Discovery Horizon I

Typical Bullet. The slightest hint of a firefight sends him skittering underneath the nearest rock, leaving me to fight our attackers by myself. But once it's over, he skitters out and swoops in like a buzzard to collect the leftovers. As I scoured the pockets of the now dead raiders that had attacked us, I noticed my companion had failed to return. I found myself unsurprised as I figured Bullet had fallen asleep beneath the safety of whatever rock he had crawled under. The air around me was heavy with silence as I added ammunition, healing potions, caps and other items to my inventory.

"Skull! You'll never guess what I just found!" A familiar voice called out. I turned around to see my companion galloping up to me with a shit-eating grin spread from ear to ear.

"While you were kicking some ass, I found somepony's hidden loot stash," He said with a giddy laugh as he tossed me a weathered bag, "I think those raiders were after it. The stuff inside looks pretty important. Or should I say valuable?"

I opened the bag and examined the contents. Inside were several Dash inhalers, bottles of Buck and tins of Mint-als, as well as some Stampede. There were also a few healing potions, magical potions, RadSafe and RadAway. There was a slip of paper tucked between two tins of Mint-als. I pulled it out and put the bag on the ground. I opened the slip of paper and read its contents:

"If you're reading this, it must mean you assholes actually lived to see another day and followed directions. Somehow you idiots can read, but luckily you're stupid enough to not how to write. So, just because I know how you losers are, I wrote down the contents of the bag (see the list below) and how much of everything there is so you can't come after me and say I didn't give you all the I owed. If you're reading this and you aren't Slasher or Dice, today is your lucky day, and mine too hopefully. If you have this bag, it must mean Slasher and Dice are dead or have totally forgotten about it. If you ever come across those two miserable, pathetic low-lives, put a bullet between their eyes for me.

-Dash inhalers x12

-Buck bottles x9

-Mint-als tins x9

-Stampede x4

-Magical bandages x10

-Healing potions x10

-RadSafe x8

-RadAway x8

-Caps x500"
"The contents are certainly valuable, Bullet," I said as I shouldered the bag "and I think you're right about those raiders being after them."

"What did that piece of paper say?" Bullet asked.
"Whoever wrote it owed these two ponies named 'Slasher' and 'Dice' the things inside," I replied "the 500 caps that were supposed be inside are missing though. Know anything about that?"

"I might have taken just a small portion of it," He said, giving me a nervous grin and chuckle.
"A small portion?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Hehe, or maybe it was more like... all of it." He said as he rubbed the back of his head. Typical Bullet, again. There's no stopping him when he sees something he wants, even if I tell him to leave it be. One stern look completely changes his mind, though.
"Put it back. We're going to do one of two things: Return the bag to its owner or give it to somepony who can actually use it," I said, swiping some feathers out of my face.

"You're kidding right, Skull? For the love of Luna, please tell me you're kidding!" Bullet protested "As much as I hate to say it, we can sell the Stampede, Dash, and Mint-als. Even some of the Buck! But the potions, RadAway, and caps?? We can't get rid of that!"
"Bullet-"

"I know, I know: 'There's always another wastelander in need somewhere. Their needs come before our own, and it's our duty to help them in any way we can'," Bullet recited in a mocking tone "I don't know why I'm complaining, I should be used it to by now. But sometimes we could really use the stuff we earn or find. Sure, it's good to help those who can't help themselves, but has it ever crossed your mind that we can't help everypony living in the wastes?"

"Bullet..." I sighed, finding myself at a loss for words.
"You're the boss, though, and what you say is the law," Bullet grumbled as he trotted passed me "let's just get going."

"If it makes you feel better, we'll keep the potions, bandages, RadSafe, RadAway, caps and a few bottles of Buck," I said as I followed after him "we'll sell the rest and buy the upgrades for my saddle gun. I'll even buy you a better sniper rifle if I can find one. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great to me, boss," Bullet said. As we walked through the barren wasteland, my mind began to wander to when Bullet and I first met.

