Fallout Equestria: Heartless

Chapters

Prologue: Cold Heart
Chapter 1: Ice
Chapter 2: Defrost
Chapter 3: Melting Point
Chapter 4: Thaw
Chapter 5: Rain Slick
Chapter 6: Cold Front
Chapter 7: Glacial Movement
Chapter 8: Black Ice
Chapter 9: Snowball
Chapter 10: Clear River
Chapter 11: Migratory Weather
Chapter 12: Wind Shear
Chapter 13: Warmth

Prologue: Cold Heart

Prologue:Cold Heart

A tan earth pony walked down one of the ruined roads on the outskirts of the Manehattan ruins. Behind him walked a Brahmin, saddlebags packed with energy weapons and other pre-war tech, and an armored unicorn guard. At his side skipped a blank-flank colt of the same color.

"Dad! Dad! After we sell this at Arbu are we gonna visit mom?" dust billowed across the road as the group kept walking.

"Sure Kip," the earth pony said with a slight grin, "we'll probably have enough money to stay with mom the rest of the year".

"Really?" the colt asked, hope emanating from his question.

"Absolutely, this pre-war tech sells for a lot, since the Steel Rangers take most of it".

"Steel Rangers?", Kip asked, confused.

"They're technophi-...ponies who really like technology. And don't like sharing it with others", his father answered, grin fading.

"But sharing is a nice thing...why wouldn't they like it?"

"Some ponies never learned to be nice", a hint of sadness traced the tan pony's voice.

A quiet crack echoed through the air, causing the guard to perk up, looking for its source. Less than a second later a hole larger than a hoof punched through the unicorn's chest. Blood and viscera splattered onto the road as the dead guard crumpled into a lifeless heap.

Kip turned and screamed as he saw the pony's body. His father grabbed him and started pulling him towards a ditch at the side of the road, shouting at the colt to move.

Another shot pulped one of the brahmin's heads as it began to gallopo away from the sudden danger. The mutated cow fell to the ground and slid for a few feet before coming to a stop. It gave one long bleating cry as it tried to pick itself up before expiring.

Kip felt a sudden impact and wetness hit his back, the weight almost knocking him down. He turned as his father's body slid off him and into the dirt, leaving a trail of blood. The colt looked at the body in silence, trying to understand what was happening. He opened his mouth to scream but was stopped by a strange feeling coming from his left foreleg. He looked down and noticed a bloody stump where it should have been. He swayed and fell to the ground, opening and closing his mouth in silence as he bled out. His last thought before he died was why?

=====

A mile away I set down my rifle and ejected the last shell. The fifty-caliber casing hit the floor of the ruined apartment with a hollow ping. I looked back through the rifle's scope one last time, seeing a half-dozen metal armored figures approaching the bodies of the caravan. They begin pulling items out of the dead brahmin's saddlebags. I put the rifle away in its sling on my back, then pulled out a worn knife from its sheath across my chest. I dug it into the flesh of my left foreleg, a fresh cut joining the tapestry of scars covering the limb. One. I didn't grimace as I finished the cut and set the knife against a different part of my leg. Two. Blood began matting what little of my black coat was left on the foreleg as I moved the blade again. Three. One last cut. To remember what I had done. Four. I wiped the blade clean against the fur on my chest and returned it to the sheath.

I let the blood run down my leg as I left the room, a trail of red dots behind me. I passed over a ministry of peace poster that had fallen to the floor of the apartment hallway. It said the same thing they all did-War, Fear, Death? We must do better. My blood now stained the picture of the yellow pegasus on the poster. I briefly felt her lifeless eyes were looking into him, looking for a soul.

It would not find one.

I drifted down the apartment's stairwell, effortlessly moving without a sound. I reached the bottom and made my way into the ruined streets of Manehattan.

A trio of ponies stood waiting for me outside. Two of them wore the same heavy metal armor that I had seen through my scope. The third, a blue unicorn mare, wore a robe of some sort. She was looking with badly veiled disgust at my scarred and bloody leg.

I stood silently in front of the three, my face expressionless behind my mask. A minute passed before one of the ponies next to the mare coughed into his hoof. She looked briefly startled by the sudden noise, then reached inside her robes with her magic and pulled out a leather sack that jangled as it was moved. "I believe you'll find the agreed upon payment inside...Void, was it?"

I nodded silently as I briefly opened and looked inside the sack. Five hundred caps, the agreed upon payment. I turned and began walking away.

"Umm...it's been a, uh, pleasure doing business with you mister Void. The Steel Rangers will make sure to look you up again if we need your services!"

I didn't turn around, our business was done. I just kept walking, leaving droplets of blood drying in my wake.

=====

"So that was really Void?" the unicorn mare, Brooke, asked as she looked at the colt's body. His dead eyes were staring back at her. She shivered.

One of the Steel Rangers looked up from where he was cataloging the technology taken from the brahmin's bags, "No normal pony could've made that shot. Hell, even Farsight would have trouble with it. Not to mention he took out four targets within ten seconds".

Another turned to the pony that had just spoken. "A normal pony couldn't have killed a colt and his father", she said quietly.

Brooke stopped talking and looked back at the colt's wide, sightless eyes. A tear quietly slipped down her cheek and into the puddle of blood soaking into the pitted pavement below.

Chapter 1: Ice

I quietly sipped a glass of vodka and listened to the soft music flowing throughout the bar, briefly looking at the white mare singing on a small wooden stage on one side of the room. I supposed she would be considered quite pretty, and her beautiful voice would make her quite desirable, but felt nothing. I never felt much more than emptiness. Emotions were a vague concept to me, something that other ponies felt and spoke of. Concepts like pain, hunger, pleasure I could understand. But true emotions eluded me.

The mare finished her song, holding on to a last, high, note before letting the sound fade. She smiled and gave a curtsy as the other ponies in the bar, all intently watching her performance, clapped their hooves together in applause.

I kept sipping his vodka in silence, the glass almost empty now, staring at the vacant seat across from me.

"Excuse me sir," a cheerful young waitress, quite pink, began as she stepped into my field of vision. I could just make out the cutey mark on her flank, a wide, toothy, smile, "would you like me to refill your drink?"

Void didn't say anything, didn't move except to take another sip, draining the glass.

"Cheer! What are you doing?" the bartender's voice hissed from across the room, "don't you know who that is?"

The pink pony turned towards the bartender and gave a confused "huh?"

"That's Void! The Void! Leave him be before you bother him."

The pink mare turned back to me as her eyes slowly grew wider in fear, focusing on my scar covered left foreleg. "I'msosorryI'msosorryI'msosorry," she repeated quietly as she backed away from Void.

I ignored the panicking mare and continued to sit in the silence now permeating the bar. A few chairs scraped on the floor as the ponies near me suddenly chose to find another table to sit at. I waited another minute for the place to settle back down before pushing the empty glass to the corner of my table. Immediately a lime green field of energy surrounded it, carrying the glass through the air.

"Uh, yes sir! Right away mister Void," the bartender stammered.

A minute later the glass floated back to my table, full. I picked it up and began sipping at it.

"Please excuse me good sir, but did I hear that pony correctly when he said you were the Void?" a strangely accented voice directly behind me clipped.

I nodded my head slightly before taking another sip of my vodka, letting the alcohol relax my body.

"Good, good!" a middle aged unicorn continued as he slid into the seat opposite me, "You see, I have a business offer for someone with your abilities."

I glanced without interest at the pony sitting across from me. He had a pale yellow coat and a brown mane with streaks of grey in it. On his flank was a cutey mark of an old fashioned typewriter, the kind that was long obsolete before the war. I nodded for the pony to continue.

"Yes, as I was saying I have a job for you. Now I understand that your line of work usually involves killing somepony, but I was led to believe that you could do other things as well. For the right price of course."

"Correct," I said quietly. It was the first time I had spoken in days.

The unicorn looked completely unfazed as he continued talking. "Wonderful! Ah, I just realized I have yet to introduce myself, how rude of me! My name is Antiquarian, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." At that Antiquarian made a small bow before continuing. "You are here at Tenpony quite often, correct? Maybe you have seen my shop, Antiquarian's Antiquities."

I shook my head. I never paid much attention to the stores in Tenpony Tower. Fancy clothing, overpriced food, and useless trinkets held no interest for me, I came to Tenpony for the liquor and comfortable beds.

"Oh. Well that is a shame, you should really drop by sometime. I have some of the most magnificent artifacts from before the war. I'm sorry, I seem to be getting off topic." Antiquarian cleared his throat and continued. "You know what memory orbs are, do you not?"

I nodded, familiar with the memory storage devices.

"And are you familiar with black opals and recollectors as well?"

I hesitated, thinking through what I remembered of them, then nodded.

"Good! But did you know that just before the war the Ministry of Arcane Sciences had been experimenting with a form of black opal, called red opals, that allowed you to feel the emotions of the memory as well? They were even supposed to be used at Equestrian Army recruitment centers; get all the young ponies feeling like dying for their country and all that."

"I...I did not know that," I answered warily, wondering what this pony was getting at.

"Exactly!" Antiquarian continued with a smile, "If it was common knowledge those Steel Ranger fellows would have found all of them years ago. As it just so happens I have found a partial list of locations some of these opals went. If you were to find one for me I would be willing to pay quite the large sum!"

"How much?" I asked, always intrigued when it came to money. I understood money.

"Five hundred caps now, two thousand upon delivery of the opal."

My eyes widened slightly in surprise. That was a large amount of money, especially for what was essentially a salvage job. I only thought for a minute before agreeing to the terms.

"Splendid! In that case here is the advance payment," Antiquarian smiled as he floated a heavy bag to me with his magic and set it down with a jangle, "And this is the map for you to use." He floated a rolled up piece of paper from his saddlebags and smoothed it out on the table, "Can't very well find something if you don't know where to look, eh?"

I nodded absentmindedly, studying the map in front of him. It showed a large section of Manehattan from before the megaspells and balefire reduced the city to ruins. Three buildings had a red circle drawn around them.

Antiquarian motioned to circles one after another, "The first spot is a Ministry of Peace building, the second is an army recruitment center, and the third is a Ministry of Arcane Sciences experimental technology facility. If I may, I suggest you start with the Ministry of Peace as it is closest to Tenpony Tower."

I nodded, having already decided on that plan of action. I recognized the area around the building as a place I had passed by before on one of my contracts.

"Well, in any case here is the map," Antiquarian continued, pushing the map over to me with his hoof. "Now, I am so very pleased we had this talk, but I really must be getting back to my shop. Can't be letting down my customers now can I?" With that the pale yellow unicorn got up from the table and left the bar.

A few minutes later I stood up as well, stopping to drop a mouthful of caps in front of the bartender before I left.

"Uh, thanks and come again!" the bartender called after me.

=====

"Fifteen standard fifty caliber rounds, five each fifty caliber high explosive and incendiary rounds, and one hundred ten millimeter pistol rounds," the armored security unicorn listed as he floated the ammunition from a metal locker behind him and set them in front of me. "Thank you for your, um, cooperation mister Void."

I ignored the unicorn, loading my weapons and tucking the rest of the ammo away in my saddlebags. I turned to leave, but an authoritative voice behind me caught my attention "Mister Void, I have a job for you."

I turned, seeing the Tenpony security chief, Darkstar, in front of the gates to Tenpony Tower. I could just make out the chief's son, Grimstar, peeking out from behind his father.

"A band of raiders has been scaring off caravans along the Luna Line," Darkstar continued, speaking of the twin monorails that served as the only way to reach Tenpony Tower, "I'll give you two hundred caps if you take care of them."

I nodded in agreement before turning to leave. Killing raiders was easy money. I stopped only briefly to put on my skull mask before heading away from Tenpony.

=====

The raiders weren't even trying to hide their presence. A makeshift bridge connected the Luna Line to one of the ruined buildings alongside its length. Corpses were nailed to walls and obscene graffiti covered every available surface.

I stopped six hundred feet away from the building and pulled out my rifle, bracing it against a chunk of concrete jutting from the Luna Line's surface. Looking through the weapon's scope I quickly spotted a raider lookout, ineptly concealing herself in one of the building's windows. I settled the weapon's crosshairs on her head and began slowing my breathing to a crawl. I focused on the raider mare, readying my shot.

The mare had splotches of dried blood on her coat and was wearing the rusty patchwork armor characteristic of raiders. A rifle was propped up against the window frame next to her, and the glow of a cigarette hung from her mouth.

I gently squeezed the trigger.

The mare's headless body was thrown back into the building as my rifle roared. Immediately shouts and curses rose up from the building as the other raiders were stirred into action. I pushed the rifle's stirrup, chambering another round as the spent casing pinged off the monorail's concrete support structure next to me.

Two raiders galloped onto the ramshackle bridge, searching for the source of the attack. I paced the rifle's crosshairs onto the first raider's chest and fired.

The pony was almost ripped in half as the high caliber round punched through his body. He seemed to lose all rigidity as he crumpled into a lifeless, bloody heap. The mare next to him shouted with gleeful bloodlust and took off towards my position as fast as her legs could carry her.

She made about two hundred feet before I readjusted my aim and reduced her neck to a few bloody tendons. I chambered another round and waited as her body skidded off the monorail. No raiders appeared, although I could still hear angry voices from inside the building. Apparently the remaining raiders were not as stupid as the two bloody corpses. I slung my rifle onto my back and drew my silenced pistol from its holster.

Slowly I began moving towards the building, staying low and trying to keep the monorail's scant cover between myself and the raiders. I easily made it to the bridge without any raiders making an appearance. Quietly I crept across, slipping into the gloom of the building's interior. I appeared to be in a hallway. Doorways, most missing their doors, lined the length of the area. I paused, listening intently. I heard a whisper from the room to my right and crept up to the empty doorway.

I darted into the room, immediately noticing the trio of raiders peeking from behind an overturned bed. Within seconds all three were dead, only one having managed to get a shot off. Blood dripped from where it had grazed my cheek. I ears perked up as I heard a hoofstep behind me. I spun and fired, dropping the raider that had been attempting to sneak up on me. I paused again, trying to hear any signs of activity.

From somewhere below me I heard the whimpering cries of a pony, fear and pain lacing the noise equally. I headed back into the hallway, looking for a stairwell. In a little over a minute I was crouched outside the room the whimpering was issuing from, having run into no other raiders along the way. I casually strode through the doorway and put a bullet through the eye of a raider using a chained up mare as a shield before he could react. I turned to leave, confident all the raiders were disposed of.

"Please..." the mare pleaded, "please help me..."

I turned and looked at the mare. Her coat was dirty and unkempt from her captivity and short lengths of chain locked her legs to the floor. Dried blood and semen matted the inside of her thighs. "Please..." she choked out, tears in her eyes.

"Why" I asked, seeing no reason helping this mare would benefit me. She obviously didn't have money, and I wasn't in the mood for sex. I couldn't see anything she could give me that I wanted.

The mare's eyes went wide at the callousness in my voice. Her tearful pleas followed me as I left the building, ignoring her.

=====

I crossed the makeshift bridge, no longer able to hear the sobbing of the captive mare, and sat down. I pulled out my knife and set it against my left foreleg. I drew it across my flesh, cutting myself six times. Droplets of blood followed me as I made my way towards my first objective, the Ministry of Peace building.

I had a job to do.

Footnote-Max Level

Chapter 2: Defrost

It was a strangely sunny and clear day today I found myself thinking as the ruined remains of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences facility stood crumbling before me. Age had not been kind to the building, all of its windows were broken and entire rooms were exposed to the wasteland. Hopefully the facility’s labs would be in better shape.

I pushed my way past the rusted chain-link fence encircling the building and made my way to the entrance, a gaping hole where a large double door would have been placed. Gingerly I made my way inside, keeping my senses perked for any sign of danger. Even after this long the building probably still had active defenses. As my eyes adjusted to the dim interior I was met with a disappointing sight. Laser burns and scorch marks scored the floor and walls. A trio of shattered turrets hung from the ceiling. A handful of dust covered clipboards, coffee mugs, and broken computers were the only items still remaining here, all piled into a corner of the room. The Steel Rangers had come and gone, years ago from the look of things.

I turned to leave when I heard a raucous laugh in the street beyond the MoAS facility. I crept up to the entrance and peaked out, making certain to keep myself hidden in the shadows. A trio of slavers was leading a chained pony down the street, laughing every time he stumbled and fell over the cumbersome chains. I walked out into the street calmly and nodded a greeting at the slavers. After a second of confusion their leader nodded back. I began to walk away, heading towards the sewer entrance that would bring me near to the army recruitment center, when I heard a pained voice call out after me. “H-help me! Please, please help me…” Immediately there was a heavy thud followed by a scream of pain and more laughter. I might have asked if he could afford my services, but I was already busy. I left the pony to his fate and descended into the darkness of the Manehatten sewer system.

Dank rot and the sound of dripping water surrounded me as I stealthily made my way through dark sewer tunnels. Every time I hit a junction I had to look at my compass and map due to the confusing layout of the sewers. So far I had avoided any creatures making their homes down here, but I knew that was not likely to last.

Fifteen minutes went by without incident before I came across a small group of feral ghouls. I was in one of the longer straight sections of the sewer; it went on for around five hundred feet without a junction. I was able to hide behind a piece of sheet metal that had somehow found its way down here and douse my light before the ferals noticed. I closed my eyes for a few minutes to allow myself to quickly become accustomed to the gloom inside the tunnel, then poked my head up and attempted to count how many ghouls were in front of me. From what I could see in the darkness there were at least five of the creatures. I slowly and quietly drew my pistol, clenching it in my mouth and running my tongue over the trigger, dearly wishing I had a frag grenade. I snuck out into the open and sighted on the first ghoul in the group, centering on the outline of its head. I tongued the trigger and moved onto my next target without checking to see if the first target was down. I rapidly emptied the pistol’s twelve rounds into the feral ghouls as they galloped down the tunnel towards me. All but one of the ghouls dropped to the ground, dead or dying as my pistol clicked on empty. I dropped it to the ground just as the last ghoul barreled into me, smashing me to the ground.

The ghoul bit down on my side hard, eliciting a hiss of pain as blood began to flow freely. I kicked at it with my forelegs, managing to push it off me, and quickly got to my hooves. As the ghoul leaped at me again I spun and kicked, feeling a heavy thud as my hooves connected solidly with the creature’s head. The ghoul’s body knocked me to the ground again, but it no longer moved. I fished out my light to see its head hanging lazily in an unnatural angle.

