As the spacious elevator neared the surface the heavy, rust-coated blast doors slid open with a loud groan. Rays of bright sunlight bled into the space, almost instantly blinding Shimmer; she raised a hoof to shield her eyes and squinted, trying to adjust to the bright light. Rocket, stood at her side, gave a smirk at her reaction.

"Once we're above, we're going to have to find you something to eat. I can imagine you're starving," Rocket said, standing firm as the elevator came to a grinding halt. Cautiously, Shimmer lowered her foreleg and sighed in relief as the blinding effect disappeared. However, the sight that greeted her was one of ultimate despair; the land was an expanse of pure decay and destruction. There used to be thousands of beautiful trees; now there were only dead or dying specimens cut down in number to mere hundreds. Homes that once stood bright and beautiful suffered the same fate, destroyed or decayed beyond repair. And, far in the distance, the once beautiful castle of the Crystal Empire stood tall.

Even from this distance, Shimmer could see how much it had changed. It was a state; its once shining beauty was now replaced with a strange purple haze that expanded across the entire reflective surface.It was, in some ways, unrecognisable.

Shimmer collapsed as she stared on in horror. The last thing she remembered seeing was the giant fireball as the megaspell detonated. It made sense that the castle would be the target; the royal family lived there and to the Zebra, no matter how neutral, the enemy had to be destroyed. But never in her mind did she think she would live to see this.

Rocket looked back at her and blinked, taking a moment before understanding Shimmer’s shock. "Oh, right, you've never been up here." Rocket took a few steps back towards her and sat down carefully at her side. "Best get used to it; this is what the whole Wasteland looks like."

"It used to be so beautiful," Shimmer whispered as she looked down the hill, her gaze landing on her old home. "I lived just down there..." She pointed a hoof at a small, faded pink house. Rocket merely blinked.

"You're shitting me. right?"

Shimmer shook her head as tears actually began to flow down her face. "I was making breakfast when the Mega-spell went off. It was chaos." Her voice cracking, she let the tears fall freely. "I can't believe it's gone… Everything is gone."

Rocket took a step backwards, frowning. "Yeah,look.This ain't gonna be easy to swallow. But..." She inhaled deeply as she looked at the castle in the distance. "That was 200 years ago, honey."

Shimmer's eyes shot open instantly as she looked up slowly at Rocket. "What?"

Rocket nodded a few times. "Yeah, the war ended almost 200 years ago. The Zebras won… I guess. There's probably less than a half a million ponies left in all of Equestria now. And that's after 200 years of rebuilding and more stupid-ass war." She scowled at her own words. "Enclave, Steel Rangers, Raiders, Slavers; no matter how much time passes, there's always going to be war. Because war..." She sighed loudly, "War never changes."

Shimmer sighed loudly as she wiped her face with a hoof. "How did anypony survive? I know the Stables helped, but-"

A loud snort cut her off. "The Stables were a joke. It saved the 'select few' from their fate—for a time." She pointed in the direction the sun was coming up from—or at least what they could make out of it. Dark grey clouds filled the skies, obscuring most of the light. "But even beneath the surface, Stables continued to fail, one after another. Only a small number actually worked. Even less had ponies inside them who actually turned out sane..."

Shimmer slowly pushed off the ground as she stared at the castle once again, "What happened to them?"

Rocket simply shook her head, "That's for another time. For now, we need to get going. We're in Raider territory and we're likely to be shot—or worse," Rocket said, rising to her hooves and drifting one of the pistols closer to her face and inspecting it. It looked like it was put together from every type of scrap she could get her hooves on. Fancy was definitely not the word to be applied, but she lowered it into a holster on her hind leg all the same.

"I need to go to my old house; there's something important there I need," Shimmer said as she moved forward towards the edge of the hill, looking down at the place she called home once. It was incredible that so many remained standing—but most of those were so run down, even rodents could hardly make a life there.

Rocket scoffed as she looked down, "Forget it honey, that's the raiders’ camp. We go in there, we're dead. And whatever it is you need? Probably long gone by now."

Shimmer frowned as she squinted, trying to see if anypony was actually down there. It was next to impossible with the near-impenetrable darkness, but she could make out several burning lamps and maybe a campfire or two. There weren't any ponies she could actually see, though. She frowned hard as she stared at her old house. It had to still be there—and so she nodded firmly, turning around and simply marching down the hill.

