My life was generally a boring one before I left my home town. Sure there was the occasional raider problem or a bloatsprite issue, but compared to what life outside of a town is like, the real story of my life started the day the old story of it burned to the ground. The day was like every other day, unending overcast of clouds, sun hidden behind them. I had just gotten done with my bimonthly physical when things started to change.

"How can you only have 3 points in Endurance? To be honest Glow I don't understand how you survive." My doctor, Bonesaw, commented and I just rolled my silvery eyes at him.

I had been born with what doctors had referred to as paper skin. More than once I had broken ribs as a child just from tripping a little too fast. I had been taking some training since to build up endurance, but it never rose above three points on a SPECIAL scale. But with my pretty black fur and pale pink mane why would I want to have to live a painful life?

"I get along just fine, thank you." I slump off of his examination table and stretch before walking across the open clinic to my brewing stand.

I paid the doctor by helping him brew some various things he needed, in this case I was brewing some poisons to kill off some radroaches that had burrowed into his basement. I once asked him how he planned to vent out the poison afterwards, but he just shrugged at me. I started the brew with a few vials of ground bloatsprite mixed with a solution of tainted water and other plants. I scraped the resulting mess into a jar and capped it. Within thirty minutes it would begin secreting a poisonous cloud that would hopefully kill all of the radroaches. There were at least fifty down there and who knows how many more in their tunnels, so overkill was a good option.

"You know, you don't have to take over the bar. I can find plenty of use for you around here." Bonesaw commented, taking the finished product out of the bottom of my bowl.

"You know I can't give up the bar. It's the only thing she left me. I sigh and look out at the street.

The bar I had sat at the end of town, in what had once been a barn before the war. My mother, Long Wing, died two weeks before this and left me with the bar, making me the fourth most important pony in town after the mayor, Bonesaw and the weapon's dealer, Carnage. Though in a town that was composed of one street and maybe twenty ponies, it wasn't hard to get there. Other than that she left me nothing including nothing about my father or where I was born. Not that I cared at the time, I was still trying to think about what to do.

We were interrupted from our conversation by a gunshot ringing down the street. Normally one or two a day didn't bother anypony, there was always the occasional annoying radroach or firearms test by Carnage, but this one was accompanied by screams and several more shots. Doc and I both ran through the door to see the damage. What we saw made use wish we had hidden in the basement and gone to war with the roaches.

At least twenty ponies clothed in a mix of leather, rusted metal, bones and blood had just broken down the gate and were beginning to terrorize anypony in reach. Raiders, and more than had ever attacked before. How they managed to get close enough to the front without being seen I had no clue. The Doc's place was at the back end of town so while we were safe at least. However the farmers near the gate were not so lucky, I remember seeing little Pepper get a pole cue rammed through her skull, small amounts of brain matter spraying down into the sand. Meanwhile her father was gutted and her mother dragged back into her home. I wish she had died before then.

A few ponies ran to help and fight, but the doc and I ran to the bar. The bar was the only building in town big enough to hold everyone conveniently and the plan for a raider attack was to hide in the bar until a solution was worked out. As we ran I saw Carnage pulling a shotgun and a pistol off his shelves with his magic. By the time he stepped out into the street a bullet had already found its way through his chest and he fell with a dull thud. Fear began to really set in. Whoever was leading the raiders had thought about it, the only ponies that got shot at were me, Doc, the mayor and Carnage. It made sense; we were the only ones who could help ponies.

I flew above the crowd going to the bar in an attempt to get there first; being the only pegasus had major perks. A few bullets grazed me before I could land. The pain streaked across my body, but I managed to land at the door before taking serious damage. I reached into my vest for the key and opened the door about five times faster than usual. I stumble into the dusty barn and hold the door for the small crowd behind me. As soon as they ran in I closed the door before screaming in agony as a bullet tore through the door and into my right flank.

"Damn it! Doc, get your fat flank over here." I yelled at Bonesaw even though he was right next to me. "And could one of you get me a drink?"

