Fallout Equestria: Syndicate

"You saved the Crystal Empire. Twice! I think you can light some fireworks..."

I stepped outside the cave and into what appeared to been old pre-war suburb. Or at least, that's what it reminded me of from the Stable's history books. There were several houses made out of a weird, shiny blue material, all the windows were broken and none of the houses had doors. I looked in all directions and could see a few tall mountains to the south and several tall buildings to the north. I started to feel a little light headed, everything was just so big outside.Then I did something very stupid; I looked straight up. I felt my heart skip a beat as I sat down hard on my rump. The sky just kept going and going and going! If it wasn't for the clouds that covered the sky I think my heart would have stopped.

I shifted my gaze back to the ground and tried my best not to puke, breathing heavily. When my heart stopped racing I glanced back to the buildings. The feeling wasn't nearly as strong as long as I had something to focus on. The sky was just...ugh! Even thinking about it made my stomach lurch. After a few more minutes of slow breathing I stood up and started moving towards the buildings.

As I passed by the houses I began to notice the skeletons. They were scattered throughout the neighborhood as if they were just litter. I thought back to the dead in 41 and my chest tightened. I even thought about going back but I decided against it. They were dead, nothing could be done. But I was alive, and I needed to get to this 'Gem City' So I tried my best to focus on my destination, not the ponies who were already gone...Astible, Cedric...

Besides the skeletons the streets were littered with well...litter. Trash and other debris were everywhere. Especially old bottles of a pre-war soda called 'Sparkle Cola'. The damn things were all over the place. I stopped at the edge of the suburb to read an extremely old looking poster. It was a crude drawing of Princess Luna and it said underneath, "Death to Tyrants! Free the Empire!" I looked at the poster in confusion. "Free the Empire?" I said curiously. I shook my head. I didn't know who drew that poster and it wasn't really relevant anyway. I left suburb at a trot, heading down a road made of the same blue material. It felt a lot like the sturdy metal floors of Stable 41, even though there were hundreds of cracks spider webbing through it; along with some large holes. The road was bare of any structures for a while making it hard to not get nauseated; so I spent most of the walk looking at the road more than the buildings ahead of me.

The road was completely empty though.There were plenty of broken wagons and skeletons along the road. From the way they were positioned it looked like they'd been running from the city. Not surprising; considering that a Zebra balefire bomb had blown the center of the Crystal Empire to smithereens. Or had it? If the Colleseum was intact enough to make a twon out of it the city center couldn't have been blown up. I wondered what else the Stable's books got wrong about the Zebras last attack.

We'd learned in history that the Zebra's were a cowardly race that lived far from the civilized cities of Equestria. They relied on snipers and cheap infiltration tactics to fight the war;only fighting directly when they were forced to. Even though their armies were larger than ours were at the start of the war, superior Equestrian tactics, magic, and weapons crushed the invading Zebra Legions.

I had trotted for a mile, maybe two, when I reached a large concrete structure. It was a single story building with a large steel door that was ajar. The walls were scorched and covered with bullet holes. There was a sign above the door, it read, "Equestrian Army Communication Center." My Pip-Buck beeped and I saw that it had marked the building on my it's map. I looked at the top of the building and saw a large black tower, it had two or three bowl looking things on it. was like one of old radio tower from the history books. Looking at the bullet holes it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go inside but curiosity drove me forward. I floated my shotgun beside me and went inside.

I pushed the door all the way open and clicked on the light on my Pip-Buck. The white light starkly contrasting with the dark gray interior of the building. Inside were several desks with busted terminals on them; along with assorted trash all over the floor. I looked in one corner and saw a sickly green glow coming from another room. I entered cautiously, the shotgun floating in front of me but the room was empty of life. One desk sat in the center of the room.

The terminal on this desk appeared to be working. There was a skeleton in the chair next to the terminal it had a bullet hole in it's skull. I looked around and sure enough there was a very rusty old pistol on the floor near the body. The tattered old uniform had a name tag on it. "Captain Withers" I turned my attention to the terminal after slowly sliding the chair and skeleton into the corner of the office.It was already logged in so I didn't have to bother trying to guess the password. Mini could have hacked it pretty quickly but I had no idea how...Mini. I started going through the old audio logs. I remembered my Pip-Buck and plugged the adapter into the terminal and downloaded the three files that weren't corrupted. After that there was a flash on the screen that stated, "Extend relay dishes, Y/N?" I thought about for a moment and hit the 'y' key.

Instantly the building shook and a loud groan and screeching sound came from outside. I left the office of Captain Withers and returned to the outside of the Communications center. The dishes on the radio tower were slowly moving towards the top of the tower. Once they reached the top my Pip-Buck beeped and I checked it. There were several radio stations I could turn to (except for the broadcast from41 which was just for announcements and party music) and there was a new one. Or I thought it was new, the others weren't blinking like this one was. I looked around but there still wasn't anypony that I could see so I tuned to it, pulling one of the wireless buds from my Pip-Buck and put it into my left ear.

"Attention all residents of the Crystal Empire.Martial Law is currently in effect. All citizens must return to their homes by ten a clock at night or face imprisonment. All citizens must stop at checkpoints, no exceptions! By order of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. Message repeats... Attention all residents of the Crystal Empire..." I turned it off. Martial law? What the hell does that mean? And I hadn't ever heard of a Princess 'Cadence' or Prince Shining Armor. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna maybe,but never a Princess Cadence.

I went back into the squat building and rummaged for anything useful; food was on the top of my list. Dad had packed several tubes of paste in my bags but those wouldn't last forever. The building was devoid of any food but there were two Med-Kits filled with some Med-X, a small supply of sterilized needles and other assorted supplies. Including two small healing potions and a pouch of Rad-away potion. I checked through the captain's desk and found a small bag of bits and a pocket knife.The knife was razor sharp and opened in a fraction of a second. "Sacrifice" the blade read. I pushed the button again and the blade retracted. Score!

I left the building a few minutes later, my bags feeling a little heavier from the extra potions and gold coins. I slid the shotugn back into my bags and continued following the main road towards the city. To pass the time I listened to the audio logs from the terminal. A gruff and older sounding stallion's voice played in my ear.

