Fallout Equestria: Blackfire

We are standing in the flames, Reaching for the sky. Fight to the end, Yesterday is dead and gone

“Back again I see… seems we might be meeting like this often enough,” The voice that Nightfire had heard before he had first awoken said, not sounding surprised but as if she’d predicted it.

“T-Tell me…” Nightfire begins as he slowly opens his eyes and finds himself resting on his back in the same darkness that had nearly consumed him before. His eyes closed as a single ray of light shined down and light up the area immediately around him. “Why is it that when I hear your voice, I’m reminded of my mother?”

“I can assure you I’m not your mother,” The voice says gently, as if trying to spare his feelings. “But I will tell you that I have known you since Luna’s fall from grace.”

“Since that day… I wasn’t even in Equestria when Nightmare Moon was first created and when Tia ultimately banished our little sister to the moon,” Nightfire says as a tear forms in the corner of his eyes. “Ever since she came back I wanted to keep them safe like I said I would, now look at me; I don’t even know what happened to them. I’m searching the Wasteland blind.”

“Those two statues you have of them… there’s more behind them than you could know. When you first held them with your magic you felt something inside you stir, but what that is, you must figure out alone. For I cannot help you there,” The voice says, sounding like she was just right outside the ray of light to Nightfire’s left.

Nightfire slowly turns his head to look into the darkness to his left and sighs sadly. “Is there anything you can tell me? Anything at all about my sisters?”

“I’m sorry, my knowledge of what happened to them is limited to what you know as well. I don’t know any better than you do at this present moment.”

“Well aren’t you helpful,” Nightfire replies with a sarcastic remark. “So until I find out what happened to them, you’ll only know as much as me?” Nightfire faces back into the ray of light and shakes his head slowly. “I’m going to find them… even if I have to tear this Wasteland apart to do so.”

“I know, your determination is amazing, but answer yourself this; is your determination going to cause your guard harm or will they be able to keep up with you?”

“I believe in them to follow their path. They’re not bound to me as they believe. If anypony wanted to they could leave, find a life for themselves out in Equestria. I wouldn’t look down at them for it.”

“Is that so? You really are the most generous pony I’ve ever seen.”

“Thank you, but why are you sticking around in my head?”

“That’s something even I want to know,” The voice says softly.

“Why is it that when I talk with you I’m left with more questions than answers? Like you're hiding something from me?” Nightfire asks as he looks back in the direction that the mare’s voice was coming from with a frown on his muzzle.

“I don’t know, but is there anything you want to mention before you wake up? Because I feel like you’re going to wake up soon.”

Nightfire looks into the darkness, straining his eyes to try and see a figure in the shadows before giving up with a sigh. “Are you some kind of manifestation of my sisters?”

“… I don’t know…”

“You’re so helpful…” Nightfire says sarcastically and then closes his eyes. “I assume that was all I had time for hmm?”

“Yes… when I see you next, I hope I’m able to offer more. Now it’s time to wake up.”

“See you next time,” Nightfire says as he feels the darkness around begin to close in on him.

ϾϾϾ

Nightfire groans low and then as his body begins waking up from being knocked out by the magic strain he feels something cold locked above his PipBuck and the other around his ankle. ‘What is that?’ He asks as he slowly begins trying to sit up and hears the clink of chain as he tries moving his forelegs. As Nightfire opens his eyes he finds that he is stuck in the same darkness. ‘Either I’m blindfolded or somepony took out my eyes… which I hope it’s the former.’

“Sir? Are you alright?” Warlord’s voice asks from his right, sounding concerned and slightly fearful.

“I’m fine… my head is throbbing but I’m fine otherwise. What the hell is going on?” Nightfire whispers, unsure what was around him or who might be listening.

“We’ve been captured, but they haven’t said anything about who they are. As far as we know they could be ponies from this town or some ponies who have been raised in the Wasteland.”

“Fantastic… are you or any of the other’s blindfolded?” Nightfire asks as he takes a slow, deep breath as he tries to focus on his magic. Finding that he was able to quickly access it he smirks.

“Nopony else is. You’re the only one. One of them said that due to an encounter with an Alicorn a few months back that you’re the biggest threat,” Warlord says as he whispers back.

“Is anypony around that isn’t part of the guard?” Nightfire asks as his horn glows weakly.

“Not that I can tell. After you passed out, the seven of them came out and said that if we didn’t surrender they’d kill you then us. The leader of the group said they had a sniper ready to take the shot and since none of us can produce a shield spell…”

“We had no choice but to assume they were telling the truth and we stood down,” Little Love says softly as she moves her foreleg uncomfortably, the chains moving sounding like thunder in her ears.