"And just where the hell are you going?" Rocket asked as she turned to follow Shimmer.

Shimmer looked over her shoulder, pausing in mid stride and looking back with a smile."I'm going home."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Going Home" was definitely one of the most insane ideas Rocket had ever heard. Why was she even helping this pony? "She's nuts and a Stable-Dweller none the less! Just what in the hell is she doing?! She's gonna get us killed!" Rocket thought to herself as Shimmer ducked down, avoiding a wall of gunfire.

The raiders had spotted them charging down the hill a long while ago and had laughed. A Stable-dweller and a unicorn with dual pistols; they posed little challenge or threat. That was until Rocket decided to shoot two of them in face, leaving the rear entry guards dead in an instant. This, of course, didn't sit well with the raiders—and then the bullets began to fly.

"Stupid idea! REALLY stupid idea!" she shouted as bullets smashed against the old sheet metal fence she hid behind. She attempted to poke her head around the corner and get a look at the Raiders’ positions but quickly pulled back as even more bullets whizzed past.

"I'm open to suggestions!" Shimmer shouted back at Rocket as an enemy grenade exploded. Shrapnel and dirt filled the air where Shimmer’s cover had been and she gasped, bolting—and winding up right in the path of the Raiders. Laughing they wasted no time in opening fire on the mare. Bullets flew all around and she gasped, ducking and weaving and, somehow, scraping by with only a few wounds. They ripped holes through her Stable-Tec jumpsuit, leaving superficial scrapes on her skin.

"S.A.T.S.! Use S.A.T.S.!"

Acting immediately, Shimmer looked straight ahead and somehow, the Pip-Buck knew what she wanted to do. As time slowed, Shimmer watched as the Raiders became highlighted and specific body parts glowed in her vision. Just as she did in the Stable, she picked her targets.

Then time began to move a bit faster for her and the pistol she was given discharged four shots. They tore through the Raiders’ limbs and both ponies collapsed to the ground, alive but undeniably crippled. Without medicine they were both doomed to bleed out right there. Shimmer glanced at them both sympathetically and shook her head; she would come back for them later.

That was if Rocket hadn't just turned both of their heads into a mutilated mess of meat and blood.

Shimmer snapped her head back at her companion, displeasure pasted clearly across her face. Rocket only frowned in confusion, never getting the chance to question the issue.

Two more Raiders, wearing only bolt action rifles, emerged from a house across the street. Both were laughing maniacally as a third stepped out, shouting in what could only be called feral rage. If the sight of them wasn’t terrifying enough, the last Raider, howling as he took aim, was equipped with a rocket launcher to boot.

"Move!" was all Rocket managed to cry as she dove to cover. Shimmer, however, was so stunned that the message didn't even register in her head, not until it was nearly too late. The mad Raider fired and a missile the size of a pony burst forward. Shimmer stood rooted to her spot as it drew nearer and nearer. It was only at the last second that she dove sideways. As she leaped, the blast from the missile threw her several feet from her intended landing spot.

The world around Shimmer spun as her ears rung. Time also seemed to slow slightly as she pushed off the ground, her body littered with cuts and her coat peppered with dirt and shrapnel.

She turned slowly and looked back at her attacker. He laughed as he magically reloaded a second missile into the launcher. This time, she wasted no time in turning and galloping away.

The Raiders just laughed at Shimmer’s display, leaving Rocket unattended. Grinning, she yelled as loudly as she could, "Hey! Stupidass! Forget about me?" The Raiders turned just in time to see her pulling the triggers of her dual pistols. One of the two was caught right between the eyes; the second made the mistake of jumping rather than ducking. The bullet whizzed through the air and planted itself firmly inside of his flesh. He collapsed to the ground, hooves pressing tightly against his lower half as he howled in pain.

"Bitch! Shot my balls! My fucking balls!"

Rocket laughed at the spectacle, the Raider starting to crawl away. Her amusement then ended when she looked at the missile carrying Raider who caught wind of his companion’s cries. He actually laughed himself at the sight but even so, began to take aim at Rocket. She blinked a few times before realizing what was going on "Right. Bazooka. Shit."

