“What was all that about?”

The two colts dashed out of the house, leaving behind the shouting match that was sure to follow. Once they had gotten far enough away from the building, Canvas groaned, trotting along beside his friend.

“I don’t even know.” The yellow pegasus muttered, kicking a tuft of cloud as he moved. “I swear they’ve been fighting since I was a baby. I’m just… it’s so… I… GRAH!!”

In one swift, forceful kick, the tuft of cloud exploded, poofing away into the ether.

“Yeah, I can bet that’d be annoying.” Windspeed nickered, jabbing a hoof at Canvas playfully. “I wouldn’t worry about it though. Parents are s’posed to fight, I think. My parents do, and I’m pretty sure Jettison’s parents do too.”

“C’mon, Windspeed,” Canvas pleaded, “I’m already upset, the LAST thing I want to think about is THAT jerk!”

“Hey!” Windspeed huffed. “He’s not that bad…”

Canvas rolled his eyes, bringing a hoof to his forehead. All of a sudden, he stopped, a stray thought coming to mind. Windspeed turned, curious as to why his friend had fallen behind.

“Canvas?”

“It’s me!”

Windspeed raised an eyebrow at the yellow Pegasus.

“Um, yes. It is you. What do-”

“No, no! I mean it’s my fault! I’m the one making my parents fight!”

“What?” Windspeed scoffed, looking at his friend like he had grown two heads. “That’s stupid, Canvas. Why would they fight over you? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Are you kidding?” Canvas snapped, looking at Windspeed in a growing panic. “It makes too MUCH sense! Th-They always seem to fight when I’m around, and it’s always because of something I’ve done, and Dad’s always liked Sky Blossom more, and… a-and they’ve been fighting ever since I was younger, so it must be… it must be m-me who’s…”

Windspeed stared, watching silently as Canvas knelt down to the ground, tears beginning to pool in his eyes.

“What did I do wrong, Windspeed? A-and what do I do now? I’ve tried to be good, I really have, but… I-I don’t wanna make mom and dad mad… oh jeeze, they must hate me-”

“Hey, stop that!”

Just as Canvas began to start sniffling, he looked up, only to get startled as he saw Windspeed standing a few inches in front of him, his wings flared out to the sides.

“B-but… but I don’t-”

“Stop!” The turquoise colt neighed. “Don’t you say that sort of stuff, Canvas! You’re an awesome guy! I mean, not quite as awesome as me, but still pretty dang awesome. Your parents don’t hate you, I know it.”

Canvas looked up at his friend, his eyes beginning to widen in surprise.

“I… Windspeed, it doesn’t-”

“Listen to me, Canvas.” Windspeed reached forwards, grabbing Canvas’ face in his hooves and forcing the colt to look directly into his eyes. “You’re not a bad pony. You’re my friend, and you’re awesome. Nopony hates you.”

“Nopony?” Canvas wiped away a tear.

“Nopony.”

“Not even Jettison?”

Windspeed paused, frowning slightly as he searched for the right thing to say.

“Well… I mean, he’s… ok, maybe Jettison does. But he hates a lot of ponies, so right now he doesn’t count.”

Canvas glared at his friend, although a chuckle still escaped from his lips as he wiped away some more tears. Slowly, as Windspeed released Canvas from his face-hold, the yellow colt reached forwards, bumping his hoof against his friend’s.

“Thanks, Windspeed.”

“What are friends for?” Windspeed smiled, pulling Canvas into a hug. “Look, if they ever start fighting again, you can come over to my place until they stop, ok?”

“I don’t think they’d let me. But thanks, anyways.”

“Eh, it was worth a shot.” Windspeed conceded. “Now c’mon, I’ve had enough of this mushy stuff. Let’s go play already!”

Canvas smiled, running forwards to meet his friend in what would surely become another epic battle from a pony war from the distant past.

~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m surprised you think you’re ready to tackle a Stable, feathers.”

I was thankful at how easy it was to convince Temper to go to Stable 6. The second I said the word “Stable”, Temper had rushed to my side, eager to see what I had found. As her face had begun to contort into a silly grin, she grabbed hold of me and, both figuratively and literally, began dragging me out of Rainston to begin the journey to the underground structure. No, the hard part had been convincing her to stop long enough to make sure everything was in order.

That had taken a lot of arguing and about three kicks to the gut.

“I’ve been meaning to loot through one for a while now, don’t get me wrong.” Temper continued, sorting out a few new weapons she had acquired. “But they don’t exactly have a reputation for being the safest place in Equestria. I’ve heard tell that some pretty fucked up shit goes on inside ‘em.”

As I stood, attempting to refasten my wing-splint, I raised an eyebrow skeptically. Stables? Dangerous? They were designed to keep ponies safe, how bad could they possibly be?

“Of course, I’m more than ready to deal with that kind of shit, I just haven’t been able to fuckin’ find one.” Temper paused, carefully picking up a rifle she had found stashed in one of the homes. “Damn, should have grabbed the battle saddle off that guy whose face you blew up…”

I froze at the mare’s words, tensing up as the unpleasant memories rushed back to my mind. I could see the storekeeper’s face, chunks of his head flying off in slow motion as I bit down on the shotgun trigger… his blood, pattering against my coat like a splash of water… I think one of his eyes might have hit me as it flew, bouncing off my chest and…

I shook my head, trying my best to get rid of the thought before I threw up again. I felt a few drops of water begin to pool in my eyes, wiping them away before any true tears could form. There must have been another way… God, why did I have to do that? I should have tried to talk with him, or put the gun down, or… I stopped, frozen in place as my mind started to go deep in thought. I didn’t have to kill him… I didn’t have to kill him or that other mare… did I?