"Captain Withers, personal log #12. Just got in orders from the Royal command in Canterlot. Celestia's gone and declared Martial Law. Damn. I spilled my coffee." He stopped talking for a few moments before resuming, "Ah,there we are. The stripes have just launched another major offensive in the south and the Royal Guard are having a spot of trouble repelling them. The fighting's drawn closer to Littlehorn and a lot of ponies are worried about it. Not particularly up north but still. I lived here for thirty years and I have to say I'm glad my parents moved here from Manehatten."

Princess Celestia declared Martial Law? The broadcast was saying it was by order of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. If it was her then why would the broadcast say it was them.Not to mention that it would help a lot if I knew what freaking Martial Law was! I sighed and played the next one.

"Captain Withers, personal log #23. It's happened. Littlehorn was attacked. Not just attacked but completely destroyed by the Striped. There was a mass of volunteers at the recruitment center near the Crystal Palace today. There was also a war protest outside the palace as well. Nothing like getting another ten thousand soldiers to take up arms against the enemy and having five hundred whiny pacifists cry for peace. It's a damn shame we couldn't just shoot them, but if we did shoot them that would just give more ammo to that bitch Tree Embrace and her Peace Ponies."

Shoot them? Shoot them?! This buck was a Captain in the Equestrian army and he thought it would be a good idea to shoot a bunch of protesters! I was starting to really dislike Captain Withers. And there was Littlehorn again. I knew that Littlehorn was Princess Luna's school for gifted unicorns, the books in the Stable mentioned that it was destroyed by a Zebra hit squad to spite the Princess. What was wrong with everypony back then?

"Captain Withers, personal log #53. It seems like the time has come. The shield just went up around the city proper and the missiles started impacting a few minutes after that. I've never seen anything like it. Hundreds of missiles streaking through the sky towards the palace. It would have been beautiful it it wasn't absolutely terrifying.The Crystal Heart seems to be protecting the city from total annihilation. But the townships and the citizens within are helpless; I guess it's a good thing that most of the missiles are all trained on the palace. I'd bet all my bits that that cunt Tree Embrace and her pacifist whiners are happy that the M.A.S.And the M.W.T. Hooked the Megaspell Shield system to the Crystal Heart now. " There was shouting in the background and the sound of a massive explosion nearby.

"What in Equestria?” A different buck's voice erupted into the recording.

“Sir! Ced have a confirmed megaspell detonation in the north west, and the shield just went down! What are your orders?” he asked.

“Evacuate as many civilians to the Stables as possible...and steer clear of that fog dammit!”

“Yes, sir!”

“I don't know what that abomination of a megaspell will do but I'm not going to find out. My only hope is that my grandfoals got to Stable 47 and that the Zebra Empire is nothing but a ocean of boiling glass!" The recording ended with a hiss of static. No wonder the world was blown to bits. Everypony back then was crazy! I thought passing by a wrecked sky wagon sticking out of the street.Not that any of it was really relevant seeing as the recording is over two hundred years old an all, but still, something to pass the time.

I was about to play one of the Sweetie Belle songs recorded on my Pip-Buck when I heard a gunshot, then a second. A few hundred yards down the road was the remains of a small town. The tallest building was three stories while the rest were all only one story. Many of the doors and windows were boarded up and blocked with rubble. One had collapsed entirely into the street blocking, half of the road from view. I cautiously made my way towards the source of the gunshot. I thought about drawing my shotgun but instead I choose to bring out Sacrifice. If they were dangerous it mihgt be better to take them by surprise. I crouched low to the ground and crawled around the pile of rubble ready to pull out the blade at the first sign of trouble. I peaked my head around the corner and saw the source of the gunshots. There was a large wagon that was filled to bursting with junk. Anything from bathroom sinks to large chunks of scrap metal and even what looked like chunks of the blue buildings. There was a rather large, dirty brown earth pony stallion strapped into it; he was holding a short rifle in his teeth.

Next to him was a very elderly mare who was holding a young pink coated filly with a purple mane in her forelegs. Her hindleg was splayed out to the side awkwardly with a purple bandana tied tightly around it. All three of them looked ragged and dirty, wearing improvised barding. The stallion had several scars along his sides and one across his left eye.

I gasped at the sight of the filly and the three looked at me. The stallion turned his rifle and fired, the round bouncing off the pile of rubble a few feet from my head. He dropped it into his forelegs and used his teeth to draw back the bolt and load another round. Instinct told me to duck for cover but looking at the filly made my chest hurt far more than I thought the bullet would. I tucked Sacrifice back into my bags then jumped from behind the rubble and raised my forelegs.

"Wait, don't shoot! I'm a doctor!" not entirely true since I hadn't passed the Stable doctrine examine yet but they didn't need to know that. "I can help!" The stallion kept the rifle trained on me but he didn't fire. The elderly mare looked at the filly wrapped in her forelegs, then back to me. After a few moments I thought for sure I was going to get shot but the mare raised a hoof and touched the stallion on the shoulder.

"It's alright, I reckon.She wouldn't of jumped out here like that unless she really wanted to help," then she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Unless you're stupid or suicidal." she waved a hoof and the stallion lowered his rifle. I stood up and trotted over to the filly. She seemed frightened of me still but that was nothing new. None of the fillies and colts in 41 were comfortable with the Medical ponies. Well,except Dad, he just had a way of making everypony feel calm and safe.I pulled the Med-Kit off my bags and placed it near the filly. I pulled out an emergency blanket that was folded so tightly it could fit in a pocket and used my magic to spread it out on the ground.

"Sweetie" I said to the filly, making her draw back a little. "can you come to the middle of the blanket. It'll help keep your leg clean." she looked at the older mare waiting for an answer. She nodded and the filly carefully moved onto the blanket. She was shaking, but I couldn't tell if it was from pain or fear. I smiled and removed a shot of Med-X along with a healing potion from the kit.She looked at the needle and began to shy away when the other mare touched her shoulder.

"It's alright Bubble. She's a healer." The filly still looked scared but she held still. I used my magic to gently lift her hindleg and pour some rubbing alcohol on it. She winced but but didn't try to crawl away. Progress! I thought as I cleaned the wound. Thankfully it didn't look like it was a very big round and it missed the bone, lodging in her muscle. I dialed the Med-X dosage down to a forth the normal shot, (Too much would hurt or maybe even kill her) and then I said,

"I want you to count to ten for me. Then I'll give you the shot, alright?" I smiled and the filly nodded,

"O...okay.." she whispered. "One,two, three, four..." when she reached five I stuck the shot in her leg and she had reached eight before she noticed what I'd done.

