at least if somepony does try to sneak up on you, you'll have a nasty surprise for them." He tries to laugh it off, but winces from the pain instead. "Well, I ditched the ghouls some ways back. We should hurry before they realize what's going on."

"Good. I was listening to the radio while you were gone and learned somethings," I tell him as he picks me up and flies me to the ground. We take off down the road, doubling our pace. "A storms going to come through soon. We need to find shelter and wait it out."

"Do you really think we need to? We've barely made any progress," Reckless complains, checking his Pipbuck.

"I really think we should. She said it was a Rad Storm. Since we only have a few medical supplies, I think it would be best to play it safe."

"Yeah, you're right," he tells me, looking over to me. "Well, should we chance one of these houses or head down the road a bit and see what's around the area?"

We take a look at the houses around here and decide that none of them are decent enough. Most have massive holes in them, defeating the point of hiding in them. We continue down the road and go from house to house, trying to find a suitable one. When the clouds over head start to darken we start to become a little less picky. We decide on a two story house that has a massive hole on the right side of the roof. Compared to the other houses, this one isn't that bad. We find the door sealed shut with a wooden plank, but it comes down after some persuasion.

The inside is dark and dusty. From the little light we have we can see the remnants of the living room. I guess for being over two hundred years old they're in pretty good condition. There are a few items thrown about, showing signs that the family here left in a hurry, but there isn't much to look at really. I guess they didn't have a lot of money, or maybe all of their things were stolen. We'll never really know.

With my bat at the ready, I walk towards the kitchen and peek around the corner. There doesn't seem to be anypony there, so I turn on the light on my Pipbuck and continue in. There's a foul stench in here, but it's somehow familiar. I take a closer look around and find piles of mold in what was the dining room table. It's been destroyed for a long time now, and whatever food was left there has turned into a mountain of molds and mushrooms. I don't feel safe breathing in this room, so I rush back to the living room where I find Reckless moving the couch.

"Help me with this," he tells me. I rush over and lift the other end, helping him bring it over to the fireplace. "I saw something under the couch, let’s check it out."

We find a latch built into the floor. Reckless and I share one look before nodding and taking our positions. With our weapons ready, we open the latch and take a look inside. There doesn't seem to be anything down there. Just a hole in the ground with a ladder. Without saying a word, Reckless starts to climb down, so I follow after him. It doesn't take us long to make it to the bottom. The room beneath the house is simply a hole in the ground with a bed on one end and a metal cabinet on the other. Some attempts were made for lights and a ceiling fan, but they don't seem to be working.

"Looks as good as any spot to settle for the day. Or at least until the storm blows over," Reckless comments, walking around the small space.

"I'd say," I comment as I take a seat on the bed. It's not the best, but I won't openly complain about it. It's just something I'll have to get used to out here. "We should also get the plank on the door fixed and cover up opening up again. Just as extra precautions."

"Yeah. While I do that why don't you take a look around the rest of the house. I didn't see anything when I looked, and I think they would have heard us by now, but be careful. Weapons, food, ammo, anything that might help." I nod to him, heading back up the ladder. Since I already looked in the kitchen, I'll take a look upstairs.

Each of the steps creek as I make my way up. When I make it up there I find three rooms to search; the master bedroom, a bathroom, and a smaller bedroom. The master bedroom is the room with the gaping hole in the roof, so there isn't really anything of note in there other than the piles of destroyed furniture. The smaller bedroom looks as if it was for a filly. Dolls and play things litter the floor, most of which are broken. I check through the two dressers in the room and manage to find five bottle caps. I feel a little silly pocketing them, but I know I have to. The final room I check in is the bathroom. It's here that I find the jackpot, according to Doc that is.

Soap. A single bar of soap. Hygiene is something that goes past most ponies up here. When you spend most of your day looking for a meal, smelling nice isn't high on the list of priorities. This is something that I personally will appreciate. With that in my bag, I check the mirror and also find a Stim-pak. A bar of soap and a Stim-pak. It's better than nothing.

When I make it back downstairs Reckless is finishing blockading the door. And just in time too. A large crack sounds over head as a torrent of rain starts to come down. I help him set the couch against the door and the two of us rush back down the hole, closing the lid after us.

"I call the bed!" I announce before dropping to sit on it. Reckless chuckles lightly before kicking our bag of cloths to the side and laying against it. "So... what now?"

"I have Stripped Menace in this thing if you want to try," Reckless offers. I think about it for a moment before shaking my head. I was never really that good at video games. They could never really hold my attention for some reason. "Well, other than that... we can talk."

"... alright. Let's talk." Reckless bites his lip as I bounce my heels. It would appear that neither of us want to start a conversation. Great! Just great! We go for a few minutes in silence. Each time one of us goes to say something, the other would coincidentally do something to silence the other. I would couch or he would stretch out, making the other think they were going to say something. It takes a bit of nerve, but eventually I think of something to say.

"I found a bar of soap," I tell him, getting his attention. "IT looks half dried out and doesn't seem to have a scent, but it's soap."

"Hm. Great. I don't know when we'll get a chance to use it, but that's... good."

"Yeah..." Dammit! We're both quiet again! This is awkward! Maybe I could just lay back and- WAIT A MINUTE! We have radios on our wrists! I go to the function and quickly flick it on, getting a loud fuzzy static sound.

"I guess we can't get a signal under this house." I turn it off in a huff, annoyed at life. Of course it didn't work. Life wants us to talk to each other! Great! "So... Did Major try to... do anything... weird while we were at Docs?"

"... no, why do you ask?" I lie, knowing completely what he's talking about. It takes every fiber of my being not to smile from all of my giddiness. What did the two of them do? What did Major offer? I have to know.

"Oh, really? Me neither." He's lying! He's totally lying! He's a terrible liar at that! His blush is giving it away. Intrigued, I lean forward and stare him down, making him shift around in discomfort. His facade crumbles quickly and he starts to talk. "Okay! Maybe he offered to... do things. But I didn't do them!"

"What things? What was he offering to do?" I ask innocently, tilting my head in fake confusion.

"Well... you know... things," he tells me, trying to hide his blush. But I won't let him off the hook that easily.

"Like... fluff you pillow? Did he offer to help keep your bed warm? What sort of things did he offer to do?" I may have laid it on a little too think, because now he's just groaning and rubbing his face. I laugh at his discomfort, laying back on the bed. I guess I've tortured him enough, for now.

"But seriously, did he?" I chuckle at that, glancing down at him. I guess I'll share.

"Yeah, but I turned him down and sent him your way-"

"Thanks! Real nice Lucky!" I laugh at him again, getting him to huff in annoyance. He cracks a smile in the end though. "Why would he even need that."

"Maybe it was something he and his wife did, for whatever reason." I couldn't imagine having a three way with a robot. What would they even do? "He talked about his wife, but I never got her name."

"Me neither. I thought about asking, but it seemed rude. It's probably not something he wants to talk about with strangers," Reckless offers, but I shake my head.

"After everything he did for us, I don't think we constitute as strangers." Reckless agrees with me and we both go silent in thought. I didn't see any pictures of her, a name plate, nothing. It really seems as if he has nothing to remember her by. I hope nothing terrible happened to her. Doc is too sweet for something like that.

"How are we?" Reckless asks, catching me slightly off guard. "I mean... I know we had that talk at Docs place, but... I don't know. Are we good? Are we only good until we make it to Silo? What happens after that? Sorry for all this, but... it's been on my mind a lot."

"No, it's alright," I tell him, shifting on the bed to look at him as I lay here. "I would say we're good. We really still don't know each other all that much, but... you're the only pony I can truly trust right now. And... when we make it to Silo, I won't forget all of this." He hums to me, smiling lightly. I smile back to him, glad that I put his mind at ease.

"Blue," he says, catching me off guard again. "It's my favorite color. But not Stable-Tech blue, I've seen enough of that already. I like a light blue or a really dark blue." It takes me a moment to realize what he's doing, and it make me smile more.

"I like blue too, but I'd have to say my favorite -and you better not laugh at me! My favorite color is... green."

"Green!" he says with a laugh. I roll my eyes at him, embarrassed by my choice. "How'd you come to that conclusion?"

"It's not from my coat, if that's what you're thinking!" I tell him as he moves to face me better. "When I was little my father got me these books about parks before the war. I remember looking at the pictures and seeing all the plants and ponies. I told him I wanted to climb a tree, because of a picture of a pony climbing one that was apparently one hundred feet tall. He just laughed at me, scrunching up my mane..."

"I'm sure he's fine," he reassures me. "The Overstallion was the toughest stallion in the Stable, he made sure of it. I bet he's got everything figured out by now. Probably cracked a few head along the way too."

"Yeah..." I go quiet as I think about my father. I really do hope he's okay. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him.

"Did you ever get the chance to read the Daring Do books?" he asks quickly.

"Only every single one of them multiple times over!" I tell him, bringing my enthusiasm back up. "I loved those books as a filly!"

"Heh, I only read half of the first one-"

"*Gasp* Blasphemy! How could you have not read them? They were so good!" he shrugs and rubs the back of his neck, laughing slightly. "Well... if you want, I could recount them to you. We have the time, and I don't mind talking about them."

"Are you sure? Aren't there... like, eight books?"

"Nine, with three mini-series books and thirteen web issues. Do you want to hear about her or not?" He shrugs and gets comfortable, so I get into it. We spend hours talking about the books. Writing style, the story, the writer, everything about the first book. Reckless does his best to recall what he read, but most of it goes over his head. But I'm okay with that. It lets me go back to it myself. And he really seems to enjoy listening.

We ended up staying in that hole for nearly two days! The rain refused to stop the entire time. Luckily the rad storm only last the first day, but we decided to wait the rest out. It was... oddly fun. Even though we were in a hole in the ground, it was nice. We talked about almost everything. What music we liked, sports, ponies from the Stable; we spent most of our time talking. We especially talked about the mares from Eighty-eight.

He has an interesting opinion of certain mares that I know. I thought he was going to judge them on certain things, but he was more interested in their beliefs and habits. I thought he'd just judge them on their looks and how they were in the sack, and even though there were moments where he did bring those things up, they were never really the main topic. He likes the way certain mares laugh or whatever sports they follow. He hates it when mares try to talk about his wings or talk about his job too much. From the sound of it, he doesn't like being the center of attention.

There was a point last night where he left the hole randomly. Curious, I followed after him. He went to the top floor and sat on the floor, staring out at the Commonwealth. I thought about leaving him be, but a burst of lightning made me gasp and he noticed me. He didn't say anything, he just turned back to look out there. So, after some thought, I joined him. We sat there for... at least two hours, watching the rain. It was... nice. We didn't say anything, we didn't do anything, we just... watched the rain. For a moment, it was as if there wasn't a wasteland or slavers anymore. It was me, him, and the rain. And it was nice.

"Did you ever get to meet Cinnamon Swirl?" I ask as we walk down the road, having left the house a while ago. We're sticking to the sides of the road now, learning our lesson from before.

"No, but I know who she is. Bought coffee from her a few times though," Reckless tells me as he scans the buildings. I bring my bat up to my shoulders and rest my arms on it, leaning towards him to see what he thinks of her. "Well... I mean, she did her job well enough. He had a bark of a laugh though-"

"She did not!" I defend.

"Maybe around you. I remember some of the guards went to get a quick bite and she was all over Cuffs. Cuffs is not a funny stallion at all, but whenever he'd say one of his stupid pickup lines, she'd practically scream out a laugh. A laugh. I don't know, maybe she was just nervous."

"Cinnamon Swirl? Nervous? That is a word never used to describe that mare. Can you describe her? Maybe you have the wrong pony."

"Light tan fur, dark brown hair. Titties big enough to crush a stallion. She had a nice ass though." Yep, that's her. Not many mares like her in the Stable sadly. Though, I didn't need to know about her ass.

"That's funny. I always saw her as a pony with nothing but confidence... Cuffs? Is that the stallion with the extra fluffy ears?"

"No, that's Death Row. You're thinking of Flat Hoof. Why?" I laugh a little from the memory, it was pretty crazy.

"He... asked me out." Reckless almost trips when I say this, making me chuckle. He composes himself the best he can, but it's obvious that he's flustered.

"Really? Flat Hoof asked you out, huh? Last I recall, he was a second class stallion. Pretty ballsy of him... Did you go?"

"Yeah, I did."

THUD

I laugh at him and wait for him to stand back up. I had a feeling that he'd be interested in this. He takes another moment to compose himself before walking off at a high pace. I follow after him, enjoying my torment a little too much.

"So... how did it go?" he asks, trying to sound as uninterested as possible.

"Well, we got food, talked a little, and then he walked me home," I tell him, gauging his reactions. He's thinking to himself mostly, but I can tell he's on edge. I wonder how the next part will go over. "We stopped at my door and he asked to come in. I told him it was fun, but maybe next time. He... tried to persist, but I wasn't having it. Long story short, you know that scar he has on his cheek?"

"You did that?" Reckless asks, brightening up a little. And here it comes.

"No, my father did." He goes wide eyed from that. "You see, by persistent, I mean grabby. So I punched him and tried to go inside. Ends up my father war watching from down the hall though. Flat hoof learned quickly what happens when you mess with the Overstallions daughter."

"Damn," Reckless mutters, thinking to himself. I watch his face for a moment when I realize it's not going the way I thought it was going. "Did... did stuff like that happen to you often? The... 'persistence', I mean."

"Oh... well... sort of. I mean, I was first class, so there weren't that many stallions that were ballsy enough to try. But, there were a few." I didn't really think about that part of the story. To me, it was always the story of my dad nearly chopping off some creeps’ head for being rough. I never really thought about the fact that he was trying to make those kind of advances. Not that I'm unaware of those situations, Celestia knows I know, but... That story was always one I'd tell about my father. When I would share it with the other mares, that's what we talked about. It wasn't about me almost being raped. It was about my dad beating up a creep. I guess Reckless is the first stallion I've ever told though...

"Sorry." I blink from his response, lost from thought.

"For what? You didn't do anything," I tell him, but he shrugs back.

"Yeah, but... I don't know. Things worked out in the end, but... I don't know. It felt like the right thing to say. “I stare at him for a moment before looking back to the road ahead of me.

"Well, don't worry about it." We both go quiet after that. What was he supposed to say to that? I never really thought about it before, but that's not a good story to tell. Or, rather, it's a really personal story to tell. Maybe it's different with stallions and mares, I don't know. Maybe in the future I should keep things like that to myself.

Our silence is broken suddenly by gunfire. Reckless draws his pistol and guides me to a nearby building where we take cover. I pull the face cover on my helmet down as Reckless takes a look around the corner. I feel my heart start to race as the gunfire intensifies. There has to be at least four ponies shooting at one another.

Without saying a word Reckless wraps his arms around me and flies me up to the roof. Instead of setting me down though, he more lands on top of me, so we're laying down. I go to ask him what's going on, but he covers my mouth with a hand and shushes me. I gulp and nod to him, getting him to uncover my mouth. He moves aside and crawls his way to the other end of the roof to take a look. I roll over and crawl my way up and peer over the top end, seeing the fight below.

There are two groups fighting. One group are obviously Raiders, thanks to my Pipbuck telling me so, while the others look like normal ponies, being dubbed Settlers. Their clothes are mere rags and they look dirty, but they have a more civil look about them. There are a few bodies in the streets, but the Raiders have chased the Settlers into an alley. We have a perfect view on them, while the Raiders are setting up to corner them. It looks as if it's a dead end for them though.

"Okay, I have an idea," Reckless whispers to me when he crawls back. The Raiders have stopped shooting at them and are now taunting them. They call them cowards, scream about the terrible things they're going to do, and laugh. The laughing is the worse. They enjoy this. They enjoy ruining lives. "There are four Raiders beneath us. Two on the left and two on the right of the house. If we can sneak our way down there, we can take out one of the groups with little effort. If the others don't notice it, then we can do it again. If they do, we'll run out of sight and hide. Sound good?"

"No, but we're doing it." He gives me a confused look but nods anyway.

He grabs me again and flies us to the backyard. Some shooting starts up, but it's nowhere as intense as before. Reckless motions for me to follow him to the right, so I nod to him. We crouch our way to the corner and take a look. The Raiders are hiding behind the corner of the building, giddy about the fight. Reckless starts to creep forward, so I do the same. When we get close enough I grab Reckless's arm and force him to switch side with me. Only one of them has a helmet on, so that's the one he should go for. He doesn't fight it, so I guess he gets the message.

They start shooting again, so we use this time to close the distance. The mare before me notices with enough time to turn and see me bring my bat down on her temple. At the same time, Reckless puts a bullet in the back of the other mares’ neck. The mare I hit lets out a loud scream of pain as she drops to the ground. I bring my bat overhead and swing it down with all my might to silence her. A loud, wet, thwack later and she gurgles her way into silence.

We hear the others yell at us, having noticed our actions. Reckless grabs my arm and pulls me back as a torrent of bullets fly our way. I go to run the other direction when a volley of bullets sends me to the floor. I quickly crawl back to cover and check myself, only finding a dent on my helmet. I peer around the corner and see another group of Raiders hopping the fence, bringing the total to five now.

"If you come out, I promise to make it quick!" a stallion yells, making the others laugh.

"What's the plan!" I yell at Reckless as he forces me back to take a look. He reaches around the corner and fires a few rounds off. The same stallion starts to scream as he falls to the ground.

"Try that again! I dare ya!" Reckless yells at them before looking back to me. "They're going to try to cut us off."

"Right, so what do we do?" I ask, starting to panic. Reckless thinks for a moment before reaching around the corner to shoot again. It doesn't sound like it hits anything, but hopefully it keeps them back.

"Right... right... right... okay! You try to go right. If the two of them are still there then come back. Otherwise, try to get to that other group. I'll follow afterwards. Got it?"

"Sure!" I get up and rush to the corner, nearly running into one of the Raiders. He tries to hit me with a tire iron, but I swing my bat up to parry it. I try to bring it down on him, but he catches it with his iron and starts to push back on me. Gunfire erupts all over the place as we push back on one another.

"I'm gonna ripe that pretty little face of yours right off!" the stallion yells as he surges forward. I try to hold on, but somethings giving him an edge.

With nothing else to do, I break my stance and let him lurch forward. At the same time, I bring a leg up and catch him right between the legs. He howls in pain but manages to stay standing, so I do it again. He staggers back on the second hit and lowers his guard, allowing me to bring my bat right across his face. He spins over and falls to the ground, groaning in pain. I plant my foot on his back and beat the side of his head a few times, screaming with each hit. I step back and take a few deep breaths as I watch the blood seep out of the side of his head, staining the dry ground. I lumber my way to the corner and take another look.

The other Raider is too busy shooting at the settler ponies to notice me. I take a deep breath before running out to the open. My bag tosses from side to side as I push myself as fast as possible. He notices me and turns to shoot, missing by a few inches. He tries again, but the gun clicks and he starts to reload. By the time I get there he's pulls the magazine out, giving me the perfect chance to attack.

THWACK

A solid hit on his shoulder forces him over.

THWACK

A hit on his back forces him to curl backwards, grunting in pain.

THWACK

CRUNCH

A hit on his arm shatters it, forcing him to scream. I kick him onto his back and pull my bat up, looking down at the stallion before me. He doesn't look scared. There's no remorse. The only thing I can see on his face is anger. And that makes this easier.

THWACK

I stagger back a bit before I fall on my rear, panting from exertion. The stallion before me twitches a few times before finally going limp. I killed him. And those other two. They're all dead.

I barely register the pony running up beside me. She's one of those settlers with a purple coat and silver hair done in a very cute bob. She says something to me, but it sounds so distant. I tilt my head as I try to understand her. She yells something else before rushing over to the dead stallion and picking up his weapon. She reloads it and starts to fire at the other Raiders. That's right, there are more of them. We aren't done yet.

As I start to stand my hearing starts to come back to me. There's a lot of yelling and gunfire. Some ponies are screaming in pain, others in fear. Some of it even seems to be directed at me.

"Are you insane!? Get to cover!" the mare from before yells at me. I blink back to reality and rush to her side at the house. "Are you stuck on stupid or something?"

"No! Sorry... how many are left?" I ask, still trying to wrap my mind around things.

"Two, but they have automatics and lots of ammo." She leans over the corner to take a few shots before coming back to me. "Do you have a gun?"

"No, just this," I tell her as I lift up my bloody bat. She gives me a bewildered look before leaning back over to fire again. I take a look around when an idea comes to mind. "Switch spots with me!"

"What? No! You don't have a gun!" she yells back at me. I grab her arm and pull her aside, much to her disapproval.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" I yell out, much to the amazement to everypony. A few rounds go off, but they all eventually stop. "It's four to two, stop and we'll let you go!"

"... step out! If somepony shoots, we're putting you down first!" One of the Raiders yells back. [Speech 35/30]

"Lucky, what are you doing!?" Reckless yells from the other side.

"Don't shoot Reckless! Alright, I'm coming out!" I start to walk out when the mare besides me grabs my arm. She shakes her head, trying to tell me not to go. I try to offer her a smile and pull my arm out of my grasp. If they aren't as stupid as I've been told they are, this might work.

I walk out into the opening and raise my hands. They step out as well and start to walk towards me, pointing their guns my way. I gulp as I wait for them to make it over to me, the air between us seemingly getting hotter and hotter. I can see Reckless move behind them as the make it to the side of the house. We give each other a look before I shake my head. He wants to shoot them right now. He wants to take me out of the danger. But I can do this. I know I can.

"You’re one crazy bitch," the first Raider says as he walks past me, eyeing my entire form quickly. I just stay still and wait for them to pass. It'll be over soon enough. Just keep waiting.

"You're lucky it was me here," the next mare says as she stops before me. She has an athletic body type with a burnt orange coat and red hair. Her armor looks to be made of leather with various pieces of metal intertwined. Her yellow eyes almost seem to glow in the shade of her head wrap. "Anypony else would have shot your ass on the spot."

"Well... I was hoping that one of you had a brain," I tell her, trying to laugh. She smirks at me before nodding her friend along. She takes a step before turning back to me.

"Names Burst Fire. This means nothing. Next time, be ready to fight." I nod to her, trying my best not to gulp in front of her. She takes a look at the dead Raider for a moment before looking back to me, a smug look on her face. "But, you ever want to be part of a group that wins though, you come find me. We could use all the crazy bitches out there."

I nod again and she takes her leave. The two of them take their time walking down the street, laughing over everything that just happened. They don't care that they just lost all these ponies. They're just happy that they're the ones getting away. When they turn the corner at the end of the street I let a long breath and collapse backwards. This was all too much. I'm going to need a minute.

"In all my years, I've never seen somepony convince a Raider to stop fighting," the mare Settler says as she and Reckless approach me. "Thanks for the help."

"Don't mention it," I pant out, staring up at the sky. "The names Lucky. That there is Reckless."

"Mutt Schnapps. That there is Hardy, Chuck Wagon, and Pop." I roll my head over to see the remaining ponies come out of hiding. Another mare, a unicorn stallion, and a filly whose probably twelve.

"We should collect what we can and head out. We don't want to escape them just to get caught by somepony else," Reckless mentions. I nod to him, trying to find the strength to stand up. "Why don't you take a minute Lucky. We'll take care of things around here."

"Uhuh." I close my eyes and lay there on the ground. The others walk around me and go through the process of gathering whatever materials are left. I feel the hairs on my neck start to stand up, so I open my eyes. The filly is standing beside me, staring down at me with a blank look on her face. I smile up to her, but she doesn't really move.

"You're new out here, aren't you?" she asks blandly.

"Um... yes," I tell her, slightly put off by her demeanor.

"Is that guy your coltfriend?" I try to answer her, but I was caught too off guard by that question to be able to. "That's a no. Good."

"Okay?" She walks off, heading towards Reckless. She can't be that old, can she? I see her talk to Reckless, and judging by his reaction, she doesn't hide her intentions. Reckless says something to her and shakes his head, getting her to just stand there. He tries to ignore her, but she just stands awkwardly close to him, even when the others in her group tell her to stop.

After a few minutes everypony comes back to me. Reckless helps me up and we all start to walk off together. I guess safety in numbers is our game for the time being. I make my way over to Mutt Schnapps to ask her some questions.

"I was talking with Reckless earlier. We're heading to a small homestead a cousin of mine owns. We figured we'd travel there together since it's on the way to Silo," she tells me.

"Oh, good. Moving to be with family?" I ask, hoping it's not too intrusive.

"Sort of. Our last farm was razed by Hell Hounds. Nasty bunch, we barely made it out alive. Everything we have we found on our way here."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." I don't know what a Hell Hound is, but I don't want to find out anytime soon.

"Yeah, well, shit happens I guess. My daddy taught me plenty about plantin' crops. Sometimes they wither in certain soils, so you have ta find a new place ta plant them." I hum to that. It sounds like good advice, albeit morbid.

"Are the others your family?" I ask, getting Chuck Wagon, the unicorn, to laugh.

"Nope. Hardy was a farmhand back at my old place. Chuck Wagon ran a caravan between my place and another farm. And we found Pop wondering around. It's been tough, but we've been managing." I take another look at Pop and feel a pang of pity for the filly. I couldn't imagine wandering this place alone, especially at her age!

"It hasn't all been bad," Chuck says, alluding to something in his tone.

"Speak for yourself," Hardy says, getting the other two to laugh.

"I used to watch the brahmin mate when I was little." Everypony goes silent when Pop says that. Why would she say that? Let alone admit it! "It was majestic. Until they were eaten by Ashen Wolves."

"Oh..." I glance over to Mutt, but she only shrugs. I guess this is what happens to a kid out in the wasteland.

"How far away are we from your cousins’ place?" Reckless asks, changing the topic.

"Bout a day out, if we play it safe," Mutt tells him, taking a look around our surroundings. "And we are going to play it safe."

"No argument here," Hardy says.

"Yup," Chuck adds.

"Does he have brahmin?" And there goes the conversation. This is going to be a long day.

The walk to the farm wasn't as bad as I thought it was. There were a few times we changed paths to avoid Raiders and feral ghouls, but we managed to make it without starting another fight. Which is good, because we really didn't have the ammo for something like that. Even with all the gear we took from those previous Raiders, we barely have enough to fill our guns. Oh! And I have a pistol now! It's a nine millimeter! Reckless gave me some pointers on shooting, but I think I'll stick to my bat. It'll be nice to have if I ever need it though. Assuming I can hit the thing I'm aiming at.

The farm Mutt was talking about is nothing I was imagining. I was thinking of the farms from the books back home. Large lots of land with flowing fields of crops and a big red barn. The farm Mutt was talking about is an apartment complex in the middle of an urban complex. Apparently Urban Flow, her cousin, has hydroponics on multiple levels of this building. I don't entirely understand what's how he managed to do it, but if it works...

The front of the building is intimidating. It's five stories tall and has turret contraptions on every floor. They really look like guns mounted to small motors that swivel from side to side. But, judging by all the bullet marking on the ground out front, I'm sure they work. We are standing in an open square before the building. It looks as if there were some fixtures out here, but they've long since been removed. There are some banners flying on the apartment building as well. Each one has its own insignia one it, but I don't know what any of them represent.

A stallion bursts out from the front door and cheers at our arrival. He's an average looking stallion with a blue coat and green hair in dreads. He's wearing a nightgown that's all leopard print and has a bottle in one hand. He gives another cheer as he stumbles down the few steps of the building, taking a large swig from his drink.

"Cousin Mutt! Get that ass over here and hug me!" he screams, leaning back as he holds his arms open. Mutt walks forward and gives him a big hug, laughing when he picks her up and spins around.

"It's good to see you Flow! You're a real life saver, I mean it!" she tells him when they break away. She turns to introduce us, keeping an arm around him to help keep him standing. "This is my farmhand Hardy."

"A pleasure," he says, giving her a strange look. I want to say he was trying to flirt, but being drunk made it look more like a threat.

"This here is Pop. We found her on the way here, I hope that won't be a problem." Urban stares her down for a moment before shrugging.

"All are welcomed in Heaven! The more the merrier!" he cheers. Pop just stares at him, slowly blinking an eye.

"That there is Chuck Wagon, he ran the caravan to Sunset Lane." He lurches forward and gives him a firm handshake. With him being a little closer, I can smell the booze off of him. It's enough to make my head spin a little. "These next two saved us from some Raiders earlier. This is Reckless. No, he's not Enclave."

"You sure?" he asks loudly, leaning forward and eyeing Reckless closely. Reckless just stands there, eyeing him back.

"And lastly this is Lucky." Urban swivels to look at me and gasps suddenly. Pushing Mutt away, he makes his way to me, swaying side to side along the way. He has a look on his face that I can only describe as creepy. He's not even trying to hide what he's looking at. I glance to the side and see Reckless rest a hand on his pistol, only making matters worse.

"My, my, my, my! You are certainly not something I was expecting," he tells me. Unless you went by eye sight, because then he was saying it to my breast.

"Something?" I ask, obviously sounding offended. He looks up to me and gives a quick chuckle before turning back towards the building. He drunkenly makes his way up the steps and turns back to us, motioning closer. Reckless and I share a look before stepping towards him. Depending on what he says, we may just leave right now.

"Friends, gather! This is Urban Flows slice of paradise! We drink! We party! We fuck! I only have a few, simple rules. But if you follow them then you may stay for as long as you'd like! Rule number one! Do not touch any of my turrets! Rule number two! Do not eat any crops that are growing! I have plenty of food from traders, so there is no need really. Rule number four! Under no circumstances whatsoever are any stallions allowed to ever touch any of my mares! Break any of my rules, and you will be shot on site! Follow them, and you'll be safe, drunk, and well fed. Welcome, to Heaven!"

He leads us inside and my jaw hangs open is... awe? I'm guess before the war this building was a hotel. The room looks like it was a greeting room/lounge, but not so much anymore. In the center of the room is a massive circular bed with fluffy velvet red blankets. Hanging from the ceiling is a massive metal work chandelier that is in the shape of two ponies doing the act. There are bottles all over the floor and covering every counter top and table. The walls of the building look old and worn down. There are even some spots where you can see the wood work!

There are a few mares in here as well. Two are on the bed while three are talking at a counter in the back. Each of them are dressed in scandalous sleepwear. Silky red night gowns that don't quite cover their bottoms, lacy underwear, there's even a mare in the back who's only wearing a thong and black tape!

Urban Flow steps forward and throws his arms out, laughing to himself as we take in the room. It's at this point that I notice there are several, smaller, turrets dotted around the room. I think it's safe to say that there are going to be turrets in every room here.

"This is Heaven! Remember the rules as I give you a tour!" Urban says as he walks forward. Reckless and I share a scared look before we follow the group.

He has the building sectioned off into five sections. The first floor is the main living room, or as he calls it, the Magic Room! It has that entrance as well as a dining hall. He makes sure we all grab something to eat before moving on with the tour. It was nice of him, though I want to reserve my judgement till later. The second and third floor are the hydroponic rooms. The walls have been knocked out to make room for the massive tracks of piping, plants, and various machines. There isn't anything in here really, so there's really no reason to come here. The fourth floor is the workshop. This is where Urban tinkers with the turrets and fixes the hydroponics. The last floor are the bedrooms. This is where I get the hotel vibe the most. It's just corridors and doorways. Urban assigns each of us to a room, checking Reckless and I in last.

"Room five-twelve," he mutters as he flips through his keys. He finds the right one and opens the door, escorting us in. It's a simple room with two twin beds. There are some side tables and a dresser, but other than that there isn't really anything else to the room. There is a section of the wall that looks like it's had some work done. It's probably where the bathroom used to be. "Here is the key. If and when you leave please return it to me, making new ones is a pain in the ass."

"Thank you," Reckless says as he takes the key.

"There is a community bathroom down the hall. Here are four tokens for the showers. Each token gets you four minutes of water. If you're going to leave tomorrow, please save water and only take one shower. Do you have any questions?" Reckless and I shake our heads, getting him to sigh. "Cool... I think I'm about to crash, so just ask one of the others for help if something comes up. Later."

We watch him stumble his way down the hall until he turns the corner. With him gone, and probably out, we close the door and take in our accommodations. The beds look inviting, but I don't know if I want to be on it. The walls are dirty, though I don't know how that much dirt got in this room. There are some patches on the roof that are questionable too. Over all, with my life from the Stable still fresh in my mind, I want to leave as soon as possible.

The other part of me, the part of me that is listening to Doc, knows not to take this for granted. We have beds, protection, food, water, I don't even know how he has working showers! He may be disgusting, but with all that he provides, I can see why there are so many mares in here.

"Can you believe this place?" Reckless asks as he lays on the bed on the right. I go to stop him, but it's too late for that. He doesn't seem to notice though, so I'll keep it to myself. "What do you think of this place?"

"I... don't know," I tell him as I take a seat, aiming for the cleanest looking spot. "Everything here seems like a blessing. But then you get Urban Flow-"

"I don't like him," he adds quickly, turning to stare at a wall.

"He's a creeper, that's for sure," I add, reaching down to remove my shoes. My hooves thank me for that immediately.

"Creeper? He's a straight up freak! I almost put a bullet in him for eye fucking you!" Reckless fumes, shifting uncomfortably.

"Yeah... I think I'm going to go use the shower. That sounds... really nice right now." I get go through our bag and pull out a change of clothes. Reckless keeps quiet, eyeing the wall intensely. I pause to say something to him, but choose not to. I doubt there's anything I can say that will help his mood right now anyway.

The shower room is basically a long row of shower stalls taking the left wall with toilets cubicles taking the right. There's a door at the end of the hall that says Washroom, leaving me to guess that it's the laundry room. The shower stalls are made of tiled walls with curtains for doors. By the entrance there are a few sinks with mirrors above them. The lights are a little dim in here, but they are placed so there's more light in the showers. My hooves clack against the tile flooring as I make my way in, echoing ever so slightly. With the dim lights and light turquoise paint, the room has a relaxed feeling about. Something I'm put a little on edge about. With everything out there, how can a place like this exist?

I take the middle stall and start to undress. My Stable suit clings to me from all of the sweat from the past few days. Getting out of it is a relief in it of itself. I fold it up nicely and set it on the curtain rod above me, along with my other cloths. I turn to the shower and slide a token into the slot, getting the valves to turn on the other side. A moment later, warm water starts to fall from the shower head, and I almost cry. I didn't think about it, but I miss hot showers. I might go back to the room and take another token just to stay in here longer! I probably won't, because that would be rude, but it is tempting.

I take my dry bar of soap and start to wash my body. The suds cling to me for a moment before being rinsed down in the murky water. I'm a little surprised by how dirty I am, but push on with my cleaning. I only have a few minutes before the water turns off, I need to make the best of it.

Just as I finish washing my legs I hear somepony walk into the bathroom. I've never had a shower with somepony in the same room, so this is a little weird. I try to ignore it as I start to rinse out my hair, but I can't help but-

SHING

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" I yell when Urban Flow opens my curtain. I quickly grab it and use it to cover myself. "Are you insane? Get out!" He doesn't seem to take what I said seriously. He's just standing there, eyeing me unevenly with an empty wine bottle in his hands.

"I-I have to talk with you, but only you. Not that... pegasis!" His words are more slurred than normal and he keeps swaying from side to side. I move a little closer to him to get more of the curtain to cover myself with, but he doesn't seem to care. He steps in, leaning against the wall opposite of me.

"This isn't a good time to talk," I tell him sarcastically. He goes to take a drink, but finds it empty. He tosses it aside, shattering it against a toilet door.

"No, now. The... the other guy... he wouldn't let you have the choice. I would give you the choice, but he wouldn't. Nah, it's your choice! YOUR choice! It's all your choice!" He yells at the room. I try to edge my way out of the stall, but freeze when he pulls a revolver out of his pajamas.

"Urban... what are you doing?" I ask carefully, eyeing the gun. He holds it in his hands and stares at it, rubbing a thumb against the barrel slowly. "Urban?"

"All of the mares here have one of these, did you know that?" he asks, suddenly sounding much sober. "I give it to them when they agree to stay. I don't force them; they have to agree." He looks up to me, looking hopeful, before laughing deeply. "They agreed! And you should too! I have food, booze; you want drugs? I can get you whatever you want! You just have to agree to stay here, with me. I'd keep you happy, so long as we're both happy. Don't you want to be happy?"

My breath picks up pace as he stares at me, waiting for me to respond. I take in my surroundings as I try to think of a way out of this. What do I tell him? He's drunk, so nothing will reason with him. He just wants to hear what he wants. But I can't bring myself to saying yes either. I saw the turrets. Who knows what else he's hiding around here. I have to be careful with what I say, or this will get ugly.

"Urban... I am not comfortable talking about this while I am naked. Can we please talk about this another time?" Just as I ask this, the water shuts off, silencing the room.

"Another time?" [Speech 35/50] "Why don't you understand! This is for you!" He rushes forward and rips the curtain from my grasp. I let out a yelp and move my arms to cover myself. He doesn't seem to like that though. He grabs my arm and tries to wrestle it away. I start to fight him, but stop the second he puts the barrel of his pistol against my neck. He lets out a small laugh as he stares at my bare chest, his pants rising slightly.

"Urban?" I mutter, fear filling my voice. He licks his lips as he moves a hand to cup me, but stops just shy of contact.

"If you were mine..." he lets go and backs out of the stall, laughing to himself. I grab the curtain and cover myself again. I want to run, but I don't want to make any sudden movements either. Not while he has a gun. "I told you, I never force them. That almost got out of hand, didn't it?" he laughs at his own joke, waving his pistol around. I just keep quiet. He'll leave soon enough. Or somepony will come in here. Something will end this soon.

He starts to walk away, but just as I let out a breath he comes right back into my stall. What is wrong with this pony!? Why can't he just leave?

"I stole your shower, and fair is fair," he says as he reaches into his pocket and puts a token into the shower. The water starts to fall and soak him immediately. With all of the stuff in his pockets and the water weighing his pants down, they fall to the ground. He laughs, turning as if to show me. I just close my eyes and look away, disgusted by him.

He walks up to me until I can feel the heat from his breath on my neck. I don't know what he's doing, but it doesn't seem as if it's ever going to end! I cling to the curtain a little tighter, hoping that it will end soon.

"You are going to leave tomorrow. I know this. You aren't the first. But, after some time out there, this will all appear better and better. You'll rationalize it to yourself. 'It won't be as bad as this.' 'At least there I had food.' 'At least there I was safe. It's happened plenty of times before. Don't worry, my doors will always be open to you. I would never let any harm come to you out here."

He reaches down and lifts the curtain to look at my cutie mark. I move a hand to cover it back up, but's he's seen what he's wanted to see. He gives a light chuckle before finally leaving the stall. He starts to hum to himself as he leaves, each step making me cringe slightly. Only when his voices fade away do I let go of the curtain and drop to ground. I wrap my arms around my knees as I sit there, crying to myself. I stay in there even after the water stops flowing. I don't want to leave. I don't want to chance walking into him again. We have to leave now!

I grab my cloths and throw them on before running out of the bathroom. I make it to our room and throw the door open, finding it empty. Why is it empty? Where's Reckless? Not knowing what else to do, I slam the door shut and lock it. I run over to our bag and grab both of my weapons before taking the far corner of the bed and sit there, eyeing the door. My bat in one hand, my pistol in the other. Reckless will get here, then we'll leave this place and never talk about it! Reckless just needs to show up. We'll leave as soon as he gets here...

Perspective: Reckless

That guy makes my blood boil! My personal feelings for Lucky aside, the way he acts is mind boggling! How could he run this place while constantly drunk? How has he not slipped up yet? I take Lucky for a thirty-minute walk and we nearly die! This asshole makes a few turrets and suddenly he's some sort of drunken messiah! How does life work out that way? It's not fair! Getting uncomfortable from all of my rage, I start to remove my armor until I'm just in my Stable suit, though I still feel hot in this.

Knock knock knock

My ears lay flat as somepony knocks at the door. I don't want to talk right now, so I try to ignore it. But of course they knock again. I cover my head with my arms, but they knock again. Just go away! I want to be alone right now!

"Excuse me? Is anypony in there?" I let out a long sigh when some mare talks through the door. There's only a few reasons why they would want to talk to us, may as well see what Urban wants.

"Come in," I call out, forcing myself to sit up. In walks one of the earth mares from the first room, the one wearing the red nightwear. She turns and shuts the door, giving me a brief moment to see her cutie mark. It looks like a pair of dolphins swimming towards each other, made more realistic due to her ocean blue coat. She turns back around and presses her back to the door, a lock of white falling over her face from her silver mane.

"Hi... I'm Joy," she greets, trying her best to avoid my gaze. It takes me a moment to speak up. Her night gown compliments her lithe body... very well. It doesn't help that I'm a sucker curves. She may not be as endowed as most mares, but she's still has that hourglass figure.

"I'm Reckless. Is there something I can help you with?" I ask, returning my gaze to her face.

"Um... yes! Sorry, it's just that... It's my turn to clean the filters this week, but I'm having trouble removing them. I don't mean to intrude, but it'll only take a second!" I bite my lip as I think about it. Urban never really said we weren't allowed down there, so I don't see why not.

"Sure. Yeah, if anything it'll be nice to get out of this room." She looks up to me with those bright blue eyes and gives me the biggest smile, overjoyed by my response.

"Great! Just follow me and I'll show you what needs to be done!" She rushes forward and grabs my hand, pulling me up. I barely have time to shut the door before we practically fly down the stairs.

"Whoa! Is this an emergency?" I ask as we round the corner of the first stairwell.

"Sorry. It's just... been a pain trying to get this done! I was afraid I'd have to tell Urban that I couldn't do it myself," she tells me, slowing down to a comfortable walking pace. She holds onto my hand though, something I feel really off put by. Her coat is smooth and she has a general warmth about her. It's... too nice. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into it.

"Why would it be bad if you told Urban you were having trouble with the filters?" I ask, genuinely curious. I knew there was something off about that guy! My gut's rarely off about that kind of thing!

"It wouldn't really be a problem. It's just... he plays favorites. And, if you're not his favorite, then... well... It's not as bad as I'm making it out to be, I promise. I just want to do this without anypony finding out." I eye her a bit before shrugging. I know I've had to cut corners for work before.

She takes me to the hydroponic room on the third floor and guides me inside. All of the lights are out, but she seems to know where she's going. I manage to smack my face on a few branches along the way, getting her to giggle at me. We make it to a room in the back that houses the water purification system is, along with some other tools for storage. I take one look at the machine and conclude that I have no idea how it functions. It has some piping going out the window to what I assume houses the water.

"So... what do I do?" I ask, trying to eye the thing in the dark. She clicks something and a small desk light reveals the room to me.

"That depends on you really?" Her statement comes out in a slow, husky tone of voice. I turn around and stare back at her as she gives me her bedroom eyes, a hand lightly rubbing at the side of her leg. I gulp as she takes a step forward, all of the signals in my head going off at the same time.

RUN YOU IDIOT!

TAKE HER YOU IDIOT!

Why do both sides of my head think I'm an idiot?

DO SOMETHING YOU IDIOT!

"Uhm... Joy?" I ask with a shaky voice. She reaches forward and sets a thin finger over my lips, shushing me quietly.

"Here's the thing, Reckless. I've been here for almost a year now, and I've hated every moment of it. But I can't leave because I've become accustomed to this life style. I know there are others that agree with my sentiment, and that's where you come in. I just want to know what a real stallion feels like, just a reminder."

"But Urban-"

"He's not coming down here, trust me on that. I've learned his mannerisms by now. The minute the sun goes down he stops working. And there aren't any turrets that can see into this room either. It'll be our little secret, I promise." She grabs the bottom of her night gown with both of her hands and lifts it over her head slowly. I have to swallow hard as I watch her perky breast bounce free from the loose clothing. They aren't the best I've seen around, but their form is immaculate. Or maybe I only think that because I've been blue for the last week or so, it's hard to say right now.

I try to form words, but I can't seem to settle on any. On one hand, I want to save it for Lucky. On the other, who would know? Back on the former, I can't help but think of this as a break in our trust. But the latter tells me that it really isn't, since we aren't together anyway. All of these thoughts rage in my head as she tosses the garment aside and looks back to me, holding her hands behind herself as she sways from side to side.

"Well? What do you think?" she asks cutely, bouncing on her heels lightly. I have to swallow again as her form jiggles slightly, my wings opening up slightly.

"I... don't know. I... with Lucky... but..." My hands are starting to shake as I try to make my mind up. My body is yelling at me to take her now, but my mind knows there will be consequences if I do. If something doesn't convince me to go one way or another, I might just fall over!

"Is that mare your wife?" Her question confuses me for a moment before I shake my head. "Marefriend?"

"She's a mare who is my friend... I think," I tell her, getting her to hum in understanding.

"I see. But you want to be more friends, don't you?" I stay silent, though she assumes she's right. "Listen, I will admit that I am being selfish, but if you aren't together then there isn't anything wrong with this. You're your own stallion. And you are free to make your own decisions," she tells me, stepping closer.

"I know. But I can't help but feel... guilty?" She nods to me, making me feel a little better about the situation.

"I see. Then... how about this? Just the straight stuff. Nothing special, just two ponies letting off some steam! That way you can tell her that it was meaningless and mean it. You'd be doing me a really huge favor, and I'd gladly take all the responsibility afterwards. How's that sound?"

I think about it for a moment before looking her in the eyes. There's that familiar hint of lust in them, but there's something else there too. Is it desperation? Maybe, but I don't think it's for the reasons I'm assuming for.

She's made solid points. I am able to choose who I get to be with. We're not together, so it shouldn't be a problem. And she's willing to take the blame too! This should be easy, but it isn't.

I can't help but feel slightly off about this. As if there's something I'm not taking into account. There's also the fact that I feel as if I'm breaking Lucky's trust by doing this. But my brain keeps telling me that there's nothing to be worried about. She won't even call me Reck, this isn't going to change anything...

"I'll do it," I tell her, getting her to brighten up immediately. "But only on the condition that you call me Reck. All of my friends call me that."

"You'd consider me a friend?" she asks, caught off guard by my remark. I nod to her, stepping closer.

"I know it's not normal, but I hold all the mares I've been with in special regard. It's... just the way I am." Her shocked face fades into a warm, genuine smile. She closes the distance and pulls me in for a tight hug, wrapping her arms around my core. I gently lay my hands around her, feeling her soft coat against mine.

"I haven't had a friend in... years. Thank you, Reck."

Her calling me that helps ease a lot of the tension off. With my head a little clearer, I steel myself to do this. It'll be a one-time thing anyway.

She reaches up and starts to drag the zipper of my suit down. I just watch with curiosity as she slowly starts to undress me, idly running my hands down her smooth back. Once the zipper reaches the bottom she slips her hands inside and runs them up my chest. I let out a slow breath as I enjoy the contact of her soft hands. Being nearly a head shorter than me, she has to stand on the tips of her hooves to reach my shoulders and pull the suit down. It falls around my wings for a moment, but a simple flap and they fall behind me, leaving me half exposed. She ogles my chest and wordlessly says something, running her hands over me again. I close my eyes and take a deep, relaxing breath.