I grimaced as the pain in my side reminded me I had not finished this fight unscathed. I briefly searched through my saddlebags before finding what I was looking for. I drank the healing potion quickly, moaning quietly as my flesh re-knit around the wound. I tossed the empty bottle to the side and began searching for my pistol. After a few minutes I found it half buried under one of the dead ghouls. I reloaded the weapon and put it back in its holster, then continued on my way. One of the ghouls let out a gargling wheeze as I passed it, so I caved in its skull for good measure.

Just over an hour later I emerged into the streets near the old recruitment center. I had run into one more group of ghouls, but I hadn’t had a problem taking them down.

I appeared to be in a large open square. The remnants of picnic tables filled the area along with ancient garbage and detritus. The streets leading into the area were filled with rubble and debris, blocking this secluded square from the rest of the wasteland. I heard a rusty creaking in the air as a gentle breeze brushed against a street sign. Across from me stood a small brick building with a sign proclaiming “SERVE YOUR PRINCESSES AND COUNTRY, JOIN THE EQUESTRIAN ARMY TODAY!” A few patriotic posters featuring power armored soldiers towering over fleeing zebras graced its exterior. I unceremoniously stepped over the skeleton of a long dead pony and headed towards my goal.

As I drew nearer to the building I noted that it seemed mostly intact and untouched by the devastation around it. Its windows, although streaked with years of grime and dirt, were unbroken and its surface was unmarred. I moved up and gently pushed open the door, jumping back in momentary surprise as a patriotic tune blared from speakers hidden inside. I calmed myself and entered the building, ignoring the cheerful anthem and moving into the well-lit interior.

The inside of the building was rather plain and unassuming. More patriotic posters lined the walls, and decaying pamphlets lined a rack at the building’s entrance. The walls were a neutral red color. An open doorway at the end of the room lead to what I assumed was the recruiter’s office. A crumpled skeleton lay curled up against the rack of pamphlets, an I.D. card lying next to its mouth.

A mechanical clanking noise came from the office, followed immediately by a tracked robot in built in a rough facsimile of a pony. Its most predominant feature was the clear glass dome housing a still living brain on its head.

“Greetings citizen! How are you this fine day in our great and glorious country? I see you are interested in joining the Equestrian Army!” the robot’s tinny voice chattered away. It paused a second and scanned my body. “ERROR. WEAPONS DETECTED. PRESENT IDENTIFICATION OR I WILL BE FORCED TO DETAIN YOU.”

“Here is my I.D.” I quickly stated as a picked up the skeleton’s I.D. card and presented it to the robot.

“Greetings recruiter Peaches! You have missed work for 167 years and 288 days. Please go write a letter to your supervisor explaining your actions.” The robot stated before turning and heading back inside the office.

I followed the machine as I tucked the I.D. away inside my saddlebags in case I needed it again, then stepped through the door and into a small room. In one corner the robot sat inside its charging cradle, apparently shut down now that it had finished its programmed task. In the center of the room sat a small desk with a glowing computer taking up much of its surface. A safe was built into the back wall. The smell of dust was overpowering.

I moved up to the computer and brushed years of dust off of it, and then sat down to look through it. Thankfully it was unlocked; apparently the recruiter had been in the middle of some paperwork when the megaspells went off. I quickly began scanning through files looking for mention of the Red Opal. After skimming through multiple letters between the recruiter, Peaches, and her lover I finally found what I was looking for. I opened the document up and began reading it.

“Sergeant Peaches,
Within a few days you will receive a piece of experimental technology known as a Red Opal. It is a device similar to Black Opals, except it allows the user to feel the emotions of the recorded subject. You are to offer its use to any ponies that enter your center. Please record their attitude and disposition before and after they use the Opal. Report back in two weeks.

-Colonel Cloud”

I shut down the message and began searching through the computer for a way to access the wall safe. In a few minutes I found the command to open it and heard the safe click open behind me. I turned and peered inside as the disturbed dust settled; I could make out a bulky attaché case in the back of the safe. I reached in and gingerly pulled the case out. Thankfully there was not a lock on the case.

I brought it out into the front room and flipped the two clasps, stepping back as the case popped open. Inside sat a smooth, round, red stone the size of my hoof, and a peculiar headpiece with a setting that looked just about the same size as the stone.

I moved to shut the case, satisfied that I had found the right object, when a twitch in my subconscious stopped me. I kind of wanted to try the device, make sure it works for Antiquarian. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to try it on. It was a strange feeling, one that I didn’t understand. Suddenly I realized I had been standing over the case for an hour, thinking.

I moved once again to shut it, but instead found myself pulling out the Red Opal and Recollector. I gave in to the strange compulsion as I slotted the stone into the headpiece and placed it on my head. I let the device settle briefly before pressing the button to activate it.

I felt a sickening pop inside my head and blacked out.

I opened my eyes to darkness. I could feel I was lying on the floor but I couldn’t remember why. I moved to get up and felt my face tear painfully away from the floor. My head and chest were pounding, I felt strange and abnormal. I clumsily pulled my flashlight from my saddlebag and turned it on. A sizable pool of dried blood covered the ground were my head had been lying, and reaching up to my face I could feel it crusted in patches and rivulets coming from my eyes, ears, and nose.

The recollector slipped unnoticed from my head as I slowly got to my feet. I racked my brain, searching for clues as to my current state. It had to have something to do with the opal. I began to think back to what Antiquarian had said when I passed over the memory of the white mare in the raider camp. Something in her eyes burned into me. It hurt. Her eyes, pleading, fearful, and hopeless, caused my chest to tighten painfully. I felt tears well in my eyes.

I felt.

Why was I feeling?

I turned and sprinted into the night with one goal stuck obsessively and unasked for inside my head.

Help her.

Chapter 3: Melting Point

I didn’t stop running. Whether you would call it luck or divine intervention, I made it through the sewers and back to the Luna Line without encountering a single creature. In my state I would not have been able to deal with them.

The sun was rising as the raider hideout came into view. I shivered as my gaze drifted across the remains of their grisly trophies; I understood why most ponies feared them.
I pushed the rogue thought to the side and continued into the building, passing the corpses of the raiders I had killed earlier. I made it to the room where the white mare had been held captive and pushed open the door, my eyes immediately drawn to a dirty white heap chained to the ground. Blood was slowly pooling around the stump of left foreleg and a dirty knife lay on the ground beside her.
She wasn’t moving.
“nononononono,” I murmured as I rushed over to her. I nuzzled her neck, feeling for a pulse. I felt cold inside as time stretched on without any movement from her. “Please. Please don’t be dead…” I choked out, “I don’t deserve it but please, I need this. I need something to make up for what I’ve done. Please” The last word was choked with tears.
Thumpthump
My ears shot up as I felt a very weak pulse push through her neck. “thank you,” I whispered to the air. I took a step back to study her. To my horror I saw she had tried to free herself by sawing off her foreleg. I felt as if I had been punched in the gut. I did that. It was my fault. I quickly fished my last potion from my saddlebag and poured it down her throat as gently as I could. She spluttered quietly as she swallowed the liquid, the potent magic sealing the stump of her foreleg. “I’m so sorry” I whispered into her ear.
I frantically began searching through the room for a key, finally finding one in an empty ammo tin. I ran back to the mare and pushed it into the first manacle. It didn’t fit. I threw it to the side angrily and drew my pistol; she didn’t have time for me to waste searching. I attempted to place myself between her and the chains as I shot them one by one.
Finally free, I gently slung her onto my back. She was very light, worryingly so. She needed to see a doctor, and fast.
I left the raider camp as fast as I could, doing my best not to jostle the unconscious mare on my back as I headed towards Tenpony tower.

“No.”
“What!?” I responded angrily to the security guard, “Why the hell not?!”
The stallion cocked his head and gave me a strange look before continuing, “Security Chief Darkstar has decided you are guilty of raider activities and are no longer allowed in the tower.”
I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to buck this pony’s head. I could feel the other guards watching me, waiting for a reason to shoot. And I had a life to take care of now. “Can I at least talk to Darkstar?” I asked in a much calmer manner after a I cooled down a bit.
“He’s busy,” the guard responded gruffly, staring me down.
I opened my mouth to say something then thought better of it. I turned and walked away, fighting down this new feeling, this anger. I couldn’t give in to it. She needed me.
I thought through different places I could go, where she would be safe. Now that I couldn’t stay at Tenpony I wasn’t welcome anywhere in Manehatten. I would have to move on. That was probably for the best, something in my new state of mind told me that being feared by everypony wasn’t good. I had a safehouse in Fetlock, the suburbs surrounding Manehatten. I could stop there to let her rest and figure out where I was going next.
A new destination firmly in mind, I set off without a single glance back to the tower that had been my home for years.

By the time I reached my safehouse dawn was breaking the next day. I had been forced to move slowly to avoid groups of raiders and slavers scattered throughout the ruins. Alone I knew I could have taken them, but I had a very precious cargo to protect.
I stepped off the street and approached the ramshackle two story house. Most of its windows were blow out and its cheerful yellow paint was stained and peeling, but it was still structurally sound. I gently placed her against the wooden fence surrounding the home and walked towards the front door, passing a few raider corpses. I heard a few whirs and clicks as the turrets I had hidden inside the building scanned me. I stepped inside the door and walked into a very bare living room, the only furnishings were a table and a computer that sat upon it. I quickly shut down the turret array, and then trotted outside to pick her back up. Gently I picked her up and brought her inside the building, carrying her upstairs and placing her in the one bed still in the house. I tucked her into the dirty sheets and went downstairs to get her some food and water.
I rummaged through the kitchen cabinets for something she could ingest, finally finding a few carrot bouillon cubes. I dropped them into a pot filled with bottled water and set it on the stove to boil. I stared impatiently as the flames licked the sides of the pot. Finally, after what felt like hours, the water was rolling and bubbling at a steady pace. I grabbed a wooden spoon and gave the mixture a few quick stirs to mix in the bouillon, and then poured it into a large mug.
I moved as quickly as I could without spilling the soup. I blew on the drink a few times to help it cool down and let it sit for a few minutes.
While I was waiting I examined her more closely. She appeared to be just barely an adult, maybe 18 years old. The few places where her coat was unmarred by dirt and other material it shined through in the purest white I had ever seen. Her chest was rising and falling steadily, the potion I had given her had helped her recover from her blood loss. Her ribs were showing through her skin painfully. She hadn’t eaten in a long time.
I sipped the bouillon, making certain that it was not too hot for her, then gently lifted her head and placed the mug against it. At first she greedily sucked down the liquid, soon half the mug was gone. I tilted the mug a little further, causing her to gag on the sudden onrush of soup. Her eyes shot open and she screamed, thrashing and pushing herself away from me. The mug was knocked out of my hoof and onto the floor
She stopped screaming as she curled up into a ball, her eyes wide with fear staring at me. I suddenly realized I was still wearing my mask. I held out one hoof to try to calm her down and reached up with my left to remove the mask. Her eyes briefly strayed across the multitude of scars lacing the limb before refocusing on my now revealed face.
We sat in silence for a long time, I was unsure what to say to her and I had no idea what was racing through her head. Finally I took a deep breath and said the only thing I could, “I’m sorry.” The look in her eyes changed from one of fear to one of confusion as she continued to sit in silence so I continued, “I’m sorry I didn’t help you. I’m sorry for how I treated you. I’m sorry for...for making you do that,” at this last statement I motioned at the stump of her left foreleg and looked away, too ashamed to look her in the eyes anymore, expecting her to scream or yell or shout.
Instead I heard her say simply, “You came back.” Her words were soft and kind, like nothing I had heard before. It was beautiful. “You’re the first pony to ever come back for me,” She continued softly. “You came back.”
I turned back to her and stared into her eyes. They were a deep, beautiful purple color. A tear slowly fell from her cheek. A sad smile played across her face. Somehow I could see years of pain and abuse buried inside her, a tapestry of scars to rival my own. She shifted her body and leaned up against me, closing her eyes as a few more tears slid from them. She felt warm and wonderful and I did not want it to end. I looked down at her; the hope emanating from her was tangible. She needed me as much as I needed her.
I waited for a while, basking in her presence, before I spoke again, “My name is…my name is Night Breeze.”
“I’m Canter” She replied softly, eyes still closed tight.
We stayed with each other throughout the night.

Chapter 4: Thaw

I was standing on a balcony overlooking a massive open area filled with all kinds of Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Bright banners and lush trees surrounded the area, filling my eyes with more color than I had ever seen before in my life.

The air filled with applause as a dark blue alicorn with a flowing starry mane stepped to the railing encircling the balcony. She had a crescent moon marked on her flank. When my gaze fell on her I felt a sense of awe, reverence, respect, and an overwhelming desire to protect her.

“My wonderful citizens!” she began, her voice projecting over the crowd, “I have gathered you here to share some wonderful news, our scientists in the Ministry of Wartime Technology have created a marvelous new type of armor for the brave soldiers of Equestria.”

The alicorn’s speech faded into the background as something buzzed in my ear. “Keep your eyes sharp Night Breeze, something’s going down.”

“You sure?” I responded quietly into the air.

“You know as well as I that when Feet-first gets a gut feeling something is going to happen. Stay sharp.” The voice returned.

I panned my gaze over the crowd, searching for any sign of threats. All I could see were the smiling faces of the gathered ponies. A sense of foreboding began to grow at the base of my neck as the alicorn’s speech continued. Time dragged on until finally the speech ended with a roar of cheering and stomping from the gathered crowd. She turned to leave and I followed her through an open arch and into a long, well-lit hall.

“How do you think I did Lieutenant?” the alicorn asked, her voice now drastically different from the one she had used during her speech. “Was it too much?”

“Not at all princess, the ponies love you. It was very inspiring.” I answered. The ominous feeling hadn’t gone away. I kept my ears perked and my eyes peeled. “I think you are doing a great job in your sister’s place.” I winced slightly, hoping I had not stirred some painful memories for the alicorn. I relaxed a bit as she smiled in thanks for my compliment.

“Night Breeze! Get Luna to the panic room now! Feet-first just found a pair of dead guards at the southern doorway!” the voice in my ear shouted, full of worry.

“Roger sir,” I quickly responded before turning back to Luna. “Princess, there’s an intruder somewhere in the castle. I need you to follow me to your panic room.”

“Alright lieutenant, lead on.” She responded calmly.

“Night Breeze, Tree-fall and Autumn Leaf are going to meet you at the entrance to the main hall.” The voice instructed.

“Affirmative,” I answered. “Princess, Tree-fall and Autumn Leaf will be meeting us soon.” She nodded and continued to follow at my side. A minute later I saw the two ponies waiting for us. I nodded towards them as they fell in with the princess and I. “Keep your eyes open you two, we don’t have much farther to go” I ordered.

“Got it sir,” they quipped in unison.

We rounded a corner and began moving down another hall filled with ornamental decorations and tapestries. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the air in front of one of the tapestries shimmer. Tree-fall had also seen it, shouting a warning, but it was too late. Without pausing to think I threw myself in front of the alicorn, grunting as a trio of impacts punched into my side. From where I landed I saw blood splatter of the tapestry as a hail of gunfire from Tree-fall and Autumn Leaf shot the zebra assassin to pieces.

I rolled over on my back and coughed up something wet and coppery. As the world began to fade around me I saw the princess’s head come in to view. Her muzzle brushed against mine as she gently placed her horn on my forehead. Thank you Night Breeze, her voice appeared to come from directly inside my head. I will never be able to express just how much your sacrifice means to me, but know that you have my eternal gratitude. She smiled sadly as she continued. Close your eyes and find peace. You have certainly earned it. Her voice followed me as my world faded into an embracing blackness.

I woke with a start, my strange dream already starting to fade from memory. I took a hoof-full of deep breathes, at some point in the dream I had stopped breathing. I tried to recall the dream but the only thing I could remember was dying.

As my senses returned I noticed something warm and soft curled against my chest. Canter was sleeping peacefully in my forelegs. At some point during the night I had given in to the exhaustion of being awake for over 48 hours and crawled into bed with her. I gently ran a hoof through her mane and smiled. Even covered in grime she was beautiful.

I stayed with her for a bit longer before softly getting out of the bed and heading down to the kitchen. I decided I would fix her a big breakfast. I crept downstairs and began grabbing various ingredients from their places around the kitchen. Dehydrated carrots and potatoes went into a pot of boiling water with a sprinkling of bay leaves. I grabbed a box of freeze-dried strawberries from the freezer and set them out to thaw.

I had just finished preparing the food when I heard a loud crash from upstairs. In seconds I was at Canter’s side. She was lying on the floor next to the bed, and was biting her lip as her eyes teared up.

“Are you all right? What happened?” I asked, my voice full of concern.

She sniffed and looked up at me “I was getting out of bed and forgot about my leg.” She motioned with the stump of her left foreleg.

“Why were you getting up? You could have just called me.” I asked, still worried, as I helped her to her hooves.

She looked away from me and didn’t say anything for a minute. I was about to ask her what was wrong when she quietly answered. “I wanted to take a bath.

“Why?” I asked, immediately regretting it as I realized the reason.

“I feel...I feel dirty” A tear hit the floor beneath her and I saw she was softly crying. I was an idiot.

“L-let me help to the bathroom,” I stammered, trying to think of something to say to apologize. I couldn’t think of anything so I just said “I’m sorry.”

She nodded, seeming to accept my apology as I led her across the hall to the house’s one working bathroom. I helped her clamber over the lip of the bathtub then turned to the room’s medicine cabinet, grabbing a bottle of pills and opening it with a quick twist of my head. I poured a few out on my hoof and handed them to her, “here’s some Rad-x, the water isn’t purified so you’ll need them. I’ll leave the bottle next to the bathtub in case you need more. There’s a towel next to the sink. I’m going to go back downstairs and finish making breakfast, call me if you need anything, alright?”

She nodded, took the pills off my hoof, and swallowed them. As I turned to leave I saw her reach to turn on the bath with her stump, before cringing and turning it on with the other hoof. I bit my lip and shut the door behind me, reminded once again of what I was.

“Night?” I heard Canter call from upstairs.

“I’ll be right there!” I responded as I finished setting the kitchen’s small table. I trotted up to the bathroom and knocked on the door. “Is it okay to come in?” I asked.