"Bring two; we'll need something to disinfect the wound." Doc revised and I felt the bullet slowly getting pulled out by his magic, "You're lucky your mother put in that metal door, or you'd be out of commission."

Somepony brought the drinks which were weak apple brews. I gave mine to the Doc to put on the wound. I knew how little alcohol was actually in them. I cringed as the alcohol stung the wound; Doc wasn't a fan of telling you when he was going to hurt you. The wound was only an inch or two deep so there wasn't terrible damage, but I stayed on the floor while things started to heat up.

"Everybody calm down, they've stopped shooting and we're safe in here." The mayor tried to calm down the group from the top of the bar while everyone fidgeted nervously.

"None of us even brought a gun? How are we safe if they can come in here at any time?" Mort, the town builder scoffed and most of the remaining dozen ponies agreed.

"Those raiders don't know that we're unarmed. If we keep up a bluff we'll be able to keep them off of us a little longer." The mayor tried to reason but nobody was really convinced.

"They're not worried about that Root. They know we don't keep ourselves armed," Doc shouted across the bar, "They're either here for caps, guns or mares. Most of which are in here." He was right, out of the dozen of us that were left, eight were mares and the bar had the second highest collection of caps, the highest being in Mayor Root's safe. And of course the fat stallion kept the key on him at all times.

"Well surely Crimson keeps a few guns on hand." At this everypony turned around to where I was sitting. To be honest it pissed me off a little, but that might've been the pain talking.

"Of course, I've got an armory underneath the floorboards," I joked and nobody laughed so I stopped, "Look, I've got an old .44 upstairs, but it's only got six shots." I stood up, but kept weight off of my injured leg.

"And in case you didn't notice mayor, we've got more than fifteen raiders out there." One of the mares spoke up before the door flew open.

"Twenty-three actually," a unicorn with a large set of three ponies' skulls on her chest walked in like we sent her an invitation.

"Did nopony think to lock the door after I got shot?" I thought aloud and stared at her from what was a mere few feet away.

Her armor was more metal than bones and she levitated two 10mm pistols, not that we would've attacked anyway. Her mane was shaved, leaving her with nothing but a stained yellow coat. On the upside she seemed to be hospitable enough considering she could've killed us in no time if she wanted to.

"And I'm dreadfully sorry about that love, I meant to kill the doctor, but you got in the way," she smiled at me and I keet my peace with her gnarled teeth. The last thing I wanted to do was anger her.

"Well let's just let that go for now. I'm guessing you don't have any plans to hurt anypony here."

"Not at all, I don't want to risk damaging my boy's new playmates," she purrs and I notice everypony backing away. "That is assuming you hand them over now, along with your caps."

"I don't think we can give them to you quite yet." I shifted uneasily, I didn't have a right to be negotiating, but my mouth was working faster than my head.

I could tell I stuck a chord based off her eyes narrowing, but also because of the pistol that moved to my chest. I felt like a complete jackass for that blunder.

"Please, love, tell me why that is?" She moves closer and the pistol presses harder into my skin.

I took a breath before talking again, trying to regather my thoughts, "Well, look at them. They're all cowering in fear and they'll probably try to run if you take them now," I paused and motioned to the mares behind me, noticing that the entire crowd had moved behind the bar and was watching in pure fear, "Sure you could chain them and beat them, but you said you didn't want to rough them up."

"So what would you have me do; just wait around forever for them?"

"Just give me half an hour to calm them down. They'll come to terms with it by then and they'll be easier to handle."

She actually paused for a second and considered the idea, which was more than I had hoped for. I thought she'd storm out and tell her group to come tear the mares out by force, but I would be left with my life which was a plus. That was one of the longest moments of my life as she moved the gun away from my chest and softened her gaze.

"Twenty minutes, but I need to have something to bring back now if this is how we're gonna do it."

"Of course," I turn back at the bar, "Roots, give her your damn safe key."

