Fallout: Equestria- The Nightmare Initiative

Chapter 4:

Civilization

“Its two bits or nothing!”

I felt like a train wreck. I’d spent the last two days looking for some sign of civilization. While doing so, I caught the attention of some very nasty raider ponies who had spent their time hunting me. Checking my PipBuck, I took stock of my supplies. I was down to a single healing potion and roll of gauze for any injuries I might sustain, and a can of beans. My stomach gurgled, blackmailing me with the looming threat of giving away my latest hiding spot. I exhaled slowly, hoping that maybe this time I had lost my pursuers.

“Come out! We know you’re here!” No such luck. My current hiding spot was a small diner. I had taken refuge underneath one of the booth tables, shielding myself from view from all directions save one. The diner itself was on par with the rest of the area’s damage. Half the diner was nothing but rubble. The other half consisted of a few tables and booths and the kitchen in the back.

One of the raider ponies moved past my hiding spot, dangerously close to me. This particular raider was big. Roughly the same build as Big Macintosh. His weapon of choice was a peculiar setup built into his saddle. Flanking either side of the big pony were two shotguns, which I only knew because they had peppered me with their burning spray shots the previous day.

“He ain’t here Buckshot. Let’s check the next area.” Sweet Celestia, I’m safe! I thought as Buckshot wandered back to the entry of the diner muttering various profanities. I heard his hoofsteps cease. I waited for some time, wondering how far the raider pony had gone. The answer turned out to be not far. Both guns on the stallion’s saddle fired with a deafening retort. I yelled in surprise involuntarily.

“I thought so.” Buckshot said with a hoarse laugh. Hoofsteps began moving towards my hiding spot. No time to debate. I ran towards the nearest window and dove through. Another boom of the shotguns and a fresh burning sensation in my flank followed me out the window. I drank my last healing potion and galloped down the road.

I chest burned. My legs ached. The bulk of my time the last two days had been spent running, hiding, and (on occasion) fighting a lone raider or two. I hadn’t slept since Searchlight’s death. My PipBuck was annoying me with small warnings about sleep being necessary. Just a bit further. They can’t chase me forever. A small part of me couldn’t help but think that the raiders wouldn’t need to chase me forever.

I needed a plan. Something that would divert the raiders’ attention to something else. I slipped into another building, the whooping and hollering of the raiders following me inside. My PipBuck informed me I had entered Amber Waves’ Pub. Unsurprisingly, it looked ransacked.

I needed to think. Hiding wasn’t doing me much good. I needed an ambush. I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. I had minutes at most.

The pub was coated in graffiti and blood. To the left was a bathroom, minus the door. The dartboard on the wall near it had two knives thrown into it. I pulled them free and added them to my saddlebag. I jumped over the bar and poked my head into the kitchens.

There was no door out the back of the building. I wasn’t sure if this was good or bad yet. I found a cleaver and a woefully small revolver in the kitchen, the revolver containing all of three bullets in its cylinder. These weapons joined my saddlebag contents. I wasn’t finding anything that would help me hold out against my pursuers. A movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention.

My magical energy pistol was at the ready in an instant, pointed at an unfamiliar mare. She was clad in what could only be described as rags. I gasped in horror at her condition. She was beaten and bruised, with what could only be cigarette burns covering various areas of her body. Her hind legs had been chained to an industrial stove with crudely forged manacles that dug into her flesh.

“Luna have mercy! What happened?!”

The aqua colored mare turned her head towards me feebly and tilted her head upwards. A thin, pinkish scar ran across her neck. She couldn’t speak.

“I’m going to get you out of here, okay?” She looked away dejectedly, as if not expecting much.

I approached and gingerly lifted the chains, wondering how in Equestria I was going to release the mare. She let out a cry of pain and shuffled away from me. The manacles were causing pain at the slightest bit of movement.