"Good, very good. You're doing great. Now I want you to look away,okay?" she did as she was told and focused on looking anywhere except her leg. The Med-X was taking effect, she had already stopped shaking. I pulled out the scalpel and forecips and dug into the wound. The bullet wasn't in very deep and it only took me a about a minute before I'd removed it. I floated the healing potion over to her and said, "Almost done. Just drink this." she looked at the potion skeptically and asked,

"What flavor is it?" the question caught me off guard. I looked at the bottle and smiled, "It's purple flavored." she looked at the other mare once again and when she nodded the little filly bit the top of the bottle and lifted her head. She downed the whole potion in one go and I watched as the restorative magic mended the wound in her leg in less than a minute.

"Alright. You're all done." I could have just given her the potion at the start but doing that impairs the long term healing process. Then, as afterthought I looked through my bags and found the brown paper bag that Dad had given me. Inside was one last peppermint. I sighed and floated it out to the filly. She sniffed it once and gave a tentative lick. Then she snatched it out of the air and began sucking on it.

"It's candy Granny! I got candy!" she said as she jumped to her hoofs and bounced around.

The older mare laughing at the filly's antics; the buck however turned to me and pointed at the wagon he was pulling.

"Okay,anything you want out of the salvage is yours." I stared at the wagon in confusion.

"For what?" I asked. The buck looked at me skeptically and shook his head.

"You helped Bubble. So whatever you want out of our salvage before we go is yours to keep." I looked back at the pile and shook my head.

"Thanks, but it's not necessary. I'm just happy to help." The mare, Granny, looked at me and shook her head vigorously.

"'Fraid not missy. The Apples pay their debts." She jumped on the back of the wagon with surprising speed and agility for her age, then started rummaging through the various items. She pulled out one item after another asking if I wanted it, and every time I turned them down. After a few minutes she pulled out a bag of apples and said,

"Look girl, you can at least let me get ya something to eat. You look skinnier than a rattler in the orchards." she smiled warmly as she gestured towards my slim frame. I'm not that skinny, I thought. But I agreed anyway. The old mare seemed so delighted I just couldn't tell her no.That, and I was kinda hungry. Within ten minutes she had made a small fire and was roasting the apples rotisserie style, along with something called radhog. I recognized the apples from pictures I'd seen in books but the radhog was new. Well... so were the apples. The only thing we'd ever eaten in 41 was food paste.

The smell was almost as intoxicating when it was done cooking. She tossed one of the kabobs to me and I barely caught it with my magic. I was a little hesitant at first but after one bite I couldn't stop myself from eating the whole thing in one bite. (I almost choked on a piece of the stick) the old mare laughed and tossed me another. By this time the stallion had unhooked himself from the wagon and sat by the fire next to the filly. When I was done with my food (my stomach crying for more) I finally asked.

"So what happened. Was it an accident or..?" I pointed at the buck's rifle. The stallion shook his head and pointed down the street a ways. Not even fifteen feet away from the the fire was the body of an earth pony mare in spiked leather barding. The left side of her head had exploded; brain matter, blood and pieces of skull littered the ground by her. I took one look at the stallion's rifle and shuttered.

"What's the matter?" the buck asked crossly. "Ain't ya ever seen a splattered raider before?" I looked at the dead mare, then back at the buck.

"Raider?" I asked.

"Dang girl! You from a Stable or somethin?" The old mare asked, cocking an eyebrow. I don't know why but I flushed when I nodded. "Well, ain't that the darnest thing! I never met a Stable pony before. What your name girl?"

"I'm Silver Heart." I answered. She smiled and said.

"My name is Granny Honeycrisp, this here is Bubble Gum, and muscles over there is Bramley." she pointed to each of them as she spoke and ended with, "you're looking at the last remnants of the Apple clan." Apple clan? Seeing the blank expression on my face she explained, "The Apples are one of the oldest clans in Equestria. Our lineage stretches back to the days of Nightmare Moon and beyond. Our ancestor, Captain Cortland, led the first division of the Royal guard when it was formed by Celestia after Luna went and turned Nightmare Moon. And he was the only earth pony to ever get the Captain's position to boot." she pointed at the wagon. "We was just making a supply run in the ruins around here before heading back to Vanhoover. There's some good loot round these parts." she pointed at me. "What about you girl,what's a Stable pony doing out in the wasteland? I thought the point of Stables was to stay out of the wastes." I stayed silent for about a minute before her smile left her muzzle. "It was bad...wasn't it?" it wasn't Granny Paula red or Bramley who asked but the little filly Bubble Gum. I couldn't take it, I fell to the ground and started crying right there.

I wept for about twenty minutes or so; Bubble hugging me the whole time. Granny Honeycrisp put a hoof on my shoulder, and Bramley looked like nothing if not extremely uncomfortable. Through the tears I told them what happened. The false message from the Goddess, the ponies invading the Stable, my dad, Cedric being turned to glowing ash. Oh the ashes. They were everywhere. How many of the ponies I'd known my whole life had I stepped on just leaving the Stable? After I cried myself out I apologized for breaking down.

"It ain't nothing girl. Everypony has lost somepony close." She looked at Bubble Gum, "We was picking through the ruins near Galloping Gorge when we found Bubble here. Her folks got nabbed by ghouls." Bubble nodded slowly. "There were more of the Apple clan just a few months back. Cousin Golden, and Big Red got killed by raiders." she looked straight into my eyes as she said, "I sure am sorry about what happened, but everypony loses somepony eventually."

......................

I said goodbye to the Apple clan a little over an hour later. Granny Honeycrisp had insisted I take a bag of apples for the road before giving me directions to Gem City.

"It's three or four days to hoof it to Gem city but I tell ya it's worth it. It's a real fine town." Granny showed me a map that I copied into my Pip-Buck. "Gem city is the biggest town in the Crystal Wasteland. Make sure you stay clear of them skyscrapers to the northwest. Those things are filled with a whole mess of raiders."

Apparently the way that I was going was not a good idea. I watched the wagon as it headed south until it was out of site. One thing that bothered me about the Apple family was how they treated the dead mare. They had stripped the mare of her armor and tossed her corpse into an open sewage pipe. After leaving the Apples behind I followed the directions from my Pip-Buck towards Gem city.