“Yes,” she responded after a second. I pushed open the door and stared at the mare before me. I could not help it, she was beautiful. Her coat seemed to glow in the dim room, and for the first time I noticed her cutey mark, a Snowdrop flower. She slowly limped over to me, struggling to stay balanced without her foreleg. She reached me and leaned into my side, steadying herself. “I think I need your help to get downstairs.”

“Just lean into me and it shouldn’t be too difficult,” I responded with a smile. I had smiled more in the last few days than I ever had before. We slowly walked towards the stairs and made our way down to the kitchen. Thanks to my proximity I noticed she smelled faintly sweet, like honey. I helped her over to the table and pulled out a chair for her. I felt a little pang of disappointment as she left my side. I took my seat opposite her and pushed the bowl of strawberries to her. “Go ahead and take whatever you want. Just don’t eat too much or you’ll get sick.”

She smiled sweetly and nodded, scooping up one of the strawberries with her tongue and biting down on the fruit. A bit of red juice dribbled out the corner of her mouth. She swallowed, then grinned “these almost taste fresh!”

“I’m glad you like them,” I quipped, smiling as she dug in to her food. I watched her as I slowly ate my meal. As I stared at the beautiful mare the image a dark blue alicorn flashed briefly into my view, gone as fast as it came. I frowned, not sure if I had seen anything at all, and then shrugged.

I thought about asking Canter about her past, but I realized I didn’t want to have her dredge up what seemed to be only painful memories. We had each other and for now that was enough. I was happy for the first time in my life.

More importantly I had a purpose for the first time in my life.

Chapter 5: Rain Slick

“Just give it a minute and we’ll be able to go out in the yard,” I said over my shoulder as I deactivated the turret array. I bent down and grabbed a toolbox filled with random bits and pieces. “Alight, ish ohay to come outshide now,” I said around the handle in my mouth. I heard Canter follow me with an awkward hop-step-step noise.

I dropped the toolbox on the dusty walkway just outside and went to move the raider corpses stinking up the yard. In a couple minutes I had pushed them into a pile on the neighboring lot. My task done, I walked back to Canter. She was rummaging through the toolbox halfheartedly while she waited. At my approach she turned to me with a look of uncertainty, “are you sure you can figure something out?”

“I’m going to try,” I responded, forcing my face to show a look of confidence. The gesture seemed to help; she smiled a bit and nodded. “Alright, let’s see what we’ve got here,” I began a I started pulling items out of the container, “duct tape, pliers, a hammer, screwdriver, scrap, wonder glue, leg brace. Looks like that’s about it.”

We stared at the array of components laid out on the ground in silence for a few minutes. “well, I guess I could start with this…” I began as I picked up the leg brace. “Then I could take this…” I continued as a plan began to form in my mind.

Soon I had a makeshift prosthetic made out of the brace and scrap metal, liberally covered in duct tape. I stepped back, not quite proud of my work but not displeased either. “Alright, let me help you put it on. Be careful when you’re trying it out though, I don’t know how sturdy it’s going to be.

She nodded and held out the stump of her left foreleg as I gently fitted the contraption on. Gingerly she put some weight on the limb, causing me to jump to her side as she wobbled. “I’m okay,” she said quietly, “I just need to get used to it.”

“Alright,” I returned and backed off, letting her take some clumsy steps around the yard. Canter started to move a little faster as she became used to the replacement strapped to her leg. She smiled and turned to me, opening her mouth to speak. All that came out was a surprised bleat as she tripped and landed on the device with a frightening snapping noise.

“Canter!? Are you alright?” I shouted as I ran to her. She coughed a couple times, and then rolled over, waving her foreleg at me.

“I think I broke it,” she stated sheepishly. The brace was snapped down the middle and the pieces of scrap were bent and twisted.

“Did it cut you? Are you hurt?” I continued, quickly looking over her body for signs of trauma.

“No, no, I’m fine. I’m just-I’m sorry about the brace.” She answered as she pushed the broken device off her leg.

“That’s alright, those types of braces are everywhere. I’m just glad you weren’t injured.” I paused to help Canter to her hooves then continued, “I think I’m going to have to find a better solution though. I don’t think a brace like that can stand up to extended use from the look of it. I could try to get the help of one of the settlement doctors-“

“No doctors,” Canter interrupted very firmly as something dark passed behind her eyes. “No doctors.”

I hesitated briefly, debating whether to inquire as to her reasoning then decided against it. I had no right to pry when she didn’t even know my real name. I’ve definitely told her my name, a voice in the back of my head stated, but it was gone as fast as it happened. I shrugged it off and told Canter the other option, “the old county hospital is a hoof-full of blocks from here. I might be able to find something there.”

She frowned, thinking for a minute, and then nodded. “Alright, I’ll go with you.”

“What? You’re in no state to walk around this yard, much less an ancient building filled with who knows what.” I tried to say it as kindly as I could but I could tell it came out a bit harsh.

“Please,” she pleaded, looking into my eyes. I could see she was scared of something, “don’t leave me.” Oh, that something.

I sighed, as much as I would prefer her to stay sequestered inside the safe house, I knew I wasn’t going to tell her no. “Alright, but let me get you a set of barding. I’m not letting you come along unarmored.”

She smiled again and agreed to the deal. Fifteen minutes later I had donned my armor and was helping her into a heavy suit of metal and leather that was a bit too big for her. She accepted the burden without complaint.

We must have been a strange sight as we set off towards the hospital, a three-legged white mare leaning on a skull masked black colt.

I began to notice signs of raider activity on our way, and a block before we reached the hospital I asked Canter if she wanted to head back. She shook her head and said “No, I’m staying with you.”

“Alright then, we’re going into that building over there,” I said as I turned us towards a small house facing the massive hospital complex. I had forgotten how big it was, according to an old billboard I had once passed a few times on the Luna Line it covered 10,000 square meters. It was also covered in graffiti, corpses, and other indicators of raider occupancy.

Canter gave me a questioning look so I motioned towards the rifle slung on my back. She gave me a look of confusion for a second before nodding in understanding.

I led her slowly into the building, attempting to be as quiet as possible. We reached a room in the top floor facing the hospital without incident. “Canter, please go sit in that corner by the window and listen for anypony coming up the stairs, all right?” She nodded, and turned to limp over. “hold up, take this,” I said as I moved over to her and drew my pistol. She hesitated briefly before taking the gun. “You know how to use it, right?”

“Yes,” she answered quietly as she sat down and laid the pistol in her lap.

I unslung my rifle and leaned it against the wall. I walked over to the room’s single piece of furniture, a small table, and pushed it over to the window so that its long side projected into the room’s center. I took my rifle and placed it on the surface, then sat on the floor at its end and sighted down the weapon’s scope.

I panned my sight across the building, studying the layout. Its center was around five stories tall, and two large wings coming out from it reached two stories. Most of the windows were shattered, and I could see traces of movement in some of them. I focused on the building’s main entrance, immediately noticing a group of five ponies in various positions watching the grounds from barricades in front of the hospital. If we had walked another 20 meters they would have spotted us immediately.

I pushed the gun’s stirrup and chambered a round and settled the gun sight on the closest raider. I took few deep breathes to calm my breathing and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. I hadn’t pulled the trigger. Something about the thought of killing another pony, even a raider, was throwing me off. It was strange; I had killed a horrifying amount of ponies in my life. My left foreleg was almost completely a mass of scars, a mark for each soul I had taken. Yet I wasn’t able to bring myself to end another life.

They’re in your way, a familiar voice whispered from deep inside me, kill them.

I nodded and fired the massive rifle, causing Canter to squeak at the sudden loud noise, but I didn’t notice. I was working.

The first raider dropped to the ground screaming in pain as my shot tore her foreleg off in a spray of blood. I quickly retargeted as the raiders began to panic at the sudden attack. The second and third raiders dropped with a thud as my rounds tore through their chests. I clipped the fourth in the leg just as he entered the hospital atrium, sending him howling and limping for reinforcements. I turned to look for the fifth. I noticed a pony shaped shadow cast by something hiding behind part of the barricade. I made a quick estimate of where the raider was and fired once again. The shot punched through the scrap metal construction and the pony’s neck.

I quickly popped out the rifle’s empty clip and inserted a fresh one, then racked the stirrup. Shouts of alarm were now joining the screams of the wounded mare crawling behind the raider barricades. I settled and waited for one of the mare’s companions to try and help her. Soon enough a dark green stallion peaked around the hospital’s entrance, trying to find me. I held my fire and was rewarded a short time later as he darted over to the mare and began helping her back towards the entrance. Through the clarity of my scope I could see he was trying to calm the mare down. I dropped him with a shot to the gut. The mare’s screams of pain were replaced by one of grief. I chambered another round and focused my sight on the mare. She was holding the stallion in her remaining arm and kissing him as hard as she could as his life faded.

Something inside me tried to fight its way to the surface but I pushed it down, I didn’t have time for whatever it was. I waited a while longer as the mare’s scream of grief turned into curses and accusations directed at her tormentor. She slowly grew quieter until she finally passed from blood loss.

No more raiders were leaving the shelter of the hospital so I packed up my rifle and brushed myself off. I turned to get Canter. Her eyes were wide, frightened, so I lifted my mask and smiled to reassure her. She slowly got to her hooves and limped over to me, but she seemed strangely tentative and nervous.

“All right, we’re moving up to the main entrance now,” I instructed as I led Canter down the stairs and out of the house, “try to stay low, I won’t be able to prop you up when we’re in there.”

“I…I think I’m going to wait for you out here,” she said quietly.

“Are you sure?” I asked, confused. She nodded in response. “Alright, well take the rest of the ammo for my pistol and try to stay hidden,” I directed as I pulled a hoof-full of clips from my saddlebag and placed them into her barding’s own bags. She nodded and stumbled over to a small alcove on the side of the hospital. Her eyes seemed focused on the dead raider couple lying on each other.

I walked over to the bodies and rolled them over, grabbing a sawed off shotgun and a bunch of shells from the colt’s saddlebags and a few frag grenades from the mare.

I checked the shotgun’s load to make sure it was full. The shotgun was a curious design, four short barrels with the T shaped grip of a pistol. It was going to have punishing recoil.

I stepped into the gloom of the hospital atrium and darted behind a reception desk as a hail of gunfire tore up the floor where I had entered. “Come on out fuck-face!” one of the raiders shouted gleefully. I briefly popped out of cover and fired towards the noise, getting a shout of pain in return. More gunfire spattered against my cover, making it shiver against my back. Most of it seemed to be coming from the hallway leading into the left wing of the hospital. I took one of the frag grenades and flung it towards the passage. “Oh shit! Grenade!” another raider shouted as the group scattered. I popped up again and fired the rest of the barrels, taking down three of the raiders running from the grenade. The last one dropped a smoking submachine gun and pulled out a hatchet as he charged me. I ducked his swing and head-butted the bottom of his jaw, feeling his teeth shatter on the hatchet’s handle even through my mask. He stumbled back into the reception desk, spitting out blood and teeth. I pulped his head against it before he regained his senses.

I took a couple breathes and looked around as I reloaded the shotgun. The right wing of the hospital was apparently blocked off; large sections of the floors above it had collapsed and clogged that passage. I turned and walked down the hallway leading left, passing the charred floor where my grenade had exploded. I hadn’t noticed it in the chaos. I paused briefly to grab a couple more grenades from one of the bloody corpses. I flitted down the hall, checking each room as I went for raiders and something Canter could use to move around.

I went on for a good hundred meters before a couple raiders tried to ambush me. As soon as I saw the faint glow of magic energy I ducked into the room to my right and slammed the door shut. The hall behind me exploded as the unicorn dumped half a dozen grenades into it. I waited silently for a minute for movement from my enemies. “Do you think you got him?” I heard a rough female voice ask. “I dunno, I ain’t seeing none of his body,” came a masculine response on the other side of the door. I reared up and bucked hard, splintering the door and sending the unicorn raider flying back. I was right behind him, putting a load of buckshot into the surprised mare before stomping on the unicorn’s neck. I quickly reloaded the shotgun and continued down the hall.

After another hundred meters I approached another atrium, this one appearing to be at the end of the left wing. I slipped into the shadows behind one of the columns encircling the open area and scanned the room. I could count at least five more raiders behind various pieces of cover, from overturned tables to an ancient plant urn. I started to pull out one of my grenades when one of the raiders spotted me, “He’s over there!” immediately gunfire started to chew up the column’s intricate stonework. I could hear a couple heavier weapons amongst them. I tossed the grenade out into the group of raiders and sprinted towards the next column in line. I almost tripped as something punched into my flank. Behind me the grenade’s explosion was accompanied by a pained howl. I slid in behind the column and waited as sustained gunfire continued to shatter the air. I heard a chorus of clicks as the raiders emptied their weapons in their fire-frenzy. “Shit, reload, reload!” one of them shouted frantically. I sprinted out from behind the column, tossing a grenade into a cluster of three raiders and pouring shotgun shells into the rest. I kept running, angling towards a heavyset unicorn hurriedly attempting to reload the pair of machineguns she was wearing as a saddle. She began to back up in a panic as I leaped at her. I hit the raider hard, knocking her to the ground with a yelp. I stomped the joint on her leg as she attempted to stand, releasing a sickening crunch and a scream of pain. “Pleasepleasepleaseplease…” she begged with tear filled eyes as I raised a hoof to bring down on her head. I cracked open her skull on the sixth strike.

I turned and surveyed the room as I swallowed a potion, checking to make sure I had finished off the raiders. Bodies were scattered about, limbless and cut up from my grenades, or torn up from buckshot. I reloaded the shotgun and turned to find a way to get to the second floor when I saw something glint next to a table in the corner of the room. I trotted over and found what I had been looking for. A skeleton lay curled up with its prosthetic leg still attached. The paint had worn off over the years, but it otherwise seemed intact. I picked it up and moved it a bit, it squeaked a little, but some grease would fix that easily enough. Satisfied that I had completed my job I placed the replacement appendage in my saddlebag and headed back to the hospital’s entrance.

“Canter, I found one!” I called out towards her hiding spot, motioning towards the leg currently poking out of my bag. I frowned a bit as she failed to emerge, but was quickly reassured when her quiet voice came from behind me.

“Thank you,” she said as I turned to face her. She wasn’t smiling but she didn’t look nervous anymore either.

“Want to try it on now?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Let’s head back to the safe house first,” she replied as she moved up and leaned into me. I nodded and began to lead her down the road towards safety.

As we left I noticed the bodies of the raider couple had been placed in a loving embrace.

Chapter 6: Cold Front

Within a few days Canter had acclimated to her new leg, trotting around the safe house’s small yard for a couple hours each afternoon. Even though she seemed to be moving around well I was still worried; I hadn’t seen her happy since we had left to find the leg and she had been acting differently around me. She seemed colder and distant. I had tried to cheer her up a few times, but no matter what I did she would give a sad smile and say “thanks”. I hadn’t been feeling well either, each night I seemed to have the dream in which I died, and each morning I could only remember that part.

I was watching her practice moving about one morning, trying to devise a plan to make her happy, when a voice spoke in my mind. I think she knows I’m a terrible person.

I nodded, that made sense. I didn’t remember much of my fight at the hospital, but the image of the dead raider couple had stuck. The screams, the pain, the desperation-it all echoed within me. I remembered Canter’s eyes after I had killed the pair, like she didn’t know who I was anymore.

I’m her protector first and foremost, the voice returned, and if she hates me because of that I will have to accept it. I would protect her with my life. That is all that mattered to me.

After a while longer the mare jogged back to the house, sweaty and breathing heavily. I waited for her to get inside before switching on the defenses. The turrets gave a low whine as they powered up.

“Lunch is in the kitchen,” I told the panting mare. She nodded and moved into the small room.

We ate in silence. As soon as we finished I picked up our dishes and tossed them into the sink before returning to my seat. We had eaten a simple meal, dehydrated carrots and water.

“Alright, I don’t think we can stay here much longer,” I began, finally broaching a subject I had been meaning to talk about for that last few days. I pulled out a map of the wasteland I had grabbed from my bag earlier and laid it down on the table between us. “We’re running low on supplies and power. I could scavenge them for us, but that would take me a few days, and you wouldn’t be able to come with me.”

Canter nodded in agreement, and then pointed to a spot on the map. “What about here?” I followed her pointing hoof to a mark in the middle of a lake a small ways west of the Everfree Forest.

“Laketown? It’s pretty far from here. It would be difficult going,” I stated, thinking over my options. There weren’t many settlements outside of Manehattan that I would consider safe. Laketown was one of those few. “It’ll take us about a week to get there, are you sure you can walk that long?”

She hesitated briefly before answering, “I think I’ll be able to. I’ll need to take breaks along the way though.”

“Alright. I can get everything together this afternoon. We’re going to travel at night, it will be safer.” I folded the map back up and left it on the table. “Give me a couple hours and I’ll be ready. If you want to do anything before we leave now would be the time.”

Canter nodded and left the room. A couple minutes later I heard the bath running.

“Canter, can you carry some of the supplies?” I asked as I set a heavy bag between us. We were standing in the yard outside the safe house; the light of the setting sun was casting playful shadows all around. The mare nodded and stooped to help me transfer some of the items to her. I had gotten her to put on the metal armor she had worn before and she was still carrying my pistol. I scooped a hoof-full of food cans into each of her saddlebags and then put the rest in my own.

We set off at a slow but steady pace, trying to keep noise to a minimum and hide in the shadows of buildings. Neither of us spoke as we walked, the only sounds were our hooves on the pavement and the occasional clinking of Canter’s armor. I turned to look at her, to check how she was handling her burden, when I stopped in surprise. Walking next to me was a dark blue alicorn. I blinked and shook my head and saw Canter walking along. I looked around quickly, wondering what the hell had just happened. I had definitely seen something. I frowned and continued walking with Canter, pondering the strange phenomena. I began to doubt the new me was entirely sane.

As the rest of the night passed I noticed Canter begin to flag more and more. She had started to pant from exertion just before sunrise so I had us stop to rest for the day. We hid inside a ruined train station on the outskirts of Manehatten and I quickly set up camp. After I helped Canter out of her barding I started a small fire next to our bedrolls and began cooking some dehydrated vegetable.

