Fallout Equestria: Exiles

by Reddling Rain

Rating: mature
Tags: Crossover, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe, Narcotics, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Fetish, Suicide / Self Harm, Horror, Non-consensual, Adventure, Sex, Fallout, Profanity, Gore, Violence
Length: 49559

A Post-Post Fallout Equestria story, sex a half century+ after the main fic's events. A caravan struggles through dark metro tunnels outside of the NCR, contending with threats in the badlands around Equestria.

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria…

… After an era when friendship failed, light and hope were restored to the world. This new world still bore the scars of the old world, and change was sluggish in application. The ideals of The Stable Dweller offered an alternative to the violent and ignorant in the wasteland. But ideas are only as strong as their messengers. Just as quickly as she had appeared, The Stable Dweller vanished from the pages of history…

… It was not, as many hoped, the start of a new world. Another blood drenched chapter of history awaited the ponies of Equestria. The New Canterlot Republic became consumed with its own politics, and the budding power of the restored Equestria struggled to practice civics and make allies. One such potential ally was Stable City, which sat between the NCR and a great host that was slowly making its way out of the Equestrian badlands and the Wasteland unsaved by the Gardens of Equestria. Stable City, a community of sycophants and scientists ignoring the outside world and concerned only with themselves sat securely behind their wall, content to weather the coming storm. Life in Stable City and the badlands beyond however, was about to change.

Published 2019-01-22 20:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-05-08 19:25:00 UTC

Foreword

If you just want to skip to the story, please skip this chapter.

I just wanted to take a moment to section off some thoughts with you, as the author, and set some expectations.

I have long been fascinated by Fallout Equestria. While the start of the fic was not something I paid much attention to, it seems like it was wildfire once one of my friends touched it. Everyone was reading it. Everyone cared so much about this. "The greatest crossover ever!" so on and so forth. I couldn't get anyone to shut up about the thing.

And so I never, ever, touched the story.

And yet, I was entranced by it. The characters, the grey on grey morality of the situations. There wasn't much reason for me to read the story when everyone was telling me about it, and everyone would add in their own details, or leave some things out, or pick a side. Quite humorously, I realized around 2015 or 2016 that I wanted to write my own Fallout Equestria Fanfic. I didn't want to be gritty like Project Horizons, I didn't want to be "Fallout Equestria 2." I wanted to have my own story, in the same world, and I wanted to take a critical look at how actions have consequences.

During the same time that Fallout Equestria was still spreading, but had been finished, another piece of media came out, unrelated to my little pony and yet, perhaps the darkest drama on the airwaves right now; Bojack Horseman. I knew, immediately, that the storytelling of Fallout Equestria and the storytelling of Bojack had something in common. Something that you can't quite put your finger on, but yet, it's there. It makes the story compelling. Despite any humor, or any forward notions of not being dark as hell, the bright colours and humor are mockery. They are a distraction from what you know is lying right under the surface. Right behind any literature or any art, is the inherent pain that comes with existing. Yet, everything and everyone spends all of it's existence, struggling to just exist more. They crave this pain, and I want to explore why with this story.

If you read this foreword, thank you. I want to express that the views of characters in here, do not necessarily represent my views. The purpose of this story isn't to tell you "Littlepip did nothing wrong" or "ehh those other guys didn't get it quite right, here I'm a better writer I'll do better!" The purpose of this story is to set up what I think characters would look like in a world shaped by Littlepip and company (And some story elements from Blackjack's tale too).

I've not read Fallout Equestria or Project Horizons in their entity. I have read parts, and I've made sure to extensively use the wiki as well as draw upon what others have told me. Please don't hate me if some small details are wrong-- I'm explaining that away as historical inaccuracy. The entire point of this story is that, even if you threw the books of FO:E and FO:E:PH at ponies and screamed "This is what happened!" Not only would most of the populace not care to read such a long book, but they would also then begin to question it. Sort of like the Bible, and how every few hundred years someone seems to have a completely different opinion on it.

And so now, for something completely different. This story sets our ponies in a metro tunnel, rushing away from certain doom. Large parts of character's stories are told in extended flashbacks as they share stories on a caravan through the depths of the San Palomino Metro. Each "Act" of my story begins with a short scene, which will be covered near or at the end of the act. Breaking Bad gave me large influences in seeing how poetic this fast forward can be, and I wanted to see if I could emulate that sort of mystery into my story.

So with all of that said, I'll leave you to it. Please let me know what you think of the story in the comments, and I'll try to be as interactive as possible with my readers.

Chapter 1: Mile Marker 48

"We have to get her off the train, now!"