I walked for maybe a few hours but once it started to get dark I decided to look for a place to bed down. The farther north I went more and more building seemed to be springing up. Most of them made from the blue crystal that was everywhere. I wondered if the ponies of the Crystal Empire ever built anything out of something other then gems. I mean, come on! Where did they even get so many crystals anyway?The buildings were dilapidated and falling apart, many were covered in bullet holes and one even had what looked like a large missile sticking out of the fourth story window. I seemed to have enter some kind of large urban area with larger buildings and a lot more skeletons littering the streets.

With the light slowly fading from the horizon a flickering light on the side of the street drew my attention. There was an old soda machine with a sign declaring, Sparkle-Cola! I looked the machine over and it seemed to still be working so I pulled a bit from my bags and put it in the machine. A few seconds later a bottle of sparkle-cola popped out. I floated the bottle to my muzzle,popped the cap off then took a drink. I'd never tasted anything like it before. And I thought the roasted apple was good! My Pip-Buck showed me that I was ingesting a small amount of radiation from the drink but it wasn't that much. I got a few more bottles out of the machine for later and turned around to see a little meal ball hovering just a few feet from my head.

"Ahh!" I jumped backwards pulling the shotgun from my bags and fired three blasts of buckshot at the little robot.

"Wow. Your aim is terrible." A mechanical voice said from the hovering robot.

"Who are you?" I asked, my heart almost on the verge of giving out.

"Call me Watcher. Sorry about scaring you by the way. Totally unintentional." I tried to give my best, winning smile and shrugged it off.

"It's alright. My name is Silver Heart. So... you're a robot?" I asked, wondering where he had come from and why he decided to give me a heart attack.

"What? Oh yeah, nah I'm not a robot. This is just a Sprite bot. The annoying little bastards are everywhere and I hack into them to keep an eye on things. I saw what you did back there with that filly and I gotta ask, why did you do that?" He asked, or at least the voice sounded like a he.

"She was a filly who got shot!" I almost shouted at the little insect looking robot. "Why wouldn't I help?" the sprite bot was silent for only a moment before answering.

"Most ponies in the wasteland only think of themselves. Most ponies would have just snuck away while they were distracted. Or took the opportunity to kill them while they were distracted. Instead you jumped into somepony's cross hairs to help someone you haven't met and likely won't ever see again. I have to say, I approve. But I think you should try to be smarter next time.Ya, know...not jumping in front of gun like that. It's a good way to get your head blown off. Not the best idea." The mechanical voice managed to sound sarcastic at the end.

"Well, I...um...fair point. Don't surprise ponies holding loaded weapons, got it. Got any other advice?" I asked.

"You want my advice? My advice is that you,firstly, you need to practice with that gun. Second traveling by yourself isn't that safe, especially if your that bad of a shot, no offense. My main advice is this; try to make some friends." With that the voice disappeared and was replaced by some kind of marching music with a lot of tuba and harmonica. The little robot's wings flapping more rapidly while it flew away.

After Watcher flew away I decided to look for a place to bed down for the evening. Most of the buildings either had large holes in the walls, were bordered up or even collapsed entirely, but I found one old house that was reasonably intact.

The inside was just as wrecked as the streets outside. Broken furniture and rotting clothes covered much of the floor, along with a thick layer of dusk. The walls had a few faded pictures and a large board with several yellowed newspaper clippings pinned to it. I stepped up to the board for a closer look. Most were illegible but there was one clipping that was readable. There was a picture of a tall, purple skyscraper that towered over dozens of the smaller crystal buildings surrounding it. A lavender unicorn in smart business attire standing by several other unicorns. One in gold armor.

"Announcing the end of construction for the M.A.S. Hub in the Crystal Empire has just been completed. Prince Shining Armor attended the first meeting with the Imperial branch of the M.A.S. But was forced to order a full battalion of Crystal Guards to be stationed around the Hub to keep protesters from harassing M.A.S. Employees. Dozens of arrests were made during the first day of operations and  Princess Cadence condemns the actions of the protesters"

Huh. So the Crystal Empire wasn't exactly peaceful even though it was thousands of miles from any fighting. I wish that the books in 41 had some more information on the Crystal Empire. I thought. I'd even asked Granny Honeycrisp about it but she was from Vanhoover and didn't know much about the area except that there was valuable salvage.

I turned from the clippings and went into the corner of the room where there was an old mattress. It was dusty and had a few holes in it but it would do just fine. I plopped down on the musty old mattress and curled up. Then I floated the locket before my eyes and popped it open. I'm so sorry. I  tucked the locket away and sat my head down on the mattress. I thought about what Granny Honeycrisp had said about Gem city. It was made built out of the remains of the Crystal Empire's stadium nearly a hundred years ago and was apparently the richest town in the Crystal Wasteland. I was only a few days away. I could make it for three days on my own couldn't I? I curled up a little tighter and tried to get some sleep.

I tossed and turned for just over an hour before I started to remove my uniform. Stupid fucking dress! I took it off and tossed it onto my saddlebags. As I returned to the mattress a heard a small crack behind me. I turned, floating Sacrifice from my bags and ejecting the blade but nothing was there. I strained my ears, trying to pick up the slightest noise; but there was nothing. I returned my knife to my bags and tried to get some sleep.

......................

I often didn't have dreams back in Stable 41. Or, maybe I just never remembered them. When I did finally fall asleep my dreams were strange. I was standing in Medical trying to turn Barrel's coat purple for the weekly party. Dad was there trying to get Magenta and Vicks to stop smacking flanks in the X-Ray room. Mom was in the corner juggling bottles of Sparkle-Cola while balancing a single bottle on her muzzle. The Overmare was lying on one of the hospital beds balancing a large purple and white rubber ball with her hindlegs.

Then we partied in the atrium like there was no tomorrow. There was roasted apples and rainbow paste for everypony along with cases and cases of cider. There was a clown in the center of the atrium jumping through a hoop that was floating mid-air. Then the clowns head exploded splattering blood and bits of brain matter over everypony. I turned to see the tall earth pony stallion with his super rifles. He looked straight into my eyes and said, "You need to wake up"

...................

I awoke to something poking me lightly in the face.

"No Dad I don't want to eat the candle, I don't care what it does." It poked me harder and I opened my eyes. Standing over me was a piss yellow unicorn mare in full combat armor. A scary looking scoped rifle floating by her side. A rifle that was pointing right between my eyes.

"Get up." she said. I did as I was told, slowly pulling me off the mattress. "Get dressed, grab your bags and don't bother trying anything. I got your gun and ammo already." I put my dress back on, Itchy bastard and pulled my saddlebags back on. She poked my flank with the rifle and said, "Now get moving."