It happened about two years ago after I wandered the Equestrian wasteland with a group called the Knights of Iron Glory that had been reduced to corpses and after I lost my husband. The Knights of Iron Glory had been primarily made of ponies, but there had been quite a few griffons too. The other griffons and I were the heavies. Covered beak to tail in heavy improvised armor and equipped with the finest of saddle guns, we charged into battle and put a big dent in enemy numbers, then backed off and let the Cavalry do their thing. The Knights' biggest enemy were slavers. Our number one enemy had been this slaver group under the command of a stallion named JerEcho Blues. Our leader, an alicorn mare named Serendipity, had been mortal enemies with JerEcho long before she founded the Knights of Iron Glory (I had later learned JerEcho and Serendipity were siblings).

I had proudly been a part of the Knights for seven years. I fought alongside some of the bravest, fiercest and kind-hearted griffons and ponies the Wasteland had ever known. Serendipity had been the one group member I admired the most. She had been the bravest, toughest and most kind-hearted out of us all. No matter how much it would set her back, Serendipity had always gone out of her way and beyond to help any wastelander she could. No leader is without their second in command, and no one out of the rest of the Knights had fit the job better than Kimono. Though she preferred to stay on and lead from the sidelines, Kimono had been almost as good of a fighter as Serendipity had been, and just like our leader, she had a big heart. Everypony who had been a part of the Knights of Iron Glory were loyal, but I strongly believed that during her lifetime, nopony had been more loyal to Serendipity than Kimono.

When I had first joined the Knights of Iron Glory, my mentor had been a griffon named Blackjaw. My mentor soon became my closest friend, and the one I trusted more than anypony else in the Knights of Iron Glory. Blackjaw was an older griffon, hardened by years of fighting. Blackjaw had been the commander of the Griffon Squadron. Another griffon named Cutthroat had been both her second in command and her husband. Cutthroat had been nowhere near as kind as his wife. Everypony had viewed him as a huge asshole, even Serendipity. More often than not, Blackjaw covered for him and his awful attitude, and almost always had apologized for it. Nevertheless, Cutthroat was a valued member of the Knights of Iron Glory and one of the best fighters in the Griffon Squadron.

After my second year of being a part of the Knights of Iron Glory, I had begun seeing a unicorn stallion named Maximus. He had been such a gentlecolt. Though not rare in the Knights of Iron Glory, gentlecolts were extremely hard to come by in other places of the Wasteland. Maximus would always come and visit me after training, and would often accompany me during breakfast, lunch, and dinner despite the fact the Griffon Squadron ate separately from and at different times than the Cavalry. The Squadron hadn't been forced to eat separately, it was more so that we had chosen to do so.

Maximus and I had been together until his untimely death. About a year and a half before his death, he had proposed to me and asked me to marry him. I had said yes, and one month later, we had our wedding. It hadn't been like the weddings depicted in a few of the Prewar books we had salvaged, but it was still something special. Our wedding day had been one of the best days of my life.

Two months later, JerEcho's army had launched a surprise on our headquarters stationed southeast of Neighagra Falls at the junction of Manehatten and Fillydelphia. We had lost a fourth of the Cavalry and Griffon Squadron in the initial attack. Blackjaw had been a part of those who died from the initial attack. After the initial attack, JerEcho's army had swarmed and overran our headquarters. We had tried our best to take back the place we called our home, but after losing another two-fourths of the Calvary and another fourth of the Griffon Squadron, the remaining members of the Knights of Iron Glory fled north into the mountains. A great deal of us had been wounded. Serendipity, Kimono and a few others had made desperate attempts to save our wounded, but many of them passed on within an hour after fleeing.

After holding a mass funeral for our dead, the remaining Knights of Iron Glory had headed deeper into the mountains. Serendipity had been broken at this point. She had tried to hide it, but we could all see it. We were all broken, though. We had lost those we called family, lost those we shared both good and bad times with, those we had cared deeply about. Blackjaw's death had been what really shattered me, and the deaths of those who I had been proud to call my family had been like pouring salt into a wound. As we hid away in the mountains, I had been grateful that Maximus was still alive and with me.

Four weeks had passed and we had still been hiding in the mountains, hoping and praying JerEcho would back off or get bored with us and go back to whatever cesspool he crawled out from. Another week had passed, then another and another and another, and eventually, we had been hiding for about three months. At that point, we had assumed JerEcho had gotten bored with us and let us be. We had gotten used to living in the mountains and enjoyed our lives up there. The Knights of Iron Glory had not yet fallen.