“But fuck, if you think you can…” Temper paused, her eyes narrowing as she stared at me. “Hello? Equestria to feathers? You even listening to me?”

I snapped back to attention, quickly resuming my splint-work.

“Oh, y-yeah! Sorry, I was just-”

WHAM!

I gasped, struggling to stay upright as I spit some blood from my mouth.

“I already told you, I hate repeating myself.”

“…wait, but you just-”

I flinched away from Temper’s punch, wincing as one of her hooves barely scraped my cheek. With a grimace, I turned back and started tightening my scarf once more. Finally, my splint was reattached, possibly even more firmly than it had been the first time around. I looked to Temper, grimacing slightly as I saw her.

“Er… Temper, don’t you think maybe you should wash off the blood on you?”

Temper paused, glancing down at her blood-stained coat for a brief second, before making an exaggerated pouty face at me.

“Aw, what’s wrong? Wittle feathers doesn’t wike a wittle bwood?” The mare snickered, striking a pose as if to show off the hideous dye job, the hardened blood looking more black now than red. I squeezed my eyes shut, once again forcing out memories of the night before.

“I, er…” I struggled to find something to say. “I-I just don’t think it goes well with your mane, that’s all! I-I mean, come on now – red and black? It’s a bit, uh… cliché, don’t you think?”

Temper stared at me for a few seconds, one of her eyebrows raising skeptically as she did. A few moments later, she rolled her eyes, scoffing as she trotted over to a water puddle nearby.

“Whatever. It was starting to reek anyways.”

As Temper sat down to bathe, I breathed a sigh of relief. I can’t believe that worked.

“We’re heading out for the Stable the second I’m done though, you hear me?”

I nodded, just as eager as Temper to get to the Stable. Even if my motive was slightly different than hers.

“Loud and clear.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Temper began spewing all sorts of profanities as I stared at the obstruction in front of us. I would hesitate to call it a mountain, given the size and scale of the mountains I could see in the distance, but damn did this thing give them a run for their money. The outcropping of rock and earth before us towered far above my head – easily a good five times my height, and that’s on the lower end. On top of that, the base of the mound stretched to the very edges of my vision, with the ends of it slowly transitioning into rocky walls and cliff faces, leaving a pretty big pile of wasteland sitting in front of us.

Oh, and the map claimed that Stable 6 was behind it.

“There would be a fucking mountain in my way, wouldn’t there?” Temper groaned, straining as she looked up towards the top of the mound. “I swear on Luna’s sweaty vagina, there’s always fuckin’ something in the way.”

I trotted in closer, craning my neck back while I looked at the obstruction. I glanced back at my sides, ruffling my feathers a tad under the scarf.

“Um, can’t I just fly us over?” I mean, yeah, I don’t want to destroy my wings any more, but damn it I need to get to that Stable.

“No!” Temper spun around, glaring at me as her lips formed a nasty snarl. “The last time you tried to fly me over something, you dropped me! And that thing wasn’t even half the height of this pile of shit! I’m sure as fuck not gonna fall to my death today, if I can avoid it.

“Can’t even fly without your fuckin’ wing acting up,” Temper muttered, turning back towards the pseudo-mountain. “I’m starting to think you’re not as much use to me as you claimed you’d be.”

I didn’t know whether to feel relieved that I didn’t have to fly, or insulted that Temper thought I’d drop her again. Although… if I could get her up high enough, then an ‘accidental’ fall could-

I froze, slightly mortified at the dark path my thoughts had started to tread. What was… no, it’s not important. I’m not going to kill her. I’m… An image of the dead ponies from my nightmare flashed into my mind. I can’t kill somepony again.

“I’m gonna try to find a way to climb over it.” Temper trotted over to me, and before I knew it I was chained up to a tree. “Wait here.”

“Uh…” I started to voice my concerns, but Temper had already turned away. “I don’t think you can… Temper?”

The mare completely ignored me, crouching down a bit before leaping onto one of the lowest rocks on the mountain.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Augh!”

As Temper picked herself off of the ground again, I found the courage to speak up.

“I don’t think you can make that jump, Temper.”

“Shut up!” Temper yelled back, once again climbing onto the lowest rock. “This is an easy fuckin’ jump. I just keep slipping, that’s all.”

“Must be a really slippery rock, then. I think you’ve fallen about seven-”

BANG!!

I ducked, the bullet flinging up a small cloud of dust at my hooves.

“It’s an easy fuckin’ jump.” Temper nickered. “Just a couple more tries, I’ll make it.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Fuckin’ hell!”

“Temper, I really don’t-”

“I almost had it that time! The next ledge was right there, I could feel it in my hooves!”

I rolled my eyes, watching her approach the rocks again as she grit her teeth.