The fat mayor peeked his head out from beneath the bar and stared at me like I had just shot his dog, "Are you stupid, Glow? Give her whatever's in your safe!"

"My safe is upstairs fat ass; do you really want to have her waiting down here while I fly up there?" Mom and I never put in stairs to the second floor. Why would we when we had wings?

"B-but..." Stars above, I hated him.

"Doc, just take it from him." I commanded more than anything and the doc riped it out of the mayor's pocket while he groveled, "His safe is under his desk in the building next to this and the house up from the doctor's place has a safe underneath their rug." I lie about the second safe, but I doubt she would check herself and she'll probably just call her raiders stupid for not seeing it.

"One more thing before I go," she snatched the key out of the Doc's magical grip with her own, "I want you and all of you caps ready to go with me when I come for them."

"Excuse me?" I did a double take, which pleased her on some level.

"You heard me; you're going to be coming with me when I leave. I could use somepony who knows how to do more than just shoot. Not to mention with you around they should be less likely to cause trouble," She gestured to the mares.

"And what if I try to run, or cause trouble of my own?" I sighed.

"Well then I guess I'd have to do something with those friends of yours," she moved in closer to me, "and you don't want that do happen, do you, love?"

"I'll pack my things then." I resigned myself to her; it's not like I was holding the gun.

"And I'll be back in twenty minutes for my prizes." She turned and walked out with a swish and a flick of her pink tail.

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and slumped to the floor. I had never needed to negotiate for anything more important than a shipment of cider before, and those didn't involve guns. I flip the lock on the door which should've been done in the first place before anypony even started to move away from the bar. The reaction I got was much worse than I expected.

"Well that was great. You just gave her whatever she wanted a silver platter. Now, almost all of us are going to be sold into slavery, by you." Root stared me down and there was an essential murmur of consent from the others.

"What would you have done? Told her about your smaller safe on the back of your roof and given her everypony right then and there just so she could come back later to get the key for the real safe?" I retort, but it doesn't take any steam out of the mob.

"I at least would've tried to keep some of my ponies safe from that awful life; you just accepted her conditions without even fighting back. Better at least a few of our citizens be safe that all of them damned." I didn't respond to him again, he was right about me not trying to bargain for more.

"At least he got us some time to think about what we're going to do," Doc stepped in for my defense, "At least now we can try to think of a plan."

"Like what? We only have one gun, six bullets, and we're outnumbered."

"Well get thinking. Thanks to Glow we've got another twenty minutes to figure that out." This calmed them down somewhat, but I still had some icy stares being sent my way. Ungrateful, spineless, whelps, was my only thoughts for them.

"I might as well go grab my gun. We're going to want it either way." I rose from my spot and flapped my wings a little before rising up to the second floor.

The upper level was essentially just one small room that at one point at been a loft for various bits and pieces. Mother and I used it as our room and it was also where we kept our safe which I had never been allowed to open. I flew over the two mattresses to the exposed safe. We never bothered hiding it since we were the only two in town who could even get close to it. I wish I wouldn't have wait until two weeks after she died to open it.

Inside I found the snub-nosed .44 sitting in the front, fully loaded, but with the condition it was in it wouldn't last very long. You can't really tryst a gun from the discount section of a store that's most powerful weapon was just a shotgun, but it was mostly a scare tactic for rowdy patrons. Behind that was a bag of only a couple hundred caps. Pretty much everything we made went into repairs and product, so our stash wasn't very large given many years of work. I pocketed both of the items before noticing a scrap of paper nestled in the back corner. It was browned with age and neglect but the writing on it was worth more to me than anything at the time.

To my loving son,

I assume if you're reading this that you've either finally managed
to pick the lock or I've passed on. Regardless, I suppose it's
time that you go and learn something about yourself. But
the things that you need to know I cannot tell you. I stole
that knowledge from myself years ago. The only thing I
can tell you is that there is a cellar hidden beneath the
floor behind the bar. The things I leave there are yours.
You don't have to listen to me, but if you want to know who
you are, where you come from then go to the south.
There you will find the town of Maremoros. Speak with the
doctor there, she can lead you further. Just remember,
once you step onto this road, you won't be able to go back.