Another four months passed, further solidating our assumptions about JerEcho. Time had healed our broken spirits. We still mourned our dead, but we had long since learned to move on. I had felt bad for Cutthroat. After we moved to the mountains, nopony could get him to speak a word and he hardly ate, but after a while, he seemed to get better. Maximus and I had often checked on him. From time to time, we had occasionally stayed the night and kept him company.

Our peace and quiet had lasted one month longer. Our scouts reported to Serendipity that JerEcho and his army of slavers were marching up the mountain. Serendipity and Kimono prepared us for what would probably be our final battle with JerEcho. With the Knights of Iron Glory being holed up in the mountains for so long, we had felt like had the advantage, so when JerEcho finally arrived, we were ready.

As he approached our camp, JerEcho had demanded that we stand down. He had wanted to talk to his older sister. Guarded by Kimono and two other members of the Cavalry, Serendipity had agreed to talk to JerEcho.

"Surrender, and I promise you that you and your little ragtag group of weary soldiers will live to see another day. Several, several hard working days, in fact," JerEcho had said to Serendipity with a disgusting smug grin spread across his face.

"The Knights of Iron Glory will NEVER surrender to the likes of you, Echo Blues," Serendipity had said with a bold, determined look plastered to her face.

"It's JerEcho Blues now, dear sister. The Jer makes it better," He had sneered "and I do believe you want to rethink your statement, Serendipity."

"No. I said what I meant, JerEcho, and I meant what I said," Serendipity had sneered back "you leave me no choice, brother... Knights, attack!!"

Within moments, JerEcho's army and the Knights of Iron Glory had been neck and neck in a final battle. At first, it had seemed we truly did have an advantage over JerEcho and his army, but slowly we had realized that the Knights of Iron Glory would not come out on top. JerEcho had seemed to be several steps ahead of us. An hour passed, and the Knights were down from thirty Cavalry to nine and twenty-five Griffon Squadron to six. Serendipity and Kimono had still been alive at that point. Maximus and Cutthroat had been too. Then it happened. Our greatest enemy attacked us with his greatest weapon. One hit from a Balefire Egg Launcher, and Maximus, Serendipity, Kimono, two other griffons and I were all that had remained of the Knights of Iron Glory.

Maximus, Kimono and one of the other griffons had been badly injured from the attack. Serendipity did what she could for them while the other griffon and I held off JerEcho's army. At that point, we had retreated into the forest and used the trees as cover. Maximus had been safely out of harm's way on my back. His warm body had clung to mine tightly. I remembered feeling his blood stain and seep into the feathers of my neck and the fur of my lower back. Serendipity had carried Kimono on her back too. The other griffon had followed our lead and carried the other remaining one on her back as well.

I remembered shouting over the gunfire to my husband that he would be okay, that we would make it out alive. That would soon only be true for me. JerEcho himself had now charged at us. Behind him were a few melee fighters armed with machetes, crowbars and barbed wire bats. JerEcho had armed himself with an electric, serrated sword with the skull of some poor bird mantled onto the handle for decoration. He and Serendipity exchanged a few foul words before both leaders ordered another attack. I had watched as the majority of the fighters went after the other two griffons, and more had joined the fight. I remembered my injured husband making feeble attempts to help me fight off our attackers.

I remembered at some point during the forest fight, Serendipity and I had begun to fight side by side. It had felt like an honor to do so, despite the fact that we both were more than likely to face death soon. I remembered Serendipity's final words as clear as day;

"Take Kimono and get the three of you to safety as quickly as you can, Skull," She had said "do not forget what happened here today, or months ago when we were first attacked. Do not forget those we have lost to JerEcho. Do not forget me, but most importantly, Skull, do not forget the Knights of Iron Glory, our values, and beliefs. Now go! I'll hold them off for as long as I can!"

With that, I had Kimono placed on my back. I had used my wings to keep them both in place as I took off as fast I could away from the battle, away from Serendipity. I remembered stopping and looking back at Serendipity as she fought bravely to keep JerEcho and his army away as I fled. I had watched her fight until her final moment when her own flesh and blood separated her head from the rest of her body.