“I’m going to try and take off my blindfold, let me know if we’re being watched. Also… is our mother to be ok?” Nightfire asks with a concerned tone.

“We will and as far as we can tell… she’s alright. But the stress this is creating for her isn’t good for the foal.”

“So the faster we can get away and free ourselves the better,” Nightfire says as his magic begins solidifying around the blindfold before suddenly a gunshot rings out, making him flinch and his horn cease glowing.

“Well lookie whose awake… unfortunately you’re not going anywhere without us taking you there,” The voice says sounding so full of himself.

“Who the hell are you?” Nightfire asks as he looks toward where he had heard the voice.

“We’re slavers… and I’m sure that Red Eye will take great pleasure in having more Unicorns on his side and even with some Pegasus ponies in addition to some Griffons he’ll be one forced to recon with. With you… an Alicorn; we’ve hit the jackpot with you and these ponies.”

“Red Eye? Is that who you work for?” Nightfire asks as a smile starts to form on his lips. “He’ll regret the day he was ever born should he and I ever meet. I swear that to you.”

“If I were you… I’d be watching what I say. Because I have more leverage than you do at this moment,” He says and then laughs harshly.

“Take off my blindfold. I want to see the ponies who think that we’ll go quietly,” Nightfire demands as his wings shuffle.

“For now I think I’ll keep that on until we’re ready to go. I’m not as much of an idiot then you might think.”

“If you had the nerve you would take it off and look into my eyes,” Nightfire says in a bit of a challenging tone.

“I’d be careful what you say to somepony with a gun,” The Slaver says and presses a gun against the side of Nightfire’s head.

Nightfire freezes and takes a slow and deep breath. “Alright… you’ve made your point. But I will say that killing me would greatly disappoint Red Eye.”

“I know that’s why your little ponies here will be what I need to keep you in check.”

“You wouldn’t dare use them against me like that. They are like my family,” Nightfire says, turning his head to face the slaver, the barrel of the gun moving to press just below his horn. “And I’ll be damned if you use them like this.”

“So like family huh? Even better. Now I know that you won’t risk their safety by doing anything stupid,” The Slaver says and then pushes the gun against Nightfire’s head then pulls it away. “We’ll be leaving in twenty minutes.”

Nightfire lies there, breathing heavily as he hears the Slaver move away from him and Warlord’s family. “This isn’t good… not at all.”

“What do we do?” Little Love asks softly, leaning in to keep her voice from being heard by the Slaver.

“For now… there’s nothing to do, just stay calm and do as they say. I’m assuming they’ve taken most if not all of our equipment yes?”

“For some reason they let us keep our armor, but they took all of our weapons, down to our knives.”

“They even took my swords,” The mare who had the twin blades says from not far away.

“Tell me now while we have time, your name,” Nightfire says turning his head to face the direction of her voice.

“My name is Swift Fear,” She utters softly and then coughs gently into her hoof, the chains rattling as she brought the hoof up to her muzzle.

“Are you ok?” Peaceful Heart asks as she scoots closer, the chains of her shackles clinking with each movement.

“I’m fine ma’am… just something caught in my throat,” She replies and then coughs into her hoof again more violently.

“We need water or something…” Peaceful says before the Slaver comes back and pushes her away with a single hoof and looks down at Swift and licks his lips.

“Only if I had more time with you, I’d make sure that you’d never want another stallion but me.”

Swift coughs and then chuckles. “You’re a stallion? I could’ve swore you were a mare,” She replies quickly and then spits at him.

The Slaver winces slightly from the unexpected insult and her spit landing on his right cheek. “You little bitch!” He exclaims and raises a hoof to strike her before anther pony, one of the other Slavers gripped his hoof and threw him onto the ground.

“Are you fucking dense?! Red Eye will pay us better if they aren’t harmed!” The mare shouts and looks down at him angrily.

“Well aren’t you fucking observant!” The stallion replies angrily and rolls onto his belly and gets back onto his hooves. “What do you think I’m going to do when the bitch insulted me like that?”

“I honestly think she did you a favor. That ego of yours makes you act foalish. If it wasn’t for the fact that we’re going to put them to work and that she’d most likely die within a few months I’d find her slightly interesting.”

The stallion bares his teeth and then turns away and stomps off, cursing under his breath.

Nightfire sighs softly in relief. “Thank you...”

“I didn’t do it for her,” She snaps and looks over her shoulder at the blindfolded Alicorn. “I did it for more caps and a few days of relaxation. Now shut up before I kick the Celestia damned life out of you!”