The mare laid down on her bedroll on the other side of the fire with a sigh of relief. Before the vegetables were halfway done she drifted to sleep, completely exhausted. I smiled, gazing at the sleeping mare.

I could take her right now. I started as the familiar voice slithered through my head. She’s certainly not strong enough to stop me. I haven’t rutted in a while and it’s starting to get uncomfortable. All I need to do is hold her down.

I almost started to move before I realized what I was doing. “What’s wrong with me?” I whispered, horrified at the thought of what I had considered. “I would never do that to Canter,” I shook my head, trying to reaffirm myself. I tried to quash a terrible memory that the thought had surfaced. I was a monster.

I curled into my bedroll and used all my willpower to eject the memory from my thoughts. Eventually I settled in to a troubled sleep.

I woke to a heavy pressure on my chest and something cold and metal against my head. I heard Canter give a muffled shriek as I opened my eyes to see an orange unicorn raider pressing a small caliber pistol into my head.

“My friend is gonna have some fun with your mare, and you’re gonna sit here and watch,” she hissed with a sadistic grin. She put a hoof on my head and turned it to face Canter. Another raider was holding her to the ground and teasing her with his hoof, laughing cruelly as she flinched from his touch. She was struggling as hard as she could, trying to escape, but the stallion had pinned her too tightly. Tears were flowing freely from her fear widened eyes. Briefly my thoughts flashed back to the familiar voice that had almost returned me to someone worse than these raiders. I felt a tight knot of anger begin to form in my stomach.

I pushed at the mare holding me down; eliciting a curse and a stomp to my gut as I almost threw her off. I felt her hot breath tickle my ear. “It ain’t gonna be that easy, shit head,” she whispered, “after Razor’s done I’m gonna play with you. But I think I’m gonna use this.” She twisted the barrel of her pistol into my temple to show me what she meant.

Canter gave a loud scream as the raider pressed into her, still laughing. As he started to rock back and forth on her I felt the knot of anger explode into something primal and powerful, giving me the strength to throw the mare off of me.

“GET THE FUCK OFF HER!” I roared as I barreled into the stallion, smashing him against one of the benches inside the train station. Blood splattered the ground around me as the unicorn fired her pistol into my back. I spun around, unfazed, and punched my foreleg into her side as she tried to clear a jam in the gun. I heard a couple of her ribs snap under the force of the blow. The mare backed off, coughing blood, and threw the gun at me with her magic. It bounced off my side as I spun and kicked her head with enough force to break her spine. I hit the ground as the remaining raider landed on me, knocking the air out of my lungs. I quickly rolled out from under him and sprung to my hooves; stomping on one of his legs and hearing it break with a satisfying snap. He shouted in pain and tried to get up, so I smashed another leg. He spat at me defiantly an instant before I kicked in his head.

I ran to Canter’s side, scooping her up in my forelegs and holding her against me as tightly as I could. She buried her head in my chest, sobbing, and returned the embrace. I nuzzled at her head protectively as I let her cry into me. I noticed with concern that she was covered in blood.

As the interior of the train station began to fade around me I realized that was my blood.

I coughed and opened my eyes. I was in a lot of pain, more than I had felt in a long time. Immediately I felt Canter at my side, holding me. I was covered in a mess of bandages and an empty health potion was lying on the floor.

“There was only one potion left,” Canter choked out. Her eyes were red from tears, and my blood still splotched her coat. “It wasn’t enough to close the bullet holes completely. I tried to use the bandages but I don’t know if I did it right.”

I looked down and examined her handiwork. The bandages were crisscrossing my body at strange and uncomfortable angles, but they seemed to have stopped the bleeding. I gently shifted Canter so I could sit up, groaning at the pain. I motioned towards the station exit. “We,” I paused to get to my hooves grunting from the stress, “we should move out of here in case any more show up.” I moved a couple meters before collapsing in agony. I was breathing heavily.

Canter was at my side again, helping me up. “You’re not going to make it any distance outside, Night,” she began with concern before pointing towards a door leading to the station office, “I think we can hole up in there till you’re better.”

I managed to nod as she slowly led me into the room, and then slumped against the desk in its center. “Give me a minute to get our things,” Canter said as she left the room. I took the minute to look around. From what I could see it was an average office, a desk, chair, computer, and some posters were arranged about the room.

Canter walked back into the room and closed the door, dumping our stuff into a corner. She took our bedrolls and laid them out side to side next to me. I rolled into one, moaning a little from the pain. Canter turned off the room’s lights a few seconds later. I smiled through the pain as I felt her crawl into bed next to me. I was glad she wasn’t cold and distant anymore, but I dearly wished it could have happened without Canter being further abused. I would give anything to keep her from being hurt. In a moment of clarity I realized why I felt this way towards her.

“Hey Canter?” I asked, facing her in the darkness.

“Yeah Night?” she returned quietly.

“I…I love you”

We laid there in silence as time passed, and I started to feel I had made a mistake. Suddenly I felt her lips against mine as she drew me into a desperate kiss.

Chapter 7: Glacial Movement

We spent the next week hiding in the small office, letting my wounds heal. Canter was doing her best to take care of me, but it was readily apparent that she didn’t know what she was doing. Whether it was her attempting to sanitize my wounds with massive globs of antiseptic or burning some of our dehydrated rations, I didn’t much care about her ineptness. She had kissed me.

We still didn’t talk much, but we spent most of the week together. A few times a nagging voice in the back of my head reminded me that Canter had never said she loved me, but I was able to push it aside. We were together, we had each other, and I told myself that even if she didn’t love me I was happy as long as I was with her.

I knew that everything was not well with me however. The voices in my head were appearing with steadily increasing frequency. Thankfully I was becoming better at distinguishing them from my own self, but a few times I had almost slipped. My reoccurring dream had remained with me as well, and each time it happened I remembered a little more. Now I was able to put a name to the face of the blue alicorn that I had been hallucinating. She was Luna. I was seeing a dead goddess.

Canter’s soft voice brought me out of my thoughts. “We only have enough food for another day.”

I nodded. I had only packed enough food for a week. I hadn’t planned for one of us getting injured. “There’s a mini-mart a few blocks from here. We should be able to scavenge enough food to make it to Laketown. We’ll need to refill our water bottles at the drinking fountain here before we go though.” I got to my hooves with a grunt. Moving about still hurt, but it was no longer excruciating. “As long as we move at a slower pace I should be okay.”

“Are you sure you can make it?” Canter asked with concern. She reached out and gently put her hoof on my shoulder. “You’re still not fully recovered.”

“I know, but we can’t wait around for me. We need to move, even if it is day right now. As it is I’ve already tied us down here too long.” I felt a bit better when she was touching me. I smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, “We’ll be fine.”

It took us about an hour to reach the mini-mart, my infirmity causing us to move at a snail’s pace. The small building looked abandoned, its windows had shattered long ago and I could see dust floating through the air inside thanks to the midday sun. “Let me go in first,” I instructed as I drew the sawed off shotgun I had taken at the old hospital. “Follow behind me,” I managed to spit out around the gun’s grip. Canter nodded and drew her pistol, looking a little nervous at the prospect of having to use it.

I opened the store’s door and looked about for any threats. Nothing was moving but I could see the dust had been disturbed by some sort of skittering movement. “I think there are radroaches in here.” I said, nodding to the tracks in the dust. Canter moved up next to me, looking around the area. “Tell me if you see a light switch,” I instructed as I moved deeper into the store

Canter moved up a little and peeked around a group of shelves, drawing back with a quiet ‘eep!’ “I see the roaches,” she whispered, her words slightly slurred by the gun in her mouth. I nodded and moved over, looking down the aisle. A pair of radroaches was sitting silently near the stores back wall about ten meters away.

I started to draw a bead on one, but stopped and turned to canter. “Why don’t you try to take them out?” I asked with an encouraging smile. Just kill them and be done with it. It will just be a waste of ammo for her to try. I ignored the old voice that popped into my head and backed up a bit so Canter could get a clear field of fire.

She looked nervously at me, so I just nodded and motioned to the radroaches, still giving her an encouraging smile. She took a few slow steps so she was looking down the center of the aisle and pointed her pistol at the closest radroach. She held her position for a minute, trying to steady her aim, and then tongued the trigger. She jerked back a little in surprise at the recoil of the weapon. Her shot was wide, impacting the wall about a meter from her target. The radroaches turned towards us with a loud hissing noise but held their positions. She turned and gave me a concerned look.

“I know you can do it Canter, just focus and breathe.” Her brow furrowed a bit but she turned back to her target and started taking slow, deep breathes. This time the pistol’s crack was accompanied by the crunch of a bullet punching through the radroach’s exoskeleton. The remaining radroach gave a hiss and started hopping and crawling towards us. Canter backed up in panic, unloading the rest of the pistol’s clip at the approaching vermin. She missed completely. After her pistol started clicking on empty I quickly snapped a shot at the creature, the buckshot turning it to goo at such close range.

Canter calmed down quickly and looked over at me sheepishly, “sorry. I didn’t mean to panic.” She was blushing through her white coat and it looked extremely cute.

I gave a little laugh and smiled at her, “not at all. You handled yourself fine for your first time.” No she didn’t the voice said. “Next time try to keep your wits about you though. If you panic in combat you’re much more likely to…” I trailed off, not liking the idea of Canter being hurt, or worse. “Anyway, it was a good try. Now let’s find the lights and enough supplies to make it to Laketown.”

We had stuffed our saddlebags with canned vegetables, some dried fruit, and a few other goods. I found a bottle of Sparkle-Cola hiding on a shelf in the back of the store and had hidden it in my bags without Canter noticing. I was going to give it to her as gift later. I grinned, hoping she would like it.

Forming a relationship with my principal is asking for disaster. The unfamiliar voice returned. It had been absent so far today and I had been waiting for it to pop back up. But how am I supposed to control how I feel? How can I deny my love for the most incredible mare in Equestria? I shook off the thought. I could love Canter and protect her at the same time.

As if reading my mind she sidled up next to me and nuzzled my neck, “Are we ready to move? My bags are pretty much full.”

I rested my head against her neck and sighed contentedly before answering, “Yes. We should have enough to get to Laketown, even with the increased time for my injuries.” We headed to the door and stepped outside, almost running into a grizzled grey unicorn stallion wearing a long leather coat.

I drew my shotgun as Canter gave a yelp of surprise. “woahohohoho!” the grey pony exclaimed backing up, “I ain’t meanin’ yall harm.” I frowned and narrowed my eyes at the stallion as Canter moved behind me. The sound of a shotgun being racked drew my attention away from him. An armored griffin was balancing on her hind legs and pointing a nasty looking scattergun at me, “You hurt the boss and I kill you.” She stated simply in a surprisingly cutesy voice. A Brahmin was standing behind the pair, one of its heads regarding us with a docile gaze.

I slowly holstered the shotgun, keeping my eyes on the group opposite us.

“Well, I’m certainly glad ya’ ain’t hankerin’ for a fight,” the grey pony gave a big grin, “my name’s Trader Joe, the traveling salesman. That fine lookin’ lady with the big gun is Daisy. And the big girl behind me is Meredith. And her brother Greg.”

After a short silence Canter cleared her throat and spoke from behind me, “Umm, I’m Canter and he’s Night Breeze.”

“Well it’s certainly a pleasure ta’ meet two ponies out here who don’t wanna kill us! Even if one of ya’ is wearing a skull on his head. ” Joe exclaimed, still beaming. When Canter said my name Daisy gave me a strange look, then leaned over and whispered something to Joe. “Where yall headed?”

“Laketown,” I spat gruffly, not trusting Joe’s ever-exuberant demeanor.

“Well ain’t that just the coincidence of coincidences!” Joe gave a little hop, shifting his coat and revealing his cutey mark-a random assortment of goods. “That’s where we’re headed too!” I could tell Canter was starting to warm to his cheerful attitude as she moved up next to me, no longer hiding at my back. “Ya’ know what, ya’ look like ya’ can handle yerself in a fight Night, want to come with us? Safety in numbers and all that. Plus, I’ll throw some caps yer way.”

I started to refuse the offer when Canter nudged at my side. “Come on, let’s go with them. They don’t seem bad, and even if they try to hurt us you’ll be able to protect me.” Her eyes were pleading, tugging at my heart.

I sighed and turned to Joe, “alright, it’s a deal.” I paused for a second as a thought struck me. “I’m a little shot up so I can’t move that fast.”

“Oh that’s fine, we haven’t been goin’ at much of a pace either, Meredith and Greg have a bad knee. Anyway, we can get acquainted on the road.”

I nodded reluctantly, and soon Canter and I were on our way. I did my best to ignore Joe as he prattled on about anything and everything, but his cheerful demeanor slowly grew on me and I felt a little more comfortable traveling with them after a few hours had passed.

After we had made camp that night, Daisy approached me. Canter and Joe had already fallen asleep, and Meredith/Greg was snoring loudly. Somehow the griffin managed to project a smirk even through her beak. “She doesn’t know who you are, does she?” Her innocent voice had a tinge of darkness in it. I gave her a long look, attempting to mentally force her to shut up. She let out a little snort and continued. “There aren’t many ponies that wear a skull mask, Void. I’ve got to be honest, I have no idea how she hasn’t put two and two together if she’s from around Manehatten. You aren’t exactly unknown.”

I looked away, angry that she was pressing the issue, “Just drop it,” I hissed.

“Naw, I’m pretty curious. What’s a heartless bastard like you doing with an innocent mare like that? She your slave?” Daisy had adopted a bit of a mocking tone now.

“Fuck off,” I spat out as I turned back to her. She’s right, what am I doing with a mare? It’s not very conducive to business. The old voice returned, interrupting my growing anger towards the griffin bodyguard. “I’m with her because I love her,” I responded to the voice, immediately regretting it as I realized I had spoken out loud.

Daisy’s eyes shot up in surprise. “Huh. That actually sounded like the truth. You gone soft or something?”

“You’re one to talk,” I retorted, “I saw the way you and Joe were looking at each other.”

“Hey now, I’m not an assassin, I’m a caravan guard. I never claimed to be a heartless badass,” she said, raising her talons in a gesture of innocence. “I don’t have a reputation to keep.”

“Yeah, well I’d be happy if my reputation turned to smoke and disappeared,” I shot back. I’d be happy if all of my old self turned to smoke and disappeared.

“Alright, alright. I’ll back off. I won’t even tell your mare who you are.” She started to walk away before turning back to me with a serious look, “I’m keeping an eye on you though. Don’t forget that.”

“Alright mares and gentlecolts, at this rate we’ll be in Laketown by tomorrow.” Joe stated with a grin as he perused his map.

A week and a half had passed since Canter and I had joined Joe’s little caravan. It had been rather uneventful; the most trouble we had run into so far was Meredith/Greg falling into a ditch. It had taken all four of us to push the Brahmin back out. The tension between Daisy and I had begun to fade, but it was definitely still there. I could feel her eyes boring into my back every now and then while we walked. My hallucinations and the voices had eased up as well. A couple of the days had passed without them making any appearance at all.

Currently we were passing through a small valley, and as we came around a bend in the road a large and menacing building came into view. It was a large complex made of concrete and steel, a crumbling shrine to the pre-war government. “What is that?” Canter wondered aloud.

I opened my mouth to answer but was cut off by Joe. “That big ol’ thing is, or should I say was, the biggest, most secure prison in all of Equestria. Now it’s usually occupied by raiders or some other undesirables. Every couple years Laketown tries to wipe ‘em out, but they always pop back up in a couple months.”

“If we follow this road we’re going to be passing pretty close to it,” I stated, concerned. “We’re trapped in this valley if we get attacked.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Joe returned with his customary smile, “Laketown wiped them out again about a month ago.”

I looked again at the building, now about a mile distant, looking for any signs of occupation. Graffiti and corpses were liberally scattered about the complex, but that could easily have been from the raiders who had called the prison home in the past. I almost started to relax when I saw something shine in one of the prison watchtowers. “GET DOWN!” I shouted as I knocked Canter to the dusty road. A hollow crack echoed through the air and an instant later a bullet punched into the ancient asphalt of the road. I grabbed Canter with my teeth and started hauling her behind a boulder on the side of the road, attempting to be as gentle as I could. Halfway there she was able to get to her feet and make it the rest of the way. I noticed Daisy was doing the same with Joe, carrying him to the valley wall, just out of sight of the sniper sitting in the prison watchtower. Meredith/Greg had followed the pair, somehow managing to avoid getting shot even with her trundling gate.

Shouts and war cries had begun to echo down the valley from the direction of the prison, and a few heavier weapons had begun chewing up the road near our position. Over the noise of the distant gunfire I could hear Daisy angrily berating Joe for his choice of routes. I took a quick look over to Canter, a little spark of pride lit inside me as I noticed she was calmly keeping her back to the rock and looking at me with eyes that said she trusted me to protect her.

Show her that her trust has been placed with the right pony. The unfamiliar voice whispered. I nodded; usually that voice was more reasonable than the other.

Carefully I unslung my massive rifle and loaded it with a full clip. I only had six standard rounds left so I would have to make them count. I laid the gun on the ground and settled in behind it, just barely peeking out from behind the boulder. I quickly focused on the watchtower, searching for the raider sniper. I spotted a small glint and swung my aim over to it, steadying my breath. I compensated for range and wind speed before dropping a fifty-caliber round onto the raider’s head, pulping it.

I hit the stirrup and retargeted, seeking out one of the heavy gunners. I followed one of the lines of tracer fire back to a scarred yellow buck standing on the prison roof. He was wearing a saddle-mounted minigun and firing indiscriminately in our direction. A unicorn mare was crouching behind him, feeding ammunition from a large wooden crate into the weapon. I ducked back behind cover and fished out one of my incendiary rounds, ejecting the round currently in my rifle’s chamber and replacing it. I settled my sights on the crate and fired. As I had hoped, the crate had been packed with straw for cushioning and it lit up in a blaze as the magically superheated round tore through it. Hundreds of bullets started popping off a second later, shredding the pair of surprised raiders.

The amount of gunfire coming our way had lessened, but now it was almost all focused on me. I flinched as a stray shot ricocheted off the boulder and creased my shoulder, drawing a thin line of blood. I ducked back and waited for some of the gunfire to die down. I turned to check on Canter again and saw her looking with worry at my injured shoulder. “It’s nothing,” I had to shout over the sounded of the gunfire hitting our cover. It slacked off a couple seconds later as the raiders stopped to reload. I quickly ducked out and sighted on the area most of the shots were coming from, a large makeshift barricade around the prison’s main entrance. My rifle bucked four times in quick succession, each round bringing down a raider. There were still a number of them left, and I was forced to take cover again.