Love,

your mother

I stared at that paper for a few minutes without moving or thinking anything. The last thing my mother had told me before that was good bye and to make sure I locked the door before I went to sleep. Never once had she mentioned anything about this. The biggest secret she had ever kept from me was who she was fooling around with, and that was only because I never asked. The idea that the mare that told everyone's secrets to anyone that asked keeping one from me made me feel uneasy. That's putting it mildly though. I didn't move until I heard shouting down on the first floor. I pocketed the note, slammed the safe shut and flew down to see that the center of the commotion was the mayor trying to plead with the raiders outside.

"Come on, let us at least keep some of our caps. How do you expect us to go on without anything?" He cried at the door while everypony else just watched on in silence. I assumed most of them had come to terms with what was going to happen, and if not, they still had fifteen minutes to get used to it.

I avoided the crowd and landed behind the bar unnoticed. Not that it would've mattered if they saw, but at the time I wanted to see what was in store for me by myself. I went to the back end that clung to one of the walls and began to examine the floor. At first I didn't see anything odd about the old wooden boards, but then I started to creep back from the wall. A few yards away from the wall there was a small strap of thin wire over one of the boards, thin enough that you wouldn't see it, but strong like fishing wire. I grabbed the wire in my teeth and gave it a pull. At first it didn't budge, but after a few tries a small section of the boards pulled up from the floor with a small plume of dust. The cover was set aside and I dove headfirst into the hole.

I couldn't really believe my eyes when I saw the inside. It was white, but pristine pure and untainted white. The room looked like it had never even been entered, just made spotless and left. And soft, like I was standing on a big pile of cotton. It felt like a huge expanse of purity. It was all clouds I now know, but at the time I had never actually felt or seen a cloud that wasn't looming over head like a giant lead sheet. Of course, thinking back, it was only about 50 square feet of space and pretty easy to keep clean.

Aside from the blindingly white walls, there was one metal rack along the wall that held the things that were my inheritance. At first, it was underwhelming. For a shelf big enough to hold a full battle saddle, you'd think the contents would've been amazing, but instead they were sparse. All I saw was one black leather front harness, some type of metal bar with a leather grip on one end, which I assumed to be a knife and a weird metal ring with a few pins and circuits exposed. It's pretty safe to say the only thing I understood was the harness. Thankfully my mother must have taken into account my inability to magically know what things are and left another note for me, taped above the center of the shelf.

Contents
-1 standard issue griffin hide trappings
-1 Prototype X-89 Energy Blade
-1 Z-13 Cybernetic Eye Implant, covert ops edition
Glow if you find this after I'm gone then please don't let Bonesaw try to install that implant. Have the doctor in Maremoros do it; she's a whole lot more of a doctor than our quack is. As for the blade, keep it with you at all times. It can't work if it isn't used by you.
-Mom

The note gave me more questions than it answered. When I read the first note I thought that maybe the doctor would just point me in the right direction to find my father, or maybe just his tombstone so I wouldn't have to wonder about that my whole life. Now I was just trying to figure out who the fuck my mother really was and why she had this weird stuff down here. I was hoping for a real gun but instead I got some leather that wouldn't do me any good, a defective sword and an implant that I might never even be able to use.

"Just where did she get this stuff from?" I thought aloud before picking up the griffin hide from the rack in my teeth.

It wasn't very heavy and it definitely didn't feel like it had any protective value, but it was sleek. The straps adjusted easily as I climbed into it and they fit snugly around my forelegs and back. Now I wish it had been a full body harness, but at the time I just felt silly for putting it on. I took the pistol I had with me into one of the two holsters on the harness and put the knife into the other slot where I could easily grab it with my teeth, not that I expected to be fighting with it at first. When I pulled the straps tight on the hilt I noticed a small red light turn on at the bottom of the otherwise black hilt. Thankfully that prompted my curiosity enough to actually pull the blade out.