Nightfire bites his lips and nods his head. ‘Can’t afford to piss them off, not yet anyway.’

“Change of plans! We’re leaving now. Sooner we get back to Fillydelphia the better!” The mare exclaims and walks away from Nightfire and the ponies close to him. “Everypony on your hooves!”

Nightfire sighs and nods to Warlord and the others struggling to get onto his hooves due to the shackles around his knees.

Nightfire slowly struggles, first because he was being blindfolded and second because his legs were shackled right at his knees, forcing him to use his wings to lift himself off of the ground then quickly fold them at his sides.

“Since we can’t really lead you anywhere without you running into everything between here and Fillydelphia,” The female Slaver addresses Nightfire then reaches up and pulls off the cloth with her teeth and spits it out onto the ground, finally giving him his sight back.

“Come on you little bastard! Move it!” The slaver that had threatened Nightfire earlier exclaims and presses the barrel of the gun against the temple of a stallion who refused to get up from the ground.

“Go to Tartarus!”

“If you want it that way, then I’ll meet you there!” The Slaver says then pulls the trigger, the bullet from the gun killing the guard and splattering the closest guard with droplets of his blood as he drops dead on the ground.

In that instant, all of the members of the guard rush toward their fallen brother and Nightfire stares at shock. Each second he spent staring seeming like an eternity. ‘No… not another one of them…’ Nightfire thinks and then bares his teeth and begins walking forward before feeling a gun pressed against his temple.

“Not another fucking step. Now tell them to stand down or I’ll be happy to make sure that they listen!” The mare Slaver says as her horn glows around Nightfire’s own .44 revolver as the hammer clicks back, cocking the gun.

Nightfire looks at her and then to the members of his guard as they all look at him with a mixture of emotions, ranging all the way from fear to pure anger. Nightfire turns to face the Slaver and feels the barrel of the gun press a little harder against his temple. “Stand down, they are the ones in control at this moment.”

Little Love and Silver Gleam look to their brothers and then back to Nightfire and look at the ground sadly as tears form at the corners of their eyes.

“Now get moving,” She says and starts walking as she presses the gun against the back of Nightfire’s head.

Nightfire begins slowly walking forward, aware that if he stopped walking that he’d most likely be killed or injured or they’d use his guard to hurt him and usher him on. ‘I’m sorry everypony, I should’ve been faster than this.’

“That’s more like it, move it along,” The Slaver with Nightfire’s .44 says and grins as Nightfire begins walking to the direction she wanted.

Nightfire looks back at her and glares at her with anger in his eyes.

“I swear I’ll put an end to you and your little group of slavers.”

“I’m so scared, what’re you going to do? Keep up weak little threats like that? For a moment I was afraid but seeing you like this makes me realize that you’re no more a threat than a radroach!” She exclaims with a smile and looks back at the line of ponies following him, their shackles rattling with each step and one of the mare who was pregnant huddled close to Straight Shot.

“Well if it was just you and I in a duel I’d end you in a heartbeat. In the end all you are is a coward,” Nightfire continues as she keeps pace a few feet behind him and to his left.

“I’d be mindful of the one who has your own gun. But that’s just me,” She replies and slips the revolver into the holster as She walks ahead and walks with a confident trot, leaving Nightfire some space to think and manage to slink back into his group to walk beside the pregnant mare.

“Are you ok?”

“I… think so, the foal’s been kicking more lately. More than likely I’ll be ready to give birth in a few days, maybe less.”

Nightfire looks down at the shackles around each other their forelegs and then to the slavers who seemed to only bother them if one strayed a little too far from the main group. “I swear to you we’ll do everything we can to make sure they leave you be.”

“You’d do that for me?” She asks softly and then feels her mate nudge her gently.

“Of course he would. You remember the stories we were told about his generosity and his need to help others. I won’t doubt him and neither should you.”

“He’s right… I won’t let anything happen to you or your foal. I’ll pass this along to the others to do what they can that won’t endanger you both,” Nightfire whispers and looks around to make sure they weren’t being overheard.

Tears well up in her eyes from his words and she gives him a gentle nuzzle. “Thank you… for doing this for me. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Don’t worry about it, if I have to take a beating for you then so be it, anything to keep you and your foal safe.”

“You really are like the stories said,” She says and then looks at the nearest Slaver who had been watching them from his spot in the march.

“I never want to let down those who I care for, no matter what. Do you know the name of the latest guard we lost?”

