Episode 1 - riding into the Wastland

It has been 11 years since the SPP had been activated. Peace and hope had been restored among the residents of the equestrian wasteland. Yet, despite all the efforts made to obtain this peace, the darkness of the wasteland evils grow with the intention to return and snuff out the flames of hope and undo the paradise that many had sacrificed to obtain.

But even when the world is at its darkest hour, Heros are found in the most unlikeliest of places.

That is where our story begins

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Earth 2016, Atlanta

“Common! Guys! We're going to miss the Con if you don't hurry your slow asses up!” A short haired blond boy yells back as he rushes to the ginormous building ahead of him. He wore blue jeans, a red T-shirt with an unzipped blue hoodie layered on top of it.

“Jesus … Hold your horses Jonas, we're not all school athletes” a young man trailed after him, grasping his black fedora. He had a black short shaggy hairstyle under it, wore a black dress jacket with a white polo under it, and had matching dress pants to complete the outfit.

“Dammit.. Kano, Jonas, what the hell am I going to do with you two?” Another hooded boy sighed. He strolled at a decent pace behind the two racing boys with his hands in his black hoodie’s pockets.

The three reached the doors to the building.

“So… This is Atlanta’s 2016 comic con eh?” The boy commented.

Kano looked at him, “You sound disappointed, Liam, what's up?”

Liam huffs out in frustration, “It's those damn rumors going around involving that godforsaken merchant from Resident Evil 4. Apparently he can send anyone to anywhere in the universe if you buy something from him, while also turning the item you bought from him into the real deal and giving you its abilities.”

“Oh come on Liam, they're just rumors,” Jonas exclaimed. Liam gave him a skeptical look, “Like hell they are, have you noticed how many people have ended up disappearing at these things?”

Kano shrugged, “I honestly don't really care about the merchant. I would actually find it interesting if he really could do that.”

Liam scratched his head and sighed, “Nothing ever seems to worry you.” Kano smirked, “Hey, that's just how I am”.

“Well then, I guess you won't mind what happens next, stranger…” The three boys reared around to find an all too iconic hooded figure standing behind them.

They stood there in silence for a few moments, staring him down. “If he sends us to Silent Hill, I'm going to kick your sorry ass for jinxing us Kano,” Liam stated bluntly.

“Jesus, Liam, lay off me will ya.”

“You three boys surely know what's happening next?” The Merchant questioned.

Jonas merely shrugged. “Let’s see what you have in stock, it won't kill to test the rumor out… Wait, please tell me you have Items from Kamen Rider” he requested in anticipation. “Ah, a fan of the east I see, yes I have them on the racks today, and you three can have them for free.” The merchant confirmed, opening his coat and revealing the belts and items from various Kamen rider brands. Jonas fist pumped, “Hell yes! I'll have Axel’s belt and Gaia memory please” he requested. With that he received the two items from the merchant.

Kano shrugged, “Hell, since I'm trying to cosplay as Shoutaro Hidari, I'll go with Double along with the the Giaia memories for Kamen rider W.”

With that, Kano received the memories and belt, he took out the Joker memory a pressed it…

Joker

The echo was loud for everyone to hear it. Kano smirked, “that's what I'm talking about… Huh?” He looked at the merchants coat and saw a second set of memories along with another belt. “Eh? Hey, what's with the double” he asked. The merchant chuckled, “it's a surprise for where your going my friend”.

Everyone looked at Liam to see if he wanted anything. Liam was silent for a second before speaking, “you know what? To hell with it, if I'm doing this, I'm going with Wizard’s rings and belt to play it safe”.

“Then here is your belt, Mr. Mage,” the merchant said as he handed over the requested items. With that the three boys equipped the gear. “Hey isn't this where the merchant teleports us to god knows whe-” before Kano could finish, the three of them black out.

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Celestia gasped in astonishment. “W-what was that?”

“Huh… What was what, Celestia?” Littlepip asked.

“I-I don't know… I just felt a sudden surge of energy… I wonder what emitted it…”

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FoE: Riders of the wasteland

Episode 1: Riding into the wasteland

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The red pegasus mare ran as fast as she could. “After the bitch!” A voice yelled.