The grip was soft in my mouth and tasted like oil, almost revolting enough to make me drop it, but I ignored it and quickly pulled out the knife. What came out was less of a knife and more of a sword. The original hilt was only about eight inches long including the mouthpiece, but the blade I pulled out was as long as my own body. It was composed of pure red magical energy that hummed pleasantly, but the blade dissipated after only a few seconds in the open air. As the magic faded all that remained was the dull hilt and a small bit of technology that I assumed manifested the blade.

"Prototype, eh? You'd think they could've made it last at least a little longer." I complained, not really knowing who 'they' was, but I assumed that wherever this stuff came from would tell me something about my mother.

A sudden lack of whining upstairs reminded me of more pressing matters than trying to figure out a mystery I had next to no clue about. I took the implant and clipped it onto a loop in the harness where I had moved my caps to and left the basement quickly to see how the situation was. It was far less than optimistic. The mayor had changed his plan of action from begging to pessimistic sobbing, the doc was pacing back and forth trying to figure out a plan even though everypony knew that fighting was something he knew nothing about and everyone else sat in a dejected huddle, some crying softly, others looking like they had given up on their lives completely. Old Barrel was dead in a corner, blood pooling from her neck. At most, we had another five minutes until we were going to be taken.

"Alright, everypony get up right now!" I shouted at them are rose up above the bar with a flap of my wings, "Look, I know that right now you're all thinking this is a completely hopeless situation and you're probably right. But does anypony here feel like giving it a shot with me?"

Not the most convincing speech I had ever given, but at that point I was getting well beyond the point of caring about them. I was pissed. I was pissed at the raiders for coming here, the townspeople who tried to fight instead of following procedure, the bullet that had to be pulled out of my leg which still ached like hell, at the mayor for being weak and especially at my mother for leaving an idiotically cryptic message about me learning where I came from. I was going to go south, figure this crap out and no raiders with guns made out of old wood and scrap metal were going to stand in my way. I was ready for war, with a whole six bullets and a broken sword.

"And just what's your plan? Go out there with just that gun and kill two dozen raiders? It can't be done, Glow." Even the normally chipper doctor was less than optimistic.

"Well when you put it like that it just sounds stupid." I knew how stupid I sounded, but it's not like my plan was that simple, "Do you still have that poison I gave you, Doc?"

"Yes, but it's not like it's going to be strong enough to kill them. It was meant to kill slowly over a lot of time." With that he pulled the container out from underneath his lab coat, a sickly yellow gas having already filled the jar.

"That'll work fine, it's just a distraction," I flew down next to him, everypony else had stopped listening anyway, "I'm going to go out there and try to talk to them for a moment. As soon as the shit hits the fan I need you to lob that out into the street. With any luck they'll scatter and I'll shoot the ones near me and get another gun. From there I really don't care what you do, but don't try anything stupid, there's only one way out of town and nopony is going to just let you walk out."

"We'll just hide in here, no need to complicate things." He complied but I wasn't so sure he didn't just do it because he wasn't any good at fighting.

Without another word to any of them, I walked outside to test my luck. The day seemed to be altogether different than when I had ran inside just half an hour earlier. The sky was still the same endless overhead of clouds, but it felt heavier than usual. Everything seemed darker and less real than I had left it and before me were two dozen ponies holding various shotguns, pistols and oddly enough pool cues. Around them the heads of the ponies they killed on the way in were put up on pikes. It was then that I realized I was shaking in fear.

"What's the deal, love? You've still got another three minutes before you need to be out." The mare in charge called at me and I moved close to where they stood until a gap of only ten yards lay between us.

"I couldn't stand to be around that depression any longer. They've all pretty much given up on hope in there."