“I’m sorry! I’m going to find something to cut the chains. I’ll be right back.” I stepped back and began scouring the kitchen for anything that could be used to cut through chain. On the other side of an island counter I found four bedrolls laid out. I found nothing of use.

“I can’t believe you lost him!”

“Me? Maybe if your dumb ass ran faster, you wouldn’t have lost him!”

“You both lost him! Maybe if you learned to fucking shoot!”

“Who gives a fuck? We can go raid Saddleville tomorrow. They’ll have more shit than one pony.” A familiar stallion with two shotguns on his saddle appeared in the doorway. I barely had enough time to hide behind the island counter before he entered. “Guess who gets to go first today, bitch.” There was a thud as his saddle hit the floor.

“Come here.”

The rustling of chains were the only response to the raider’s command. It wasn’t hard to figure out what Buckshot intended to do. I wouldn’t let him.

I slipped around the counter and pulled one of the knives from my saddlebag. Anger gave credence to my actions. Anger also made me foolish. I charged forward with a yell, leaping onto the back of Buckshot and plunging the knife into his neck.

The building exploded into a flurry of action. The other three raiders realized what was going on and opened fire. The captive mare shuffled backwards and tried to find cover. Buckshot bled everywhere.

I rolled off of the dying Buckshot and used him as a barrier. His supposed friends didn’t seem all that concerned with saving him as they unloaded everything to kill me. I dove for the island counter again, hoping the raider ponies would keep shooting at me and not towards the captive mare. Thankfully they did.

I pulled my magical energy pistol from my saddlebag and returned fire, rewarded with the cries of one of the raider ponies as they went down. I popped out a spent magical energy pack and went to reload. My PipBuck showed that I had no magical energy packs left. Shoot.

One of the raider ponies ran around the counter, brandishing a billiard stick. She brought the improvised weapon down hard, drawing blood. I had anger though. I seized the stick in my magic, tearing it and a tooth from the raider mare’s mouth and tossing it aside. I floated the small revolver out, put all three bullets in it into the mare’s forehead, and pulverized the top half of her skull.

That left the last raider pony to deal with. And he wasn’t shooting. I cautiously slipped around the counter. Shoot. The raider pony had a gun to the captured mare’s head.

“Dun’th Murve.” The speech was slurred, but the raider’s meaning was clear.

“Don’t do anything rash.” I dropped the spent pistol to the ground. “Just leave her out of this.” I took a step back. My mind was racing. I could charge him, but the raider would shoot her. Levitate something behind him? The magic might spook him and he’d shoot. Run? No way would I leave this mare in a raider’s custody any longer.

Seconds became hours as I raced to find a solution. The raider pony found a solution first and shot my foreleg. Though my PipBuck to the brunt of the impact, I still fell forward. The raider moved forward and laughed as he stowed his weapon.

“I’m gonna fuck you ‘til you beg me to kill you for what you did.”

I struggled to stand, but my injured leg wouldn’t have any of it. I looked about frantically for a solution, and to my surprise I found one. I wrapped my magic around Buckshot’s battle saddle and found the firing mechanism. The double blast knocked the saddle from my telekinetic grasp at the same time it removed the approaching stallion’s legs.

I let out a sigh of relief. I was bloodied, but alive. And the captured mare survived the bloody skirmish. After two or three tries I was even able to stand again.

“Now let’s get you free.” The mare stared at me with a mixture of hope and awe. I moved over to the battle saddle and after some finagling I managed to remove one of the shotguns.

“Don’t move, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.” I moved to the mare and obliterated the chains. I didn’t want to mess with the manacles just yet. The mare stood shakily and gave me a grateful smile. Now that she was standing, I could tell just how bad her condition was.

She was underfed, her ribs showing through her fur. To say she had been simply abused would have been a woeful understatement. The poor mare would carry both the physical and mental scars of her captivity for the rest of her life.

“What’s your name?” The mare opened her mouth and clamped it shut again. Instead, she dipped a hoof into Buckshot’s pooled blood and wrote on the ground. Crystal Rose. “Pleased to meet you, Crystal Rose. My name is Bright Idea.”