“It’s the damn rocks! They must keep breaking apart as I try to grab them! I swear to fuck, I’m getting over this thing!”

~~~~~~~~~~

As light began to dim on the horizon, Temper mounted the rocks for another attempt at getting past the impossible jump. I could practically feel the determination radiating from her body as she looked at the gap in front of her. Temper crouched down, closing her eyes as she let out a slow breath. In one swift movement, her eyes snapped open, she took a few running steps forwards, and she bounded into the air with the grace of a pegasus lifting off for high speed flight.

And then tumbled down to the ground, her body bouncing off the side of the mountain as she dropped onto the floor of the Wasteland.

“LUNA SHIT DOWN MY THROAT!!” Temper screamed out in anger. “WHY THE FUCK CAN’T I GET PAST THIS BULLSHIT PILE OF CRAP?!?”

As Temper began to stand, her legs buckled beneath her, eliciting a small yelp from the mare. She turned to look at her leg, letting out a groan as she saw the scrapes and cuts running along her thighs.

“Augh… fuck it.” Temper spat out. “Fuck this mountain, fuck those cliffs, fuck that bullshit jump. Get up feathers, we’re going around this fuckin’ thing.”

Finally.

“I can’t believe this shit…” Temper muttered as she trotted over to unchain me. “It’ll take days to go around this thing, and it’s all because the rocks won’t let me fuckin’ climb them.”

With the cuffs off, I rose to my hooves, stretching a bit while Temper pointed towards the edge of the roadblock.

“Follow the cliffs. There should be a spot where we can climb up, eventually. With some luck, it won’t be too far.” Temper pulled out her pistol, and I did as she said, the two of us starting to go on our way. As we left the mountain behind us, Temper scowled, spitting on the ground in disgust.

“Fuckin’ roadblocks.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, I started to lose my sense of time as we walked along the cliffside in search of a place to climb up. Light was shining down through the clouds, and I found myself lost in my imagination, hoping to replace the drab and dreary world down here with something more bright and cheery. I tried to imagine what the land must have looked like before the megaspells. Lots of rolling green hills, maybe, and a clear blue sky. I glanced up, noticing a dead tree on top of the cliff, and tried to think of how beautiful it must have been back in the day. The rotting wood replaced with a sturdy trunk, beautiful leaves forming a pillow of green around the top. The shopkeeper standing next to it with his face-

I shook my head, trying to force the thought out of my mind. I started over, imagining the beautiful past of the ugly land around me. But every time I started to find something nice, memories of Rainston would invade my mind, like some kind of cruel joke. The more I tried to forget about it, the more it decided to rear its ugly head. I slowed down as I walked, horrible images and words coming into my head with every-

“Ok, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

I was abruptly pulled out of my train of thought, stopping mid-trauma to look back at Temper.

“Huh? What do-”

“This is the fifth fuckin’ time you’ve slowed down.” Temper spat. “Why?”

“I…” I hesitated, holding back my thoughts for a moment. “I-it’s nothing. I’m-”

“Bullshit it is!” Temper interrupted, circling around in front of me as she spoke. “If there weren’t something going on we wouldn’t stopping every few fuckin’ feet. So I’ll ask again, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

I stared at my captor, one of my eyebrows raising as I cocked my head to the side.

“You wouldn’t care.” I countered. “It’s emotional stuff.” Something you CLEARLY know nothing about.

“I don’t care.” Temper stated very matter-of-factly. “On its own, ‘how you’re feeling’ is literally the one thing I care about less than anything else in the entire goddesses-damned Wasteland.”

“Exactly, so-”

“What I do care about is getting to the Stable. And I can’t do that if you don’t move your fuckin’ ass,” Temper spat, gritting her teeth for emphasis. “So if your little ‘problem’ is slowing you down, then I fucking care.”

I glanced down at the ground, my thoughts conflicting with one another. Why should I say anything to her? She’s crazy, rude, arrogant, uncaring… she won’t help, and she doesn’t-

As if on cue, the shopkeeper’s mutilated face flashed into my head.

It… it might help to just let it out… clear my head, even if she doesn’t listen to me.

“I mean, I could also just shoot you every time you slow down. It’d waste a lot of ammo, but if it’ll get you moving-”

“Wait! Wait!” I let out a sigh. “Alright, fine, I’ll… I’ll talk. Not that you’ll be any help.”

“Good.” Temper grunted, edging me along with her gun. “Just walk while you do. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can get my Stable loot.”

“Ugh…” I rolled my eyes, continuing to trot alongside the cliff. I guess I just start talking. No different than usual, right?

“It’s just… back at Rainston, I-”

“Shit, newbie, you’re still thinking about that place?” Temper interrupted. I turned back, staring wide-eyed at the mare.

“Wha… what do you mean, ‘still’? That happened yesterday!”

“Hey, keep walking!” Temper pushed me, startling me into moving a few steps forwards. “I tend to forget about regular old raids pretty fuckin’ quick.”

I turned my head away in disgust, closing my eyes and focusing on the real issue before continuing.

“It’s just, I’ve… well, I…” I shuddered, images of the event continuing to flash in my mind despite my best efforts to shut them out.

“You what?”

“I’ve never killed somepony before!”

There was a long stretch of silence. As the two of us walked, neither Temper nor I spoke a word. Finally, a few tense moments later, Temper’s voice pierced through the silence.

“And?”

“‘And’?” I blurted out in shock. “What do you mean, ‘And’? I shouldn’t need to say any more than that! I killed a pony! Tartarus, I killed two ponies! I killed them in cold blood, two living, breathing ponies! They… th-they had lives, they might have had families, or jobs even! And I… I-I just killed them!”

I felt tears begin to form in my eyes, my vision slowly beginning to blur and waver as I saw Temper look at me. All of a sudden, I heard her begin to snicker, holding a hoof to her mouth in an attempt to contain it.

“Fuck, is that all?” Temper laughed slightly as she spoke. “Little baby feathers had his first kill, and now he’s feeling sad. Hang on, I think I spilled some milk over here too, let me cue the fuckin’ violins.”