When she runs a hand over my chest again I decide to return the favor. I slide my hands down her back, lightly scratching her with my nails, before bringing a hand up her front and over one of her breasts. She gives a small gasp before moaning into me, swaying slightly. The supple flesh gives in to my fingers as her nipples harden in excitement. I grope her a few moments longer before I move to pinch at her teat. She gives a small gasp before returning the favor, making us both laugh. I bring my other hand to her flank and give it a firm squeeze, slightly picking her up in the process. She lets out a louder gasp and stumbles against me, resting her head against my chest.

I take turns between each spot with each hand. While one hand gropes her ass, the other plays with her breast. She seems to enjoy this as much as I do, choosing to lean against me and grip my sides. I start to listen in on her moans and gasps, trying to find her most sensitive spots. The more I do this, the louder she starts to get. I begin to worry that we'll get caught and take a look around. It's just as dark as it was before, putting me at ease.

I let out a grunt when she runs a hand down my pants one over my hardened member. She forces my suit down until it falls around my ankles, leaving me bare to her. She eyes me again and mouths something for the second time. I've always considered myself average, but I don't know if that's true. I've been too shy to ask and haven't asked anypony ever.

She moves her hand up and down my shaft. I let out a few moans as I lean against the machine and enjoy her soft fur against me. She chuckles at bit at me and starts to use both hands, one working the shaft while the other plays with the flare. My heart starts to race as the feelings twist at my stomach, making me grunt louder and louder. She lets go and leaves me panting, wanting more. She motions for me to follow with a finger and backs up towards the desk. As I kick off my suit she sits back on it, adjusting herself to be as comfortable as possible. Once she's set she brings her hooves up to rest on the edge and spreads her legs, giving me a perfect view of herself.

I'm sure my heart skipped a beat at that moment. It usually does. Her cunny is slick with her excitement and waiting for me to begin. I get a peek at her pink flesh when her clit gives me a wink, sending a twitch down my form. She brings a hand down there and spreads herself for me, giving me an even deeper view.

"Whenever you're ready," she coos, propping herself up with one arm as she leans back. I watch her pull at her folds for a moment longer before I kick into gear.

I step forward and grab her hips with one hand and guide myself against her entrance with the other. A shock of pleasure jolts me and I start to press forward, only to feel a hand on my chest.

"Just... take it easy at first, okay?" I nod to her, pushing forward until I slip my flare in. She lets out a satisfied groan and brings her arm back for support. I re-position myself for better access and continue filling her. I take it as slow as my body will allow me, reaching my furthest depth in an eternity. She's tight, tighter than any mare I've been with before. I can feel every muscle spasm, every shift, and every heart beat within her. And it's amazing.

"Holy fuck," I mutter, glancing down at our connection. Fluid is coating my crotch as she twitches around me. Clear signs of her enjoyment. I look up to her and smile, receiving one in return.

"Go ahead, I'm ready... Oh! I almost forgot! Sorry, but you're going to have to pull out at the end."

"Really? Why?" I rarely pull out. There's just something about filling a mare that's inherently better.

"If Urban wants to... you know, afterwards, I need to be clean down there. Sorry." She offers me a frown, but I shrug it off. I should have figured as much. It just means that I have to enjoy this part even more.

I pull back at slow pace, relishing in the feeling of her pulling back at me. I make it to my flare before pushing back in. Joy sighs in pleasure and lays herself down, her back leaning against the window of the small room. I keep at my slow motions until I feel I've got the rhythm down and start to pick up the pace. As I keep it at a slow pace, I let a hand wander over her body again. She responds by wrapping her legs around my waist and locking them up behind me. It limits my movement a bit, but I enjoy it all the same. When my hand reaches her breast she grips it and holds it there, squeezing me with her legs. I take the hint and start to pick up the pace even more.

The desk starts to groan against the floor as our hips slap against each other’s. I start to tighten my hold on her as I let myself enjoy this as much as possible. She's starting to moan in tandem with my movements, rotating her hips in a circular motion. I pick it up again, having to move both my hands to hold her hips in place. She moves an arm behind herself as she braces against the window, letting out little yelps periodically.

SLAM

We both freeze when we hear a door slam, our hips matted together. We stare at one another in fear before the lights suddenly blind us. I pull out of her quickly as we both dive behind the desk, hopefully before they saw us.

"I thought you said nopony was going to be here!" I whisper at Joy, gathering my cloths.

"Nopony was going to be here! I don't know who that is or why they are here!" she whispers back, grabbing her nighty. I take a gamble and peer over the table, much to Joys protest. I don't see anypony out there, just rows of bushes and hydroponics. "Oh no, her."

"Who?" I ask, following her gaze. There's a mare in here looking over some plants by the door. She's a white unicorn with really short black hair that's wearing the tape over her nipples and what look like leather shorts. She hasn't noticed us yet, more focused on looking over the plants instead. "Who is that?"

"Razor Edge, Urban's favorite mare. She's stupidly loyal to him. If she finds out, we were here she'd take our heads well before the turrets could do anything. We need to get out of here asap!" I take a look around before I realize there's only one way out of here that has a chance of her not seeing us.

"We have to go out that window," I tell her, pointing to it. Her ears drop as she looks up at it, gulping in fear.

"I-I... I can't," she tells me, scooting away slightly. "I'm afraid of heights." I take a look behind her and watch as Razor starts to walk towards us, almost within ear range.

"Just close your eyes and I'll take care of it, okay?" She looks between the open window and Razor a few times before nodding to me. I give her my clothes and move towards the opening, motioning for her to follow. It's going to be a tight fit, but I think I can manage.

I climb up the machinery and pull myself through the opening. There's only room for one pony to stand on these pipes, so I take to the night air. Joy climbs up to the opening and takes a look down, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks. I grab her jaw and force her to look at me, holding her face still.

"One step at a time, okay? I've got you." She tries to nod, but I can feel her shaking. This isn't going to be easy.

She goes slowly as she coaches herself step by step. She's barely halfway out the window by the time I see Razor in the background. This is going to take too long. I have to move things along if we're going to make any progress. I use one hand to cover her mouth and my other arm to wrap around her midsection. I put everything I have into flapping my wings, taking to the air quickly. Joy lets out a scream as we race up, clinging to me for dear life. I make it to the fourth floor before I start to lose my momentum. Thinking quickly, I land on the edge of a window sill and use it to take a quick breather. It's a bit awkward with my hands full, but I manage to grab a hold of the wall and stay balanced.

"I'm going to do that again," I tell her, getting her to shake her head against my chest. "You have to do everything you can to keep quiet. There might be somepony sleeping on the other side of this window."

"I... I... I... I can't!" she tells me, tightening her grip on me. I try to think of a way around this, but there's only one thing I can think of.

"Bite me."

"W-w-what?" she asks, her voice trembling.

"Bite me. It's the only way to muffle your voice. Right on my shoulder there," I shake my left shoulder. She moves her face to it and makes the mistake of opening her eyes. She sees everything behind us. With the world in her sight, she buries her face in my chest again. Her breathing is rapid and her grip is getting tighter by the second.

"Come on, you can do this! Keep your eyes closed. That's it. Now just drag your lips until you find the spot." She does as I say, albeit very slowly. When she makes it to my shoulder she quickly puts it in her mouth, ready to bite. I take a few breaths as I steel myself to fly up there and be bitten. This is not how I imagined this ending, not even close. "On three. One. Two. Three!"

I jump off the ledge and into the air. At the same time Joy lets out a muffled scream as she bites into me. It stings, but I push through it as I make it over the top of the building. I land as quickly as possible and try to pry her off. She's locked onto me in fear and is adding more and more pressure. It gets to the point where I have to pinch her side roughly to get her attention. She lets go and yelps in pain, jumping in place as she rubs her side. I let out a rough groan as I hold onto my shoulder. I don't think she broke the skin, but it still hurt like a bitch!

A moment later Joy yelps and clings to my side quickly, still shaking slightly. I take a moment to take in our surroundings, moving a wing to cover her view as best I can. There's really only three things up here: A stair well entrance, a water tower, and a shed. The shed is a rickety little thing that doesn't even have a door on it. With nowhere better to go, I rush the both of us to that room. I find a desk with a working computer on it, a computer chair, and a sleeping bag rolled out on the left. That's all there's room for in this shack, but it'll do. I pull us inside and bring Joy to the sleeping bag to calm her down.

"Joy, take a look," I tell her as I spin her around. She tries to fight me, but I'm much stronger than her. She holds her eyes shut for a moment before taking a peek, seeing a wall in front of her. She takes in the room before letting out a long sigh. She turns back to me and wraps me up in a big hug, one that I return.

"Sorry about that," she tells me, burying her nose in the tuft of hair in the center of my chest. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," I tell her as I rub her back. "Sorry I had to pinch you like that."

"It's fine. Hurt! But I'll live." I allow myself a moment to relax before I take another look around, noticing something.

"Joy? Where are our clothes?" As I ask that, a roar of thunder washes directly over us as rain begins to fall in earnest.

"I... think I dropped them on our way up. Sorry Reck," I let out another sigh and bury my face in her mane. I should have figured she would have done that. But, it's too late now. No need worrying about it until after the rain stops. "Can't you just fly down there and get them?"

"Not in the rain. It'll weigh me down too much." We stay standing here for a moment in silence, holding onto each other. In all the excitement of our escape, I've lost my edge. Standing here now, I can feel it start to come back. "Does that door open?"

"Not from the outside. And I don't think anypony comes out here. At least, I've never heard of somepony coming out here." I hum in response. Well... since we're already out here.

I reach up and start to fondle her tits again. She looks up to me and smiles, reaching down to stroke my member. It doesn't take long for me to rise back, and her eagerness returns just as easily too. I reach down and lift her up by her flanks, making her give a high pitched squeal as she wraps her legs around me. I bring her down onto my member and reinsert myself. She drapes her arms around my shoulders and grinds against me, moaning in approval. I start to thrust into her again, lifting and dropping her to maximize the action. A few thrusts in and we're ramming our hips together again, groaning and moaning together for the world to hear.

She keeps bringing her face in front of mine. Each time it seems as if she wants something to happen, but I have no clue what she wants. She seems to take the hint and moves back to enjoy the ride.

I get tired of this position and decide to change things up. I stop thrusting and pull her off, the cold world stinging against my flesh. She gives me a confused look before I spin her around and hold her up by her knees. She gives a light laugh before reaching down and helps guide me back in. Her tail swishes against my pelvis as I return to humping her, tickling me slightly. She reaches back with one hand to hold onto my neck while the other moves down to play with herself. The sight entices me to push harder, making her gasp in surprise.

I have to bury my face in her neck as I start to build up my orgasm. I want this to last longer, but it's only a matter of time at this point. Joy notices this as well and starts to rub my arm, trying to coax me along as much as possible. Only in the brief moments before I climax do I remember to pull myself out, barely making it in time.

I give a short grunt that turns into long moans as I slip from her folds and hit my climax. Joy grabs my member and points it to the left, stroking it fiercely to help maintain my orgasm. Each glob that comes out from me sends a jolt of pleasure up my body, fogging up my mind. Four pulses later and I start to come back to reality. I stay still as I try to regain my breath, my face still buried in her neck and beneath her long hair. Joy gets her breath back faster than me, though she stays still as well.

"That was great," she whispers to me, her voice a little shaky.

"Yeah?" I ask, finally removing my face from her neck. The globs of my orgasm are plastered on the floor beside the sleeping bag. Some of it almost made it out the door too. I guess I was really pent up. "Good aim."

"Thanks," she says with a giggle. "Wanna lie down and take a breather?" I hum to her and bring the both of us down, choosing to lay on my back with her spooning my side. She snuggles up against me and melts into my embrace, resting a hand on my chest. I bring an arm around her back and hold her against me, tired. I think about everything we just did and smile, glad I did it. I say that now, but we'll see how I feel later.

"Did you finish?" I ask, having not noticed. She gives a little laugh as she swirls a finger around the tuft on my chest.

"Yeah, back in the storage room downstairs." Huh, how didn't I notice it? "You almost got me a second time there though. I'm sure if you had stayed in you would have."

"Maybe next time I won't pull out then," I tell her, jostling her slightly. She reaches down and starts to fondle my sensitive member again, making me grunt in surprise.

"Maybe," she teases, giving me a playful smile. "For now let's just enjoy the rain and see where things go from there."

She rolls over to be on my right side, giving her a perfect view of the world outside the door. She gives a content sigh as she stares out at the clouds above, idly rubbing my chest. I try to watch the rain with her, but I keep getting blips from our first trek out here. The bitter cold, the fear of dying in the mud, the defeated feeling from finding that ruined building. I guess I'm not doing a good job of hiding it though, because Joy sits up and gives me a concerned look.

"Is everything alright?" she asks worriedly. I debate telling her for a moment before I sit up with her.

"I... don't really like the rain. When Lucky and I left our Stable we were caught in a nasty storm out in the wastes. It nearly killed us." Joy reaches down and holds my hand, giving me a sympathetic look. I smile back to her, glad that she understands.

"The rain is nasty to most ponies out there, but it's not to us. If it weren't for the constant rain, our style of life wouldn't exist. I know it doesn't help much, but without all that rain we'd all be dead." I shrug to her, understanding what she means. The rain is a life source for them. It's how the get their plants fed, it's how the keep clean, they wouldn't have made it without the rain. But, that doesn't change what happened. "I know what you need!"

"Oh? What's that?" I ask, genuinely curious. She stands up quickly and holds her hands out to me, offering to help me up.

"You need a new memory! If you only allow that one instance be your sole memory of rain, you'll never learn to appreciate it! Come on! We're gonna have some fun for a moment!" I take her hands and stand up with her, a little unsure about this.

"Aren't you scared to be out there?" I ask as she drags me out. I pull back just as I make it to the door, leaving her in the rain alone. Her mane instantly deflates as the water flattens it. I take a moment to appreciate her soaking wet body, almost forgetting at the rain itself.

"Yeah, but as long as we stay in the center it should be fine. Now come on! Just follow after me!"

She gives a shrill scream as she runs into the rain. She jumps around and starts to kick the water up, laughing the entire time. I take a look at all the falling water and start to stick a hand out, flinching when a cold drop lands on me. I look back to her and watch her play a moment longer before sticking my hand out, feeling the water coat me quickly. Slowly, but surely, I force myself out into the rainfall. My entire body becomes soaked in mere seconds as a chill runs down my spine. I go to turn back, but Joy stops me by grabbing my hand and pulling me out into the open.

She starts to run around me, spinning me along the way. Her laughter is infectious and I start to forget about the cold. I jump back slightly when she kicks some water up at me, giving me a challenging look. I smile back at her, accepting her challenge. I flick my wings open and snap them towards her, shaking all of the water off as well as slapping a torrent of falling rain onto her. She squeals in response, clearly unprepared for that much water coming at once.

"Cheater!" she yells before running forward and gripping me in a tight hug. "But two can play at that game!"

She starts to rub her chest against me, though I don't know to what extent. I just laugh and enjoy the feeling of our wet coats meshing together. I reach down and squeeze her flanks, picking her up and spinning her for a moment. She laughs with me, looking up to me with those bright blue eyes. I feel my heart race again as she starts to close the distance, her eyes slowly closing.

SHLINK

I give a... less than stallion worthy yelp as I suddenly fall backwards. I try to step back to catch myself, but Joy has her leg there to trip me. She holds onto my arm to slow my decent, but I still hit the ground roughly. I groan and blank my eyes a few times, reeling. Joy moves to stand over me, each hoof set beside my chest. I look up and feel that warmth in my cheeks again as I get a perfect view of her undercarriage. She smirks at me, setting her fists on her hips.

"I told you I'd get you back," she tells me with a shrug. I don't respond, too mesmerized by the sight before me. "Enjoying the view?"

I think she assumes that I can't get up quickly from this position. Which means she clearly doesn't know what my wings are capable of.
I push myself up quickly and grip her by her legs. She gives a high pitched scream as I quickly, and shakily, pick her up. She ends up straddling my face in a reverse piggy back setting. My muzzle is flush against her crotch, the smell of rain water and her excitement filling my nose. She grabs my head and yanks on my hair as she tries to stay balanced.

"You punk!" she yells as she tries to force herself down, but I won't let her. "Reckless!"

I laugh and drop her, quickly catching her halfway down. She lets out another scream, nearly ripping my mane out along the way. She slaps my chest a few times, and I start to feel bad about that. But that ends when she gives a light laugh and rests her head against mine, relaxing into my embrace. I lower her down so she can stand, keeping her in my embrace the entire way.

"I thought you were going to try something there, but you kept to the rules," she says quietly to me. I don't know what I would have done there so I keep quiet. It's starting to get a little cold now, so I start to walk backwards towards the shed again.

Each step is slow and barely makes any progress. And that's just fine for me. I'm a sucker for a mare’s embrace. The feeling of someone embracing you, trusting you, there's nothing else like it. It takes us an eternity to make it to the shed, and we don't even make it inside yet. I miss the entrance and end up pressing my back against the wall. Neither of us really care though. Joy moves her arms from around my midsection to drape around my shoulders again, our face coming even closer. From this view I can only look into her half lidded eyes, the entire world fading away.

"Can I break a rule?" she asks in almost a whisper. My heart races and I nod to her, lost entirely in the moment.

She closes the distance and presses her lips against mine. Electricity races down my spine and back up through my entire body from the foreign contact. It's too much of a new thing, and I push her back to stop my head from spinning. Joy breaks our embrace and takes a few steps back, looking a little hurt. I have to blink a few times as I try to get my bearings back. At least now I don't feel cold anymore.

"Sorry, I-I just thought... I won't kiss you again, promise!" she pleads, holding her hands before herself.

"I... that... what did you do?" I ask in a daze, bringing a hand to my head.

"I just thought we'd get a little closer, that's all. I know we said we'd keep it plain, but... It was just a spur of the moment thing! I'm sorry!" she pleads again, taking a stepping back further. I give my head a quick shake before gaining control of myself again. I look to Joy and smile, getting a confused look from her.

"Joy, I'm not mad at you for that. I just don't know what that was," I explain, getting a confused look from her.

"You've never been kissed before?" she asks, lowering her hands.

"I've never even heard of that before! Where did you learn to do that?" I ask excitedly, stepping towards her. She tries to think, but can't seem to understand what I'm talking about.

"Reckless... Kissing is just a part of everyday life. How could you not know about kissing? she asks, somewhat concerned.

"It just wasn't a thing we did in my Stable," I explain to her, closing the distance between us. I take her in my arms again, lightly pushing her against me. She doesn't mind, more distracted by my lack of knowledge. "You said we'd only do the straight stuff, but everything we've done is all I've ever done. Back in Eighty Eight, everything we've done is the extent of what everypony does down there. I might be the first stallion to kiss a mare since the door was sealed."

She stares at me in confusion. I just wait for it to settle in. As I've learned, living out here and in the Stable are as polar opposite as it gets. She thinks to herself for a moment longer before looking up to me, her bright smile back on again.

"So, I was your first kiss?" she asks. I chuckle as I nod to her, making her smile even more. "I've never been anypony's first for anything."

"Well, you're my fist kiss," I tell her, tightening my arms around her. We both chuckle some more before I move my lips closer to hers, hoping for another try. She gives me a smirk before giving into my hopes.

The feeling is the same as last time. Electric. I thought I had done it all, but now I don't think I've even breached the surface. Her arms move to my shoulders as we continue to press our lips together, making little smacking sounds over the rain. I pull up on her as I try to delve deeper into the kiss, trying to figure out what to do. I mainly follow her lead, making the O's against her lips as she does the same. I feel amateur doing this, but the feeling more than makes up for that. She breaks away from me, allowing us to take deep breaths.

"Wow... you aren't very good at that," she admits with a laugh. I feel a little embarrassed about it, but don't let it bother me. I'm new to it, who's good at something the first time? "We'll have to work on that."

"By all means," I tell her, getting her to give me a mischievous smile.

"Go inside and get in the sleeping bag." I nod to her and head inside the shack.

I unzip the bag and lay inside of it, my pride falling back onto my stomach. Joy hums at that and settles down to straddle my hips. I let out a sigh as I feel myself rub against her warm slit. She grinds against me a few times, moaning with each gentle thrust. I lay my hands on her wet thighs and grips them lightly, gently pushing against her. She stops all too soon and rises on her knees, using her hand to guide me inside. She lets out a louder moan as we connect again. She wastes no time sitting all the way back down, not that I mind.

I try to thrust up into her, but she lays a hand on my chest and shakes a finger at me. I give her a confused look, but wait. She reaches behind us and starts to zip the sleeping bag back up. With it closed up, there's barely any room for us to move. Not to mention our faces are now flushed against each other’s. Which I guess was the point. I bring my arms around her and give her a thrust, making her body slide against mine. She smiles to me and starts to work her hips, sliding me around inside her. I take that as my queue and start a rhythm with my hips. It doesn't take long for her to start moaning consistently again as we get back into the swing of things.

Everything stops when she kisses me again. It's an overload of feelings that I can't handle all at once. Joy seems to think otherwise though. She keeps moving her hips back and forth as she starts to teach me how to kiss properly. I've always learned better from by example, and Joy is an excellent teacher. Just as I would get comfortable with kissing she would pull back while sucking my bottom lip into her mouth. The felling was weird, but not unwelcomed. I tried to do it back to her, but she would just slip her tongue into my mouth and start using it to dance with mine. I liked this the most, but she never stayed with one movement.

After a rather rough time of her chewing on my lip, I work up the gall to start thrusting again. She breaks our kiss for a moment to enjoy the feeling again, looking down at me with drunken, lustful eyes. I bring up the ante and bring my hands to her flanks, gripping them tightly. I begin to push and pull her in time with my movements, making the most out of each thrust. Her moans quickly turn to small yelps as I start to give it my all. Our bodies grind against one another as a mixture of sweat and water mix our coats. I can feel my fingers dig into her supple flesh, her cutie mark right under my palms.

Joy lets out a scream as she tightened her entire body around me, gripping me with everything. A splash of fluid on my crotch and the sudden increase in tightness make me moan loudly as I edge towards my own climax. I need something to push me over, anything!

She gives me that edge by grabbing my face and giving me the most forceful kiss yet. My body spasms against her as we each share our orgasms. She gives a muffled scream as each torrent of cum fills her. Our fluids mix together and start to leak out onto me. After several more pumps into her she collapses on top of me, breaking out kiss. My neck warms up as she breaths heavily into my neck, slowly coming down from her orgasm. I bring my hands back up around her and let out a satisfied sigh.

"I hope it never stops raining," she whispers, holding me a little tighter. I take a look outside and see the dark clouds above. Me too, for today at least.

I low rumbling in the distance wakes me. I have to blink several times to refocus before I can take in my surroundings completely. Everything starts to come back to me as I slowly wake up. I look down to see Joy still asleep in my arms, a peaceful and content look about her. I lie my head down and close my eyes again.

I didn't pull out. Hopefully that won't come to bite us in the ass later. It wasn't like I had much of a choice though. This sleeping bag wasn't really made for two ponies to share, let alone one of them being a pegasi. I shift my wings around to find them asleep. Figures. Normally this doesn't happen when I sleep on my back, but with the added weight of another pony... It was still worth it. Just to learn about kissing; it was worth it.

What else is there that two ponies can do that I don't know about? I want to ask- no- I want to try all of them! Is there other kind of kissing's out there? What about sex? I'm sure I've done everything there is to sex, but how could I know? There could be a whole world of sexual activities out there that I don't know about! How is it that we didn't do any of this back in the Stable? I wonder if Lucky knew about this?

...I wonder if Lucky's good at kissing?

"Mhmm... Good morning to you too," Joy mumbles into my neck. She shifts her legs slightly, rubbing up against my semi erect cock. "How long were we out" I check my Pipbuck to make sure.

"About six hours, give or take. Time flies when you're breaking the rules," I tell her, getting a hum in response.

"Mmm, yeah it does. But it was worth it," she tells me dreamily, shifting to lay on my side. I'm not actually sure what time we left to do this. I know what time we made it here though.

"Yeah?" I ask, hoping she knows what I'm talking about.

"Yeah. We'll have to be sneaky after this. Head straight to the showers. If we're lucky there won't be anypony there. Maybe we can wash each other." I chuckle from the thought.

"I'm sure I'd like that."

We lie there a little longer, enjoying the sound of the light rain coming down. It's not as bad as I've seen it before, but it's still pretty consistent. Does it ever stop raining out here? Are we just in a bad storm or something, what gives? Eventually Joy starts to shift around a bit more and we unzip the sleeping bag. A burst of cold wind stings against my naked body, chilling me instantly. Joy grabs her arms as the wind hits her as well. We sit up and take a look outside before I pull her to sit on my lap for warmth.

"The rain should subside in a few minutes. After that we should take a look for our clothes. If we're lucky, they'll be on one of the roofs nearby. That shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

"Nope," I tell her.

"Then... then there are some options for us to get back in. We could try the window we came out of, as scary as that sounds. If that somehow doesn't work, there's always the front door. But that's a bit risky. Somepony might see us there. And if we've been gone for so long, we don't want to raise any questions. If both of those somehow aren't viable, there's the metro entrance. But we should use that as a last resort."

"Why?"

"It's dangerous down there. Feral ghouls are known to wander in there from time to time. Urban told us about it as a means of escape in case of the worse. We'd have to go down the road a bit, through the metro tunnel, and up a service elevator to get back in. Not exactly easy."

"That's not even the worse part," I tell her, getting a confused look from her. "We have to fly down regardless of any choice we make." She lets out a long, exasperated groan as she lowers her head. If I didn't have my arms around her, I'm sure she would have fell over.

"That is going to big the biggest pain in the ass! No! No! I can do it! I just have to... is there a way you could knock me out?" I laugh at her, making her blush.

"Don't worry. Going down should be the easy part. And it'll be over before you know it," I reassure her.

"I don't know if that's a reassurance or another fear factor."

We spend a few more minutes just talking. She's from a small farming town north of here. She got tired of being bogged down at such a small place and set out on her own. I laughed at that, getting a quick jab in the side. She also has two sisters and a brother. I was amazed by that, which confused her. I had to explain the birthing regulations from the Stable, which only confused her further. I couldn't imagine having that many brothers and sisters... let alone any siblings. She writes them about once a month, though she doesn't tell them where she ended up. For obvious reasons.

"I think this is light enough to let me fly," I tell her as I peer out the door. The rain has almost stopped. There's still a light haze falling, but it doesn't seem as if it'll be a nuisance.

"Good. At this point I'd take any form of clothing," Joy tells me, rubbing her sides vigorously.

"I don't know, I kind of like you more this way," I say as I slip a hand up her front to group her.

"Go get our clothes!" she chides, poking at my sides until I leave. She bundles herself back up as I step out into the open, sticking her tongue out at me. I give her a smile before walking towards the edge of the building.

I don't know how they did it, but our clothes fell together. I can see her red nightie on top of a roof caught in some antenna. My jumpsuit is hanging just below it, not even an arm’s reach away. I take a few minutes to get the feeling completely back into my wings, still feeling a bit off from sleeping on them. Once I'm confident they can carry me, I take off.

Even though the rain is less than a drizzle; at my speed I become completely soaked again. Fortunately, the water seems to slide right off my wings, so I don't slow down at all. Actually, I can go pretty fast like this. I've never had this much room to move around before. I feel as if I can make it there and back in mere seconds! As I near the lower building I get an idea. I tuck my wings in and dive straight down. The world around me becomes a blur as I race towards the floor, falling faster than the water from the sky. I twist in my stomach tells me to open my wings, so I do. It's like a brick wall decided to punt me back into the air! All of my previous momentum slings me forward as I race back up. I make it to the top of the building in ten seconds, easy!

I hear some clapping and look up to see Joy cheering for me, wrapped up in the sleeping bag. I give her a little bow before grabbing our clothes. They're soaking wet, but that was to be expected. We can let them hang for-

PAT PAT PAT PAT PAT

I jump into the air on instinct as a torrent of bullets shatter the roof beneath me. Turning around, I see one of the turrets in the building aimed at me. A few others join in and start to fire down at me, their muzzle blasts lighting the side of the building. As I start to fly off I hear them zip around me, a few striking through a few feathers. I fumble in the air before diving behind the building for cover.

Why are they shooting at me? Joy said that spot was good! What are we going to do now?

I shake all of those thoughts from my head and pick a single task. I need to get back to the roof. Joy will have a plan. So I should get back to her. Good, now I just have to get past the dozens of turrets out there.

I peek over the edge and take a better look. It seems there's a turret every three windows on each floor, staggered. With that set up, the left corner of the building has the least turrets, so that would be the best place to go. If I can get enough speed, maybe they won't be able to lock onto me. I don't t really see another way in, so that's the plan.

I drop from my cover and race down. The building was three stories high, so I can use that to my advantage. Before I make it to the top of the third floor I bank to the right and hug the corner of the building. As I level out I take a quick peek up. Most of the turrets are pointed at the top if the building, but there are a few that are starting to turn back in my direction. I kick it into high gear as start to rush towards the building, flying faster than I've ever done so before. With all of this new speed, I panic; thinking that I'll crash into the side if I don't pull up fast enough.

When I pull up I feel all of my previous momentum start to fight against me. I'm still going faster than the turrets can turn, but I have to fight to make it to the top of the building in time. Each flap of my wings gives me a slight boost forward, the edge of the roof coming closer and closer. Joy is watching from above, the fear clear in her eyes. With I push myself towards the top of the building-

FWT

I let out a scream as a sharp pain jolt my right leg. I fumble in the air as I twitch in pain on reflex. I lose all of the momentum I had before and spin out of control for a moment before gravity starts to pull me back. I only have a few seconds to react, barely enough time to correct my path to fall onto the roof instead of down below.

THUD

I lose all of the air in my lungs as I bounce on the roof. A throbbing pain rocks my entire left side, the side I landed on, as I fall onto my back. Joy comes running over and starts asking me dozens of questions. I ignore most of them as I lay there in pain. I don't think anything is broken, it just really sucked.

I hear her rip something and take a look over. She's ripped the bottom of her night gown off and is using it to wrap up my leg. The wound is bleeding pretty bad, but I think I'll live.

"Oh goddesses above, are you hit anywhere else?" Joy asks in a panic, tightening the flimsy cloth around my leg.

"I don't think so," I tell her, feeling relatively fine everywhere else. "My side hurts, but other than that I'm fine. I thought you said that one place was safe."

"It is! I don't know what's causing those turrets to attack you!" she tells me in a panic. I grunt in response, forcing myself to sit up. Joy tries to stop me by putting a hand on my shoulder, I but brush it aside and sit up. My head spins for a moment, but overall I should be fine.

"Is there a bullet in me?" I ask, looking over my wounded leg.

"It looked like the bullet just grazed you. You should lie back down! It isn't wise to move around after a nasty fall like that."

"Pegasi are made to fall, don't you know that?" I tell her, chuckling lightly from my mother’s old joke. "*Sigh* That could have gone better."

"Reckless, I'm so sorry!" she tells me, hugging me tightly. I grunt from the slight pain of it, but I bear with it. "I honestly thought there weren't any cameras there! The other mares told me it was a safe spot, I didn't know!"

"It's alright Joy, honestly," I try to console her, but she's freaking out too much to listen to me. I pull her back to look her in her teary eyes and smile to her, trying to be as relaxing as possible. "Shit happens. It could have been a plethora of things that made them target me. And I got away pretty unscathed, so it's alright. Let's just head back into the shed and let our clothes dry. We'll think of a plan in there, okay?" She nods to me, still crying slightly.

She helps me up and over to the shed. I only have a slight limp, but I appreciate the help anyway. Those turrets aren't very accurate in hindsight. I take a seat on the computer desk and sigh in relief. Joy takes the sleeping bag and wraps it around me. I try to protest, but she insists. She goes to hang our clothes up, but can't seem to find a way to do so. I'll let her figure that out on her own, I'm a little out of it at the moment.

Needing a distraction too, I take a look at the computer beside me. The screen is off, but the power light it on. I flick the switch and watch as the loading screens flash before me. From there, it asks for a password. Since I don't know what it is, I switch it to the backdoor option. The wall of text immediately intimidates me, and I turn the thing back off. Computers aren't my thing.

"So, what's the plan now?" I ask, tired of nothing happening.

"Well... I don't know. We could try to slip past the turrets and go through the window, but I don't like that option," Joy tells me, giving up on trying to hang the clothes. She just starts to wring them out in from of me, starting with her own gown first.

"Can those turrets shoot that close to the walls?" I ask, watching her slip the slightly damp gown on. With the tear, it stops just shy of the top of her tail, giving her very little decency. She doesn't seem to care though, so I don't say anything.

"Yes. Urban was worried somepony would try to climb up the walls. Short of flying down from directly above them, those turrets can shoot in pretty much anything." Well damn. That doesn't give me mush hope right now.

"Well, where do we go from here? Is there anywhere nearby that's even remotely safe?"

"We need to get back inside. Urban made the turrets there operate on a different system. The ones out here are much more aggressive than the ones inside. If we can get inside, we'll be in the clear. But, that means..."

"We have to get through the metro first," I finish for her, getting a sad nod in return. She takes a seat beside me and hands me my jumpsuit. It's still a little wet, but I can deal with it. I move the sleeping back over Joy and start to slip it back on. I struggle a bit with my leg, but I manage to get it on all the same. As fun as this all was, it's nice to be clothed again. "How do we even get down there without getting shot at is the real question."

"Well, though it pains me to say it, that's not the hard part. If you can carry the two of us behind one of the nearby buildings, we'll have plenty of cover. And with how fast we'll be falling, they won't have the time to aim at us properly. They aren't really made to hit flying targets."

I give her a look and ask, "are you going to make it through something like that?" She sighs and bobbles her head in thought.

"I don't really have a choice, now do I?" I frown at that. We don't have a choice in the matter. I just hope that I don't drop her. I offer her a hand and help her to her hooves. I give her an apologetic smile, which she shrugs at. "The hard part is going to be the metro station."

"Why's that?" I ask, trying to glean as much information as possible.

"Urban had some cameras down there, but they've been destroyed for some time now. He's been waiting for a caravan to make it back with certain supplies for almost two months now. We have to get through there as fast as possible just in case there's something down there." I nod to her, humming in thought.

"Are you any good in a fight?" I ask, getting her to scoff.

"Sorry. Even before this I wasn't a fighter. My parents were farmers, and farming doesn't really leave time for fighting. If we can get our hands on something blunt I can at least bonk something on the head... I think." That's what I was afraid of. I can hold my own well enough. But if I have to escort her as well, and without a weapon... This isn't going to be easy. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. We'll just have to be careful. Alright, here's the plan in my head. We'll try to land as close as possible to the metro entrance. From there, we'll sneak our way in and head straight back here. Then... uh..."

"Then we need to change and shower. It's pretty late, so there shouldn't be anypony awake right now. From there we go about the next day as if nothing happened." I frown from the thought of that. Even if I wasn't going to be with Joy anymore doesn't mean I want to break all contact with her. She's still my friend after all. "We can still talk Reckless. It's just... once we're there, Urban might be a little suspicious of us. I don't want to see you get hurt for something I put on you... well, not hurt any further at least."

"I know. It's just odd having to hide something so mundane. Something like this would never happen back home," I tell her, thinking back. Back home ponies would think you were crazy if you told them they could sleep with the ponies they wanted to. It almost sounds like slavery to me. "Why don't you show me where we need to go as well as the path we'll need to follow."

"Alright," she responds, giving me an odd look for a moment.

The metro station is about a block down from the front of the building, in the heart of the urban jungle. That means we can't just go directly towards it, as the open square won't give us any cover. We choose a three story building on the right as our starting point. We can climb on top of the shack for some extra height, a suggestion of mine that Joy hates to agree with. From there it'll be about two blocks forward and half a block to the right, seems straightforward enough. We have the added bonus that there usually aren't a lot of Raiders around these parts. Looks like Urbans turrets will at least be somewhat helpful.

From there we'll enter the Metro tunnels. It should be straight down, through the lobby, and into the main station. From there we head left towards Heaven where we'll find a maintenance elevator in the generator room. Ride the elevator up and we're in the clear, for the most part. I take a few minutes to study the area before me. I know I'll be making a rough landing, so I want to make sure I'll make it as pleasant for Joy as possible. Normally I'd just go for it, but for her I'll put the extra thought into it.

Once I have my plan ready, I bring Joy on top of the shack and get ready to start. She's already shaking from the view, going pale in the face as well. I just advise her to close her eyes and hold on tight. We have to do this, and there's nothing I can say to help ease her mind right now. I pick up in my arms and hold her close to my chest. She wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes tightly, almost choking. It takes some coaxing to get her to re-position. Telling her that I couldn't see and we'd certainly fall because of that did just the trick.

I don't count down, I don't warn her, I just jump. The faster we get through this, the better. She lets out a high pitched scream as we immediately start to lose altitude. Joy isn't that heavy, but she's extra weight all the same. I have to strain my wings to gain control of our decent, having lost an entire floor in mere seconds. The turrets haven't shot yet, so I'm feeling good about that. I have to beat my wings against the rushing wind to level enough to pass the building. Each beat forces us flatter and flatter as we start to race towards the building. Joy is starting to dig her nails into me. My suit is taking most of the edge off, but it's still a pester.

Just as we make it over the building I start to hear the gunfire. I don't hear any of the tracers either, meaning they're trying to strafe into us. I bring my wings in and begin to descend again. We hug the building as we build speed again. We're out of the gunfire, but we still need to land. And quickly too, just in case there's somepony here who is watching us right now. I let us fall halfway down the second story before I fight to level out. Just like before it's a strain on my wings, and Joy returns to her death grip, but we need to make it as far as possible. If we can make it all the way down the block flying, that means we'll spend less time out in the Commonwealth.

I take a look around and try to find a decent spot, as well as judge where we will most likely end up. Most of these buildings look as if they were apartment complexes before the war. A majority of the windows have since been boarded up, but there's plenty of them open to the world. The apartments all have cement stairways into the buildings, giving me a perfect place to land with cover. We'll make it about halfway down the block, not the best but not the worst either. This is where the tricky part comes up. I don't care if I crash land, I just can't land on Joy. I don't think she could take something like that.

As we come closer and closer to the floor I bring my legs down to catch the floor. It doesn't take long for my hoof to skid a few times against the weak cement walkway. As I start to get more solid steps against the ground, I begin to flap my wings against the wind. The rush of air forces us to slow down dramatically, giving me the time to properly land. I don't want to get caught in the open, so I run to the nearest staircase and spin to throw my back against it. I hit it with a solid thud and slide to a sitting position, breathing heavily. I have to take a few seconds to collect myself, caught in disbelief that it went so well.

"Are you okay?" I ask Joy, looking down at her. She's rubbing her head as her face is scrunched up in pain.

"I bumped my head at the end there, but it's nothing to worry about. I think," I curse under my breath from that. It could have been worse, but I still hurt her. I'll need to work on flying with other ponies in my arms, somehow. "Did we make it?"

"Yeah," I tell her as I take a look around for any threats. There doesn't seem to be any, for now at least.

"Did you get shot at all? Does anywhere feel warm?" I take a moment to check myself over. I feel fine, other than a throbbing stinging pain from my previous injury.

"I'm fine. How's your head?" I ask, running a hand over her mane. She winces slightly but puts on a strong face.

"I've had worse. We should get going though. I don't want to get caught out here with a nightgown that doesn't cover me." I nod to her, helping her to her hooves. I stand with her and start to lead when she grabs my hand. I pause to look at her, but she just gives me a scared look. I decide that I'll ask later and start to lead again, holding her hand along the way.

I keep my head on a swivel as we hurry down the beaten path. There's an eerie silence in the air as I look from window to window. What I think might be a pony ready to shoot us turns out to be a curtain flapping in the wind. What looked like the barrel to a rifle ends up being a piece of piping poking through a wall. Everything appears threatening. I don't know if I'm just scared to be out in the unknown or if it's because I don't have a weapon on me. Probably a mix of the two.

Every step I take sends a shrill of pain throughout my body. My wound is rubbing against the cloth tied to me, reminding me to be more careful. Because of that, I'm favoring my other leg. Joy notices this but doesn't say anything. It's not like there's anything we can do about it right now anyway, so why bother?

When we make it to the end of the street I pull Joy to the corner of a building and take a moment to look around. The brick buildings around us seem mostly destroyed, but I can't entirely trust them. There could be somepony hiding behind one of the walls, or behind a pile of rubble! Even if there isn't anything there, I'm going to play it safe. I look back to Joy and motion for her to follow. She nods, still looking scared beyond all belief. She's mainly trying to keep up with me while pulling her gown down to cover her privates. I feel bad for her, but it's just another reason we need to hurry.

My flight path took us halfway down the road, and since we've now walked the other block, we need to go right. The path looks clear, but so I start to lead us in a hurried pace. I can see the sign for the Metro Station ahead. It's rusted over and ha layers of dust over it, but it's a gods send for us right now. As we near the station I start to hear something in the distance. I slow down to get a better listen until I recognize it. Voices. Somepony is coming out of there! Thinking on my hooves, I lift Joy up and use my wings to jump through a broken window. I fall back against the wall and pull Joy against myself, covering her mouth with a hand. She tries to protest, but freezes up when she hears the voices. [Perception 7]

"Goddess damn ghouls! Did you see that! Fucker nearly bite my face off!" Some mare exclaims as they come to a stop behind us. Joy starts to shake a bit, so I hold onto her a little more tightly. As long as we're quiet, they won't come for us. That's all we have to do. Just keep quiet.

"That sucks about Bit though, damn!" Another mare exclaims, kicking the wall. "What do we do now?"

"We head back and tell boss the way is jammed up! Fuck! This better be worth it!" The first yells as they start to walk away.

"It will be. Look, the path is clear for the most part. Thanks to the feast Bit is giving those fuckers. All we need is the right gear and we'll blow this joint wide open..." I try to listen in on the rest of their conversation, but they walked too far away by this point. I give it a few seconds before taking a peek out the window. They look like Stable guards, but with much better riot gear. There's a bit of blood on them as well, and I don't think it's theirs. It takes a while, but they eventually turn a corner and leave my view. With them gone, I release Joy and take a seat beside her to take a breath of relief.

"Well, that answers one question," I mutter. Joy keeps quiet, which seems a bit off to me. I look over to her and notice the fear in her pinprick eyes. She's holding onto herself tightly as she stares down at the floor, shaking slightly. I bring a hand onto her shoulder, making her jump. "Are you okay?"

"... no," she tells me, looking back down to the ground. "I just remembered why I decided to stay with Urban. He had made his offer... and I tried to run away with a few others. We ran into a hoard and... I only made it back because they were too busy eating my friends." I blanch from that, not know what to tell her. "Please don't make me go down there. Please... I won't make it through there... please."

I bite my lip as I try to think of my options. I can see three right now. I can take her back to the main entrance and send her in herself, heading through the Metro myself. Or I can go ahead myself and try to check to see if the coast is clear myself. Lastly, I can just force her to come with me and hope that it'll work out.

Sending her back is risky. Somepony will notice her walking through the front door, which will raise questions. Plus, with me gone and our activities... obvious, Urban will lose his shit. He might even kick her out because of it! Not to mention what he might do to Lucky!

Going in myself is a bad idea all together. I don't doubt that I'd be able to get in there, I just wouldn't know where to go. Even if Joy told me, I'd only attract more attention to myself. I really think that I'd just make matters worse for the both of us that way.

Forcing Joy to go in there won't be easy. I can see it written plainly on her face. And I don't doubt it will be difficult. But it seems like the best choice right now. If what those two from earlier said are true, the ghouls should be distracted right now. If we can make a dash for the elevator, we might be able to make it in there without being noticed. I just need to convince Joy...

"Joy," I whisper to her, moving in front of her to set my hands on her shoulders. I force her to face me, getting her to shake her head wildly. She knows what I'm going to say, she just doesn't want to hear it. "If we hurry now then we have the best chance at making it without alarming the ghouls-"

"No! You can't make me go down there! I won't! Please don't make me go!" she yells, scaring me slightly. I don't want anypony catching us right now, so I need this to end quickly.

"Joy! Look at me!" I yell at her. She shakes her head and closes her eyes, trying to scoot away from me. I keep my grip on her and hold her steady, glancing out the window to make sure we're still alone. "Joy... I promise you will be safe!"

"You can't promise that!" she yells back, some tears rolling down her cheeks. "That's what they said last time. I don't want to watch them eat you too!"

"Joy," I mutter, taken back from her comment. She wipes her tears away and starts to regain control of herself. I give her a moment, trying to think of things to say to her. What can I say that will fix... that?

"I'm sorry," she mutters, lowering her head to hide from view.

"It's alright Joy. I couldn't imagine going through something like that. But... I can't go any other way. And I need you with me to watch my back. I wish there was another way, but there isn't." I try to sound as sympathetic as possible. Though, having just said all that, I suddenly realize how selfish it really is.

"I know, I know. But I can't help it if I'm scared," she tells me, finally looking back up to me. "I-If something does happen, I don't know how much help I'll be. But you're right, I have to do this. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"

I feel another ping of guilt when she says that. She's terrified to go down there, yet she's still willing to go because we're friends. I don't know a single pony from the Stable that would do the same for me. At least not out of obligation that is. I try to say something, but I can't think of anything to say. So I just end up patting her on the shoulders and helping her to her hooves. She gives me a nervous smile and takes my hand again. I hold it for a moment, lightly rubbing my thumb against her hand before moving on. We can be sentimental about it later.

After checking if the coast was clear we climb out of the building and sneak our way over to the Metro entrance. The bottom of the cement stairway is dark and Joy has to take a moment before forcing herself down the steps. We keep to the right as we go down, Joy keeping pace directly behind myself.

The main lobby to the Metro is mostly dark, but there are a few lights shining above to give us an idea of what's in here. Trash and debris are littered over the entire floor. Parts of the ceiling have fallen too, though it's still holding somehow. There are benches in the main area with a counter at the back. There are some computers there as well, but I don't think they're working. I can see two doors in the back as well, one on each end of the counter. I take a second look over the room before tugging Joy along inside. She's hesitant, but complies with little effort.

I keep us in the dark parts of the room, hoping that if there is something in here that they won't see us. I catch myself nearly bumping into a cigarette machine along the way. I thought about looting it, but we'll have to do that another time. We make it to the back of the room and look to Joy for directions. She takes a moment to think about it before pointing to the far door. As we sneak behind the counter I notice some supplies on the shelves. There's 10mm. ammo sitting there, so I take it. It's only five rounds, but it's free ammo.