She pointed me out the door and I followed her instruction. She directed me out into the early morning air and down the street past more collapsed buildings and even what looked like an old Pegasus vehicle crashed into the roof of a two story building. The sign read,"Crystal Empire History Museum" I stopped for a few seconds and got smacked in the back of the head for my trouble.

"Keep moving bitch!"

"Okay, damn..." I said rubbing the back of my head.We walked for a little over an hour from what from what my Pip-Buck told me. The buildings seemed to be getting taller the farther we went, and they weren't just blue any more. Some were light purple and a few were bright green. Shame all of them are wrecked. I thought. We reached an intersection in the road and the mare told me to take the left street. We followed the road for less than half a mile before she directed me down an alleyway between an old restaurant and a gun store. Weird combination. I thought.

At the end of the alley was a metal door with a slit near the top. The mare banged the stock of her rifle on the door three times. The slit opened and a pair of eyes stood behind them.

"What's the password?" a buck's deep voice said from the other side. The mare rolled her eyes and answered,

"Open the door dumbshit before I shoot you in the face right now." The slit closed and the door opened. Inside were several ponies in combat armor similar to the mare's. The room was dimly lit by flickering light on the ceiling that were sending out sparks, an old radio sat on a wooden crate in the corner playing a song by Sweetie Bell. Well at least these ponies have good taste. I thought as Sweetie Bell sang her beautiful song. There were several crates and other containers around the room that held weapons, packaged food and even a case of bottled water. The ponies themselves held assault carbines, combat shotguns and one stallion even had a missile launcher strapped to his back.

"I got her boss." the mare said to the stallion with the missile launcher. He stepped forward and looked up and down my body. I shrank back a little but the back tapped my back with her rifle. The stallion continued examining me for a few seconds before nodding.

"Alright, I'm pretty sure that you don't want to die. Am I right?" he asked. I nodded slowly and he smiled.

"Good. Misty saw what you did with them caravaners.I'm sure you wouldn't mind plying your skills assisting some good,honest mercenaries like us." he said gesturing to a flight of stairs at the back of the room. I stammered for a few moments before I could get the words out.

"You...you need my help?" The stallion scowled at the word 'help' and I said, "Why didn't you just ask?The whole abducted at gunpoint thing wasn't really necessary you know." the other ponies laughed and the buck with the missile launcher smiled coyly.

"I'm so sure. Now get up there before I change my mind and kill you right now." He said pulling the missile launcher's straps tighter on his back with his teeth.

"Okay.." I squeaked, then promptly trotted to the stairs. When I reached the top it felt like the blood had drained from my body. There were two ponies lying on moldy old sleeping bags that were coated in blood. A brown stallion who's hindleg appeared broken in two different places, and a blue coated mare that had thick bloody bandages covering her chest.

"Sweet Celestia. What the hell happened?" I asked.The mare behind me pushed me further into the room and said,

"We got into a little spat with a group of talons yesterday." I looked at her blankly and she groaned. "Talons are griffon mercenaries.They've been coming in from down south taking our contracts. Damn crows." she muttered. "Now get to it! I saw you heal that filly, make with the healing sweetheart." I scowled and examined the stallion's broken leg. It had been dislocated at the joint and the metatarsal bone was broken. I dropped my bags on the floor then surrounded his leg in my magic and smiled at the stallion.

"I need you to try to hold still, this is going to hurt." the buck nodded and put a strap from his uniform between his teeth before nodding. "One...two...three!" I said with a jerk, jamming the dislocated joint back into it's proper alignment. He would have screamed if not for the belt in his mouth. I gave him a shot of Med-X and turned my attention to the mare. She may have internal bleeding from the look of the bloodstains. After realigning the joint I braced his leg against a board I found on the floor and re-broke his bone. If I left it the way it was it wouldn't heal right. I took the board and used it to make a impromptu split. I used the belt the buck used to keep from screaming and cut it into three pieces, then used it to strap the board to his leg keeping the bone straight.

"Okay, your good." I said simply before turning to the mare. The buck looked at his leg and gingerly moved it. He winced but it he'd be up and walking in a week or two. I removed the bandages and gasped. There were several long gouges on her chest,they were deep, and had turned yellowish purple.

"Oh...shit" I turned to the mare with the rifle."I'm going to need more supplies." I only had a little alcohol left and one healing potion wouldn't do it. And, I have to admit, I didn't want to use too much of my own supplies if I could help it. She pointed the rifle between my eyes.

"You're a unicorn. Just magic her better already"I smacked the rifle out of my face and yelled,

"I can't purge the infection with magic. I don't know how! Now get me a bottle of whiskey, some healing potions if you have them and some magical bandages. Or you can just shoot us both because she'll be dead in a few days anyway!" the mare stared at me in shock, two stallions from downstairs came up the stairs their weapons drawn. The mare turned to them,

"You heard her, right?" she asked and they nodded in response.

"Go get it then" she said picking floating her rifle off the floor. I was a little stunned but satisfied none the less.When they returned with what I asked for I removed pulled out my scalpel and forecips and got to work. After giving her the last of my Med-X and cleaning the wound with what was left of my rubbing alcohol and some Wild Pegasus whiskey I removed the diseased flesh and tried to save as much of it as I could. Whatever made these injuries was razor sharp but thankfully they didn't pierce the mare's ribs or hit any vital organs. Likewise the infection didn't reach her internal organs. After cleaning the wound again I gave her all three healing potions and watched the more serious injuries heal. I was going to finish with the healing bandages but decided to try something. I remembered the healing spell that Dad taught me and my horn glowed brightly. I strained, my magic knitting the skin back together over her chest. It took all the strength I had just to close the skin over the wounds. No wonder we always used stitches in 41. I thought, panting with sweat pouring down my face. The mare looked at her chest with a look of disbelief.

"You...you should be fine," I said between breaths. "I think you should rest for a day but other than that your healed. As for him" I said pointing a hoof at the stallion. "It'll be a week or maybe two before he'll be able to walk around normally though." The mare with the rifle scowled and called for her boss down the stairs.

"What's is it Misty?" He asked and the mare pointed at the stallion.

"He'll be out of it for a week or more at best."she seemed put out by this and her boss seemed to agree. "He's useless like this." The stallion nodded and pulled a revolver from a holster on his right foreleg.