That was the breaking point. With that one line, days of abuse, brutality, and mental torment finally broke free, a fiery rage filling my chest as I looked at Temper.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!?” I snapped, my ears folding flat against my head as I felt my body burn with an anger unlike any I had ever felt before. “How can you care so little for another pony’s life? Most of these ponies have done nothing to you, and you’ll mow them down in a hail of bullets, just for a few pieces of food and medicine? That’s the most fucked up thing I’ve ever heard! How can you live with that? How can you live with yourself? How can you be so God-damned cruel?!?”

Temper stopped, her eyes widening slightly as she stood, evidently startled by my outburst. The sentiment didn’t last long, though – in only a few seconds she had regained her usual fearsome demeanor. She trotted up to me, staring me straight in the eye with every step. As soon as she was close enough, she cocked her pistol, resting the end of the barrel right on my muzzle.

“Don’t. Ever. Yell at me.”

I locked my eyes on the barrel, my rage slowly beginning to subside as fear took its place.

“And didn’t I go over this shit already?” The mare rolled her eyes as she pulled her gun away, returning to her position behind me. “Rule number one: Kill or be killed. I don’t know what kind of pansy-ass paradise you grew up in where you’ve never had to kill a pony before, but down here, we live in a fucked up hell known as the Wasteland. Ponies kill each other every fuckin’ day. Some do it to get supplies. Some do it to protect the supplies they have. Some just do it because it’s damn good fun. Some of us have killed hundreds of ponies, and some of us are the unfortunate victims of another pony’s rampage. But not a one of us bats an eye at it. Maybe we’ll lose a bit of sleep, but usually we shrug it off and keep fuckin’ moving along. That’s way it works, and that’s the way it’s worked for the last hundred and fifty years.”

With her position taken, Temper pointed her gun right between my eyes, smirking as she watched me struggle to comprehend her words.

“If you’re gonna survive down here, I suggest you grow some balls and get over it.”

For a moment, I just stood there, unsure of how to respond. With a final sigh, my rage burned out, and I turned and continued down the path.

It’s strange. I should have still been furious. I should have still been seething with rage. I should have wanted Temper to go jump in a pit, and rid the world of her filth. But somehow, in spite of my outburst, in spite of her callousness, in spite of it all… I felt better.

Somehow, some way, Temper had actually managed to help.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Wait.”

Temper paused in her tracks, her ears beginning to whip around in all directions before pointing themselves further down the cliff face. I cupped my hoof over my eyes, attempting to find whatever Temper had spotted. It didn’t take long – off in the distance, I made out the forms of a couple ponies, although I couldn’t quite tell how many there were.

“Um…” I hesitantly spoke up. “W-we’re not gonna rob them too, are we?”

“Not with that attitude.” Temper snarked, already checking her pistol to make sure it was fully loaded. “But yeah, that was the fuckin’ idea. C’mon, we need to get in closer.”

Temper lowered herself down, quickly moving towards the figures while I followed behind. As we got closer, the voices of the ponies slowly faded in from the ambient background noise of the wasteland. Whoever they were, they seemed to be talking to each other… although I quickly realized that, to hear it from where I was, they had to have been yelling. Are they having some kind of argument? I started paying more attention, and I managed to pick out a few words here and there.

“Fuckin’… trader… goods…”

Another caravan? Alright, I… I think I can handle that. I’ll just take the brahmin ag-

“…have you surrounded…”

Wait, what?

I listened a little closer, my attention now completely locked onto these ponies. As Temper and I snuck behind a nearby rock, I took another look at the scene. We were close enough now that I could fully make out about four ponies, one of whom was pressed against the cliffs while the other three stood on all sides of him. Slowly, the surrounding ponies started closing in on the one in the middle, who began frantically trying to scale the wall of stone behind him, to no avail. I glanced to the side, spying a brahmin kneeling on the ground beside them, as well as a second brahmin’s corpse lying a short distance away from the rock we were hiding behind.

“I’ll only say this one more time, old timer!” One of the surrounding ponies, a pink mare with a brown mane, continued to shout. “Give us the goods, or I’ll have these two rip your fuckin’ head off!”

“You won’t kill me!” The old stallion in the middle spoke, fear wavering through every word. “I-I’m the only one who knows where to get these things! I-if you kill me, I’ll… you’ll never find them!”

“Then I guess we’ll be torturing it out of you first.” The mare turned, nodding to the ponies at her sides. They both moved in, grabbing hold of the elderly pony, pinning him in place. The mare rushed forwards, spinning around at the last second and bucking the stallion in the stomach. I nearly doubled over in pain myself, just from the sight of the blow.

“Ugh, damn it all.” Temper groaned as she stood up straight. “Come on – if we can make our way to those trees without being spotted, we should be able to avoid them.”

“Alrigh… wait, now we’re not robbing them?”

“You see those ponies?” Temper muttered, gesturing to the ponies in front. “It sounds like chem junkies, and I hate dealing with chem junkies.”

I glanced back at the scene as it unfolded, watching the stallion as he was attacked. I could hear the terror and the pain in his voice as he stood, pleading for his life. I felt sorry for him. A small part of me wanted to help him, to save him from the ponies harassing him.

But a bigger part of me was satisfied with getting the heck out of there.

“He still ain’t talking, Thorn.” One of the attackers said to the mare in the lead. “What now?”

“You’ll…” the elderly stallion coughed, drops of blood flinging from his mouth. “You’ll never get them. I’ll never talk.”

“Whatever.” The mare, apparently named Thorn, scoffed. “Let’s take him back to Ironsights. I’m sure he’d like to have a word with you.”

Temper suddenly froze. I barely managed to keep myself from running into her, watching as her ears suddenly jerked back in the direction of the attack scene. I just managed to glimpse her lips moving, mouthing some unheard word as she listened to every word the ponies said.