I remembered turning and continuing to flee from JerEcho the moment Serendipity's head had left her body. There had been nothing different about losing another comrade, but something about Serendipity's death had made me want to stop and hurl every ounce of vial I had in my stomach onto the forest floor, then fall over, curl into a ball, sob and give up. If it had not been for the fact that I was being chased by ruthless slavers and that I had both my injured husband and the Knights' second in command on my back, I probably would've done so. I remembered going as fast as I could away from JerEcho, and for a long while I had been able to hear the shouts and cheers of JerEcho and his slavers. It wasn't until I had cleared the forest and exited the mountains and had crossed the tracks that I no longer heard JerEcho and his army.

I remembered I had kept running as fast as I could manage with a heavy saddle gun and two full grown unconscious ponies on my back, not once stopping to take a break and catch my breath. It wasn't until I had reached a small make-shift town a few miles outside of Fillydelphia that I had stopped running. I remembered I had collapsed from exhaustion and my injuries just outside of the little town. A few ponies had rushed over to me and my companions and brought us inside one of their shacks. Their local doctor made an attempt to examine me first, but I had insisted until I was blue in the face that Maximus and Kimono needed to be treated as soon as possible. The doctor had done what she could for my husband and Kimono then tended to me.

After a few days of rest, I had been feeling back to normal, aside from the slight limp in my left back leg I now had. Maximus and Kimono had seemed to be getting better as well. A few weeks had passed, and it had seemed as if both Kimono and my husband were going to survive. I was told by the doctor the little town I had brought us to was called Cloverfield. It had been a quiet place and was only populated by about 20 ponies.

During my stay in Cloverfield, I had spent most of my time with the doctor and by my husband's side. Kimono's health had made a turn for the worst due to an underlying infection she had contracted after being injured by the blast caused by Balefire Egg. Within a few days of the infection setting in, Kimono had succumbed to it and passed away in her sleep. The doctor had helped me give her a proper burial just outside of the town. I had started losing hope after Kimono's death and had begun thinking that my husband would too soon pass away and leave me to be the last Knight of the Knights of Iron Glory.

Eventually, Maximus and I had ended up being in Cloverfield for about three and half months. My husband had a full recovery, only losing his right foreleg to a life-saving amputation, half his left back leg and leaving the right half of his face a bit disfigured from the battle with JerEcho. Once he had grown accustomed to the prosthetics the local blacksmith had made, Maximus and I left Cloverfield and set out to find recruits to join what was left of the Knights of Iron Glory.

Seven months passed, and Maximus and I had yet to find a single recruit. It seemed everypony was mostly concerned for themselves or whatever group they had already belonged to. We had met some nice ponyfolk residing in a place they called New Appleloosa. After hearing our story, a few had told us they would consider joining, but by the time we had left to visit other places, they had backed out.

Maximus and I had been doing well after leaving New Appleloosa. We had come to an agreement that we would remain the last members of the Knights of Iron Glory and find a place to settle and call home. Eventually, we had come to a small town called Ponyville. At first glance, it seemed quiet and empty, but we had quickly found out that was not the case. Raiders ambushed Maximus and I after we had passed by a large oak tree in the town. Raiders were nothing new to Maximus and I- and this particular group of raiders seemed to be the dumbest and most poorly coordinated bunch we had ever seen. The battle between us and those raiders seemed like it would be a short one, and we hadn't been proven wrong in any regards.

One grenade changed the entire tide of the battle, however. One grenade was all it had taken to take my husband from me. I remembered watching in horror as the shrapnel shredded my husband to pieces. I remembered watching his body hit the ground and hearing the raiders laugh and cheer. I remembered standing there, staring in horror and shock at my deceased husband. It wasn't until after a few bullets had found new homes inside me that my fight or flight instincts kicked in again. I remembered leaving my husband's corpse there for those raiders to plunder as I took to the sky and fled. I hated myself for leaving it behind.

I remembered roaming the wasteland for days after Maximus' death, still injured. That was when I finally met Bullet and owed him my life. He had found me shortly after I had begun to succumb to my wounds, collapsed on the ground in the middle of nowhere and bleeding out.