"Wait, Captain I can still fight I..." he was interrupted by the Captain's bullet going through his skull. I stared in shock as the buck fell limply to the floor, blood and pieces of brain stuck to the wall behind him. I just sat there, my mouth hanging open, unable to say a word. What was the point of me helping him...if they were just going to kill him anyway?

The stallion pointed at the mare I'd just healed and yelled,

"Next time kill the damn griffon before it gets too close! Now back to your post!" The mare quickly scrambled down the stairs with a quick, "Yes, sir!"

"Misty, get back to your post as well. Keep an eye out for more of the birds." the rifle mare saluted and went to the stairs, while the other mare went down she continued onto the next flight going to the higher floors. I was left alone with buck and he seemed to realize this. He stepped closer to me and smiled.

"Well it looks like we have some time to ourselves little nurse. I tell ya, I've always liked the look of the mares in those old Ministry posters." He unbuckled his armor and it fell from his body leaving his torso naked. I backed up as far as I could but my back was against a wall.

"St...stay away from me you.." I stammered. He smiled devilishly and chuckled.

"No, no. none of that. We need to get to know each other." he licked his lips and oh, Goddess's I could see his...hardness. I frantically looked around and my eyes caught my saddlebags my horn began to glow and he smacked me hard across the face. I flipped and landed on my stomach and I felt him on top of me.I desperately reached out with my magic and gripped the handle of my knife from my saddlebags.  Just as I felt the flap on my dress open when I stabbed the blade into the buck's neck. A few seconds later his limp body fell to the side of me and I got to my hooves trying my best not to shake. I looked down at the stallion and the growing pool of blood seeping from his neck.

I just killed somepony... I sat down hard on the floor and just stared at him for a while. One thought after another racing through my mind. I killed somepony...he was about to rape you! But I killed somepony!I... I am healer it's my job to help ponies not kill them! After a couple minutes of panic I managed to reign in my thoughts and look at the situation.

There were several other ponies here, and any one of them could kill me. (My gaze shifted to the dead buck in the other corner, his blood flowing down the wall) If anypony from the bottom floor came up here I was fucked (Maybe literally) and if the rifle mare decided to come down from her post she'd definitely kill me. I retrieved my saddlebags and returned all my tools and other supplies to them. I floated out Sacrifice Looks like rifle mare wasn't that thorough. And returned the baton to my bags. Then I started looking for a way out of here but it looked like I was stuck. Short of jumping out a two story window I didn't have many options.

"Hey where's Auto?" I heard a voice call from downstairs. Oh,shit!  I opened the knife and stepped back as I heard hoofsteps coming up the stairs. When the blue mare I had healed entered the room, wearing combat armor and floating an assault rifle by her side. Her eyes widened as she saw her boss lying on the floor in an increasingly puddle of vomit ridden foam leaking from his mouth. She looked from her dead boss to me and back again before closing her eyes and shaking her head. She stepped forward and I raised Sacrifice but before I could stick the blade into her neck she strapped her rifle to her side and said,

"I'm sure he didn't give you a choice. He's done the same with every other mare we've come across." I paused mid strike and she sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you, but the others will. I'll see if I can..." she paused and put a hoof to her left ear and she went pale. "Oh fuck!" She pulled out her carbine and put a hoof on my shoulder. I raised the knife and aimed for her neck but she didn't try to attack me.

"We need to go, now!" she ran to the stairs and when I didn't follow she scowled. "Dammit doc we got talons incoming! This will be our only chance to get out of here without getting killed by the rest of the squad!" when I still didn't move she grabbed my dress with her teeth and dragged me to the window. She pointed to the skies and there were over a dozen griffons flying in formation towards the building. From the floor above us several guns began to fire. The blue mare let me go and ran to the stairs. This time I followed. If she was this scared of them then I didn't want them anywhere near me.

We ran up three flights, passing over a dozen ponies who were shooting out of the windows and who ducked for cover as bullets peppered the sides of the building. I've been here for less than an hour and I've seen four ponies die. I thought as we moved passed two dead mares on the top floor. When we reached the roof I immediately regretted coming with her. The roof had almost no cover and the griffons were spraying side of the building. From their height they couldn't possibly miss us. I heard a ridiculously loud shot that reminded me of Stable 41. One of the griffons screeched and fell down to the ground several streets north of the building we were on. The remaining griffons saw us and just like I thought they started shooting.

"Come on!" the blue mare yelled as she pushed me towards the edge. Several floors below us the street was littered with debris and skeletons while the building opposite us had a large hole in the roof. Before I could protest she pushed me off the edge and we plummeted towards the opposite building. I landed spread eagle on an old queen sized bed and bounce into a wall. The blue mare missed the bed and rolled to her hooves. But she overshot it and hit the wall near me.

I groaned and sat up, my vision was blurred and it felt like the world was spinning around me. The mare took the fall better than I did but her mouth was bleeding from her face plant. As my vision returned to normal and the world stopped spinning I shakily got to my hooves and smacked her across the face. Hard.

"What the fuck!? Would it have been too much to ask for you to give me some warning before you throw me off a fucking building?!" she covered my muzzle with a hoof and pushed me to the opposite wall.

"Be quiet!" she said, her voice full of urgency and fear. I heard the beating of large wings close by but it only lasted a few moments before it ended. The gunfire reached a new fervor as the griffons and the ponies continued their fight. I even heard an explosion and somepony (or griffon) cry out.

The blue mare released me from the wall and started for a door on the other side of the room. When she reached the doorway she looked over her shoulder and asked,

"You coming?" I nodded and followed her. She seemed to know the building, following a path through large holes in the floor and collapsed ceilings to get us to the lower floors. We stopped for a moment in an old bedroom to rest. I hadn't noticed before but there was a decal of a sun and crescent moon on her chest piece. Unlike the rest of the building (which I believe was some sort of apartment complex) this room was reasonably intact. The bed was covered in dust but didn't have any holes or stains on the mattress. There was a safe on the wall with the a crowbar stuck in the drywall next to it, and there was even a terminal sitting on the desk. I went to the terminal and was disappointed to see it was locked. I didn't have the slightest idea how to unlock a terminal so I asked the blue mare. She shrugged and suggested I looked through the desk.

I did, and was pleasantly surprised to see somepony had written the password on the cover of an old comic book. Sword Mares! The cover was a mare in armor that exposed her flank holding a sword while a buck cowered behind her. I giggled at the picture and after typing in the code tossed it over to blue, who was looking at me like I was insane for giggling like a filly after being thrown off a building.