“Hah! Y-You think I’m scared of him?” The elderly pony spat, one of his teeth falling onto the ground as he did. “Ironsights is a damned fool, that’s what he is!”

It was a good effort, but I could see the sweat on his brow, the slight jitter in his hooves and tail, every movement of his body betraying his words. Thorn smirked, clearly picking up on the stallion’s unsubtle body language as well.

“Well, I’m sure he’d love to hear you say so.” Thorn motioned to her fellow attackers. “Grab him.”

“Um… Temper?” I spoke quietly, hoping not to enrage the mare, but she didn’t move a muscle. Hesitantly, I reached out a hoof to prod her, try and snap her out of it. All of a sudden, Temper started to slowly turn around, causing me to yank my hoof back in surprise.

“Ironsights…”

“Er, Temper?”

“Is the LePat loaded?”

I stared at my captor, my eyebrows furrowing as I tried to make sense of what was happening.

“No… wait, what are you-”

That was all I managed to get out before I had to jump to the side, flinching as some ammo was thrown my way.

“Load it.”

BANG!!

Temper’s gun roared to life, the bullet impacting the cliff face mere inches away from the pony on the right, sending several brownish gray pebbles flying at his face. The stallion stumbled back in surprise, all four ponies suddenly looking to see where the shot had come from. I could see Thorn grit her teeth, her eyes narrowing as she stared directly at us.

“Get them!”

The two stallions turned and charged for either side of us, while the mare in the lead ran off in a different direction, diving for cover behind the brahmin corpse. The elderly stallion scrambled to hide behind his one living brahmin, cowering in fear as the battle began.

BANG BANG!!

A few bullets whizzed past Temper, flinging up the dirt in a small cloud around her. She turned her head, catching sight of one of the approaching ponies. All of a sudden, against any inkling of common sense, she put away her gun, reaching for her knife as she stared down the charging attacker.

“Feathers, cover me!”

I froze up, watching in terror as Temper roared, dashing towards the pony in front of her. Temper jumped up into the air and plunged her knife down into the pony’s back. The two wrestled, trading blows and stabs, kicking up a cloud of dust that swirled all around them. It looked like a demented comic strip, with curses and blood being flung from the dust cloud at every moment.

I turned to look at Thorn, watching her reload her gun a few steps from the brahmin. In a mad scramble, I grabbed the Artisan, shoving the bullets in the chambers and pulling the weapon to my mouth. I took aim at the mare-

“You did this.”

I stopped, locking my eyes on the mare as she finished reloading her gun. I tried again to aim the pistol at her, but my mind forced me away, the soulless and blood-stained faces from my nightmare returning at every opportunity. Even as she pointed her pistol at the dueling ponies, I couldn’t bring myself to shoot her. I’m… I-I can’t…

BANG!!

“FUCKING-!” The fight slowed down as a bullet whizzed through the dust cloud, a streak of red emerging from the opposite side. “I SAID COVER ME YOU FUCKIN’ PIECE OF SHIT!!”

I didn’t know what to do. I stood there, my brain kicking into overdrive as a myriad of thoughts raced through my head.

I… I-I can’t kill her, I can’t kill another pony! I felt a few tears begin to form as the words of my nightmare echoed through my head once more. I’m not a monster, I won’t… but then what? Do I let Temper die? Do I turn and flee? What can I…

Wait, I’ve got it!

As the attacker readied for another shot, I took aim at the mare’s chest… and then turned, positioning the sights just to the right of her.

BANG BANG BANG!!

I fired off several shots, each one missing her body by only a few inches. Just like I had hoped. The mare jumped, putting down her gun and rushing further behind the brahmin corpse-

BANG BANG!!

And promptly firing at me. Panicked, I turned tail and booked it as fast as I could to get behind the rock, yelping as I felt a bullet just barely graze my back. I leapt behind the rock, readied myself to give some more cover fire, and-

WHAM!

I fell to the ground, struggling to see straight as I started to get up. With a surprising amount of speed, the third pony attacker jumped on top of me, knocking the Artisan from my mouth, grinning devilishly at me as his horn sparked to life. I tried to push him off, but it was no use – the stallion was simply too heavy and too strong. He laughed, glancing down at my sides as he brought a sledgehammer into view with his magic.

“Rare treat, this is…” The stallion licked his lips. “I ain’t never tasted roasted pegasus wings before! I’ve heard they’re delicious!”

I felt my eyes narrow, thoughts of my flesh being cooked up burning into my mind as I watched the stallion pull the sledgehammer back, ready to strike. In a moment of panic, I reached down to untie my scarf, struggling with the knot for a moment. Just as the stallion brought down his weapon, the scarf dropped, and I flapped my wings, yelling in pain as I shot out from under the attacker. I only barely managed to clear the impact site, wincing as a few of my tail hairs got caught and ripped out. I groaned, reaching back to massage my broken wing. At least, until I caught my attacker out of the corner of my eye. He stood up, lifting his hammer high into the air above him, stamping the ground as he prepared to charge for the killing blow.

BANG!!

“AUGH!!” The stallion screamed in pain, his magic faltering as his horn shattered from the bullet’s impact. As he reeled back, I caught his eyes widen in horror. Before I could even look away, the sledgehammer fell, smashing into the stallion’s head with a sickening *crunch* before embedding itself into the ground. The stallion’s body toppled over, his skull caved in so far that it looked like it had been turned inside out.

Somehow, I managed not to vomit, a fact which almost disturbed me more than the death itself.

I shuddered, pulling myself to my hooves as Temper reloaded her gun. I started to look around, searching for other attackers, but I quickly realized that the sounds of battle had gone away, leaving the relatively peaceful sounds of the wasteland to replace them. With a sigh of relief, I picked the Artisan back up and reached around to tie my scarf once again.

“This isn’t over!!”

My ears perked up, and I turned towards the source of the noise. I only managed to catch a glimpse of the pink and brown mare, before she darted off into the distance, vanishing behind the rolling hills and scattered debris of the wasteland. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Temper turn, preparing to give chase, only to stop and grunt, blood pouring from, spitting the smoking pistol from her mouth and shoving it into its holster.