"Damn. You look you've been through hell. Here, drink this while I wrap your wounds." Those had been his first words to me. I remembered watching him wrap my bullet wounds with normal bandages while I chugged down a healing potion, and thanking him afterward. Bullet had made a make-shift camp and stayed by my side until I gained enough strength to walk again. During that time, he had told me about himself.

"Been a raider for my entire life up until a couple months ago," He had said with a slight country accent "guess you could say I was born and raised in the raider way life. My raider mother had been an alcohol and drug abuser for most of her life and she was near as useless as my father, who had been a horny sack of shit. Knocked up every mare he laid eyes on. He and my mother had sex and nine months later had me. If I hadn't had the change of heart I had a couple months ago, I would've ended up like them: dead."

"What made you change your mind?" I had asked him.

"Foals," He had replied "I had never seen or attacked a foal in my lifetime. When the raider party me and parents were a part of attacked this little town near Filly, I was tasked to round up all the foals, execute the weak ones and take the stronger ones with us when we left. While they slaughtered the townsfolk and plundered their houses, I found the foals holed up in a shack with the town's doctor. I busted the door down and trotted in, prepared to do as I was ordered.

I had my pistol out and ready to complete my task, but once I saw the petrified looks on the faces of those foals, I knew I couldn't bring myself to kill them. So, I let them go. I covered for them as they made their escape from the town. Told the gang's boss that they were nowhere to be found, that they must've bailed as soon as we attacked. He was pissed but didn't bother to make an attempt to go after them. I stayed behind, telling them I would catch up once I 'located where the foals went', but I never returned to them. After that, I decided I would help folks if I could instead of hurting them. I tried to find the doctor and foals too, hoping that I could lead them away from the gang's territory, but had no such luck."

"Did you catch the name of the town?" I had asked him.
"Think I remember hearing one of the raiders say it was called Cloverfield or some shit like that," He had replied.

"You helped kill those nice ponyfolk?" I had asked.

"No, I didn't harm a single pony from that town. Like I told you, miss, I was tasked with rounding up the kids. I was supposed to kill some of the children, and like I told you, I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I helped them escape and covered for them," He had replied "why? You knew those ponies?"

"Stayed there for almost four months with my husband," I had told him "the doctor did what she could for our companion Kimono, who unfortunately passed a few weeks after our arrival. My husband and I recovered from our injuries, though his were more serious than mine. We left when he was used to his new artificial limbs."

"Oh, damn. What brought Y'all to that quiet little town?" He had asked. I remembered giving him a quick summary of my past, the Knights of Iron Glory, our beef with JerEcho Blues, and how Maximus and I became the last Knights.

"Damn..." That had been all he was able to say. We had sat in silence a for a long while.

"Ahem... Well, this usually when I bid farewell to the folks I come across and help," He had said, breaking the silence "but I think it's time I stop wanderin' alone and get myself a companion. We pretty much have the same life goals... so... partners?"

"Partners," I had said, shaking his hoof. From that day on, Bullet and I had stuck together. Despite his candid goal of wanting to do good, Bullet had retained some aspects of his former raider life, like lying and wanting to keep everything shiny and valuable. But the more we had traveled together, the more I was able to bring those aspects down to a minimum.

"Hello? You there, Skull?" Bullet asked, snapping me back to reality "don't tell me you snuck some chems while I wasn't looking."

"I'm here, sorry," I replied, "I was preoccupied with my thoughts, and no, I didn't touch the chems."
"What were you thinking about?" He asked, "was it about me~?"

"Some of it, yeah, but not in the way you're implying," I replied, "I was just recalling how we met and what had led up to that point was all."

"You seem to think about that a lot," Bullet said, "especially here lately."
"I owe you my life," I said, "and what happened to the other Knights of Iron Glory still haunts me."

"I can imagine how horrible it was to watch your friends and husband die, but try to move on, Skull," Bullet said, "it's best not to dwell on the past."

"Yeah, you're right," I said.
"And don't worry about losing me. I'mma stick by your side 'til the day we die," He said with a big, toothy grin "we're partners in crime after all."