A metallic, gravelly voice rolled through the bloodstained gas mask of the Desert Ranger, Zena, her green lenses glinting in the darkness of the metro as the subway sped away from San Palomino Station. No less than fifteen of us were huddled together in the frontmost subway train, zipping along the rails towards the San Palomino trainyard. Each one of us was grimy, scared, and hungry, but we were alive, and we weren't slaves or strapped to a legion cross. We were alive and in almost complete darkness, save for the blue magic of my horn and my PipBuck's built in flashlight.

I found myself sitting there, conflict broiling in my chest as I stared at the iron door. I was well aware that on the other side of that door, somewhere on this train, was a bomb strapped to a filly. The Phoenix Legion had used a foal to plant a bomb on the train, and now that it had left the station, everypony fleeing San Palomino was in danger.

"We could try to disarm the bomb!" I found my voice. "Even if we throw her off the train, she could trigger the device. Hell we might set it off anyway even if she doesn't decided to detonate. "

"My trigger is quicker than that filly." Zena said, turning towards the door as the subway rounded a curve, causing her trench coat to kick around her like the Grim Reaper's shadow.

"We should just detach this train car and leave the rest behind. None of us know how to disarm that bomb." Scarlet Mist, a well dressed pegasus mare with a flower on her butt, blocked Zena's way. "I don't give a fuck about saving those leather faced peasants. If we detach this train car, we live. If we open this door, we all die. I'm not letting you through here."

I felt a ringing go through my ears as the room broke out into argument. For a moment I thought there was going to be some sort of stand off between Zena and Scarlet Mist, some sort of critical moment where one of the two personalities would clash and one would override the other. I was wrong. It all happened in a moment, I felt myself go blind, and then there was the screaming. Terrified screaming mixed with a train derailing from it's tracks. Behind us, the walls were collapsing inward, burying anypony still alive in a tomb. I guess that meant I got lucky. Because the only thing I could mentally comprehend was being thrown off my hooves and into the roof of the train car. The light of my horn went out, and then there was the screaming of terror and death.

That was the motto of the wasteland I knew. Screaming, and then silence.

This wasn't any different. I wasn't sure if I was screaming or not, but even if I had been I wouldn't have been able to hear myself over everyone else who was. No sooner had I finished comprehending that I had hit the ceiling than I found myself comprehending my face into the floor of the train car. The sounds of bodies slamming into each other and metal warping against centuries old brick all formed a mad cacophony that ended almost as soon as it had begun.

It was a moment before I collected myself. The entire world was a blitz of strange colours and shapes, all of them forming into one shape before morphing into something else entirely. Somewhere near me I could hear a dying pony gasping and crying out.

I pulled myself off the ground, aiming my PipBuck around to try and see the situation. The train car was slanted, turned up on it's backside. I could see other ponies shoving each other off of one another or scrambling to get out of the train in the darkness. Different obscenities filled the air as ponies cut themselves on broken glass in the dark. I myself was near the front, so I used my PipBuck light to scan the area in front of me as I began to crawl out of the train. The front of the train was resting on it's side, leaning downwards, nose into the now broken tracks.

The immediate area in front of me was governed by ripped up carpet, but directly in front of that was a small body blocking my path. I felt my heart flip as I crawled over to it, pulling the body over and looking at the terrified face of a young pony. He was young, barely older than a child but in no way a teenager yet. I looked him over and saw that although he looked physically unhurt, he was obviously shaken up. Using my magic, I levitated him towards me, half pulling him onto my back as I searched around for a way out. One of the train doors was facing the tracks, and the other required climbing up and onto the top of the train car to get out. Bracing the young foal, I began pulling myself up, using some railings to boost myself out and onto the top of the train car. Once I was free of the train I could hear the steady drip of water from nearby, accenting the complete darkness of the underground. I moved my flashlight around, watching some bugs scurry away from the light as I looked around for anypony else. I wasn't sure if I should be concerned I saw nopony, or relieved. If nopony was outside the train, that meant they had all stayed inside of it, and were probably safe. I shakily pulled myself up onto all fours, beginning to look for a path down when I noticed part of a pony below me. A young unicorn mare's eyes glinted from my flashlight, her mouth open and her jaw hanging loosely outwards. Her torso was missing, the middle of her spine and most of her ribcage had been forcibly torn off, thrown through the train and leaving a bloody set of intestines as entrails. I could see her heart still throbbing in her open chest, but they were slow, involuntary spasms, the last flinching of a corpse.

I turned my eyes away, sliding down the cold metal of the train and onto a concrete divider that separated two sets of tracks. It wasn't much to stand on, but it was enough for me to lay the foal on the ground and look back at the train. A few other ponies were starting to climb out now, and I willed myself forward, back to the train as the darkness around me spun. I saw Xavia-- a strong, tribal zebra mare who served as her tribe's chief warrior-- helping the pegasus from before out, Scarlet Mist. I offered them my Pipbuck Light, flashing it on the area around them as they crawled from the wreckage.