She picked up her pace in fear of her life. She traversed the ruins of Ponyville, climbing over and crawling under debri to escape her cruel assailants. “Oh sweet Luna, they're going to kill me”, she panicked. She ran into the hollowed tree of a library. She then shuts the door and pressed her back upon it. She waited for the hoof steps to grow distant.

She took a deep breath of relief.

Her ears then perked up at the sound of groaning, she walked around the library and found a pair of weird bipedal creatures sprawled on the floor in pain.

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Jonas opened his eyes to find himself standing in the middle of a road. “Well… I guess those who spoke of the merchant weren't full of shit after all.” He said aloud.

He took a look around. “It seems I'm in what looks like the Fallout universe… But, last time I checked, the DC ruins never had a castle” he pondered over the buildings on the mountain in the distance.

“I better find the others before we can determine where we are.” He then made his way down the road, towards the mountain.

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“Spike… Are you sure this is the one who caused one of the energy spikes?” A timid voice asked.

“I'm sure fluttershy, The amounts of magic emitting from it are absurdly high. the only ones I've ever seen with this amount of energy are Twilight, Celestia, and Luna” another replied.

Liam opened his eyes and allowed the light to pour into them. “Hey, everypony look, it wakin’ up” a southern voice addressed.

“Son of a bitch… I feel like I just got ran over by a carriage going 50 miles per hour.” Liam complained. He rubbed the back of his aching head. “Hehe… Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting you to just go off and fall from the sky” the southern accent apologized.

He looked up to the sources of the voices. He found himself surrounded by three ponies and a ginormous purple dragon. “.... Um… I have a pretty strong hunch that I'm in the place known as Equestria based on how most of you here are ponies” he assumed.

The cinnamon colored Pegasus stallion nodded, “that's pretty observant of ya” he complimented.

Liam chuckled “Well it's kind of a dead give away when you're as observant as I am… Hell, sometimes others take forever to figure something out even when the details are slapping them across the face.”

He then tried to stand up, “Hey, you shouldn't be trying to get up after a fall like that,” warned the black unicorn, her mane striped white with yellow and what seemed to be a red maroon.

“I'm ok, I'm more durable than I look,” he assured. He began stretching his muscles and started to take in his surroundings. It was a cave with wiring and computers hooked up all over the walls. “A cave… It's not my first choice for anyone to live in but who the hell am I to be judging?”

He then checked his gear, they didn't seem to remove the belt or the rings he had on him. he then noticed he was the only human at the current location. “Hey, was there any others like me when you found me?” He asked. They all looked at each other and then looked back to him. “Sorry, I'm sure you had friends but they weren't with you when we came along.” The timid cream colored Pegasus addressed. Liam smiled at her. Since he was a brony to an extent, he knew who she was. It was Fluttershy, the element of kindness, according to the main universe. “It's all right… Knowing my friends, they’ll make themselves known to the world very soon.”

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“I'm soo bored!” Complained Jonas. He had been walking for hours now and has found nothing so far. “I need to find something soon or I'm going to go insane.” He continued walking down the pathway.

“Eh? There are some ruins up ahead, I wonder what's to be found there… Hell, it's probably better than what I'm doing right now”. With that in mind, he made his way to the crumbling remains of the structure.

“Hmmm… If this is like Fallout, then I should look for supplies… Now where to searc-” his thoughts were cut off by an ear piercing scream. “Somepony help me!”

Another voice replied to the scream. “Shut up bitch, if I have to kill you then our client will be pissed from having one less slave to command.”

Jonas’ eyes widened at the mention of slave. “Yep, this is like fallout alright” he mumbled to himself.

He rounded a corner to find a group of… Unicorns… Surrounding a white earth mare… Jonas face palmed, his mind began to rant ‘I'm in the fucking fan-crossover universe with My Little Pony and Fallout, that's just dandy…. I don't know who to hate, Liam for getting me into the show… Or the merchant for sending me here for kicks.” Despite the situation’s absurd conditions, he still needed to help her.