I heard Daisy shout something at me before jumping into the air. Her shotgun roared a couple times, completely ineffective at this distance, but she managed to get the raiders’ attention. She dove back to the ground as the air around her filled with lead. Her body jerked as a number of the bullets hit home and she smacked the ground with a thud. Canter cried out in concern, but I couldn’t worry about it now, we were still in danger.

The raiders seemed to have forgotten about me after the griffin’s ploy, and as I swung back out with my reloaded rifle I saw a couple of them wooping in victory. I had one standard round in the chamber and four incendiary in the clip. After that all I had left was my five high explosive rounds. I blew out the chest of one of the cheering ponies and quickly followed him up with three more. I cursed as I missed with my last shot. I moved to reload my weapon, but I stopped as I noticed the hoof-full of remaining raiders retreat towards the main prison building.

“Get over to Joe and Daisy,” I instructed Canter, “I’ll be right behind you.” She nodded and we both galloped across the road and joined the rest of our group. I quickly took in the situation. Daisy was coughing blood and Joe was attempting to pour an extra strength health potion down her throat. The griffin kicked and gagged as she struggled to breathe through the liquid, but she was able to swallow before passing out. Joe frantically felt at her neck, trying to find a pulse. After a minute his expression relaxed and he turned Canter and I.

“She’s alive,” he sighed, the relief in his voice was thick enough to cut.

“We need to go back and get out of this valley,” I stated, trying and failing to keep the anger out of my voice.

“I know. I fucked up,” Joe stated flatly. “Yell at me after we get outta’ here.”

“Is Daisy going to be okay?” Canter asked quietly as she looked at the griffin’s unconscious form.

“She’ll pull through, she’s a strong girl.” Joe said with a hint of pride as he turned to Canter. “She won’t let me hear the end of it though!” He laughed.

I pushed down an extremely strong urge to kick him. “You and I will have to carry her. We need to go. Now.” I bent down and slung one of the griffin’s arms over my back, and Joe did the same with her other side. “Canter, keep an eye out behind us to make sure they aren’t following.”

“Okay,” she responded, still feeling concerned for the griffin.

Goddesses damn this idiot trader to hell. If I didn’t owe Daisy for helping me take out the raiders I would have left him in this valley.

I really should leave him anyway. And the mare. The old me decided to make an appearance.

Shut up.

Chapter 8: Black Ice

It had taken us an additional three days, but our journey was almost complete. Daisy had proved stronger than she looked, after a day she was able to walk again with the help of Joe. He was now sporting a nasty looking black eye from Daisy punching him. I still felt a strong dislike towards Joe; it turned out I couldn’t stand a pony that made jokes during a fight.

We were currently standing on a pier, overlooking a large lake. On an island in the lake’s center stood a large, walled, town. The sun was just starting to set. Joe strolled over to an intercom that had been placed on the end of the pier and cleared his throat.

“Hey Laketown, it’s Trader Joe out here. Can ya’ send over the ferry?” He spoke into the microphone with his infuriatingly cheerful voice.

“Roger that Joe. Looks like you have a couple guests, have you told them the Laketown Law?” A gruff voice returned.

“I figured I’d tell’em about now,” Joe answered.

“Alright. If they fuck anything up you’re going to be partly liable. Riverbed is on her way now.” With that last statement the intercom turned off with a click. I put my mask away in my saddlebag and stretched a little.

“What law?” Canter asked from her place at my side. I noticed a small wooden boat cast off from the Laketown dock and start heading our way.

“Simply put, you commit a crime you disappear,” Daisy explained before Joe had a chance to open his mouth.

“Well what counts as a crime? And what do you mean by disappear?” Canter asked nervously.

“Things like theft and murder. The ones that are usually considered crimes in any society,” Daisy continued. “And as for disappearing, nopony really knows. If you are suspected of a crime your ass gets dragged in front of the town council, they hold a private little trial, and if they find you guilty you are never seen again.”

Canter shivered involuntarily.

“Don’t worry about it Canter,” I whispered to her. “Nothing’s going to happen to us.”

After a few more minutes the small boat pulled up to where we stood. A small hooded and cloaked pony sat at the boat’s rear, managing to hold a paddle with her two forelegs.

“Canter, Night, this is Riverbed. Riverbed, say hello,” Joe said with a laugh. “Nah, I’m just messin’ with ya’ River. She doesn’t talk.”

I was completely taken aback at the air of underlying cruelty in Joe’s joke. I hadn’t expected anything like that to come from him. I quickly glanced over at Canter and Daisy but they hadn’t seemed to notice it.

I felt a growing sense of unease as we maneuvered Meredith/Greg into the boat and set off towards Laketown. Canter nuzzled my neck with a soft sigh, looking forward to safety and a comfortable bed. I turned to look at our helmspony, Riverbed. She was completely covered by her hood and cloak, the garment was so long that it fell in a pile at her hooves. She shifted briefly to change our direction and I thought I heard a muffled clink, but my thoughts were interrupted by Joe.

“Well Mr. Night, since I suppose I have yall to thank fer us making it here safely, here’s a few hundred caps,” he said as he tossed a bag over to me with a clink. That must have been what I had heard.

I nodded hesitantly; a feeling at the base of my skull kept telling me something was wrong. This place isn’t safe, one of my internal voices spoke, I have to take her away from here. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to push away the feeling. Laketown was known as one of the safest places in the wasteland. We would be safe here.

“Alright, here we are!” Joe exclaimed with a grin as we arrived at the Laketown dock. Riverbed grabbed a rope at her side and tossed it to an armored pony waiting on the wooden structure. He quickly tied it to a post and began helping Joe move Meredith/Greg off the boat. Riverbed continued to sit silently as we headed up a small path towards the town’s main gate.

“Hey Joe,” the armored pony called after us. He was the same pony that Joe had talked to over the intercom. “Councilpony Reed wants to talk to you.”

Joe waved in affirmation as he led our small group into the town. A number of stores were scattered about the entrance and a large building sat in the area’s center with a neon sign flashing the word ‘vacancy’. A second wall cut through the town a bit farther back, with a group of guards standing about a closed door, separating the council quarters from the rest of the town.

“Well, I have to go see the councilpony, so feel free to wander about. The motel over there has some comfortable beds, tell’em Joe sent ya and ya’ll get a discount.” The trader pony gave us a wave and walked off towards the heavily guarded gate.

“I don’t know about you all, but I’m going to go get drunk,” Daisy said as she turned and walked with purpose towards a bustling building up against part of the town’s wall.

Luna yawned and looked up at me with a smile. I quickly blinked and she was Canter again. “I’m getting pretty tired Night,” she started, “can we go get that room?”

“Sure,” I replied, forcing a grin that I wasn’t really feeling, “I have to go get some supplies though so you’ll be by yourself for a bit.” It should be fine. I’d only be gone for an hour or two.

Canter frowned a little. “Do you have to now? Can’t you wait till tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry Canter, but I really want to get restocked as soon as possible. Just in case we need it for some reason,” I answered.

The mare nodded in understanding and smiled again. “Alright. Let’s go get that room then.”

Dropping Joe’s name had netted us a very comfortable room at half the listed price. As soon as we had gotten inside Canter had jumped onto the bed and drifted off to sleep. I had stayed briefly to watch her before going about my errands.

I stopped by a general store and an arms dealer over the next hour. I picked up some more ammunition for my rifle and shotgun as well as some health potions and more basic things like food. I walked out into the moonlight, my task done and began heading back towards the hotel when something out towards the lake caught my eye. I could see the shape of Riverbed still in her boat sitting forlornly and alone on the water’s surface.

I changed my direction to go see what she was doing, my curiosity peaked. I trotted over to the dock, my hooves clopping on the rough wood. Riverbed started and turned to face me. I definitely heard a clink that time.

“Hey Riverbed, why are you still out here?” I asked, interested. I could see her eyes in the moonlight, two golden yellow orbs. They darted back and forth, looking about, before settling back on me. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a tiny piece of charcoal, then scrawled something on the dock’s surface.

Leave

I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant when I heard a gruff voice come from behind me. “You really shouldn’t talk to strangers River. I thought you already learned that lesson.” Riverbed’s eyes went wide with fear as she looked past me.

I turned to face the guard. “I was hoping I’d be the one to get to kill you,” he said to me as he drew his knife. “You look like you’ll be a good fight.”

I will be the one to kill you.

I adopted a defensive stance as the guard approached me, knife glimmering in the night air. He grinned and slashed at me. I dodged the attack and stepped to his side, bringing one of my forelegs down on his head. My limb bounced painfully off his helmet but I had stunned him. He stumbled back, falling onto Riverbed’s boat with a grunt. I moved to finish him off but before I could reach him the petite mare looped a length of chain around his neck and began throttling the life out of him. The guard spluttered and choked fighting for breath as I pinned him to the ground, keeping him from throwing Riverbed.

After he had been still for a minute the mare released her chain, falling back with a sob and holding herself.

The chain landed in a pile next to the manacle locking her legs to the boat, visible now that her cloak had been moved in the struggle. I searched the guard’s body for a key, finding one on a chain around his neck. I fitted it into Riverbed’s shackles and quickly released her. She shook herself and picked the charcoal from where it had fallen.

Get your friend before they take her. I will wait here for you.

I nodded and rushed off towards the hotel. I remembered why I had felt so uneasy. Years ago the council of Laketown had hired me to track down an escaped criminal. Before I had killed him and returned his body to the council he had claimed that he was a slave, that the trials in Laketown were a front for a slaving operation. That he had been falsely accused and set up. I hadn’t cared at the time, but now it seemed he might not have been lying.

I arrived at our room and anger began to grow inside me as I stared at the scene. It was a mess, sheets and furniture strewn about from Canter struggling. I drew my shotgun and turned to leave, almost running into Joe and Daisy, both leveling weapons at me.

“Leave it Void,” the unicorn said, “a pony like Canter will go for quite a bit of money, even without a leg. You don’t do anything and I can give you a split of the profit.”

I shot Joe in the face with all four barrels, directing all my anger at him, his betrayal, and the situation I had put Canter in into the shot. His body fell to the ground, a bloody stump where his head had been, as I slammed into the surprised griffin knocking her to the ground. She screeched and slashed at my side with her talons, leaving a deep and bloody gash. I ignored the pain with the adrenaline rushing through my body and stomped on one of her wings, hearing the hollow bones shatter. Daisy screamed and kicked me to the side, knocking the wind out of me as I slammed into a wall. I rolled to my feet and kicked her chest, hearing bones snap at the powerful blow. She fell to the ground and began coughing blood, she managed to swipe at my flank with her talons, cutting deep into my flesh. I kicked here once more, nailing her head. The griffin slumped to the floor, unmoving.

I galloped back outside, reloading my shotgun as I went, heading towards the gate leading to the council area. One of the guards saw me and hollered a warning. A few shots came my way as the panicking guards fired their weapons. I put them down with precise shots from my gun and ran through the gate. Shouts of alarm and confusion had begun to fill the town, the gunfire and fighting had stirred the residents from their sleep.

I turned towards a building with barred windows and charged inside, reloading my shotgun again. I killed the first guard I ran into with a blast of buckshot and broke the neck of his companion. I grabbed a large key ring off of the first’s body and ran deeper into the structure. I came to a large central area with rows of cells lining its walls, around ten total. I ran to each one, ignoring the pleas of the ponies inside, looking for Canter. I found her huddled in a corner of the fifth cell I checked. I started trying the different keys out on the door.

At my approach she looked up at me, her expression immediately changing from one of hopeless acceptance to elation. “Night!” she exclaimed as she jumped from the floor and ran over to the bars.

Her cellmate, a green uncicorn, looked around nervously. “Hurry up, the guards’ll be here any minute.”

I found the key and unlocked the cell door with a loud clunk. The unicorn raced out, wooping, and disappeared down the corridor I had used to get in. “Come on Canter, we’ve got to go.”

“We have to help the other ponies,” she demanded softly.

“What? We don’t have time for them! We have to go now!” I shouted as the stress of the situation bore down on me, not meaning to yell at her.

She flinched a little, as if expecting me to strike her, before she continued. “We can’t leave them like this. I’m not leaving till we get them out.”

Force her to leave. She’ll hate you for it but she’ll be safe. I hesitated as my desires to protect Canter and have her love me fought for dominance. “Goddesses damn it!” I shouted into the air as I made my choice. I ran to the next cell and opened it after a few tries. I stopped one of the ponies before he could leave. “Take this and open the other cells.” I instructed him as I gave him the keyring.

He opened his mouth to object so I leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “You know who I am right? I’m Void. The Monster of Manehattan. If you don’t do what I say I’ll make you watch me kill everyone you’ve ever loved, and then I’ll cut off your legs and toss you into the Manehattan river.”

The pony’s eyes widened at the sheer malice in my voice. He nodded frantically and ran off, starting to open the other cells.

“There, now we can leave,” I stated to Canter.

“What did you say to him?” she said looking at me with suspicion.

“I told him about a backdoor he could take to escape after helped the other ponies,” I quickly lied. “Now we really need to leave.

Canter hesitated briefly, but nodded in acceptance as another cell was opened. We galloped out of the building and back into the town. The scene was chaos, somehow the bar had been lit on fire and it was spreading to the building flanking it. Civilians and guards were running everywhere, some attempting to put out the flames, others just running in a panic. Gunshots started coming from behind us as a group of escaped slaves liberated some guns from the guards I had killed and engaged in a firefight with the town guard.

Canter started to turn back but I grabbed her shoulder. “It’s up to them now,” I shouted over the noise, “leave them!”

I spotted the waiting form of Riverbed and her boat at the town dock. Canter was just barely able to keep up with me as we ran, her prosthetic leg making quick movement difficult. Canter climbed into the boat as I quickly undid the mooring and pushed it away from the dock. I jumped and landed on the boat, rocking it as we moved away from the town. A guard spotted us and shouted something, firing in our direction with his pistol. I knocked him down with a couple blasts from my shotgun.

By the time we made it to the other side of the lake it appeared as though the entire town was ablaze. Gunshots, screams, and even a few explosions filled the air as it burned. I ignored the sight and hopped out of the boat, tying us to the pier. Canter stepped out as well, and then turned to help Riverbed up. Her eyes widened in understanding as she saw the chains where the small mare had been sitting. She drew Riverbed into a hug and whispered something in her ear.

We quickly gathered ourselves and ran into the night, leaving one of the safest towns in the wasteland burning behind us as we went.

Chapter 9: Snowball

The three of us made camp under a small overhang around a mile out from Laketown. In the distance, over the tops of the dead trees around us, we could see the glow of the blaze on the horizon. It was quieter this far away, but occasionally the wind carried the frenzied noise of the burning town to our ears.

Canter and Riverbed sat on the mare’s bedroll as I put together a small fire. Soon I had a little flame going, boiling a pot of water for more dehydrated vegetables. I wanted to eat something other than dehydrated vegetables.

Our small group sat in silence for a bit as the fire crackled away. After a couple more minutes had passed Canter turned to Riverbed and spoke. I noticed the cloaked pony briefly tense at another’s voice before she loosened a bit.

“Ummm…Riverbed, hi. I know you already heard this from Joe, but I’m Canter, and he’s Night Breeze.” I scowled at Joe’s name and Riverbed turned away, the yellow glint of her eyes narrowing in the moonlight. “What? What is it?” Canter questioned.

“Joe and Daisy sold you to the council,” I replied, trying to mask the anger in my voice.

“I know. I think they were with the guards when they grabbed me,” she responded, “that is why I haven’t asked where they are. It doesn’t mean I can’t say their names though.”

I nodded with my mouth hanging slightly open. I was surprised that she had known, maybe she wasn’t as naïve as she seemed. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay with you. They wouldn’t have taken you if I was still there.”

She got up and moved over to me, nuzzling my neck as she sat on my bedroll. “It’s alright Night, you got me out. That’s what matters,” she whispered into my ear. I smiled at the feel of her breath tickling me.

Silence returned as we sat, Canter and I comfortable in each other’s presence. Riverbed picked up a flat piece of wood and scrawled something on it with her stump of charcoal, then held it up to the firelight so we could read.

You can call me River

Canter smiled and nodded, “alright River, it’s nice to meet you.” I nodded in greeting to the cloaked pony and she returned the gesture.

“If you don’t mind, why can’t you talk?” Canter asked kindly. I winced, having already guessed the answer thanks to the Laketown guard’s taunt.

River looked down, her shoulders seemed to slump. She rubbed her previous message off the wood and wrote a new one.

They cut out my tongue so I couldn’t warn ponies away.

Canter’s expression became one of sympathy. “I-I’m so sorry. That’s terrible…” she trailed off, her voice showing the sincerity in her words.

River quickly wrote something new and held her board up.

That’s ok. You didn’t know

The water had begun to boil so I poured in the food and stirred it some. I turned back to River and spoke. “Thanks for your help with getting out. Without you I wouldn’t have realized what happened to Canter in time.”

River wrote once more on her board.

Thanks for freeing me and helping me kill that bastard.

“Since it seems we will be travelling together, at least for the time being, are you willing to tell us any of your past?” Canter asked the small mare.

River nodded and spent a few minutes writing on the board, stopping occasionally to think. She finished and held it up so we could see.
I’ve been a slave at Laketown for five years. I don’t remember my life before that. I was told I have amnesia. I don’t have anyone to go back to that I know. Now, since I told you a bit about me I think it’s only fair you tell me about you.

I nodded in agreement. I had wanted Canter to keep her past behind her along with whatever pain was hidden with it, but maybe knowing more could help me protect her. I turned to the mare, her face downcast and pained from the prospect of dredging up the buried memories. I squeezed her shoulder and whispered to her. “It’s ok, I’ll go first.”

I turned back to River, giving a quick thought over what to say. “Well, I worked as a mercenary in Manehattan for a while. About a month ago I rescued Canter from a bunch of raiders,” I could just make out a sympathetic wince in River’s eyes. “Since then I’ve been doing my best to protect her. We came to Laketown so we could have a safe place to stay for a while.”