***

Looting the pub hadn’t been nearly as fruitful as I had hoped. I managed to find some ammo for the small revolver and a bit of edible food in the form of a box of unopened cereal. Crystal Rose managed to find a mostly clean saddlebag, some strange meat (which she ate immediately), and a scattering of shotgun shells, so I gave Buckshot’s shotgun to her. The first thing she did with it was blow the previous owner’s head off in a fit of postmortem revenge.

Once we had loaded up with our meager supplies, it was back on the road. Crystal briefly stopped to draw a crude house with a rose in it, then two stick ponies with an arrow pointing to the house.

“You want to go home?” A nod. “Do you know how to get there?” Another nod. “Well then, lead the way.” I smiled in what I hoped was encouraging manner.

We walked in silence (limped if I’m honest), only pausing long enough for Crystal to draw another image for me to know what was coming next. By the time we had reached our destination, night was approaching.

“Hold it! One more step and you die! State your business.” A voice called out in the dimming light. I made out the silhouette of an earth pony with some sort of rifle in the distance. He was perched on a metal wall that looked like it had pieced together with whatever scrap was on hand.

“We don’t mean any harm,” I called back to the earth pony. “Crystal says she lives here.”

“Crystal who?” I shot a confused glance at my traveling companion.

“Crystal Rose? She was captured by raiders.” I was worried now. What if something had happened to Crystal’s home while she was captured? My fears were assuaged by a call to open the gate. Earth pony stayed on the wall, while two others moved just outside the gate with weapons at the ready.

“Well what are you waiting for? Get in here before we change our minds.” I didn’t need to be told twice. Crystal and I made our way through the gate before it shut behind us.

“Crystal?” A quivering voice called out to my companion. “Goddesses, it’s you! We all thought you were dead!” A cream colored mare with a golden mane ran forward and embraced Crystal Rose, tears streaming down her face. “My baby’s home.”

***

Crystal’s home was a small town called Saddleville. It was nestled under a bridge, but that hadn’t stopped raiders from around the area from regularly attacking. The populace, about nine families and some other stragglers, were a hardy bunch who regularly sent out scavengers to keep the town and its merchants supplied.

I was given a brief tour by Merlot, Crystal’s mother, who invited me to stay the night as thanks for bringing her daughter home. She flitted about the kitchen, torn between cooking and doting on her daughter. It was a warm sight and a light smile found its way to my face.

“When your scavenging party was attacked, we all feared the worst. I was heartbroken, you know. After your father passed…” Merlot sighed. “I’m just glad to have you back, love.” Crystal idled at a table, weathering her mother’s overly-affectionate ramblings as she waited for food. She gave a warm smile when she caught me looking over at her before miming wrapping something around her foreleg.

I shot a puzzled look before realizing what Crystal Rose meant. “Miss Merlot? Is there a medic in town by any chance? I’m fairly beat up after my last run in with raiders.”

“Of course, dear. Doctor Cough is just a few doors down the street. You can’t miss him.”

I excused myself from the table, though not without promising to return for dinner and a good night’s rest. Merlot had been right, the clinic was visible from her home. I limped my way to the clinic, doing my best to say hello to anypony who passed me by. I was largely ignored.

Doc Cough’s Clinic for Wounded Ponies was what the sign out front said. I entered a fairly simple clinic. Partially shielded by movable screens were a few gurneys and some medical equipment. I heard quiet murmuring coming from the back.

“Hello?” Movement from the back. “Is anypony here?”

“I’m coming. Keep your damn head on.” A gravelly voice replied, like somepony was gargling glass shards.

A moment later, the owner of the voice entered the room with a high pitched shriek of terror. No, wait… That was my shrieking. The owner of the voice wore a disheveled set of scrubs and had a stethoscope hanging about his neck. The terrifying part about this was that the unicorn before me looked (and smelled) like he was rotting away. The remaining bits of fur and mane he had were patchy, and looked like they could have been a gray or silver back when he wasn’t looking like an extra from a Roamero film.