It then clicked in his head. The Gaia Memory, he searched his pockets and found the items he bought. He smirked, “time to see what I can do now”.

He slapped on the Motorbike handle onto his waist. With that, a belt formed around him. He then rounded the corner.

“Hey” he spoke out for their attention. The ponies all glared at him, their were expressing both shock and spite. “The hell you want, freak.” One pony yelled.

Jonas taunts at their attitude, “Oh my, who took a piss in your cereal this morning?” A wide grin formed on his face.

“I don't know who are what the fuck you are, but you should move along, this didn't concern you” the leading stallion yelled.

“Oh, doesn't concern me, says the slave driver who can't put his ego away” the human challenged back. The stallion scoffed, “ah, look what we have here, a dead meat brat who likes to shit talk and play hero… Kill this little shit” he ordered.

To unicorns with combat knives rushed Jonas. He continuously dodged the endless slashes that came at him. He saw an opening in the defense of the pony to his right, he took it, knocking away the knife with his left hand and delivering a right hook, causing the unicorn to lose the telekinetic grip on the knife. He then spin kicked the stallion, knocking him down, he then turned to his right in time to duck under a vertical swipe from the other stallion. Jonas back flips to gain some distance, he then picks up a rock and chucks it at the pony. The unicorn cuts the rock, throwing a thick cloud of dust. Jonas then ran up to the now blinded stallion and drop kicked him, knocking him into a wall.

He run up to the dropped knife and threw it, nailing a third stallion, who was trying to enter the fray, square between the eyes, killing him. He then went back to roundhouse kick the stallion he knocked against the wall just moments ago, sending him falling back down sideways.

Jonas looked around him, two incapacitated and one dead, not bad for his first CQC scenario. He looked at the rest of the slavers.

“So… Who’s next” he asked, lax could be heard in his voice.

The leader maniacally grinned, “well, it seems our hairless friend has some moves… Let's see them save you from being pumped full of lead” with that, all the remains slavers pulled out guns.

“Any last words kid” the slaver said smugly. The innocent mare looked at Jonas, confused and frightened. She was shocked to see him look at her specifically and nod.

Jonas pulled out his Gaia memory. He then taped on it.

Accel!

Henshin!

Jonas then clicks his Gaia Memory into his belt and revs the Motorbike handle. To everyone’s surprise, the sound of an engine could be heard.

Accel!

He was then engulfed in a red light.

Everypony in the room was blinded. Gasps of astonishment could be heard.

“What the hell!”

“This energy, just who is this guy!?”

“Is he transforming into something?”

“What is this unsettling feeling?”

The earth mare stared in awe. Oddly enough, the light made her feel someone at ease. “Why do I feel… Happy?” She asked herself.

When the light dimmed down, a red armored figure was in the human's place.

The slavers were now in a great shock.

“How the heck did he do that”

“Is that some model of power armor?”

“Sweet Luna…”

“Just who the hell are you!?”

Jonas grinned under his helmet. His voice was slightly distorted in the helmet. “I Am a symbol of hope and justice, I am that which protects the innocent from scum like you, I am what tells others to stand up and fight for what is trusty right for the world….. I Am Kamen Rider!… Kamen Rider Accel!”.

His statement was loud and proud. Energy roared from him like the force of a waterfall. The Earth mare looked at him in amazement, he looked back. He smiled happily as the signs of hope glimmered in her eyes.

He then turned back to the slaver leader, “I'm giving you one chance… Drop your weapons now and your lives will be spared.” He rose his sword and got into stance.

“Like hell I a-” before the stallion could finish his reply, he was sucker-punched in the face with great force and speed. He was sent through the wall of the building and out into the surrounding wasteland. Before anyone could retort to that, Accel was already slashing through the crowd of enemies, blowing them away.

The white earth mare was now excited. This creature… This Kamen rider renewed a fire in her, a fire that had most likely faded the day the bombs dropped on equestria. She was filled with the determination that radiated from him. She felt something touch her hooves, she looked and saw the keys that were for the cages of the other slaves.

She looked up and saw the Kamen Rider staring back. “Free the others, I'll handle these punks.” He then turned around and slashed down onto a charging slaver. She nodded, picked up the key ring in her mouth, and ran for the cages.