“I didn’t know him personally, I never knew his name. I just know he was one hell of a Guard,” Straight Shot says softly, looking over his shoulder at where they were forced to leave his body.

“Would Warlord, Little Love or Peaceful Heart know?” Nightfire asks trying to keep his voice low so they wouldn’t be overheard.

“The Captain should, he had interactions with all of us at one point or another.”

“Keep your wife safe Straight, otherwise you’ll find that life is harder to live,” Nightfire says then begins slowly working his way past each member until he’s standing next to Warlord and Little Love.

“I can’t find a way out of these damn things, and I’ve examined them ever since they first locked them on me,” Little Love says with a frustrated groan.

“We’ll figure it out, but did either of you know the Guard we lost?” Nightfire asks softly and with great care.

“I talked with him quite a bit, I think his name was…” Warlord begins only to be interrupted by his little sister.

“Soven Diamond. He was a stubborn stallion but always true to his word,” She tells as tears begin sliding down her cheeks.

‘Little Love’s not cut out for the Wasteland. But maybe she can prove me wrong somehow,’ Nightfire thinks before etching the name into his memory. “Soven Diamond?”

“Yeah… I only talked with him a couple hooves of times, but he was determined.”

“Spread the word around the Guard, everyponies going to take a turn protecting our mother to be. I’m sure the Slavers will catch on to the pattern but we have to keep her and the foal safe.”

“Understood sir.”

“Understood sir,” Both Warlord and Little Love reply gently and Peaceful Heart smiles from the other side of her daughter.

“Good plan, but what if they start targeting the one who’s keeping watch on her?”

“Then I’ll step up and make them force their attention on me. I can take whatever they can dish out. Trust me,” Nightfire replies with a smile just making it onto his lips before he looks at the Slaver who had taken the lead. “Doesn’t it seem odd that they would only have so few in a group?”

“Now that you mention it… yeah. But maybe there’s something to the Wastes that we’re not aware of yet,” Warlord replies as he eyes the lead and two Slavers to her rear left and right.

“From what I can tell, they’re carrying only base essentials and two weapons, theirs and one that they took from us,” Little Love says making a note of the fire power each would have.

“However they all seem to hate each other. But I’m not sure if we could use that to our advantage,” Peaceful Heart says as she lifts her head a little and looks around at the positions of the Slavers.

“This might work, but it may also just come back and bite us in the flank,” Nightfire says and then shuffles his wings gently.

“Enough chat!” The Slaver that took the lead says and turns to look at Nightfire and the others. “We’ll be staying here for tonight and don’t even think of trying to sneak away or you’ll be shot.”

Nightfire and his guard slow to a stop and settle into a fairly large cluster, the pregnant mare in the center with her mate. ‘At least they’re keeping her safe,’ Nightfire thinks with a smile and then looks at the slavers that had walked away to start a fire of their own. “So you’re gonna leave us without any form of food or water?”

“How about you wait till we’re done then we’ll give you something. If you keep bothering us then you and your group will get nothing. So shut the hell up!” The lead mare says as she looks at Nightfire with an annoyed look.

Nightfire looks at the mare then sighs. “Look, one of our own needs water. Please give me that and I won’t bother you for the rest of the night,” Nightfire says with a bit of suppressed anger.

“Fine! It’ll shut you up then here!” She exclaims and then throws a canteen of water, it lands on the ground just a little way from Nightfire and rolls till it stops at his side.

Nightfire looks down at the canteen and then passes it to the pony next to him. “Pass this down to our mother to be. She needs it more.”

“Yes Sir,” The mare says before biting into the crumbling leather of the strap and passes it along to the next pony, a stallion who simply passed it along without a word.

Nightfire watches as the canteen is passed back to her and then looks at the group of slavers who were settled around a rusted and hole riddled barrel and had light a fire. ‘That’s a tactical error, it gives away our position and I don’t like this spot. Its way to open and we can’t fight in these.’

“Sir? This spot is not a good one, we’re way too exposed. Plus that fire they set up is painting a big bullseye on our backs,” Warlord says and looks around the spot they were staying.

“I still think that the sooner we can get away the better. I still have a few bobby pins in my tail,” Little Love leans in and whispers into Nightfire’s ear.

“Good, when they fall asleep I need you to slip me a bobby pin so I can try to pick the shackles lock. I was able to pick the lock of that safe in the town we were in. First I want to talk with Straight Shot and his mate,” Nightfire says and begins slowly crawling his way toward the two in the center of the circle the guard had created to keep her safe. After a few moments of crawling he stops at her side. “You feeling ok?”