We stop before the door and open it slightly. I peer inside and find a hallway that's empty. I push the door all the way open and wait to see if something happens. When nothing does, we begin to walk in. It looks like there are some offices here. Docs advice to scrounge is kicking in, so I pull the two of us into one of the cubicles.

"Do we have time for this?" Joy whispers to me as I start to check the drawers in the desk.

"It'll only take a second," I whisper back. I manage to find some caps, but nothing else. The computer is working, though it's out of my realm of knowledge to open. "Let's go." She gives me a flustered look and shakes her head. It might have been silly, but it was important. Or, Doc says it is at least.

The hallway leads to a service entrance to the railway. It's a straight shot in, but we pause at the door. It's one of those sliding doors, so we won't be able to open it without making some noise. But, if this is the way in, then that's the way we have to go. I press the button on the panel and the door swooshes up. A glimmer of energy washes over my eyes as a feral ghoul stands before us. It's a husk of the pony it used to be. Its lanky limbs twitch sporadically as it turns around, giving a confused grunt as it sets its darkened eyes on us.

I act completely on reflex as I let go of Joy and rush the ghoul. It lets out a loud hiss as I tackle it to the ground. Its jaw snaps as it tries to bite into my face, griping me with death like grip. I push it back with an arm as I rear my fist back and let out a small yell as I ram my knuckles into its face.

THWACK

I pull back and punch it again.

THWACK

I hit it again. And again. I hit it until I hear its skull caves in and the blackened blood starts to seep out.

THWACK THWACK CRUNCH

I've got a few scratches on my sides, but overall I feel fine. A bit winded too. I look back to Joy and see the horror on her face. Before I can say anything though a loud hissing sound echoes in the tunnels, followed by the sound of a stampede.

"RUN!" I yell to Joy. A torrent of ghouls come flooding out of the far train tunnel as we start to race down the train tracks. There are too many for my Pipbuck to even identify!

"IN THERE!" Joy yells as she points to a service entrance ahead. I glance back at the horde to see them gaining on us quickly. They run with blatant regard for anything other than us. Some trip and are immediately trampled by others. Some even push others out of the way to try and get to us faster. Together, it's giving us an advantage. I push myself as much as I can and run past Joy, making it through the door well before her. I slam against the wall and turn back, ready to shut the door the moment she makes it in. We make eye contact for a moment before she barrels through the doorway, tripping at the last second. I slam my fist against the button, sliding it shut. A ghoul tries to drive through, but only gets an arm though in time. The door severs it clean off.

"What the shit," I mutter as I lean back against the wall, panting. "Are you... are you okay?"

"Mhmm," she mumbles from the floor, slowly picking herself up. "I think I just lost a few years of my life though."

"Eh... who wants to live forever anyway?" I ask, lightly chuckling to myself. Joy doesn't seem to think it was that funny though. "Alright, let's get going-"

THUD

We both jump when something slams against the door. We both watch it as we hear the muffled sound of dozens of ghouls starting to beat against the metal structure.

"They can't get through that... can they?" Joy asks, stepping back slowly.

"I don't think so," I respond, stepping back with her.

THUD

Dust puffs out from the frame as a single screw pops out of the metal work. The thudding intensifies, forcing the door to wiggle back and forth in the frame.

"Let's go!" I yell to Joy. We take off down the service tunnel. I take one last look back as watch as several bony fingers work their way under the metal barrier.

I follow right after Joy as we race down the dimly lit corridor. Yellow emergency lights guide us down the twists and turns of piping and electrical lines. We pass a few doors here and there and I start to worry that Joy doesn't know where she's going. She could be acting completely on fear right now, running simply to run. When we come to a fork in the path she stops and looks between the two options in a panic. She starts to walk one direction, only to stop and look at the other.

"Which way?" I demand, getting her to shush me.

"I trying to remember!" she takes a few more looks before deciding to go left. I hope this is the correct way.

We continue to run down the tracks of wire and pips for what feels like an eternity. We pass doorways, closets, and shelving units in a blur. Part of me thinks that we're running in circles. The shelves look the same, we've made too many left turns, there's just too much of the same! Where are we!?

"Where are we going!?" I yell to Joy as we make another turn.

"We're almost there!" she yells back at me. I wipe my brow on my sleeve and trudge after her. I may be tired, but that's nothing compared to how she looks. She's practically soaked in sweat and heaving for air. We've slowed down significantly by this point, but we are stopping until we make it to that elevator.

With one final left turn we find our target. At the end of the hall are sliding doors marked 'Service Entrance.' We both stop and laugh in triumph, Joy jumping into me for a hug. We walk up to the door and press the button. The sound of metal grinding against metal echoes down the shaft as the cart begins to lower. That makes me panic. If they got in, they might have heard that. It will lead them to us!

"How far down does this need to go?" I ask Joy, looking back in fear.

"Three stories, maybe four. Why?" she asks, oblivious to our predicament. A screech echoes down the hallway as the ghouls start to find their way towards us. Joy starts to press the button repeatedly as fear sets in. "Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!"

I swear I can hear them stamping their way here right now. Any second they'll come around the corner and charge right for us. I take a look around for anything that might be useful, but there doesn't seem to be anything! There's nothing but piping and...

With that thought in mind, I grab a pipe on the wall and try to tug it off. It's doesn't budge, so I try another one. I try and try again as each pipe remains perfectly attached to the walls. In desperation, I reach up and grab pipe off the ceiling and put all of my weight into it. With a loud snap it breaks off, dropping me to the floor. It's mostly rusted, but I still have a knob at the end, so it'll do.

I run to the end of the corridor and take a look around the corner. There's single ghoul walking towards me. It's missing an arm and has deep gouges along its chest. There are some deep wounds on the side of its head as well. It must have pried its way under the door, only barely making it. I take a look back to Joy and decide to deal with this before she can see it.

I walk around the corner and start to pump myself up to take it out. It twitches to the sound of me approaching and hisses at me, staring to move at a faster rate. With a small yell I bring the pipe back and smack it on top of the head. With a sickening crunch it falls to the ground. I watch it for a moment until it starts to move again. So I beat it with the pipe. Each wet smack of the pipe sends a splash of old blood into the air, but I keep hitting it. I keep going until the top of its head is pooling around my hooves.

I drop the pipe and start to walk back. I realize my mistake as drips of blood fall off of me. If I'm lucky, there won't be anypony around to see me on my way to the showers. I have to hide this from the others or they'll know something was up.

"What was that? What happened?" Joy asks when I approach her.

"There was a feral ghoul over there. I took care of it," I tell her, dropping the pipe. She gives me a scared look before nodding to me. I can see her eyeing my clothes a bit, so I unzip it and remove the top half. "I'll have to make it to the showers as quickly as possible."

"Yeah. There shouldn't be anypony there right now anyway." I nod to her, sighing in relief. At least my coat didn't get dirty. I've never had to wash blood out of my coat before, I don't really want to start anytime soon... except I will have to for my leg. Dammit.

DING

We both jump from the loud bell. The doors to the elevator open up and the sound of soft elevator music fills the hall. We rush in and shut the door immediately, finally relaxing completely. We made it. We fucking made it! Joy pushes the button and we start to move up. She rushes over and gives me a big hug, which I return. We made it! We fucking made it!

SKREE-THUNK

The entire room shakes violently as we come to a halt. The lights go out and everything goes silent. I hear Joy start to press all of the buttons as she mumbles to herself. I flick a switch on my Pipbuck and fill the room with a green glow.

"What happened?" I ask. Joy tries every button on the panel before smacking it in anger.

"Well... I'm not entirely sure. But, since the lights are out, I'm going to assume the power went out," she tells me, folding her arms and pressing her back to the wall.

"And what does that mean?" I persist, feeling a slight panic set on.

"I remember Urban talking about this, but I don't exactly recall what he said. I think the generator in charge of the elevator will need to recharge. That, or somepony needs to recharge the generator."

"Well, which is it? Do we need to go out there again to charge them? What do we do?" I press, stepping in front of her.

"I don't know! All that I do know is that we're stuck in here! Urban sealed all of the emergency exits so ponies couldn't just climb after us. We could try pushing the doors back open, but then we're back out there with the feral ghouls! Our best bet right now is to wait for a bit and see of the generators reset on their own. If a few hours go by and nothing happens, then we can consider breaking out." I let out a groan and fall back to lean against the wall. Waiting around to see what happens is not my strong suit. But, she's the expert.

"Sorry. I just hate waiting," I tell her, calming down slightly. She offers me a small smile before sliding down to sit. I follow her example, having to shift my wings a bit first. "So..."

"So... does that thing have games or something?" I perk up at that, eager to be distracted.

"One, come here and I'll show you." She gives me a bigger smile and crawls over to sit beside me. Even though I've done the deed with her and seen her nude already, seeing her in the night gown crawling towards me still excites me. Especially with the wonderful view of her cleavage.

"Show me!" she demands excitedly, moving my arm to go around her shoulders. I cough my awkwardness away as I start up the game.

I play a round and tell her the basics of the game. It's fairly straightforward and she seems to get the grasp of it quickly. I remove my Pipbuck to give her better access and watch her start off. Immediately I'm bitter. She goes through the stages as if they were nothing! What took me countless hours of memorization she's doing with total ease! Only a few minutes later and she encounters something I didn't even know was in the game! By the time she's done, she's crushed the high score on the game, as well as my own score. Which was even lower.

"So, did I forget to mention that I played this game when I was little?" she asks smugly as she starts another round.

"You did not. But I'll remember that every time I see the high score now," I tell her, trying to hide me spite. She laughs at me, seeing though my disguise easily.

"Sorry, but I can't help it if I'm better at games then you are." I know it's just playful banter, but it's still stings. "Or are you mad that a filly is better than you?"

"What? No! I'm not mad about anything!" I defend quickly, making her laugh even more. Why fight it? It's only going to make things worse. It always does. "I'm mainly bitter that 'ASS' is going to be on wrist forever now."

"Here, I'll beat that score and put something better, will that make you happy?" she asks cutely, looking away from the screen for a moment to give blow a raspberry at me. I stick my tongue out at her and keep quiet. I'll just let her play and resent it later, simple enough.

We both keep quiet as she continues to play. I just enjoy watching her play, glad the banter is over. It's a nice distraction from our predicament, and I'm learning somethings from her as well. I start to notice somethings as we sit here though. They're minor, but with nothing else going on I start to pick up on them.

Every time I shift Joy pauses for a moment, as if waiting to see what I do. Her breath catches and she glances at me in the corner of her eye. I can't tell if she wants me to do something or is gauging my actions, but she's waiting regardless. She's also a hoof tapper. If I stay still long enough she gets so engrossed in the game her hoof starts to tap. It's not uncommon, but it's just a little something that I learned about her. I also realize that she handles the Pipbuck fairly well. Well enough that I'd say she used to use one herself.

But, with nothing else going on, I start to notice other things as well. Her nightgown is slightly wet, weighing it down just enough to show off her cleavage. I can see the dark blue outline of her nipples as well, egging me to continue to stare. Her legs would shift on occasion, dragging my eyes to wander down their entire, smooth length. With the way she's sitting and how her gown is ripped I can almost see her slit. I get a hint every time she shifts slightly, but never a full view.

It's amazing how I spent a few hours with her completely nude, yet she's tremendously sexier with this scandalous gown on.

After a rather long round and constant ogling I decide to say fuck it and make a move. Just as she starts another game I slip a hand under her gown and give her chest a firm squeeze. She lets out a quiet gasp and looks up to me. I pause as I stare back at her, waiting to see what she does. Her curious eyes stare up at me before the soften and return to the screen. She leans further into me and continues to play, shifting her back to give me better access.

"I thought you were going to do that sooner," she tells me quietly as I begin to grope her. I chuckle awkwardly, enjoying her supple flesh for a moment.

"Well... I didn't want to throw your game off," I tell her, switching sides. She hums back to me, enjoying the contact just as much as I am. "So, where'd you learn to use a Pipbuck like that?"

"Stable Tech HQ," her response catches me off guard and I stop my movements to get her to explain. "Oh, right. You don't know about the Commonwealth. There was a Stable Tech office building for this region of Equestria. A group of Ponies turned it into a... well, fort would be the best description really. I was there for a short period of time when I was little and they taught me the basics."

"Is it still there?" I ask.

"Should be. The place was really well defended. Even better than this place." I hum in thought. If it's close enough we should take a look there. We might find a way back inside Eighty Eight. "I think I've had enough of this." She tells me as she turns the game off. The room goes dark again, thought this time it's much less intimidating. Joy lets out a sigh and rests her head against my shoulder, saying, "Tell me something about yourself."

"About me?" I ask, moving my hand to her side.

"Yeah, anything. We've got time to kill. If you don't mind that is." I think about it for a moment but can't really think of what to say. I guess I'll start with the obvious, though I don't know where that will go.

"Well, I was a Second Class guard in Eighty Eight," I tell her.

"Second Class? Oh... because you're a pegasis?" I pause at her question, not understanding it completely.

"Um... sure. I never really put much thought into it. When I was young my mother was pushing me to focus in school to get high scores and whatnot. When I joined the guard... I don't know, things just got easier. Being the only pegasis, I was a bit of a target for the other kids. But nopony messes with the guards. It was my out, I guess." She gives a slight hum, thinking to herself. I don't know what else to say. Yeah, it was a little tough when I was little, but that par is over. I never really looked back on it, now that I think about it.

"I grew up in a small farming town south of the Pit. We weren't the biggest farm, but we belonged to a large co-op, so we had plenty of protection from raiders and ghouls. But, there was a lot of money there. I can vividly remember... four different groups that protected us. I got tired of it and left. My parents weren't happy about it, but they let me go. Figured I'd get scared and come running back. Made my way here and that's that. I didn't want to fight anymore, so I agreed to Urbans terms. It was... hard, to get accustomed to living here. But, with enough alcohol, you learnt to just... let it happen."

"That's terrible," I mutter, flinching when I realize that I said it out loud. Joy doesn't seem to mind though, shrugging in response.

"I'm not going to pretend that I like Urban. But I do like having a roof over my head, three meals a day, clean water, and a shit load of turrets keeping the bad ponies out. Would I be happier if Urban was gone? Tremendously. But that's not going to happen, so why dwell on it."

"... and why won't it happen?" I ask, genuinely curious. Joy looks up to me and scoffs.

"He pretty much has the place on lock down. One bad move and you're dead," she tells me.

"Isn't there a way to shut off the turrets?"

"Well... yeah. But it's near impossible to do!" She tries to leave it at that. But I jostle her and wait for her to explain. "Okay, so I may have looked into it before, but I'm telling you there is no way it will work!"

"Let's hear it," I tell her, moving to sit in front of her. She scoffs again as she thinks it over, biting her bottom lip lightly.

"First off, there is only one computer that can deactivate the turrets. But that's in his panic room. The door to that room needs a specific key to get in, which Urban keeps with him at all times. Once in there, from what I understand at least, you need to update all of the turrets at the same time. That means the building will be vulnerable for... about an hour. If you can do that, you can force him out. But it'll never work! There's no way of getting the key from Urban without alerting the turrets! And even if you do, it's not like he'll just let you get in there! It's impossible."

The idea of taking Urban Flow out is tempting, but she's right. Even if we took the key from him, he'd notice all of the turrets going offline at the same time. Unless we could get some ponies to help us that is. Even if he has some secret weapon with him, there's no way he could take on a group of us, right?

"How many mares are here already that would like to get rid of Urban?"

"Not enough to start an uprising. We all agreed to stay here to avoid the fighting, remember. Most of us don't even own weapons anymore." I frown at that. There has to be a way to do this. Joy offers me a frown of her own and pats the spot beside her. I begrudgingly slump against the wall, getting her to rub my shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sorry Reck, but he wouldn't be in the position he's in today if there was a loophole."

"Yeah, I know. But I can't help it if it ticks me off still." She rubs my shoulder a bit more before sidling up beside me and sets her head on my shoulder. She probably doesn't want to hear me groan about this right now. Who knows how long she's had to think about this while enduring that prick.

She reaches down and holds my hand again. I still find it to be an odd gesture, but I don't find it. It's just something that nopony did back home, though I don't know why. It's very reassuring while simultaneously affectionate. I let out a long breath and let my fingers intertwine with hers.

We stay like this for a time. I wanted to say something, but lost the words whenever I tried to speak. I don't think she ever tried to speak either, at least it seemed that way. We just sat there together, silently wanting things to change. That is, until a thought occurs.

"Joy, are you allowed to leave?" I ask quietly.

"Yes, why?" she asks softly.

"Why don't you just leave with Lucky and I? We can head over to Silo together. Get away from this place." She chuckles slightly, moving off of my shoulder. I watch her shake her head and rub the tiredness from her eyes.

"Reckless... I wouldn't make it out there. You saw me with those ghouls, I'm not made to be a wastelander. I'm a good screw and a farmer. Schlepping out in the ruins isn't my things. Even the short trek to Silo would be too much for me. And... if we're being completely honest, I don't think it'd work between us."

"Why's that?" I ask, feeling a little disappointed. She reaches over and brings a hand to my cheek, cupping my jaw lightly.

"I settle Reckless. And I can tell, you need to move. You aren't the type to stay in one place long. Call it a farmer’s instinct, but I can see it in you. That's probably why you wanted to be a guard too. So you wouldn't be bogged down with one task. I'm sorry, but I've made this is a choice." I give her a frown but nod in understanding. She doesn't want to face anymore danger than she needs to. I don't blame her for it.

"Well, at least you're a good screw," I tell her, jokingly. She giggles at that, moving to straddle my lap.

"Oh yeah? Rate me. Am I top ten?" she asks playfully, wrapping her arms around my neck. I laugh a little and set my hands on her hips, eyeing her form for a moment.

"I'd say you're right on top, right on top." I groan when she starts to wiggle her hips side to side. She leans down to face to face with me again, but fumbles when the entire cart shudders. The lights come on as the elevator resumes traveling up again. She rests her forehead against mine and we stare at one another as the car travels up.

"Well... that got a rise out of things," she jokes, making me shake my head.

"Farm first, comedian second," I tell her, giving her flank a playful spank. She giggles and moves forward again, pressing her lips against mine lightly.

The din of metal grinding against metal ebbs away as we press further and further into each other. My grip on her tightens slightly when I feel her try and pull away. It's a moment that I want to have last just a little longer. I don't know if we'll ever get another chance at something like this, so I let it last for as long as possible.

DING

We break away from each other as the door slides open, revealing a dark room before us. We stand up and separate from one another immediately, trying to cover ourselves as much as possible. Joy steps out and takes a looks around. She waves me along and walks off at a brisk pace. I let out one final breath before collecting my Pipbuck and following after her. Back into heaven it is then, I guess.

I'm a little hesitant when I step out. I don't know if any of these turrets are going to open fire or not, but I want to be ready in case they do. In the middle of the dark room, it's a bit intimidating. I can't see the turrets here, so I don't know if they are following me or not. I don't hear anything, so I'm assuming that they aren't. I take a few steps over to the stairwell where Joy is waiting for me and walk in after her. I pause when I see a turret mounted at the top of a flight of stairs. It doesn't seem to care that I'm here, putting me at ease slightly.

I follow after her up the stairs and into the next floor. She makes a mistake though by going straight to the shower room. Not wanting to make more noise than needed, we decide to stay. She tells me that she can just wash my suit and there are probably clothes for her in the dryer, so we're covered there. I pointed out that we didn't have any tokens, but she proved me wrong by pulling out a hidden stash in the washroom. Apparently she saves these for the dry season, something I have a hard time believing exists.

I strip down and she gives me two tokens. Apparently the wash takes a lot longer than a shower, so we end up sitting in our own shower stalls to wait it out. We talk a bit more, about nothing really though. I ask about the washers and how all this works, and she was more than willing to tell me about it all. It was a conversation for the sake of conversation, nothing more really. I guess we lucked out with the timing too. According to her, several ponies have already showered, meaning we likely missed everypony.

A loud buzzing sounds off and Joy goes to move the clothes over. I just pat my legs to a tune in my head and wait impatiently for them to finish. I jump a little when my curtain opens and Joy steps inside.

"What are you doing?" I ask in a hushed tone. She ignores me and puts a token in the machine, getting warm water to pour down onto us.

"Stand up," she orders me. I give her a confused look as I stand.

"Won't the turrets-"

"Not in the stalls. All of the mares here made sure of that," she tells me as she knells before me. I feel my heart start to race as I watch her. I don't know what she's about to do, but it's making me nervous.

I jump when she leans forward and sucks my cock into her mouth. It's almost as if a bolt of lightning races through me as I fall twenty stories. I try to say something, but all that comes out is a high pitched squeal as I convulse. She pulls her bead back as she sucks even harder and I can't help but grunt loudly as my body twitches in ecstasy. Without warning, I burst into her mouth, surprising her enough to have her pull off of my member. A spurt of semen hits her across her muzzle before the rest dribbles out; due to my still being flaccid. I fall back against the wall and slide down, panting. Joy is surprised by this, staring down at me in confusion.

"Wow... not even ten seconds," she mutters, wiping my spunk off.

"What... what the shit... was that?" I pant out, still spinning. I didn't know you could even do that while flaccid! How is that possible!?

"Don't worry Reck, it happens from time to time. You were just a little excited, that's all," she tells me comfortingly as she sits before me. I shake my head as I try to come back down.

"Joy... what was that?" I ask in disbelief. She giggles at me, giving me an odd look.

"Don't be so coy about it. You came early, and hard, by the looks of it. It happens. Just relax and take a breather-"

"No, Joy. What was that? I've never felt something like that before. What did you do?" She stares at me until it finally dawns on her that I'm telling the truth.

"Oh... wow. You weren't kidding when you said you didn't know much about sex. How in all of Equestria are blow jobs not a thing in your Stable?"

"Blow jobs?" I ask, tilting my head. She laughs a little at that and scoots closer to me as she pulls her hair back.

"Alright, I'm going to educate you in this then. Luckily for you, I'm pretty good at giving blow jobs. Maybe not the best, but I'm sure you'll appreciate it all the same. Just sit back, relax, and try not to cum on my face again."

I gulp as she lowers her head between my legs. I do want to feel that again, but I can't guarantee that I won't cum that quickly again. It was too new a sensation on a sensitive area for me to handle last time. Hopefully now that I know it's going to happen I'll do better. Though... seeing her with my cum on her face was really hot. We'll see how things go.

She brings her mouth down to my semi hard member and plants a soft kiss on top, near the base. I can't help but twitch from the foreign sensation, getting a gentle coo from her. She does it again, moving down slightly. I have to press my back against the wall in an attempt to control myself. I can't help but give gentle thrusts every time she kisses me. It becomes harder to fight it as she continues down my shaft, making it to the end just as I become completely erect. We make eye contact for a moment before she smiles and kisses the very tip.

I give a loud moan as I thrust forward completely. She laughs at me as my member slides across her face, sending even more shivers down my form. She holds it with a hand and moves underneath to start kissing it again, starting back at the bottom. She does this several times. Kissing her way along my member until she makes it to the tip and then starting all over again. The entire act is driving me crazy! I can feel myself getting close, but there isn't enough stimulation to send me over. I want her to put it back in her mouth so I can cum again, but I also want this to last a little longer.

"How was that?" she asks quietly, pulling away slightly.

"The best," I tell her dreamily, getting her to chuckle at me.

"Glad to hear it. I'm going to put it in now. Do me a favor and try not to move, okay?" I nod to her, excited to finally move on.

She leans down and opens her mouth in front of the tip... and then pulls away. Instead she gently strokes me a bit and blows on me, sending shivers down my spine. As nice as that is, it's not what I was expecting. I start to get a little impatient as she moves to blow over the rest of my shaft. It feels... nice? But it's not stimulating in the slightest. All of my previous tension slowly ebbs away and eventually I can feel myself start to get soft. But, just as I was about to complain, she drags her tongue from the bottom of my shaft to the very tip. I nearly fall over from the feeling! When she makes it to the end she presses her lips against me in a rough kiss and slowly lets me enter her mouth. I start to press my hips forward, making her pull off. I look down in disappointment, but she just smirks back at me. Right, no thrusting. This might be a little difficult.

She does the same move again, dragging her tongue against me and slowly taking me into her mouth. And, again, I move up into her. She removes me from her mouth and starts over again. I clench my fists as I try my best not to move, but each time it's too much for me to handle. The warmth of her tongue, the cool feeling of her saliva on my bare flesh, the gentle vibrations her mouth makes when she hums, I can't help but twitch against every movement.

Eventually, I gain enough control of myself to allow her to take me in as deep as she'll allow. She looks up to me and hums in approval, making me double over in an attempt to not thrust into her. She starts to lap at the underside of my member with her tongue as she pulls back. I groan loudly as she does this, my wings pushing me off the wall slightly. Just as she reaches the tip she bobs all the way back down and starts over again, forcing out a loud grunt from me.

She continues to bob back and forth as she sucks on me, and I start to lose it. In this moment, I don't care who hears me. I bring a hand to the back of her head and hold onto her as she works my shaft. Just as I'm about to cum she pulls back so just the tip in left and starts to swirl her tongue around the most sensitive part. I throw my head back as I explode in her mouth, getting a deep moan from her. She holds her mouth there and strokes the rest of it out with her hand. Some of it escapes from the corners of her mouth, but she takes a majority of it in. After several powerful spasms, I start to subside from my peak, getting her to remove me from my mouth. She scoots over to the drain and spits my spunk out, eliciting another spasm from my member.

"Sorry, I just don't like to swallow," she tells me as she wipes her mouth clean.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," I pant back, leaning against the wall to catch my breath. She scoots over to my side and I put my arm around her, getting a content hum from her. "Are you sure you're not the best at that? Because I'm pretty convinced you are."

"Hm, says the pony whose never had a blow job before," she tells me with a cute smirk. "Want to return the favor?"

I give her a quizzical look before shrugging. That seems fair, though I have no idea what I have to do for that. Before she tells me what to do though, a buzzing sound rings from down the hall. Joy tells me to stay put so she can take care of that and leaves, swathing her tail over my face as she does so. I take a deep breath and relax a little, enjoying the moment of bliss as much as possible.

"... mare. I think she might be the new favorite." Some random mare says as a group walk into the shower room. I panic a little and back up in my stall, not wanting to be found just yet. Yet again Joy was wrong about ponies not being somewhere!

"You really think so?" another mare asks. "What about that stallion she's with? The sexy one with the wings."

"Pegasi, ya dunce. From what I hear, he's hiring that other stallion to kill him when they leave. That way, she has no other choice but to come back." I freeze up from that. I knew that guy was trouble!

"What a bastard. But what does that mean for him though? Urban isn't really one to share. And how did you hear about this anyway?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure Urban has a plan for him. I overheard them talking after Urban had his fun with that new mare. Poor girl, she's not taking it well either. We should check up on her afterwards, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." The others agree and start to shower. I grit my teeth as I think of what to do with this information.

If I just leave and ignore it, I'll have to watch my back constantly. And if I leave and wait for Chuck Wagon, there's no guarantee that I'll even be able to kill him. For now, I should talk to Lucky and see what she thinks. I can't make the choice myself right now. Joy opens my curtain and passes me my clothes, giving me an apologetic look. I frown back to her and take them. I'm a little disappointed that the fun had to end, but it always does. She leaves and I start to get dressed, finding my clothes wetter than before. I guess she didn't dry them, great.

I get dressed and take my leave as quietly as possible. I'm not entirely sure why, but I don't want to alert those mares that I was there. Along the way I stick my hands into my pockets and find a torn box piece with a note.

Sorry we couldn't finish our fun. Talk to you tomorrow at breakfast.

I shove the note back in my wet pocket and head straight for my room, eyeing each turret along the way. Even if I didn't know about Urban's plans, I'd still have trouble leaving. Unless those turrets forget who I am, which I find highly unlikely, I'm going to have enormous trouble leaving.

When I make it to my room I find the door unlocked and step inside. Lucky is asleep on her bed scrunched up into the corner with her bat in her in her hands. I'm a little concerned as to why she's like that, but ignore it for the time being. I don't want to wake her up right now. With her asleep I get changed into some other clothes before going to her. I doubt sleeping like that is comfortable, so I try to move her as gently as-

WHACK

THUD

Perspective: Lucky
Two Hours Ago

I keep nodding out on my bed. It seems as if every time I'm about to pass out, somepony has to come running by as loudly as possible. With Urban's assault still too fresh in my mind, I keep imagining it's him about to force his way in here. Where the hell is Reckless? What could he be doing that is so important that he disappears for this long? Or did he disappear? What if something happened to him? I've been in here for a while, and there seems to be all this commotion out there... What if something did happened to him!?

Out of fear for Reckless's well-being, I stand up and leave the room. It's quiet now, and I don't know how to feel about that. I make my way down the hall and to the stairwell. Before I can do down them though a mare stops in front of me. She's an all-white unicorn mare with super short black hair. She's wearing black leather shorts and has black electrical tape crossed over her nipples. I try to walk around her, but she steps in my way.

"Excuse me," I mutter as I try to walk around her again. She steps in my way again and smiles, though it comes off more sinister than anything else.

"You're Lucky, right?" she asks, putting her thumbs in her pockets.

"Yes. Is there something you need?" I don't have time for this right now. She chuckles at my question and takes a look around before stepping closer to me. I take a step back, getting her to laugh.

"Relax, I just want to have a word with you, that's all. My name's Razor Edge. Can you spare a moment? It won't take long, promise!" I bite my lip as I think about it. I don't think I have the time to spare, but I don't want to alert anypony that Reckless is missing. It'd be best if Urban was left out of the loop. Begrudgingly, I nod to her. "Great! Follow me really quick then!"

She takes my hand and pulls me upstairs. I run after her as we make our way up and through the hallway. Panic starts to set in as we make our way straight for the master bedroom. Why is she taking me there? Did Urban put her up to this?

We stop just shy of the door and she motions for me to keep quiet. I nod to her, getting her to turn to the door. She opens it ever so slightly and pulls me in to have a look. At first I don't see anything noteworthy. Just some furniture and empty bottles. Razor pulls me over to look more directly into the room, and I find what she wants to show me.

Urban is on his knees behind Mutt Schnapps humping away at her. They're both completely nude, though Mutt has her face buried in the bed. My entire face heats up as I watch the two of them go at it. Why is she showing me this? I try to step away, but Razor wraps her arms around my waist and holds me still.

"Shhh, don't fight. Urban might hear you," she warns me, whispering directly into my ear. I tense up from that and stop fighting her. I don't want to deal with him, so I keep quiet. Though I do avert my gaze. "Does this make you uncomfortable?"

I nod to her, trying to break away. She yanks me back into position as a strange tingly sensation forces me to look back at the scene before me. I can't shut my eyes, I can't look away, and I feel as if somepony is crushing my head slightly. I stop fighting and go very still, getting the pressure to ease off slightly.

"I want you to watch this for just a little longer. I want you to remember this well, alright?" she whispers to me, rubbing her body against me. I feel a cold shiver run down my spine as I'm forced to watch them go at it. Eventually Mutt looks up and we make eye contact. I can see the embarrassment clearly on her face. All of the shame and horror fill her eyes as she watches me watch her. I try to look away, I try to avert my gaze, but there's no fixing this anymore. She knows I know, and that's all there has to be.

Just as I feel the magic leave my face, Urban finishes inside of Mutt. She doesn't seem to notice, or care. All she is fixed on is the two of us watching Urban fill her with his seed. I hope she isn't in heat. I hope this doesn't have to linger with her for the rest of her life. Just as Urban begins to pull out Razor begins to drag me away. I can't find the words to question her, nor the ability to even think of a viable question. That was disgusting! Humiliating!

Razor shoves me back into my room and shuts the door behind herself. I take a few steps away from her and hold onto my bat, unsure of what she intends to do. She takes a look at me and chuckles a bit, shaking her head slightly.

"If you want the turrets to start shooting you, go ahead and hang on to that bat. I don't care either way, so by all means." I look down to the bat and tighten my grip on it, making her smirk at me. "A fighter, that's good. I like a fighter."

"Why did you bring me here?" I ask, my voice coming out soft and shaky. She takes a few steps towards me, making me step back, and eyes me over. She has a smirk that fills me with unease. She's planning something, that much is obvious. "Why did you show me that?"

"I wanted to scare you, dummy." Her comment confuses me, so she elaborates. "I'm the top mare here. I have the most pull, I know all the ins and outs, and I'm next in line. Everything was fine until you showed up."

"What did I do?" I ask quickly. She narrows her eyes at me as she starts to circle around me, walking as closely as possible.

"Nothing, but you didn't need to now did you? The second Urban saw you that was all you needed to have him wrapped around your fingers. I showed you that to show you the kind of stallion he is. So you'll runaway the second you get a chance and never come back. And..." She stops behind me and snakes a hand to my chest, giving it a light squeeze. I elbow her away and raise by bat, only to stop when I see the turret activate. It takes aim at me and wait to see what happens. I feel my heart race as I stare at the mounted weapon, waiting to see what it does. As I wait, Razor steps forwards and continues to fondle me, getting some sick enjoyment out if it.

"I can see why he likes you so much. Don't worry, the turret won't shoot. So long as you aren't violent that is." I use my bat to push her away and step back. She just laughs at me, staring me down with that same smirk she has. "Didn't you like it?"

"Leave me alone," I tell her firmly, holding my bat steadily. She puts her hands up jokingly, stepping towards the door.

"Sadly I can't do anything now. But if you come back here... well, let's just say I know a thing or two that will keep me on top." She stops in front of me and stares me down. I try my best to look tough, but I can feel my knees starting to shake. She gives me one final look over before finally leaves, blowing me a kiss goodbye. Once she's gone I lock the door and run back to my bed, pushing myself into the corner. I can wait for Reckless to come back. He'll be back soon; I just have to wait. He'll be back soon...

After an unknown amount of time waiting I eventually went to sleep. It wasn't a peaceful sleep, and there were several times where I woke up violently from a sudden noise. After a point I started to drift into deeper sleep, but something started to wake me. I wasn't sure of what it was at first, but eventually I realized somepony was touching me! Completely on fear and instinct I swung the bat in my hands and sent whoever it was straight to the floor. I stand up and get ready to beat the pony to death when I realize it was Reckless.

"Shit! Reckless! Are you okay!?" I yell as I drop the bat and check on him. He's out cold with a massive lump on the side of his head. I start to panic and tear through our things, looking for a Stim-pak. When I find one of the few we have I waste no time applying it directly to his head. Like clockwork the wound comes down and he slowly comes back to me.

"Mmm... Lucky? What happened?" he asks groggily. I feel a wave of relief wash over me, but that ends rather quickly.

"Where the fuck have you been!" I yell at him, smacking his chest. He jolts up in pain and tries to back away from me, but I don't let him. I grab his shirt and keep smacking him, choosing to hit him until I get a response.

"Ow! Sorry! Sorry! I was -ow!- I was out with a friend! AH! We got locked out of the building -oof! We had to find a way in from outside!" I pause to stare at him before backing off. He seems to be telling the truth, and he isn't dead from my wound, so he's in the clear. "And... well... we sorta, maybe, kinda... had sex. And by that I mean we had lots of sex... and now I can't leave the building without getting shot at by all the turrets..."

"..."

"... Um... so... yeah. How was your day?"

"..."

"Lucky? Um... did... did you-"

KRACK

I shake the pain from my fist as he lays flat on his back. As angry and pissed off as I am, I think that will suffice, for now. He slowly pushes himself back up and rubs his cheek, his ears lying flat in shame.

"Right... I deserved that. Sorry," he mutters.

"Right. Well, while you were off getting your dick wet, I was assaulted by Urban and his crony Razor Edge. Apparently neither of them have seen a mare with tits like mine. One wants me to be his fuck toy while the other wants me to be their bitch... and I'm not sure which one wants what." Reckless stops rubbing his cheek and stares directly at me. His eyes have shrunk to pinpricks and his ears have popped back up. Without saying a word, he stands up and goes to our bag, pulling out his pistol and making for the door.

"What are you doing!?" I yell as I quickly chase after him. I stop him in the hallway and push him back, getting an angry snort from him. "Are you stupid or do you just have a death wish?"

"He can't just do whatever he wants! Somepony has to make him pay!" he yells back, shoving me out of the way. I run after him and grab his pistol, getting a wild look from him.

"Don't be an idiot! If you die, then I get stuck here anyway! You promised that if I didn't give up then you wouldn't! I'm not giving up! If you do this, then you're just quitting! Is that what this is? Are you quitting on me?" He yanks the gun from my hand and looks down the hall in thought. I just wait for him to come to his senses. He's not thinking clearly right now, I'm sure of it. I did hit him on the head a few times after all.

Eventually he lets out another huff and holsters the gun in the back of his pants. I take a breath of relief and lean back against the wall. For being a safe haven, this place is killing me! I look back to Reckless to see that he still has that wild look about him. If I'm not careful he'll do something stupid.

"It wasn't that bad," I mutter, trying to play it down. He shoots me a crazy look before storming back down the hall. I chase after him, afraid of what he's going to do. "Reckless, where are you going?"

"I don't know, somewhere! I'm pissed and I have no outlet! I need something to distract me!" he bellows and he rushes down the hall. I keep pace directly behind him, trying my best to think of what to tell him. I wasn't expecting him to react like this. Mad, maybe. But all of this pure rage... where is all of this coming from?

"Reckless, can you slow down? This isn't helping!" I tell him as we pass two random mares. They move to the side and watch in fear as we blow past them. I offer them apologetic smiles before following after Reckless. "Maybe you should pace in the room? Or somewhere there aren't ponies in the way?"

"He doesn't get to do whatever he wants! There are rules, guidelines! There's an order to these things! He doesn't get to do whatever he wants!" he yells angrily, turning a corner sharply. We pass another group of mares but one of them doesn't move like the others. She's an earth mare with an ocean blue coat and silver hair done in a ponytail that has a streak of white in it. When we pass them she starts to chase after us, looking equally concerned.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"My names Joy. Why is Reck acting like this?" she asks.

"You're the one he-"

"SHH!" she shushes me before I can say anything further. She takes a look around before grabbing my wrist and pulling me into a random bedroom. I try to leave, but she slams a hand against the door. "How much do you know?"

"All I know is that you two apparently got trapped outside and had lots of sex. I don't know anything beyond that, and I don't need to," I tell her, folding my arms angrily. She lets out a small breath and backs off.

"Right... I'm sorry for all the trouble we caused. In all honesty it was my fault really."

"Don't try to save his ass on this. In the end he still chose to do it." She frowns at that, looking away for a moment. I let out a deep breath and relax a little. I hate being the bigger pony. "Look, I'm not mad that you two had sex. I really couldn't care less about it really. What I care about is that he wasn't there to watch my back. We came out here together and I have nopony else to rely on."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I was being selfish, I know that. It's just... I wanted a moment... I just... wanted somepony who wasn't Urban." I let out a sigh when she says that. After everything I've seen, I can't really blame her for that. Heck, I'd do Stun Gun before I'd do Urban. I walk over to one of the beds in the room and take a seat on it, motioning for Joy to do the same.

"It's okay Joy, I understand that plenty," I tell her, getting a wide eyed look from her.

"Did he-"

"No. But he wanted. Damn did he want to." She lets out a sigh of relief and takes a seat on the bed across from me, trying her best to be most in her skimpy lingerie.

"So... what now?" she asks. I shrug and lean back on my palms. I haven't a single idea of what we should do. Doc didn't really warn us about... this kind of threat.

"Reckless can't leave because of... reasons. I can't stay because of Urban and Razor-"

"Did Razor give you her little speech about staying on top?"

"Yeah... was she bluffing?" I ask, getting Joy to blush and shake her head. Wow. Whatever it is she does, I do not want to be a part of it. "Whelp, that's just great. We can't leave one another, yet we can't stay or leave! Maybe if we left quickly enough the turrets wouldn’t-"

"That won't matter," Joy interrupts. "Urban hired Chuck Wagon to kill Reckless once he leaves. Even if you guys escape there is no guarantee that you'll be safe." I let out a loud sigh and fall back on the bed. That's it! There's no escaping this shit hole! One of us is going to get fucked over! "There is one choice though..."

I sit up and give her a quizzical look. She takes a look around before moving to sit beside me. She leans in to whisper into my ear, making me a little uncomfortable.

"Urban has a computer in his panic room that can overwrite all of the turrets. If he doesn't have control of them, then he has no power." I brighten up from this.

"How do we get it?" I ask casually, getting her to shush me. She points at the turret in the room and motions for me to whisper into her ear. "Where does he keep the key?"

"He usually keeps it with him. If you play your cards right, you can get him to show you the room. From there, we might be able to make a distraction out here that will pull him away." I nod in agreement, liking this plan. That is, until I realize something.

"What do you mean by 'play you cards right?'" She gives me a knowing look and I deflate. Of course that's what she means. That's the only thing happening here apparently. "Sorry, but it's the only way he'd open it. And if we can time things right, he might not get that far."

I mull over the idea a bit before responding to her. I really don't see us getting out of here without being in direct danger. That, and there is a part of me that would like to knock Urban down a peg. But I don't want to do this! I don't even want to be in the same room as that sicko! But there isn't anything we can do about, now is there. This frees up Reckless, which allows us to leave as soon as possible. And that's all I want to do right now, leave. But do I want to leave more than I don't want to be with Urban?

"Tell me more of this plan before I say anything else," I tell her, getting a smile in response.

After hashing out the details and working on a pseudo secondary plan, Joy and I leave the room. The first part of the plan is simple enough. She's going to find Reckless and try to calm him down before telling him the plan. I'm going to her room to get some... supplies. We figured if I'm going to try and seduce the bastard, may as well add a few extra layers to stall him. The plan is for me to trick him into letting me into his panic room. If I play my cards right, it shouldn't be hard. According to Joy, he likes to show it off to new girls. From there I'm going to stall until Reckless starts to cause a ruckus. I have to trick Urban into leaving to check what's going on. From there, I have to hurry through the computer and reset all or the turrets. After all of that, I get to micro manage the system.

There are a few obstacles in the way though. I have to get Urban in that room alone. If Razor tries to butt in, I have to find a way to kick her out. Also, the ruckus Reckless is starting is taking out a few turrets. As if that wasn't dangerous enough already, he'll have to avoid Urban afterwards. Plus, any of the mares that decide to fight as well. Joy is going to try and convince them to stay out of this, but there's probably going to be at least one that joins the fight. And the biggest kicker in all of this is that we are assuming that I will be able to hack into his computer. If I can't, we're all fucked.

I make it to her room and check to make sure nopony is around. Once the coast is clear, I step in and lock the door behind myself. Her room is similar to ours, only having several dressers in addition to it. I go to the first one and start to go through the drawers. There's mostly knick-knacks in here, but I find a few things that might work. I go through every drawer and set aside everything that might work. Sadly, it's mostly underwear and outfits. I should have guessed there wouldn't be any bras my size, but I was being hopeful.

The next part takes longer than I thought it would. I can't decide on what to wear. On one part, I want to look alluring so I can convince him to take me to the panic room. On the other hand, though, I want the clothes that will be the most constricting and cumbersome. I need what will take forever to remove, but have that edge of appeal we need. Nothing she has does any of that. She has a few things that will take time to remove; like shorts and stockings. But I think they would look a bit weird on me. It doesn't help that I'm second guessing those choices too. I'm afraid that if I wear some too obvious he'll know something is up. I don't have much time, so I make my choice and hurry back to my room. I don't want to chance somepony entering her room and finding me.

I take my choices and go through putting each piece on. It's a tight fit, but I eventually get all of the extra layers on. I also decided that I'm going in with my Stable suit. I figured if I looked as casual as possible he'd be less suspicious of my motives. I start to pace around the room as I wait for Joy to return to me. She apparently knows a place where Reckless will have the best chance at fighting the turrets, though I was a bit skeptical about that. She hasn't exactly been right before... ever. But, it's not like we have a choice right now.

Knock knock knock

"Are you in there?" Joy asks from the other side of the door. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and go to the door, letting her in quickly. "Reckless is in place. Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as anypony would be," I muse. She sets a hand on my shoulder and gives me a firm squeeze, smiling weakly at me.

"Regardless of whether this works or not, I won't forget what you are about to do. I'll make it up to you, one way or another." I nod to her and go to leave, but she holds me in place for a moment. "Not that you don't look nice, but... well, nice isn't what we were going for."

"He wanted to rut me when I was ragged and splattered in blood, I think this will do just fine," I drone, but she ignores me. She reaches down and slips her fingers under the hem of my pants, pulling the bottom most thong up and onto my hips. From there she spins me around and starts to tie my hair back in some sort of ponytail.

"He likes it when part of your hair is tied back. If you can, or need to, bite your lip lightly while giving him your bedroom eyes. He's a sucker for that too. And... if it does come to... that, pull his tail up. It'll... end it sooner." I gulp at the thought of that. Hopefully I won't have to use that, but I understand why she's telling me. She moves back in front of me and gives me a worried look before pulling me in for a hug. I awkwardly tap her back, unsure of what to do here. "Thank you for doing this."

"Yeah... well... we better get going? How do we even know he's awake right now?" Joy lets go and moves to the door. She opens it and peers outside, finding it clear.

"He's probably not. We'll use that to our advantage. He's not a morning pony, trust me on that. But he's desperate to get you to stay, so he'll make an exception."

"What makes you so sure he's desperate for me?" I ask as we step out into to the hall. We tip-hoof our way towards the master bedroom where we stop just shy of the door.

"Because Razor Edge feels threatened. Trust me when I say that's enough. Are you ready?" I shrug, getting a nod from her. She takes a look around before giving me one last quick hug. It still feels awkward, but I don't say anything about. She's trying to comfort me, but I don't think there's anything anypony could do that would comfort me about this. Once she leaves I take a moment to prepare myself for this before stepping into the master bedroom.

The master looks as if it was two room that have been turned into one. There's a line of broken drywall where the wall that separated the rooms was. There are several wine cabinets in here as well, each one filled with dark bottles. In the back of the room is a large metal door that has an elaborate lock mechanism on it. Dim lights dot the wall, barely giving enough light to see into the room. Taking up most of the center of the room is a large round bed. Long velvety red blankets are draped over it as three ponies sleep on it. Razor sleeps on the right with Urban on the left and Mutt in the middle. I'm pretty sure the two mares are completely nude, but Urban seems to still have his shirt on. The rest of him is under the blanket, but I'm guessing it's less than desirable down there.

I shut the door as quietly as possible and tip hoof my way over, being sure not to disturb any of the empty bottles on the floor. I make it to the side of the bed and kneel before it. I take a better look around the room to try and think of what to do. I could try and find the key on him, but something tells me there isn't a very good chance I'd get it without waking him. There also doesn't seem to be anything in the room that will be able to help me either. Maybe I could bring a bottle with me, just in case he tries something stupid. But I think it would be a little weird if I woke him up with a bottle in my hands. Or would it...?