She began to unlock each of the doors. “Go on outside and group up with each other until I get there.” She told them. The other slaves thanked her and ran out of the building. “Excuse me ma'am?” She turned around to see a small filly. “… um, who is that strange creature helping us escape?” She looked to see her pointing to the red clad warrior. “Apparently he is a warrior of justice” she smiled at the child. The filly tilted her head, Puzzled at the answer. “Dose that mean he's a good guy?”

She picked up the small filly and hoisted her onto her back. She then broke into a gallop and ran out to the exit, “yes… Yes it does” she happy confirmed.

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Phillip and Shotaro groaned as they both sat up. “Phillip… What happened?” Shoutaro asked. His partner scratched his head “I don't know… We were at home and then some light engulfed my vision… Now, my head is aching, like I have two sets of memories”. “Yeah, I remember… We were home… But yet I remember not being at ho-...” It clicked in his head. He stood up “The con!… I… No we, were at the con in America… yet we weren't, the owner of theses memories was… of course.. The merchant!” Phillip had caught on to what he was getting at. He also stood up “I remember now, too, he was dressed as you at the con and got our Gaia memories…. If his memories are right, He must have become part of both of us when the 5 of us were sent here.”

A voice chimed in, “umm I hate to raid on your parade… But who are you two?”

They both look to see a red Pegasus standing there. “Well… This is going to be hard to explain.” Shotaro stated. His partner nodded in agreement, “indeed”.

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Liam paced around the den with spike watching the monitors. fluttershy was there with them drifting into thought. Liam was getting very impatient, “I still don't see why I need to stay here”. Spike didn't take his eyes off the monitor. “Well, you are technically an alien, and in this day and age, a lot of ponies would jump at that, for the better or worse. There are the steel Rangers, the returning enclave forces, the remnants of Red Eye’s slavers, and whatever is left of the Godess’s followers. It would be a nightmare if any of them find out how to tap into the magical energy you're emitting.”. Liam sighs ”So I'm basically stuck here until you decide if I'm ok on my own or not.”. Spike nods,”that's the gist of it… Calamity and Velvet are off to the old ponyville ruins, one of the signatures that is similar to yours is emitting from there… If I'm right, one of your friends is probably there.”

“Liam… Do you mind me asking you something” fluttershy requested. The human faced the Pegasus “Yeah, what is it fluttershy?”

“You see quite calm, for one knowing how far you are from your loved ones… You must be scared right now” she explained.

He smiled at her, “yeah… Maybe I am a bit nervous… But I still know my friends are with me” he traced the left side of his chest, “they're in here… The chains that tie us together and support our bonds… We strive for friendships that could surpass the borders of life and death… Even though I'm this far from home, I can still hear their voices, I can still walk forward and cherish my memories of them.”

Fluttershy felt moved by his statement, “it must take a lot out of you to retain the strength to do that”. The boy lightly laughed,”it does, everyday is a moral and ideal war for me”.

Fluttershy seemed happy, “You should keep doing what you do best then… How you are now shows that it's working for you” she giggled

Liam lightly blushed “t-Thanks… I guess”

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“Soo, you two are aliens from a world of hairless bipedal creatures called humans.” The Pegasus recollected. Both Philip and Shotaro nodded in confirmation. “...and you two are here because one of you bought something from a shady Merchant…”

“Yes, that seems very accurate to what we have been telling you” Phillip replied.

It was Shotaro’s turn to ask something, “So… What's your story?... It seems you've been through a lot based on the brand burned into your ass”. Phillip elbowed Hidari. The Pegasus sighed at this,”it's alright, I knew you would bring it up sooner or later… Me and my Government are not at the best of terms as of now… The burned symbol is part of the punishment, i'm a exile to them and they would attempt to kill me on sight” she then looked back to the entrance. “One of their kill-teams are here, they really want me dead due to how much knowledge I have on their facilities.”