The terminal didn't have anything interesting in it. There was an old newsletter about Prince Shining Armor ordering several new forts to be made on the edges of the city and a few private messages. Most of them were about mundane things like trips to the spa and somepony almost having an orgasm from seeing Princess Cadence at said spa. One looked kind of interesting so I opened the file and read it.

"Hey Topaz it's Harmonia, I just got hired at the M.A.S. Hub, I told you I'd nailed the interview. I'll be starting tomorrow, as long as those damn 'Peace Ponies' don't try to storm the place again. You'd think with the guards being cleared to shoot they'd knock that shit off but what can you do? Anyway just letting you know that I got the job and I really appreciate you giving me the recommendation. I just hope that they put me on an interesting project. I may not be a unicorn but I know more about geology and Crystals than anypony they've probably had. I'll make sure to keep you posted. Anyway, thanks again. -H"

Huh. Sounds like nopony likes the peace ponies. After going through the other messages (all spa talk) I used the terminal to open the safe and was pleased to find a box of small shotgun shells, a Radaway potion and few bits. I pocketed the items from the safe and after the blue mare made sure the hallway was clear we continued to make our way to the bottom floor. After a few minutes of silence I asked,

"What's your name by the way?"she was silent but only for a moment.

"Azure. What about you, doc?"

"My name is Silver Heart." It didn't take us long to get to the bottom floor. I managed to pick up some more useful supplies in a collapsed bathroom. Some healing bandages and a tin of Mint Als, Party time variety. Once we got out onto the street I looked back towards where the fighting was still raging on. I couldn't see any griffons in the sky, and I guessed they must of landed to take cover.

We followed the road through the decaying ruins for maybe a mile, trying to put as much distance between us and the battle; before stopping outside an old diner. I sat down and leaned against the wall of the diner, looking back towards the battle. The gunfire had lessened somewhat but it still sounded pretty furious. My stomach rumbled and Azure looked at me from where she was sitting. "Hungry, huh?" she asked smirking.

"Eyup." I replied pulling out the bundle of apples I got from the well...Apples. I took a bite and tossed one to Azure, who almost dropped it. She sniffed the fruit and started eating. After she finished her apple she pulled her rifle off her side and a small oil can. I watched in fascination as she took the rifle completely apart and began cleaning the inner pieces. She noticed me watching her and she smiled.

"I'd like to thank you doc. If you hadn't come along I might be dead on the floor with Captain Auto and that idiot Caramel." she smiled and began reassembling the rifle.

"Why did you jump with me?" I asked, causing her to stop and raise an eyebrow at me. "What I mean is, weren't those ponies your friends?" She burst out laughing and fell back on her back.

"Oh...oh, Goddesses! Friends! Ha! Shit that is funny." she caught my questioning gaze and explained. "They weren't my friends. I joined up with them a couple weeks ago for the caps. I tell ya, the caps you get working with the Gunners are real good. Probably the only thing I'll miss. But Auto was a vicious, raping bastard. Thanks for killing him." Caps? Gunners? When I voiced my confusion she raised an eyebrow.

"I'm from a Stable." I explained.

"Oh. Alright, that makes more sense then. The Gunners are a group of soldiers for higher. Or they call themselves soldiers anyway. Their really just a bunch of raiders with better weapons and armor. You know what that monster Auto was capable of." I shuddered at the thought of that bastard on top of me. "Anyway, I've been trying to slip away for about a week now but after I got gored by that griffon I didn't have much of a choice. Good thing you fixed me up or old Auto would have blown my brains out." she bumped my shoulder with a grin. I didn't return it

.

"Why did he kill him?" I asked. She blinked in confusion for a moment before answering.

"You mean Caramel?" I nodded. "Auto killed Caramel because he would be no good in a fight with his leg like that. The Gunners don't do weakness. He would have slowed the squad down and risked the lives of the rest us because we'd have to carry him and his equipment. To Auto he was nothing but dead weight." she sadly. I didn't press further. She returned to putting her rifle back together and when she was done she slapped in a clip and aimed at a sign on the other side of the street. "Blam!" she said pretending to pull the trigger. "We should get going. If any of those bastards are still alive they'll be looking for us. Then again maybe the Talons just killed them all and we can be done with it but I'm not taking any chances." she turned to me, "Where are you headed anyway?"

"Gem city" I replied. She whistled as she stood up and pulling on her bags.

"Now there's a place to go! Mind if I tag along? I didn't exactly have a set destination planned when we jumped except for the bed. And I missed." I looked her over. She was a mare in full combat armor who was armed and knew how to use her weapon. It was either very smart or very, very, stupid to travel with her. But if she wanted to kill me she could have done it a hundred times by now. Why not?

"Sure. Better than traveling alone." as an after thought I added. "What did you mean by caps?"

...................

Traveling through the wastes with another pony was a lot less depressing than when I was alone. And Azure seemed to be enjoying my company as well. She told me about how she grew up in the southwest of the Crystal Wastes collecting salvage with her parents. They had died about a year before and since her usual salvage territory was taken over by raiders she decided to join up with the Gunners at Princess Plaza. (an old radio station where the Gunners were stationed.)

"At first I thought about joining up with the Auxiliary but they don't pay much." She said as she shot a giant cockroach the size of a dog a few yards up the street from us.

"The Auxiliary?" I asked.

"Stable ponies don't know nothing," she laughed, and explained. "The Auxiliary are a group of ponies who try to protect settler ponies and scavengers from raiders and monsters. They provide guards for caravaners and small settlements free of charge, but it's kind of custom for the settlers to spare them some food, or medicine or caps. They take any and all volunteers and they're actually kinda cool, but the Gunners dropped a smack down on them just a few months ago around this area. I haven't heard much but I think they're trying to regroup." I mulled that over for a moment. Ponies who were helping just to help them? It sounded so different from what the rest of the ponies I'd seen so far in the Crystal Wasteland.

"They sound like my kind of ponies" I said looking through the windows of an old barber shop. Azure chuckled at that.

"I'm sure they do. Maybe you can join up. They have an office in Gem City maybe you should check it out when we get there. I seriously doubt they'd say no to a trained medic. How'd you learn the trade anyway?" she asked pointing her rifle around the corner before going forward.