“Yeah, I get that sometimes. Ya mind keeping it down? Others will think I’m torturing you.”

“I-I-I…”

“Yeah. I know. I’m what you call a ghoul. Massive doses of magical radiation do this to bastards who aren’t lucky enough to die. Did you come in to gawk, or are you hurt?” The ghoul seemed more annoyed about me wasting his time than the screaming. I imagine he was quite used to the latter occurrence.

“I-I’m hurt. I was hoping you could help me?” I choked down my initial shock and stammered out a response. The stallion walked a circle around me with a series of appraising sounds before he came to a stop in front of me and finished the inspection by checking my forehead.

“Well, it’s nothing life threatening. I could probably fix you up for about seventy-five.” I fished out a small bag of bits and passed them over to the ghoul. “That’s not going to cover it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe that bump on the head did more damage than I thought. You have the caps to cover this, right?”

“Caps? What do you mean?” Then it dawned on me why Searchlight collected bottle caps. “Oh. Shoot.” Who got to decide that bottle caps were the new currency of the world? “I, um… I don’t have any caps.”

“Ah jeez, another freeloader. Listen, if you don’t have the caps, I can’t help you.”

“Oh. Okay… I’ll just head back to Merlot’s.” I turned and limped away, unsure of what to do. Or say.

“Aw jeez. You look any sadder you might make an old ghoul cry. Tell ya what: you do me a favor and I’ll patch you up.”

“Done!” Its not like I had a choice in the matter.

“All right, hold still.” Doc Cough spent the next forty-five minutes patching me up. When he was finished he sat me down and explained what he needed done. Unsurprisingly, it sounded dangerous.

“I need a shipment retrieved. Problem is, its smack dab in the middle of a warzone. You bring it back to me and we’ll call us square.” I listened in silence as Doc Cough detailed where the shipment was. It was located in an area called the Trot, a stretch of road that was used as a trading route between Saddleville and Spire. The Trot had recently been home to multiple skirmishes between slavers and a small fighting force. When I pressed for answers on what the fighting force was, the doctor stated that he wasn’t sure who they were. Only that they only attacked the slavers and the occasional raider hideout in the area.

“Thanks for patching me up doctor. I’ll set out first thing in the morning to get the... What was it you needed me to get exactly?”

“It’s a small package with my name on it. Should be stashed in a blue dumpster in the Trot.”

“Was it supposed to be delivered?”

“Normally I’d get it myself but things have gotten too dicey for my old bones to risk it.”

“All right. I’ll bring your package back.”

With that, I left the clinic. My PipBuck pinged a notification and a little arrow popped up, directing me towards the blue dumpster’s general vicinity. I couldn’t help but be impressed with the technology incorporated into the PipBuck, but how in Equestria did it know where that specific dumpster was?

I knocked on Merlot’s door, waiting for the mare to answer before entering. Dinner was… interesting. The meal consisted of tiny hayburgers that Merlot called Bloatsprite Sliders, a slightly stale snack cake, and a glass of Wild Pegasus whiskey, which I declined in favor of some water. Merlot spent the entire meal gushing about how happy she was to see her daughter again, all the while helping herself to a startling amount of Wild Pegasus.

After the meal I explained the deal I had worked out with Doctor Cough, and that I would be leaving in the morning. Merlot nodded, though at that point I wasn’t certain she was actually following what I was saying. Still, the night wound down and I slept on the couch that night. As I drifted off to sleep I passively realized that this was the most comfortable spot I had slept in a few days.

***

“Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie! Who’s ready to party?!” Pinkie stood behind a DJ booth, a white unicorn mare grinning next to her and readying a track for the party. The crowd erupted in cheers. Six months ago Princess Celestia had abdicated the throne to her sister, Princess Luna. Despite the war raging in other parts of Equestria and beyond, Pinkie Pie still managed to keep ponies smiling.