I gasp quietly when he mumbles something and rolls over, facing me now. It's now or never. I reach over and hesitate for a moment before gently running my fingers along his jaw. He hums in approval, unconsciously moving his head against my hand. I give his ear a little tug, getting him to open his eyes slowly. He looks up to me in confusion and goes to say something, but I place a finger over his lips to silence him. He watches me curiously as I lean down to whisper into his ear, still dazed from sleep.

"I was in my room all by myself thinking about your offer. I thought, 'if I leave, then I won't be safe. And at least here I'm safe.' I'm safe here, right?" He nods his head vigorously as he starts to sit up, waking up quickly. Alright, this is it. Let's see if I can get him to take me into the panic room. "How safe am I here?" [SPEECH 35/25]

He looks around, almost as if in a panic, before motioning for me to follow. He jumps out of bed and runs to the large metal door. I have to take a moment to collect myself again before I follow after him. This is it. No turning back after this point.

He slips a necklace off of his neck and slips it into the large metal cog. A few heavy clicks later and the door starts to open. I look back and see that Razor has woken up. She's still in a slight daze, but I can tell she sees me clearly enough. I flip her off and step up behind Urban, being sure to press up against him to whisper into his ear.

"Let's keep this between the two of us." He looks back to me and smiles mischievously. I give him a fake smile before looking back to Razor. I can see the rage on her clear as day, but she isn't doing anything about it. I'm sure she has something planned. But there's nothing she can do right now.

The door opens enough for us to slip inside and Urban shuts it behind us. I take a few steps inside to create some distance between us before he turns the lights on. The room is bare for the most part. There are two lockers in the back, a simple bed in between them, and a computer on the left wall. There are no turrets, no cameras, nothing else in here other than a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

"So, what do you think?" he asks smugly as he steps up behind me, wrapping his arms around my midriff. I cringe from the contact but do my best to keep it to myself. Any second now the alarms are going to go off and he'll leave. I just need to buy some time.

"This is secure, but is it safe?" I ask him, looking back to him with a forced smile. He chuckles at that and goes to the left locker, throwing the doors open. I walk over and gasp at what's inside.

"I call her Miss Clap, 'cause she stings like a bitch!" he tells me proudly as he pulls out the mini gun. He sings the tri-barrels around the room and give them a spin, scaring the crap out of me. "Don't worry, I know how to handle her. Nopony is coming in here without my permission!"

"Right... but... uh... As I said, we're secured in here. But are we safe? How long can we last in here?" I ask, trying to change the subject. He chuckles at that and sets the massive gun down. He walks over to the other locker, grabbing my hand to bring me with him, and opens it up. It's filled to the brim with jugs of water, boxes of food, medical supplies, alcohol, and drugs.

"Assuming we paced ourselves, we could last a year in here. Or, if we partied, one month. Your choice." I can't help but gawk at his supplies. How in the world did he manage to store all of this here!? He has everything! Except...

"Where's the bathroom?" [Intelligence 7/5]

He goes to answer me, but stops and looks around. In all of his wisdom, and with all of the time he had to plan this out; he forgot to put a toilet in this room. If I wasn't so nervous about this place, I'd laugh my ass off! How could he possibly forget to put a toilet in here!? How wasn't that the first thing?

"How long could we last in here without a place to go?" I ask, trying my best not to chuckle at him. He steps away from me and looks around the room, lost in thought.

"Well... I'll have to install one in here then. How about I show you the main floor and the turrets there-"

"No!" I almost yell, catching him off guard. We can't leave yet. I need to buy Reckless some more time. "Why don't we... get to know one another a little more? We can look at turrets later."

He gives me a wicked smile and I vomit. I can keep it together for now, but if he gets too far I'll have to take care of things myself. Hurry up Reckless!

Perspective: Reckless

I follow Joy down the stairs towards one of the hydroponic rooms as quickly as possible, strapping my armor on as we go. Once she told me what the plan was I became completely determined to see it through. I don't know what the others are thinking, but once I have the chance, I'm going to put a bullet in Urbans head.

We take a sudden turn into one of the utility closets and squeeze inside. It's a bit of a tight fit, but we make it work. She turns so her back is against me and leans over, fiddling with something on the bottom of the wall.

"Why are we both in here?" I ask, feeling a tad awkward from the position.

"So there are less eyes watching us. I hid a gun in here that will help you. And stop blushing! There'll be time for that later!" I nod to her and do my best to ignore her. She comes back up and passes me an assault rifle. It's a little beat up and doesn't have much to it, but she makes up for that by passing me three magazines.

"Where did you get this?" I ask as I load the first magazine in, pulling the chamber back with a satisfying click.

"It was mine before I came here. He never took it, but I didn't want it just laying around. It's an automatic, so be mindful of that." I nod to her and open the door, stepping out confidently. According to her plan, if I can take out the two turrets in here I'll have the best position to defend against anypony that comes in here.

There's a turret at the end of the room and above the entrance. Both seem like good enough targets to start with, so I aim up at the entrance turret and open fire.

PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PAT

The bullets bounce off the metal hull and ricochet all over. I only stop firing with a few of the round bounce too closely to me. I pause and wait for something to happen... but nothing occurs. Joy pops her head out of the closet and give me a confused look, so I try again.

PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PAT

Nothing. Is that not a turret? Do the turrets not care if I shoot at them? Did Lucky already take care of them? Something isn't right here. I lift the gun up and try again, hoping something happens.

PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PAT-CLICK

"What the shit!?" I yell as I reload. How could I have wasted an entire magazine without activating this damn thing!? Joy walks out and steps beside me, thinking to herself silently. "Are these things even on?"

"Yes... and I think I know what's wrong... Don't freak out over this." I give her a confused look as she approaches me and gets on her knees. I let out a yelp as she starts to kiss my member through my pants.

"This isn't the best time for that!" I yell as I jump back.

PA-PA-PA-PA-PA-PAT

I fall backwards as a torrent of bullets wiz by me. I scramble backwards as puffs of dust and debris follow after me. These turrets aren't very fast, but I can tell that they are larger than the ones outside. When I get my bearings I use my wings to spring up to my hooves and fire back at the turret. Bullets ricochet all around the gun emplacement as I hone in on the machine. The few bullets that do hit it jerk the machine back and forth until it explodes off the wall.

I only have a second to celebrate before the other turret hits me on the shoulder, sending me straight to the floor. I let out a loud groan as blood starts to seep out of my armor, staining it. I crawl under a table for cover and look over to Joy to see her doing the same. These things hurt like a bitch, but they go down easily enough and are slow to act. I better use that to my advantage.

I roll out from under the table and fire up at the turret, hitting it a few times. The magazine on my rifle empties before I could take it down though, forcing me to rush to cover. To keep the gun off of me, I join Joy on her side of the room.

"Are you okay?" she yells over the gun fire as she presses her back against the wall.

"I'll live!" I yell back. She gives me a look before ducking from the incoming fire. I must have done a good number on it, because it's firing erratically now. I crawl forward a bit as I reload, trying to move towards the aisle to get into a better firing position. With the magazine in and the chamber loaded I push myself out and start to fire. Sparks fly as the metal bounces off the iron hull, with the occasional electrical spark popping out. I walk forward and try to zero in on the turret, getting more and more sparks until it finally explodes off the wall. With the two turrets down, I allow myself a moment to relax. It took a little over two and a half magazines to take these things down, how am I going to take on the rest? Also...

"What the shit was that?" I ask Joy, turning back to her. She pops up from behind the hydroponic and takes a look around, finding the coast clear. For now, at least.

"Don't complain! It worked and you liked it!" she yells at me, standing completely. "How much ammo do you have left?"

"Not a lot. Maybe half a magazine in the assault rifle and a few for my pistol." She nods to me, thinking to herself for a moment.

"Then you should make a run around the corridors then. If you wait here Urban will just make you waste all of your ammo. At least you'll be able to out maneuver him out there, even with all of the turrets out there." I hum in response, thinking to myself.

"Shouldn't the alarm have gone off by now? I thought you said the entire building would wake up from this?" She shrugs, frowning slightly.

"There were a lot of things that I thought I knew and ended up being wrong about. I know there is an alarm system; maybe you just need to destroy a few more turrets before they go off." I nod to her logic. Staying still was never my style anyway. I go to the door and take a look outside. All of the turrets in the hallway are pointed towards our doorway, meaning I'll have to go out as quickly as possible. I step back and prep myself to gun it, when Joy puts a hand on my shoulder. She leans in and gives me a soft kiss on the lips, making everything seem so distant, if only for a moment.

EEEEEE-EEERRR-EEEEEE-EEERRR-EEEEEE-EEERRR

"You have to be kidding," I grumble as the alarm suddenly goes off. What sort of programming did this fucker install? I give Joy one last look before I take my stance at the door. This is it, time to get some payback.

Perspective: Lucky

I let out a gasp when Urban pushes me onto the bed. He wastes no time diving in after me and shoving his face right into my chest. He hasn't tried to remove anything yet, but that hasn't dissuaded him any. I try to ignore his hands as he gropes at me, squeezing through the layers of tied up shirts I have on. Just like before; pretend you're not here. Pretend he's someone you like. Look up at the ceiling and find something to distract yourself with. Count the holes, follow the patterns in the cement, watch the computer screen flicker on and off, do anything that takes you away from here.

He pulls back with a loud gasp and starts to try to pull down the zipper on my suit. When he can't get it to slide he starts to get a little rough with it, putting more and more strength into each pull. Joy and I intentionally jammed it with one of the shirts beneath it. It won't last, but it's giving me more time at least.

RIP

I let out a small gasp when he rips part of the zipper off. About halfway down it caught back and zipped properly, opening my first shirt.

"Why are you wearing so many layers?" he asks as he starts to pull on the knotted mess on my chest. I have three more shirts that I tied up together.

"I wanted to show you that I'm not just some mare from the Wasteland. I'm one of a kind," I tell him in my fake sultry voice. I already thought of a few answers to anything he might ask. He grunts in response, annoyed immensely.

"Trust me, I knew that from the get go. I've seen plenty of mares, from all over the Commonwealth. You are one in a million," he tells me as he gets fed up with the knot and rips it apart. The fabric tears loudly as the buttons go flying all around. He pulls the shirts apart and takes a moment to admire my bare chest. I can only stare up at him and wait for the next part. I put myself in a corner, and he's about to take what he wants. What is taking them so-

EEEEEE-EEERRR-EEEEEE-EEERRR-EEEEEE-EEERRR

A light flashes from the computer as a loud siren echoes throughout the entire building. This is it! I let all of my previous fears and anxieties wash over me as I try my best to appear scared to Urban.

"I thought you said this place was safe," I tell him as I cover up my chest. I can see the panic start to settle in his eyes.

"It is! I don't know what that is-"

"How can you say it's safe here when you don't even know what's going on!?" I yell at him, forcing him off of me as I scoot away from him. He looks around and tries to think of something to say, but has nothing.

"It's safe here! The turrets will take care of this, I promise! One of the stallions must have tried to get frisky with one of the mares! It'll be over soon enough, I promise!" he defends, trying to scoot back over me. I push him away with one and stand up, glaring down at him as he sits on the bed confused.

"How can you say this place is safe when we are under attack! Aren't you in control? Why are these other stallions walking all over your home?" I ask him, putting as much sass into it as possible. I need to call his pride into this so he'll do something stupid. He thinks for a moment before I see the idea hit him. He gets up and rushes to the door, opening it as quickly as possible.

"You want to see what I do to those that don't follow my rules, eh? 'Cause I'll show you! I'm going to tear their dicks off and hang them off the roof! Nopony touches my mares!" he screams starts to march around the room, gathering random gear and clothes. I need him to make more mistakes, I need to make him stop thinking.

As he rushes past me I grab his arm and force him to stop. He gives me a confused look as I grab his hand and bring it under my shirt and over my chest. He grips me lightly, completely caught off guard by my action.

"Take care of this... and this is all yours." He tries to respond, but there's too much blood flowing away from his brain to think straight. "Come back into the panic room when you win, and only when you win, okay?"

He tries to form a response, but can't find the words. He's too captivated by his grasp on me to think about anything else. He gives me one last squeeze before hobbling away, muttering that he'll win at any cost. I wait until he's out of the room before I shut the door and lock it up. I have to take a moment to collect myself before I can do anything further. That was too close. My heart is racing as if I just ran twenty miles straight. Additionally, my stomach feels as if it's about to heave itself out of myself, but somehow I manage to keep it all under control. I zip up my shirt and walk over the computer, my knees nearly giving out along the way.

I take a seat and start it up. This is it. Time to see if this was worth all of the effort. I go to the back door and take a look at it... It's manageable. I think I can get through this, if only barely. But I have to be quick, there's no telling how much time I actually have. Given, I got Urban to go out there without the massive gun or any pants. I'll hurry, but I'll be safe as well.

I start out by looking for any duds. Even though this ends up eating the allowance replenishment, I think it was worth it. I narrowed it down to five words, so that's pretty good. I can always restart, but the refresh rate takes forever to get through. And I don't want to waste any more time than I need to.

Running. Dealing. Venting. Landing. Meeting. These are my choices. Of course they all have to end in -ing, having one of them not end in -ing would be too simple. Well... I guess I'll pick one of them and see where that takes me.

Meeting: 4/7.

Well... that isn't very helpful. That means only one letter in there is correct, after the -ing that is. Let's see... Dealing shares some letters with it, let's try that one.

Dealing: 4/7.

That's... helpful. They both only have one letter. And they don't have many other letters that they share with the other words. Hmm... Actually, aside from the -ing, they only share an E. The only other word with an E in the same spot is Venting, so that might be it. And if it isn't, I can always back out and try again. I hope it is though, I don't want to waste any more time than I already have.

Venting: 7/7 [Science 36/35]'

I give a quick cheer when it starts to load up the next screen. That wasn't so bad! I'll have those turrets down before Urban can even make it down there!

I come to the main screen and look through the options. But none of them look as if are turret control. There's only two journal entries in here! Did she lie to us!? Or did Urban just beat us to it? No, there has to be something more to this! I couldn't have gone through all of that without getting something in return! I open the first log entry and start to read it. Maybe there's something in here that will help me.

Starting over,

Big brother and I just made it to an old hotel. Some nasty ghouls in here, but we got them out of here pretty quickly. Almost didn't make it out of that fight alive, but Big Brother had my back. This place is a pretty nice set up. One-way entrance, working water lines -relatively, and it's in the center of all the major cities! Brother really thinks we can resettle here. Says the crops would be safe if we can get the lights we brought with us to work. I'm more worried about safety though. After what happened with Mom and Dad...

We've got each other, and that's more than most ponies have. We'll work through it all and get this place up and running. Who knows, maybe we'll make a nice little homestead here.

Work underway,

Who knew working on renovating an old hotel would be so tiresome. We stopped to eat and some scavengers stopped by to trade. They were nice enough, warned us about a local raider group too. There was a cute mare in their group too, and I think I'm in love! Is love at first sight a real thing? Because I feel as if it might! They told us they were from a local settlement and would come back to trade again if we can get the crops to grow. They mostly deal in junk, so it'll be a good deal for everypony. Maybe I can convince Arc to... I don't know, stay?

I'm a little confused on what to do about this. I would ask Big Brother about this but... I don't know. I don't think he trusts them. Or, maybe, he's just a little scared about being around mares, after what happened with Mom and Dad. I get why it happened, and I'm at peace with it, but Big Brother doesn't seem to be. I'll try to talk to him about it another time. I can't just let him wallow in hate and distrust like this.

How would Mom know things would turn out like that?

Trade,

We've started trading today with the ponies from Rivet Town! Arc and I made the deals and made the trade... and then had dinner. It was nice and she's a nice mare. A bit shy, but in a cute way. I think she likes me, or I hope she does at least. She said she hopes we'll do business again real soon. I don't know if that's because she wants to see me again or because she just wants to do business again. Why is this so hard? I think I'll finally talk to Big Brother about this, see what he has to say. I just hope things go well.

Bad Pipes,

Things did not go well. He nearly exploded, he was so mad! I'm not even clear about what he's mad about. I think he liked her too, but then he brought up Mom. Though, them sharing a name probably didn't help that now that I think about it. How could she have known those traders were Raiders in disguise? They tricked all of us! In the midst of all the yelling we were having, one of the hydroponic lines blew apart. While he fixes it he kicked me out to get new parts. Said some nasty things too. I don't know what to think now. I want to be with Arc, but Big Brother is the only family I have. I have a right to pursue a relationship, but would it be worth losing my brother over?

I really don't think I'd ever be able to bring a mare in here with him around. The way he talked about Mom and Dad... Dad would never put Mom on a leash! That's not how you treat mares! Where did all of those thoughts come from? It's like I don't even know him anymore! I'm leaving for Rivet Town soon. Hopefully Arc will have something to add that will ease my mind. I hope so, cause I don't know what to do right now.

I close the journal and let out a sigh. That doesn't help me right now. It was interesting, but useless to me. With nothing better to do at the moment, I open the next one and start to read.

Steady Aim

Little Brother was an idiot! Did he really think he could just do whatever he wanted and not have to deal with the consequences!? Idiot! i tried to be reasonable! I did! I even let that little skank come live with us! That's a night of sleep I'm never getting back! She treats me like a heap of trash! As if I'm not good enough to be in the same room as her! As if I don't deserve my own brother! I've got my eyes on her though. I know what she's up to! The minute she tries to take my brother away from me, I'll put a bullet in her. Better mad than dead, that's what Dad said!

Arc Point,

That SKANK! That CUNT! I can't believe this! What does she think she's doing!? MARRIAGE? FOALS? She pulled me aside and talked to me, telling me her 'intentions.' BAH! I can see right through her. I've seen the way she acts around him. Pretending that things are too hard for her, just to get him to do it for her! I saw the look on her face! She just wants a place to stay where she doesn't have to do anything! No work and all play, that's her game! Well no deal! You work the farm or you get out, that's the deal! I don't care if she 'loves' him -which I know she doesn't- it's not going to fly here! You work, or you get out. You don't get a free ride! I'm not being unreasonable! That's how it is out here! What idiot thinks otherwise? I told her that to her face, it was priceless! She didn't even say anything back to me! She just left, crying. Good riddance! I don't have time for slackers like that. I have a farm to run.

Mistake,

Oh gods! Oh goddess above! What happened? What happened!? I didn't mean to do it! I didn't know what else to do! He came at me and... and... It was self-defense! He was crazy! Oh goddess! Why me, why him! Oh GOD!

Deals a deal,

She came back to me. Said Rivet town was overrun by Raiders, that she had nowhere else to go. She acts as if she can come here. I had a nice little surprise for her. See all those Raiders fuck her senseless was fulfilling. As if I was avenging Little Brother. Gave me an idea though. Let's see if it works.

Tits and ass,

One week in and I'm at my limit. Never thought I'd have so much pussy in my life! Fuck yeah! The distillery is perfect! And all of the turrets Steady Aim left are keeping the losers out perfectly! Brought a mare in here to fuck -'mare' in loose terms, if you know what I mean- and found remembered I was writing in this thing. I've been so drunk recently I didn't even remember I had this here. I started getting all mushy when I read Little Brothers journal, but that all ended when I came in that mares mouth. HA! What was her name? I don't care.

I've got protection, caps, bitches, what else could I need? I don't need anypony! I don't want anypony! One mare yelled at me that I was 'using' mares like objects, bah! I've seen what the mares here do! I know what they're all plotting! To hell with them all! I won't let them cross me again! I won't be made a fool!

This is depressing. I see a pussy that isn't dripping with cum yet, time to fix that. After one more drink that is.

Backdoor,

Okay, need to focus. Some mare tried to kill me the other day. She was mad about... something. Sore ass or something, XD. I've installed more turrets inside now. They aren't as good as the ones outside though. They never will be...

I had to use a newer program left over from when we first got here. I couldn't figure it out, but one of the mares helped me. And she had a good idea too! To make them extra secured, we made it so you have to go to two different computers to rework their systems! Opening this message will enable the other computer, which is on the roof. It's safer this way. Except that she knows about it now. She assures me that she'll keep it a secret, but I know better. Those Raiders were getting a bit antsy, time to give them a peace offering that isn't booze.

Side note though, the password is... Moms name. Depressing, I know. Who knows, maybe I'll find some mare with big tits and forget all my troubles. Or at least one that won't cry after each fuck. I hate it when they cry... Arc cried...

I need more booze. Or some good poon. Something. Remember to forget in the future. I also need to remember to delete Steady Aim's journal log... eventually. Dammit, where's that new mare? I need to put my dick in something!

I let out a sigh of relief as I find my answer. There's a computer on the roof that can change the turrets! And since I've read this message, I'm halfway there. All I have to do now is get up there and change the settings before Urban can hurt Reckless. I hope he's doing alright. Just a little more time before this is all over... I hope.

I get up and start to open the door. Fortunately, it can reopen from the inside, so I don't have to worry about that. A little something I didn't think about beforehand. When the door opens I step out into the room and take a look around. I can hear gunfire in the distance, in between each siren roar. Nopony is in this room anymore, so I take my leave and head right out the door. I come to an immediate stop when I nearly collide into Razors Edge, startling her just as much.

"You! What are you doing out here?" she demands as she steps towards me. I take a look around and start to panic. I don't have time to deal with her right now. But what can I do?

Without really thinking about it, I swing my leg up and catch her right between the legs. Normally this works on stallions, but I've never tried this on a mare before. The results are... rather similar. She lets out a pained cry and topples over, holding her groin tightly. I take the advantage and make a run for the stairs. I don't know if they make it to the roof, but there's nowhere else to go.

I have to cover my ears the moment I run into the stairwell. The siren bellows loudly in the hollow, cement tube; amplifying each long drone. It's almost to the point where I fall over from the increasing headache I have. I don't know how I managed it, but I force myself to the stairs and start to climb up. With each step there's another loud ring from the siren. My ears are ringing at the point where I'm about to rip them off! Why are they this loud? What good would this do anypony?

I make it to the stairs and find the door locked. I should have figured as much. There's a push handle, but it won't budge. Another ring from the siren forces me to double over. I can't stop now, not when I'm so close. What can I do though?

With nothing else to do, I start to kick at the door. It's more out of desperation than anything else. If I go back down, there's no telling what Razor will do to me. Or, worse yet, what if Urban had killed Reckless? No, I have to get through this door. I don't care what it takes, I'm getting through if it's the last thing I do!

I step back and brace myself before running at the door. I throw my shoulder forward before colliding into the metal object. It throws me back onto the floor without giving an inch. I push myself up and try again, putting even more energy into it. I slam back onto the floor and groan as a numbness starts to throb in my shoulder and back. I think it wiggled, but I'm not sure. Only one way to find out. I get up again and charge the door, screaming out as I throw myself at the solid object yet again. I go a little lower and slam into the push bar, feeling all of the previous pain focused into one point. I stagger back in pain as I try to think of a way around this. I'm not getting anywhere like this, what can I do?

I lean back on the railing and start to kick at the door. I don't even care that there's still a ringing in my ear right now, I just want to get this door opened. I give a pained yell as I put all of my energy into kicking at the door. A few dents have appeared on it, but it doesn't seem to be getting me anywhere. Just as I'm about to lose the last of my energy, I hear a voice in the stairwell. I look down and see Urban running up the stairs. He has a bullet wound on his left shoulder and looks, well, pissed. He raises his gun up to shoot at me, so I give one final charge at the door. I scream as I put everything I have into my final thrust, hitting the door with the last of my energy.

CREE-THUNK

I can't help but laugh as a section of the door breaks. I've dented the portion by the locking mechanism to the point where I can see where it interlocks with the frame. I stick a few fingers in there and force the door open. I don't know how that worked out, but I'm glad it did. As I get through it and shut it I see Urban rounding the final corner. I move away from the door as I wait for him to fire through, but he never does. He never shot actually, why?

Rather than waste my time with stupid questions, I take a look around before running to the only computer up here. Thinking quickly, I input the password and start to go through the options before starting to open the correct file. All I need to do now is-

THUD

I let out another pained scream when Urban grabs me by the scalp and throws me back. He towers over me and huffs as he glares down at me. I try to crawl away from him, but that only angers him more. He kneels down and tries to hold me down, but I fight him every step of the way.

"You damn mares! Always fucking everything up!" he yells as he pulls me back to him. I yelp in pain as I drag against the wet cement, still trying to pull my arms free from his grasp. "Stop fucking fighting! STOP IT!"

"FUCK YOU!" I yell back, spitting up at him. He gets mad and smacks me across the face. I retaliation, I swing a knee up and catch him in the ribs. He fumbles on top of me, letting out a pained grunt. I take the initiative and reach up with both hands to grip at his neck. I try to choke the life out of him, but he doesn't seem to care. He grabs me around the neck and lifts me up before-

THUD

Everything goes fuzzy as my mind spins. I faintly get the feeling of being fondled before everything comes back to focus. Having been out of it for a few seconds, Urban has started to remove my top as he grabs at me. I start to fight him again, feeling the adrenaline rushing back to me.

"You're all liars! Trying to take what's mine!" he yells before pulling the zipper down and forcing my shirt open. He pulls back so that it helps pin my arms to the side, giving him perfect access. "I'll show you all not to-"

THWACK

I reel again as the front of my forehead throbs. My head-butt was just enough to get him to roll off of me. We both start to stagger to our hooves when we both look forward. I guess he didn't think he'd need his assault rifle, because it's lying right in front of us. We glance at one another before we both rush for it, grabbing it at that same time. He gives me one look before thrusting an elbow into my gut and yanking the gun from my hands. I roll onto my side from the pain as he stands up, pulling the chamber back as he readies to kill me.

BANG

I look up to see the gun violently bounce out of his hands and fall off the side of the building. See a perfect opening, I put everything I have into swinging my leg around and catching him behind the knees. He falls down and tries to scramble away, but I get on top of him and start to punch him in the face. He grabs me by the waist and tosses me aside, getting into position to start punching me. I hear some yelling from the side, but ignore it as I block the incoming fists. Each one bruises my arms and forces me from side to side. I try to work my legs to topple him over, but he's too heavy to move right now.

With nothing else in mind, I let him get a few punches on my sides and I lean up to grapple him. Each hit knocks the wind out of me, but I find the strength to bring him down with me. I feel the two of us hit a ledge before we both roll over and start to fall. I look down and realize that we were too close to the edge and are now falling five stories. After everything I've just been through, I just close my eyes and wait for it to come.

YANK

My eyes snap open when I feel somepony grab me by the waist. We jut in the air a bit before I feel something grab my hoof. I look down and see Urban grabbing on for dear life as we race towards the ground. We stare at each other before I narrow my eyes at him, and kick at his hand. I see the fear fill his eyes as he loses his grip on me and falls away from us. I never look away, and neither does he. I watch as all of his fear, all of his anger, and all of his hatred coming crashing down in a bloody mess in the plaza below. I win, you monster.

Reckless makes some sort of maneuver and we tumble in the air before crashing down. He hits the ground first, though we roll enough for the two of us to feel the punishing ground. We come to a stop some distance away and everything goes silent. I simply lay there, on top of Reckless, and let my eyes fall shut. It's over, I think now's a good time to rest.

Level Three

Lucky

S 7
P 3
E 4
C 6
I 7
A 4
L 9

Perks

Wild Wasteland
Black Widow

Skills

Barter 20

Energy Weapons 13

Explosives 13

Guns 18

Lockpick 13

Medicine 21

Melee Weapons 40

Repair 25

Science 40

Sneak 15

Speech 40

Survival 20

Unarmed 15

Reckless

S 8
P 7
E 7
C 2
I 5
A 9
L 2

Perks

Heavy Handed
Skilled
Rapid Reload

Skills

Barter 15

Energy Weapons 22

Explosives 40

Guns 45

Lockpick 40

Medicine 19

Melee Weapons 24

Repair 22

Science 18

Sneak 30

Speech 12

Survival 25

Unarmed 22

Chapter Five: The Long Stretch

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Six: Welcome to Silo

Any pony with hope can rise up again. Just like the sun.

Perspective: Lucky

As we walk down the final stretch to Silo the tunnel becomes much more inviting. Most of the lights here are working, making it perfectly visible all throughout. There are posters and graffiti all telling us about the on goings of Silo. Missing persons. Various stores. Even some for a religious sect that worship the missile in Silo...

I didn't put much thought into it before. But... there's a missile in Silo. I assume they disarmed it. Otherwise why would they start an entire settlement around an active mega spell!?

I look to Reckless and note that he's limping a little. He's probably covered in bruises and scratches from before. I can't imagine what would posses him to jump head first into the fray like that! I really thought he was going to die when they dogpiled him... but smacking him was probably out of line too. I wasn't thinking straight, but... that's still a poor excuse.

"Hey, Reck?" I mumble to him as I tug his arm. He looks back to me and hums in response. "Sorry for hitting you back there."

"You're alright," he brushes me off with a big smile. "Truth be told I deserved it-"

"No, that's not right." I cut him off. "You're my friend and I should treat you better than that."

"Well... okay. Apology accepted then." I smile back to him, feeling much better. "But only because we're such good friends."

"Such good friends!" We laugh a little together. I'm glad we're both a bit sarcastic. I can't imagine if he were stoic and bland... bleh! I glance to the new gun on his back and eye it curiously. A magically enchanted weapon... I didn't even know that was possible. I guess it makes sense, but it's still impressive as ever. "We're going to need a lot of ammo for that gun. I wanna see it in action."

"Same. According to my Pip-Buck it's a devastating weapon. But hopefully in Silo we won't really need it."

That's true. We've worked hard to get here. But now that we're a short walk away... I don't know what comes next. Everything has been about getting to Silo. But now... now there's no goal. We're here. I'm sure there's something we can do while we live inside. Or possibly somepony that'll see two Stable dwellers and know to talk to us. If not... then we'll just have to figure it out.

I notice Reckless wince from a sudden pain. I place a hand on his chest and stop in front of him. He tries to tell me he's okay, but I hold out a hand and silence him.

"Give me more to carry and relax the rest of the walk. Don't make me pull rank." He laughs at that, squaring off with me.

"Rank? I don't think our class means anything up here." He tells me smugly.

"I meant as your best friend." I tell him, equally smug. He tries to say something back quickly, but trips over his own words.

"O-oh. Really? And since when were we best friends?" He asks, trying to play it cool. I look over to the group as they create more distance between us. When I feel they're a safe enough distance I lean in close and whisper into his ear.

"When I let you stare at my tits, ya' dummy." I can't help but revel in his flustered face. Fair was fair. But now I can lord this over him for the rest of our lives. He tries to think of something to refute me, but I caught him by surprise. With a contented sigh of defeat he hefts one of the bags to me. "Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. But to be fair, you stared first." He tells me as I shoulder the bag. We start walking again, picking up the pace to catch up with the group. I chuckle to him though. He's not wrong, I did look first. And I was the one who offered. But, he still agreed. It was a secret cost, so he'll have to deal with it.

"Yeah, but you got more enjoyment out of it." I say, trying to tease him. He grows a smirk and I can tell this is going to be a little game between us. Hope he's ready to lose though.

"Oh yeah? And what makes you say that?" He ask, giving a big stretch to try and relax his bruised body.

"Well, that dopey look was pretty telling." I tell him, giving him a side bump with my hip. "It was cute though."

"Heh, yeah well... at least I didn't gawk at your cutie mark like you did." He teases, giving me a light bump back. I give him a double take as I think back to the shower.

"Y-you didn't?" I ask, genuinely surprised. Why wouldn't he look? I thought the setting was pretty inviting. That's why I looked. He looks to me with a sly grin of victory and shakes his head. "And how do I know that you aren't lying?"

"I'm a lot of things Lucky." He tells me, intentionally sounding as if he's teaching me a lesson. I roll my eyes at that, laughing more internally at his dorkiness. "Fool hardy, impulsive, dangerously good looking-"

"Oh and don't forget humble." I tell him with a chuckle.

"I didn't want to say it, you know. Being humble and all." We share another laugh. It's the shower all over again. The rest of reality is fading away as we get lost in our own little world. "But if there's one thing that rings true about me, it's that I'm no liar. Not unless I need to, that is. And there's no reason for me to lie to my best friend. Now is there?"

This time I get a bit flustered. I didn't think he'd be able to turn the tables so easily. I figured I'd tease him for staring and that would be that. But here I am, being caught as the one who looked while he's making sure I know he'll be honest with me. Second class stallions are nothing like those in first. They're way better!

"So... you really didn't look?" I ask meekly.

"Honest, not even a peek." He tells me earnestly. "But trust me I almost did! Caught myself in the nick of time! Luckily there was something else to look at that was much more appealing while being less invading."

I shake my head and have to look away. I should have just apologized and left it at that. What was I thinking!? Even worse, he's lording it over me!

"Well... thank you. For having some self control when I clearly did not." I tell him, dropping the teasing tone. He's won this round, but I'll win the next one. Somehow. "And sorry for ogling you-"

"Oh, don't sweat it. Ogle me whenever you want! You kidding me? The prettiest mare from the Stable ogled me!? It was the biggest ego booster I've ever had." I laugh again. I have to look away once more and toy with a strand of hair when he compliments me.

Usually when the ponies if Eighty-eight compliment me, there were negative connotations with it. Usually it was lower class ponies trying to work their way up the rankings. But they would always be either too forward or too disingenuous. Though, I don't really recall third class stallions ever talking to me.

When first class ponies complimented me... it was usually my father or Cinnamon Swirl... actually. Now that I think about it, I don't know if I ever got complimented by anypony else. Not from first class at least. The last first class stallion I talked to just grabbed my tits and called them small... So not a great record.

But Reckless calling me pretty... it shouldn't make my head spin. He's... Reckless! Maybe... maybe because he told me he's truthful... I know he really means it. Or maybe it's because I'm not used to compliments. I've never been on the receiving end of this much positive affirmation... and I guess I really like it.

I should return the compliment... but, I don't want to lead him on. Not that I don't think he'd make a good partner. I'm learning he's truly one of a kind. But... out here, in the wasteland... I have a friend I can really start to rely on. What if we get together and it causes a rift between us? I don't want to end up alone out here. Even if we're making it to Silo finally.

And to be fair, I don't know if that's how he really feels. In my head he's still with Joy, but I guess I don't really know that either. I could just ask... but I don't think that would be wise. What would happen if he was? Would he leave to go get her once I was safe in Silo? I... don't know what I'd do then. Or worse. What if once we get there he leaves to be with her and never comes back? What would I do then?

I think I'll play it safe. See how things in Silo go. Just in case.

"Well I'm glad to be of service to your ego." I tell him jokingly. He laughs back, unaware of my inner turmoil.

The rest of the walk was mostly quiet. Truth be told there wasn't much left, but we still hung out at the back of the caravan. It just didn't feel right joining the group of settlers. There was one last check point before we made it to the entrance. But this one was actually manned.

The guards here are wearing dark green work coveralls with various chunks of metal strapped on. Most of their pipe rifles look like they could break apart any moment. They open the gates without question. I hear some of them mention how a whole caravan finally made it. Or how all of the settlers were alive. A few made passing comments at me, but it's nothing I haven't heard before.

Weirdly enough, none of them stopped Reckless. No one here seems to be bothered by a pegasi walking in. I can only guess they have better relations with pegasi. It's good for us though. One less thing to worry about.

A few minutes later we make it to the entrance of Silo. It's... a bit lack luster. It's just a maintenance door in the side of the concrete. Above it they've painted in big red letter 'Silo' with arrows pointing to the door... as if there was another door you'd confuse it for.

There are a few desks out here as well. Several ponies are working on various papers or talking with other settlers. A few of them get scanned by hand held devices. The scanners look like really thick hand held mirrors, but with several blinking lights on them. When somepony gets scanned a blue beam races over their face.

Off to the side beyond the door there seems to be an examination area curtained off. No one is over there though. Far off in the distance I see another guard post with a few ponies walking in as well. Their caravan only has one brahmin and two settlers with it. I can see one pony that might be a guard and another that looks like a doctor, but that's it. We really did do well back there.

One pony in the back getting scanned has the light blue beam turn red. They tell her something and she starts screaming for them to check again. When they refuse, she makes a run for the entrance. The two guards there blast her with their pipe rifles, dropping her before she could lay a finger on the door.

Reckless and I share a nervous look as our group comes to a stop at the closest desk. I never even considered that they'd reject us.

"Alright everypony, listen up!" The guard at the desk announces to us as he walks around the group. "Form a line here and wait your turn. We need to run a scan before we can let you in. Don't try anything stupid! If you're rejected you can just leave, but we won't hesitate to put down a few bad apples, got it!?"

"Why do we need to be scanned!?" One of the settlers demands.

"Need to check for synths and undesirables." He says matter of factly. He stops in front of me and looks me up and down. "We'll start with you-"

"You'll start with me." Reckless tells him, stepping between us. The guard gets mad, but motions for him to move forward. We share a quick look before he walks over to an available desk. I watch as they ask him a few questions before scanning him. I try to listen in, but they're a tad too far to hear properly. [Perception 3/5]

"You, there." The guard tells me, pointing to a different desk. I just nod to him and walk over to the desk. The mare there is wearing a filthy tan suit with a solid yellow badge.

"Go ahead and sit down. This is the Friendship Test. I'm going to ask you a few questions and I would like you to choose from some of these prepared answers. Answer as honestly as you can please." She drones on, handing me a clipboard with laminated pages on it. She's clearly had to say this far too many times before.

"Okay... uh... what's your name-"

"Question number one," she cuts me off. "You are approached by a frenzied scientist, who yells, 'I'm going to put my quantum harmonizer in your photonic resonation chamber!' What's your response?"

I look over the answers and try to pick the one that makes the most sense... but I don't know what any of that means.

"Say nothing, but slip away before the scientist can continue his rant." I say cautiously.

"Interesting. Next question. While working as an intern in the Clinic, a patient with a strange infection on his foot stumbles through the door. The infection is spreading at an alarming rate, but the doctor has stepped out for a while. What do you do?"

Okay, that's a bit more my speed. Let's see...

"Medicate the infected area as best I can." I hope that's a random question and not something that occurs here.

"Mhmm. Next. You discover a young girl lost in a cave. She's hungry and frightened, but also appears to be in possession of stolen property. What do you do?"

"That's easy. I'd give her a hug and tell her everything was going to be okay." Maybe I have a pension for kids, but I can't imagine being so cruel to a kiddo like that.

"Classic type B response. Okay, next up. Congratulations! You made it onto a baseball team! Which position do you prefer?"

I light up when she says that. I flip the page and look over the answer and deflate when my position isn't there. Maybe I can give a reason for my favorite spot though.

"Well... If I'd really get on the team I normally play shortstop! But then if that position is really not available I guess second base is good-"

"Please stick to the answers on the page." She tells me, clearly annoyed.

"Humph. Pitcher then." She fills out the form and angrily flips the page.

"Your grandmother invites you to tea, but you're surprised when she gives you a pistol and orders you to kill someone. What do you do?"

"I wish I new my gra-"

"AHEM!" She coughs, eyeing the sheet. I roll my eyes and look over the answers.

"I'd give her whatever she wanted to spare the persons life." They could at least try to make this a bit more fun. She notes something down, eyes me a bit, then flips to the next page.

"Old Mr. Appleton has locked himself in his quarters again, and you've been ordered to get him out. How do you proceed?"

"I try to pick the lock." I tell her, getting a little bored of the questions. What could they possibly glean from any of this.

"Hmm... Oh, no! You've been exposed to radiation, and a mutated hand has grown out of your stomach! What's the best course of treatment?" Why would they put a line with inflection if they're not going to stick to the tone. I shake my head and look over the answers.

"I'd dose myself with anti-mutagen agent." Who would pick any of the other answers when this is an option?

"A neighbor is in possession of a Daring Doo comic book, issue number 1. You want it. What's the best way to obtain it?"

"I'd trade him for one of the comic books I own." Who admits that they would steal? If this is a personality test, it's not a very hard one to pass. I'm glad these questions are so easy though. Maybe that one mare was a fluke.

"Alright, last question. You decide it would be fun to play a prank on your father. You enter his private restroom when no one is looking, and..." I look over the answers and smile when I see one that I've done. I need to remember to ask Reckless how he answered this one so I can share the story.

"Change the wattage on the razor. Give him a shock the next time he uses it."

"Okay, with that finished all we need now is a deep scan to check for mutagens. Please sit still and look towards the device."

I try to ask what this was, but she pulls out the device that looks like a teched out hand mirror and start to scan my face. The light blinds me for a second and I reflexively rub my eyes. The device makes a ding noise and I start to panic. I was supposed to stay still! Maybe she'll let me rescan if I ask nicely!

"Auditor!" she yells as she flags down a purple mare. She's wearing a slightly dirty lab coat, a white button down blouse, and a black pencil skirt with her black hair done up in a messy bun. I go rigid as she walks over and looks at the results on the device. She stares at the screen before she looks over to Reckless's table. The pony there shares a look with her and she takes the device from my questioner.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask you and your friend there some quick additional questions." She tells me as she fixes her black rimmed glasses. I try to answer, but steps away from the desk and heads to the examination area. So I end up following after her silently. Reckless runs up and joins us, giving me an equally confused look. We go behind the room divider where she points for us to stand against the wall. .

"Is everything okay?" Reckless asks as he hands the device to her. She looks it over for a moment before tucking it under her arm.

"Nothing is wrong." She tells us, making me sigh in relief. "Literally nothing. You two are probably the healthiest ponies to have ever come to Silo in the entire history of the Friendship test."

"Oh... that sounds bad." Reckless and I share another puzzled look. Did we pass incorrectly?

"Well... it's troubling. Mostly because if you're not synths then it would throw off our data. But if the test is still up to date and accurate then we don't have anything to fear. This is to say, you passed as living ponies. But you're both so healthy that we can't rule out the possibility of you both being more advanced synths. So let me be blunt. Are you both fresh out of a Stable or from an Enclave cell? And how long has it been since you've left?"

"Stable." Reckless answers quickly. "Stable Eighty Eight actually. We've only been top side for... a week or two. Maybe three, but it's been hard to keep track." Has it really only been that long. It feels like we've been up here for ages now.

"Stable Eighty Eight? I've never heard of that one. Where is it?" Reckless pulls up his map and shows her. She takes a look and becomes surprised. "Your Stable is right on the edge of the Glowing Sea. No wonder I've never heard of it."

"The... what?" I ask. Whatever it is, it sounds dangerous. If that's true, it's a miracle we made it here to begin with.

"Well... you have the Pip-Bucks and the suits... well, most of the suits." She says, eyeing me for a moment. What's wrong with my suit? "I'm inclined to believe you two. But, I do have one last question for now. What is your plan now that you're here in Silo?"

We look to each other as we each try to think of what to say.

"Honestly, when we left the Stable, we were told to come here. We don't have anything planned beyond that." I tell her. We're at the mercy of this scientist. If she says no, we're screwed. But honesty is the best policy.

"Hmm..." she looks over the two devices again before clicking a few buttons. "I'd like to administer one last test. May I take a saliva sample please?"

She gives us both a cotton swab and instructs us on how to collect the sample. We both wipe the insides of our cheeks before passing them back to the scientist. She inserts them into each of our devices before hitting a few more buttons. When only one of them dings she sighs in relief. A ticket is printed from both devices and she passes them to each of us.

"Welcome to Silo."

We both let out a sigh of relief and take the tickets. I was afraid my dumb luck would come around and kick me in the rear again.

"Thank you!" I tell her, smiling to Reckless. That was close. The scientist reaches into her lab coat and pulls out a mask. When she offers it to me I just take it in confusion. "Um... thank you?"

"I'm letting you two in because you've tested positive for influenza. You're developing a cold. Normally I wouldn't let sick ponies inside Silo, but you're a rare exception. Because of how new you are to the commonwealth you probably have a very common strand or a very weak variant."

"... Oh." I look to Reckless again before putting on the mask. "So... the mask-"

"Is for everypony else. But, since you are new, I am going to force you to quarantine." She tells me as she starts to fill out a note on her clipboard.

"Is... is that allowed?" I ask, a bit thrown off. I don't feel sick. But, if it's to keep everyone else sick...

"Yes. My name is Doctor Lupus, I'm the head of the medical staff and a member of Silo's council. Do you have the caps to rent a room?"

Reckless and I slowly start to go through our bags to pull together all of our caps. We got a bit, but I don't know how long we'll be able to rent a place. Especially if I can't help make more money. With all the exploring and selling we've done for Uppercrust we have a total of three hundred and fifty three caps. Though we have more stuff to sell in Silo so it may be as much as five hundred. Assuming the clothes we have can fetch a similar price as Uppercrust.

We show Doctor Lupus how much we have as she takes a note of it. She instructs us to wait here as she makes a call. We try to ask her some more questions. But she just ignores us and heads inside to Silo. When we hear the door shut behind her Reckless turns around and places a hand on my forehead.

"How are you feeling?" He asks as he feels around my face. I push his hands away and try to gauge my health.

"I... feel fine. Honestly. I don't know what she's talking about." I tell him. Normally I get a few symptoms before I get sick. A sore throat. Achy joints. Minimal appetite. The usual pre-sick stuff. Plus a few... other ones, specific to me. But I feel perfectly fine. "Wait... why aren't you sick!?"

"I rarely get sick." He tells me smugly [Endurance 7]. "In the last five years I've probably only been sick three times."

"Now who has all the luck." I grumble as I check my own forehead again. "I usually only get sick once a year. Sometimes a bit longer... What are we going to do if they don't let us in? Where are we going to go? Are we going to-"

"Hey, hey, easy there." He tells me as he takes my hands and moves them off my face. "We're going to be okay. Even if we don't get in today we'll figure something out. Let's just take it one hurdle at a time, okay?"

I feel myself fluster a bit when he holds my hands like that. I nod to him as I try to look away. I does help to know that he's not going to abandon me. I just hope this doesn't take too long. I'm usually only sick for two, maybe three days at a time. When it's something like this at least.

With that settled we just wait around in the exam area for her to return. There is a table here, but it has a note saying nhot to sit on it. So we just sit against the wall on the cold ground.

While we wait we watch the settlers that traveled with us go through their exams. The first few pass with no problems. But one of them starts to have a mental break down in the middle of the questions. They tackle the individual down and drag them away.

"Do you think they were a synth?" I ask Reckless as he opens a can of food. He offers me some and I try to reject it, but he insists.

"You haven't eaten all morning. Eat something." I look to the can of preserved peaches before sighing and taking the food. I'm not too hungry, but he's right. I do need to eat. "And maybe. I'm not too clear on what a synth is. Have you heard anything about them?"