I’ve known Luna far longer than a month. Go away.

River nodded and turned expectantly to Canter. She still had a pained expression on her face. Whatever she had been through had been terrible. “If you don’t want to talk about it you don’t have to,” I whispered to her.

She shook her head. “I have to face it. I have to come to terms with it. I can’t keep running and hiding. I want to tell you. I don’t want to hide it from you.” She took a deep breath, trying to steady the shakiness in her voice, and began. “I came from a small homestead just outside of Manehattan. When I was five raiders killed my parents and…and took me.” A couple tears ran down her face. “They held me for five years, until they sold me to a slave caravan. At first I was just happy to be with the other slaves, the first ponies I had seen who didn’t want to hurt me in a long time. I…I was sold to a traveling doctor a couple months later. He used me to farm organs, he’d use his magic to grow them inside me then cut them out to sell.” She sniffed deeply as more tears flowed down her face. I gently stroked her back, trying to remind her that I was here for her. “He kept me for eight years. About…about 3 months back a group of raiders caught him. He showed them where he kept me so they let him go and took me instead. I was with those raiders when Night found me.”

She started crying openly now. I wrapped my forelegs around her, holding her tight. Inside I seethed in anger and shame. So much harm had been done to my mare, and I had almost left her to die. I sniffed, and started crying quietly as well. It was the first time I could remember crying. It felt terrible and crushing, but it also felt freeing. Riverbed got up and moved off a ways, letting us have a moment of privacy. We held each other for a long time.

Eventually our tears dried. I felt the urge to be open with Canter, inspired by her being able to share such a painful past. “Canter, I…I have to tell you something.” I began.

I’ll tell her and she’ll leave, then I can get back to work.

I choked up at the thought. If Canter knew who I was, if she knew I was the Monster of Manehattan, would she leave me? Would I be abandoned by her? I swallowed and tried to continue, but could not.

Canter sniffed, blinking away her drying tears, and looked me in the eyes. “What is it Night?” I gazed into her eyes, her beautiful purple eyes. I took a deep breath and made my choice, for better or for worse.

“I’ve been lying to you; my name is not Night Breeze.”

Yes it is.

I steeled myself and continued, “I’m Void. I’m the Monster of Manehatten.” I turned away from her and waited for her reaction. It completely caught me by surprise.

“I know.” I turned back to her, trying to think of a response and failing. She continued, “I’d heard of you from a few of the doctor’s patients. When you first came through that door I knew who you were. From what I had heard of you I knew you’d leave me. I didn’t expect you to come back.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you let me know you knew?” I asked, stunned.

“Everypony has something they want to leave behind them, something they have to come to terms with on their own time. I know that as well as anypony,” she closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss me. She sighed peacefully as her lips touched mine. She pulled back to speak again. “When you came back you were different. I could tell you wanted to stay different, so I didn’t say anything.”

I was stunned. I could not believe that Canter not only had known who I was the whole time, but accepted me and was able to look beyond my past to the new pony I had become. “I love you Canter,” I whispered, “I love you and would do anything for you.” I closed my eyes, waiting for response. My heart beat painfully in my chest as I hoped against hope that she would feel the same for me.

“I think I love you too.” She returned quietly, “I’ve never felt love before, but I think what I feel towards you is love. I feel safe around you; I feel better just being in your presence.”

I hesitated. How would Canter respond to me telling her that I knew what love felt like thanks to a dream, thanks to a voice in my head? “I,” I began, “I feel happy when you are happy. I want to protect you.”

I love you Luna. Stop. Leave me alone.

Canter briefly appeared to take on the form of the dead Goddess, but she was back to being Canter a few seconds later. I kissed her passionately and she returned the gesture with force. We held our embrace, our lips locked together, until we were interrupted by a coughing noise from across the fire.

River had returned at some point and was pointing at the pot. A large amount of the water had boiled off and the food was starting to smoke. I reluctantly broke our embrace and moved to the fire, taking the pot off. Canter blushed a little at River having seen our moment, but she was still glowing with happiness.

I spooned the food into a few bowls, handing the biggest ones to the two mares, and then started to eat. River scrawled something on her board after she had taken a few mouthfuls.

Sorry to interrupt, but I could smell it burning.
“That’s okay,” Canter answered cheerfully. Goddesses she was beautiful.

The rest of our meal passed uneventfully and quietly. It was around eleven when the two mares went to sleep, leaving me to first watch. Riverbed took Canter’s bedroll and the white mare curled up in mine. I smiled and moved away from the dying fire, staying in the shadows and keeping my eyes and ears perked for any sign of trouble.

Hours passed by without incident. I had stoked our fire a few times to keep the pair of mares warm and it was still glowing brightly. I was about to wake up Riverbed-she had agreed to take a shift on watch-when I heard the sound of snapping twigs a bit away.

I quietly shook the hooded mare awake; she was still wearing her cloak even while sleeping. I put a hoof to my lips, telling her to keep quiet, and then pointed to where I had heard the sound. A few more cracks came from that direction and River nodded in understanding. She followed me at a distance as I moved forward, her hooves ineptly cracking a few sticks as she attempted to move silently.

I passed a few more dead trees and saw the source of the disturbance, the unicorn that had been in Canter’s cell was trying his best to move quietly towards the campfire. He reached a fallen tree trunk and ducked behind it, peaking over and scanning the area. He cocked his head, apparently confused at Riverbed’s absence.

Kill him.

I was less than a meter behind him now. I drew my shotgun and pointed it towards him. River, still following me, stepped on another stick. The green unicorn whipped around, immediately seeing me pointing a shotgun at his head.

“GAHOHFUCKSHIT!” he yelped as he fell to the ground, covering his head in his hooves, “Don’t shoot me, don’t shoot!” He peeked out of his hooves at me, “It’s me, remember? You freed me from Laketown like six hours ago!”

“Night, what’s going on?” I heard Canter call from the campfire, having been woken by the colt’s outcry.

I holstered the shotgun and yelled back, “That unicorn from your cell tried to sneak up on us.” I bent down and bit the scruff of his neck and began dragging him towards the camp. Riverbed followed at a small distance.

“Hey, look, it’s not like that!” the pony yelped as I dragged him, “I wasn’t trying to do anything; I just was moving ahead of the group and saw a fire. I was seeing if you were friendly or not.”

I tossed him to the ground in front of the campfire and spat. He tasted like sweat and dust. “What group?” I asked, throwing a little menace into my voice for good measure.

“All the slaves who made it out of Laketown,” he answered a little shakily, “There’s almost twenty of us.”

“You actually stuck together? Didn’t you make a run for it as soon as I opened your cell?” I was confused as to why this unicorn would be helping the others.

“Well, yeah, but I was going to disable the turrets in the council compound before they could be turned on.” He answered with an air of honesty. “They would have torn us up and I’m good with computers, so I figured I should help.”

“How did you know where the controls were?” I asked, somewhat suspicious.

“No fucking clue whatsoever. I had seen the turrets as I was taken through the yard when they brought me in.” He raised his foreleg, showing a curious device worn on the limb. I recognized it as a pip-buck, the type of personal computer I had seen the Steel Rangers wearing in my dealings with them. “Thanks to this I was able to interface with the turrets and set them to target the guards.” A hint of pride had crept into his voice, overcoming the slight tremor of fear that had been present earlier.

I narrowed my eyes, then sighed and backed away from him. “Get out of here before I change my mind.”

“Wuh-wait a minute! We could really use your help.” The colt stammered. “Where are we supposed to go now?”

“Why is that my responsibility?” I asked. My patience was wearing thin as the length of time I had gone without sleep increased.

“Well, uh, we could pay you or something,” he began, trying to come up with a way to convince me to help.

“You’re escaped slaves. You don’t have money,” I stated flatly.

I was going to rebuke him again when Canter spoke up from my side, “We can’t just let them die out here,” she said softly to me, trying to stay out earshot of the unicorn. I almost started to argue, but I knew that she would get me to help in the end. I did say I would do anything for her after all, and with all that ‘anything’ covers, this wasn’t really that big of a problem.

I sighed in defeat, and then addressed the unicorn. “Fine. Take us to your companions.”

Chapter 10: Clear River

“I’m, uh, Headcrash by the way,” the green unicorn announced as he led Canter, Riverbed, and me towards his companions. After we had packed up camp we had set out, according to the unicorn the rest of the slaves were a ten-minute trot away. Up until he spoke the last eight minutes had passed by in awkward silence.

“I’m Canter,” the white mare responded from my side.

“I’m Night,” I said, having decided to adopt the moniker permanently. Canter was right, I wanted to stay as the new me, the more of my old life I could leave behind the better.

I won’t disappear that easily.

“Nice to meet you. I’m going to pretend you sticking a gun in my face didn’t happen.” Headcrash joked. He looked over his shoulder at River, “You’re Riverbed, right? The ferrymare?”

She nodded an affirmative.

“I thought I had recognized you.” Headcrash smiled, “I’m glad you made it out.”

River nodded again.

“Alright,” the unicorn stated, “They should be right up there.” He pointed to a small hillock with a few large boulders concealing its top. He moved up a little ways and called out softly, “It’s ok everypony, it was the stallion that rescued us.”

A brown pony’s head popped out from behind one of the rocks, the pony that I had gotten to release the others. “I-I did what you said! I let them all out, see?” he motioned behind him. “Don’t hurt me…”

I felt Canter’s eyes on me and I turned guiltily to face her. She shook her head, looking disappointed, and left me crestfallen.

I was just trying to protect you Luna. Leave. Canter isn’t Luna.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I called up to the pony, attempting to redeem myself a little in Canter’s eyes. “You did a good job.” I turned back to Canter, hoping for some semblance of approval. She didn’t look quite as disappointed in me anymore, but it was still there.

“Come on up,” Headcrash offered as he started up the little hill. We followed him up into a small opening in the midst of the boulders. A loose conglomeration of ponies, all slaves from Laketown, was arranged around the area. I took a quick head count, there were 18 of them including Headcrash. They were carrying a random assortment of equipment and weapons looted from the burning town. A few were keeping watch at the edges of the hilltop. They cheered as they saw me.

It felt strange being praised by these strangers. It didn’t feel anywhere near as good as Canter’s praise, but it didn’t feel bad either.

“Alright everypony, this is Night,” Headcrash began as he motioned to me, “He’s agreed to find us somewhere to go.”

“What!? His name’s not Night,” the brown pony exclaimed. I winced, knowing what was coming. “He’s Void. The Monster of Manehattan.”

The cheer in the air immediately dissipated, replaced by an unnerving tension. All the ponies’ eyes were on me, some showed fear, some showed hate, and some showed a mix of both. Both Riverbed and Headcrash took a few steps away from me.

“You…you bastard!” a yellow mare shouted at me, a hysterical mix of hate and grief in her voice. “You were the one who killed my husband and son!” As she shouted this she charged recklessly at me, having completely forgotten about the pistol at her side.

I side-stepped her attack and bucked hard, using her momentum to kick her into one of the boulders with a sickening crunch. She struggled to get up, coughing blood and cursing my name. I drew my shotgun, ready to finish her off. I could feel the other slaves watching in breathless silence, waiting to see what I would do.

Finish her off before the rest attack me. I know.

I felt a gentle hoof on my shoulder and heard a quiet voice speak into my ear, “Don’t Night. Fight it. Don’t give in to your past.” I tensed up, my instincts fighting my feelings. The mare stumbled and fell in a heap, sobbing in between coughs of blood. I holstered my weapon and reached into my saddlebag, pulling out one of the health potions I had purchased in Laketown.

I handed the vial to Canter. “Somepony will have to set her ribs straight or the potion will fuse them crooked,” I said as I turned to Headcrash. The feeling of tension still remained, but I no longer felt the other ponies were on the verge of attacking us.

Headcrash hesitated briefly, and then turned to purple unicorn with a bandage for a cutey mark. “Bandaid, can you reset her ribs?”

The unicorn nodded and walked over to the injured mare, keeping one eye on me the whole time. She concentrated and a magical field of energy wrapped around the mare’s chest. The pony screamed as her ribs were shifted back into place. “Okay, give her the potion now.” Bandaid instructed. Canter knelt at her side and gently poured the healing solution down her throat.

I turned to the watching ponies. “I’m not Void anymore,” I stated firmly.

“What about New Appleloosa?” I suggested as Headcrash, the other slaves, and I looked over my map. The tension in the air was slowly fading. The mare that had attacked me still looked at me with hate, but if she was going to attack me again she was biding her time.

“No way,” one of the ponies piped up, “They did business with the slavers at Laketown.”

A chorus of agreements followed the buck’s statement.

“How about Tenpony? Or Arbu?” another suggested.

“One, we don’t have anywhere near the money to get into Tenpony, and two, we don’t have the supplies to get through Manehattan.” A pony named Red-tape stated. He appeared to be the escaped slaves’ unofficial leader.

“What about the Equestria National Prison?” Bandaid suggested hopefully, “Didn’t Laketown wipe the raiders out again a month ago?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Red-tape started, “We could make a new home there.”

“We passed it on our way here,” I stated flatly, “there were raiders.”

The group of ponies sat in silence before Headcrash spoke up, the first time he had talked since the brief fight an hour earlier. “How many were there?”

“What?” I asked, hoping he was not going to suggested what I thought he was.

“Well, if there’s not a lot we can fight them with your help. And if there are a lot of them, if you can sneak me into the prison so I can reactivate the defenses and blow the fuck out of the raiders.” He grinned and motioned to his flank, his cutey mark was a computer hard-drive being cut in half by a hatchet. “I don’t have this for nothing!”

The ponies began speaking up, almost unanimously behind Crash’s plan. I sighed and put a hoof to my forehead. I had promised I would help. Canter rubbed up against me and whispered, “If anyone can do it it’s you Night.”

“I…” I began, “Fine. That could work.”

“Alright then!” Red-tape exclaimed, “We can head out in the morning, we’ll get to the prison around midday”

I sighed again and began to move off with Canter to find a spot to spend the rest of the night. Before I had taken a couple of steps I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see River holding her board up.

Monster of Manehattan?

I frowned, trying to think of a response. “Come with us and I’ll tell you a bit.”

River shook her head and wrote something else on her board.

As long as it’s behind you I don’t want to know. But are you really not that pony anymore?

“Yes,” Canter stated from my side, projecting her belief in me into her voice, “He’s a new pony. He’s Night.”

“This is a bad idea,” I whispered to Headcrash as I stared through my scope at the prison. We were hidden on the top of the valley wall, overlooking the massive structure. There weren’t any raiders in the prison yard but I could occasionally see them moving about inside the prison. “There’s no way you could win in a fight against them even with my help. At least not without heavy losses.” I glanced over at the rag-tag group of escaped slaves and cringed. They looked like they would have trouble taking down a radroach.

“So let’s get in there and turn on the defenses. Tear those bitch raiders to pieces.” Headcrash returned quietly.

“As much as I hate that idea, we have a better chance doing that than a frontal assault.” I sighed and began packing up my rifle.

Red-tape walked over as quietly as he could, “what’s going on.”

“We’re going to get fucked up if we try to attack them so me and Vo-I mean Night are going to sneak in.” Headcrash answered.

“We’re waiting till nightfall,” I stated.

“Yeah, that.” Crash continued.

“Alright. Night, what should we do?” Red-tape asked, motioning towards the slaves.

“Hide up here. If we haven’t made it back by the morning you will have to find somewhere else to go.”

Luna. Canter

I drew up close to the pony and whispered in his ear, “If I don’t come back you are going to protect Canter with your life, or else I will fight through the demons of hell and the laws of the goddesses and return just to drag you back with me.” I meant it too, and Red-tape saw it in my eye. He nodded frantically in agreement before walking over to the assembled slaves.

“Night and Crash are going to sneak into the prison after nightfall and kill the raiders. We’re going to wait for them here,” he announced with a surprisingly steady voice considering how frightened he had been moments ago.

I walked over to Canter and kissed her. Her eyes briefly widened in surprise at the unexpected gesture before she fell into the emotion of the moment. I slowly drew away. “If…if I don’t make it back…Red-tape has promised to protect you.”

She shook her head, “Let me come with you.” She nuzzled at my neck.

“I can’t. It’ll be way too dangerous for you.” I sighed and kissed her again. “Believe me, I would like nothing more than you to accompany me but I couldn’t live with myself if anything were to happen to you.”

“I…I understand.” She answered softly, “be safe.”

I smiled at her, “We still have the rest of the day.”

We moved off a ways from the group and laid down in the dead wasteland grass covering the ground.

We had spent the day in each other’s hooves, just peacefully enjoying the other’s presence. I realized at some point we had fallen asleep as somepony shook me awake. Canter moaned peacefully next to me and stretched as I stood up.

“Time to go Night,” Crash stated, “sorry for the interruption but night fell about an hour ago.”

I nodded and turned to Canter. I leaned down and kissed her one last time. “Be safe,” she whispered.

Crash and I moved to a small pathway down to the valley floor, but were stopped by a cloaked figure holding up a board. A revolver was holstered at her side.

I’m coming with you. I have a score to settle with these raiders.

I opened my mouth to argue, but stopped when I saw the look in her eyes. The yellow orbs were full of a cold, calculating hatred.

“Alright River, just make sure you do what I say, alright?” I asked the small mare.

She nodded in agreement and the three of us headed down to the prison.

I led us past the empty raider barricades and up to the building’s yard. We passed the watchtowers without incident and made it to the main entrance. I motioned for my companions to move to the side and wait as I peeked inside. A trio of raiders was sitting around a small fire, talking and laughing.

I moved back to Crash and River, outlining a plan. “There are only three of them in the main entrance. You two cover me and I’ll take them out, clear?” The pair nodded in understanding and we moved up to the doorway.

Crash stumbled on a stone and I tensed, expecting the raiders to attack us, whooping and hollering, but all I heard was laughter in response to a crude joke. My companion’s took up their positions with pistols drawn and I silently moved up behind the closest raider.