The unicorn, one DJ Pon-3, spun a record in the air before slamming it onto a turntable and assaulting the club with pulse-pounding music. The crowd lost itself to the beats and quickly transformed into a wild, controlled seizure, desperate to forget its day-to-day woes. A combination of theatrical magic, pyrotechnics, and stage lights kept the dance floor lit up with a display that matched the dancing of the ponies.

The party went on all night, only winding down when the first rays of an impending dawn began to show on the horizon. Ponies started drifting out the door, many stopping by the pink mare who had organized the event to congratulate her on the amazing time they had. I found myself at the bar nursing an orange juice and what would inevitably become a hangover.

“Hiya! I hope you had a super-terrific time tonight!” The pink mare had somehow appeared behind the bar, waving the barkeep off before he could protest. I couldn’t figure out how the mare had gotten from the dance floor to behind the bar without anyone seeing her slip over, myself included.

“I had a blast!” I grinned at the mare. “I just wish my friends at work could have come.”

“Why didn’t they? Everypony loves a good party!”

“Dance clubs aren’t really their cup of tea. Actually, a few of them thought I was pulling some sort of prank. Nopony believes me when I tell them I enjoy this scene.”

Pinkie Pie giggled, letting out a small snort. “They’re missing out then. Nopony leaves a Pinkie party with a frown!”

I laughed in response. I had to agree. This was the third… fourth? No third party I’d been to thrown by the pink mare. I hadn’t been disappointed yet. I voiced as much to Pinkie.

“I’m throwing another party here in two days. You should totally come check it out. DJ Pon-3 is gonna come back, and she says she’s been working on a new track that’s sure to blow you away!”

It was a tempting offer. “I’ll think about it. I’ve got to leave for Canterlot today, but if I’m back in Manehattan by then I’ll swing by.” I shouldn’t have even gone to the club tonight, but I needed to blow off some steam. I could sleep on the train anyway.

Pinkie stared at her hoof for a moment. “Huh. That’s a new one. I wonder what an itchy hoof means. Maybe it means I’ll see you again!” I tilted my head in confusion. “Sorry. Pinkie senses are going a bit fuddy duddy today.”

“Pinkie Senses?”

“It’s hard to explain. Maybe next time we see each other I can tell you about it.” Pinkie slipped back into the crowd, mingling with the other ponies still in the club before I could question her further. I just shook my head and headed to the train station.

***

I awoke to a silent house, staring at the ceiling and thinking on my first conversation with Pinkie Pie. If somepony had told me that someday I’d marry that mare after that, I would have laughed myself silly. I let a sad sigh escape my lips as I wondered how Pinkie Pie was doing. Just another painful reminder that I needed to get to Ponyville from… wherever in Equestria this area was.

The sounds of movement pulled me from my melancholy thoughts. I peeked over the back of the couch to see Crystal Rose packing some canned foodstuffs into her saddlebag.

“Where are you off to this early?”

She pointed at me with a hoof and then trotted in place.

“You can’t come with me. You just got back home.”

Crystal pantomimed gunfire before drawing 2>1 on a dusty table.

“I know two is greater than one, but your mother was worried sick. How do you think she’d feel if you went back into the wastes the day after getting home?”

I got a flat stare from the mare, as if I had overstepped my bounds.

“Sorry. I just mean that it’s going to be dangerous out there. What if you get hurt?”

She simply wrote in the dust again. ‘I owe you.’

“No.”

‘I’ll follow you.’

“I said no.”

‘Can’t stop me.’ Crystal was running out of dust.

“I’m not letting you come with me. I’m putting my hoof down. It’s too dangerous”

***

Crystal and I had a quick breakfast and then we were on our way. Merlot had slept in, never waking before we left. Crystal had written a short note saying she needed to go with me and left it for Merlot on the kitchen table.

“You know Merlot is going to blame me, right?”