"Nothing. But apparently they're bad enough for this kind of response." I bit into a chunk of dried peach and begin to gnaw on it. I'm sure we can learn more about the synths when we get inside. "So... what did you think of the Friendship test?"

"Pft, it was weird!" He laughs as he thinks back to it. "So what position did you pick for the baseball team?" I perk up from that. Thinking back to the questions and answers. A bit bored, but also a bit curious, I decide to try to make a little game out of it.

"What position do you think I picked?" I ask, nudging my shoulder against his side. He looks back to me mid bite of some crisps and smiles.

"Well, I know you didn't pick the soccer one." He muses.

"Correct." I respond as I lean back against the wall, toying with my food as I wait for him to continue.

"And I don't take you for a catcher either... at least, for baseball." He says, nudging me back. I chuckle a little and push back at him.

"Focus dork, what's you're pick?" He laughs a bit more at me calling him a dork as he thinks about it.

"Well... shot in the dark... pitcher?"

"Only if you're catching!" I laugh at my own joke. He shakes his head and nudges me a bit more than before. "But seriously, yeah. I did pick pitcher. But I wanted to pick short stop. That's my favorite position to play."

"You don't say." He says with a slight hum.

"Of course! It commands the infield and covers the most important section of the bases! Without the shortstop ponies could round bases too easily! It's a super important position." He nods in agreement as he finishes his food.

"Right, *munch*, so what did I pick then?"

"Probably soccer, you look the type." I tell him smugly. He sneers at me and I sneer right back at him. "Okay, so... If I had to guess... designated hitter?"

"You go it! And as a prize I offer you... this!" He pulls his hand out from behind himself and offers my one of the packs of underwear [Sneak 34/15] . I feel my face heat up again as I swipe the package and shove it into my bag.

"Maybe don't flaunt the underwear to everypony here!?" I chastise, but he just chuckles at me.

"No one saw anything. Besides, it brings up a good point we need to consider." He tells me as he pulls the duffle bag off my shoulder and sets it down. I lean in with him as he opens it up and starts to sift through our belongings. "What do we want to keep and what do we want to sell?"

I didn't think about keeping any of this before. In my head we were selling all of this... except my Rarity original dress, obviously. But the rest of it... I guess I didn't think of it as something that we would hold onto.

We open the three bags we have and take stock of everything. It's not the most, but it definitely gives room to consider. We may need to sell most of it just to get by. Especially if I'm going to quarantine.

Most of the weapons we've picked off the raiders we can probably sell. Maybe keep one just to have use of that ammo type. Or to sell if we get desperate. None of the food or water should be sold. Though, there's not a lot of it left. The clothing is the real quandary though. Some of it will be easy to get rid of. But then there's the question of how much should we keep. We need the money. But being able to change into clean... cleaner clothes has it's own benefits. Especially the undergarments.

As we go through each piece we try to decide if we want it or not. There are also a few we might keep just to use as rags. As I look though my own bag I open a small pocket and find Reckless's feather. I had forgotten about putting that there. I sneak a glance to Reckless and find him considering a button down plaid shirt. I close up the pocket quickly and take the shirt from him. I pull out a plain white shirt and hold it against his chest. Then I switch it for the plaid one.

"Hmm... though I think you can pull off patterns, I think this plain white is nicer on you." I tell him, offering him the shirt.

"Oh... thanks. Are you done picking for yourself?" I look down at the small pile and pick up two massive shirts. I didn't even know shirts could go to four XL. "I wanna keep one as a pajama dress-shirt. Which do you think is better?"

One is red, but is faded now and looks almost pink. The other is all white and has a logo of some cider beverage. The first one is softer. But the second one feels more sturdy. They're PJs, so I don't really care what's one them. But I'm also curious to what he would think. He takes them both and looks between them. He considers them before holding them in front of me. I chuckle a little as he moves between the two of them.

"I think the red shirt help bring out those pretty magenta eyes of yours." I fluster as my ears burn a bit.

"Okay... Then you should definitely wear the white one. They'll help bring out those baby blues you got there." I tell him, trying to return the compliment.

"Thanks, they're originals." I laugh a little too loud, getting looks from the others. I offer a quiet apology as we start to pack everything back up.

Once we got through everything we waited for the scientist to return. But it took much longer than we anticipated. We were probably here for two hours before she finally returned! It was a bit nerve wracking to wait that long. Something is clearly happening in there. But we don't have a single clue to go off of to even guess. It could be something really bad. It could be something as trivial as paperwork. We spent two hours waiting for them to figure it out.

"Sorry for the delay." Doctor Lupus tells us when she finally comes out from Silo. We take a moment to rise from sitting on the ground. I don't know about Reckless, but my butt has fallen asleep from the cold hard floor. "Before we let you in we need to ask a few questions and make some offers."

"Offers?" I ask.

"More questions?" Reckless gripes.

"Yes, sorry. I promise this is not how things usually go. But... well, given what you two are we have... requests, to make of you both." Reckless and I share an uneasy look when she says that. This can't be good.

"Okay... let's start with the questions. Since that will be the easiest to get through." I tell her. She nods to me and pulls out a clipboard. She flips through a few sheets before she licks a pen and gets ready to write.

"Thank you for understanding. First off; we know you haven't been in the Commonwealth for very long. But how many settlements have you come across in your travels?"

"Haven and Uppercrust only." Reckless tells her. She takes a look at me before writing down something. I feel a little cross from that look.

"O...kay. How do you hope to employ yourselves inside Silo? Or if that's unknown, what kind of skills do you each carry?"

"I was a guard in the Stable. I'm qualified with ballistic weapons, low grade explosives, as well as forced entry. If the need arises." [Gun 50/40 Explosives 40/40 Lockpicking 45/40]

"My father taught me to use polearms and swords. He was old school like that. But I'm also certified in many administrative roles and passed the Stable-tech intermediary scientific qualifications." [ Melee 40/40 Speech 45/40 Science 40/40]

"That's great to hear. We can always use more guards." She says, seemingly ignoring everything I said. Okay, I get it now. She doesn't like me. For what reason... I can only assume. "Have either of you contracted any transmissible diseases? Aside from your flu that is. I know it might be embarrassing to admit, but as a medical professional anything you say here will remain confidential."

She stared directly at me when she said that. I can tell now that she's trying to dig some dirt on me. Or it feels like that at least. I don't know what I did to her, but she's making this personal. Whatever. I don't have anything to hide. Though, if I did have something, there's no way she was going to keep it to herself.

"Aside from the possible flu, I'm completely clean. Didn't your little scanners find that out already?" I ask using a slightly mocking tone. She just narrows her eyes and looks to Reckless.

"I'm clean too." He says, completely oblivious to what's going on. Lupus takes a few notes and flips to the next page.

"Last question. Have you made any enemies that might come and seek revenge on the two of you? It's okay if you don't know their names, but we need to know if somepony is going to show up and shoot up the place."

My mind immediately goes to Smiling Jack. The slaver that captured us until Doc Waster saved us. I think he'd be pretty upset that we got away. But he wasn't there for the fight. He may not even know we got away. And maybe the mares in Haven might have a grudge against us. But that's hard to tell. Some of them were happy to have us overthrow Urban Flow.

"Nope! Haven't been up here long enough to anything that dramatic." Reckless blurts out. I try not to react to him saying that. We clearly have been up here long enough to make enemies! Why would he lie to her about that?

Doctor Lupus nods to him, seemingly taking his word. She looks at her notes and tries to ask something. But she stops herself and goes to read again. She does this a couple times before she holds the clipboard behind herself. From the way she stands and holds her posture, it would seem as if she's trying to present her small chest as much as possible. Towards Reckless, of course.

"So now onto the offers we have. Reckless, how would you like to work as a guard for Silo?" Her tone totally shifted! She's trying to sweet talk him! I look to Reckless and watch as he considers the question. He's oblivious to her advances. You poor dumb fool.

"I mean, I'm not opposed to it. We're going to need work and that seems right up my alley." Reckless tells her. She smiles to him and writes something down. OH! That damn smile! She's working him!

"That's great to hear! We really need the-"

"Can Lucky work as a guard as well?" Reckless asks, cutting her off. Her entire demeanor drops as she considers me.

"She doesn't fit the criteria." She says quickly, giving me a knowing look. I want to tell her off, but I hold my tongue. We need to get through the door first. Then I can talk back.

"She's plenty ready." Reckless tells her as he places a hand on my hip and pulls me in against him. I give a small squeak and he squeezes me against his side. "She's not officially trained, but I've been showing her the ropes. Plus, there's no one I trust more to watch my back. Besides, like you said. You can use all the guards you can, right?"

Reckless you beautiful bastard! I take back all the negative things I said before! I give her a snide look as we wait for her to respond. She looks between the two of us before returning to her previous demeanor.

"Of course. At least after she finishes quarantine that is." TAKE THAT YOU BITCH!

"Thanks a lot for the opportunity!" Reckless tells her, giving me a small shake. "We won't let you down!"

"Of course... Well, there is one more offer on the table. But the mayor of town wants to offer it herself. As the head of the medical staff I can't let Lucky that close to the mayor until she's cleared her ailment. So that will have to wait."

"We understand. So... how are we going to do that though? Is there a room available to us? Do we need to fill out any paperwork?" Reckless asks. She pulls out a form and passes it to him.

We look it over and read over the terms. There are three rooms available for rent right now. A two bedroom, a one bedroom, and a studio. They put some dimensions besides them, but I almost don't believe what's there. The 'studio' sounds more like a large closet. The one bedroom is about as big as an office room. And the two bedroom is just a double for the single.

Cost wise, the studio is only sixty caps a month. The single is one hundred. And the two is three hundred. Quite the jump honestly. But it does seem like they go by monthly billings though. So once we pay we'll be good for the next month. So that's not too bad.

I think I'd prefer the two room option. It'd be nice to have some privacy again. But that's almost all of our money. We're going to need food and water for the whole time as well. Plus I'm going to he sick apparently, so what if I need medicine? Do they even have medicine?

"We should just do the-"

"The two room? I agree." Reckless cuts me off. "Even if we're going to share the room, it will be nice to have the extra space. Besides, worse comes to worse, we can just get a roommate. What do you say?"

I almost question why he says we're going to share a room. But I catch it in time to glance at Doctor Lupus. She looks irked by this whole ordeal. I'm pretty sure she wanted to court Reckless. But he's playing it off as if we're a thing right now. And it's working perfectly.

"I'm okay with it if you are." I tell him slowly as I reach over and hold onto Reckless's side. This is going to be a rough month. But, if he thinks we can do it, then I'll work just as hard to make sure we make it.

"Then it's settled! Who do we pay?" Reckless asks, finally letting me go. Doctor Lupus sighs in defeat and pulls out a small bag. We count out the caps and pay for the month. It kind of hurts to see all the money we've scrapped together go in one purchase. But we'll make it back soon enough. We'll just have to work extra hard for it.

"Well then... with all of that out of the way, welcome to Silo." She motions for us to follow and we excitedly grab the rest of our gear and follow her into the city.

Quest Humble Beginnings Completed

Sadly because of my quarantine we have to travel directly to out new residence. And we have to double time there in order to make it before the stores open. They don't want me in any crowds right now. While I do understand the precaution, I am a little disappointed. It's a new town! I want to see everything! I want to meet the people and learn everything about this place. But I also don't want to be the one to cause others to suffer. It's a small price to pay, I guess.

But that doesn't mean I can't take this time to take in as much as possible! It'll have to suffice for now at least.

As we rush through the mostly empty city my head swivels from side to side as I try to see everything there is. The lights are dimmed halfway, telling us that it's night time but also making it hard to see. Silo is a circular town. It's built around a massive missile, so that makes sense. But what I don't get is why the area around the weapon is so massive! This place could give Eighty-Eight a run for her money!

There are three layers of stores with two walkways. The out walls are lined with store after store. I can see a weapons shop, an armorers spot, and what looks like a workshop. The only one with a name that was legible was the gun store; which was named Checkmate weapons. Each store is fairly large too. If I had to guess, there's probably five or so stores that make the whole outer roundabout. I can only assume the store owners also live there as well.

The inner area has two rows of stores. One side faces the outer stores while inner most row faces the center missile silo. Being the inner circle and being back to back there isn't a lot of space for those rooms. Most seem to be living spaces. Some look like private residences while most seem like hotels. But now I wonder how many levels down this silo goes down. If there are enough ponies here to support these kinds of stores there must be room for hundreds of ponies. Where could they all be?

In the center of the town is the roundabout that houses the missile. Though most of the wall is sealed with cement, there are a few evenly spaced windows that show the massive weapon in the center of town. The sight of the massive metal tube is imposing. It's such a massive weapon. And I know how devastating the thing can be. I really hope it's not active.

One of the inner most rooms is actually a stairwell. It has two sets of stairs that both lower away from each other and then turn to face one another. One is marked for entry while the other is for exiting. I guess most ponies live down below.

Each floor seems laid out the same as the previous, just slightly offset to fit the stairs. So we don't get a good look at the second floor with the stairs directly next to each other. On the third floor we leave the stairs and follow Doctor Lupus as she starts reading off room numbers. We go to the inner ring that faces the outer side and find our room. Room number two-six-nine. When Lupus see's the door she gives me a look before inserting the key and opening the room. But whatever joke was there is lost to me.

Before entering I take one last look around. Directly across from us is a store called Generally Good. I'm assuming it's a general store. I can see the medical ward to the right of it as well. But the store to the left is completely empty. It seems as if there's still room to expand Silo.

"Ahem." I roll my eyes as I turn and enter our new home. There isn't anyone even out here! Or does she thing the janitor at the other end of the hall is going to catch something?

This is going to be a rough few days.

Our home is... not what I was expecting. We're in what I assume was originally an office of sorts. In the middle of the room are two desks pushed in to face one another. Each desk has an old computer chair pushed into them. The room is rectangular and seems to have decent enough space. There are four doors here, one on each wall. A single light bulb hangs in the center of the room, giving the only light in here.

"There is a spa slash communal showers a few doors down on the outer ring on this floor. The toilet does work, but excessive flushing will be cause for additional fines. If you decide to sell any of the furniture provided part of the proceeds will be compensated back to the city for reimbursement. When you feel better send Reckless to my office at the medical ward and we'll run a check up to clear you. Please do not leave this room until you are cleared. Any questions before I turn you two loose?"

Reckless and I look too each other before shaking our heads. She nods and walks out, closing the door behind herself. She does manage one last glance my way before turning her nose up at me. When the door shuts I flip off the door and stick my tongue at her. What did I ever do to her to get a stick so far up her ass!

"Well... home sweet home." Reckless mutters as he walks around the room. He walks over to me and set his hand on my forehead again, breaking my chain of thoughts. "You sure you feel okay?"

"I'm fine Reckless. Honest." I tell him as I push his hand away. I take another look around the echoey room before walking over to the door on the right. Inside is a room with a single bed. The mattress looks as hard as a rock and the metal frame looks as if its seen better days. No blanket. No pillow. To the left of my view there is a closet with a single sliding door. It's a good size closet, surprising enough. A single light bulb hanging in the center, just like the main room.

We both walk over to the center room and find the restroom. There's a toilet in the back right and a sink with a mirror cabinet opposite of it and a drainage hole in the middle. It's not the smallest bathroom, but it's a bit of a tight fit. You could use the sink and the toilet at the same time if you don't mind a butt in your face. In the cabinet there is a single box of Bubbly Suds scouring powder.

The last room is the same as the first bedroom, just mirrored. The bed looks just as bad as the first one. So there's no loss between the two rooms. With nothing better to do we walk back to the main room and sit down. I sit in the chair and listen to it squeak in protest. Reckless sits on the desk and catches himself as it wobbles on its uneven legs.

"I mean... it's a private room." I offer as I try to lean back. The chair fights me for a moment before snapping to its back position. We look to each other and start to chuckle. "Okay, it's kind of crappy."

"For three hundred caps you'd think we'd at least get a blanket or pillow!" Reckless protest as he pulls his legs up to sit crossed legged on the desk.

"I'd kill for a blanket and pillow right now!" I grumble as I fold my arms on the desk and lay my head down.

"I'd kill for a clean looking mattress." Reckless muses. I nod to him, thinking back to my room in Stable Eighty Eight.

"I miss my old bed." I tell him as I close my eyes and reminisce. "My dad took another bed and put all the stuffing into mine as a pillow topper. It was so cozy and soft!"

"I miss my pillows. I had four of the softest, most fluffy pillows ever!" Reckless tells me.

"How'd you get the extra pillows? I only had two!" I grumble again, getting him to chuckle.

"I have my ways, don't you worry!" He tells me slyly. I chuckle and look up to him. I give him the best pouty face I can muster and he chuckles nervously. "What's wrong?"

"Promise me you won't explore too much of Silo?" I ask him as cutely as possible. He chuckles at me, rubbing his neck.

"Curiosity getting the better of you?" He asks as I sit back up. I fold my arms and try to roll the seat out, but the wheels seem stuck in place.

"Yeah... and I hate being the one introduced. I'd like it if we met all the towns people together." He hums to me, nodding his head in thought. He tries to think of something, but can't seem to formulate the thought. "What's wrong?"

"Well... I'll try to do my best. But... well, I'll also need to look around for work. I know they offered my a position as a guard, so there's that option. But if there's a higher paying position then I'd prefer to take that. We'll need the money for food and rent after all."

"Oh... yeah, you're right." I tell him, a little disappointed. He looks down at me before sliding off the desk and kneeling before me. I chuckle nervously as he looks me directly in the eyes. "Uh... Reckless."

"I'll promise you that I'll explore as little of town if you do one thing for me." I blush when he says that. It's... just so sudden! And... well... I can't say it wasn't something on my mind.

"U-uh... okay. What do you need of me?" I tell him as I feel my stomach begin to get butterflies. I can't believe this is happening! And right as we got here!

"... let me have the room on the left." I nearly fall out of my chair when he says that.

"Oh! O-of course!" I tell him as he gets up and takes his bag to the room. As he tosses it onto the bed I feel my face heat up.

What was that!? Of course he wouldn't just ask for that! What was I thinking!? He walks over and sets the duffle bag at the head of my bed.

"Thanks. I like to sleep facing the right with the wall behind me." He tells me as he fluffs up the bag. I just bury my face in my hands as I try to get a hold of myself. He's not going to just ask to sleep with me out of the blue! Why would my mind go right to that!?

"Uhuh!" I say quickly, trying to hide my massive blush. I can't believe I just agreed to that!

"Use these clothes as a pillow for now. I can manage without no problem." He tells me as he walks back in. I just nod to him and try to hide my face. He looks at me and tries to see my face. I try to hide it, but he looks more closely and rushes over to me. "You okay? You're face is flushed!"

"Oh! Is it? How... peculiar." He reaches down and tries to feel my face again. But I swat his hand away. I don't want him thinking that I'm uneasy right now. "Actually, I am feeing a bit tired. Do you mind if we turn in for the night?"

"Oh, of course!" He says as he backs off. I stand up and start to make my way to the room. "If you need anything just holler. I'll be right over there."

"Uhuh! Goodnight Reck, sleep tight!" I tell him as I enter my room and go to shut the door. But Reckless gasps and rushes back to his bag. I watch him go through it for a moment before rushing back to me.

"Here, take these!" He tells me as he offers me two water bottles and most of the food.

"No, Reck." I try to refuse but he shoves the food into my hands.

"No butts!" He tells me firmly. "We need to get you through this as soon as possible! That means food and plenty of water! We have a few empty bottles that I'm going to fill up in the sink. I'll leave them in the desk drawers over here, okay? We're going to get through this no problem!"

I look at all the stuff and drop it. He goes to ask if I was okay but I just rushed forward and hugged him. This catches him completely off guard and he goes rigid from my embrace. I nuzzle my face into his warm chest and pull him in more tightly.

"Thank you Reckless. I don't know what I'd do without you." I tell him as he slowly sets his hands down on my hips.

"Of course... I'd do anything for you." I hum to that and go wide eyed. I glance up and realize what's happening. Slowly I release him and start to back away. He looked happy for a moment. But then he saw the worried look on my face he began to worry himself. "What's wrong."

"... I am sick." I tell him as I start to connect the dots. That's why he's been on my mind so much recently! Thank the sisters! I laugh a little as I look back to Reckless... oh no. Usually Dad helps me with this. But now... "Reckless, can you... sit down real quick. I need to warn you about... somethings."

"Oh... okay." He tells me as he fumbles to find the computer chair. He slowly sits down and I start to pace around in a slight panic. I've never had to tell anyone about this before. And now I have no choice in the matter. I bring both of my hands to my mouth as I try to think of how to say this. There's really no way of beating around the bush on this one though.

"Okay... so... there's no easy way of saying this." I tell him trying to find something else to do with my hands. But I can't help but cover my mouth again.

"Then just say it. All of it! I'll hold all of my questions till the end so you can get it all off your chest." I stop and look to Reckless. He looks so determined. But... he's not going to be ready for this. Not by a long shot.

"Okay then... Well, this is mostly speculation from my father first off. I mean, I know there's some truth to it, but I think he over states the facts. So... there are some things that happen to me when I get sick that aren't normal. According to my father, I get really affectionate. Like... really affectionate."

Reckless just nods to me. He's following that much at least. Now... the curve ball.

"And... well... The other thing, the thing that he didn't know obviously, is that I also... tend to get... fairly horny too."

His eyes go wide and he tries to say something. But he either doesn't know what to say or manages to catch himself in time. I feel my own face flush all over again as I think about the previous times I was sick. There were a lot of nights where I would be in bed fantasizing about... who knows what. Dad would always barricade me in my room and guard it like a prison cell. I remember the one time Spark tried to come over...

"Anyway!" I yell, trying to break from that train of thought. "Yeah... so that happens usually. And then, assuming nothing 'happens', I apparently get super loopy afterwards. I don't know what that means though. My dad just tells me that I get all weird and loopy, but I never remember any of it! So... yeah. That's what happens to me when I'm sick... any... any questions?"

Reckless stares at me, slack jawed, as he tries to process what I told him. I feel myself start to get nervous as he stares. Great! We were finally getting along and now I'm just some sick weirdo! Just my dumb luck at work all over again. Sisters above smite me down now please!

"So... okay. Taking all of... that, into consideration. Is there anything else I should be aware of? Or any other tips for me to help you through... this?"

"Anything else?" I ask, genuinely confused.

"Yeah. Like, okay, you get horny. So obviously I'll knock before entering your room or to ask you anything. And loopy... well, I don't know what that means but is there anything your dad told you about? Like, loopy how?" I stare at him for a moment before I have to blink back to reality.

"Uh... well, it sometimes is just talking about weird stuff to myself. Sometimes I just sleep in odd positions. It's never the same thing twice, or so I've been told. Again, I don't recall any of this so I can't say for certain what's actually true." Yeah. I really doubt that I willingly told Dad about the one time with Spark. But, then again...

"Okay... okay! Yeah, that's no problem!" He tells me as he stands up.

"It isn't!?" I ask, genuinely shocked. "But... it's so weird-"

"We're all a little weird." He tells me as he puts a hand on my shoulder and starts to guide me to bed. "But that's nothing to be ashamed of."

"... really?" I ask as he sits me on the bed. I... I don't want to say he's lying to me. But there's no way he's this okay with... this!

"Really. If anything I'll just have to be extra careful with your privacy. But beyond that, don't worry about a thing Lucky. I've got you." I look up to him and feel myself fluster again.

Hearing him tell my that makes my heart flutter all over again. But I try to pass it off as sick weirdness. Now that I know what's going on I can better manage my emotions. It's not a real infatuation! Even though he is being very sweet and I really appreciate him taking care of me, it's nothing romantic! He's just a really good friend!

"Get comfy and get plenty of rest. I'll check up on you tomorrow before I go check on with the guards here for work. Your only job right now is to rest up and get better. Understand?" He says as he positions all of the scattered food by my bed.

"Okay... promise?" I ask as I pull the duffle bag over and slowly start to pull out my pj's.

"I promise. Do you need anything else before I turn in for the night?" I look around before shaking my head to him. He wishes me a good night and closes the door behind himself.

"Goodnight." I call out to him through the door. I wait until I hear him close his bedroom door before rolling back into a ball and squealing to myself.

How could I forget about my dumb sickness!? How could I have been so dumb!? Now he thinks I'm a total sex crazed maniac! I roll myself from side to side as I continue to squeal out loud.

"That could have gone better!"

"Tell me about it." I mutter as I open up and flail back. I take a deep breath before I realize there was another voice. I glance down and watch as a little version of myself climbs on top of my left boob.

She's a tiny copy of me dressed in nothing but a bright red latex devil costume. The body suit is just a very narrow V shape that just barely covers her slit and nipples. The costume is complete with a thin pointed tail, two small black horns on her head, a pair of bat wings coming off her shoulder, and a black pitch fork. Her ivory hair is tied back in a high and tight ponytail with the black strand still curving the side of her face.

"It's not too late to go back over there. Go get you some finally!" She tells me as she makes it to the top of the mound and stands there. Holding the pitchfork behind herself in a playful manner as she bounces her hips from side to side.

"Uhm..." I mutter as I stare at her... me? The little devil version of me.

"Don't be so crass!" I look to my right as another little version of me appears. This one looks like a tiny angelic doppelganger. She's wearing a flowing white toga and holds a golden lyre. There's shining halo over her head as majestic white wings help her glide down and land on my shoulder.

"Boo!" Devil me jeers, leaning forward provocatively towards angel me.

"Reckless is a good friend and is selflessly helping us in our time of need. We shouldn't debase such a noble gesture with something so lurid." She says as if she's lecturing us. I nod to her logic. She's got a good point.

"But he could be taking even better care of us!" Devil me says as she swings the pitchfork between her legs and grinds against it. Angel me scoffs and flies up to smack her upside the head. But devil me dodges it and takes to the air, blowing a raspberry at angel me. They both begin to growl and glare deeply at each other.

"Um... who are you two?" I ask, getting both of their attention.

"Why, my dear, we are your conscious manifested-" Angel starts.

"We're you!" Devil cuts in, hip checking Angel and making her fly off. "But the parts of you that you try to pack away! Usually we only get out when you're super dick thirsty-"

"Language!" Angel yells as she flies back and smacks Devil upside the head. Devil just pouts as she rubs her head. "But yes, we are a part of your psyche. Whenever you become too stressed or unwell your mind creates us to help you make sense of it all. We offer guidance into your feelings and-"

"You're crazy!" Devil yells as she flies into my face. "We help you become uncrazy! Easy pe-yoouch!"

Angel yanks her tail back and sends her flying out of view. She goes to say something but Devil came racing back and flips her toga up, revealing her... my nude body beneath. She fumbles with her clothes as she goes spinning through the air. Devil just laughs at her and smacks her bare ass, getting her to yelp in surprise.

"Uh... so... does this happen often?" I ask as I sit up. Devil ignores me as she watches Angel struggle to get the toga right. I roll my eyes and reach down to pinch the toga. With a quick tug I pull it back down to cover her. She huffs a few times before grabbing her halo and re-centering it.

"Thank you. And yes. Ever since you were five we've always been there for you." She tells me as she takes a regal stance with her lyre. Devil flies around her and takes a spot beside her. Much to her annoyance.

"Then why don't I remember either of you?"

"Your crazy and your normal can't really mix well." Devil tells me as she leans back and relaxes mid air. "If you remembered every conversation you had with yourself you'd run out of room in that tiny little brain of yours!"

"If I have a tiny brain, then don't you too?" I ask, getting a surprised look from Devil. "Anyway... do you two have names?"

"You've already named us dear." Angel tells me. "I'm Angel and she's Devil. We're parts of your mind. Whatever you think we already know. We're just two parts of the same coin."

"Only I'm the fun loving thrill seeker that doesn't have a stick up her ass!" Devil says, pointing a thumb to herself confidently.

"And I'm the logical, sensible one that is aware of morals." Angel says, giving Devil the side eye.Devil leans towards Angel and pulls her suit aside, shaking her tits at Angel while blowing another raspberry at her. Angel just shakes her head and looks away.

"So... do you know what I'm going to say before I say it?" I ask, confused.

"Sorta." Devil says, snapping the thin latex back into position.

"There are many parts that make a pony. We're just two aspects that you're trying to use to justify the possible outcomes. We don't know what you're going to ask. But we're the two answers you're debating between." Angel explains.

"Okay... will the other parts of me come out? Are there other parts of me?" I ask as I stand up and start to get undressed. I also remove my Pip-Buck and set it with the cache of food and drinks. These are both parts of me, and they're built just like me, so there's nothing to be coy about. Besides, I'm sick of being in this sweaty Stable wear.

I get completely nude and bring my stable suite to the closet. There is a shelf at the top and a hanger bar just beneath it. But no hangers. I place my clothes over the bar in an attempt to air them out. Devil and Angel fly around me as I do this. It really seems like Devil lives to annoy Angel. She keeps chasing after her in an attempt to poke her with the fork again.

I undo my hair and let it fall back. I feel it stick slightly to it's old curled up form. I left it up in a bun for far too long. Wish I could wash it out now, but that's not a choice really. Angel avoids another poke from devil and hides on my shoulders with my hair. Devil stops in front of me and looks for her before Angel rushes out and bops her on the head with her lyre.

"You two are cute, you know that?" I ask as I head back to the bag and slip on the shirt. It's massive on me! It goes down just below my bottom and is wide enough for me to wrap myself twice over. One shoulder pokes out from the neck hole due to how stretched out it is. But it's still amazingly comfortable! And with it so baggy I don't have to worry about my tail getting in the way.

"We are not!" Angel defends, but Devil grabs hold of her from behind and squeezes her in a tight embrace.

"Of course we are! I know it because she knows it which means you know it!" She yells as she twists her side to side. I pause to try and follow what she said... but decide to let it go.

My mind is starting to get a bit hazy. Now that I know that I'm getting sick I can feel the normal symptoms start up. I thought I was just tired from sleeping on the ground for so long. And the cold shower probably didn't help either. We'll have to be more careful about that kind of stuff in the future.

"So, you both said you are here to help me work through something that's stressing me out. Or is this purely a sickness deal?" I ask as I move back to the bed and try to figure out how I'm going to use the duffle bag. Body pillow or just a head pillow?

"Both!" Devil announces as she brings the both of them before myself. Angel is trying to break free while Devil is trying to pull her top down. She gets one tit out before Angle breaks free and smacks her face. Angry, Devil tackles into her and they turn into a cloud of bickering and fighting. It was cute at first, but it's starting to get old.

"Okay, easy you two." I say as I reach down and grab the both of them. I pull them apart and hold them there as they continue to try and fight one another. "Calm yourselves before I sit on you both."

"Do it mommy thickness!" Devil yells with a happy flap. I glare at her and she immediately deflates. "Fine!"

"Thank you!" Angel yells as she fixes her attire. I let the two of them go and decide to move the bag to the top of the bed. I lay back and rest my head on the lumpy assortment of clothes. It's not the most comfortable. But it beats nothing.

"So... are you guys going to clue me in on what's troubling me or do I have to ask questions and figure it out?" I ask as I stare up at the bland ceiling and try to relax. I feel Angel gently sit against the side of my head while Devil plops back against my left boob.

"Although there are many things troubling your mind, there are only a few that are manifesting us." Angel tells me.

"So we're going to leave out the easy stuff and go in hard." Devil continues as she stretches out and brings her arms back to rest her head. "Like how you're wondering how you're going to shave your pubes. Not our concern."

"... oh." I mutter as I realize that was in the back of my mind when we made it to Heaven.

"But your relationship with Reckless is our concern." Angel tells me. "Not to mention your fears of becoming third class in Silo."

"I'm not worried about that!" I say quickly, turning my head away from her. She falls back with a small 'oof'.

"Yeah you are." Devil says mockingly. "You're more worried that the stallions here are going to take advantage of you now that you don't have the same rights as before. Thought it the moment that bitch doctor went inside after the test."

I try to argue... but I realize there's no point. They're me, but more honest. They know everything I know. Probably even more.

"There's no need to be defensive Lucky." Angel tells me as she flies up and sits atop the bed frame railing. "We do not judge. We are you after all. Every decision and every action you have taken is in some combination ours as well. We are all one being."

"Yeah, we know it all girl! Ain't nothing to hide from us!" Devil says, jumping into the air and landing beside Angel. She kicks her hoof to the side and spins her pitch fork around before using it to lean to the side. I think about what they said before deciding to open up to them.

"We're newcomers here. We don't... belong." I say as I try to sort out what I think of this place.

"I don't think anyone belongs in the wasteland." Devil says, somewhat teasingly.

"But this is their home! And we're... well..."

"We are tenants just like so many others." Angel explains, getting Devil to nod along. "Otherwise there wouldn't be so many caravans coming and going. Though space may be a limited resource, we paid for our right to be here."

"I guess... but we're bottom of the barrel here. What rights could we possibly expect here?" I grab the ends of the oversized shirt and try my best to wrap myself up. This room is a bit cold. The old vent is blowing cold air in, keeping the room a nice temperature if I had a blanket.

"After what we've seen they probably don't use the same system that Stable Eighty Eight did Lucky." Angel tells me.

"Besides, it's the wasteland! If anyone tries anything, we can just beat their asses! Plus we have Reckless on our side!" Devil says, giving me a knowing look when she mentions Reckless. I blush a little as I think back to our shower conversation.

"He is far more noble than we expected. Especially for a stallion from our Stable." Angel mentions with a fondness in her voice.

"Yeah, and he looks like he's got a good dick too!" Devil says with... similar fondness. We both glare at her as she thinks back wistfully. When she notices us she just puts her fists on her hips and turns her nose up. "Like you both haven't thought it!"

"That doesn't mean you have to be so crass." Angel says with a shake of her head. I think about it for a moment before my blush grows.

"Yeah... even if it was only half Spark's size." I mention, thinking back to him. "But not in a bad way!"

"Or course not." Angel drones, turning her attention to her lyre.

"AND TO BE FAIR!" Devil says, turning back to look us in the eye. "It was after a cold shower! And it was soft! Mostly. There's probably more to work with-"

"ANYWAY!" Angel yells, giving Devil an angry look. "Our concern is not with his genitals! It is with his loyalties."

"His loyalties?" I ask, shaking the previous conversation from my head. She's right. We need to focus on the important subject.

"Yes! We're worried that he'll run off now that we're here. Especially now that we won't be able to contribute to the home!" Angel lays out. I sigh and I think about that.

I know we had that conversation before. He said he's got my back and all. But that's easier said than done. What would I do if he got bored of waiting for me to get better and ran off. Or what if there was an opportunity and he disappeared forever? Then what?

What happens if he finds some mare that he gets romantic with? Would he still be willing to be so attentive and helpful if there was somepony else vying for his attention? And is that really a concern to be had? Truth be told I could equally find somepony in here and be romantic with them. We're both so new here and the rules of the wasteland are so different than in Eighty-Eight. I don't know what to expect.

I go to ask them what they think when I notice Devil has turned around. Her folded arms and slow hoof tapping tell me she's upset about something. I wonder if that's what I look like when I'm angry. I really hope not... it's more cute than intimidating.

"What's wrong Devil?" I ask, getting Angel to look over then roll her eyes.

"Ignore her. She's being overtly emotional." Angel says with a hand wave. "Let's focus-"

"I am not!" Devil yells with a hoof stamp. Her face scrunches up and she clenches her fists at the sides of her hips. Again, it's far more cute than anything else.

"Are too. It is in your nature." Angel explains, not even looking her way. Devil goes to say something, but just turns away in anger. I look between the two of them before deciding to try and placate her.

"What's the issue Devil?" I ask, but she just turns away from me.

"No! You think I'm being emotional too!" She says bitterly.

"Only because you are." Angel says as she toys with her lyre. Devil huffs in annoyance and stomps off to the end of the railing where she drops down to hug her knees. I give Angel a look before rolling over to talk with.

"Okay, you were right. I did think that. And I'm sorry." I tell her, but she looks away quickly. "What can I do to get you to tell me what I need to hear?"

"Hm..." She glances back to me before a devilish grin grows on her face. Oh no...

"Devil." Angel warns, but is ignored.

"Okay, I'll forgive you. BUT! Only if you... use the shirt for a blanket. Not a shirt!" I stare at her for a moment before shrugging and sitting up.

"You can't be serious." Angel grumbles as I pull my shirt off.

"What's the difference?" I ask, getting Angel to shake her head in disbelief. It does feel odd being nude in this relatively new room. But it is my new bedroom now, so I guess I'll have to learn to get used to it eventually. "Better?" I ask Devil.

"Much." She says as she ogles me. Am... am I attracted to myself? Is that what's happening here? I shake the shirt out to cover myself as I lay back down.

"Now what was so important that you've debased ourselves?" Angel asks. Devil shoots her a grin before she starts to march up and down the railing.

"Well, little miss practical, little miss objective! You're both ignoring the biggest factor of Reckless's loyalty. A factor that is my specialty!"

"Did we now?" Angel drones, but I shush her.

"Yes you both did! And to put it simply it's the entire reason our conversation has been on him instead of employment or living arrangements! The things that practically are more important. But emotionally speaking, figuring out what Reckless is to us and where does he fit in all of these plans is the largest hurdle. If we can't figure that out then the rest won't matter."

"What Reckless is to us?" I ask as I start to think.

"He's our friend, that's all." Angel answers as if it was the obvious answer.

"Then why do we care if he fucks another mare?" Devil asks quickly.

"We don't." Angel drones.

"Don't we?" Devil retorts.

"No. We don't." Angel says. Devil stops before her and leans down. She smiles at her before reaching forward and with a twist of a hand has her own version of the feather.

"Don't we?" She asks as she drops the feather. Angel drops her lyre as she catches it, jumping slightly when it bounces on the ground.

"T-that doesn't mean anything!" Angel says as she holds the feather close. Devil begins to fly slowly around her, arms held back, as Angel tries to hide the feather from her. "It was just a nice... a nice... a nice memento! That's all!"

"Mhmm, then why are we hiding it from him?" Devil asks. Angel tries to respond. But she can't form an argument. "You can't lie to me when it comes to matters of the heart Angel. No matter what you say, no matter how you justify it, there's no denying it. We have a crush on him. Admit it."

Angel looks to the feather before shaking her head and moving the feather behind herself. Her face is beet red and she's trying to avoid Devil's sight, but she's flying all around to look her in the eyes.

"It's not a crush! It's barely a-a moments notice! W-we're just... uhm... it's because we're sick! Our hormones are all out of balance and he's the only stallion here we know and trust! That's all there is to it! Nothing more!" Devil stops beside her and leans in real close. Angel tries to avoid her gaze as she hides her flushed face. But she couldn't help herself from slowly looking over to her.

"Speak truthfully and I'll do... the thing." She tells her in a sultry tone. I glance quickly between the two of them as I wait for her to respond; completely invested in whatever the thing is.

"O-oh... uhm..." Angel tries to form a sentence before she shuts her eyes, covers her face, and squeals in embarrassment. "Okay! It's a crush! We like him, are you happy now!? He's been the kindest stallion to us in our entire lives and we want him all to ourselves! The issue we're having is how quickly we started feeling like that!"

With a word Devil stands upright and spins quickly. In a rapid haze she suddenly turns into Reckless. I blink a few times as he stands there. completely nude, and leans down to Angel. When she... he? When Devil gets real close Angel moves a finger to glance back at Devil. He gives her that smile the real Reckless gets when he gets cocky.

"Good girl." I feel something inside myself stir when he says that. And apparently so does Angel. All she can do it turn and lay back and the Devil Reckless starts to move on top of her. I feel my tummy stir and my nether region warm as I watch with baited breath. Angel spread her legs open for him as he starts to move to penetrate her-

THUD

I jump up to a sitting position when something heavy falls in the main room. I feel my heart race as I wait for something else to happen. I hear a few hoof steps before someone knocks on my door.

"Y-yes?" I call out meekly.

"Hey Lucky, sorry that was me. Are you decent?" I look down at my nude body before rushing to put the shirt back on. I go to make sure I'm covered completely before realizing how wet I've become. In a panic I jump to my hooves and open the door. But I stop myself and only reveal enough so a sliver is open.

Reckless is a little surprised by this, but doesn't question anything. He's in his guard armor and jumpsuit. I get the impression that he's about to leave, putting a little fear in the back of my head.

"What was that sound?" I ask quickly in an attempt to change the subject. He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck.

"Sorry. I was cleaning my rifle and dropped it." He tells me while glancing back to the desks. There I see the gun sitting there with a few rags around it.

"Isn't it a bit late to be cleaning your weapon?" I ask, confused. He tilts his head to me checks his Pip-Buck.

"Lucky... it's seven thirty in the morning." I stare at him before rushing over to my own Pip-Buck and check the time. Sure enough, it's seven thirty two. Did I spend all night talking with Angel and Devil? Or was that all a dream? Where did they even go?

"What happened last night?" I mumble as I look around. The room seems fine. Nothing is out of place. My suit is still hanging in the closet. The duffle bag is on the bed too. But I still recall the two of them.

"You sure you're okay?" Reckless asks as he slowly opens the door. I look back to him and try to think of something to say. But there's no way of explaining what happened last night without sounding crazy. He steps in and places a hand on my forehead. He moves it to cup my cheek and I feel myself melt into his grasp. But then he pulls away and reality comes crashing back.

"How do I feel?" I ask as I step away from him. He looks a little concerned as he stares down at the food by my bed.

"You're burning up." He tells me. I feel my own head and confirm the feeling. Now that I'm aware of it, my joints are aching too. I'm definitely sick now. "Sweets aren't going to do you any good. We need to get you something more... nutritious."

"Like what?" I ask as he rubs his chin.

"Well... I don't know. I'll have to check one or two stores to see what's available." I deflate a little when he says that and he immediately notices. "Don't worry. If I can just window shop I won't go in unless I see something worth getting. Promise."

"Thanks Reck." I tell him, perking up immediately.

"Hm. Okay, well I'll try to make it back here as soon as I can. But I'm gonna be out trying to see what work there is with the guards. If I can get a shift today I'll take it just so we can get whatever money we can. Is there anything you'd like me to try and get before I head out?"

I feel myself deflate a little when he says he's possibly will be gone all day. I understand that it's what we need to do. I just don't look forward to being in this small apartment all by myself.

"No, I don't think I'll need anything. But thanks for asking."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to head out then. Please try to eat something and drink plenty of water. If I can make it back here I'll pop in to let you know what's going on. Okay?" He tells me as he grabs his weapon and moves towards the door.

"Okay... have fun! I'll... be here." I tell him as I try to linger on the conversation. I know he has to go, but... I don't want him to just... leave.

"Wish me luck!" He tells me before opening the door and stepping out. I sigh in defeat as I try to think of what to do now. But then he opens the door and pops his head back in. "Sorry, wish me good fortune and all that good stuff!"

"All the good stuff!" I tell him happily. He smiles back to me before leaving again. I giggle at his antics before I feel a pair of eyes on me. I look to my side where Angel and Devil are looking back at me. Angel looks like she's been thoroughly fucked all night while Devil looks smug as ever while she spins Angles halo on a finger.

"You like him!" She says teasingly.

"Oh shut up!" I dismiss her as I turn back to my room. I feel as if I slept deeply last night. But there isn't much to do here at the moment. I have so much energy though I need to work on... something! "What to do now..."

Perspective: Reckless

"Thanks again for the opportunity! I'll be back right at noon! And thank toy so much for the forward!" I say as I shake Cuffs hand thoroughly. He's the head of security here in Silo and has the final say if I can work as a guard here. I was a bit nervous applying for the job, but he was more than happy to take me on. He was even nice enough to front me some money so I can get situated here in Silo.

"Don't sweat it Reckless! Honest! We need all the help we can get!" The cobalt stallion tells me as he rakes his brass combover back over his balding head. He wears the same grey-green jumpsuit as the other guards, only his has a badge embroidered on his chest. He's a bit portly, but is also clearly a strong individual. He also sports a large bushy mustache. "Just go take care of that girly you told me about!"

"Will do! And thank you again for the advance!" I tell him as I start to back out of the office.

"Well when you told me about you friend I knew it was the right thing to do. Just don't make me regret it!" He tells me as he follows me out.

"You won't regret this, I promise! You need a shift covered, I'm your guy!" I tell him as I linger at the door.

"Okay, okay, now go! Your shift is in a few hours so get some food and rest up! Report to the main bastion when it's time. Now go! And don't blow all that money in one day!" He tells me as he ushers me out the door.

"I won't! Thanks again-" I try to thank him, but he shuts the door in my face. I can't help but give a little jump in excitement before rushing back towards the apartment.

There were a few people ahead of me that also applied for the job. But only half of us were able to get the positions. But that doesn't matter anymore, because I got the job! I was the last one to interview and I wasted no time getting into things. I let him know where I was from, what I am here to do, and all of my previous responsibilities as a Stable guard. He even said he's never had someone so qualified before!

It's only ten caps per shift for starters, which isn't great. But it provides a weapon and ammo if needed, which I took. Just to save on my own ammo. Plus they provide free meals at the mid points of whatever shift I'm working. My plan is to take half those meals and give them to Lucky. It's not the most, but it's free food. A free half meal a day will help us save as much as we can.

I don't know how I was able to convince him, but he was willing to advance two weeks of pay so I can get situated! With the left over caps we had that puts us slightly over one hundred ninety caps! If I can keep our spending at or under ninety caps then after the next set of two weeks of work we'll be set for the next month of rent! And that's before we get Lucky working as well. If she can work with me then we'll be doing pretty good for ourselves here. Not the best by any imagination, but it's a good start!

I start rushing home when I remember I need to see if I can get something better than preserved snacks for Lucky. I really don't know how much that'll cost, but the sooner she gets well the better off we'll be. Last night I heard her mumbling to herself in her sleep. Nothing that made sense, but it was a bit concerning. I know she said this was normal, but I don't know how else to react to it.

I take a look around the stores on our level and try to think where to start. There aren't that many options on this level. Just the general store and a clothing store. There are some offices for the various caravans as well as the medical ward here too. But those aren't what I'm looking for. And I doubt a clothing store will have what I need, so the Generally Good Goodstore it is then. Since it's the only option I don't feel as if I'm breaking my promise to Lucky about going in. Hopefully she'll feel the same.

Stepping through the door a small bell chimes. I pause to see if anyone says anything, but no one does. With a shrug I walk in and start to look around.

It's a well organized shop. The back half of the store is curtained off; probably so the store owner can reside back there. The door puts me on the far left of the store. Directly to my right is the check out counter. A few old cash registers are there as well as several stacks of papers and items for sale. Nothing there is immediately of note, so I start to look down the aisles.