The missile packing Raider pulled the trigger, a grin on his face. Rocket leaped just in time for it to blast past where she was originally standing and the resulting explosion tore apart a large pile of metal and shingles that used to be a house. The Raider howled in anger as Rocket opened fire, her bullets pinging off of his homemade armor with each shot.

"Are you KIDDING me?!" Rocket shouted as she ducked between the wreckage of two other houses. But, as the Raider and Rocket traded blows, Shimmer was left lying on her side next to her old house. She shook her head as she slowly got to her hooves, groaning quietly, her back left leg feeling like it was ready to fall off. Something was definitely wrong, but she couldn't place it now; she didn't have time.

Looking up, Shimmer watched as the remaining Raider reloaded once more, then noticing the pistol she was given. It wasn't going to make a dent against his armor; there was simply too much plating between bullet and body.

Picking the pistol up slowly, she looked about, noticing a half bottle of whiskey. Then noticed one of the dead Raiders had torn his clothing, what little there was of it. “Whiskey burns…” She muttered to herself as if suddenly a light went off in her head. She took the bottle of whiskey and quickly tore a piece of cloth off the Raider. Stuffing it down hard into the sloshing liquid.

The Raider closed in on Rocket, sneering and chuckling evilly as her pistols clicked empty. The small alley between houses suddenly coming to a dead end, blocked by debris. As he stepped closer slowly, with a slight lisp and a very raspy voice, he taunted her. "Little pony trapped. Little pony go boom!" he roared as he lifted the launcher and prepared to pull the trigger.

With wide eyes Rocket attempted to push the debris with her back hooves, giving the pile a quick buck—but nothing moved. She then stared in sheer horror as the end drew nearer, the Raider coming closer.

Quickly limping to the alley that the Raider had disappeared down, Shimmer prepared her new weapon. The lighter held in her mouth, she barely maintained her grip on the bottle of whiskey.

Shimmer arrived in time to see Rocket being backed even further into a corner, the Raider stalking toward her. She frowned and sat down on her haunches.Then holding the bottle up to her mouth,she flicked the lighter multiple times until the rag finally lit. Then, with all the strength she gathered, she used both of her front hooves to send the bottle flying through the air.

It smashed directly on top of the Raider’s back, his entire body going up in flame. He dropped the launcher almost instantly. The burning liquid perforated the small cracks in his armor, the flames spreading like wildfire as it covered his entire body.

He howled in pain, the flames’ intensity only growing. His skin began to melt away as he screamed, swears rushing from his mouth as he burned . He then spun on his hooves, galloping away.

Rocket stood rooted to the spot. Shock and awe had definitely set in as she watched the Raider turning away, desperately trying to put out the flames but to no avail. Shimmer could only watch in horror as they slowly succumbed to the flames, gurgling as he was burned alive. If the sounds he was making wasn't sickening, the smell that was coming from him made it all the worse.

After what felt like a lifetime, Rocket finally shook her head and pushed herself up to her hooves. She walked out from between the houses in time to watch Shimmer unload yet another load of purple from her stomach. Whatever she was hooked up to was still inside her, despite taking the antidote.

"You okay?" Rocket asked as she got closer, scrunching up her face as Shimmer unloaded yet another blast of purple goo. "That stuff is nasty, Shimmer. The hell is it?"

"You're asking me?" Shimmer bit back as she spat a few times, small bits of purple landing in front with each glob.

Rocket sighed, looking uncertainly down at the purple substance., "If that keeps up, we're gonna need to get you looked at..."

Shimmer nodded slowly as she looked down at her old house, wiping her mouth with a grubby hoof. "Are there any more around?" She looked over to Rocket nervously. To Shimmer, it was only yesterday that she was last up here.It had been a summer day and she had planned to do some gardening.

But now, all the bright and vibrant colors of the village were gone. Even the once brightly paved road looked faded, as if all the color from the world was disappearing. The only bright color nearby was that of Rocket and her purple coat, the four raiders and the purple vomit she had just expelled onto the ground.

The sight didn't fill her with too much confidence as Rocket looked around. "I dunno honey. Why don't you use your Pip-Buck? I think it has a radar thing that shows you where ponies and threats are." She pointed with a hoof. "At least that's what I read."