"I was a medical pony back in Stable 41. My dad taught me all I know about healing. I'm sure the Auxiliary would rather have him, he could have healed you and Caramel with just his magic if he wanted to." I felt my ears droop at the thought of him. I'd stopped paying attention to where I was going and bumped head first into Azure's rump. "Crap! Sorry, Azure."

"It's alright," she said, rubbing her rear. "You okay?" she asked. I hesitated at first but I figured that if she told me her story I could tell her mine.

"My Stable was...attacked. These strange ponies with weapons that turned you to ash stormed the place and killed everypony. Well, except me.They stripped the Stable of anything useful, they even took my dad's body. And then they left. After I pulled myself together and grabbed a few things I left to look for them." She looked over her shoulder sadly.

"I'm sorry. Nopony should have to see their home destroyed like that." she paused for a moment, rubbing her chin in thought before asking, "You said these ponies were strange. How?" I explained how they all looked alike and what their leader looked like. Slowly, an expression of horror crossed over her face. "Are you sure? I you absolutely sure that's what he looked like?" I nodded and she facehoofed. "Sweet fucking Celestia. Silver Heart the last thing you want to do is go after them. That was a Syndicate agent!" I stared blankly in confusion. I didn't know what the Syndicate was but from the look on her face they were bad news.

"Look Silver Heart. My advice is you stop looking" I gasped and tried to argue but she ignored me. "The Syndicate is the most vicious and evil group of ponies in the Crystal Wasteland. If their even real ponies. You don't want to fuck with them. That guy you saw, his name is Bounty, and he is a fucking monster! You thought Auto was bad. Bounty killed off a whole platoon of the Gunners last year when they tried to take control of an old energy plant. He hunted down their families for fuck's sake! And those weird ponies, they were Androids doc. Fucking Androids!" Again I stared blankly. "Dammit. Androids are basically robots that look like ponies. They're heartless, soulless machines that will kill anyone and anything that gets in their way. So for the sake of your health and happiness, when we get to Gem City just ask for a job at the clinic. You'll live a lot longer that way." she looked around cautiously. She was just yelling but earlier she impressed the importance of trying to be quiet when traveling through the Wastes. Better to avoid monsters.

No matter what she said; I couldn't just stop looking for him. Even though this guy Bounty did sound like a damn monster alright. He hunted down and killed the Gunners families? I shuttered at the thought. I knew what kind of damage that his rifle could do. He shot me through a fucking wall for Goddess's sake! After Azure was convinced that her tirade hadn't alerted anything dangerous to our position she returned to me.

"Trust me doc. You don't want to fuck with them. You leave them alone and they generally leave you alone. Simple as that."I scowled at her darkly and she took a step back as I advanced on her.

"My Stable didn't do anything to them, and they had no problem killing my friends and family. When we get to Gem City I'm going to keep looking. You can do whatever you want." I stepped past her looking at my Pip-Buck. It was still a couple days to Gem City on hoof. Damn!

We walked in silence for the next few hours. The only break in the silence was the sound of far off gunshots and the occasional scream. That and the occasional Sprite Bot. I waited for Watcher to show up and talk to me but it seemed he was watching somewhere else at the moment because the little winged robots just bobbed along playing their music. Finally, Azure spoke.

"I'm sorry about earlier." I scowled ahead but decided not to be mean about it.

"It's alright." we were silent for a few minutes more when she asked,

"Do you get the radio with that Pip-Buck?" I looked over my shoulder and nodded. "Could you put on DJ Pon 3?"I blinked and she showed me the proper radio station to tune to. A song I recognized as one of Sapphire Shores. We enjoyed the music for a couple minutes and when the song ended the voice of a charming voice of a stallion burst from my Pip-Buck.

"Hello children! How goes the Wasteland? Ha,ha! I thought so, sunshine and rainbows... Oh wait, no sunshine? No rainbows, and the chance of bloody disembowelment and decapitation? That sounds right. Anyhoo... it's time for the news! Well my little ponies do I have a bit of a tale for you today. As you know, I try to get tabs on the goings on of the Equestrian Wasteland as best I can. But between Manehatten, New Appaloosa, Trottingham, Vanhoover, ecetera, ecetera, I don't always catch everything. Which is why your tips are always welcome. The story I'm about to tell you is a doozey children. Apparently that old vault by Emerald Valley in the Crystal Empire still has some ponies. I have it on good authority that a Stable Dweller emerged just over a day ago" I stopped dead in my tracks and this time Azure walked head first into my rump

"What, you may be asking is so special about that?Well this mare is a bit different from the status quo. She made her way to the ruins of the small village of Pristine before coming across a family of caravaners. They had a little filly who'd recently been injured and she offered help despite the fact that the guard tried to blow her head off. She healed the little filly, and continued on her way without asking for payment of any kind. That, my little ponies is what makes me do my job. Because despite all the evil bastards, and monsters in this world, there are still some good folks. This one goes out to you Healer. Sweetie Belle singing about the one truth of the Wasteland. This is DJ Pon 3, bringing you the truth no matter how bad it hurts"

I was so stunned that azure had to knock on my heard three times before I said anything.

"How did he know that! That was only yesterday, how could he possibly know about that?" I turned to Azure and she shrugged.

"I don't know. But DJ Pon 3 always knows what's going on. He broadcasts out of Tenpony way down south in Manehatten. But hey, you just got a shout out from the DJ himself! Who cares how he knows."

I spent the half hour trying to think of someway that DJPon 3 could have found out about me. Maybe Granny Honeycrisp told him? Nah, she was going to Vanhoover, and it would take at least a few weeks to get to Manehatten by hoof even if she wanted to tell him. Maybe he could hack into the Sprite bots like Watcher? Or maybe he was Watcher! I was pulled out of my reverie by Azure tapping me on the shoulder. I looked at her and she crossed her hoof over her neck, pointing at my Pip-Buck. I turned off the radio and activated the Pip-Buck's EFS or Eyes Forward Sparkle. It was a magical spell in the Pip-Buck that allowed you to pinpoint living things and determine if they were hostile or not.

Directly ahead and to the left of us was a single blue bar on my screen Blue means good right? I thought, trying to remember. We cautiously made out way towards the corner of a collapsed bookstore. Azure poked her head around the corner and muttered,

"Oh no." She nodded to me and looked around the bend. Lying limply on the remains of an old armored vehicle was an injured griffon.

Level Up! Your knowledge of equine anatomy gives you extra insight into your opponents weakness's. +5% damage to critical hits and +10% chance of getting a critical hit in V.A.T.S.