“Hmmm… May I ask you for your name?” Shoutaro asked. “It's scarlet Lily… What does it matter to you?” The mare asked back. Hidari picked up his fedora and adjusted if on his head. “Ms. Lily, I think we can help you with your persistent attackers… As for why a wanted your name, i'd like to know my allies’ names…” he then turns to Phillip. They nodded to one another.

Lilly was confused, she then saw Hidari pull out something and place it on his waist.

It seemed to be some sort of belt. “Are you ready partner” Shotaro asked. Phillip smirked, “It's been awhile since I've felt so much tension in the air”. A flash of light made a similar belt appear around his waist.

They both pull out small colored objects.

Cyclone!

Joker!

Henshin!

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“No sign of scarlet, sir” an armored Pegasus reported. “keep searching, if we go back empty handed, our asses will become command’s chewtoy said another.

“Where do you think she went off to, she couldn't have flown or we would have saw her” a third chimed in.

Little did they know, someone was watching them from the rooftops.

“There’s five of them, Shotaro”

“Indeed… 4 of them are heavily armored, they must be grunts, while the one in the military coat is what appears to be a higher ranking officer… Hmm? Who’s that.”

The figure drew its attention to to the ruins of an alleyway. There was. Cinnamon brown Pegasus with a strange saddle with guns attached to it. Next to it was a smaller black unicorn with white hair with yellow and dark red stripes going down it. The two seems to be hiding from the soldiers, or trying to ambush them.

“It seems we’re not the only ones out to take these guys down Phillip”

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Calamity checked the corner to see a headcount of the enemy soldiers. He got a total of five, that wasn't much of a big deal. He then noticed that they are too far out in the open to sneak up on or past. To only add to the pressure was the fact that their target destination was the library, and the only way to it without doubling back and going around was blocked off by these Enclave soldiers.

“damn” he muttered under his breath.

Velvet gave him a look of concern, “should we go around?”.

“Are you two lost?”

A duo of voices Asked from behind them. The two of them turn around to see a strange armored figure standing there,

It was half green, half purple. There seemed to be a silver V on the forehead of the mask.

Calamity stood between Velvet and the creature. He trains his weapons on it in case it becomes a threat. The creature, puts its arms up defensively.

“Whoa there, We’re not looking for trouble, we just noticed that you're not like those other Pegasus ponies, so we just came along to see whose side you're on in this situation.”

“Please sir, if you would be kind to tell us so we can be on our way”

The two ponies were taken aback by the two voices coming from the same body. Velvet managed to recover from the shock, ”um we’re sorry, we just don't see creatures like you around here”

Calamity lowered his guns but kept them ready just in case. “Care to tell us who ya are” he asked.

“Heh… Who are we? We're Kamen Rider… Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to fulfill a favor for a friend.”

With that, the figure jumped up and front flipped over the two ponies and then ran off towards the enclave soldiers. Calamity gritted his teeth, “does he have a screw loose! He’ll get killed out there!” The Pegasus flew off after the ‘Kamen Rider’. Velvet was not to far behind her husband in the pursuit.

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(Insert epic music here)

http://youtu.be/OZ_6FfBVvBY

“Hey… Who is that?"

The squad of enclave soldiers looked to see a strange bipedal walking towards them.

“Now, Count up Your sins!”

It then broke into a run and began to charge them.

“What the hell!” One soldier exclaimed.

“Somepony shoot that thing!” Another yelled.

The group opened fire. It ducked and weaved past the bullets

“Phillip!”

“I'm on it!”

The Rider pulled out a yellow memory

And swapped it with the Cyclone memory

Luna Joker

The rider’s green half turned yellow. His arm then stretched out flailing, blocking the shots.

“What the fu-” the Pegasus couldn't finish his statement before his head was impaled by a projectile. The Other pegasi looked to the source of the shot and saw a cinnamon colored Pegasus in a black cowboy hat shooting down at them.

The rider finally reached the group and delivers a right hook to the nearest soldier, knocking him out cold. He then turned around to roundhouse kick another, launching him back a few feet.

The two others charged him. He started to block and reflect the incoming punching, kicking, and bucking. He back flipped to gain distance from the attackers.

“Shotaro!”

“Leave it to me!”