Shimmer looked down at her Pip-Buck and blinked. Could it really do that? She lowered herself onto her haunches and raised her hoof, glancing over her Pip-Buck until she found a small switch. As if magic filled her entire body she felt and saw something change inside her. She blinked a few times as then in her eyes she saw a small compass pop up. A small icon of a town appeared directly in front of her. A word popped up above the compass that read, "Trottingdale Village" and then it slowly disappeared from view.

She raised a hoof to swipe at what she saw but blinked, surprised to find that she simply couldn't touch what she was seeing. "What else could this thing do?" she thought to herself as she turned her head all around. The compass didn't show anything other than a yellow dot in the same direction Rocket was standing. Intrigued, she pushed herself up to her hooves and began to walk towards the now puzzled mare. Shimmer looked beside herself as she noticed the compass moving with Rocket's form. So it was a radar of sorts; it tracked where ponies were and weren't. And that gave her the confidence she needed.

"Okay, we're alone in the village. Let's go," she said as she turned towards her old house.

"Look honey, as much as I want to I'd rather look through the stuff the raiders had. Whatever you need to do, go do it, I'll be out here." She gave Shimmer a smile. "We've got different priorities, you and I. And I don't even know if I'm gonna stay."

Shimmer looked hurt. "What? Why not?"

Rocket frowned, rolling her eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You just charged in here head first. Without thinking. I almost died. You're not safe to be around."

Shimmer frowned right back. "So just like that, you're going to leave?" she asked, her anger rising. "You saved me and now you're leaving because I acted on impulse? What exactly were you doing when you found me?"

"A job. I was told the Stable might have stuff I could sell for a lot of caps," Rocket replied flatly. "I wasn't sent in there to rescue anypony. I needed help getting out of there and you were the only one still alive."

"Otherwise I'd still be in stasis, is that it?"

Rocket shrugged. "Or killed by raiders chasing their next victim." Rocket sighed as she slowly moved to the mare’s side. "The Wasteland isn't a friendly place Shimmer. You better learn that quickly and learn to be safer. Otherwise you're gonna get yourself killed sooner than later. But I don't want to end up dead, you understand?"

Shimmer collapsed onto her rear as her ears drooped. Rocket was a bit beside herself with that. Most ponies would have simply told her to piss off and take her business elsewhere—or that she was completely wrong. But Shimmer? She looked hurt and upset.

Rocket sighed as she looked around. This was Shimmer’s home at one point, and it's gone and things changed on her. She couldn't really relate but something inside Rocket broke.

With a very loud sigh, she muttered, "I must be outta my gourd." She then inhaled deeply, looking at Shimmer firmly. "Look, I'll stick around. For a little while. Help you get on your feet. But after that? We'll just have to see."

Shimmer slowly raised her head as she looked at Rocket. "You mean it?"

Rocket shrugged. "I kill Raiders and I rob tombs. But I've never left a decent pony on his or her own to die. Not yet, anyway. So I'll teach you a few things."

Shimmer launched herself off of her haunches and wrapped both her forelegs around Rocket’s neck, holding tightly. Rocket looked terribly uncomfortable at the sudden hug but she soon sighed, instead gently patting Shimmer’s back.

"So... What was so important that we almost got killed?" Rocket asked, breaking the silence.

Shimmer let her go and blinked, then smiling brightly. "Oh! I almost forgot! Thank you!" she said, releasing Rocket and turning on her hooves as she galloped back towards her old home. Moving through the small yard to the side and to the back, she approached a cellar door. The lock—surprisingly—was still unbroken.

Rocket followed behind slowly as she looked at the lock. "A cellar? What in the Goddesses could you want in there?"

"Can you break the lock? I don't think the key is still in the house..." Shimmer asked, pointing.

Rocket shrugged. "Well I could pick the lock, but it'd be easier to do this," she said, drawing one of the pistols in her magic and loading a magazine. Shimmer's eyes went wide as Rocket shot the lock clean off the cellar doors.

Shimmer shook her head as she hooked her hooves around the handles. "You know, you frighten me," she said, pulling them open with a groan. Instantly dust filled the air.

Shimmer sighed as she took a few steps down inside, the dark room having three inches of dust coating everything. Hoof prints followed her every step as she moved further inside the cellar. It hadn't been touched; in two hundred years it hadn't even been opened. To her left a small workbench sat undisturbed. Old tools littered the surface, easily used by both Earth and Unicorn ponies for working on simple projects.