"Arc? good, you're alive." Scarlet Mist panted, pulling herself free with Xavia's help as they both stood shakily on the tracks, face to face with the collapsed tunnel behind us. "And I assume your PipBuck is still working... that's very good." Scarlet Mist fell down, sitting on the tracks and breathing heavily. She looked unharmed, but was clearly badly shaken by the train bombing.

"Arc of White, Come assist." Xavia said, motioning to me and gesturing to the train. I moved my light in that direction and nodded, approaching her and peaking my head into the train with her. There were at least a dozen ponies still inside, all of them in varying states of consciousness as they stumbled blindly for a way out. Two bat ponies had worked their way to the top of the train and looked to be pulling themselves free, and I saw Zena's lenses in her desert ranger helmet flashing as she scanned the situation. I gestured at the next closest pony, some filly with wide eyes staring around in confusion.

"Come here, it's safe now. I promise." I said, holding out my hoof to her. She took it, letting me guide her down some seats and towards the back of the train. Other ponies had found their way out by the time I had her on the train tracks. Zena and two bat ponies were now assisting others in climbing out of the train and helping them avoid broken glass or warped, sharp metal. It took us the better part of fifteen minutes, but finally we had everypony resting on the concrete or resting next to the train tracks. I pulled myself up into a circle that consisted of Zena, Scarlet Mist, Xavia, and one of the bat ponies.

"We need a plan." The bat pony, a young and muscular stallion, said. "There must be a station nearby."

"The nearest station we just passed." Scarlet Mist spat. "It'll be at least ten miles to the next one."

I reached down and activated my PipBuck, looking at the map of places on it. Zoomed out, I could see locations all the way in the NCR, and right below that, my former home. Halfway across the map, there was the blinking dot that was us, only a few miles from San Palomino and right next to the old Palomino Grand Station in the heart of the city.

"Map please." Scarlet Mist's voice brought me back to reality as she held out a hoof expectantly. I extended my leg, offering my glowing map to the others.

"Worst case scenario, it is 48 miles to the trainyard and safety. Your crew will be there, yes?" Zena asked Scarlet Mist.

Scarlet Mist made an angry tch sound, followed by a sassy neigh. "Of course they'll fucking be there. But I don't want to crawl through 48 miles of subway. Come on, there has to be a train stop somewhere nearby we can get out at. Somewhere that's not an irritated death trap."

"Most of the city's unliveable. Even if we find a way out you won't be able to navigate it." A gravelly voice called from behind me. I felt a whimper escape my throat as I shifted uncomfortably across the circle, still unable to look one of the denizens of our group in the eye. She was a ghoul, full on flesh and gunk hanging off her tortured, tanned hide. Her eyes were a milky purple, although supposedly, she could still see past the dregs of green hair that hung as bangs across her face.

I watched Zena put a hoof on her chin, and then she stood up, unslinging her massive sniper rifle and letting it hang at her side as she pointed up at the wall behind her. I shined my PipBuck up at it, illuminating two letters and two numbers.

M. I.
4 8

"Gather any supplies here. Then start walking." Zena's voice exhaled through her gas mask. "Everypony that can trot, trots. Leave the others."

"What? No no no." I said, standing up to face death itself as Zena turned to me, her green lenses flashing dangerously. I continued, feeling an angry glare fall over my face. "I came here to save these ponies. I came here to save you. I'm not leaving them behind."

"You already left most of them behind." Zena said quietly, pointing her rifle at the broken stones of the explosion. "Scarlet Mist, Limelight, gather supplies. Arc, Sky Song, get everypony on their hooves. I'll keep watch." Zena hopped down off the concrete, starting to make her way forward.

"Keep watch for what?" Scarlet Mist said, standing up indignantly and watching as darkness swallowed Zena whole.

"Whatever lives down here." Zena's voice replied back from the darkness, the metallic click of her heavy boots echoing through the abandoned subway.

I looked over at Sky Song, glancing away from her face pointedly as I approached the ghoul. "Everypony's not hurt right? Shouldn't take long to get everypony up and moving."

"One's hurt." Sky Song mumbled in her zombie tone, "Fucked up and must have broken their leg, couldn't walk out.

Shit. A broken leg right now with miles ahead of us was basically a death sentence. I gathered myself, looking Sky Song in the eye and asking, "Who?" Sky Song gestured to one of the ponies, a rancher we'd saved from San Palomino. I hopped down to stand next the pony, shining my PipBuck Light on their body.

"Yes it's broken." The earth mare squealed, looking at her twisted leg. I let out a sigh, watching out of the corner of my eye as Zena re-approached, her lenses still locked on the darkness ahead.

"Arc, leave her. Get the others up and moving." Zena said, helping one of our pegasi off the ground and pushing their blue flank forward.