"And what about you? I don't remember asking you to bring a gun with you." With this one of her 10mms moved closer to my chest while I felt my heart rapidly skipping beats.

"I came to appeal to you one last time," I grabbed the sack of caps in my teeth and threw it to her, "All of that is yours, now please reconsider what you're doing."

"Oh no, love. We had a deal, I get everything and you get twenty minutes to say good bye. We can't go back on that." She backed away from my position, but left her gun at my chest, "Now why don't my boys get you some chains? They are all the rage this season."

With a flick of her tail, two bloody and dirt covered stallions came over with heavy iron chains in their mouths. I waited for the right opportunity and gave a quick glance from the gun in front of me to the leader. I figured if I was fast enough to the punch then her first shot would miss. The trick would just be making sure both of the chain raiders died at the same time. As soon as they were both within a yard from me I made my move. I pulled the energy blade from its sheath and took a large step in at the chain raider on my left. A faint crackling from the blade and the resulting gunshot were the only motivators I needed to swing with all of my might at the poor sap.

The first had no time to react as the blade connected with the soft flesh just at the base of his neck, which rapidly began to bubble and burn around the contact area. I think butter puts up more resistance than his skin did. The second held his chains up in defense, but that did him no good against the magical energy. The blade severed the chains and carved through him before dissipating halfway through his sternum. As if I needed another reminder that it was a fucking prototype. Not that I had time to complain, within the entire three seconds that took, the raiders had already begun to fire on me. I took a dive to the right side of the street where there was an alleyway I could hide in.

I barreled into one of the walls in the alley just in time to have a surge of pain crack from my left hind leg as three separate bullets tore through the soft flesh. I cried in agony from the gunshots, the hard concrete wall and the subsequent landing on my injured leg because my wings couldn't flare out in the small area of the alley. The gunfire broke up a few seconds later when the doctor threw the poison into the crowd, but that did little to help my situation. As soon as I had put back the blade and drawn the .44, another raider was on me.

The mare had significantly less armor than the other raiders, but charged me with a bladed pool cue. I turned as best I could, but the blade still cut a large gash down my right side. I focused my pain into shooting the mare twice, once in the chest and the other through her nose. At this point I was largely regretting my decision to fight. I had been shot three times, cut by a pool cue, used a third of my ammo and all I had to show for it was three dead raiders with no guns. I needed to start playing it smart and safe.

I waited for a few seconds to see if any more enemies came into my alley before moving out into the already cloudy street. To my advantage the main street was entirely deserted, allowing me to fly on top of the two story building I had recently impacted without notice. I kept what weight I could off of my left hind leg, but that put pressure onto my ever bleeding side. Whatever I was going to do was also going to have to be done fast. I didn't have the constitution to deal with too much bleeding. I limped to the back of the roof and peered down at the space below. Eight raiders, most of which were armed with shotguns, were below me, keeping a hard watch between the alley I was in and any entrances from the main street.

"Poor bastards don't even think about my wings." I muttered, taking aim on a particularly well armed raider with a hunting rifle and a full set of bones as armor.

I did feel a little bad about taking that cheap shot, but watching the raider fall from one shot to the head was very satisfying. The aftermath of said shot was not satisfying. I immediately switched to the closest pony to the first and tried to shoot twice. The first bullet hit just behind the head, but the bastards starting firing back when I was going to fire the second time. Thankfully, I managed not to be shot for the first time that day. I was kept with my head down on the roof for a good twenty seconds before a voice rose above the gunfire.

"Torch the place boys! I'm done with these fuckers," The leader's voice came from across the street and a second later a Molotov Cocktail was thrown into the bar followed by many like it.

Within the brief span of maybe ten seconds there were fires in more than half of the buildings in town, including the one I was on top of. I could hear the screams of the ponies in the bar over the flames, but there was nothing I could do for them, the door was already covered in flames and any windows already had cocktails thrown through them. The only upside was that it took the focus off of me long enough for me to stare at my home burning. I memorized the patterns of their cries instantly, and I can still hear them to this day. The mayor's was the first to die off, then a few more, some ran out into the street only to die moments later, and I swore I could see the doc staring at me through a window until his flesh was gone. The rising smoke was the only thing that brought me out of the trance. And it brought me out angry.

