Darkness. At first, I thought I was dead, but dead ponies can’t think, right? Regardless, everything around me was pitch black. I could hear something in the distance, a voice, faint but harsh.

“Where is Storm Chaser” It was the ranger mare. Her voice sounded strange, far away, like distant thunder. As soon as that thought hit me the darkness was suddenly split with a brief flash of light, illuminating my surroundings.

I was on a cloud- no… In a cloud, its swirling grey puffiness illuminated briefly by the flash that went as soon as it came. The mare spoke again, this time more forcefully.
“When have you seen him?” The blackness around me was replaced with blinding whiteness as the cloud I was floating in dissolved. Before me, a rippling, warped image appeared. I screamed as it opened up, stringy tendrils of light pulling me towards it. A shrill, horrific sound reverberated through me, blurring my thoughts into one writhing mass.

Colours and shapes flashed through my vision, some familiar, but hard to make out. Smells and sounds began to form, the harsh scent of smoke, the flickering orange light of a fire, laughter, shouting, screaming, all intermingling at once around me. I could make out Ember’s voice in the din, clearer than the others. She was singing.

Scenes began materialising before me, memories from my childhood, vivid and fleeting. An argument with my mother, being given my first gun, my first kiss…

The sounds began to muffle as my vision was filled with colour again. More images began to morph in front of me, faster and faster, accompanied by a jumble of sounds that melted into one, ear-splitting noise. I tried to close my eyes but the scene before me remained, now a formless blend of bright colours swirling together into one horrible maelstrom of light and noise. I tried to scream again but no sound came, maybe I just couldn’t be heard over the racket.

Suddenly, it all stopped and everything returned to darkness. “She knows nothing.” A distant voice said, echoing in the darkness. It was the last thing I can remember before I lost consciousness completely.

I awoke with a shiver. My sleep, if you could call it that, hadn’t been pleasant. My dreams were a jumbled, fuzzy mess of harsh lights and painful sounds. My mouth felt dry and my eyes ached, but a more pressing need made itself apparent.

With a pained groan, I pushed myself to my hooves. The rangers had been kind enough to simply leave me in the dirt after… Whatever it was they did to me. The left side of my coat was now caked with damp mud.

I plodded back inside to retrieve my belongings. When this kind of shit happened, it was best to just get on with the job and think about it later. The most important thing was to get the damn job done and reunite with Ember again.

I grit my teeth, how long had I been out? From how bright it was outside I figured it had to be at least mid morning, though I couldn’t be sure. I checked my pipbuck for the time, only to find it missing. “Fuckers!” I growled in frustration, stomping my hoof and slumping against the wall that I had intended to sleep against the night before. Without my pipbuck’s map I had no way of finding my way to Tuck, no way to meet up with the caravan. No way to reunite with Ember. I felt a pit begin to open in my gut, a familiar panic starting to creep its way from the back of my mind.

I smacked the side of my head against the wall. “Don’t think about it.” I muttered, clamping my eyes shut. It was a stupid thing to say, how could I not think about it? I was lost, alone and had no way of finding my way back to the one thing I actually gave a shit about. Of all the things I could say to reassure myself “don’t think about it” was the best I had? But I couldn’t think about it, not now. I needed to find The Book.

The first place I looked was under the mattress, but all that yielded was a few nips from a colony of small radroaches. My hooves made quick work of them as I shoved the mattress aside. Staggering backwards to avoid the last nipping insect, my back hoof bumped into something, tripping me slightly.

It turned out it was a small, dark grey footlocker. Crouching down I peered at the lock. It was old and rusty; a good kick would probably get it open. I let out a startled squeak as the last roach sank its jaws into my flank. A hard swat from my tail sent it crashing into the nearest wall with a crunch.

I growled in frustration, standing and giving the footlocker a hard kick. I yelped as my hoof glanced off painfully. “Fuck it!” I grunted, lifting the box with my magic and smacking the lock against the wall. After a few hard whacks it finally broke open, sending its contents spilling across the floor.