There are two shelves going down the middle of the room that make up the four aisles. A sign hangs above each aisle telling me what's down each, though I can also see what's down each. Weapons and armor on the first set. I see a few guns and armor sets that I might be interested in. But at a later time. The next aisle is marked junk. All sorts of tools, toys, and random assortment of crap fill the shelves here. Nothing here seems to be of any value right now so I head to the last row of shelves. Food and medicine.

Most of the food here are canned goods and old preserved snacks. Not exactly what I was hoping for. At the end there are some shopping baskets with fresh produce. But... they aren't exactly what I think Lucky can handle right now.

"Is someone there!?" Someone yells from the back.

"Yeah!" I yell back as I pick up a carrot. Or, it looks like a carrot at least. I don't think they're supposed to be this big, deformed, and bulbous. I hear the person fumble with some stuff as they stumble their way to the side of the long curtain. I follow the noise as I wait for them to appear.

A skinny turquoise stallion comes crashing out of the back. He has his wiry rust orange hair tied back in a low tail. He quickly stands and fixes the rolled up sleeves on his white button up before dusting off his black slacks and suspenders. He goes to tell me something but stops when he gets his first look at me. We end up staring at each other for a moment before he starts to check his surroundings.

"Did I come at a bad time?" I ask as I set the carrot down.

"No! No, nothing like that! I... well, I just wasn't expecting any customers right now!" He tells me as he rushes over and offers me a hand shake. "The name is Hemlock!"

"Reckless." I tell him as I shake his hand. "Sorry. The sign out front said you opened at eight. I didn't know you were still close."

"Oh don't' sweat it!" he tells me as he moves towards the front counter. "I am open. It's just that... most ponies don't come here until later! That's all!"

I watch as he stumbles his way over to the registers and nearly falls over them. He looks back and offers a small laugh before racing behind them and taking his place at the register. I blink at him a few times before bringing my attention back to the produce. He's... an odd one.

"So... when did you get to Silo?" He asks as he pulls out a rag and starts to wipe down the counter.

"Yesterday, actually." I tell him as I look over some of the mutated produce. I'm not sure if it's a fruit or a vegetable. It's fairly hefty though. "I came with a friend from a Stable. We're set up directly across from you matter of fact."

"No kidding!" He says with an enthused tone. "They finally filled that place? Good for you! And your... marefriend?"

I chuckle at that. I wish. But...maybe one day.

"No, no. I mean, she is a mare. And she is a friend. But nothing of that connotation." I tell him as I step back from the produce.

"Oh really?" I pause and glance over to Hemlock. He had... a little too much interest in his voice.

"Yeah. She's actually sick right now. I'm trying to find her something to eat that will help her rest up. Got anything like that?" I ask as I walk towards him. He stops his cleaning and reaches under the counter. He starts to pull out multiple kitchen utensils as well as food containers.

"Well, Me-ma always said a nice hot bowl of soup heals the soul. I can sell you a simple vegetable soup, a refurbished hot plate, and a cooking pot. I'll even throw in enough ingredients for a round of soup for... let's call it seventy five caps."

I nearly laugh out loud when he says that. Seventy five caps!? That's almost all of the money I was hoping to spend over the next two weeks! There's no way I can afford those kind of supplies right now. I look at all of the materials and start to question if we'd need half that stuff. I'm sure eventually we will. But right now... it's not even a choice.

"That's a bit too steep for me at the moment." I tell him as I grab a few of the mutated foods and bring them over to the counter. "We've only been top side for a few weeks so we don't have much right now. Unless you can make an exception this time, I'll just have to stick to bare necessities."

"Aw, sawwy. I can't budge on my pwices." He says in a dopey tone as he takes the food and starts to type on the register. I look around as he gives me the bedroom eyes.

"Oh... okay." Something is happening and I don't understand what it is.

"That is... unless... you know." He says as he motions towards the back of the room. I look around and rub the back of my head. I have... no idea what he wants me to do.

"Uhm... I don't think I'm-"

"Shhhh..." He shushes me and I look back to him, even more confused. "Let's just say I've got a job for you... in the back."

"Oh!" He smiles when it clicks for me. I finally get what he wants. But why is he asking so... weirdly? "As long as it's quick I can do that for you. Well, and as long as it's not too technical. You know? Still new to most of these things up here."

"Oh that won't be an issue. I'll show you exactly what to do." He tells me as he flips a sigh at the window and leaves the counter. I go to follow him but jump a little when he grabs my hand and practically drags me to the back.

He brings me to his living area and tells me to wait by the bed as he rushes into what I assume is the bathroom. Not knowing what else to do I just take a look around. His bed looks as if he pushed two together and covered them in multiple blankets and pillows. The sight of that alone is enough to make me jealous.

There are a few dressers and wardrobes along the wall that have missing parts or clothes hanging on them. There are a few piles of junk and clothes throughout most of the room, making it a little cluttered. I'm not a clean freak by any means. But this is a bit much even by my standards. I see a picture on one of the dressers and pick it up to take a better look. It's of Hemlock and a zebra girl. It looks like they're friends here in Silo. Maybe she's his marefriend?

"You ready?" Hemlock asks from the side.

"Yea... uh... why are you naked?" He's leaning against the door frame completely nude and fully erect. I lock up as I stare at him, trying to understand what's going on.

"I love it when they play dumb." He says as he saunters towards me. I try to think of what to say but just start to back away. I trip on the bed and fall back with a hard thud. He chuckles and starts to try and climb on top of me, but I keep trying to back away.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" I ask loudly when my back hits the wall. He stops and goes wide eyed as we go back to staring at each other.

"You... we're about to have sex?" He asks, sounding equally confused.

"What!? No we're not!" I tell him as he finally backs away from me.

"I asked if you wanted to!" He yells in bewilderment.

"You said you had a job!" I yell back.

"That clearly meant a blow job!" He yells back. I think about it for a moment before it all suddenly makes sense. He wasn't hiring me for work. He wanted me to suck his cock...

"HEMLOCK! Where you at bitch!" A female voice calls from the front as she enters the room.

"I'M GETTING CHANGED!" Hemlock yells as he jumps off the bed and starts to get dressed. I just sit back as I try to register everything that just happened. I know I'm new to most things even related to sex out here. But... two stallions can have sex with each other? Since when was that a thing?

"You whore. Don't tell me you lowered you standards and fuuu... oh." The curtain whips open and in walks the zebra girl from the photo. Just in time to catch Hemlock with his pants down.

She's an average height zebra with black leather pants and a black leather vest over a red knitted crop top. She also has fingerless gloves on an old tan satchel over her shoulder. Her hair is half up in a mohawk but also drops down on her left side in a short cut. The back length is tied up in a messy bun. She's got a nice figure about her. Very slender but still curvy for her size.

Her bright blue eyes dart between the two of us before she slowly starts to back out of the room. Hemlock just stands there, mortified, until she finally goes behind the curtain. He lets out a sigh as he fixes his pants and motions for me to leave. I just nod and try to avoid his gaze as I step out of the curtained area. The zebra girl has her arms crossed as she smirks at me.

"Um... hi." I mutter as I stand there awkwardly. I'd like to just leave. But I still need the food for Lucky.

"You're new here right?" She asks, eyeing me up and down. "Didn't you come here with some big tittied girl?"

"Yeah... how did you know that?" I didn't see any zebras when we entered the town. It was too early for most ponies to be up and about.

"Names Violet, though most round these parts call me Vi. I run a restaurant on the top floor called G-Ma's. I saw you two being lead by the ice bitch in the morning when I was doing my morning prep work." She offers to shake my hand and I return the gesture. Her hands aren't as soft as I assumed. She's clearly had to work for most of her life.

"Reckless. The girl I came here with is Lucky. We were both from a nearby Stable-"

"You don't say!?" She says jokingly as she reaches over and tugs at my Stable suit. "Trust me bluey, you two are gonna stand out easily. So what brings you into Hemlocks little lair, hm? Trying the local cuisine?"

"He wishes!" Hemlock announces as he marches out of the back and stops to give Violet a hug before stumbling his way back to the register. She laughs at him and follows, motioning for me to do the same. Hemlock collapses onto the counter and buries his head under his arms. Violet sits on the counter and starts to eat one of the veggies I had put there.

"So I take it Hem here thought you were gay and didn't bother to confirm that before trying to choke you with his cock?" She says with a mouthful.

"Something like that." I tell her, still a little frazzled from before.

"I threw out what I thought were obvious signals!" He grumbles from beneath his arms. "And you had that whole line about the girl being a friend, but not a girlfriend! I thought that was code!"

"Easy there kiddo." Violet says as she rubs his back. "It was an honest mistake, right? No hard feelings?"

She asks that to me and I shake my head. It was awkward, but I guess I see why he thought that. I guess I'm more surprised that there are stallions that want to have sex with stallions out here. I just didn't know that was a thing. It definitely wasn't a thing in Eighty-Eight.

"We're good. Honest mistake and all." I tell him, trying my best to sound as normal as possible. He looks up to me and sighs before standing upright.

"Okay, but I'm giving you an additional one time discount as an additional apology. Let's say... how's-"

"Twenty caps!" Violet announces excitedly.

"Twenty!?" I ask, intrigued. That would mean a nearly seventy five percent discount!

"No! Violet!" He yells, glaring at her. She just smiles cutely as she avoids his stare. She crosses a leg over her knee and bounces it as she hums to herself.

"C'mon Hem. Besides, you owe me for standing me up last night." She tells him, tossing the half eaten carrot into the pot. "And you'll never guess what happened! Exactly what I said would happen! That creeper Swede put his grubby little porky fingers on my back. ON MY BACK! So you owe me and this is how you're paying me back. And! If anything, since this was the third time, Reckless should go grab a few more things!"

I have no idea what they're talking about but it sounds like it's working in my favor. I just keep quiet and look to Hemlock as stares daggers at Violet. But Violet is unperturbed by his annoyance.

"... fine. But only a few things! Don't go crazy!" He yells at me. I just smile and start to rush back into the store. I don't even know what I'm looking for but I'm excited to see what I can get here. Especially at this kind of discount.

"He's a cutie." Violet mentions, making me chuckle and glance back to her. She shoots me a wink and I feel myself fluster. It's too early for this much flirting. "So if you're not with this Lucky, does that mean you're both single right now?"

"Um... I don't know what that means." I tell her as I look through the junk. A toothbrush. Tweezers. Shearing clippers. All things I didn't know I needed.

"You don't know what being single is?" Hemlock asks in disbelief. "Are you a virgin or something? Oh no... did I corrupt an innocent little flower?" We both laugh at that.

"No, I've had sex before. But... well." I pause and consider if I want to tell these people about how little I know about sex and relationships here in the commonwealth.

"But?" Violet asks, clearly intrigued by me. I sigh and decide to tell them. She is getting me a huge discount after all. I guess fair is fair.

"It's hard to really explain. But, in our stable, relationships were completely different. As a mare I met in Heaven put it; we were very vanilla down there." I look to them and they both stare back at me. They don't get what I mean by this. To be fair, I barely understand what's going on here.

"Vanilla how?" Violet asks. "Like, no sex before marriage vanilla?"

"Marriage doesn't happen in my stable." I tell her with a laugh.

"No marriage?" Hemlock asks in disbelief. "Honestly, that sounds awesome."

"Speak for yourself." Violet says with a playful shove.

"There were also no... gay ponies. Stallions only had sex with mares. I've never even considered that it was an option before e few minutes ago." They both laugh at that. But when I don't continue they both stare at me in a new level of disbelief.

"Wait, really?" Hemlock asks.

"Yeah. Never heard of it before. Also never heard of blow jobs or kissing before a few weeks ago either. Like I said, everything we know was strictly vanilla. According to a friend that is."

They both take a moment to look to each other and try to wrap their heads around everything I just told them. Now that I've said it out loud, I can see how odd it really is for them. But it's just how things were down there! If no one does something, how could anyone learn about it? There was no way for any of us to pick it back up once it stopped happening.

"So... you've never been kissed before?" Violet asks.

"Well... there was this mare in Heaven." I muse as I think back to Joy.

"Isn't that place run by some sex crazed asshole?" She asks, looking to Hemlock for confirmation.

"It was. Urban Flow... he's dead now." They both snap their attention back to me and I flinch. "I didn't kill him! He... fell off the top of the building."

Not necessarily a lie. But they don't need to know what really happened there.

"Well, good riddance!" Violet says she leans back and folds her arms together. "That guy was a prick and a half!"

"You can say that again." Hemlock agrees. "So wait. So... you don't even know if you're completely straight then."

"What?" I ask with a laugh.

"Easy there Hem." Violet warns him in a playful tone. "I'm pretty sure this one isn't going to have his big awakening. If his previous reaction is anything to go off by."

"Or, maybe he needs to have some self discovery and learn about himself!" He argues back. They both start to get into it but I lose the conversation as I think to myself.

I've never considered that there could be other options. But I've never really thought of stallions in that light before. And, thinking on it now, I don't see the appeal. If I honestly put my mind to it... there aren't that many stallions that I even have a positive opinion of. There were my friends from the stable. But I didn't really have that many to begin with. If I had to pick those that I'd consider a friend even out here... there'd probably only be two. Control Shift and Deadbolt.

Control Shift gave his opinion and helped me out a lot in school. I'm only half as smart as I am because of him. But I don't think any feelings go beyond that of friendship. I also always thought that he was a bit too perverted. He loved getting with the ladies. And since he did a lot of technical work in the labs, he had a variety of options. But... There is no way I'd think of him in any other light.

Deadbolt was a mechanic that I met early on as a guard. He was a third class stallion though. So I often didn't relate to a lot of the things he worried about. He was also in his late forties, so he often gave a lot of good advice. I'd say he's the closest thing to a father figure that there was in my life. So that clearly removes him from any romantic aspirations.

And that's all to say if they're still alive. For all I know the stable is in total disarray and everypony inside is dead.

Shaking the dark thoughts from my mind, I walk a few more of the aisles before I fail to find what I really want. So I head back to the counter and set the last few things down. He starts to ring it all up as Violet laughs and takes a good look at me. She notices something immediately though.

"Everything alright? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Maybe it was the ghost of profits past-" Hemlock starts but Violet smacks him upside the head.

"Yeah... yeah, sorry. I was just thinking back to home. We didn't really choose to leave... well, it's complicated. But there were friends back there that may or may not be in danger." They share an uneasy look and stay quiet. Obviously they don't know how to respond to that. Not that I was looking for answers. It sort of just came up.

"Well... I'm sure you'll have a chance to get back there and figure everything out." Violet says, offering a small smile in apology.

"That'll be forty five caps-" Violet smacks him on the head again. "Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"Stop being so heartless!" She demands. He pushes her off the counter and starts to shoo her out of the store.

"Don't you have a restaurant to run!?" He yells as he grabs a nearby yardstick and starts to poke at Violet. She gets pushed to the door and gets halfway out before addressing me again.

"Come visit G-Ma's when your friend gets better! Don't be a stranger!" She yells with a laugh before Hemlock forces her out. She walks around and sticks her tongue out at him before walking away. He returns the gesture before relaxing and returning to me.

"You two are good friends." I mention, getting an irritated look from him. "Can I ask a personal question?"

"You've seen my penis. Not much left to keep hidden after that." He tells me as he gathers all my things up piles them up for easy travel. "What's on your mind?"

"... well... how did you know you were gay?" I ask, getting a surprised look from him. "I wanna say I know I'm not, but I don't really know how someone would know. I've never even heard the term before today. How did you know?"

"Well..." He says as he leans on one arm and thinks back. "I'd say it was when I was a little kid. Maybe twelve or fourteen? Somewhere around that age. I was living in a small farm town and there were maybe six kids my age. One day we snuck off to do... well, dumb kid things. A girl named Cherry and a boy named Fizz were playing some kissing game and we each took turns kissing each other. Don't ask me what the game was, I don't remember. With Cherry... it was just a kiss. Ya' know? Not much behind it. But when Fizz put his lips on mine... it was like being struck by lightning! I tried a few times with other people after that to really test the waters. But... yeah. I felt more like myself when I finally realized that I liked boys instead of girls."

"So... you figured it out pretty early? Was it obvious once you tried it?"

"No! No-no-no! Especially not when my father tried to convince me that I was wrong! He thought it was just a phase and tried to get me to marry some mare. That was probably the lowest point in my life honestly."

"Oh... sorry to hear that. How did you get away?" He laughs at that.

"Well, just as my luck would have it, the girl was actually a lesbian-"

"A what?" I ask.

"Lesbian? A mare who is a attracted to other mares either romantically or sexually. Yeah, two for two in that little farming town. So we got married, tried being married for all of two days, and decided that we weren't for each other. So we told the town we were traveling to make our own farmstead and went our separate ways. We still write each other from time to time. Though I haven't heard from her in a while."

"Where does she live now?"

"She and her wife have a farm that's a few miles outside of Silo's northern entrance. You know what? If you're heading that way could you go check up on her for me? Her name is Mahogany and I can mark her farm on your map!"

I laugh as I try to think of a way to say no to him. Even though he's being very nice to me right now I don't see Lucky and I leaving this place any time soon. But when I look at him and see the slight desperation on his face... I lose any ability to say no to him. He may not be romantic with this person, but she's clearly still important to him.

"Go ahead and mark it." I say as I offer him my arm.

"Thank you! Just let her know I sent you when you find her!" He says as he starts to set the location on my Pip-Buck.

"I also can't guarantee that I'll be heading that way any time soon. But if I do, I'll make sure to check in on her."

"Of course! That's no problem at all! It's just that I normally get a message back from her once a month. And it's been three months! I just want to make sure she's okay. But whenever you want to go! No pressure! I'll even pay you for it! How's a hundred caps sound?"

"I haven't even left Silo, I can't take your money." I tell him as he finishes up. I take a look at the location and notice it's actually pretty close to Silo. At least, once you get out of the tunnels that is.

"I know, but I still want to pay. Just so you know how important it is!" I look to him and sigh. I have no idea how I'm going to explain this to Lucky.

"Okay, okay... how about this then. Instead of caps, how about something else of equal value?" He raises an eyebrow to me and I smile back to him.

Perspective: Lucky

Water splashes all around me as I scrub a rag up and down the upturned mattress. I couldn't do nothing all day! Even though my joints ache and I feel my head starting to spin I had to get something done! It's in my nature to work. So I did the only thing I could do at this time. I brought both of the mattresses into the bathroom to clean them. We have that box of Bubbly Suds cleaning powder here so I'm putting it to use.

First I cleaned out the sink and toilet. Honestly though, they really needed it. I don't think they've been cleaned since this place was built. But the scouring suds did quite a good job getting them to shine! Though I'm sure all the elbow grease helped too! But that didn't take very long either.

So I decided to tackle the beds. They were in a much worse state than I previously thought too. The hardest part was getting them soaked enough to work in the cleaning solution. But when I pulled out one of the drawers from the living room and used it as a bucket it sped up the process considerably. We're probably going to have a high water bill this month though. I'm sure a clean bed will be worth it in the end.

I drop the rag into the drawer/bucker and ring it out again. Even though the water is a slurry of filth and cleaning chemicals, Angel and Devil are still using it as a small jacuzzi for themselves. I guess with them being imaginary it doesn't matter what the water is. It has bubbles so it'll do.

I do feel a little weird seeing two nude versions of myself relaxing in the frothy water though. But they didn't want to get their clothes wet... which was the excuse they both went with.

I set the rag down and take a moment to readjust my sleeping shirt. I have the bottom half tied tightly around my ribs, leaving my bottom two thirds exposed. The box said it wouldn't cause any staining on coats or tails, and after two hours of this I haven't seen or felt any changes. So I think it'll be fine.

"Do you think there are any hot tubs left in the world?" Devil asks as she lifts up and leg and splashes it down.

"It is highly doubtful. But it's a nice thought to have." Angel says as she tries to persuade the bubbles to cover her chest. "It was hard enough to find a hot shower out here."

"That was nice, while it was private at least." I mention as I stretch out a little and grab the rag. "What do you two think? One last scrub through and then we're done?"

"Two wash throughs is more than enough." Angel concurs but Devil whines.

"But I don't want to get out of the water!" We both just shake our heads at her. If she was real she'd be getting all pruny by this point.

"Alright then, one last wash and our mattress is all done!" I set the rag and start to scrub it from the top to the bottom.

Most of the water washing out of it is relatively clear now. During the first round it was practically black. Made my skin crawl thinking about how we already slept on it. Now I won't have to worry about what various filth was hiding in there.

The floor is getting a decent cleaning too. It's faint, but the floor is curved so all the water flows towards the drain in the middle. I was a tad worried it would spill out into the living room. But with it pooling in here at least now my hooves will be chemically clean.

"Lucky?" I perk up in excitement when I hear Reckless enter the house. He sounds excited too! I throw the rag into the bucket and rush out front. He goes to say something but instead flairs his wings out and just stares at me.

"Reckless!" I cheer as I rush over to him, stopping with a playful bounce. "I know you said to rest up but I couldn't fall back to sleep so I-"

"Lucky!" He nearly yells. I stare at him in confusion before he turns around and pats the side of his hip. I look down and nearly have a heart attack. How did I forget that I was practically naked!?

"Shit! Um... sorry, heh... well... I'll just... go get dressed!" I mention as I cover my pussy and back peddle towards my room.

"It's all good... no worries... I'll be out here!" He mentions as he covers his eyes. I open my door and try to say something, but decide against it. I shut the door and press my back against it as I berate myself. How could I have done something so stupid! No he's totally going to think I'm a weirdo!

"Or," Devil starts as she lands on my shoulder, back in her original outfit. "You double down and get back out there."

"Lucky is sick, Devil." Angel says as she lands on my other shoulder. She's also back in her toga. "If Reckless would be someone to take advantage of that situation then he wouldn't be somepony worthy of our affections."

"Uhg! I hate it when you have a point." Devil gripes, getting Angel to smile triumphantly. "That's the worst part. That damn little grin of yours. Stop it!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Angel muses with a smug tone. "But let's not keep him waiting. Get dressed and speak with him!"

"Right... right! I can do that! Just, put some pants on... and go... talk with him. Easy enough!" I mumble as I go to the duffle bag and pull out a pair of jeans. They're a bit loose on me, but so long as I'm just in the apartment they should stay up. I slip them on and stop by the door. I glance back to the other two and they each give me thumbs up. I take a deep breath before opening the door.

I step out and catch Reckless stuffing something under the opposing desk. I smirk at him as he slides the chair in and tries to cover whatever is underneath there.

"So... why were you half naked?" He asks, clearly trying to change the subject.

"What're you hiding down there?" I ask as I start to walk around. But he holds up and a hand and gets me to stop.

"Take a seat," He instructs me, pointing to the chair next to me.

"Reckless-"

"Go on!" I roll my eyes and take a seat. He waits till I'm fully seated before he takes a seat as well. "Well?"

"Mmm... nah, you first." I laugh a little as curiosity starts to get the better of me.

"C'mon Reckless! Pleeeease?" I lean forward and try to give him the best puppy dog eyes I can muster. He chuckles a little and tries to avoid eye contact. I've finally got him! "With sugar on top!"

"Oh, for sugar? Alrighty then." I laugh a little as he reaches under the table. He goes to pull something out but stops and looks up to me. I blush a little when he gets that sly smirk on his face. "Scoot forward in your seat a little and close your eyes."

"Like this?" I ask as I do what he says. He doesn't say anything. I hear him stand up and start to walk towards me. My heart skips a beat when he gets right next to me. I can practically feel the heat from his body radiating onto me as he leans in.

"Keep them closed." He instructs me. All I can do is nod back to him and squint my eyes shut. I gasp softly when I feel something warm drape over my shoulders and fall to over me. He pulls it around me and envelopes me within whatever it is.

FWAP

"GAH!" I shake my head when something lightly smacks my face. Reckless steps back chuckling as he tosses a pillow onto the desk in front of me. I look down to the billowy white cushion before looing to the blanket wrapped around myself. It's dark green and made entirely of wool. It's a bit scratchy, but I can already tell it's going to be a very warm cover. I look between the two bedding items before squealing in excitement.

"Oh my god! Reckless! Where did you get these!?" I ask as I hug onto the pillow and wrap myself up in the blanket. I look up to him as he just smiles down to me. I jump up and rush in to hug him tightly. I can't help but jump a little in excitement too. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Your welcome! I, er, I got a job for the guards here so... ahem! They also gave me a forward on some pay so I figured this would help you rest up. Sorry it couldn't be something more comfy."

I pull away and flap the blanket open and try to wrap myself up better. I never thought a simple blanket and pillow would make me so happy. But it's been nearly a month since I've been wrapped up in something so warm! I'm going to sleep like the dead tonight! I look up to him and just giggle as I cocoon into the bedding, too happy to find any words.

"And that's not all!" He says as he moves back to the desk. I watch him pull out some kitchen materials before motioning to it all. "For late breakfast and early lunch I'll be making some soup!"

"Oh my god that sounds amazing!" I say dreamily as I move to sit back down. He starts to set all of the materials up to cook and I just watch him for a moment. He really pulled through today, didn't he? It's not much, truth be told. But... it feels like the world to me.

"Psst!" I look over to my shoulder and see Devil poking her head out from behind me. I panic a little as I glance to Reckless to see if he's noticed. He's too preoccupied trying to figure out the hot plate to notice us though.

"What!?" I ask in a hushed tone.

"Now's the time!" I stare at her for a moment before I go wide eyed.

"Now!?" I ask as I look back to Reckless. He's still engrossed with the jury rigged hot plate."Like... right now!?"

"Not the whole truth!" Angel says as she pops up beside Devil, shoving her down with an arm. "But... something that will give us some insight on him!"

I look back to Reckless and bite my lip in thought. I could just tell him now. But I don't think that would be a good idea. I don't want him thinking it's just hormonal-sick Lucky talking. When I tell him I want him to know it's coming from me. The real unfiltered me. But... I guess I could... I don't know! But I need to say something to him! Get the ball rolling. But... all I can think about is...

"So..." I start out, getting his attention. "Did you... see it?" I pull my legs up and try to retreat into the blanket to hide my embarrassment. I know it's a bit of a left turn. But it's all I could think of! He fumbles with the hot plate as he coughs in surprise.

"Oh... uh, yeah... yeah I saw it." He says with a deep blush. It's a bit cute to see him lose his confidence. But I'm equally losing mine.

"So... what did you think?" I ask, getting him to nearly drop the hot plate. He tries to continue messing with it as he flusters deeply.

"Well... Uhm... Okay. I... I don't know how to describe... those. You know? Whenever one was... presented to me, the only words that come to mind are usually words like sexy. Or cute. But yours... easily the best I've ever seen."

"Really?" I ask in surprise. I've never heard someone call mine the best before. But, to be fair, not many have seen it. And the person who did see it... "You don't think it's... lame?"

"Lame!? Who called it lame? Let me know so I can go kick their ass for you!" I laugh a little at that. At least he liked it. "I've never, in my entire life, heard someone call a pussy lame! Whoever that was needs a reality check!"

"... I MEANT MY CUTIE MARK!" I bury my face in the blanket as my face turns bright red. This entire time he was talking about my fucking pussy!? I thought it was pretty obvious that I was talking about my cutie mark! Why would I just ask what he thought about my fucking... that!

"... oh." I look up to him and see that his wings are flared out again. He's blushing deeply as well, but his blush doesn't seem able to cover his whole face. I just hug my legs tightly as I rest my chin on my knees. Of course this is how our conversation would go. My luck strikes again!

"So did you see my cutie mark?" I grumble into the blanket, getting him to go back to the hot plate.

"Y-yeah... I saw your cutie mark. A black five leaf clover." He grumbles, trying to avert my eyes. I take a deep breath as I try to move on. The faster we forget that, the better.

"So... what did you think?" I ask. He finally gets the plate to work and gets to cooking the soup. It doesn't look too complicated, but it definitely looks better than two hundred year old snacks.

"Well... It reminds me of you honestly." He says as he starts to focus on cutting up the food.

"Really? How?" I ask as I perk up a bit.

"Well, when I saw it I thought it was... well, kind of simple." I deflate a little when he says that. So I have the best pussy but a simple cutie mark... great.

"Oh." I mumble as I slump against myself.

"But! But... I thought about it for a moment and I realized that it actually fits you perfectly. Most would look at your mark and dismiss you at a glance. But taking a deeper look and you can really see something special. You're not just lucky. You're not just a four leaf clover. You're Lucky, one of a kind even among the fortunate few. You're the most special little clover there is."

He says all of this and then looks to me. He notices my face going beet red and the slightly flustered look on my face before he finally realizes what he's told me. He starts to stammer and try to recover from the unintentional compliment. But he can't make a whole sentence without tripping over his own words. I feel a slight poke from behind and look back to see Devil. She's poking me with her pitchfork trying to get me to say or do something.

"Thank you Reckless." I say quickly, getting him to pause.

"O-of course." He mumbles back.

"No, I mean... I've never been a fan of my cutie mark. I've always thought it was boring and obvious. Like, as if my name alone wasn't enough, my cutie mark had to tell everyone what makes me special. And... well... there's only one person whose seen it other than you. And... well..."

"He called your cutie mark lame?" He asks, to which I nod. "Who was it? They need to get punched in the face."

"Don't sweat that. He got punished plenty already." I tell him, thinking back to that night. "But... hearing you say... all that, I've never felt so unique before. So, thank you for that. It... really made me feel special."

"Well... your welcome Lucky. I meant every word of it." I smile to him. We both go quiet for a moment. I really don't know what else to say to that. It was the sweetest, most sincere compliment I've ever received in my entire life. He goes back to cooking and I just sit back and revel in his words.

"Give him a compliment." Devil says from behind. I look over at Reckless and try to think of something to compliment. But I don't want to come off as if I'm just giving praise to return the favor.

"You could share a story of yours. Or even ask him more about himself." Angel offers. I think on it for a moment before deciding on that. It feels like a safer way to navigate the conversation.

"So... what kind of security are you going to be doing here in Silo?" I ask awkwardly. I didn't know what else to ask about and so I went with the only thing that was on my mind. It was that or asking him a teasing question about my pussy!

"They're starting me out with the outer bastions. The gates that we entered through. Apparently the longer you work for them the deeper into Silo you can work. Newbies guard the outer gates. Veterans get to guard the inner markets."

"Oh... you're not going to the unmanned bastions, are you?" He thinks about it before shrugging.

"I actually don't know what they meant by that. I assumed that I was guarding the ones by the doors. But I guess the other ones could be available too."

Oh great. Because I said it my luck is going to get the better of us! Now I've just put him in danger! Me and my stupid mouth!

"Sorry." I tell him as I deflate again.

"For what?"

"I sorta just jinxed it." I tell him as I try to retreat further into the blanket. "I have this thing where I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind and it usually has a way of coming true." He chuckles at that as he slides several ingredients into the pot and sets it on the hot plate. He takes a seat and looks over to me, a smug smile on his face.

"So you're psychic?" I laugh a little at that.

"No you dork! It's my luck just running in reverse on me! It's usually not a good thing." I tell him, but he's just lost in thought.

"So... if you wished for, I don't know, a caravan of all purple ponies. Would they arrive?" I shake my head at him. I want to laugh, but I also don't want to jinx things any further.

"I don't know. Probably not. Usually it's something like... I don't want to even tempt fate!"

"How about this," He says as he leans in to get serious. "Wish me luck on my uneventful shift. Or wish me a super lucky lunch or... I don't know, something along those lines."

"Reck," I mutter but he waves his hands to cut me off.

"I got it! Wish for me to get some good loot! That means something bad can happen, but I'll make it through it all and even get some goodies out of it!"

"Reck... that's not how-"

"We won't know until we try!" I stare at him for a moment before I shake my head and play along.

"Good luck getting some good loot later in your shift today." I tell him in a dry tone.

"Thanks Lucky! Make sure you get plenty of sleep while you rest up! Speaking of which, why were you in the bathroom?" I roll my eyes at him. He's definitely a dork, no doubt about it. But... I like that about him.

"I was cleaning our mattresses." I tell him. "I was dressed like that to avoid getting it on my clothes. I didn't have it diluted for clothing so I didn't want to ruin anything."

"You cleaned both of our beds? Thanks." I smile back to him. In the gift giving exchange, he's definitely winning. Not that I'm keeping track or anything. But... if I were, I'd be a bit behind.

Though he has seen me naked several times now...

We spend the next hour or so talking about what our mornings. Truth be told, there wasn't much for me to say. I got up and started cleaning. His morning was much more eventful for sure. Getting the job sounded stressful. He was perfectly qualified for the position, so he wasn't worried about it. But getting that forward was incredible luck on his part. It was really a life saver for us.

Then he talked about the store he visited and all of the toiletries he got. He did tell them about me, but not enough for them to really go off of. Which is good. I hate meeting people who know too much about me. A lot of the stallions my father worked with were like that. It drove me insane. Starting a conversation just to get railroaded to specific questions is the worst!

But then he told me about what they talked about. The little side job has me worried as well. But he's not going any time soon so I guess it's not too bad. I didn't think we'd be leaving Silo so quickly. But for a quick errand for what seems like a new friend, I guess that won't be too bad. It also seems like they're nearby too.

And then he told me about the zebra girl! I've never seen a zebra before. So the idea of meeting one is exciting! And apparently she's pretty charismatic. At least if the way she treated the store owner is anything to go off of. She seems like she could be a good friend to have. I just hope she isn't the jealous type. I don't need another one of those people in my life.

"Yeah... they were clearly good friends. It was good to see that kind of interaction. It was hard to tell if any of that existed in the wasteland." Reckless says as he stirs to soup. It's nearly done. If the aroma is anything to go by at least.

"It is nice to hear. I thought we might be the only friends out here." I tell him.

"Best friends!" He says in a slightly mocking tone. I stick my tongue out at him and him a silly look.

"Clearly." He laughs a little as he start to think about something. I raise an eyebrow to him as he coughs to himself. "Whatever it is, just ask."

"Well... it is a bit personal." He tells me, but I shake my head.

"Reckless... you've seen me naked how many times now?"

"Three, but who's counting?" I laugh at him.

"Exactly... though I've only seen you naked twice so you owe me!" He laughs at that. And even though I was joking, I can't help but feel a bit awkward from the forwardness. "But I think we're well past the point of needing to worry about pleasantries and politeness. So just ask away."

He gives me a look before nodding. He's still trying to pick how he wants to ask this. So I roll a hand forward to coax it out of him.

"Okay. So... I guess I'll start with this. Have you ever been kissed before?" I stare at him and try to think what that could be.

"I've never heard of that before. What is it? Is... is it a sex thing?" He blushes a little as he bobbles his head.

"I mean, sorta? It's more like an... intimate thing. Not necessarily something just related to sex. It's something you do with ponies you're really close with. That's the impression I got at least." I think on it for a moment before asking a question.

"Are we close enough to try it?" His wings flare out and he looks back to me in slight shock. "What?"

"W-well... truth be told, I don't know."

"Have you done it before?" He rubs the back of his neck as he thinks on his answer.

"Y-yeah."

"... with who?" He looks away and fiddles with the soup. He's uncomfortable with the answer, but he's clearly going to tell me.

"Joy." Ah, that explains it. Even though I don't know what this is, the fact that Reckless did it first with her makes me a tad jealous. I try to mask it, but I don't know how well I do.

"Oh... Was she good at it?" I pick at some of the fluffs on my blanket, trying my best to look uninterested and aloof.

"Well... yeah. BUT, I think that also plays into me having never done it before! I have no one to compare it against." I nod to that logic. Though I am a bit bitter still.

"So... what do you do?" I ask, trying to think of anything other than Joy.

"Well... you sorta just press your lips together. Sometimes you use your tongue and... well, you lick the other persons tongue-"

"Ew!" I blurt out, getting a shocked look from him.

"I swear it's not as gross as it sounds!" He defends.

"If you say so." I mumble as I try to get the image of Joy and Reckless licking each others tongues out of my head. I did not need that in my head right now!

"Right..." I look over to him and see that he's holding something else back.

"There's more?" I ask, more shocked than anything else. He nods to me, trying to look away from me. "More from Joy?"

"She... gave me a blowjob." I stare at him as I try to figure out that that means. I'm not the most experienced person around. But I usually know enough to get by. Again, I've never even heard of that before.

"What does that entail?" I ask, still trying to sound impartial.

"Are you sure you-"

"Yes, now tell me!" He flinches a little from that. I take a deep breath and try to relax a bit. "Sorry. I swear it's okay. I'm just... well, I'm not the most... experienced person. And... well..."

"Not experienced?" He asked, sounding slightly shocked. "Really? I mean, I don't want to infer anything. But you could have had anyone in the stable."

"Well... not really." I mention, looking away.

"... are you a virgin?" I blurt out a laugh and try to look back to him. But I can't maintain eye contact.

"What! NO! Pfft, this guy! I've had sex before! And... well, he was... it was sex! I've had sex! W-why? Is this relevant to whatever Joy did!" Reckless grabs a rag and slowly pours the soup into two bowls as he stares at me. I try to sit here confidently, but my nerves are getting the better of me. "What!?"

"It's okay if you haven't-"

"Oh!" I throw my hands up and spin my chair to avoid his gaze. He sets the soup down on the desk behind me and sits at his desk. I try to reach back and grab the bowl, but my arm won't bend far enough. Slightly angry, I spin around and grab the soup and begin to slurp it up. But I only end up burning my tongue in the process.

"Easy there Lucky. Let it cool down." Reckless tells me. I set the bowl down and pout a little. He looks down to his own bowl before taking a really long sip from it. He sets it down and lets out a long breath of air as he tries to cool off the holt liquid in his gullet. "There... now we're even..."

We look to each other before sharing a laugh. It wasn't the smartest move, but I definitely feel better. I don't like talking about this, but I guess I can tell him. I just hope he doesn't judge me for it.

"When I was sixteen I was really close to a colt named Spark Plug." I tell him, getting his entire attention. "He was first class just like me. And... well, he was sweet on me and I was... truth be told I was... a little desperate. Most of the girls my age were already hooking up and... you know. I was still a virgin and I wanted to be like the others. And Spark... he was interested in me."

"One day I was getting over being sick and he snuck into my room. Don't ask me how he got past my father, I don't even know how he managed that. But it was finally time to 'get some'. So... he stripped me down to just my cutie mark After some touching he told me to place my hands on my desk and I did what he said. Then lifted my tail and put it in."

"But... being my first time, I wasn't ready for a... piece that big. And... apparently he wasn't ready for a mare that tight. He didn't even make it a quarter of the way in before he yanked it out and came all over my tail. Guess in the shock of penetrating me he wasn't paying attention and dropped it. Took me three days to clean it all out."

"While that's not so bad, albeit a bit painful, what made it so bad was how mad he got. He started blaming me for making him finish that quickly. Apparently I was trying to make him look bad. He stopped being nice to me after that. He didn't even acknowledge that we had done anything! I tried to tell others that we had been together, but he just denied it all."

"Wait wait wait wait." Reckless interrupts. "Is this the same guy that called your cutie mark lame?"

"... yeah. Right after squeezing my tits and calling them small." He looks as if he's about to lose him mind. I feel a bit embarrassed telling the story. But it's all true.

"When we make it back I'm kicking his ass." Reckless tells me. But I just shake my head.

"So, obviously him yanking out and hurting me was... well... sudden. So sudden in fact that it was enough to get my fathers attention. When Spark tried to sneak out he grabbed him by the throat and nearly strangled him to death. I had to beg him to stop. It was... not a good night."

"That's an understatement!" Reckless says. I flinch a little from that and he apologizes.

"Trust me, I know it. But, technically speaking, I have had sex before. But... that was my only experience. So if you're asking for insight or tips or... anything of that nature, I'm not the best pony to ask. I have maybe half a second of experience."

He tries to tell me something, but stops himself. He tries again, but instead downs another large serving of the soup. He gasps for air as he slams the bowl down, nearly half of the liquid gone now.

"Sorry, I just needed to stop myself from saying something dumb." He tells me as he breaths heavily, trying to cool off his mouth.

"You're alright. But please don't hurt yourself." I tell him, toying with my soup. I really think Spark jinxed me for all of eternity. No one in the entire stable wanted me after that. Well... no one in first class at least.

"But Spark has to be the most pathetic, idiotic, bitch ass colt I've ever heard of! He's the one who couldn't handle sex! And the little bitch went off to bully you!? Fuck him!" I offer a small smile. But honestly I was probably too wound up to have sex properly. He didn't have that problem with any of the other mares.

"Its okay Reckless. Honest, it's not that big of a deal." He taps his fingers on the desk as he thinks to himself. Is... is he thinking of a way to preposition me? No... after all of that? It'd be so... sudden!

"Well... all I know is that even in the stable there were plenty of things no one did. Out here though... there will be plenty of time to... learn whatever you want... if you want to that is." I feel myself slump a little when he doesn't outright ask me. I guess it would be too forward. Especially at this time.

"Of course." I mutter as I blow on the soup and take a sip. "Can... can you tell me about your first time?"

"You want to know that? Are you sure?" He asks with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah... I think it would be nice to hear an experience that wasn't bad. And clearly you've been around, which isn't a bad thing! I just... I guess I feel exposed having shared that." He nods to that and thinks back.

"I was fifteen-"

"Fifteen!" I blurt, almost chocking on my soup. "That's so young!"

"You were sixteen!" He retorts.

"Yeah but girls age faster than boys. My sixteen was like your eighteen." He laughs and shakes his head. I chuckle a bit too, feeling a teeny bit better.

"Anyway! I was fifteen and she was a classmate of mine. Docket, if you knew her. She would end up working in the storage rooms later on. But before that we were... well, not close. But not strangers. Maybe acquaintances? One day in the middle of class she passes me a note saying to meet her in the janitors closet in five minutes. We each took turns getting bathroom passes and met up in there."

"And?" I ask, getting a confused look from him. "Details Reck, details. I shared way more than that!"

"Okay, Okay! Well... We didn't really say anything. We both knew what was about to happen. We got in there and undressed. Well, she was already naked in there, since she got there first. I lifted her leg and pinned her against the wall and... went to pound town-"

"Pound town?" I ask with a chuckle, getting him to blush.

"We started fucking! It was good. A bit messy, but good. Literally scared the crap out of me though. Cause she didn't let go of me until after I had finished inside of her. Apparently she was in heat and needed me."

"Did she get pregnant?" I ask with a slight panic attack.

"No, thank the sisters no!" I let out a breath of relief. That... would have been a lot to unpack. "After that though the janitor caught us in there and told our parents. My mother was pretty upset about the whole thing, but I didn't get it at the time. She wanted me to avoid parenthood for as long as possible so I could focus on figuring myself out. She didn't even want me looking at work until I was seventeen. Looking back now, I wish I had taken her advice to heart sooner."

"Why's that?" It's odd hearing someone from our stable saying they actively didn't want to start their career as soon as possible.

In Eighty-Eight your job determined everything about you. Your living arrangements, your status, even the amount of food you got! I know I don't have much room to talk, being first class, but it seems so foreign to hear someone not care about their future like that.

Reckless shifts uncomfortably in his chair as he tries to think of how to answer. I can see it's something truly important to him but painful. All I can do is sit quietly as he tries to form the words.

"That was the same year she passed."

"Oh." It was the first thing to come out of my mouth. I try to think of something else say, but what do you say to that!?

"It's okay. To be fair, this was well before we knew she was sick. And... well, it was mostly because I didn't want to be like my father."

"Your father?"

"Yeah..." He goes quiet as he thinks about something. Again I wait, but I can tell we're getting really deep into something. I feel at odds hearing this from him though.

I want to learn more about him. But I don't want to force painful memories to surface again. But knowing this will also let me get to know him more intimately. Am I pushing the conversation too far for my own interests though? I should let him know he doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to. It's clearly a rough subject.

"Reck... if you don't want to talk about it, it's okay. But... if you need to talk, I'm here for you." He offers me a small smile as he leans back.

"Thanks Lucky. But... it's not that I don't want to tell you. It's just that... the last time I talked about it, well, most ponies in Eighty-Eight don't seem to get it. But... I feel like you'd understand better than most. I just... don't want to tell you and have it be something that sounds like I'm just trying to get... free points."

"Free points? Towards what?" I ask, genuinely confused. He shifts around uncomfortably as he gets ready to delve into the story.

"The last person I told was a mare named Valve Switch. She told me I didn't need to tell her some sob story to get into her pants-"

"So now it's my turn to smack someone when we get back." I tell him, feeling my anger rise. "Why would she think that!?"

"I don't know. But you can't hit her... she died the night of the revolt." I feel a little tinge of guilt when he says that. Did... did Reckless kill her? Was she one of the rioters? How was she involved that night?

"Sorry." I mutter, not knowing what else to say.

"... My father was born first class." He tells me, quickly changing the subject.

"Really?" I ask in surprise.

"Yeah. But he got dropped to third well before I was born when he tried to have his way with a first class mare. One that had connections in high places. He had worked hard to get out of third and into second class by the time he met my mother. She would tell me early on that they were pretty close and he was really nice to her. But... ever since I was five..."

"Old habit?" I ask, assuming the next part. He just nods.

"I didn't understand when I was young. I thought they were just fighting. How could kids realize anything else? But as I got older I realized what was really going on. My mother being a pegasi didn't have a lot of other choices in a partner, so she felt she had to deal with him. He was a dropout that was working back to the top. But he still believed he was a first class stallion. But with only one mare even willing to give him the time of day... he tried his damnedest to control her. And for a while he did."

"What a sicko!" I feel my stomach turn over as I think about her situation. Why would she even bother being around such a monster!? They were equal class, he had no right to do such a thing!

"Yeah... He tried to model me after him. Told me it was a stallions right in the house. Or something to that effect. He only really talked to me after he would... do that. Made me hate everything he stood for. And as I was getting older I started realizing that he was making sure that I was walking in on them. He knew how close I was to her and he wanted to assert himself as the powerful one. He wanted me to know that me loving a mare, even if she was my mother, was pointless and harmful."

He looks away and tries to hide a tear. I just sit her slack jawed as I try to find the words to comfort him. But... how do you help someone so hurt?

"I'm so sorry Reckless." I tell him as I set the bowl down. I stand up and walk over to him, but he turns away. He doesn't want me seeing him tearing up. I kneel down and gently guide him back to me, getting a look at his hurt face. I pull him forward and give him a hug, getting him to choke up.

"One night I came home and he was forcing himself onto her over the lit stove," he continues as he holds onto me and buries his face in my hair. I just rub his back and let him tell his story. I don't know what else to do other than be here with him. "Something in me snapped and I ran in and pushed him. He started beating me immediately and I tried to fight back, but he was bigger than me. So... so..."