“I think so…” She says looks down at her bulging belly. “The foal’s been kicking a lot more recently. We need to think of something to get out of here,” Candle Light says softly.

“Tell me… are you two actually married or are you two just a casual couple?” Nightfire asks, never having properly guessed if they really were married or not.

“We’re married, have been for a little under a year,” Straight Shot says as he cuddles up close to her.

“So I assume that you got pregnant before marriage?” Nightfire asks softly and looks down at her belly.

“Yes… but we did it for love. Not just for the foal,” Candle Light replies winces a little. “Want to feel the foal kick Your Highness?”

“Yes I would,” Nightfire says and places a hoof lightly on her belly and waits patiently for a few moments before feeling the foal kick gently against his hoof. “Strong… just like you Candle…” Nightfire replies and gives her a smile.

“Thank you,” She replies with a smile and then feels her husband kiss her cheek gently.

“We’ll make it through this… I promise you,” Straight Shot says and nuzzles her cheek gently.

“I know we will… as long as we have each other and Nightfire we’ll be ok.”

“Of course. I will do all I can to keep you and your foal safe,” Nightfire says and strokes her belly gently.

“We appreciate it,” She replies and then looks over at the Slavers. “What are we going to do?”

“I’m going to try and pick the lock on your shackles when they are all asleep. Maybe I can make things easier for you.”

“Can you?” She asks softly as to not attract the attention of the Slavers.

“Yes I could. I just to make sure they are asleep so they won’t see me.”

“Anything we could do?” Swift Fear asks and then coughs a little, her eyes looking a tad bloodshot.

“You just rest, I think you’ve got a cold,” Nightfire says turning back to address her.

“But sir I’m fine…” She begins to protest and then begins coughing into a hoof.

“No. Rest and recover your strength. You’re no good to any of us sick.”

She nods and lies her head down to try and find a comfortable way to lie down and then finds that her head was being lifted by magic and laid against Silver Gleam’s back.

“Consider this something that we should all do.”

“Thank you,” Swift Fear replies softly and then closes her eyes to try and get some kind of sleep.

Nightfire looks over at the twins and see them cuddled close, protecting each other and Swift Fear as each of them all start falling into sleep. “As long as we have somepony like your Silver, we’ll be ok,” He whispers softly before looking around at the guard and then to the slavers. Seeing that their attention was elsewhere, he picks up the bobby pin that he hidden and begins slowly working on the lock of his shackles.

As he worked, he looked up every so often to see if he was being watched, only the sleeping gaze of his guard and the slavers scanning the horizon for threats greeted him each time. As Nightfire feels the bobby pin catch and then breaks. “Fuck!” Nightfire curses softly and looks at the broken pin before tossing it aside as he looks at the lock with anger in his eyes. “These are simple locks and yet I can’t pick them? What the buck?!” He exclaims and then looks up and sees one of the slavers turn his head to look in his direction. He quickly lays his head down on his forelegs and then closes his eyes to make it look like he was asleep.

After a few moments Nightfire opens his right eye and looks up at the sky and sees the faded light of the moon through a small break in the clouds. ‘Luna… I know you’re ok. You just have to be.’

As Nightfire looks up at the moonlight it slowly begins becoming harder and harder to see the light he shakes his head and then closes his eyes to let sleep finally take him but not before one last thought swam through his mind ‘I know the moon can move without my sister’s having to move it but I have to believe that she is moving it. If not her then hopefully it’s Celestia moving it.’

***Early in the morning***

Nightfire wakes up slowly, hearing some distant sound. Something along the lines of music before several gunshots ring out making each of the shackled ponies immediately wake up, looking around quickly before turning to Nightfire then to the slavers. “What the hell are you wasting ammo on? Because unless it is something that could actually be a threat why not use a blade?”

“Why wasting the effort when it’s easier to just use a gun,” The same slaver who tried to take advantage of Swift Fear said after holstering Nightfire’s .357.

“Because if my guard and I have learned in the short time that we’ve been out here is that ammo is as precious as food,” Nightfire says as he looks at the slaver with disgust.

“Enough! You and your ponies have been a pain in my flank more than any other slaves that I brought to Fillydelphia. If you all don’t shut the fuck up I’m gonna-“ She begins and then one of the other slavers points a hoof over the horizon.

“Steel Rangers coming our way! From the look of it we’ve got at seven to twelve of them!” He says and quickly pulls out a rifle and lines up the shot at one of them.

“You idiot! Find a position to snipe and you come with me,” The mare says as she looks over at Nightfire’s group. “Grab that one there,” She says pointing a hoof to Swift Fear and then turns back to the distant Steel Rangers.