“You… you saved me!”

I felt my whole body tense as the elderly voice drifted into my ears. The old stallion cautiously emerged from his hiding spot, approaching us with eyes widened in surprise. My eyes, however, were widened in horror.

No, you fool! Temper’s insane, she’s going to kill you! Run! Run while you still can!

I opened my mouth to shout at the stallion, flailing my legs in an attempt to warn him in some way, but Temper beat me to the punch.

“Whatever you fuckin’ say, gramps.”

I watched the scene unfold, covering my eyes as I prepared for the worst.

“No, truly!” the stallion persisted, trotting up next to Temper to shake her hoof. “Nopony’s ever done something like that for me, and kindness is so rare these days. Please, is there anything I can do to thank you? I have many wares, maybe there’s something you could use?”

“We can deal with that in a bit.” Temper spat. “First I want you to tell me something.”

“Oh, yes! Of course!” The stallion tipped a hat he was wearing. “What do you want to know?”

I covered my ears, I couldn’t bear to keep listening. As my mind conjured horrible depictions of the trader’s death, I lifted one hoof from my ear, my reluctant curiosity forcing me to listen.

“Those ponies said they were working for Ironsights.” Temper growled as she said the name. “Where the fuck is he?”

“Woah woah, calm down there missy.” The stallion chuckled. “I don’t know where that bastard is. He always cowers behind his minions, I don’t deal directly with him. I’ve only ever personally met with Thorn and her goons, he seems to like having them harass me.”

For a few seconds, Temper stared at the stallion.

“That was a pretty shit answer.”

The stallion shrank back, reaching around behind him and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sorry, ma’am. It’s all I have. I know that’s not what you want to hear, so lemme make it up to you. Here, look through my wares. Take something, as a gift from me!” Temper began to reach out, but the stallion stopped her quickly. “Er, just one item, if you’d be so kind. I still have to make a living, after all.”

Slowly, Temper brought out some of the guns she had gotten back in Rainston.

Here it comes… I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to watch as I listened for Temper to shoot him.

A few seconds passed.

Then a few more.

Every second that passed felt like pure torture, as I sat in agony, waiting for the inevitable-

“Feathers!”

I yelped, jumping from the sound of Temper’s voice. I glanced up, and couldn’t help but notice that the elderly trader was not dead. I looked at Temper, just in time to catch her lifting a pile of some kind of fabric from her back, before tossing it at me.

“Put this on.” Temper told me rather flatly. “It’s no raider armor, but fuck it, you clearly need whatever protection you can get.”

Temper started to trot back, leaving me sitting in a mild stupor. A few steps down, she stopped, scowling as she turned to face me.

“Well don’t just sit there! Get dressed already.”

I looked down at the clothes in front of me, lifting them with my good wing to get a better look. I didn’t recognize the material – it looked padded and soft at first glance, but as I prodded it with a hoof I was surprised by how hard and sturdy it felt. Putting on clothes for no real occasion was weird, but Temper was right – I really did need the protection. Once the shirt and pants were on, I was once again surprised by how comfortable the whole thing felt. Well, except for my wings. Whoever had made these clothes clearly didn’t have somepony of my physiology taken into account.

Well, at least that’ll keep my broken wing from moving.

“Now come on, feathers. The old guy’s letting us use his brahmin to climb up to the cliff.”

I blinked a few times, slowly following Temper as we made our way towards the stallion. The old trader nodded at me, smiling as he looked over my new armor.

“How’s the fit on that?” The trader asked, “I hope it’s not too tight or anything, that’s the only set of leather armor I’ve got. I’d hate to repay your actions with clothes you can’t wear.”

“Um…” I watched the stallion, my mind a bit of a confused haze. “Yeah, yeah it’s fine. There’s no wing holes, though.”

“Wing… oh, how rude of me!” The stallion chuckled, trotting over to my side. “Didn’t realize you were a pegasus, sorry! I just assumed you were an earth pony, you know? Here, let me see what I can do.”

Just like that, the stallion pulled out a pair of scissors and went to work. It took a few moments, but once he was done, a new set of openings had been cut into the cloth. Carefully, I pushed my good wing through one, freeing it from its confinement.

“There, that should do it!” The trader smiled, returning to his pack brahmin and patting it on the side. “Your friend said you needed to get up, so I’ll have Bessie here give you a lift. C’mon, I’ll help you onto her back.”

Slowly, I nodded, climbing up onto the brahmin’s back with the stallion’s assistance, followed soon by Temper. Once we were on, Bessie stood up, and Temper reached up for the ledge of the cliff, but her hoof was just out of reach. She frowned, crouching down to jump, only to stumble as Bessie shifted. Once Temper had gotten her balance back, she turned to me, motioning for the cliff.

“C’mon, boost me up!”

I crouched down, allowing Temper to stand on my back, while I struggled to balance atop the brahmin. I tried to imagine what this must have looked like from the trader’s perspective. We must look like some kind of messed up totem pole, I mused. Soon enough, Temper had pulled herself up onto the top of the cliff, taking a moment to catch her breath before reaching down to pull me up.

“Alright, old timer. We’re up. Now get out of here!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice! Thank you again!”

Temper nodded, turning from the stallion to trot away. She stopped suddenly, her ears perking up ever so slightly, as she turned back.

“Wait!” Temper shouted down at the trader. “What did those raiders want from you?”

“Sorry, trade secret.” The stallion nodded back. “But let’s just say I’ll sleep a whole lot better knowing that Ironsights doesn’t have ‘em.”

And with that, the stallion turned, trotting off into the distance from the ground down below. As he slowly became nothing more than a speck in the distance, I followed Temper back in the direction of the Stable, a single thought rattling through my head as we walked.

What the fuck just happened?