I spread the items out with my hoof, picking through them in search of the book. Most of it was of no importance to me; a few tins of tobacco, a few old world coins, a faded magazine and a thick, leather bound book. I let out a relieved sigh. At least something was going according to plan. I glared at the thing. It looked pre war, decorated with tarnished brass at its corners and a large padlocked strap, holding it closed.
I debated simply leaving it and heading back to ember. If this was the kind of shit I was going to have to put up with it just wasn’t worth it. This job was a risk, plain and simple. Any sane pony would simply leave the damn book and go home. Mince Pie can stuff his ten thousand caps up his powdered ass.

But I couldn’t do that. The reward was just too big to turn down. How many more jobs would we have to take to earn that amount? No, despite everything I had to carry on. With a sigh of defeat I picked up The Book, levitating it out of the pile. As I did so, the corner of it caught on the magazine, causing it to flap open. Though the cover was faded with age, the inner pages were still readable. It was the pictures, however, that caught my attention.

I blushed furiously as I realised just what kind of magazine it was. Those pre-war mares were certainly more… Limber back then.

Shaking myself I quickly closed the magazine and rolled it up, levitating both it and the book over to my pack. I made sure to pack them both securely, the last thing I needed was for the book to go missing after all this. The magazine would serve as an ‘I’m sorry I worried you‘ gift for ember.

Speaking of being late, I had to get going. With luck, I’d be able to retrace my steps to where I had split from the caravan. I’d just have to hope there were still some tracks I could follow or some other indicator of where the fuck I was going.

“Hope and fucking pray…” I took a deep breath and began the long trek back up the canyon.

I nickered and kicked at a loose rock. This canyon and I were certainly getting familiar with each other. I lingered as I passed the dark stain in the dirt from a few days back, where we had found the injured mare. I realised that I still owed the doc for her care. He would be in an even worse mood, with me disappearing without paying him.

“Well, tough shit, the grumpy bastard can charge me all he wants when this is over.“ I grumbled petulantly. I flicked my ears in irritation and carried on, it was already starting to get late in the day. How long had I been out? More importantly, what the fuck were Steel Rangers doing in the Macintosh hills? It wasn’t like there was anything of use here, all the ministry hubs were in big cities.

Old memories started to resurface, bad ones. I could still hear that mare’s voice, echoing in the back of my head… She had asked me if I had seen something, someone…

I had the horrible feeling that things were going to get a lot worse. I had no idea when, but I was sure it would be soon. This whole fucked up thing had danger written all over it. I shuddered and focused on the trail ahead. With luck I’d be in Tuck before morning. With even more luck ember would be there, hopefully not too angry with me. I knew when I was back with her I’d feel better.

I took another deep breath and pushed on.

Some time later I had finally found my way back to where I split off from the caravan and had made steady progress. As it turned out, it was much later than I had guessed. Within a few hours darkness was beginning to creep across the wasteland and it was getting cold.
I shivered as the wind began to pick up. I was trotting down one of the many rocky paths that snaked through the outcroppings and dusty slopes that made up the Macintosh hills. By now the sun was low and every boulder, pebble and mound of earth cast menacing shadows.

I quickened my pace, clambering up an incline and off of the path. The paths had been shaped by the flow of ancient streams, emanating from the many springs that once could be found across the hills. Even before the war, most of them had long since gone dry and only a few still gave water.

The paths were a lifeline for the caravans, allowing the heavily laden carts to weave their way through the canyons and hills. For a single pony however, they proved to be more of a hindrance. I had already made good time by making similar shortcuts, clambering over boulder walls and up hillocks that the carts wouldn’t be able to pass. I was sure that if I had followed the path it would be dark by the time I got here.

As I crested the hill my heart lifted as I saw the distant silhouette of a town through the rocks. Tuck, it was unmistakable, the many rickety shacks, all perched on the pillar-like geology of the canyon, connected by hanging bridges and ropes.

I sat and caught my breath. I was almost there, I had made it! I was just about to clamber down the slope into the canyon when I heard a scuffing sound behind me, as if the loose soil was being displaced…

I whirled around, drawing my pistol in time to see a ragged looking creature, poised and ready to lunge at me. A Scavenger. As I raise my gun it snarled at me, prompting a chorus of similar sounds from the rocks around me.

Fuck.

It leaped at me, teeth gnashing. I dropped it with a single shot from my pistol, turning just in time to see two more bounding at me from a gap in the rocks. I emptied my magazine in panic, killing one and hitting the other in the leg. It yelped, losing its footing and tumbling down the slope, paws flailing.