“Oh shit!” one of the group yelped, noticing me, but it was too late. I wrapped my forelegs around the raider’s neck and twisted, hearing her spine snap with a pop. I ducked a blow from a heavy machete and tripped the raider carrying it. He managed to cut his leg as he fell, yelping in pain. I turned to the last raider, a skinny colt wielding a pool cue. He swung it at me and I caught it in midair, tearing it out of the surprised foal’s mouth. I broke it against the ground, leaving the end a sharp and jagged point, and impaled the raider with it. He coughed blood and fell to the ground, grasping at the air. A sharp crack echoed through the area and I felt something heavy hit my back. I rolled out from under the weight and sprang to my hooves to see the machete wielding raider lying in a pool of his own blood. I nodded in thanks to River as she and crash walked into the room. She quickly replaced the bullet she had just spent and snapped her revolver closed.

I held up my hoof for silence as I heard a noise above me. I could faintly here a raider shouting. “They know we’re here,” I stated grimly. “Where is security control?” I asked Crash.

“Hell if I know, get me to a turret or something and I can figure out where it receives commands from.” He responded.

“Alright, keep an eye out for turrets,” I instructed, leading my small team deeper into the prison.

We passed through a short hallway and came to a closed set of double doors. A large faded sign above them stated ‘Cafeteria’. I cracked open one of the doors and peaked inside. A group of six raiders were headed our way. I motioned for my companions to find cover as I ducked behind a drinking fountain and drew my four barreled shotgun. Headcrash and River squeezed into an alcove, weapons drawn and waiting.

The first raider through the door lost half his face to a spray of buckshot. His body was pushed to the side before it could even fall as more of the raiders rushed out. We opened up on the group as they quickly approached us. I took off one pony’s leg and blew out the chest of another before having to concentrate on defending myself from a large pony wielding a sledgehammer. I ducked his strike, the heavy weapon smashing into the wall with enough force to crack the concrete. I heard River and Crash firing at the last two raiders hiding behind the cafeteria doors and taking potshots at us with a couple old rifles. The buck I was fighting roared, dropping his sledgehammer, as he was shot in the back by one of his companions. I quickly took the chance to drop him with a blast from my shotgun. I heard a pained shout from the door as one of the raiders took a bullet from River. I heard the last one run off, her hooves clacking against the linoleum floor of the cafeteria. I saw River walk through the door. The raider she had wounded began to beg for his life before another gunshot rang out and he was silent.

We quickly reloaded our weapons and gathered some supplies from the dead raiders, some additional ammo and a frag grenade. We moved up into the now empty cafeteria, passing vulgar graffiti and the remains of the raiders’ previous victims.

“Aha,” Crash exclaimed, pointing to an alcove on the wall about three meters above the floor. A turret sat powered down inside it, “Help me stack some of the cafeteria tables so I can get to it.”

River, Crash, and I quickly had a couple tables stacked up against the wall, just enough for the green unicorn to reach the turret. He clambered up and began working, attaching some wires from his pip-buck into a slot on the turret’s front. “This’ll just take a minute,” he called down. Riverbed and I kept our senses sharp, waiting for any sign of a raider counterattack.

A couple minutes later Headcrash hopped down from the tables with a grin on his face. “It’s up a floor and above were we came in,” he announced. “There’s probably a stairwell in the next hall.”

I nodded, “Alright, let’s keep moving.” I ordered as I went to continue heading towards our objective. Crash and I turned as River coughed loudly behind us. She was holding up her board and it took me a minute to make out the words in the faint light of the prison cafeteria.

If we run into a big red and white raider let me kill him

The look in her eyes was still there. I nodded in understanding and continued to move. I quietly moved up to the doors leading out of the cafeteria and cracked one open. I could see a tripwire on the other side. I waved my companions back and waited for them to get back a ways before tripping the trap with a quick push of the door. I slammed it back closed and galloped away as I heard a cluster of grenades hit the floor. A hollow crump rocked the air and the door fell to the ground with its hinges blasted to oblivion.

Just past the destroyed door was a stairwell. I pointed at it and the two ponies nodded in understanding. I moved up it slowly, checking for traps and ambushes. We reached the next floor and moved down the hallway we entered towards the security control. We passed a number of empty rooms and a couple hastily constructed traps before coming to a heavy steel door with a warning above it. ‘Control Room. No Unauthorized Personnel’.

I slowly cracked open the door. Immediately a hail of gunfire rang off it. I pulled out the grenade I had taken from one of the dead raiders and turned to my team.

Send them in first. Use them as a distraction. No.

“I’m going to throw this in there without arming it. When the raiders scatter we need to get into the room and in cover.” I instructed quietly. The gunfire had stopped pinging against the door. Crash and River nodded and move to either side of the door, ready to burst inside after I threw the grenade. “Let me go in first, then follow me.”

Fuck you old me.

I knocked open the door and threw the grenade inside, almost immediately hearing a raider shout out a warning. A random scattering of hoof beats sounded as the raiders scattered. I shoved the door open the rest of the way and slid into cover behind a desk a little ways from the door. I snapped off a shot with my shotgun, wounding one of the raiders. The desk shuddered as Crash slid in next to me. River had moved to another desk a few meters from ours.

I quickly took in the room, scanning for any possible dangers or advantages. Ancient monitors and computer equipment covered the walls, and a bunch of desks were spread across the large room. Against the room’s back wall, a door appeared to lead deeper into the prison. I popped out of cover and fired a barrel as the raiders recovered from my ploy and began shooting back at us. Bullets punched into the desk we were hiding behind, leaving dents and small holes in its thick metal hide. Crash used his magic to raise his pistol above us and fired blindly at the raiders. One of them screamed as he was hit by a lucky shot.

More shots rang against the desk, preventing me from moving. River took advantage of the distraction and stood, able to unload her entire cylinder and drop a couple of the raiders before they turned to fire on her. I quickly leaned out of cover, but instantly ducked back as a raider that had been waiting for me sprayed his assault rifle in my direction. I waited for the pony to unload his magazine, then steeled myself as the weapon went silent. I jumped behind another desk and fired the remaining three barrels of my shotgun into him and the mare standing to his right, dropping both in a pool of blood.

Only two raiders were left, hiding behind a pair of desks on the opposite side of the room. Crash floated his reloaded pistol across the expanse as he leaned out of cover, a look of concentration plastered across his face. He hovered the pistol over one of the raiders and pointed it down. The raider yelped in surprise as the pistol bucked in the air, unloading into him. He fell out of cover, bleeding from a few gunshot wounds.

“Shitfuck!” Crash shouted as the remaining raider shot his exposed head. His pistol fell to the ground as he lost his concentration and fell back into cover. I finished reloading my shotgun and snapped it shut, but before I could take out the last raider River’s pistol spat three times and dropped the pony.

“I’m okay! I’m-ow-fine!” Crash called out as he got to his hooves. Blood was dripping from the stump of his right ear. “I think the-fuck- security mainframe is in there,” he explained pointing towards the door against the room’s back wall. He reached up to the stump of his ear and grimaced. “Fuck.”

I nodded and we moved towards the door, but I held up my hoof and motioned the others to stop as a sense of foreboding overcame me. Less than a second later the door smashed outwards as a massive pony stomped out into the room, roaring. He appeared to be made more of muscles than flesh. His head was white, but the rest of his coat was matted, dirty, and red. He looked like he bathed in blood. His spiked armor had a pair of small, grey wings protruding from the back.Before Crash and I could react Riverbed was galloping towards the raider, screaming and firing her pistol. A few of the rounds punched into his flesh, the wounds almost unidentifiable on his bloodstained coat. He bellowed and swiped at River as she slid under him, coming out on the other side and hopping to her hooves as the raider attempted to turn around. She kicked his flank as hard as she could. She bounced off and tumbled to the ground as the raider laughed darkly. He bent down, picked River up by her cloak, and flung her across the room. He spat the torn garment out of his mouth and charged towards where he had thrown the small mare. A small grey pony ducked out, barely able to dodge the brute's attack. She limped around behind him, looking for a weakness as he recovered from the blow.

“River!” I shouted over the massive raider’s roars as I tossed my shotgun across the room to her. She deftly caught it and pressed the barrel against the back of one of the buck’s knees, the concentrated shot tearing the limb off. The brute roared in pain while River quickly blew off his other leg. He started to pull himself around, trying to face his tormentor. River ducked a clumsy swipe and proceeded to destroy his forelegs.

She shouted wordlessly as she stomped on the buck’s head, his pained cries slowly fading. Tears were streaming down her face as she continued to punish the raider. Crash moved up and gently pulled her from the body as brain matter and blood started to coat her legs. She slumped into the green unicorn’s forelegs as he held her, and began to sob loudly. With her cloak gone Crash and I were met with a terrible sight.

Riverbed was, or at least had been, a Pegasus. Her grey coat was laced in a terrible tapestry of cruel and deliberate scars. What stood out the most was where her wings had been. Two nubs poked out of her back, one on each side. I turned and looked away, not sure how to cope with the horrible feeling in my gut.

“Goddesses…” Crash breathed sadly.

I waited a bit longer for the feeling subside and turned back to face the pair. Crash had removed the wings from the raider’s armor and had given them to River. She was sitting, holding the two rotting appendages to her chest, still sobbing. Crash was now sitting next to her, his foreleg on her shoulder trying to give her a small bit of comfort. She let out a wail and buried her face into Crash’s chest.

Chapter 11: Migratory Weather

Headcrash had comforted River until the scarred pegasus succumbed to her injuries, slipping into unconsciousness. She was still holding her wings tightly as he gently set her on the floor. His horn glowed as he picked up her cloak and draped it over her body. “Please stay with her while I turn on the security,” he asked as he got up and headed towards the smashed door on the room’s back wall.

I nodded and moved next to the small mare. I understood what he was feeling. I could see it on his face. He felt the same about Riverbed as I did about Canter. He would give anything to protect her from more pain.

Fifteen minutes passed as I waited for Crash to finish his work on the security. I was about to call to him and ask how things were progressing when I heard a loud hum as the prison came to life. The monitors in the room snapped on, showing video feeds from various parts of the compound. In a few of the feeds I could see raiders moving through rooms and hallways searching for us. The outside of the building lit up as its floodlights flared into life, seeming to turn night into day.

A multitude of high-pitched whines signaled the prison defenses coming online. As I watched on the monitors the raiders were systematically butchered by turrets and security robots. Piles of ash and charred corpses were soon all that was left of them. An hour went by before Crash turned the security off again.

He walked out of the room and over to Riverbed. “It should be safe now,” he began, “could you go get the others?” He looked worried. “I think some of River’s ribs are broken and she might be internally bleeding. Bandaid needs to help her.”

I nodded and turned to leave, then thought of something. “Some of the raiders might still be alive. You should grab your gun.” He nodded as I closed the door behind me and left the control room.

“Night!” I heard a beautiful voice exclaim accompanied by pounding hooves. Seconds later Canter was wrapped around my neck. “We heard so much gunfire…I-I thought you might…be…” She trailed off as I stroked her mane, smiling.

“I’m fine,” I whispered into her ear. “I wasn’t going to die and leave you alone.”

“I take it things went well?” Red-tape asked as he trotted up to us, “any problems?”

“We were able to clear out the raiders.” My smile faded slightly, “Riverbed was hurt pretty badly. She needs Bandaid’s help.”

“Alright then, let’s move into the prison right now,” Red-tape decided before turning to face his group. “Alright everypony, thanks to Void, Headcrash, and Riverbed we can move into the prison now.” His announcement was met by cheering, but I cringed a little at his use of my old name.

I’ll never let myself be forgotten.

Red-tape quickly spoke to Bandaid and let her know that River would be needing her help once we got into the prison. He turned back to me. “Alright, can you lead us in? Just in case.”

I nodded and headed back down the valley side and towards the prison. Canter stumbled a few times due to the difficulty of traversing the rocky slope with her prosthetic leg. I made certain to catch and steady her each time.

We reached the control room about fifteen minutes later. Crash was still with River but he had propped her up against a desk so she could sit. She was conscious now, and with the adrenaline almost gone from her system the pain she was feeling was clearly evident on the few parts of her face that the hood did not conceal. Bandaid, Canter, and I moved quickly over to her as the rest of the ponies spread out in the control room. A few of them began to grab the raider bodies and throw them in a pile outside the door. It took four of them to move the corpse of the massive blood-stained raider.

“Alright, you’re hurt right? I need to see the wound,” the purple unicorn instructed.

Riverbed shook her head and turned to Crash. “Her ribs are busted, she just wants you to push them into place like you did for that other mare so she can drink a health potion,” Crash stated, taking River’s cue.

“There’s only so much my spell can do,” Bandaid explained. “I can’t detect and fix things through more than flesh,” She pointed to River’s cloak, “so that needs to come off.”

River motioned for Headcrash to hand her the board she had been using to write on. He held it in front of her as she wrote something, wincing at the movement, and then showed it to Crash.

“Alright, she says that if she has to she’ll do it, but not in front of all of them,” Crash said, motioning to the slaves milling about the room. He turned to me, “Help me carry her to the security room.”

I nodded and bent down, gently placing the small mare on my back with the help of Crash’s magic. Between the two of us we managed to get River into the room, but even though we were as gentle as we could be she had still passed out from the pain by the time we set her down. The security room was a small space thanks to a massive central processing unit taking up the back half. River’s wings were in a neat stack in one of the corners. Canter stood in the room’s broken doorway, blocking the view from outside.

“Alright, what is it that she didn’t want the other ponies to see?” Bandaid asked, curious.

Crash carefully untied and removed Riverbed’s cloak, eliciting a sympathetic gasp from both Canter and Bandaid. “Oh River…” Canter whispered sadly as she gazed at the pony’s broken and scarred body.

“Oh my…” Bandaid began, “She must be a very tough filly to have survived all that.” The purple pony bent closer to observe a strange scar on River’s flank. It resembled a cloud with a lightning bolt. “What’s this?” the medic muttered, “This was caused by a burn not a blade…”

I concentrated; the mark seemed familiar to me, like something I had dealt with before.

Enclave. Dashite. Enclave? Dashite? Why did it feel like I should know what they meant?

“Bandaid, her ribs,” Crash reminded as Bandaid continued to study River.

“Right, sorry,” she said. “Get a potion ready and hold her down”

I pulled a potion out of my saddlebags and held it out for Crash to pick up with his magic. He floated it above River as he put pressure on her forelegs, pinning her down. He nodded to signal his readiness to Bandaid. She focused on the crippled pegasus and a field of magic glowed around River’s chest. She moaned in pain as her ribs were shifted back into place.

“Alright, give her the potion,” Bandaid instructed. Crash nodded and slowly poured the liquid down the small pony’s throat. She seemed to relax as the magical draught healed her battered body.

Crash’s complexion brightened slightly in response to the mare’s recovery. He gently wrapped her back in the cloak and laid her down to rest. “Thank you Bandaid. Please don’t tell anypony what she is.”

The purple unicorn nodded and left, taking the cue to leave. Crash turned back to the mare sitting next to him and sighed, a mixed look of concern and content evident on his face. I turned to Canter as she put her hoof on my shoulder.

“Come with me she whispered,” leading me away from the rest of the group.

I went with her for a ways till we came to a relatively unspoiled room. I followed her inside and turned as she closed the door.

“We, um, passed it on the way in,” she said nervously, her cheeks flushed. She moved and sat down on the room’s sole furnishing, an ancient bed. She clumsily removed her armor and prosthetic and set them on the floor

I took off my barding and moved to sit next to her, my intuition telling me where this was leading. She took a couple deep breaths and placed her hoof on my thigh.

“I’ve…I’ve never…at least not willingly…,” she cringed and turned away. I reached over to her and pulled her close to me, trying to wash away her horrible memories with my love.

No matter what happens to you Luna, no matter what you do, I will always love and care for you. No! You are not going to take this moment from us! LEAVE ME ALONE! I waited in silence for a minute, holding my mare tightly, but the voice did not return.

I smiled in relief and began to rub Canter’s back. She sighed happily. “Night, I…I…”

“shhh,” I whispered quietly, “If it hurts too much to think about we can wait. I can wait as long as you need.” I would be willing to wait my entire life for Canter.

She turned to me, her eyes watering. “I…I want this. Maybe even more than you do.” She sniffed and buried her face in my chest, muffling her voice. “You’ve given me so much Night. I want to be with you. I never want to be alone again.”

My eyes started to water as well, my new soul touched by the beautiful moment. I gently laid her down on the bed and moved over her, kissing her passionately.

“I love you Canter.”

Chapter 12: Wind Shear

After Canter and I had made love, the week had passed by in a state of bliss for the two of us. We almost never left each other’s hooves, much less sight. Even when we were around other ponies we held each other close.

Riverbed was back on her feet and moving around thanks to Headcrash taking care of her. Currently the four of us were attempting to lounge at an old table in the prison cafeteria. Around us some of the prison security hummed quietly, Crash having reprogrammed them to fire only if fired upon so that the escaped slaves had some additional protection.

Night, can I talk to you for a minute?

I turned to River and nodded while I continued to gently stroke Canter’s mane with my hoof. She purred contentedly and rubbed her head harder into my chest, half asleep. “Did you want to talk privately?” I asked the small mare. She was still wearing her cloak and it had become readily apparent that her scars and mutilation were a source of constant shame and pain.

She shook her head and wrote something else.

I’ve been meaning to talk to you about leaving.

I cocked my head to the side, not quite sure what she meant. She quickly wrote an explanation.

I don’t want to stay here. I trust you, Canter, and Crash, but I don’t want the others to know about me.

I nodded. I could understand that. I wouldn’t share my scars with just anypony either. River wrote some more and presented her board to me.

I was talking with Crash, and he’s okay with leaving but he’s scared we won’t be able to handle ourselves alone in the wasteland. He suggested I ask you to come. You don’t exactly seem comfortable here either.

“I’m not,” I stated agreeing with her, “I keep thinking that mare from earlier is going to attack either me or Canter. I could handle her just fine but I’m scared she might hurt Canter. And the others…I don’t feel like they hate me, but they certainly aren’t comfortable around me. So if I can convince Canter to come I would be fine traveling with you two.”

“mmm…I was kind of hoping we could settle down” Canter murmured from my chest.

I smiled down at my love. “I would love to settle down with you Lu-Canter.” I paused. I had almost called her Luna. Thankfully she hadn’t seemed to catch it. It was the first time I had slipped up like that, and it was very disconcerting. I took a breath and continued. “It’s just that this isn’t the best place to stay. It’s too problematic for us.”

Canter sighed and popped one eye open to read River’s board. “You really want to leave, River?”

The crippled Pegasus nodded.