The stallion quickly trots down to Nightfire’s group and bites Swift Fear’s mane pulling her away from the group despite the others trying to keep her away from the slavers. As he approaches the lead mare he nods to her as Swift Fear tries to pull away from the stallion.

“If you harm one hair on her mane so help me I’ll kill you!” Nightfire calls out as he begins to stand up only for one of the slavers to turn and point his assault rifle at him making him stop in his tracks.

“Don’t you fucking move! The rest of you come with me. We’ll meet them out and see if we can negotiate a deal with them.”

“Do you honestly think that they’ll reason with us?” One of the stallions asks only to get punched across the face by the mare.

“They’re going to because that’s why we’re taking this one with us,” She says and then looks out at the Steel Rangers from behind some cover as one of the slavers shoot once into the air to get the Ranger’s attention.

“You idiot! They’ll kill you then kill us!” Nightfire says baring his teeth at the mare with anger in his eyes.

“I told you already to shut the fuck up!” She cries out and then steps out from behind the cover she had with the stallion following behind her. “Now all of you wait here and don’t move,” She says as she makes motions with her hooves for each of the other slavers to take up positions if it turns into a firefight.

“Sir I don’t like this at all. They’re gonna get themselves killed then it’s going to be us next,” Warlord says as he looks up into his eyes.

“I know but what can I do? If I try anything then they’ll turn and open fire on us. I don’t want to risk your lives any more than I have to.”

“I know but I think you have to do something Your Highness,” Peaceful Heart replies as she looks down at the shackles around her ankles and then up at Nightfire.

Nightfire looks down at the shackles around his ankles and then sighs. “Whatever happens I’m happy that I knew all of you,” Nightfire says and then closes his eyes as his magic begins focusing on the shackles around each of their legs before the shackles break at the hinges causing them all to fall down onto the ground. “Everypony take cover and no matter what nopony try to be a hero,” Nightfire says as he takes a deep breath and then starts slowly sneaking up on the slaver who was supposed to be standing watch as he watches the leader of his small band of slavers. Quickly Nightfire leaps forward and then grips the slaver around his neck with his forelegs and squeezes tightly. “I’m not sorry, but I never wanted to kill you!” Nightfire exclaims softly into his ear and struggles to hold the grip.

The slaver struggles to suck down breath as Nightfire’s forelegs press hard into his throat, blocking his windpipe and cutting off his oxygen supply and turns his head to looks into Nightfire’s eyes. “How… d-dare you…” The slaver manages to speak before giving blinking once more as he closes his eyes one last time and goes limp in Nightfire’s grip.

Nightfire gulps and then gently sets down the slavers body before quickly picking up the slavers weapons and quickly ducks behind a large rock then checks the rifle. “Shit… only twelve bullets and against armor it’s almost worthless.”

Meanwhile Warlord and Little Love look over at Nightfire’s hiding spot from where they were hiding and look at each other before looking to where the others went to hide with concerned looks on their faces. “Everyponies at least in a good spot for cover,” Warlord says and gives a smirk and then looks over at his sister. “I have a knife under my armor, get it so we at least have a way of protection.”

“A knife? I thought they found all of your weapons,” Little Love says as her horn glows gently and slowly pulls the knife out from under Warlord’s armor and passes it to her brother. “Play it smart big brother… I don’t want to lose you and mother.”

“You’re not gonna lose me that easily,” Warlord says around the hilt of the knife between his teeth then places a hoof gently on her shoulder. “Promise.”

She smiles and then slowly sneaks off while her brother and the other guard watch as she stumbles across a metal box near where the slavers had built the fire the night before and finds several weapons mainly 10mm pistols and a 10mm sub machine gun. She quickly gathers them up in her telekinetic field and then trots to as many of the ponies as she could, apologizing about the weapon quality to each.

After passing out the weapon she stops beside Straight Shot and Candle Light giving him the 10mm sub machine gun. “I hope it helps. I know it’s not your weapon but it’s something right?”

“Thanks Little Love. I appreciate it,” He says as he and his wife give her warm smiles and he checks the gun for what ammo it had in the clip. “A full clip? I’m kinda surprised. Can you wait here with Candle? I want to see if Swift is ok.”

“You know it,” She replies as he slips away and stays behind cover, not once bringing himself into the view of the Rangers.

Meanwhile while Nightfire and the others managed to free and arm themselves with weapons the lead slaver speaks with the leader of the Rangers, Swift Fear being forced to be a shield in case the Rangers opened fire.