I threw myself off the back of the building and right into the crowd of raiders with my pistol already drawn. I took my shot just before touching the ground, the bullet finding a home in the head of a shotgun raider. I dropped the pistol instantly and grabbed the shotgun just as it was falling from the body's mouth. I turned to my right while they were still surprised and loaded the chest of the unicorn next to me with buckshot, but at the time I lacked the strength to actually keep the shotgun in my mouth and the force of the recoil sent it flying and my neck into a twist. Now I had no gun, no element of surprise and my neck hurt like hell; not that any of that was going to stop me. I recovered in time to get another bullet through my left ear, but luckily most of the raiders were still trying to get their guns back out from the fire-starting. I took the blade back in my mouth and dived at a unicorn levitating both a Molotov and a revolver that looked like it was in worse condition than mine was. She took another shot at me, but thankfully missed where as my blade slashed through her body from chest to tail. I didn't even try to kill either of the other two shotgun raiders next to me; instead I flew straight up and away from them. Neither one of them seemed to notice the Molotov falling until they were already on fire. My luck must've been improving, because I was able to make it back to the roof without being shot again, though I attribute that to smoke and ashes that were beginning to burn my eyes.

I landed with a dull thud and desperate tried to cough up the ashes I was inhaling. Blood loss was finally starting to get the better of me and I doubted I'd be able to fight anymore, especially without a gun. I noticed my blade sitting inactive in front of me, I guess I had dropped it to hyperventilate, but that this point I didn't care.

"You couldn't have left me a gun, or some armor. Then again, I guess you didn't expect me to have to use these in a fight so soon." I wheezed and replaced the hilt in the sheath.

I guess if you think about it seven dead raiders wasn't a bad outcome given the circumstances, but there were still at least sixteen or more of them to deal with. By all accounts I had given up on making it out alive. So I decided I might as well try to kill a few more just for the sake of the townspeople that died. Not to mention there was no way I could stay on that roof any longer without suffocating. For the last time, I took a dive off of the roof and into the fray.

Only, there wasn't a fray. There wasn't even a single raider where there had once been a group of them. Only the bodies, or rather pieces of bodies, even gave away that there had been a fight. I found my pistol and quickly hobbled out into the main street. Just in time to see the raiders leaving town. Logically speaking it was a the smart move, their potential slaves were all dead except for me and they had almost all of the caps the town had to offer, but all it did was fuel my rage. I spotted the leader at the back of the crowd, both pistols still drawn.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" I yelled rather idiotically at the mare before pulling the tongue trigger.

However that shot never came. I felt the trigger snap when I pulled and the hammer literally fell off the gun. I was distraught to say the least. I has been shot, sliced, almost burned and had everypony I knew killed at the hooves of this mare, and now a broken gun was keeping me from getting revenge on her. However, no such problem was going to keep her from killing me if she wanted to. I dropped the broken gun and waited for death.

"We're leaving, love. There's nothing left here for us and we've already lost more comrades than we wanted to," oddly enough she put both pistols back into their holsters on her side and turned away from me, "Maybe I'll see you again, love, but you're probably going to die if you don't do something about those wounds. I'll pray for you."

With that she walked out of town and left me alone, with a cloud of mildly poisonous gas, a few buildings still burning to the ground and no remaining energy. All my adrenaline left me and I slumped into the sand, unconscious. I expected death, but at that point I couldn't fight it. After all, I came farther than I thought possible at the time. My life had fallen apart in just the course of an hour.

Footnote: Level Up
New Perk: Fast Hooves- Years spent mixing drinks and doing tricks to entertain patrons actually had a real payoff. You now draw, holster and equip weapons 15% faster than normal.

Author's Note

Well, that's round 1.