Crystal’s response was a knowing smirk. I rolled my eyes, trying to at least pretend it wasn’t funny. We’d been walking through midday, and things were progressing smoothly. I stared upwards at the cloud layer as I walked, realizing that I hadn’t seen sunlight since waking up in Stable 117.

“Crystal, why haven’t the pegasi opened up the sky? I’m sure the plants down here could use the sunlight. It’d be a lot easier to grow some real food, too.”

Crystal gave me a look like I had been living in a hole in the ground. As she hastily scribbling in the dirt. ‘Bombs fell. Pegasus ponies closed sky. Never removed clouds.’

“Why would they do something like that?” The only response Crystal gave me was a shrug.

We continued onward, questions gnawing at me. I opened my mouth to ask some of said questions, but before I could speak my PipBuck informed me that I had discovered the Trot. It quickly added the location to its mapping programs.

“We’re here.” I looked about, taking note of the crumbling area. The road we were on was empty, save for some litter and a few scattered sky carriages. “Well, kind of. We’re in the Trot. Now to find that dumpster and get back to Doctor Cough.”

Crystal paused and drew two stick ponies shooting at each other before looking at me questioningly.

“The doctor said it was dangerous, but I don’t see anything on my Eyes Forward Sparkle. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious.” I scanned the area carefully, but there was no bars on my E.F.S. except for the green one that indicated Crystal. My stomach gurgled loudly. “Maybe we should stop and eat some lunch.”

We took shelter in an abandoned hobby shop for our meal. Our lunch consisted of some packaged noodles and my last couple of snack cakes. A small part of me felt guilty for just how poor my diet had been lately. Pinkie wouldn’t have let me eat such unhealthy meals without at least one good one to balance things out. My heart dropped a little at the thought of Pinkie Pie.

A hoof on my shoulder pulled me from my reverie. A questioning expression met my gaze.

“Sorry. I was just thinking.” A small lump formed in my throat. There had been a question floating in the back of my mind ever since Searchlight (my heart dropped a little more) had glossed over how the war had ended. “Crystal? How long ago did the war happen?”

Crystal thought for a moment before her reply. She traced a two-zero-zero in the filthy carpet.

“Two-hundred… weeks?” I quickly did the math in my head. That would mean the war had ended roughly four years ago.

Crystal shook her head before writing in the carpet again. ‘Years’.

I sat for a moment before chuckling. “You almost had me there. Two-hundred years…”

Crystal just gave me a concerned look and rubbed a hoof in the carpet to clear away her previous writing. ‘No joke’.

My laugh died in my throat. “You’re joking, come on.” Something about Crystal Rose’s expression made me back up. “That’s just crazy. Right?” My flank hit the wall of the store. I was trembling with… fear? Denial? Anger? I brought my forehooves to my temples before running them through my mane. I wanted to say something, anything, but the words couldn’t squeeze past the lump in my throat.

A hoof on my shoulder pulled me from the downward spiral my mind was threatening to jump into. I looked up into Crystal’s eyes, which were slightly misty with concern. She traced a hoof in the carpet again. ‘OK?’

“No! I am not okay!” Everyone I’ve ever known is dead. “I just found out I’ve been frozen for two centuries!” I’ll never see my loved ones again “I-I’m…” I broke down and sobbed into my hooves. I’m alone.

I felt a warm embrace. Opening my eyes, I was surprised to see Crystal Rose hugging me. Just like that, I was pulled to the present. I wasn’t over my existential crisis by a long shot, but I was grounded for the time being. I hugged the aqua mare back before disengaging myself from the embrace.

“Thank you, Crystal.” I gave a weak smile.

More carpet writing: ‘What happened?’

“Let’s get moving. I’ll tell you while we walk.”

***

I told her everything. My life, the family I had, waking up in Stable 117. As I explained the events that had occurred, we searched for the blue dumpster that contained Doctor Cough’s package. To my amazement, Crystal listened without acting like I was insane (which a sliver of me believed just may be the case as I recounted the last three or four days).