“Please don’t do this!” Swift Fear begs, a few tears sliding down her cheeks before the female slaver presses a knife against her back with her magic.

“Shut up! Now will you accept our proposal and leave us be? Or will things have to get bloody?”

The leader of the Rangers looks between the small number of slavers and focuses on the mare acting as a pony shield for the slaver. “She’s not part of your group, and these shackles make me assume she is a slave hmm? To be honest even her armor is nothing like I’ve seen in the Wastes. I think she might be of better use with us than with your twisted leader back in Fillydelphia. She’s gonna be coming with us, so let her go and maybe we’ll let you and your small group here live,” She says as she starts targeting the slavers with her armor’s built-in system.

“Sorry but she stays with us. To be honest, you’re pretty much dead already Ranger,” She says with a bit of a smirk.

“Why do you say that slaver scum?” The Ranger to the leader’s right says, the twin grenade launchers on his battle saddle making Swift Fear shiver.

“Because we have a sniper ready to take your heads off if any of us are shot. We have the tactical advantage here Ranger,” She replies with a smirk.

“You think one sniper will be enough for all of us? I honestly think that working for Red Eye has decreased your I.Q. a bit. You have the sniper in your sights?” The female Ranger says turning her head to looks at the one of her group who had an anti-material rifle aimed back where they had positioned the sniper with the new slaves.

“Ma’am we got a problem,” The Ranger says and lowers the rifle from where he had been aiming.

“What do you mean ‘problem?’” The lead Ranger says as she looks into his visor.

“The sniper was just taken out by another pony, looked like that other pony took him out with hoof to hoof combat.”

“Looks like you’ve just lost your edge. Now give her to us and we’ll let you all walk away with your pathetic lives,” The leader replies with a smile from behind her helmet and looks back at the slavers and scarred mare.

“Not a chance! Take them down!” The mare says as she pushes the mare onto the ground and pulls out a .44 revolver and takes aim before suddenly the mare is riddled full of bullets as the sound of a thunderstorm fills the air. The Ranger to the leaders left begins turning to allow the mounted mini gun on his battle saddle mow down the slavers, each of the slavers barely managing to get a shot off before they were bullet riddled corpses.

Swift Fear looks up at the Rangers and then at the slavers who had taken her captive a mere day ago then sighs softly. “Thank you for freeing me. The others of my group are back there where their sniper was, I need to go and check on them now!” She says and jumps onto her hooves before the twin barrels of the grenade launcher pointed at her.

“How do we know that you’re not secretly working for them huh?” He asks and glares at her from behind the helmet.

“Stand down. If she really was with them I’m sure she would’ve done something by now,” The leader says with a gentle tone and looks at the slavers bodies. “If they had any of your weapon feel free to take them back. I know what it’s like not to have a weapon out here.”

“Thank you so much… what’s your name?” Swift Fear asks gently as she looks down at her cuffs and then to them. “Can one of you help me with these?” She asks indicating to her shackles and ends up showing them her Pip-Buck.

“So you’re from a Stable? Wasn’t sure that there were any of those around this area. Anyway my name is Star Paladin Root Beer and would somepony help her with those shackles already?” The mare who had now finally identified herself says waving a hoof to Swift for one of them to get her out of the shackles.

Back with Nightfire and the others they remain hidden behind what cover they could and look up at Straight Shot. “What’s happening out there?” Nightfire asks with his back pressed back against a thin sheet of rusted metal.

“They’re coming this way, looks like Swift Fear is ok and those Rangers removed her shackles. Keep your weapons ready in case though,” He reports having taken the previous snipers position except he didn’t have the weapon loaded.

“Understood. Is everypony alright?” Nightfire asks looking as the rest of them give a wave of a hoof to show they were ok.

After waiting for a few moments Swift Fear came running back with their weapons in tow in her telekinetic magic field and sets them down in a pile. “Is everypony ok Sir?” She asks before collapsing onto her knees in a coughing fit.

Quickly Nightfire and Peaceful Heart jump to her side and pat her back. “You’re gonna be alright, just rest now ok? You’ve done a lot for us today,” The older mare says and gives the heavily breathing mare a smile.

“Y-Yeah…” Swift Fear says and then looks at the pile of guns as the Rangers arrive.

“So these are the ponies you’re traveling with Swift? Interesting bunch you lot.”

Nightfire steps forward and in front of Swift. “She’s with me. Now please tell me who you are so I can properly thank you,” He says with a polite but cautious tone.

“My name is Star Paladin Root Beer and no thanks is necessary. Just give us those Pip-Bucks of yours then we’ll call it even.”