The rider pulled out another memory, it was a clad gray, and swapped out the Joker memory with it taking its place.

Luna Metal!

The purple half changed giving it a More metallic color, it also gave some sort of metal pole. He pulled the pole out and extended it to full size then began to twirl it to deflect the shots as the two pegasi trained their weapons and opened fire. The shots were blocked by the pole. While this happens they failed to remember that Calamity was on the building over yonder. He picked off one of the two with a well placed headshot.

The Kamen rider took the opportunity and stretched the pole out to nailing the other pony in the face with it, incapacitating him.

He then looked up at Calamity and gave him a thumbs up.

He looked back and took account of the ponies who were still alive. He began to ponder.

“Now… What do we do with you three?”

A thought then came to mind.

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Scarlet had finished gagging and tying the three ponies together. “Ok, these three aren't going anywhere anytime soon.” She stated.

“I don't see the reason these three get to live” Calamity Wondered. Shotaro glared at him, “if we killed them, we’re no better than them”.

“Y’all kidding me, right? Do ya know how dangerous this is” Calamity exclaimed. Shotaro puts his hands up in defense, “I'm just trying to not put blood on my hands as my first impression to this place”

While the two were butting heads, Philip walked up to Velvet, “I don't think we've been properly introduced, I'm Phillip” he extended his hand out to her. Velvet shook it with her hoof, “Velvet Remedy”. They both looked at the arguing human and Pegasus. “Sorry about Calamity, he could be a bit… Um, what's the word I'm looking for”. “Overly Protective?” Phillip assumed, Velvet nodded in agreement.

Velvet looked at the Blank paged book he held in his possession, “Phillip, I don't mean to sound rude or anything but isn't that empty book just dead weight for you?”. Phillip Noticed what she meant, “oh yes, your concern is justified, but you see…. I have an ability that makes me different than others in a very special way…. It's actually better if I demonstrate it… Tell me a Key word to something I wouldn't normally know by your standards… Maybe something that others View as a secret.” He recommended. Velvet seemed confused at this, “umm ok… If it means anything I can tell you to ‘look up’, Dj-pon3”. Phillip rose a finger to tell her to give him a moment. He then began to scroll through the blank book.

He then began to read aloud. “DJ Pon3 , Also known under the identity of a mare named Homage, Is a radio DJ of the Tenpony tower Radio station, she gives news updates to anyone who listens in to the broadcast, giving them advice and informing them of any heroic acts that have occurred across the wasteland. the name of DJ pon3 is actually a title passed down to her from each generation. Though She is a Female, she masks her voice to sound male over the radio… Her appearance is that of a steel gray unicorn mare with a Blue Mane, her cutie mark is a speakerphone… Huh? Cutiemark? I don't believe I know that word yet… I should look more into it later”

Everyone except for Phillip and and Shotaro were now dead silent and staring at Philip in shock and awe.

The human was confused, “What?... Did I miss something”. “DJ Pon3 is a bucking mare!?” Scarlet exclaimed. “How did ya know that… That was kept as a secret between her, me, Velvet, and a few others.” Calamity questioned.

Shotaro had a smug grin, “let me help elaborate for you, Philip has access to a very special place called the Gaia Library, it's a place stored with all the knowledge of the known world… So far, only Philip is known to have access to this place.”

“Wait… So he has access to all the knowledge in the world and can use it at any time?” Scarlet asked. Philip nodded, “that's what it means in a nutshell.”. Calamity and velvet looked at each other, then back. “Would you two mind following us to somewhere?” Velvet requested.

Shotaro rose a brow at this, “I don't know, does this involve something important to us?”

Velvet nodded “are both of you familiar with someone named Liam?”.

Shotaro and Philip glanced at her in surprise. “You know where he is?” Philip questioned.

“Even better, he’s staying with a friend of ours” Velvet explained.

Shotaro clasped his hands together, grabbing everyone's attention. “Well the, what are the five of us doing standing around here? Let's get moving” Philip looked back at the tied enclave soldiers. “You don't happen to know a place to put these three in, do you?” He questioned.