It was my turn to yelp as another clamped down on one of my hind legs, its filthy teeth sinking right to the bone. I turned my gun around to kill it, only to hear it click.

“FUCK!” I screamed, trying to buck the ravenous mutt off of me, only to be pulled off of my hooves by a jerk of its head. Another pounced on me, chomping down on my foreleg. These fuckers were going to rip me to shreds.

In desperation I reached out with my magic, grabbing the dog on my foreleg by the head, simultaneously reaching into my barding for my knife. With a practised movement I unsheathed the thin blade and buried it into the creatures eye socket. It let go with a howl of pain giving me a chance to try and get back up.

The dog on my hind leg yanked me off balance again, dragging me back down the slope the way I had come, we both slid down, landing painfully at the bottom, knocking the wind out of me. The stinking canine finally let go of my, now very torn up, leg and leaped onto me, pinning me to the dirt with its weight.

For a split second we made eye contact, its eyes, one cloudy, the other a putrid yellow with a tiny black pinprick in its centre. I could smell its breath, rotten and foul, as it opened its jaws to finish me.

There was a purple flash and the dog was suddenly thrown off of me. I stared at it in bewilderment as it smacked into the bank with a yelp, a glowing arrow embedded in its side, I turned to see a cloaked figure galloping up the track towards us, horn aglow with a bright violent purple.

With a whine the Scavenger began to stand, turning and snarling at its attacker. Another flash came from the strangers horn and again the dog was thrown back, this time with an arrow in its forehead. Its lifeless corps thudded against the embankment, before rolling down on top of me.
“Gah fuck, get it off!” I yelped, finally hit with the gravity of what had just occurred. I kicked and bucked myself free of the stinking hulk and tried to get to my hooves.

I grunted as I tried to put weight on my injure foreleg, I tried to stabilise myself, only to transfer my weight onto the hind one, which was in significantly worse shape. With a pained whinny I slumped to the dust again.

The stranger hurried over to me, pulling back his hood. The first thing I noticed, besides the fact he was a unicorn, were his eyes. A deep violet, they almost seemed to glow in the growing darkness. A long auburn mane hung in tangled locks about his face, which bore a grim but worried expression.

“Its alright, its dead” He said, looking to my injured hind leg with a frown. His voice was soft and he spoke with an accent I hadn’t heard before, for some reason it reminded me of Mince Pie, but I wasn’t sure why.

I managed to catch my breath enough to respond. “Yeah, I can see that”

He looked back to my face, we made eye contact for a split second before he quickly darted his eyes away.

Using my good leg I pushed myself up into a sitting position. “Thanks.” I said, still trying to catch my breath. My heart was still racing and I was only now starting to think straight.

He stood up and offered me a hoof. “I’m sorry I wasn’t quicker, I didn’t want to cast anything from too far away in case I hit you” I looked down at my leg, unsure for a moment. It was ghastly sight, the flesh had been shredded and I could see the bone and sinew exposed. I was surprised it wasn’t hurting too bad, but I guessed it was the adrenaline.

“Somehow I don’t think I’m gonna be able to walk out of here” I said shakily. He lowered his hoof.

“Right, I think I can help with that, if you’ll let me.” I raised an eyebrow as his horn lit up again. For a second I was hit by panic, was he gonna put me out of my misery, put me down like he had put the Scavenger down? My fears turned out to be misplaced as a purple aura enveloped me, gently lifting me off of the ground.

I tensed, trying to plant my good legs on the ground as he hoisted me up.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you” he said, reassuringly, beginning to climb the slope. I clenched my teeth and tried to hold m nerves as he floated me up to the top, joining me a few moments later. He retrieved my gun and knife and floated them back to me. “Do you have any bandages? We should stop the bleeding.” I looked back at my legs. Both were bleeding steadily. I felt myself going light headed as I responded.

“Y-yes, in my b-ag… left side” fuck, now was going to pass out. Wonderful.

“Right, got it” He said, setting me down and opening my bag. I closed my eyes, the last thing I remember from that point was the feeling of my saddlebags being removed.

Author's Note

Been a while, but this story isn't dead yet. hopefully I will be updating more frequently
Famous last words.