"It's okay Reckless," I whisper to him, squeezing slightly harder. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I wanted to." He tells me, the anger rising in his voice. "I was tired of him trying to control everything. So I grabbed a nearby rolling pin and I bashed his head in. I kept bashing his head in until the block of wood snapped! Then I just started beating him with my fists! I kept going until I was too tired to do anything else. And when I looked up to my mother... she looked so scared Lucky. Please don't let me scare you the way I scared her, please?"

My heart breaks when he tells me this. I can't imagine Reckless getting so angry he'd do... that. But, given the circumstances... I can't say I blame him. But how could anypony hear that and think he was trying to get free sympathy? Was our stable truly that broken.

I just hold him and rub his back. He needs a while to collect himself. So I just hold him and try to comfort him as much as I can. I don't know what to tell him though. I assume he didn't get into trouble over the situation. It was clearly in self defense. But hearing all of this really puts Reckless into a new light. It really explains how he's truly one of a kind from Eighty-Eight.

"Sorry... for dumping all of that on you." He tells me a few minutes later. He's calmer now, but still a little shaken. He sits back but I stay kneeled in front of him, my arms resting on his lap.

"You're fine Reckless... I'm actually glad you told me." I tell him as he wipes his eyes one last time.

"Really?"

"Yeah... It really... I don't know how else to say this. But it puts you in a new light. I was surprised by your character as we traveled here. At first I thought you were just like any other stallion in Eighty-Eight. But... now it all makes sense. I'm so sorry you had to endure that. But even with the shittiest father, you turned out to be an amazing individual. And... I think your mother would be proud of you." He laughs a little at that, smiling once again.

"She'd be asking countless questions about me living alone with a girl." I laugh at that, thinking about what my father would say.

"My Dad would probably drag you out of the room and interrogate you. Especially with how often you've seen me naked-"

"Oh gods!" He laughs, shaking his head. "From what I've heard, he'd skin me alive!" I laugh at that. He's not wrong.

"But I'd protect you." I tell him, scooting a little closer. "I'd tell him you're the best around."

"Thanks... And I'd tell my mother that I was the lucky one to get to share a room with an amazing mare."

Something starts to pull us together. It's as if there's a gravitational pull attracting us to inch our faces closer and closer towards each other. I can see the surprised look on his face as we get lost in each others eyes. Those soft baby blue eyes that bore right through me. Comfort me. Draw me closer and closer until we're almost touching.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

We jump away from each other when an alarm goes off on Reckless's Pip-Buck. He shuts it off and sighs in defeat. I stand up and back away from him. My entire face is burning red as I realize how close we were to each other. I don't know what came over me! It was like magic pulling us towards each other!

"Sorry... I have to head to my first shift." He tells me as he awkwardly stands up and starts to gather his things.

"O-of course!" I respond quickly, following him as he heads to his room. "I'll be here! Is there anything I can do for you while you're out?"

"No! Lucky, get some rest! Do that for me, please?" He begs as he pulls out some work coveralls. I recognize it as the uniforms the other guards were wearing. But it doesn't have the same armor additions as theirs.

"Well... how long is your shift?" I ask as he walks into his room to change. I feel a little saddened when he closes the door without me inside. But I remind myself that we're not that close. At least... not yet.

"Ten hours. So I'll be back in the middle of the night. Go ahead and finish all the soup for dinner. They're going to provide a lunch for me while I'm out there." He tells me as he changes. He steps out in the dark green coveralls and pats them down. "How do I look?"

I take a look at him and try to find a way to make the uniform look better. But they're just not flattering in the slightest. But then I remember something and rush into my room. I come back out and present him with my leather chest armor.

"Since you can't wear your normal armor please take this. I'd feel better if you had something extra to help."

"The suit is pretty padded." He tells me as he pats his chest. I walk up to him and press my hand to his chest. His wings twitch up as I feel across his broad chest.

"It does feel a bit padded... but I'd still feel better if you had this too. Please?" He bites his bottom lip as he tries to argue, but ends up nodding in agreement. "Alright, unzip the top and I'll help you put it on."

"Shouldn't it go over the coveralls?" He asks with a tilt of his head.

"Not with how baggy they are! Now unzip so I can help you put it on!"

"I can manage it Lucky." He says with a slight chuckle. He tries to take it but I yank it out of his grasp.

"Un. Zip." I tilt my head and give him a look. He folds immediately and unzips the top of the coveralls. I feel my heart race as I watch him expose his chest and twist his arms to slide the top off. His wings give a quick little flap as they slip through an opening as top half falls behind him.

It's probably my hormones being out of order. At least that's what I tell myself as I let my eyes wander over his strong, slender form. He's not what I'd normally call buff. But his muscles are defined. His arms are the most pronounced out of all his muscles, which is where my attention started. But there's a small tuft of hair in the center of his collar bone where my attention ends. It's large enough to be visible and looks softer than any cloth I've ever seen before. I've never seen a tuft on any pony like his.

"So... what now?" He asks, making me nearly drop the armor.

"R-right! Sorry." I say with a nervous chuckle. I can't believe I let myself do that! What's wrong with me! This is literally everything I hate about what the stallions did in Eighty-Eight! Why does Reckless drag this out of me!?

"No problem. Like I told you before, if the prettiest mare is ogling me then it can only go to serve my ego." I shake my head at that as I fumble with the armor.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm the prettiest. But to serve your humble ego? Not a problem!" I laugh again nervously. Why am I so bad at this!?

"Sorry about the chest fluff. I've been meaning to shave it down before everything. But I got some shears to do the job-"

"Don't you dare cut a single hair!" I warn him, getting a surprised look from him. I immediately blush as I realize what I said out loud. "W-what I meant to say is that... you should leave it! It's... it looks good on you."

He laughs and I look down to the armor to hide my face. When I finally get he armor opened all the way I offer it to him. He gives me a look before putting it over his head and sliding it on. The action brings my attention back to his torso and I watch as his muscles stretch and relax from the movement. But this time I catch myself in time to bring my attention back to him.

"How about a deal then." He says as he pushes his wings out the sides. I move to his other side and help him start to strap it on properly. "You promise to rest until I get back and I'll let you touch the fluff. Deal?"

"Oh yeah?" I ask with a laugh. "Ten hours of sleeping for a quick touch? Doesn't seem fair to me. Besides, I need to get the beds dried out and put back." [Barter 20/15]

"Alright. Then make a counter then." I stop and look to him. He's got that knowing grin on his face again. There's a pretty good chance he's prepositioning me. But there's a small chance I'm reading too far into it again. I should just play it safe... but I also want to touch the fluff.

"I will only finish the bed stuff and clean our Stable suites. In exchange... heh, I get to..."

I'm trying to think of something. But my mind keeps going to sexual stuff. And I don't think it's a good time for any of that. I don't want to come on to him too strongly. Especially after the emotional moment we just had. But I can't think of anything! I wonder...

"Well, I'll decide by the time you get back. I... want to make sure you're not too tired. Sound good?"

"Couldn't think of a counter?" He teases as he finishes the last strap.

"No! I have a counter! And it's a great counter! I just... don't want you dwelling on it for your shift!" I tell him with a playful slap to the side. He raises an eyebrow to me and smiles, getting me all flustered again. "That's the deal! Take it or leave it!"

"Okay then. I'll take it." He says as he zips up his coveralls. He leans in real close and I feel myself start to panic slightly. He gets right next to my ear and I feel his warm breath wash over the side of my head. "But if you don't think of one, then I'll pick for you."

"...Y-you! Go!" I yell as I start to push him out. He just laughs and heads out. We share one quick last look before he winks and leaves the apartment.

I wait a moment to make sure he's gone before I begin to bounce and squeal in place. That has to be proof! That has to be! He likes me! There's no way he doesn't! I've finally got a stallion to like me for me and he's amazing! Finally my luck works in my favor!

"Okay ladies!" Devil announces as she flies in front of me. Angel flies forward and stands at attention as Devil starts to march back and forth in front of us. "This is not a drill! We have ten hours to make a game plan! We need to wash up, get out hair presentable, finish the beds, and prepare for a night of pure unadulterated passion! This will not be a repeat of Spark Plug! Am I clear!?"

"Yes ma'am!" Angel and I respond, each giving a salute. I turn around and rush to get to work. There's a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. And I have to make sure to get plenty of rest so I won't be dead asleep when he gets back.

But the hardest part now is whether I chose something or let him?

Perspective: Reckless

Eleven hours later

I groan as I take the last of the steps down towards our apartment. I ended up at the bastion Lucky mentioned before leaving. I guess her luck does have weird premonitions. The first nine hours were super uneventful. Practically nothing happened. But maybe ten minutes before the guard shift was to occur we were attacked by a massive horde of feral ghouls. Easily double the size of the one we saw when we entered the previous day.

We were fortunate that the replacements came when they did. If not they would have easily overran our position. They almost did at anyway. The gun they gave me was worse than useless. The pipe weapons barely count as actual guns. Rounds would go way off course. They jammed often. The ammo has little to no stopping power. And the sights are confusing as hell. I wish I had the ammo to just use my own gun.

I saw him again though. Roy Phillips. The glowing one that's controlling the ghouls. At least, that's the conclusion I've come to. He was in the middle of the horde watching the attack. I tried to shoot him again, but the gun seemingly wouldn't hit him. That, and I had to spend most of my focus on the ghouls beating down the barrier.

When they finally retreated we all decided to retreat to the interior bastion. There was an assumption that they would attack again. And no one wanted to be at that post when the attack came. I waited with them for about thirty minutes. But when nothing happened they assumed that was that. I protested a little, but when no one else backed me up I just let it go. I tried to ask the other guards about that Roy ghoul, but they had no idea what I was talking about. I even asked a few of the other workers if that name was familiar. But no one gave me the time of day.

I'm not good at dealing with people. That seems to be Lucky's specialty. I'll talk to her about it all tomorrow and see what she thinks. Hopefully she's feeling better by then. Or, at least well enough to have a conversation.

Talking with her before the shift was... a lot. From seeing her practically nude to talking about my mother, there were a lot of emotions. I'm not the best at dealing with those. Usually I just ignore it and wait until it's not an issue anymore. It's not the best method, but it's my method.

I stop at the door and take a deep breath. I don't want to walk in and show how tired I am. I don't want to worry her. Not that I think she's awake right now. I have to get in and go straight to sleep. My next shift is in ten hours. It's rough but it's what I've got to do. But at least I was able to get some loot off the ghouls. Even if it's only ten caps.

I unlock and step through the door quickly. I have to fumble my way through the dark room towards my door. I stop when Lucky turns on her Pip-Buck as she steps out of her room. I pause when I see her though. Her hair is down and looks like a combination of bed head and half curls. It all seems intentional and looks great. She's a tad sleepy, but she still looks really happy to see me. I feel my stomach twist as she walks over toward me, still wrapped up in her blanket. As she walks I notice a note on my desk with my name on it. I can tell she wrote it by the professional cursive penmanship.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." I tell her in a hushed tone as I walk over to the desk and take the note. She shakes her head and walks right up to me. I get a little nervous from her approaching but When she opened up and hugged me all of that melted away.

"I got worried when you didn't show up." She mumbles as she relaxes against me. I slowly bring my arms around her and gently rub her back.

"Sorry, things were a bit crazy at the bastions." I tell her, trying to down play the whole situation. At least for now while she's so sleepy.

"I'm just glad you're okay." She says, squeezing me slightly tighter. I chuckle a little from that. Hearing her say all this is definitely putting me in a much better mood. "I know you just got back, but can we talk for a bit? I was asleep for most of the day and I don't think I'll fall asleep anytime soon."

"Of course." I tell her as I pet the top of her head. She hums and starts to sway lightly from side to side. I smile from the affection and bring a hand to her forehead. She's a tad warm, but much better. "How're you feeling?"

"Good. I think I'm one night away from beating this." She tells me in her drowsy voice.

"That's great! So... what's in the note?" She buries her face in my chest and stops swaying. I tilt my head as I look down to her, waiting for an answer. She's clearly embarrassed by something. What could possibly be in the note?

"So... you said I could get a reward for resting while you were gone. And I wrote it on that note. But... I'm a little nervous to show you the note. It's... well, you'll see."

"So what does it say?" I ask, reaching down to the grab the slip. But Lucky tightens her grip to stop me.

"Just... hang on a second." She says as she holds onto me.

"Are you sure you're okay? If it's too much we don't have to do it? We don't have to do anything that makes you too uncomfortable." I tell her, getting her to press her face harder against my chest.

"So... I'm going into my room. Get comfy and read the note. It'll... tell you what to do next. But... if you don't want to, then that's okay. I'll understand. But... yeah, get comfy!" She lets go of me and rushes to her room. I try to ask her what's going on, but she just ignores me and enters her room.

Lost and confused, I grab the note and open it. I feel my heart start to race as I wonder what it could possibly be.

Dear Reck,

So for the little while we've know each other I think we've gotten really close. We had our ups and downs, but I still think you're an amazing person despite your hardships. You're unlike anyone I've ever met before.

I know it'll seem as if it's just my hormones being out of sorts and maybe they are. But I really think I've come to like you now. More than just friends. And I'm hoping you feel the same way.

But after spending the day waiting and lost in my own thoughts I came to the conclusion that I can't let myself get caught up in what could be my head playing games with me. I want to be sure about who you are and what you think of me.

The little game we're playing, that'll be the test. And since I rested I get to pick the reward. And I'm picking that you play along. So here's the game.

Sleep with me tonight. If you feel the same as I do then come over and spend the night with me, but no sex. I know myself and I think I'll come on pretty hard. But if you can wait one night then I'll know you're truly the stallion I think you are.

But if you don't feel that way I'll understand. You can come over and we can have sex, but that will be the first and only time we do. We can still be friends after that, but I'll know where your heart lies. And at least then I can say I at least had you once.

And if you really don't want any of that, I will also understand. We can just act as if this never happened. We can even stay friends.

I know this may feel super sudden, but with how often we've each almost died out here I don't want to wait any longer to tell you how I feel. We may only get tonight after all. I hope I get to spend it with you.

So I'll be waiting in my room. Whatever you choose, I'll understand. But please choose quickly.

Your little clover, Lucky

I read the note and nearly drop it. I then read the note again just to make sure that I read it correctly. I can't believe it. I actually can't believe it! She likes me!? Like... the way I like her!? It's mutual? And she wants me tonight!

Hold on! She does, but she wants me to control myself tonight. I can do that... right!? One night for potentially a life time of joy... I can do that! Even if she's going to come at me pretty hard. I mean, she is a kind of a virgin. I don't think two seconds with a jackass should count. So I think I can manage that.

I go to rush straight in but remember that I'm still in the guard suit. I should probably try to wash up a little too. I'll grab some clothes, do a quick sink shower, and be right in! Shouldn't take more than ten minutes!

Fifteen minutes later

I stare at Lucky's door and try to reach for the knob. But I've spent the last ten minutes just standing here staring at it. I've never been so nervous to enter a room before. I really want this to go well. I need this to go well. But I have no idea what to expect in there. And although I want all of it, the fact that it might end everything terrifies me.

But it also might be the start of something great.

Okay! Enough stalling. Not going in there is the worse scenario possible! So no matter what I have to enter her room! I slap my face a few times before grabbing the knob and throwing the door open.

I nearly fall over when I see Lucky sitting on her bed. She's only wearing a black G-string. Her large perfect breast are seemingly poised for me to get a full view of them. Her legs are draped off to the side as she rests her weight on a single arm. Her free hand is slowly running up the length of her leg as she looks up to me with a blush growing on her face. The only light in the room is her Pip-Buck flashlight that she's set on the ground near the door.

"I was wondering how long you'd stay at the door." She says as she slowly brings her eyes to look me over. I try to say something, but I can't. I'm too lost in her beautiful form to think clearly. "So... How do you want me?"

"... Entirely." I don't know what that means, but it was the only thing I could think to say.

She chuckles a little as she motions with a finger for me to come closer. I grab the door and close it behind myself as I approach. She lays back slowly and spreads her legs while running both hands down her slender form. She brings them under the black string and starts to play with herself.

I feel my boxers tighten as I become fully erect. She takes a hand and reaches up to gently grab my member. I twitch from the touch as she runs a hand down the entire length. She tugs at the cloth and forces my penis to slip through the slit in the middle.

"Easy there." I mumble as she slowly drags her hand back up to the tip. "As nice as this is, we're not having sex."

"Are you sure?" She says as she gives my dick a few light tugs. "Seems like you're ready to go."

"Mhmm..." I groan as she slowly works my cock. "Of course I'm ready to go... look at you. Who wouldn't be."

She lets go of me and I feel myself twitch in excitement when she switches hands. Feeling the new wet fingers lubricate me sends new shivers down my spine as I lose all thoughts again. This might be harder than I thought.

"Lay with me." She tells me as she lets go again. She opens her arms to invite me to lay over her. I take a moment to try and collect myself. I know what the game is, I know how to win it! I just need to not rush into things for one night. I can do this!

I start to get onto the bed but stop when Lucky moves her thong to the side. I stare at her pussy for a moment before I rush to her side, much to her disappointment. I lay next to her and make sure to lay sideways. In my head it'll be a bit more difficult to do anything like this.

She looks to me and smiles. I think she gets what I'm trying to do. At least I hope she does. She turns on her side as well and I immediately stare at her chest. Seeing her breast drop down from the weight makes my mouth go dry. I feel myself twitch and quickly move to put my member back inside the underwear. She giggles at that.

"I'm glad you like them." She tells me as she moves an arm under her head. "The stallions in first told me they were too small for them."

"That's cause they're idiots." I tell her quickly. She smiles back to me as she inches closer.

"Would you like to touch them?" She asks, pushing her chest forward.

"Yes... but..." I try to think of some excuse, but I also am losing any blood from my brain as it races to my cock.

"It's okay. There's nothing in the rules saying you can't touch me. So... touch me." She moves her free hand behind herself as she relaxes and waits for me to make a move.

I mean... she is right. There's nothing saying I can't touch. What harm will come from just a quick grab?

I reach forward and cup one of her breasts. She lets out a low hum of approval as I squeeze her and gently pull. The soft, warm feeling under my fingers draws me back in to grab her again. This time pulling gently up and letting go to watch it bounce back to form. I do this to the other one as well as she scoots onto her back and press up against me.

"You really like that?" I ask as I continue to grope her chest. I take a moment to pull on her dark green nipple and force a small squeak from her.

"Mhmm... I love those heavy hands of yours." She mentions as she grabs my hand and guides it to grope her more aggressively. "How do you like it?"

"It's taking everything in me not to just blow my load." I tell her with a slight chuckle. Truth be told, not that I'm excusing him, but if this is how Spark's and her first time was it makes total sense now.

"We haven't even gotten to the main event." She tells me as she guides my hands down her flat stomach and over her pussy. My hand twitches from the heat radiating there and I can't stop myself from running a finger down the slick opening underneath the little strip of cloth.

"Holy shit." I mutter as I start to rub my fingers down there in a slow circle.

"Keep doing that." Lucky mutters as she grabs onto my arm. She closes her eyes and starts to absentmindedly grind against my hand.

She gasps loudly when I press against a small nub. I run my fingers in a slow circle around it as she starts to moan in rhythm with my movements. Watching her pleasure grow throughout her body I decide to slip my hand underneath the thong and continue the same motion directly on her.

Her grip on my arm tightens as I keep at it. I can feel myself start to grind in tandem with her movements as well. This is farther than I've ever gone with any mare without actually fucking them. And by the looks of it, if I keep this up for a little longer she'll be cuming real soon. With how wet she is, I wouldn't be surprised if she was prepping before I came in here.

"Reck," She mutters in a husky voice. "Put it in... please. I'm so close!"

I move a little down to get a better angle with my arm. My cock is demanding that I get on top of her and start fucking. But I won't. Right now it's mostly because I think she's just about to come so long as I don't stop. I try to make it in one movement. I circle a finger around the nub and bring it down to try and insert it. But with the angle I can't quite go straight in. So I end up making the 'come here' motion with my finger inside her pussy.

But apparently that was perfect. Because after two or three movements she shot up and curled in as her pussy gushed out a few spurts of liquid. I try to keep going, but she twists away from me as she shakes in pleasure. When I pull my finger out she lets out a loud gasp from holding her breath. I pull back a little as I watch her ride out the ending waves of pleasure. It must have been a really good one, because she sort of just collapsed onto herself.

"Feel better?" I ask as I rub my hand on her back. She rolls her head to look at me and nods, a massive smile on her face. "So... wanna just cuddle and talk now?"

"What about you?" She asks as she reaches down and starts to stroke my cock again. "You're so hard. Isn't it bad to get that hard and not release yourself?"

Truth be told, I have no idea. I've never gotten this hard before. Usually by this point I'd be in the mare. So I'm in entirely new territory. But that doesn't matter right now. We're not going to go all the way. Not tonight at least. I can do this.

"I'd rather just cuddle, that okay?" She nods and pushes herself to be on all fours. I can't help but stare as her breast sway form side to side as she crawls over me. Mesmerized, I just follow her lead and lay on my back as she slowly lowers herself on top of me. When her breast lightly lay on top of me she lets out a small chuckle before slowly dragging them up until we're face to face.

I look up into her beautiful magenta eyes and feel myself get hopelessly lost in them. She stares down at me and slowly starts to lay completely on top of me. She folds her legs so her knees are by my hips, making it so I can feel her pussy press against my lower stomach.

I reach up and start to run my hands down the length of her back. She's so incredibly soft. Even though I can feel a strong body underneath the skin, there's just a uniquely feminine feel to her that draws me deeper and deeper into her. I move my hands to her hips and hesitate for a moment before reaching down and scooping her ass with both hands.

This time I groan as I squeeze her amazingly supple cheeks. They're literally a perfect balance of squish and tough. Strong and malleable in equal parts. Just large enough to leave plenty for my hands to explore. But not so large that it becomes an endeavor.

"Reckless?" She moans into my ear as she relaxes her head beside mine. "Will you kiss me?"

"Kiss?" I ask, pausing my messaging. She nods and props herself to look at me.

"I want you to be my first kiss." She tells me as she gently runs a hand along my chest.

I feel myself shiver at the thought. But then I remember my first kiss. I recall how sudden it was and how I had a hard time controlling myself afterwards. I want to give her that. But I don't know if I can risk losing control right now.

"Please?" And with that I couldn't refuse. She shy look on her face. The adventurous look in her eyes. The... warmth growing over my crotch. There was no way I was going to deny her after all of that.

I reach up and push the locks of hair out of her face before moving a hand behind her head. I gently guide her closer to myself and stop when we're a hair away from touch. I feel her labored breath over my face as she stares back at me. I pull my other arm to hold her chest against mine as I close my eyes and press forward.

As our lips touch I feel everything start to quiver in excitement. It's like I've fallen into a cloud and electricity is zapping me from every direction. Lucky moans into my mouth and presses forward. Our lips meld into one as I tighten my grip on her, getting drunk by her essence. And I think she is too. Because she's started grinding against me as our lips wrestle with one another.

When we break away to breath she pushes herself up with both arms and starts to grind against my cock in earnest. I reach down and grab her hips to guide her, throwing my head back as my own pleasure starts to grow as well.

"Hold on." She mentions as she stops and reaches down. She pulls the top of my boxers down so that my cock can come out. She moves her thong aside and tries to line us up, but I lift her hips to stop that from happening. "Reckless-"

"Like this." I tell her as I set her down. I use her to force my cock to lie flat against me with her pussy pinning me down. I pull the small amount of fabric aside so we're directly touching. I give her ass a light slap before grinding against her.

"Mmm... okay... like this." She says as she leans back to sit upright. She holds onto my hands as she gets into grinding against me. As far as the rules should go, this should be fine. Right?

I try my best to grind against her as well, but a few times I almost slip into her. She's figured this out as well and tries to grind her hip as far forward to try and get me inside of her. After a few close calls I stop grinding and tighten my grip on her hips. She starts to gasp loudly as I force her back and forth against me. She tries to add her own movements, but I over power her and take total control of the situation. And she loves it.

She throws her head back as she lets out a scream of pleasure. She's stopped trying to grind onto me so I pull her down and start thrusting against her. Each thrust my cock slides up and down her oozing slit and she lets out a increasingly louder moan of pleasure. It's a bit off to pull her down onto myself while thrusting as aggressively as possible. But with how loud she's getting I can't stop myself anymore. All I can do is push myself as I feel myself edge closer and closer to finishing.

But she beats me to it. With one last yell she falls forward and another torrent of fluids washes over my crotch. I let out a loud moan as well as I feel myself get just to the edge of finishing. But as she convulses on top of me I have to practically toss her aside when I feel the tip of my penis enter her. It was only a fraction of a second, but it was enough to wake me up and scare me.

She bounces to my side and continues to convulse in pleasure. I don't know if she noticed or not. I don't know if that counts. But I was far too close to comfort. I take a few breaths and try to calm down as I asses the situation. I rub my cock and try to see if there's any blood or something that would tell me if I was actually inside of her. But there's only her juices from all the previous activity.

I don't think anything occurred. At least it seems like that. Maybe I didn't actually get inside of her. Maybe it was just me about to finish that scared me. Yeah... that seems fairly likely.

I look over to Lucky and stare at her for a moment. She's curled up next to me trying to catch her breath, a dreamy look plastered on her face. I reach over and brush another lock of hair off her face. She looks up to me and smiles, to which I smile back. We might be okay. I lean over to look at her pussy just to make sure though. And sure enough everything seems fine. I think I just over reacted.

"Wow." Lucky says breathily. "That was... amazing."

"Yeah... pretty good for just grinding?" I tell her as I relax a little. She shakes her head in agreement, but then gets a confused look on her face.

"I thought you finished inside of me." I feel my heart stop when she says that.

"What... I was never i-in you." I mention as I look to her in horror. She sits up and stretches a bit before scooting back to me. She reaches behind the bed and pulls her blanket out. She drapes over the two of us as she nestles against me.

"Reckless, I can feel when something is inside of me." She tells me matter of factly as she rests her head on my chest. "It's okay though. Now I can put this all behind me-"

"What!?" I almost yell in disbelief. No, no no no no no this isn't happening! This can't be happening!

"Thanks for a much better time. I'd actually call this my first time rather than with Spark. You were much better than him." She tells me as she closes her eyes and relaxes against me. "Feel free to grab me all night too. But I'd say my pussy is tapped out so please let her be."

"... WHAT!?" I ask again, still in disbelief.

"Sorry, but you really knocked me out with that last one. I'm going to pass out now. Goodnight Reckless." She tells me as she reaches up and starts to toy with the tuft of hair on my chest. "Hm... so soft."

"... WHAT THE SHIT!?" I grab my head and try to think of something to say. But... I fucked up. I fucked up royally. I've... I've ruined my chance at being with Lucky.

I try to tell her that I didn't mean to do that. That I tried to stop myself from entering her. But... I can't bring myself to. Because... I did enter her. I did let it go too far. And now... now she can't trust me. Not like that at least. I've fucked this up. And I don't know if I'll ever be able to fix it. I've lost her.

AND I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO FINISH!

My Pip-Buck starts to beep but I just lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. I didn't sleep at all last night. I couldn't. Part of me was trying to figure out how I can convince Lucky to give me another chance. I went over dozens of possible arguments and persuasions but in the end none of them seemed like they would work. I don't know how I'm going to fix this, but I have to try. I'm not giving up so easily!

The other part of my mind was completely distracted by Lucky. Having her sleep peacefully against me while almost nude was... distracting. To say the least of the pain growing in my loins. I don't think I've ever gotten so close to finishing and just stopped. I thought my balls were going to explode from the pain. It went away after awhile, but I'm still tender down there. Which was problematic when Lucky intertwined her leg with mine. With how pressed up she is to me, it was difficult to fully calm down.

I couldn't get up to finish it off in the bathroom. I didn't want to wake Lucky up. She wasn't kidding when she said she was going to pass out. At least she got to have a peaceful sleep. She gave me permission to grope her more, but I couldn't bring myself to do that either. As much as I wanted to, I just stroked her head in an attempt to help her sleep better. I think it worked, but I'm not entirely sure.

"Mmmm... alarm." She mumbles as she buries her face into the crook of my neck. I have to squeeze her a little to reach my arm and turn off the alarm. But when I do my arm feels her forehead.

I reach a hand to her face and feel her again. She's practically on fire! I feel her a few more times before she looks up to me and smiles.

"Good morning." She says as she pulls me in for a hug. "Mmm... my head's all fuzzy. What happened last night?"

"Lucky, are you okay? You feel as if you're burning up." I tell her as I brush her hair out of her face. I try to sit up but she clamps down on me. "Lucky?"

"Not yet." She mumbles as she nuzzles her face into my chest. "Just... let me have you a bit longer."

"Lucky..." I cup her chin and force her to look at me. She's clearly trying not to cry. And it breaks my heart to see her like that. "Why don't you get it? I'm already yours."

"But... last night." She starts but stops when I lean down and plant a soft kiss on her lips. Even though I'm trying to comfort her I feel her quiver against me. But with my face against her I can feel just how hot she's running. This isn't a normal kind of sick heat. It's much worse.

"What do I need to do to prove to you that I only want you? How can I prove myself to you?" I beg her when I pull away. She shakes her head and coughs a little.

"I don't want to lose you." She mumbles before another cough catches in her throat.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right by your side... always. No matter what." I tell her. But I don't think she can hear me. She just keeps repeating the same fear of losing me. After checking her head again I decide that we need to go to the doctors. This is definitely something really bad.

I try to force my way out of bed but Lucky made it really hard to do so. She didn't want to let me go. But I forced myself from her grasp and made it out of bed. I grabbed her stable suit from the closet and started getting her dressed. But she's so weak right now that she couldn't even get out of bed properly. So it took longer to get her dressed.

I got dressed in a flash. I'm rushing, but I need to get there as soon as possible. Somehow I remembered to put the mask back on her before scooping her up in my arms. She's still delusional. Mumbling all of the lines she said while we were in bed. I rush her to the door and practically throw my shoulder to open it.

Rushing out I run past Violet. She tries to tell me something but I ignored her as I sprinted towards the medical ward. When I get to the door I try to open it but find it locked. I look around and see Lupus standing at a desk reading a clipboard. Impatient, I start kicking the door to get her attention. After a few kicks she slams the clipboard down and stomps over to the door.

"Do you mind!?" She yells as the metal door slides open. But I rush in and almost run her over in the process. "What are you doing!?"

"Lucky's illness took a turn. Please! You have to help her!" I tell her as I look around the office. I see a doctors table in the back and rush over to it. I gently lay her on it and brush her face clear. Lupus walks over and grumbles as she puts on a new pair of gloves.

"Move!" She orders me, shoving me aside. I back away and watch as she goes through an examination. After feeling her and scanning her with that device she grumbles and goes to her computer. She types away as she looks for something, so I go to Lucky's other side and hold her hand. She's passed out again. Seemingly sleeping peacefully.

"I-is she going to be okay?" I ask Doctor Lupus. She doesn't respond. She's still digging through her notes. "Is there anything I can do? What's wrong with her?"

"Calm down!" She orders me as she continues to read. "I know your scared but asking me a thousand questions isn't helping anypony."

"Right... sorry... but do you have an idea of what's going on?" I ask, getting an irritated look from her. "Sorry."

"Whelp, I think I have an idea of what it is." She tells me when she pulls up a file. "But it's not good."

"What is it? Is there anything we can do about it!?"

"I am going off a theory, so bear with me." She takes one last look before turning around and sitting against the table. She rubs her eyes for a moment before continuing. "I think it's blight. A rare offshoot that's really nasty."

"Blight? Is there a cure? How can we help her!?" She gives me another look and I try to calm myself. But how could that be possible right now!?

"Normal blight can be cured. But... I don't think this will be as susceptible. But we'll try regardless." She tells me before going to a glass cabinet. It's full of various beakers and vials with various liquids and herbs. She grabs a few of them and brings them to a chemical workstation to start working to mix them properly.

"Thank you, Doctor." I tell her, not knowing what else to say.

"Don't thank me yet." She tells me as she spins a concoction together. "If this doesn't work I don't have anything else. So fingers crossed."

I look to Lucky and swallow a lump in my throat. It'll work. It has to work! I can't lose her now... I can't lose her ever! Lupus brings the remedy over instructs me to hold Luckys head up. She pours the substance into her mouth and tries to help coax it down. Lucky tries to cough it out, but Lupus manages to force her to swallow the medicine.

I set her head back down and watch her shift around uncomfortably. I don't know what's suppose to happen next. It seems to be working, maybe? It's causing her to move around so it must be fighting the blight. Lupus grabs the clipboard and motions for me to follow after her. I watch her go before looking back to Lucky. She is lightly writhing from the medicine. But that means it should be working.

"Reckless!"

"Right!" I jump to when Lupus calls me. I rush over to her and she motions for me to sit at the folding chair by her desk.

"I need to ask a few questions while we wait to see what happens." She tells me as she takes her seat. I sit on the chair and nod to her. "Have you two done any spelunking recently? Dumpster diving, search any radioactive rooms, anything of that nature?"

"No... no nothing like that." I tell her as I try to think of our past. We were really careful when we were out in the wasteland. We didn't go anywhere we didn't need to... "Wait... there was one dumpster."

"Just the one?" She asks as she starts to take notes. "Do you remember anything about it? Anything at all?"

"Yeah... when we left the Stable we were in this office building. A... robot, thing, threw us down a trash shoot. Knocked us both out from the fall. But I remember there were a bunch of black trash back. The bottom was basically a bog. And I think there was a dead body or two in there."

I try to remember anything else about that day. But there's not much else to recall. It was raining that day, which I tell her, but there wasn't anything else that stood out. But that was almost a month ago! Why would it take so long to take effect? Doctor Lupus writes a few more notes before working on her computer at her desk. I try to read along, but all the medical jargon just goes over my head.

"Well... I have a theory. And you're not going to like it." She tells me as she sits back in her chair.

"Doesn't matter. Tell me what's going on and what I can do to help." I tell her, steeling myself for the bad news.

"It's blight for sure. But it must be a particularly bad strain. One I've never seen before. My disease cure will help mitigate the effects. But eventually it'll take over." I take a deep breath and nod. I understand what she's saying, but... it still seems like something that's impossible.

"Okay... okay. So what can we do?" I ask nervously. There has to be more we can do. I won't accept that this is it! Lupus looks at her notes and grimaces.

"Well... there is something that can be done. BUT... it would require-"

"I don't care what it requires. Come hell or high water I'll do whatever it takes to cure her! So just tell me what needs to happen and I'll make it happen!" I didn't mean to yell, but we don't have any time to waste. She stares at me for a moment before nodding.

"Okay... first part is the hard part. You need to go down to the lower levels and find the medical ward. Silo is actually ten floors deep, and the bottom half are full floors. No missile taking up the center. Somewhere down there lies the original medical ward. In there you'll find a machine called the stable-flow infusion pump. You need to hope that it's intact and working. Bring it to me and then we'll start a blood transfusion."

Quest: Me and You, Together
Find the original medical ward within Silo

"We're fortunate that you and her are the same blood type, otherwise I don't think this next part would work. We'll transfer your blood into her body while pumping hers back into you. While we're doing this we'll pump both you with the disease cure. Your body has the antibodies to deal with the disease, and with the added help of the disease cures it shouldn't be too much of a risk for you. For her, it'll be close to say. But I think this is the best chance we have at saving her-"

"Then let's do it!" I say as I jump to my hooves and rush to the door.

"Hold on!" Lupus yells as she stands up. "There's one last thing to discuss!"

"What is it?" I ask as I stop at the door. She looks around for a moment before sighing and reaches into a drawer. She pulls out a clipboard and walks it over to me. She hesitates for a moment before passing it to me. "What's this?"

"That's a consent form. As payment for all of this I'd like you to donate your DNA to me." She tells me with a slight blush. I flip through the pages to try to read what it says, but I can't make heads or tails of it.

"DNA? Look, I don't have time. Just tell me what you want." She takes a deep breath before returning to her professional demeanor.

"Okay then. I'd like to collect your semen before the operation so I can artificially inseminate myself at a later date." I stare at her and try to start laughing. But the serious look on her face tells me how real she's being about this.

"You're... you're serious?" I ask.

"To make a long story short, you and your friend have very desirable traits that I want to make sure any offspring I have carry. Get the device and I'll perform the surgery and provide all of the disease cure for the procedure. I'd tell you how much it would cost in caps, but we both know you don't have that kind of money. So that is how I'd like to receive payment. Obviously you wouldn't be expected to carry out any future parental needs for any children born. If you want to be available to them then that is your call. So what will it be Mr. Reckless?"

"OH YOU BITCH!" Before I could answer the door slides open and Violet came rushing in. "Really!? That's the payment you want to take!? You know you're really something-"

"I'll do it." I tell her, getting Violet to stop.

"What!?" Violet yells as she steps in front of me. "Reckless, come on there has to be another way!"

I shake my head and take the clipboard. There's a pen attached and several sticky notes telling me where to sign. After a few seconds of filling out the paper work I hand it back to her and march off towards my apartment. Violet flips off Lupus before chasing after me.

"What-"

"Lucky is too sick for me to worry about this." I tell her as I open my door and head straight to my room. Violet walks in and follows after me to my room. I start gathering all the supplies but Violet takes my rifle away from me.

"Stop and listen for two seconds before you get yourself killed!" She yells at me, shoving the weapon back into my hands to drive home the point. I try to stay calm, but I don't have time to argue! The sooner we get this done the sooner she'll be okay!

"Fine! What?" I say angrily. She shakes her head and starts to pace around the cramp room. She's arguing something in her head. But I don't have time for that. "What Violet!?"

"Okay! The lower levels are full of feral ghouls! Going down there alone is practically a death sentence! Not to mention the Demon Core in the center, the assortment of killer robots, and the flooded levels! There's a reason we broke the entrance into there!"

"If there's all that down there then why build a town here?" I ask, completely baffled.

"The founders destroyed the stairs leading down there. No one thought that any of them could make it up here. And for almost two hundred years that's been the case! Plus you don't know where you're going! You could easily get lost down there and starve to death!"

"So what do you suggest I do!?" I ask as I throw my hands up and sit on my bed. "I can't let Lucky just die because it's too dangerous. I know she'd do the same for me!"

"Well..." She takes a seat next to me and sighs in defeat. "You could start with a thank you."

"What?" I ask in confusion. She just closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "No! No way! You're not coming with me!"

"I've been down there before!" She tells me firmly, giving me a determined look. "When my brother and I first got here we started out as prospectors. We've been down there enough to have a rough layout of the top two floors. And I think I know where the medical ward is. So unless you have a better idea I'd suggest saying thanks!"

I stare at her for a moment before I'm convinced she's serious. This practically complete stranger is willing to lead me down to this apparently dangerous place. There has to be a catch. No one out here has been this generous before. She has to want something out of this.

"What do you get out of this?" She rolls her eyes and stands up to pace again.

"Apparently not a thanks." She tells me irately. "Maybe I just don't want you two to be taken advantage of like I was. They tricked me into going down there! And bitch-ass Lupus is already charging you... with that! Is that all really too much for a simple 'thanks Vi, I'll make sure to get you back at some other point.'"

I stand up and stare her down. She stops in her tracks and stares back at me, trying to convince me with her eyes. She definitely looks determined. And she is right. I don't know what I'd do once down there. And having someone who has explored down there would only benefit me. Do I really have the luxury to question her anymore? For Luckys sake I should just say yes and move on.

"Okay. We'll do down together." I tell her. She leans forward and gives me an expecting look. I shake my head and get back to gearing up. "Thanks Vi. I'll make sure to get you back at some point."

"No problem Reckless!" She tells me with a slap on the back. "I'll meet you at the entrance. Bring any Rad-X and Radaway you've got. We'll also need any non-powered tools you have."

I follow her to the door as I try to ask her what we would need those for, but she ignores me and makes a run for her place. I shake my head and look across to see Hemlock staring back at me. I offer a fake smile before heading back in to finish getting ready. Whatever it takes. I'm going to find that device. I will save her.

I took the stairs as far down as they would allow me. The fourth floor is seemingly empty. Most of the spaces down here are either boarded up or filled with crates and other storage. There's a single guard watching over the stairwell heading down. He's sitting on a footlocker with his hooves resting on another locker. He thought I was joking when I told him I was heading down there. Called me crazy even. But I just ignored him as I waited for Violet. He doesn't know what he's talking about anyway. I don't need to pay him any mind.

I hear her practically falling down the stairs when she comes into view. She's wearing what looks like an old military uniform underneath several pieces of heavy combat armor. She fumbles with the laser rifle in her hands as she tries to latch the chest piece on while also fumbling with her helmet. She ends up dropping the helmet and weapon as she trips on the last steps.

"I swear I'm normally more coordinated!" She yells as she forces the latch shut and scrambles to pick up the weapon. I pick up the helmet and pass it to her. She smiles and takes it, sliding it on over her head. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." I tell her as she walks up to the guard.

"We'll be heading down now, toss the line." She tells him. He gives her a look before looking to me.

"You sure about that Vi? Does Big Brother know about-"

"Don't you worry your pretty little bald head about me." She tells him cutely. He grabs the construction helmet he has on and tries to cover his head better. "Now toss the line."

"Mmkay. But if he asks I tried to stop you." He says as he stands and opens the locker. Inside there's a long length of rope. He walks over to the stairs and starts to tie it off to a railing.

The stairs leading down on both sides have been blown out. The only way down would be to use the rope they have here. But that's not problem for me. Without telling her I pull her in by the waist side and lift her up. She squeals and latches onto me when I jump off the side and use my wings to break the fall. We land safely on the ground with a puff of dust. She squeals for a moment longer before looking around.

"A little warning would have been nice!" She yells as she smacks my chest and lets go.

"I'll say!" The guard yells as he starts to undo the rope. "Next time just tell me yer gonna do that so I don't have to get up!"

"Sit on a dick Hammerlock!" Violet yells as she flips him off. She really likes doing that. "Okay, follow me so we can get a game plan."

"Okay." I say as she walks off into the dark area.

I turn on my Pip-Buck and follow after her. Apparently this floor is empty of anything dangerous. But they leave it vacant just in case something makes its way in here. It's policy to leave one level of buffer between ponies and all the monsters how here.

She takes me to a boarded up room and pries the board just enough for us to slip inside. The room is similar to my apartment in layout. But a cooking station takes up the middle of the living around with the rest of the room having various piles of carpets, clothes, and parts of furniture. It's a fairly cozy room all things considered. She kneels by the cooking station and starts a small fire.

"Why are we in here?" I ask as I look around.

"We're making a game plan and eating. Exploring on an empty stomach is about as dumb as you can get." She tells me as the fire starts to grow. She opens her bag and tosses in a few sticks before checking on the pot.

"Do we really have time for this?" I ask as I plop down onto a large cushion. It's a bit stiff, clearly full of layers of various cloths.

"Yup! Trust me when I say this, losing your strength down there is not a good idea. Besides, we'll probably be down there for several hours anyway. Thirty minutes for us to rest and eat up will save us more time. Trust me on this." I stare at her as she focuses on cooking. If we're going to be down here for that long I guess I can spare some time to get to know her better.

"How many times have you been down here?" I ask her, making her chuckle.

"I'd say a dozen times. Maybe more. It's hard to tell really." She tells me as she starts to make some kind of soup. "Like I said, my first job here in Silo was as a prospector. We'd come down here to explore and find loot and junk for salvage. And trust me when I say there's lots down here still."

"Really?" I ask, curious about this place. "Then why don't more people come down here to loot?"

"They do." She says as she moves a rug to reveal a pile of broken down furniture wood. She grabs a few pieces and adds them to the fire. "But most aren't ready for what's down here. So they either end up as ghoul fodder or turn themselves."

"What's turning them?"

"The Demon Core." She tells me, waiving her hand to add to the mystery.

"Okay, what's that?" I ask, not buying the intrigue.

"Well, you know the giant fucking super weapon in the middle of town?" I nod to her. "The core of it fell out when the bombs hit. It's packed with so much magical energy that it bore a hole straight to the bottom of Silo. Any who get too close are turned into feral ghouls."

"Is that where all feral ghouls come from?" She laughs at that.

"No! It's part of how ghouls are made, sure. But they're not all from here. The bombs that hit all had that kind of energy. Hence why there's ghouls everywhere. But the Demon Core has no where for its energy to escape. So the effect is much more... pronounced."

"Will it really be okay to walk around here?" I ask nervously. Truth be told I don't have much in terms of anti radiation meds.

"Only if you go down to the lower levels." She tells me as she stirs the pot a few times and moves to sit near me. She lounges onto the cushions and holds her head up with a hand. I nod to her and try to think of something to say but she beats me to it. "So why did you agree to give Lupus a kid? Aren't you and that girl a thing?"

"Well..." I start but recall last night. I thought we could be, but I may have ruined that. But that doesn't matter right now. "If it's to save her life, how could I say no?" She stares at me for a moment before smiling at me. I feel a little awkward, but return the smile as best I can.

"So you like her, but she doesn't like you. At least not the same way?"

"It's not like that!" I say a little too quickly. She tilts her head and gives me a very smug look. "Okay... what I'm about to tell you is between us, okay! Don't go blabbing to other people!"

"Lips sealed! Now dish! We've got ten minutes till the food is ready." She tells me as she scoots closer. I groan as I try to think about what to say. Or even how to say it. It all happened too quickly and I don't really know how to start.

Before I could get into it we both jump from the sounds of people running. I go to the board we entered but Violet grabs my arm. She points to a small opening at the top corner of the wall where the cloths are piled the highest. I rush over to the small opening and take a look.

I see two of the settlers I traveled with running for their lives. Behind them is a small pack of feral ghouls chasing them down. If something doesn't happen soon they'll catch up to them and devour them! I rush get my assault rifle to aim out the small hole but Violet grabs my barrel and pulls it aside.

"What are you doing!?" I demand as I yank my weapon free.

"If you open fire more will come and they'll come for us. Besides, we're too late."

I look out the opening and see the lead ghoul swipe at one of the ponies. They go down with a yell before the others pile onto him and start to rip him to shreds. The other pony yells in terror and tries to keep going. But a different ghoul jumps onto them and rips out a large vein from their neck. They go down with a gurgle of terror as a small horde goes about shredding the two ponies to bits.

Violet goes back to her seat and sighs as she drops onto it. I try to think of something to do, but she's right. It's too late. And there are too many to deal with right now. We'll just have to hunker down here and wait them out.

"We could have saved them." I grumble as I climb down, trying to keep quiet.

"Maybe. But it would have sacrificed our position to do so. And then Lucky would be as good as dead." She tells me as she starts to undo her armor. "Sucks too. That means more have clamored up here. And with the fresh blood out there, we're stuck in here for at least an hour."

"An...!" I almost yell when she says that. But I catch myself and quiet my voice. "I don't have an hour!"