“Alright then, I’ll go under one condition,” she raised her head level with mine and kissed me deeply. “As soon as we find a safe place to settle down,” she whispered in my ear, “we do just that.”

“I promise love,” I returned quietly. I turned to River, “when did you want to leave?”

As soon as possible

“Alright, give Canter and I an hour to gather our things, then we’ll meet you and Crash in front of the prison.” I thought for a second before speaking again, “Where were you thinking of going.”

River wrote something quickly on her board.

Someplace small and safe and hidden

“Alright, I’ll start thinking of places we could go,” I stated as I got to my hooves, gently moving Canter off of my chest. “We’ll meet you in an hour.”

We had been walking down the road from the prison for about an hour, saddlebags filled with our supplies and with no destination yet in mind.

“Gorge!”

“What?” I asked as I turned to Crash, confused by his sudden outburst.

“That’s where we can go,” the green unicorn replied, grinning proudly.

“What’s Gorge?” Canter asked from my side.

“I’ve never heard of it either,” I added.

“It’s uh, it’s where I grew up. I’m kinda supposed to keep it a secret but I doubt it’ll be a problem to tell you,” He began. “It’s a little farming community halfway from the Ponyville ruins to New Appleloosa. It’s in this little gorge with a bunch of hills around it so it’s pretty damn hard to find. I left about ten years ago, after my parents died, but some ponies there should still remember me.”

“What’s it like?” Canter asked.

“It’s pretty nice, if rather slow. There’s not much to do other than take care of your crops and sit around and talk. Safe though. The guy protecting it is a badass.” Crash answered.

Canter sighed and leaned into me. “Sounds nice.”

“Why did you leave?” I asked, curious.

“I was bored and with my family gone I didn’t have any reason to stay,” Crash returned with a shrug.

“You still know where it is right?” I questioned as I pulled out my map, “can you point it out on here?”

He nodded and poked a small area right in between Ponyville and New Appleloosa. “Right about there,” he said confidently.

“Well,” I began, “Canter seems to like the idea. How about you River?”

She wrote something while she walked, Crash holding her board in front of her with his magic. “She says that sounds fine,” he replied after looking at what she had written.

I nodded and began plotting our course. “We should be there in about five weeks. We’ll have to find supplies along the way, but that shouldn’t be too difficult.”

We changed our direction a little and set out towards what we hoped would be a home for us.

We had managed to stretch out our supplies for four weeks, but we were now dangerously low. So far we had managed to avoid trouble, but now that we needed to go out of our way to find the food to take us the rest of the way to Gorge we were going to run into some. The raiders patrolling the Ponyville ruins below us confirmed that sentiment, their figures brought into crisp focus through my rifle’s scope.

“What is it looking like?” Crash whispered from my side. He didn’t really need to whisper considering we were at least a mile from the nearest raider, but I figured it was more habit than anything else.

“I’ve spotted at least a dozen raiders so far,” I replied at normal volume, “there is probably more lounging inside the ruins.”

Those are bad odds. Take the rest of the supplies for yourself and leave.

“So what are we going to do? We were kind of relying on Ponyville for supplies.” Crash asked with concern.

“Their presence just means that there are sure to be supplies for us down there. We just need to take them.” I shouldered my rifle and took aim at a stallion relieving himself in an alley. I tongued the weapon’s trigger and a few seconds later gore exploded out of the raider’s side, coating the wall next to him.

I scanned the rest of the area. None of the other raiders seemed to have heard their compatriot die. I settled my sights on a pair of raiders talking in the center of the ruined town. I held my fire and waited. After a few minutes one of the pair moved to shift positions, bringing her in front of the other. My gun bucked and both raiders dropped. The second screamed in pain as he bled out; the bullet’s velocity had been decreased enough to prevent him from being killed immediately.

The raiders began to run about in confusion, attempting in vain to figure out what was happening. I fired three more times, dropping a raider with each shot. I had my rifle reloaded and ready to fire again in less than ten seconds. Five more shots arced out, each taking a raider that was attempting to hide in cover. Even if I just grazed my target, the rifle had enough power to cause terrible damage.

I looked around once more, no targets presenting themselves. I packed away my rifle and drew out my shotgun, turning back to my friends.

Friends. The word felt good, it gave me a feeling of calm and happiness. I smiled involuntarily.

“I took out eleven of them; we’ll have to deal with the rest when we’re grabbing supplies.” We began heading down to the ruined town with weapons drawn.

We reached the center of the community without incident. Rows of buildings in various states of disrepair surrounded us. I pointed towards one of the buildings. “Might as well start here.” I moved up to the door and slowly pushed it open. No shots came our way, and no shouts of alarm sounded from inside. Crash and River headed upstairs while Canter and I began searching around the ground floor.

Fifteen minutes later all we had found was an ancient can of baked beans. “All right, next building,” I instructed as I moved back to the door and peeked out into the street. It was still empty. We continued searching through the buildings for a couple hours, staying as silent and careful as possible. We had found some supplies, but not enough for the next week.

I sighed and turned to look at a large carousel shaped building near the edge of town. Long ago it had been an aesthetically pleasing sight, but now it was as dirty and ruined as anything else the wasteland touched. “I saw one of the raiders run in there,” I said pointing, “Since we haven’t found much of anything in the rest of town we might as well look in there. Hopefully that’s where they’re keeping their supplies.” We began moving towards the building, keeping an eye on our surroundings.

I reached the door and motioned for my companions to stop moving. I leaned up against it and closed my eyes, listening. I could faintly hear two ponies whispering urgently. I waved for my friends to ready themselves, paused, and then quickly pushed the door open. I darted inside, dropping a surprised raider with one of my shotgun’s barrels. Shouts started filling the building as I was followed by my companions. I dived over a rotted fainting couch, driving the raider taking cover behind it to the floor with my weapon pressed against her forehead. The gun’s blast pulped her brainpan and splashed me with a little blood and grey chunks of brain matter.

We quickly took cover behind whatever objects were available and settled our sights on the room’s exits. A few seconds later a half dozen raiders rushed us with an assortment of melee weapons. Crash, River, and I took down five of them immediately, but one made it past us, arrowing in on Canter. I desperately attempted to reload my weapon as he closed in on my mare, her eyes wide with fear. Her pistol was in her mouth, she hadn’t fired yet and I wasn’t expecting her to.

Luna! Canter!

I began sprinting at the raider as time seemed to slow down. Canter’s eyes closed tight as the weapon in her mouth spat at her attacker. The ten millimeter round punched cleanly into the raider’s eye, dropping him immediately in a crumpled heap.

Canter opened her eyes and looked down at the raider she had killed. Her knees went weak and she collapsed to the floor. The pistol slowly fell from her mouth, clattering off the tiled floor. I reached her and gathered her in my forelegs, holding her to me. I could faintly hear her whispering to herself.

“I killed him…”

I stroked her mane and leaned close, “you didn’t have a choice, he was going to kill you.”

“It’s always hard the first time you take a life,” Crash stated, attempting to reassure the mare in my arms.

I winced, reminded of the monster I had been. I couldn’t remember the first pony I had killed but I doubted I had been upset over it. I couldn’t remember much of my past beyond five years. Mostly I just remembered killing a lot of ponies.

Canter nodded in response to Crash. “I…I know. I don’t feel bad about who I killed, I just feel bad that I did kill somepony.” She shook herself, “I’ll get over it.”

I gave her a quick peck on the forehead and smiled. “Alright, let’s find some supplies and get out of here.”

Moving deeper into the building we found a large number of food and drink in what was once a well-appointed kitchen. We packed it all away in our saddlebags and left Ponyville.

If all went well we would be in our new home in a week.

Chapter 13: Warmth

“Well, we’re almost there,” Crash stated as he waved his hoof at the barren hills around us. After we had resupplied at the Ponyville ruins the rest of the week had passed uneventfully. Yesterday we had reached the steppes near where Headcrash had claimed Gorge was located. “If I remember right that hill over there, the one with the big ass boulder, was about a mile out from Gorge. I used to hang out there sometimes.” Crash pointed towards a hill with a rather large boulder on it.

The green unicorn moved forward, leading the group towards the hidden settlement. We kept walking for about ten minutes when I slowly became aware of something watching us. I cautiously looked around, attempting to spot what was causing the feeling of discomfort, but I could not find it.

Suddenly, Headcrash came to a halt, causing the rest of us to bunch up behind him in surprise at the sudden stop. “Hey, Trigger, I can tell you’re watching us,” he shouted into the air. His voice echoed around the hills.

“No movements,” a deep, gruff voice ordered from behind us a hooffull of seconds later.

This is what happens when you let emotions get in the way. You fuck up. Emotions didn’t have anything to do with this.

We obeyed the order and waited. A few moments later a pony wearing the armor of the Steel Rangers strode into view. A pair of light machineguns was pointed at us from his battle-saddle. His gaze drifted over us cautiously, determining how much of a threat we were. He stopped in what seemed to be surprise as his gaze fell on Crash. “Headcrash?! Is that you?! What the fuck!” the armored pony exclaimed.

Crash kicked at the dirt in front of him nervously. “Yeah, it’s me Trigger,” He returned.

“What are you doing back here?” Trigger continued with a little less enthusiasm. “Last time we saw you, you were just a blank flank colt without his cutey mark claiming he was going to make his fortune in the wastes. How the actual fuck are you still alive?”

“Well, um, everything was okay for a while. It turns out I’m pretty damn good with computers so I did odd jobs with that for a while at New Appleloosa. But then I got bored again and left and got captured by some fucking slavers and then I was at Laketown until I got rescued by him,” he rambled, finishing his explanation by pointing at me.

Trigger cocked his head to the side and looked at me. I hadn’t worn my skull mask in a while so I looked like a normal wastelander, minus the massive rifle strapped to my back. “Why did you come back,” he began, before taking note of how close River was standing to Crash. “Oh, nevermind. Didn’t think you were one to settle down. Damn were you an energetic colt.”

Crash blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, well, everypony has to grow up eventually, right? Can we go into Gorge?”

“You trust these ponies you brought?” Trigger asked, his voice quickly changing to a serious tone.

“Yeah, yeah I do.” Crash answered honestly.

“Alright, fine. You can go in. But if any of you prove a danger to the town I’m going to tear you to pieces, you got that?” Trigger asked, turning to us.

Canter swallowed nervously as River and I nodded.

“Good,” Trigger stated, “I’ve got to get back to my patrol so Crash’ll have to take you the rest of the way.” He began walking away, somehow moving silently in his massive suit of armor. “Oh, and one other thing,” he called over his shoulder, “welcome to Gorge.”

We all watched him disappear over the top of a hill, and then turned to Crash. River held up her board.

Make your fortune in the wastes?

“Yeah, well, I was pretty damn sheltered growing up here so I didn’t really know what it was like in the wastes. And then when I did find out what it was like I didn’t want it to seem like I couldn’t handle myself so I didn’t come back. Come on, it’s really close.” He turned and began walking.

River snorted a laugh and followed, Canter and I close behind.

“Oh, and I don’t think any of you really would, but don’t mess with Trigger.” Crash called back.

Scarcely fifteen minutes later we crested a ridge and below us was Gorge. It was built in and around a deep depression. Around sixteen shacks dotted the area, and most of them had a small field with sickly looking plants growing next to it. A large well sat in the settlement’s center. Ponies milled about, some working the fields, some going about other daily tasks, and some just lounging and talking with each other.

As we began to make our way down the small dirt path leading into the area more and more of the inhabitants took notice of us. They stopped what they were doing and whispered nervously amongst themselves and for a brief moment I thought they had recognized me, but Crash quickly allayed my fears.

“Visitors have always been pretty rare so you’ll need to get used to ponies staring,” he stated casually, “They should get used to us after a while.”

We made it to the edge of town were the ponies had gathered, murmuring quietly to each other. They had blocked our way, although I could not tell if it was intentional or not. Crash stepped forward and cleared his throat. “Hey, uh, hello everypony. I don’t know if you remember me or not-”

He was abruptly cut off by a powder blue earth stallion around his age. “Hey, it’s Crash!”

An eruption of realization blew through the crowd as they realized that the stallion was correct. Crash blushed again and pawed at the ground in embarrassment. I found it entertaining seeing my friend this uncomfortable and a slight grin found its way to my lips.

“What happened to finding your fortune?” the stallion asked over the noise, not quite mockingly.

“Well I, uh, I found somepony to um, settle down with.” Crash answered, his embarrassment growing.

“Why is she hiding,” the stallion moved forward, now openly mocking Crash.

“Shut up and leave her alone Frostbite,” Crash retorted.

“Heh, you sure ‘she’s’ not your little buck lovetoy?” Frostbite continued. Most of the crowd had backed off by this point, leaving four other stallions close to Frostbite’s age at his back. They let out a few snickers at their leader’s insult. I got the sense that Crash and this Frostbite had an unfriendly past.

“I said fuck off,” Crash growled, stepping up to the stallion in front of him and getting very close. The blue pony was a good deal larger than Crash. River moved up to Crash and put her hoof on his shoulder, shaking her head.

That was when Frostbite made one of the biggest mistakes in his life. “Hah, listen to your slave you pussy, back off and we won’t hurt you.”

At the word slave River let out a sound somewhere in between a hiss and a growl. Before Frostbite could say anything else Crash threw himself at the blue stallion, roaring in anger and beating his hooves against his body.

Frostbite’s friends moved to help him out and River and I moved in between them and their leader. “Back off,” I growled at the younger stallions. Two of them charged at me while another smirked and threw a kick at River. The last moved back into the crowd with a nervous expression on his face.

Civilian targets, remember to pull punches.

I ducked the first one and met the second head on, using my superior abilities in hoof to hoof fighting to turn his weight against him and drive him into the ground with a thud. He groaned and didn’t attempt to get up. I grimaced as the first pony drove a kick into my side. I could taste blood and was pretty sure I had a bruised rib. I spun and faced him, narrowly ducking another kick. I dodged a few more attacks and then drove my right forehoof into his jaw with enough force to crack the bone. He collapsed with a gargle.

I turned to see if River needed any help only to see her standing over a badly bruised stallion cowering with his head between his forelegs.

“You fucking piece of shit!” Crash shouted behind me, followed by a heavy thud and a yelp of pain. I twisted around and was a little surprised to see him on top of a whimpering and bloody Frostbite, throwing punch after punch into his face. He raised one hoof above his head. “Don’t you ever fucking call her that again!” He brought the hoof down hard, impacting the blue pony’s head with an audible crack. The crowd around us groaned sympathetically.

Crash got off of Frostbite and brushed himself off, still fuming. “Fuck you,” he spat as he kicked the unconscious pony once more for good measure.

“Took you long enough Crash,” a mare in the back of the crowd stated, before the gathered ponies erupted into a series of cheers and ‘welcome home’. The group surrounded us and began to push towards a large building in the center of town. The word BAR was on a sign above it in all capital letters. I grimaced a few times as my side was jostled.

As soon as we got inside the building jaunty music began to play and the ponies all began moving about cheerfully. Liquor and alcohol was produced from behind the counter and soon everypony was drinking happily.

“Hey, hey Crash,” an older slate colored unicorn slurred as he lifted a tankard to his lips with magic. “Tell us about what happened to ya.”

His request was immediately met with a chorus of agreements and cheers. “Come on Crash,” a filly near to where we were sitting begged, her eyes wide and pleading.

“Alright, alright,” Crash began as he stood up on our table so the crowd could see him.
“Well, after I left here I found my way to New Appleloosa…”

We spent the rest of the night surrounded by the friendliest, happiest ponies I had ever met. Canter couldn’t stop smiling and I could have sworn I had even seen Riverbed grin under her hood.

It felt like a home.

Days passed into weeks and weeks passed into months. There had been one unoccupied house in town so Canter, Crash, River, and I had settled in. At first, living together was uncomfortable, but the house was big enough that there was a modicum of privacy. After the first time Crash and River walked in on Canter and I making love we decided it would be best if we had scheduled times where one of the pairs was out of the house for a time. After that, awkward incidences died down, although Crash kept ribbing me for how much cuddling had been involved.

A kindly old stallion and his wife had shown us all how to take care of our garden. Crash, but especially River took to it well. Within weeks the small pegasus had a number of lively green plant shots popping up out of the ground. Canter’s kind and gentle spirit quickly won her the love of the settlement’s foals. Soon she was taking care of the young fillies and colts on a daily basis, tending to the rambunctious youngsters while their parents worked. I found use aiding Trigger in defending the town, and he slowly grew to be another pony I considered a friend.

Thankfully Frostbite, the pony that had given us trouble when we first showed up, left us alone after that point. It turns out he and his friends had always given Crash trouble when he was a colt, and for some reason they hadn’t changed at all in the ten years Crash had been gone. In fact, they barely acknowledged each other’s existence most of the time now.

“You know, no matter how slow this place is it really is peaceful,” Crash stated as we sat around our kitchen table.

I laughed and agreed. In the past months I had begun to talk more and more. The voices in my head had almost completely faded; I went weeks at a time without hearing from them.

We finished our meal with more small talk, and after about an hour Riverbed and Headcrash left to hit the bar. It was our turn to have the house to ourselves. Canter turned and smiled at me, kissing me softly before taking my hoof and leading me to our bedroom. I grinned as I watched her flanks swing side to side while she walked. She had gone from the malnourished captive to something bordering on pudgy, although she managed to wear it in a good way.

She sighed contentedly and flopped down onto the bed and snuggled into a pillow. I laid down next to her and put my foreleg over her, stroking her stomach absentmindedly. I slowed the motion and felt over a peculiar bump. “Canter, are you….?” I began, a mix of worry and hope in my voice.

She sniffed as a couple happy tears came to her eyes. “Remember when I was in heat last month and we, um…?” she asked. I nodded in response. “I think I’m pregnant.”

The world spun around me as I took my mare in my arms and kissed her long and hard. She was a little surprised at first but soon returned the affection with an equally strong kiss. She nipped at my lip as we pulled away.

“Canter,” I whispered hoarsely to her, my voice stolen by the power of the emotions currently running through me, “this is wonderful.”

She grinned and laughed nervously, “are…are you sure we can do it? Can we raise a foal?”

“I know we can,” I replied, “you are great with foals. Plus, I’m sure River and Crash would help us if we really needed it, but I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”

She smiled and pulled me close as I turned out the room’s lights, our bodies entwining in the darkness.