A tap on my shoulder brought me to a stop. Crystal pointed to a dumpster we had missed. Why did they all have to be blue? I sighed and headed over to the dumpster, magically opening it as I drew closer.

“I hope this is the right one. I’m tired of digging through… garbage.” I paused as my mind processed what I was looking at. “Shoot.” I had a short, two-barreled gun in my face. Attached to the weapon was a leather clad red pony with a brilliant orange mane. A quick glance at my E.F.S. showed that this pony was hostile. And that one. And the rest of the ponies emerging from hiding spots. I sighed. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts I hadn’t checked for hostiles.

“Looks like good doctor sent us some fresh blood. Drop your weapons and you’ll live.” A burly pink unicorn stallion spoke up, a clear tone of amusement in his voice. His cutie mark was a pony in chains. There were too many to argue with so Crystal and I complied. “Let’s get these two collared.”

A black pony stepped forward and fished two odd looking collars from her saddlebags.

“What are you planning to do to us?” I needed to stall. I needed to come up with a way to escape with Crystal. Fast.

“Sell you.” I didn’t expect that answer.

“Sell us? You’re slavers?” Raiders were bad enough, but now I had to deal with monsters who sold other ponies? I couldn’t think. Time was the only luxury I didn’t have and I needed more of it.

The black mare stepped forward, intent on putting the collar around my neck. As she drew close, there was a dull thudding sound. She was dead, a quivering arrow standing from her nape of her neck.

Chaos erupted. Gunfire filled the streets as a new group ambushed our ambushers. Crystal and I picked up our weapons and joined the fray. The slavers shouted to each other and soon had taken cover from their new enemy. Crystal and I had slipped behind the blue dumpster, avoiding getting caught by a stray bullet.

“You still have your shotgun?” I called to Crystal over the din. She nodded in response. “We need to take out the ones behind cover! Take the ones on the right, I’ll take the left side.” Crystal nodded, and we took off. I galloped to a brown unicorn who was paying attention to the attackers up the street. I slammed into him, knocking him into the crumbling wall he was using as cover. Before he could recover, I pressed the small revolver to his temple and fired two shots into his head, winking out his mark on my E.F.S.

I picked up his weapon (a compact, automatic weapon) and added it to my arsenal, holding the revolver in my mouth for the time being. Next was two slavers who had taken refuge behind a burnt-out sky carriage. I rushed in close, not trusting my lack of gun knowledge. I dispatched the first slaver with a barrage of rounds that turned his head to a fine red mist. The second was finished in a similar manner, emptying what remained of the clip.

Crystal was faring well, slipping through the slaver ranks and eliminating her foes with chilling efficiency. Most didn’t know she was there until she had already killed off their comrades. As I glanced over she was destroying a unicorn’s ribcage with a well-placed blast.

I stowed the automatic weapon and switched to the revolver again. The battle was ending. Many of the slavers were either already dead or fleeing. I let them run. I wasn’t going to shoot anypony who had surrendered. My rescuers pressed the advantage, two of them running after the fleeing slavers. I rejoined Crystal.

“Are you okay?”

Crystal gave a grim smile and nodded. She quickly scribbled on the dirty ground. ‘You hurt?’

“No. I was lucky.” I looked about the battlefield. Doc Cough wasn’t lying about the area being a warzone. Crystal began looting slaver bodies for ammo and other supplies.

“Looks like it’s your lucky day.” A white mare with a cyan mane and tail approached, clad in a heavy-duty looking black barding. On her side was an impressive looking revolver with an ornate wooden handle.

“Lucky day?”

“We’ve been hunting this asshole for about two weeks now.” She indicated the pink unicorn stallion from earlier, who had been hog-tied nearby. “Snuggles here has been ambushing travelers in the Trot for about two months now. You and your marefriend would have been sold off to goddesses know where.”

I stammered for a moment before responding. “She’s just a friend actually. I’m already married.” I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

“Right. So what brings you down to the Trot? It’s not exactly safe for a greenhorn like you.”