Shimmer smiled as stepped over towards it. Examining the tools she found herself staring at an unfinished project. The parts to a bird feeder and a small birdhouse remained on the bench. She ran a hoof along the edge of the bench and smiled, despite her eyes being watery at the sight. The cellar had belonged to her husband and he used to work down here as often as he could. Building things. Making their lives easier with everything that he made, from simple chairs to a birdhouse.

"Can't believe raiders didn't get in here. Usually they see a lock and destroy it right away," Rocket said, shaking Shimmer out of her memory lane trip. "Still though, it's REALLY dusty down here. What're you looking for anyway?"

"My husband told me that, if I ever was in trouble, I should open his old safe." Shimmer replied as she moved to the opposite side of the room. And, sure enough, a large green case sat undisturbed.

Rocket blinked in shock, her eyes widening. "You had a husband in there?!" she asked, eyes wide.

"What? Oh, no—he died a long time ago."

Rocket let out a relieved sigh as she moved to follow Shimmer to the safe. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." Shimmer just shrugged in reply as she brushed a hoof across the dusty surface of the green case. Rocket bit her lip for a moment as she waited then finally asking, "Any idea what he left for you then?"

Shimmer shook her head, "No, but I remember him saying it could help." She looked around and found the small turn dial for the safe lock. She frowned as she tried to remember the combination. She turned the dial to left first, then the right, and finally back to the left. For a second, nothing happened—and then Rocket jumped as the safe made a loud thunk, the ancient tumblers beginning to unlock.

The seal was good; when the safe actually opened it popped with a hiss. Shimmer lifted her left hoof and pulled on the door, opening it up completely. Inside, to her surprise, was something that she never thought possible; a completely intact suit of Power Armor. Taped to the chest plate of the armor was a note with her name written in bright red ink.

Rocket felt her hind legs fall out from under her. "Is...that..." she attempted in disbelief as she stared at the armor. It was completely undamaged. Even the dust hadn't touched it; it still had its pre-war shine.

Shimmer tore the note off of the chest plate and began to read.

"My Dearest Shimmer,

If you're reading this note then I guess you’re in trouble and took my advice. First, I just want to say that you're everything to me and it took some doing but I finally got Ms. Applejack to approve this. The Power Armor you see before you is one of a kind. It's suited to fit you and you alone anypony else that tries to use it won’t be able to. I can't explain how, but it just works."

Shimmer's hooves began to shake as she kept reading the note. Rocket, meanwhile, frowned—but only for a moment. It was Power Armor; everypony wanted Power Armor. They could do so much good or so much bad. Aside from that, it kept a pony safe from a lotin the Wasteland. She felt a twinge of jealousy but as Shimmer read, she relaxed a little. Specialized Power Armor was even more rare and sadly, usable by only one pony.

"If anypony else tries using the power armor, the spark core will detonate, destroying the armor and the pony trying to use it. So don't lose it! I've left behind something else, too. Look in the side compartment next to the chest plate."

Shimmer looked to the right and saw a small drawer. She pulled it open with her teeth as she held the note in her hooves. Inside laid three unused spark cores. A goldmine in caps if sold to the right bidder. Rocket just stared in awe at the treasure trove.

"It's all Ms. Applejack could spare. And seeing as most of the effort today seems to be going to Stable-Tec, this is probably one of the last suits of power armor made. So take care of it. I know you can do that. I love you my dearest. And when you wear the armor, think of me hugging you tight.

Your loving husband,

Blue Angel

Shimmer read the note once again to herself and then hugged it close to her chest. Tear upon tear streamed down her face as she wept. The last words she'd ever read from her husband; he only thought of her and her safety—even to the end he thought of her.

Rocket looked at her somewhat awkwardly. This 200 year old Stable-Dweller was literally crying in front of her. In the middle of the wasteland. Inside an old house with an old cellar. But in front of her a brand new set of Power Armor. How could she be crying?

"I love you too, Angel. Thank you," Shimmer whispered quietly as she slowly ceased her crying, putting the note into her pack. Looking up at the armor, she then sniffled and looked back at Rocket. "So, any advice for Power Armor?"

Author's Note

Thank you guys for reading thus far! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter as much as I had writing it! I know things are moving a bit quickly but rest assured, the adventure is far from over! Shimmer and Rocket have a long journey ahead! And thanks to Aeluna for editing and for taking the time to do so!