"Go ahead and try to sneak out there then." She tells me as she sets aside her armor. She unbuttons the military blouse and removes it. She's wearing a plain back bra, but it still puts a blush on my face to see her so bare. She notices me looking and chuckles. "What? Never seen tits before?"

"Never yours." I grumble as I avert my gaze. I move back to my seat and drop down as she ties the blouse around her waist. "So... what now? Just sit here quietly and wait for them to move on?"

"Basically. Sad to say but this is the safest way to travel down here. Over extend, get surrounded by those freaks. My big bro and I had several of these little hideaways throughout the first three levels. They've never given our position away before. So it'll be jumping from safehouse to safehouse until we find our objective. Which was?"

"A stable-flow infusion pump." I tell her, trying not to stare. But she has a really nice body. Nothing like the curvy goddess like Lucky. But she has her own kind of thin yet curvy appeal. She reminds me of Valve Switch actually, albeit much more mature.

"Right. So... what do you want to talk about? Because if you don't have anything I'm going to poke and pry into your love life. And I get the feeling that it's complicated and you don't want to get too into it. So you'd better think of something. Cause I'm a curious bitch."

I chuckle a little at that. She's certainly the forward type. And I appreciate that. Most people try to hide too much or don't know how to give as much as needed. I know I do that fairly often. But Violet really wears her heart on her chest... sleeve! Not chest! I'm not thinking about her chest!

... dammit.

"So... where's your brother now?" I ask, trying to change my line of thinking.

"He's at the restaurant getting things ready for the day. He rarely leaves the place so I usually have to make the supply runs and such. Hence the armor. But that means he's also gotten good at running things on his own. So no worries there. So have you fucked her yet or you still in the love sick puppy stage?"

I nearly have a heart attack when she asks that. And she has the audacity to laugh at me. I just shake my head as I try to think about the answer. But I start to feel really embarrassed when she just starts to laugh at me.

"You're really cute when you're flustered, you know that?" She says as she stands up to check the food. I just mumble to myself as I try to think of a rebuttal. "Describe her to me. Paint a picture for me."

"... I promised I wouldn't." I tell her, getting a confused look in return. "She has this thing where she doesn't like meeting people who know more about her than she had the chance to present. And I told her I'd let her make the first impression when she got better."

"Ah, okay! Say no more! I get it!" She tells me as she sits back down. "But just so you know, when we finish this and she gets back on her hooves I better be the first person she meets!"

"Will do." I tell her, calming down a little. I give her a look before deciding to start asking more questions. "So... why are you really down here with me? Why take this risk for people you don't know? Not that I'm not grateful! But it's definitely not something that commonly occurs out here in the wasteland."

She laughs a little as she runs a hand over her mohawk. She scratches the back of her head before leaning back on her arms and looking up to the ceiling.

"Well... lots of reasons really. Some good. Some not so good. Some selfish. At the forefront though, I didn't want Lupus taking advantage of you. I saw you rush Lucky in there and followed after you. Listened in on everything too. She really pissed me off with that shit. So maybe I jumped before looking."

"I'll say. But... why did it piss you off so much?" She loses her smile as she thinks about something for a moment. I tilt my head to look her in the eyes and she shakes her head.

"So... my brother and I used to do this awhile back. Maybe... ten years ago we stopped? Around that time at least. One day we got a little greedy... okay, I got a little greedy and pushed us farther than normal. We got jumped and it was really bad. Almost didn't make it out that day. But we did... well. Not entirely."

"Big brother got hurt. Really bad. Like nine out of ten bad. Lupus gave him the same deal she gave you. And we took it. About a year later I had a new niece and it was pretty good for awhile. But... well... she didn't make it. There's apparently a disease in our family that doesn't mix well with you ponies. Devastated both of them though. Can you imagine that? Losing a four year old little girl because of bad breeding? Or maybe it was just bad luck, who knows."

"Lots changed after that. Big Bro hasn't left the restaurant since then. And Lupus hasn't eaten there either. And now she's getting close to that age where she won't be able to have kids. So she's getting desperate. Uses the stupid test of hers to test peoples genes to see if they're a good candidate. And you won, so hurray for you."

I frown at that. It puts her in a new light for sure. But... I don't know. It all still feels off. How could they have known that something like that was going to happen? Wouldn't she have tested beforehand? Given what little I know of her now, it just seems odd to imagine anything else.

"Sorry for your loss. I'm sure it was really hard." I tell her, getting her to wave me off.

"Trust me, it was. But eventually you learn to live with it. And not at the bottom of a bottle or underneath every stud in Silo kind of living. Though I definitely tried." She says with a laugh. "But that's why I wanted to help you. Her giving you that deal... really made my blood boil. Made me feel like she had finally thrown my brother away. As if she's forgotten Jade too. Her own flesh and blood, forgotten."

She shakes her head and lies back on her back. I look around as I try to think of something to tell her. But I'm sure she's heard all of the common responses already. Probably more than once too.

"Her name was Jade?" I ask, getting her to look to me.

"Cutest little girl you've ever seen." She tells me with a proud smile on her face. "Adventurous. Curious to a fault. Stomach as big as a mirelurk queens!"

"... you were really close to her?" I ask. Her smile drops a little but she forces it back up.

"Yeah. I... can't have kids. Radiation as a child stopped that from being able to happen. But Jade... she was the closest I've ever gotten to that. So I spoiled the fuck out of her! Much to the chagrin of Big brother and Lupus too. But... yeah. Losing her... sucked."

"Sucked?" I ask, almost laughing at the normalization of the situation. "I'm pretty sure it was worse than sucked."

"Well duh! But after long enough you learn to live with the shit. It goes from being a life changing, pivotal moment that never ends; to that one hurtful memory; until eventually it just sucks. Doesn't change how much she meant to me. But... life keeps going."

I nod and change my view to stare at the fire. In a way I kind of understand what she's talking about. When my mother passed... there was nothing else. I could barely get out of bed, let alone deal with people. Then I started burying myself in school and work. Anything to stop thinking about her. Eventually Valve Switch came around and she started distracting me with sex. It didn't make me forget. But... I guess it just made things suck a little less.

Violet gets up and starts to stir the soup again. My thoughts move to her as an individual. I barely know her. But at the same time I feel like I know her better than most. And she just threw herself into my situation. I don't know where her morals or allegiances stand. But I genuinely feel as if I can trust her with my life. Even if she's doing this to spite Lupus.

"So... if that's the good reason, what's the bad reason?" I ask, getting her to nearly drop the wooden spoon. She laughs a little as she tries to keep a cool façade.

"Well... I promise this isn't as bad as it seems." She tells me sheepishly, trying to hide her face from me.

"That's always a good way to start things." I tell her, getting a laugh in response.

"Yeah... well, ya' know. It's like this... When I saw you and Lucky enter Silo the other day... let's just say you each peaked my interests... if you get my meaning." I stare at her and tilt my head. I get what she means, but I'd rather torture it out of her.

"Interests?" I ask innocently. She looks to me and tries to stare daggers. But she ends up laughing instead. I think Lucky is starting to rub off on me. This is definitely something she's do.

"Okay! I was lurking around your place to try and run into you! I wanted to meet Lucky and bring her some soup! I had this whole plan get in and seduce the two of you! Happy?" I blurt out a laugh when she tells me this. It's quite ambitious, I'll give her that.

"You thought you were going to seduce both of us?" I ask, getting her to hide her face from me. Is she one of those lesbians Hemlock told me about? But she wanted me too, so how does that work?

Maybe now isn't the best time to think about the logistics of that.

"Hey! I'm very persuasive, I'll have you know!" She tells me while pointing the spoon at me. "But clearly that's not going to happen today!"

"Today?" I ask with a chuckle. "So the plans just on hold?"

She shakes a head at me as she pours the soup into two metal bowls. Without any measuring she was able to perfectly cook two servings. Clearly she's been doing this for a long time. She passes me a bowl before plopping down onto her cushion pile. She starts to blow on her food while avoiding my gaze. I do the same as I watch her. She's quite the character. If I didn't mess things up with Lucky maybe that could have worked. But now...

"I think I messed things up with Lucky." I tell her, getting her to stop and listen. "Without getting too into things I think I put myself in a position where Lucky only sees me as a friend."

"How'd you do that?" She asks, testing a sip of soup.

"Well... she gave me options and I chose wrong. Sorry, it's a bit too complicated and personal to Lucky to really get into." She nods to me, taking a bigger sip of soup. I go to drink as well when a thought occurs. "Can I ask you a hypothetical question?"

"No I don't do anal."

"... what?" She looks to me with wide eyes before laughing a little.

"That was a joke! Just a little joke to lighten the mood! Heh... heh, anyway! What's on your mind?"

"... well... it's like this. Lucky thinks one thing happened when it really didn't. Do you think it'll be possible to change her mind on it?" She stares at me and thinks on it. I test a bit of the soup while she thinks. It's warm and flavorful. Leagues better than what I made.

"Well without proper details there can be a lot of variation to this. But I will say this. Perception is reality. If that's how she views it, that's how it is. Can people change their views on something? Sure! But it'll take work and patience. I take it something between the two of you happened and it's your fault. Don't give me that look, it's usually the stallions fault. Like... sixty percent of the time."

"So... sixty? But is there anything I can do to fix it!?" I sound a little too desperate. But I guess I am desperate. She thinks on it again before nodding.

"Well, this is a really good start. You are literally saving her life. That's not nothing. Again, the details matter. Depending on how deeply she feels about the subject matter. If it's just a... I don't know. Not everything can be fixed. But most things can. Sometimes it's just takes time. Sometimes you need to move Heavan and earth. If I had to guess, based on your desperation, I'd say at least a fifty fifty chance at fixing this."

Fifty fifty… that's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. That's actually a lot better than I thought! Fifty percent chance at fixing this? I'll take those odds!

"So does that mean I can date her in the mean time?" I nearly have a heart attack when she asks that. She laughs at me as she downs most of her food. I just stare back at her as I try to process what she said.

"Um... what?"

"Don't get me wrong! I'm not trying to steal her from you! But if she's in a state where she only thinks of you as a friend then you're both available, right?"

"... right?" She sets her bowl down and turns to face me more directly.

"So this works for both of you! Just hear me out. I always make sure that the people I date know that it's mostly a physical, not committed thing. At my age, I'm not looking for anything more than that. So while you work your way back into her good graces I keep everypony off her back! Gives you... let's say three or four months to figure things out!"

"This seems like we're taking advantage of her." I tell her, getting her to nod.

"I mean... maybe? I was already planning to seduce the two of you so how much does it really change?"

"But you're asking me for permission to date her. That's not something I can give-"

"Of course! I'm not saying for you try to hook me up or anything like that! If she's not into mares then nothing lost nothing gained! I'm not going to force myself onto her! But if she is interested, I'd like to know that I'm not causing too big of a rift between the two of you. I'm less asking your permission and more asking if you're going to be okay with seeing her with another person. So... what do you say?"

I stare at her as I try to process what she's saying. She's not wrong. If Lucky isn't interested in me then she's going to be looking elsewhere. But I don't know how I feel about this whole situation. I don't want to share Lucky. But that's not something for me to decide. But I also don't want to manipulate her into a situation where we're conspiring to persuade her emotions. That's some shit my father would pull.

"If I was okay with it, it would strictly in the sense that Lucky gets to choose who she is with." I tell her, getting her to nod quickly. "If that's what she chooses, then I'll have no choice but to respect that. That's the most I can really offer."

"That's completely fair... and very mature. How old did you say you were?"

"Twenty-"

"Baby!" She yells, covering her mouth as she eyes me in a new light.

"And Lucky is nineteen." I tell her, getting her to gasp again. I suddenly feel really shitty about that. I said it so quickly in a defensive reflex. I didn't mean to just out her age like that. "Please don't tell her I said that! It just came out!"

"You're fine Reckless!" She says as she picks her soup back up. "But you're both so young!"

"Well how old are you!?" I ask before downing a bunch of soup. I mostly didn't know how to sit here and deal with the fact that I blabbed.

"I'm forty two." I choke on the soup when she tells me that. "Thanks. That feels great."

"No... no, sorry. It's not like that! It's just that... I thought you were in your twenties!" I tell her, making her smile and shake her head.

"Now you're just trying to butter me up!" She says as she fiddles with her bowl. "But keep going. Your praise fills me with that youthful spirit!"

I stare at her for a moment before we share another laugh. I can't believe the rollercoaster this conversation has become. But... if Lucky was going to end up with someone other than me... I guess Violet seems like a good choice. At least that's the reality I'm perceiving.

We spend about an hour and a half waiting out the small horde. Most of the time was spent getting to know each other. It was a good talk. It was awkward when she offered to have sex. But it's a little too soon for me, even though my balls desperately disagree. She told me to raincheck the offer.

We put out the flames and sneak our way out of the hideout. She instructed me to keep my light off as we traveled. She knew the route fairly well, so we didn't want to chance any of the ghouls seeing the light. Even though they are practically blind.

This floor and the next floor follow the same layout as the top floors. So getting to the lower levels is actually pretty easy. We just need to take the stairs down. It's the bottom five floors are the tricky opens. The stairs move to the outer ring and go in a straight line. While that sounded easy enough, the ghouls know to stick around those parts. Since it's where most of the action happens.

When we make it to the sixth floor, counting downwards, we stop just shy of the opening. She peers in and curses. We trade spots and I nearly have a heart attack. The entire floor is covered in ghouls. Most are lying about, covering most of the ground before us. But a few are mulling about, twitching to every sound and light that comes across them. A few of the light fixture are still working down here, giving us a decent view.

We back away and stop at the top of the stairs. Violet rubs her mouth as she tries to think of what to do. I take a look around the fifth floor and try to get a read on what's going on here.

"What's on this floor?" I ask. The fifth floor is mostly dark, but there are two lights showing a mostly empty space. It seems that most of the ghouls are on the floor beneath.

"Mostly empty spaces due to over looting. Why?" I take another look around, trying my best to see if there are any hiding.

"Is there an elevator we can use by change?" I ask, but she shakes her head.

"That thing broke decades ago! It's no use to us." I stare at her and open my wings. She looks at them before it suddenly clicks in her head. "Oh... yeah... by the way you're going to be rich with those."

"Great, show me where the elevator is."

We continue our way around the outering before breaking into one of the boarded up rooms. It's in the same position as many of the outer stores from above, so it should go all the way up. This will makes things considerably easier. I look down and try to see what's down there, but it's too dark. Looking up I see a few rays of light. I jump into the open space and open my wings to catch myself in the air. I push myself up and down before landing back with Violet.

"So this is going to be little harder than I thought. But it's still doable." I tell her.

"Why's that?"

"Flying by myself is no problem. But adding another person makes it much harder. And adding your heavy armor is problematic as well. All that is to say that going down will be easy. But going up is going to be slow going. Maybe one or two floors at a time. So we need to hope that there's enough of a clearing when we make it down there."

"Okay... take a flight down there and take a look. I'll keep watch here." I nod to her and step off the ledge.

I flap my wings to hover by the closed door. I take a look at it before flying up and setting my weapon by Violet. I drop back and start trying to pry it open. It's rusted pretty deeply, but when it slides a few inches I feel determined to open it. I place a hood on one end and pull the other with all my might. [Strength 8/6]

It slides open with a loud screech. I nearly fell over when it suddenly moved. But I caught myself with a quicky aerial twist. I look up to Violet and smile to her. She gives me a thumbs up-

THUD

I fall back when a feral ghoul threw itself at me. We struggle in the air before I push it off and send it falling down into the abyss. I take one look at the floor and feel my heart sink when countless figures rise and turn towards me. I look up to Violet and see her scared look before an idea comes to mind.

"GET TO A HIDEOUT AND WAIT FOR ME!" I yell as I scoot back and start banging the wall. "COME AND GET IT YOU UGLY FUCKS!"

"RAAAAAAH!" Dozens of them start hissing at me as they all break into a sprint towards me. I wait for the last possible moment before zipping up into the air. Most try to stop when the reach the edge. But the ones in the back trying to see what's going on push them over the edge.

"FUCK!" I yell out when one of them jumps at me and grabs my hoof. I was able to kick it off quickly. But it was enough to drop me low enough for another grabbed me. "I NEED TO MAKE A DASH FOR IT! I'LL BE BACK! JUST GET SOMEWHERE SAFE!"

I grab the nearest ghoul and use it as a shield before dropping down. It starts flailing its arms at me. But we're dropping so fast it can't really hit me that hard. I look back as ghouls fall all around me in an attempt to see anywhere I can go. But most of the elevator doors are shut. But when I check the ground I see the elevator with the maintenance hatch opened.

I push the ghoul I have away and it slams against the wall. I twist my wigs and get ready for the quickest maneuver I've ever done while flying. I close my wings and stand as if I was pencil diving. Once I'm through the opening I need to open my wings and stop myself from falling. I'll only get one chance at this.

FWUMP

SHHHHH

I nearly hit the ground when I make it through the maintenance hatch. [Agility 9/8] I had to raise my legs to a squat to avoid the ground. But it worked. But I don't have time to celebrate. I move to the door and start to pry it open as bodies come crashing from all above. Just like the previous door, it's hard to get moving at first. I glance back to the hatch as a body comes crashing in. My worry is that if enough of them come falling down they'll start surviving the fall.

That, and this floor is supposed to be super irradiated.

I get the door open and start to run in when I have to come to a stop. The room is mostly dark. But there is a single light coming from the middle in the center of the room. A large metal object is sitting in the light with a single glowing one standing by it. I recognize it as Roy.

He turns to me and tilts his head in surprise. A few more bodies hit the elevator and force me to step into the room. My Pip-Buck starts going crazy as the rads start to climb higher and higher.

"You." The glowing one says in an echoey voice. I start to panic and move to the side and back away. I only have seconds in this room before the rads will be too much. "I remember you."

I step on a skeleton and notice it has a combat knife in its chest. With no other options I grab it and hold it out in front to defend myself. The ghoul just watches me as I move around the room. He seems more curious than anything else.

"Don't worry. The core will take you soon. There's no escaping this room. I made sure of it." He tells me calmly. He's right. If I stay in here and wait for something to happen I'll die anyway. And while I don't believe him, I can't see any other way out of here.... except one.

I flare my wings and take off towards him. He recoils back in surprise, giving me the perfect opening to go straight up through the opening. My Pip-Buck protest from the sudden explosion of rads. But I'm out of the room too quickly to worry about that.

In a panic I race my way all the way up to the actual Silo. From there I fly around the missile and out towards the sky. I race into the air and rise for awhile before snapping to my senses. I stop and take in my surroundings. The sun has barely risen over the horizon on this clear day. I can see the city proper in the distance to the east. Just north of it I see suburbs and highways leaving the dense towers.

A shimmering green light catches my attention in this area. It's hovering in the air about the same height as I am. But it's too far away to make anything out. But as soon as I saw it the glowing dot raced towards a large building beneath. I stare out at the building before shaking my head and looking to the knife in my hand.

Stabhappy

Someone wrote the name of the weapon on the side of the blade. I guess that's a fitting name. I look at my belt to holster it, but there's nowhere for it to go. I guess I'll just keep it out for now.

I take a look down at Silo and stare at the massive fortification housing the tilted missile. I can get back in easily enough. I can even get directly into the room we need to get to. But I left Violet on the floor above. Maybe I should go get her first...

EEEERRRRRRR

I feel my stomach suddenly twist and my wings go a little numb. Something is making me feel queasy. Could it be being out in the sky for this long? No, that doesn't make sense. Maybe it was a lingering wound from before? But that equally doesn't make any sense.

The wind picks up and I hear my Pip-Buck tick a few times. I feel really stupid for not recalling that I'm probably glowing from all the rads I've taken. Checking my condition and realize that I'm almost maxed out on radiation! Panicked, I grab my doses of Radaway and start to down the first one. I only have two, so this is pretty bad.

I grimace from the old carrot flavor and watch the rad counter slowly drop down. It only removes about a third of my rads, making me panic more. I only have the other one on hand. If I take it now I'll probably be better off. But then there's the chance that I get irradiated all over again. If that happens I'll have to hope that Violet has more-

VIOLET! I keep getting distracted! I need to get back down there!

Without a second thought I down the other Radaway and start to race back towards Silo. I've never had this much space for a dive before. I start to reach speeds where the air around me starts to form a cone around me. I feel it push back against me, but I don't have much time to push against it. In the blink of an eye I make it back into Silo and race back down into the lower levels.

I race through a few of the openings until I think I've made it back into the correct floor. I take a look around and see a room with a large fallen sign with a medical cross in front. I see one of the boards closing off the room has been broken down. I propel myself forward and land on the other side of the entrance.

Violet is running from a few ghouls as she fires the occasional laser at them. But she's one handing the weapon while lugging around my weapon. She seems to have a small circuit going around some old medical furniture to keep them off of her. But there are a few willing to throw themselves over the obstacles in an attempt to connect with her. I stare at the five ghouls before picking one that looks like it's about to make a leap. I flare my wings and fling myself at it, swinging my knife to drive it straight into its chest.

SHI-UNK

I crash into the ghoul and send it crashing into the ground. The other two behind it trip over me and fall over me. I yank the blade from the corpse and throw myself onto the closest ghoul. It starts to bite and swing at me with wild abandon. But I wrestle my way on top and start to stab it repeatedly. Bloody ichor splashes out all over me as I beat it to death. The blade makes quick work of the unarmored ghoul.

I turn to the other one as it stands and hisses at me. I get ready to defend myself when a red beam of light hits it in the back and vaporizes the creature. Directly behind it Violet is standing there. She's dropped my weapon to take better aim. I see the other two ghouls ready to pounce on her though.

I put all of my strength into flinging myself at the two last ghouls. I try to do the same maneuver, but the timing was completely off this time. So instead I end up just throwing my shoulder into the lead ghoul. We go crashing down together and I try to stay on top of it. Luckily my tackle was enough to disorientate it. So I had plenty of time to choke hold the ghoul and stab into its side.

As I rip at its side with the blade I head Violet firing shot after shot. I assume she can handle one ghoul. So I focus on killing the one I have in my arms. All of its bile pours out onto me as I pin it against the floor. I feel my arm start to burn as I begin to tire out from the constant stabbing. But I don't stop until I know it's dead.

When I finally stop stabbing I take a look at it and see that I've carved a portion out of its side. So I'm pretty sure it's dead now. I let go of it and let out a breath as I splay out on the floor. I don't even care if blood is pooling all around me. All of the adrenaline has left my body and I'm dead to the world.

"... so I may have disregarded what you told me to do." Violet tells me as she stands over my head. "But I found the medical ward."

"You're lucky I entered the right room." I tell her as I close my eyes and try to will myself to stand. But it's not there yet. "Are there anymore we need to worry about on this floor?"

"Nope. Thanks to your little escapade most of the ghouls on this floor went crazy chasing you down. We're clear for now." I nod to her and raise an arm. She steps to my side and helps me to my hooves.

"Let's find the device and get out of here then." I tell her as I turn on my light.

"Mind if I also stuff my bags with any goodies?" She asks as she starts to wander around the room. I head over to my weapon and pick it up. I look at the knife before stuffing it into the looping folds of my guard armor.

"Just send any Radaway to me. I need one or two to get back to normal." I tell her as I start to open cabinets and drawers.

"Gotcha!"

We spend a few minutes searching the room. I found caps, some low caliber ammo, a few medical supplies; but nothing called a stable-flow infusion pump. Violet was equally unsuccessful in her search. Though she did send a Radaway my way. We take a look at the room and I feel as if we've failed. There's no pump here. What will we do now!?

"Hold on." Violet says as she steps forward. She takes a look around the room and rests her hands on her hips. "This room should have a similar layout as my shop."

"Doesn't it?" I ask as she looks at the far wall. She walks over and starts to feel around until she finds something.

"This room is too narrow. It should be twice as wide! So there's a false wall here. Look around for a button or switch!"

We renew our search. But this time we're looking for some switch or button. I check every drawer. Every desk. Under the shelving and under the medical furniture. We don't leave a single surface untouched until I find it. On the side of one of the x-ray displays there's a small red button. Clearly out of place since the actual power switch is on the front. I call Violet over and press the button.

A section of wall slides in and reveals a new area. We both race to it overjoyed to have found the room. But when we see the room in question we stop and look on in horror.

The back half of this room looks as if it was an operation room. But the once white, pristine walls are now plastered in dried blood stains. Various body parts are strewn about as blood drips from the lighting fixture above. There are splotches of new blood in the room as well, telling us this room is still in use.

We look to each other before I walk into the room. Each step sticks to the ground slightly as blood stains the bottoms of my hooves. I take a look around until I see a corner with some equipment stashed away. I rush over to it and start to read the devices. Our fortune turns as I find two stable-flow infusion pumps!

"We've got two!" I announce as I pick them up by their stands. I look at the other devices before scooping them up as well. I'm sure they'll fetch a good price regardless. "Let's get going!"

"Aren't you the least bit curious about all of this!?" Violet asks as I heft the medical equipment out of the room.

"Not right now, we're racing the clock! We need to get back and hope these work. We can worry about this at a later time."

"But-"

"Lucky first." I tell her firmly. She looks around the room before nodding to me. Truth be told, this room creeps me out to no end. But we can worry about it at a later time. Right now we need to save Lucky.

We're traveling a little slower than normal. But that's because I grabbed more than I needed to. Violet did take two of them, but it's still a lot to carry. But my hope is that these machines will help save Lucky. If not then maybe they'll sell for a high price. Which in the end is the same as saving her, just in the long run.

Trekking back up the stairs was much easier than coming down. I guess all of the ghouls made a dash for me when I started yelling. Violet says she's never had such an easy return in her life. Truth be told, I don't trust it. I have this constant feeling that something is watching us. But I can't see anyone around here. When we make it back to the entrance of Silo I take one last look around but fail to see anything. I know something is staring at me. I can feel eyes boring right into me. But there's nothing here.

When we make it back we find the same guard on post. I don't think we were gone more than two, maybe three hours. He's even impressed by our haul. I guess ponies only fine a few scraps or the occasional components. Finding whole devices is rare.

I trudge along straight for the medical ward. A few ponies stare at me as we walk through town, but I pay them no mind. I feel myself starting to go sore all over, but I don't stop. I need to get there as soon as possible.

"LUPUS!" I yell as we make it through the metal door. She jumps in surprise and nearly spills some medicine over Lucky's unconscious body.

"Reckless! What happened?" She asks as she grabs her medical bag and rushes over to me. I set the devices down and take a few breaths. Why do I feel so tired all of the sudden?

"There's two of them... please tell me they work." I tell her as she pulls out a stim-pak and stabs it into my thigh. I feel the magic wash through my body and I begin to relax. I check my Pip-Buck and nearly fall over when I see how low my health was. I know the radiation nearly took me out. But I forgot that it also drained my health as well. One good hit would have killed me back there.

"Take these dirty clothes off and sit over there! Violet, give him some healing salves and apply them to his wounds! I'll start cleaning out the machine and check to see if it works. Now go!"

I don't question her. I'm too tired to. I make my way over to the lone chair and drop my armor and suit along the way. Violet follows after and applies a cooling salve to my back. I groan when I feel it start to seep into various wounds. I guess they got a few good hits when I grappled them.

"Be honest, how bad is it?" I ask as I sit down on the folding chair. She gives me an uneasy look before applying some of the salve to my chest. I didn't even notice the small gash I had there. When did I even get that?

"Well... from what I've seen, two out of ten." She tells me as she rubs the ointment into my pec.

"Two!?" I ask in surprise. She smiles to me before adding some salve to my lower calf. I feel a new wave of embarrassment when I realize the position we're in. I really wish I wasn't just in my underwear right now.

"Don't get me wrong, you're pretty beat up. But I don't think there will be any scarring. And with how fast this all happened I'd say we got you in here right in the nick of time! So, yeah, two out of ten." She tells me as she finishes applying the salve. She then gives my leg a hard smack. "But don't be so stupid in the future! I thought you were going to die!"

"Ow!" I yelp before rubbing my leg. "Sorry! It's not like I planned it! It sorta just happened. But it worked out-"

"Having no plan doesn't mean it worked out." She tells me as she stands and rubs her eyes. "It means you got lucky. And I don't trust idiots who solely rely on luck. So next time follow the plan!"

She goes to smack my leg again but I recoil to block myself. She looks back to Lucky and sighs as she stares at her. I look over and notice that she's on a breathalyzer. The sight makes me panic slightly, but we got the machine! We can save her! We just need a little more time.

"I have good news." Lupus tells us as she walks over. "Even though both machines are broken, I can use one as spare parts to fix the other. And with how fast you've gathered them, I have no doubt that Lucky will be able to make a full recovery."

"That's great!" I yell, nearly jumping to my hooves. Violet lays a hand on my shoulder to stop me though.

"And the bad news?" She asks with a sneer. Lupus looks between the two of us before presenting a small clear cup with a yellow screw on cap.

"I have a shower in the back you can use. Please clean up before gathering the material. But I need my payment before I start the procedure."

I stare at the cup and feel my cheeks burn a little. I know I said I'd do it, but I guess I didn't realize how quickly she'd need it. I take the cup slowly and fumble with it for a moment before I slowly rise. I look to her and offer a small smile before turning towards the restroom.

"I'll begin preparations... Just for your own privacy sake, the bathroom is soundproof." Lupus tells me before turning quickly and going back to the machines we brought. I glance to Violet and share an uncomfortable look before heading to the bathroom.

The bathroom here is fairly small. It has a standing shower encased in clear glass, a toilet, and a sink with a mirror. The room feels a little cramped, but I guess comfort wasn't the main goal here. I look to the cup and feel a little embarrassed. I haven't masturbated since I was fourteen. Not that I don't know how... It's just feels a little weird knowing people are expecting me to.

I nearly fall over when the door opens and Violet walks in. She's only in her black bra and panties. I try to say something but she ignores me as she slips past me and opens the shower door. She starts to mess with the nobs as water starts to fall. She closes the door and turns back to me. I can see she's a little embarrassed, but she's made up her mind.

"So... if you really don't want me here I'll leave. No problem. But... well, if she's going to screw you then you should at least get a screw out of it." I stare at her as she tries to avoid my gaze. All of that bravado from before is hanging by a thread right now.

"Vi... I don't know how I feel about that." I tell her as I set the cup down in the sink.

"I understand. But you forget two things. You need to get the... stuff out anyway. And... well, the plan was to seduce both of you. And if she really is putting you in a friendship role then there really shouldn't be an issue."

I stare at her as I try to form a rebuttal. I wouldn't necessarily mind having sex with her. She certainly is very attractive. But I don't know if this is right. I know Lucky told me she didn't want to continue as a romantic partner. But I don't know if that was the sickness talking or her. If I do this and it was her talking... then I'm no better than my father.

But if it was really her talking, then what am I really losing? She isn't interested. At least not now. I wish I could go talk with her and just ask how she really felt. Because the longer I wait the longer I stare at Violets sexy body. She slim. Slightly shorter than Lucky, but still looks tall. Maybe it's the stripes and long white belly that's intoxicating me. But I'm slowly losing my own argument.

Maybe... this can be the last time I'm with another pony? No! That still feels wrong! I don't want to give up on Lucky. I'll just let Vi know how I feel and that'll be that.

"Vi-"

"Or, if you'd like, I can just suck you off and that'll be that. Either way really."

"... okay." She smiles to me as she moves an arm behind herself. I watch as she unclasps her bra and it falls to reveal her chest. But something in my head clicks as I stare at her bare chest. In contrast to the stripes on her body her chest is completely black. Though her nipples are still visible despite being the same shade.

This is wrong. We haven't even done anything and I already knw this isn't what I want to do. Even if Lucky wouldn't be mad, I'd still want to wait to know for sure that she feels that way. I can't do this now.

"So how-"

"Actually." I cut her off as I rub my face. I can already feel my frustration grow. But I'll deal with it later. "I'm sorry Vi. But I don't think I can do this right not. Maybe at a later time, but it wouldn't be right to now. Sorry."

I feel like a small child who was caught trying to steal something. But I stick to my guns. She stares at me for a moment before shrugging. She folds her arms over her chest to cover herself while shifting her weight to one leg.

"Are you sure?" She asks while leaning forward to show more of her cleavage. I try to not stare... but I'm not made of metal!

"Y-yeah. Sorry. But... I just feel like I need to know how Lucky really feels before I can do something like this. Sorry if that's-"

"You don't have to apologize Reckless." She tells me with a laugh. She shakes her head and stands upright.

"Really?" I ask, a little surprised. The mares in Eighty-Eight would do this kind of thing often. But they'd never let me get away when I'd ask nicely like this. I'd usually have to get a little forceful with my rejection before they'd take the hint. But she's taking this really well.

"Yes, really. Reckless, if you don't want to have sex with me then we're not going to. I'm a big girl, I can take a no. And don't fret that pretty little head of yours. We're still friends."

I smile to her as she picks up her bra and holds it to her chest. She turns around and motions for me to hook it back on, which I do.

"Tell you what. Shower up, deal with that," she says while tugging at my underwear. I feel myself tense up in a surprising amount of sensitivity as she tugs my underwear off my hips. I'm still really sensitive from last nights romp. "Oh... yeah, you better take care of that soon... I take it she didn't reciprocate last night?"

I tilt my head in confusion before looking down at myself. I nearly fall over when I see my balls are swollen and slightly bruised. I try to say something, but then I remember what happened last night. So I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

"Take care of that." She tells me as she gives my erect cock a playful tap. "I'll head out and come back with some food for the two of you. Sound good?"

"That sounds great... thanks Vi." I tell her as she heads towards the door. She offers me one last wink before leaving the room. I look down to my painfully throbbing penis before petting it in sympathy. "Sorry, maybe next time."

The shower was over well before I wanted it to be. I almost messed up gathering the... sample. I was so sensitive it didn't take long for me to finish. And I nearly missed the cup when I did. Though, because of how tensed up I was, I did do it a second time. So I guess it didn't matter of the first one was well aimed or not.

Without any of my clothes on hand I have to settle for leaving the room in my underwear. I take a look around to make sure the coast is clear before stepping out into the medical room. It's mid day, but there isn't anyone else in here. I guess that's a good thing of a hospital.

I find Lupus working on hooking up the machine to Lucky. She barely registers me walking up to the two of them, simply grunting when I approach. I look over Lucky's unconscious body and feel myself start to worry all over again. She has a breathing mask on with IVs in one of her arms. It doesn't look as if she's sleeping peacefully. But hopefully this will be over soon.

"Um... where should I put this?" I ask as I hold out the filled cup. She looks at it and stares for a moment before slowly taking the sample.

"How did you manage to fill the cup in such a short amount of time?" She asks as she stares at the... stuff.

"Well... I was already a little pent up." I tell her, trying to avoid making eye contact.

"A little?" She asks as she stands up. "By chance are you aware of sterility in your family?"

"Um... no. Nothing like that. At least, not to my knowledge." I tell her as she takes the same to a small fridge sitting against the back wall. When she opens it cold smoke flows out, telling me how drastically colder it is in there.

"Do you normally cum buckets?" I jump a little when Violet appears behind me. She laughs a little as she pushes a wrapped sandwich into my hands. "Lucky us, Big Bro already made food. So was that a normal amount or did the flood gates break down?"

"A-anyway!" I stammer as I change the subject. "What now? What do I need to do?"

The next few minutes I follow Lupus around the room as she prepares me for the operation. I drink some more Radaway to ensure that I'm completely rad free. She shaves a small patch on my arm and disinfects it. She gets an IV prepped into my arm and has me hold it in place as she brings her office chair next to Lucky.

Violet just follows me around the room as she watches closely. She hasn't said anything since coming in. But I can see she's worried too. She may not look it, but her tell is in her eyes. She can't fake it there. I guess for her she's going through this a second time. Well... I don't know what specifically happened to her brother though. I guess it's similar enough to silence her.

"Okay, we're ready to begin." Lupus tells me as she sits me down. I'm hooked up to the small pump on one end while the other end is connected to Lucky.

"Do you know how long this is going to take?" I ask as I get comfy in my seat. She flips a switch as I feel my arm go numb for a moment. I watch as my blood starts to fill the clear tubing. At the same time Lucky's tube starts to fill as the two red liquids race towards the middle machine.

"Anywhere from two to seven hours." She tells me as she pulls out a clipboard and starts to take notes. "Any every thirty minutes you need to take one of these disease cures. Also every thirty minutes you're going to swing from feeling nearly as sick as her, to feeling healthy. So please do what you can to remain seated."

"Okay... what if I need to use the restroom?" I ask, a little embarrassed. She walks over to a cabinet and pulls out a bed tray and I feel myself fluster. "Ah... sorry."

"It is okay. Violet, will you be joining us today?" She asks in a monotone voice. Vi jumps a little from being addressed directly.

"Oh... if that's okay." She offers quietly. Lupus nods and jots something down.

"Then please assist and take Reckless's clothes to the wash. I don't need whatever diseases in it spreading in my office."

I look between the two of them and feel the tension in the room. I knew Violet didn't much care for her. But hearing the venom in her voice tells me plenty about their relationship. This is probably the most they've talked in a long time. And I get to sit right in the middle of it all... yay.

"I'll do that." Violet says as she stands. Never breaking eye contact with Lupus. "Anything else I can do?"

"That will suffice for now." She tells her, reading over something in her notes. I look to Violet and offer a small shrug as she goes and collects my clothes. She leaves the food on the main desk before stomping her way out of the room.

"So... what now?" I ask her, getting her to change her demeanor.

"Okay Reckless, while we have this time I'd like to ask you some questions about your family medical history. As well as any parental role you'd like to fulfill in the near future."

I gulp when she says that. I guess that would be important to get out of the way now. As we go through the questions I can't help but bring my attention back to Lucky. This is going to work... all of this will work out. I just need to be a little patient. Everything will be back to normal soon enough...

... right?"

Level Five

Lucky

S 7
P 3
E 4
C 6
I 7
A 4
L 9

Perks

Wild Wasteland
Black Widow
Educated

Skills

Barter 30

Energy Weapons 13

Explosives 13

Guns 25

Lockpick 13

Medicine 25

Melee Weapons 40

Repair 25

Science 40

Sneak 17

Speech 45

Survival 20

Unarmed 15

Reckless

S 8
P 7
E 7
C 2
I 5
A 9
L 2

Perks

Heavy Handed
Skilled
Rapid Reload
Educated

Skills

Barter 15

Energy Weapons 22

Explosives 40

Guns 50

Lockpick 45

Medicine 20

Melee Weapons 25

Repair 23

Science 18

Sneak 35

Speech 12

Survival 30

Unarmed 25

Chapter Seven: It's You and Me

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Zero: New Equals

Fallout Equestria: Equalizer

By: Tallestbrony

Chapter Zero: New Equals

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together…

Stable Eighty Eight. To its denizens, it’s the last beacon of Equestrian society. When the hell fires of war scorched the life from the surface of their great nation, they found refuge within its steel walls. There, they were safe. There, Equestria lived on.

Just like many of the Stable-Tec sub-terranean living shelters, Stable Eighty Eight sought to build a better society. Their goal was to preserve the best ideals of Equestria so the once mighty nation could rise again, in the ideals they believed to be worth preserving. With so many ideals to choose from, each Stable focused on a specific lifestyle. Some sought to create the perfect pony, pushing for constant work-out regiments and constant genetic modifications. Others tested the psyche of its citizens by splitting their inhabitants between colored factions.

Stable Eighty Eight, was different.

Stable Eighty Eight focused on the ideals of changing the power structure of society.

The Equestrian nation lived in a female-centric lifestyle. It wasn’t that females had more rights than males; or that they were vastly more numerous. Females simply held more positions of power out of sheer luck. The leader of the Wonderbolts, female. The leaders of the Ministries, females. The deities of the nation, female. Stable Eighty Eight sought to change this.

Stable Eighty Eight was built to have a maximum capacity of three hundred and fifty residents, currently holding at three hundred and fourteen. Of this population, one hundred and two of them are female. The ‘Overmare’ is a stallion. The head of security is a stallion. The head of maintenance is a stallion. In order to assure that the numbers wouldn’t sway over time, residents were chosen based on family genealogy. Those that came from male prominent families were selected to reside within Stable Eighty Eight. In Stable Eighty Eight, power was put within the hands of stallions.

Originally, this was suppose to be a test to view the traditional roles being reversed. To see if a society could exist opposite of its predecessor. A male centric society, exact in thought with only a slightly difference in leadership. Could a civilization last with stallions holding the reins?

At first, things were amazing. The three hundred were divided into three classes, divided originally by the number of responsibilities one held. Public officials, interpreters of the law, and peacekeepers were considered First Class citizens. These were the people that needed to earn their roles either by years of study or by public decree.

Maintenance workers, public servants, and most law officials were considered Second Class citizens. These were the people who were tenured enough into their positions to lead, but were still relatively new. The mid level workers.

Third Class citizens were the apprentices, the lower public workers, as well as the lower public servers. These were meant to be the young and inexperienced. People who where fresh out of school or just starting their trades. And if there were ever any trouble makers, they could be sure to be demoted to third class as punishment.

Each class would have their class number embroidered onto their Stable-Tec suits, telling the others of their commitment to the Stable. Each played their part to keep the Stable running, and depending on how much work one put in, it influenced one's social standing. Higher class citizens were paid more and had access to finer Pipbucks, living quarters, as well as better rations. Lower class citizens got what remained.

This was the system the ponies of the Stable made. At first, it worked well. However, as time went on, things began to change.

With more stallions than mares, certain aspects of the traditional household began to differ. With limited breeding stock, sex before marriage became wildly acceptable socially. It was a necessity for life to continue, and thus the transition wasn’t a hard one to make. With more ponies openly engaging in sexual acts though, meant pregnancies were more common. Because of this, mares in the workplace started to become an oddity. Having to raise foal after foal while being out of work for several months meant that after a few generations, most mares lived in the lower classes.

Forty years after the Stable doors were shut, the mares of the lower class demanded equal opportunities within their social standing. They didn't want to have their responsibilities as mothers hinder them from voicing their opinions within the Stable. Sadly, their plight was met with power hungry rejection. Vastly outnumbered, a social reformation was born within the male centric upper society. Now, a mare may use the accomplishments of her offspring to further her own social standing. On paper, this system seemed fair. They could now perform their needs as mothers, keep the Stable afloat, and still achieve similar social standing. In reality, it did the exact opposite.

With this new law, mares were judged by their children. If a mare had a colt, they would be incentivized to groom them to do great works within the Stable. Inspire them to become master crafters, or important public workers. And since they didn't have to worry about them getting pregnant early on, they could mold them to focus work above all else.

But, if a mare had a filly, they were tailored to be beautiful, flawless, and desirable to the opposite gender. They wanted them to insure that their daughters would be the most desirable of their generation. That way they keep them from living less-than optimal lives. They wanted them to find a mate that would bring them a colt that would achieve similar greatness.

At first this didn’t seem to be a problem, but when the population of the Stable grew to nearly five hundred fifteen years later; with less than a fifth of them being female, something had to be done.

The problem was that the mares of this time were having as many foals as possible. This way, if one turned out Third or Second class, she could still bank on one of the others to do well enough to further herself. Stallions of the upper echelons painted this as vain attempts to grab power. But a majority of these births were committed to attempt to gain enough political clout to change the rules. In reaction to this sudden rise, a simple law was passed to help regulate births.

Now, Third Class mares weren't allowed to breed with Second or First Class stallions. Second Class mares weren't allowed to mate with First Class stallions, but could choose to with Third. Only First Class ponies could breed with First Class ponies. This deal seemed perfect at the time. By limiting the First Class, their political influence would dwindle. Meanwhile, power shifted to the Second Class, having more breeding access. Though the Third Class was also limited, it appeared to be a victory for the common pony. So, the ponies of Vault Eighty Eight settled down and implemented a harsh breeding program to get their population back under control. But when the numbers finally came through, roughly one hundred forty ponies found themselves to be Third Class. Just under a hundred found themselves Second Class while the remaining eighty two were First Class.

Today, a majority of the Second Class is made up of the Guard, who remain loyal to the Overseer and Chief of Security. Coincidentally, they are also one hundred percent male. This was the last social mandate made by the Stable in the two hundred years after the war.

The old ways of raising young were still in effect after the Final Reform though. And because of this, the classes started to become more visually different. First Class mares tended to have larger busts, thicker curves, and more appealing facial features. Likewise, First Class stallions became taller, stronger, and ‘larger’ than their counterparts. Mares still had the power to choose their mates, most of the time, so this lead to a genetically superior class of ponies.

Because of the open promiscuity and social workings of the Stable, social behavior changed as well. Rape almost became non-existent by the end of the Final Reform. Because the definitions of rape changed. A higher class pony could not commit rape against a lower class civilian of the opposite gender. Not legally. In accordance with the council, such an act would only further a mares (or stallions) standing. But if the opposite happened, then the pony would feel the full extent of the law, and any offspring would immediately be Third Class. That was the ruling on rape. Luckily enough, because of the more open mindedness, the actual statistic dropped tremendously as well.

Sex became a duty to the mares. Because of the limited rights and the way the guard formed, most mares found themselves within the second or Third class. Because of this, many stallions of the First Class took advantage of their standing to the point where it became the social norm, if only for the rare event that would lead to them bearing children. No guard would ever stop these acts. Those in higher classes rarely spoke out against higher standing officials, but there was still the glinting hope that their child would rise through the ranks.

So, it became common place for a mare to be walking down a corridor, turn the corner, and have three stallions ‘asking’ for sex. At first this was horrid for the mares. But, as the years ebbed away, it simply became normal. Now, having near daily sex is fairly common for the mares of Stable Eighty Eight. They tried to fight it, but the game was rigged against them.

This is Stable Eighty Eight. It has lasted two hundred years on its own. The ponies within its steel doors have outlived the apocalypse.

This is Stable Eighty Eight. So long as the laws of the Stable are upheld, they will continue on.

This is Stable Eighty Eight. They are safe.

Author's Note

I've been itching to do a Fallout Equestria/Anthro story since I've been on this site. This story will be taking place in its own universe, sort of. What I mean by that is that this does not take place within the Capital Wasteland, nor the Mojave. Location will be explained later, but just know that the events of the Capital and Mojave will have little influence in this story.

Also, I am basing many things from both 3 and New Vegas, as well as my own speculation of 4. I am also basing the main characters of the New Vegas system. I will have their attributes, skills, and perks at the end of every chapter. My hope is to have the comment sections influence their growth as well.

Chapters will not be the most frequent either. I plan on matching the chapters with their levels (I made characters in the game to chart their progress). Early chapters will probably happen more quickly than later chapters. I also plan on future chapters being around 10k a chapter, give or take. That is speculation at the moment, but I feel confident in my ability to meet it.

Brony on!

Chapter edited by: Mikoto

Pre-Read assistance by: Reckless Rush