“I was hired to come down here.”

The mare raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you were hired to take out Snuggles.”

“No, I was picking up a package for the doctor in Saddleville.”

“A package? What kind of package?”

“I… don’t know actually.”

The mare shook her head with a laugh. “You fell for the oldest trick in the book, kid.”

“Huh?” I blinked in confusion.

“You were set-up, dumbass. The package doesn’t exist.”

It finally dawned on me. The slavers had been waiting for Crystal and me. They knew we were coming. I sighed in frustration.

“At least we were here to save your asses.” The mare chuckled. “I’m Hammer. Of Hammer’s Hitters.”

“Who?”

“We’re the best damn mercenaries this side of the Crystal Castle.” Hammer smirked. “You need something done, we’re the best ones for it.”

“Crystal Castle? The Crystal Castle?” I took a deep breath. I could deal with this. It was just a setback. I would just have to find a way to travel further than anticipated. I’d just need to find a way to keep moving forward. The world around me began to spin. I barely registered hitting the ground. My world faded to blackness.

***

I woke up on a lumpy cot. I lay there and pondered my next move. I could hop on a train and head south, assuming there were still trains. Perhaps there was a balloon to take somewhere? I could always walk, but that would take far too long for my tastes. I groaned and rolled over away from the wall I lay next to, only to be face-to-face with Crystal Rose.

“Where are we?” My voice nearly startled me as I sat up. Crystal was sitting next to my cot like a sentry on guard.

“You’re in the temporary home of Hammer’s Hitters. You passed out back in the streets.” Hammer strode into the room, no longer wearing her combat barding. Her cutie mark was a map with a small x in the right lower corner.

“I’m… dehydrated, that’s all.” I made up a lame excuse. “Thanks for not leaving me out there, though.”

“Don’t mention it. Besides, we didn’t get all the slavers out there. Saving you would have been a waste of time if you end up getting captured or killed during your nap.” Hammer smirked lightly at her own commentary. “Come on. You may as well meet the rest of the crew.”

Hammer lead me through a small building, which she described as a converted sky carriage repair shop. A quick peek at my PipBuck informed me that I was in Spanner’s Repair Shop. The mercenaries here had fortified the building, even putting up a turret they had affectionately named Sheila. The last stop was a small lounge.

“Time to meet the rest of the Hitters. This here’s Chop Shop,” A blue stallion with a cutie mark of a winged staff with two snakes entwined around it. “Trigger,” An orange mare with a crosshair cutie mark. “And Archer.” A yellow unicorn stallion with a bow and arrow cutie mark.

“My name’s Bright Idea, and my friend here is Crystal Rose.” I took a seat on a dusty cushion. “Thank you for rescuing us earlier.”

“Don’t mention it. I mean we’re pretty badass, so saving beautiful mares is part of the job.” Archer spoke up with a wink to Crystal.

“Easy there, Archer. You know what happened to the last one.” Trigger nudged Archer jokingly.

“Yeah, his nuts were swollen for a week!” Chop Shop chimed in with a guffaw.

“How was I supposed to know she knew Fallen Caesar?” Archer glared at the others, a hoof instinctively covering his more sensitive areas.

“All right, settle down.” Hammer took an authoritative tone, and the others immediately went silent. “We’ve got a new job. I turned Snuggles over to the Regulators. Turns out that Snuggles was more than willing to give up the location of his buddies in exchange for living. Needless to say, the Regulators helped him shuffle off his mortal coil after they had the information they needed. Tomorrow morning we set out to finish off those fucking slavers.”

“I’m coming with you.” The words tumbled from my mouth with no regret. Something about taking out slavers felt right. Like I was fixing a small bit of the world.

Hammer smirked at me. “Don’t expect to get paid for this.”

Level up!

Perk gained:

Cavalry: The cavalry has arrived! Gain a 5% damage bonus whenever you are above 80% health.