“You’re not getting these! They have belonged to the members of my guard ever since the Great War and I’ll be damned if they lose family relics,” Nightfire says and then spreads his wings, the trench coat having covered his wings from sight of the Rangers until then.

At the very moment his wings were in full sight, the Rangers quickly took aim at him with all of their weapons as Nightfire’s guards all quickly used their magic to grab a weapon from the pile that Swift had brought back while Nightfire remained standing still looking into the visor of the lead Steel Ranger. “You’re one of those blasted Alicorns! We have orders to take you out on sight but how is it that you have this many ponies following you?”

“For the record, I have no idea what you mean about those other Alicorns but are you referring to Celestia or Luna?” Nightfire asks with a hopeful tone starting to enter his voice as he keeps his gaze locked on the Steel Rangers.

“Celestia and Luna have long since been gone. Hasn’t anypony told you?”

Nightfire involuntarily steps back with his left rear hoof and then looks down to the ground with a tear starting to form in the corner of his right eye. “You know… I’ve had it with having guns pointed at me. So unless you’re going to shoot I have a proposition for you. You lie down your weapons and you and I settle this like ponies would long ago; a duel, one on one. If I win you turn away and leave us alone, and if I lose… what would you want?”

“You’re going to bargain with me?” Star Paladin Root Beer replied and then lowered her weapons as if considering his offer.

“You’re the leader of your little group of Steel Rangers just like how I’m the leader of these ponies behind me taking aim at you,” Nightfire says then pauses as a gust of wind blows through the area they were in, blowing Nightfire’s mane all across his face which causes him to blink.

“And what does that mean to you?”

“That means that you and I are the two highest ranking here. So either agree to my proposal or we settle this in a fire fight that’ll maybe kill all of us,” Nightfire says and then lifts his head and looks back into her visor. “It’s one of the other, make up your mind.”

The Steel Ranger pauses and then looks back at the ponies who were behind the Alicorn and then gives a chuckle behind her visor. “You know what? If I win this little duel of ours I get to kill you and take your Pip-Buck.”

Nightfire looks at the Ranger and then sighs softly. “You’re on. But I think that we should make this fair for the two of us. We set a barrier and if one of us steps out of it they lose,” Nightfire says and feels each of the ponies behind him shocked that he’d put something like that before an opponent.

“Sir are you nuts?” Warlord asks stepping forward, before one of the Steel Ranger’s turned his mini gun toward him.

“I’m sure Warlord. Now do you agree?” Nightfire asks as he looks at the Ranger standing before him.

“Deal. I’ll give you a few minutes to prepare,” She says and then turning away as the other clear out a path for her while keeping their weapons trained on the ponies behind Nightfire.

Nightfire turns away and then looks at the ponies behind him with a sigh as they all look at him with shocked expressions. “I know what you all must think of this plan of mine.”

“What we think of your plan?! You’re plan is suicidal at best!” Warlord exclaims as he steps aggressively toward Nightfire before feeling his sister lay a hoof on his shoulder.

“Brother I may not agree on his plan but-“ She began only for him to knock her hoof away with his own.

“Do you know what’s at stake here?! If he dies then-“ He begins as if he was going to go on a rant before Nightfire presses a hoof to Warlord’s shoulder.

“Enough Warlord,” Nightfire says calmly. “I need you to keep calm and then know this: I know that you mean well and would want to try and talk me out of this or even try to take my place in the duel but I made my choice and I will face the consequences of my actions,” Nightfire says and then leans his head down and looks into Warlord’s eyes. “I see you as a close friend… maybe even something more if things work out for us.”

Warlord looks into his eyes and then his aggression seems to leave his body as quickly as it had built up. “What are you saying?”

“I know you’re smart, that’s why it shouldn’t be hard for you to figure it out,” Nightfire replies as his horn glows and then pulls off his trench coat and each article of clothing on his body. “Hold onto these, and put my weapon back in their holsters.”

“Y-Yes Sir,” Warlord says as he looks down at the clothes he is now holding as Nightfire stretches his wings widely before folding them against his body as he turns back to see the mare who had gotten herself out of her armor. Her light brown mane cropped back and her tail was short and her green eyes were looking at the now naked Alicorn.

“Keep everypony safe if I lose here Warlord, you will be the one in charge,” Nightfire says before he walks past the Rangers and picks up a stick with his magic and draws a 50’ by 50’ square and then tosses it away. “Ready?”

The mare pops her neck and then slowly lowers into a fighting stance and nods.

Nightfire nods back and then settles into his own fighting stance and takes a deep breath, ready for the fight of his life.