~~~~~~~~~~

With Temper and I once again making our way back towards the elusive Stable 6, I tried to wrap my head around everything that we had just gone through. Just when I had thought I was starting to understand the wasteland, now I was back in a sea of uncertainty, trying to make sense of the world around me.

“What…” I hesitated, trying to make sure I found the right words before I continued. “What exactly was all… that, back there?”

“Just another fight.” Temper shrugged, brushing off the question. “What, do you want me to explain fighting to you now? I really hope you aren’t that retarded.”

I rolled my eyes, groaning as I lowered my head.

“That’s not what I mean.” I persisted. “First you said we were going to raid them, then you said you didn’t want to deal with chem junkies, whatever the heck those are, and THEN you ended up attacking them anyways!”

“They weren’t junkies.” Temper said, raising her hoof as she corrected me. “I fucked up on that.”

“That doesn’t-”

“Why do you fuckin’ care anyways?” Temper interrupted. “You didn’t even fight, you useless pussy!”

“I care because none of that made any sense! You’ve never shied away from senseless murder, so why didn’t you want to kill them at first? Why did you change your mind and kill them anyways? Tartarus, why didn’t you kill the old guy? The way things go around here, I thought for sure you were gonna kill him! And who the heck is Iron-”

BANG!!

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!”

My mouth snapped shut, eyes widening in fear as I looked at the pure rage on Temper’s face. The mare’s lips drew into a snarl and her eyes narrowed, piercing me with her soul-shattering glare.

“I think you’re forgetting your place, slave.” Temper made sure to draw out the last word, my ears folding flat against my head as I heard it. “At what fuckin’ point did I make it seem ok to question me like that? And yes, I’d like you to give me an answer this time.”

I opened my mouth, stammering as I tried to find the right words, but even my voice seemed to be hiding from Temper’s wrath.

“Earlier?” I managed to squeak out. “W-With the… Rainston… thingy?”

“Listen here, you little shit.” Temper stepped forwards, edging in close to me. “I may have humored your little bitch-fit about Rainston, but don’t dare mistake that for weakness on my part. Unless you’ve forgotten, I still own you, and even then the only fuckin’ reason I’m keeping you around is because you might be useful to me. Although if that last fight is anything to go by, you might not have much use to begin with. If you decide to start questioning my actions on top of that, I think your usefulness might wear thin real fuckin’ fast.”

Temper brought a hoof to her forehead, massaging her temples as I looked on in fear.

“I never should have taken your fuckin’ shackles off.” Temper groaned. “You can’t even kill a fuckin’ pony without being brought into some kind of retarded stupor about ‘oooh, this is so awful’ and shit.” I cringed as Temper started to mock my voice, her own version of it a high and whiney squeal that grated my ears more with every second.

“I ought to chain you back up and forget about this whole adventure.” Temper muttered, turning away. “Five hundred caps is quite a bit…”

My heart skipped a beat as I heard Temper. Suddenly the stakes had been risen all the way to the cloud cover, all the way to my home. All the work I had put in, all the abuse I had taken, all the times I had risked injury to push Temper where I needed her to go, all the training and all the terrible things I had done… everything had led to me getting to the Stable, and now it was only a few wrong steps from being all for nothing.

“W-wait!” I sputtered, desperate to change Temper’s mind by any means possible. “Y-you can’t… w-we’re so close to the Stable!”