Calamity sighed, “leave that to me… I'll find a place for either the NCR or the Rangers to find em”.

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Jonas had finally regrouped with the freed slaves outside of the building after transforming back. There he saw the white earth mare from earlier, she was tending to the filly she had escorted out of the building. He approached her, “hey there” he greeted. She looked up to him in surprise. “Oh, Accel, you're not in your armor anymore.” She noted. Jonas scratched the back of his head, “please, call me by my real name, Jonas… Accel is just the name of my armored form” he chuckled. “Oh ok… That's right, I guess you deserve my name in return… I'm White Rose” she introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you rose… So, what are you going to do now that you're free?” He asked. Rose ponders at this, “I can't speak for everypony here, but I was thinking making my way over to Tenpony tower if possible, along with the company of this little one” she gestured to the child. She was a little Naval blue Unicorn With a silver mane. Jonas kneeled down to her eye level, “hey there.. What's your name?”. “M-My name is Mercury, sir” she replied timidly. He chuckled and lightly pats the Filly on the head. The small unicorns face starts turning red.

Jonas stands back up and looks to Rose, he whispers to her “I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that her parents are… Well you know”. Rose nods, “Yes, and as the one who plans to adopt her once we get to Tenpony, I ask of you to keep quiet about it, she greatly dislikes the subject being brought up, I know because she almost broke into tears earlier when I asked where they were”.

Jonas sighed, “it's that bad?... Damn slavers… did they at least go with decency?”. Rose glared at Jonas, giving him a look that said, ‘What the hell do you think?’. He swore under his breath, “Yeah… I guess that was a stupid question”.

Rose went back to tending to Mercury’s condition. Jonas thought for a bit. He then spoke again, “Mind if I tag along?”. Rose looked back at him in surprise, “c-come again?”.

Jonas smiled at her, “You heard me… I've got nothing better to do right now, so I might as well join you.”.

The mare stammered at this, “I… Um.. I-I just don't know what to say.., I didn't expect you to actually have that come across your mind.. I guess you can.”

“Brilliant, now do you know the status of the supplies that was looted from the raiders.” Jonas asked. Rose pulled up a wrist mounted computer. The human glanced at the device, ‘How did I not see that on her earlier?’.

Rose read over her inventory, “let's see, I've managed to salvage a saddlebag for me to use, and then I scrounged a few health potions, a combat knife, a 9mm along with 25 full boxes of ammunition for it, 6 rad-aways, 10 bottles of fresh water, 4 fresh apples, 12 rations, and a map of the routes the slavers use”. Jonas rose an eyebrow, “what's the map for?”.

Rose brung down the device, “so we can limit the number of encounters with any other slave groups, I'm not going to have my freedom taken away again just because of a wrong turn”.

She went back to Mercury to pick her up and onto her back. The filly wrapped her front hooves around the mare’s neck so she wouldn't fall off.

Jonas moved to the side and gestured politely to their target pathway, “ladies first” h joked. She grinned and began to move forward ahead.

Jonas allowed her to pass by before trailing behind her.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Off in the distance, a figure watched the trio break off from the group of freed slaves. “Hmm, this creature… He is very interesting, but the true question is whose side will he pick for the battle of judgment for our world’s fate” she pondered. “Sister!”, another figure flew in. “Yes... What is it?” She asked. “The ones we once called allies draw near, they seek the same energy we had sensed.” The other informed. She swore under her breath, “damn, for naive fools who still follow our former Godess's teachings, they can mobilize quickly… What of your search?”. “Two of the three other sources of the energy are converging upon the ruined town that lies ahead” The other replied. “I see… Let us depart for now… It's not safe for us to intervene now… All we can do is hope our former sisters fail in obtaining this energy”, with that the two took off to the skies and away from their vantage point they were using to observe. The figure thought one last thing before diving her thoughts to escaping,”Whoever you are, I wish you the greatest of luck… You’ll need it”.

Author's Note

As a side note, Hidari and Shotaro are the same person if you haven't figured it out yet. Also, how do you like the way I wrote Philip into the story, was it done well, or did I write my hide into a corner? Please do tell me, I want to try my best with this concept.