“So what?” Temper spat. “I’ve got a map now, with every Stable on it. Not like I’ll have a hard time finding them again.” Slowly, I saw Temper reach into her pockets.

“B-But… y-you’d really turn back now? A-after all the time w-w-we spent t-trying to get up here?”

Temper said nothing, pulling out her slaving shackles as she turned towards me. I felt my eyes shrink to pinpricks. In an instant, the world began to crumble around me, images of my family and friends turning to dust in my mind.

“No! No, please don’t…” I broke into tears, lying down on the ground as I sobbed. “I-I’m sorry, Temper, I’m sorry! P-p-please, please don’t sell me into slavery! I’ll never question you again, I’ll do whatever you say, I’ll… I’ll do anything, please! I-I’m so sorry!!”

Temper paused, watching me in my pitiful state. For a while she didn’t say anything, simply content to watch me wallow in my misery. Eventually, I heard her hoofsteps moving towards me, and I started to scramble, trying to back away from the mare. But before I could, Temper grabbed hold of my mane, pulling me to my hooves, her muzzle so close that she probably could have bit me if she wanted to. I struggled not to cough as the stench of her breath wafted through my nostrils. And all the while, her gaze pierced into me, like needles of fire as I cowered under her rage.

“You will never question me again. You will do anything and everything I tell you to do. You are my bitch, for me to do with as I please. And if you ever question my authority again, I will give you a full demonstration of why everypony in the wasteland should know and fear my name.”

I wanted to whimper. I wanted to shrink back. I wanted to do something, anything to make her stop. But I couldn’t. In that moment, all I could do was look on, paralyzed from every word my captor said.

“Got it?”

Like a spell being broken, I regained the will to move, and I nodded my head furiously, a stream of apologies starting to pour from my mouth as I begged Temper not to lock me back up and kill me. With a smirk, she leaned in even closer, slowly, silently, sweat dripping from my face with every-

“BANG!!”

I jumped away in a panic, bringing my hooves over my head as my good wing flared out. Temper tried to hold in a laugh, but failed miserably.

“Pfft… fuckin’ hell, feathers, you’re too much fun to screw with!” The mare finally trotted away from me, leaving me flushed red with embarrassment. “I’m fuckin’ serious, though. Don’t ever pull that shit again.”

Slowly, I began to compose myself, my cheeks still burning slightly as my embarrassment faded.

“And for the record,” Temper spoke slowly as she turned away from me. “I didn’t want to kill them because I don’t like getting involved in other ponies’ feuds. You don’t survive in the wasteland as long as I have by butting into the middle of a fuckin’ gang war. I didn’t kill the old guy because he was literally giving his stuff away, didn’t leave much point to kill him.”

“Th-the armor?”

“That and the money he gave me for that town’s weapons.” Temper smirked, grabbing a bag from her pockets which rustled with the sounds of bottle caps.

“And as for changing my mind,” Temper continued, “That’s not something you’ve earned the right to know. For now, let’s just say it was because they were working for a… certain pony.” Temper stopped, gritting her teeth as she finished her sentence.

“Y… you mean Ironsi-”

“And,” Temper interrupted me, her voice suddenly becoming a low growl. “You are not to utter that name. Ever. Don’t even ask about him. In fact, if you finish that question, I will shoot you where you stand and let you bleed out. Painfully.”

I immediately shut my mouth.

“Now, if there are no more fucking questions,” Temper seethed, trotting forward to continue the journey to the Stable. “Let’s go. Night’s falling, I need to find a place to camp.”

I nodded, hesitantly following after the mare. That had been far too close of a call. If something like that happened again, then that was it. I’d be done for. I’d fail.

If I can’t get away from Temper at Stable 6, I won’t get another chance.

I have to be ready.

I have to escape.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Ungh…” I rubbed my head, my body hardly rested from the night before. I had tried to sleep, but every time my eyes had shut, images from my nightmares popped into my mind, and my eyes would shoot open again. Once again, my imagination had seemed to be tormented by my nightmares as well, so decided to take the opportunity to finalize the plans for my escape.

Alright, this shouldn’t be too bad. First, I have to… my thoughts paused, a yawn escaping from my lips. …have to find a Terminal that’s working. That’s the highest priority, because if none of the Terminals work, then I’ve just been wasting my time. Second, I have to get Temper to let me use it alone. But how…

I considered a number of different approaches to the problem, but none of them seemed particularly good. I could shove her away and then lock myself in the room with the Terminal… but that requires the terminal to be in its own room. And a door that locks. And there would need to be a second entrance so I could escape without Temper killing me.

Maybe I could distract her with loot? Have her go get something while I get the info I need.

…and then she would shoot me for trying to boss her around. Ugh, think, think, think!

…maybe if I get a giant butterfly net-

“Mmmm…” I glanced up, looking over at Temper as she rose to her hooves. “Mornin’, feathers.”

A few boxes of Yum Yum’s Deviled Eggs (trademarked) later, we were on our hooves, and once again headed for our destination. As we walked along, I spotted a familiar shape in the distance. A mountain of rock that stretched up higher than I could reach. Temper scowled as she saw it.

“Fuckin. Roadblocks.”

We kept moving. Stable 6 was close, I could feel it.

All I had to do was get there, and my living nightmare would finally be over.

Author's Note

Level Up

New Perk: Gunslinger – Nice shooting, kid! With this perk, your accuracy when using firearms is increased.