"I told you Zena, I'm not leaving anypony down here to die." I growled.

Zena looked down briefly at the mare, then looked back at the darkness. "She's already dead. Don't waste your energy."

"Zena!" I yelled, my voice echoing down the tunnel. "We are not, leaving, her!"

"Y-Yeah, please, don't leave me here, I'll--" the mare seemed to be realizing what being left here was going to entail, her eventual starvation and dehydration alone in darkness. I saw her eyes go wide with fear as it all set in proper.

"We could at least shoot her if we're going to leave her here. No reason to let her dehydrate alone in the darkness." Sky Song pointed out.

"Waste of a bullet." Zena grumbled as she glanced at the train, and then grabbed into the darkness, pulling on the tail of the mare she has just helped up. She gave a yelp as her blue and green tail was pulled into view.

"Greasy, your tool kit." Zena said seriously, holding a hoof out. Greasy, a blue pegasus mare that seemed to have permanent spots of oil and grease in her coat and mane, looked quizzically at Zena, then to me, as if expecting some sort of magical answer. I merely shrugged my shoulders as Zena pressed the issue with, "Today, Greasy."

Greasy carefully opened up a small satchel that hung from her side, and I watched as Zena rummaged around and pulled out a screwdriver. She passed it to me.

"Arc, go unscrew two railings from the sides of seats. I'm going to cut up the cloth on them." Zena looked away from me,the light from her lenses reflecting in the eyes of a bat pony a sort distance away as she raised her voice, yelling, "Limelight, eyes forward!"

"What the fuck are we doing?" I asked Zena, following her with the screwdriver magically held above my head.

"Saving somepony. two metal rods, cloth for bandages. I'll make them a splint. then, we start trotting." Zena climbed into the train, and I hoisted myself in after her, lowering myself onto one of the seats and using my Pipbuck light to find the screws that bolted the seats into place. Above us I could hear Scarlet Mist rummaging through some supply boxes on the train, usually followed by her passing them off to somepony who ferried them away from the train.

"Zena..." Scarlet Mist said, much of her flame from earlier seemingly sapped from her voice. "We have a day of food, maybe that much in water. All the medical supplies were at the middle of the train. Other than what we have on, we-- we have nothing."

I felt my stomach churn over at Scarlet Mist's words as I fumbled with the second screw. I looked up at Zena, my light shining over her form, and suddenly I felt my blood boil over in my heart. Zena kept saddlebags under her coat. And I knew what things she kept in them, I'd seen them the first time I'd met her.

"Zena!" I hissed, leaning forward on the train and drawing myself close to her, pointing down at her side. "Zena, you have fucking healing potions in your saddlebags, don't you? We don't need to make this fucking splint."

The lenses of Zena's helmet flashed towards me, her sniper rifle falling across her chest as she held up a knife, bringing it down viciously on the chair as the sound of shredding cloth filling the air. Moldy padding burst forth from inside the chair, the foam finally knowing release after centuries of non-use.

"Those are for emergencies. This is not an emergency." Zena said, continuing to cut at the cloth. "The screws, Arc."

I felt my heart thump as I slammed the screwdriver into a screw, a clang of metal echoing around the train. "A fucking broken limb with miles of dark tunnel ahead of us isn't a fucking emergency?"

"No." Zena said pointedly, cutting free two strips of cloth and testing them by running her knife along it.

"No? That's all you have to say, is no, a fucking broken leg isn't call to use one of your precious healing potions?" I could feel my face growing flushed now as the anger rose out of my chest and into my cheeks.

"Affirmative." Zena said, leaning forward and pushing past me. I grabbed her, and instantly realized that was a mistake. My world turned upside down as the screwdriver went flying out of the train and I found myself doing a half somersault. Zena had suplexed me like a bag of mutafruits and planted me firmly on my back, her dark figure now leaning over me as her lenses drilled into my skull.

"If you're going to die of a bleeding heart, do it now. Save us the supplies." Zena hissed darkly through her helmet, a soft ringing of her voice bouncing off metal penetrating my eardrums. I found myself breathing very heavily as Zena stepped over me, leaving me to stare up at the ceiling of the train as I slowly began to slide downward. After Zena exited the train I felt something fly back inside and hit my chest. I let out a squeal as the screwdriver landed on me, rolling downwards and resting on my hip. I quickly grabbed it, trying to right myself and letting my PipBuck shine on Scarlet Mist. I tried to make what I hoped was a pleading face at her, but I realized she probably couldn't see my face in the darkness.

"I hate to say it, but she's right, Arc." Scarlet Mist mumbled bitterly. "Nopony is bleeding to death, we have to conserve what we have." I looked back at the screws angrily, lifting up the screwdriver and starting to work on them again. I let out my fury into the screws, stripping them as I worked at taking apart the metal from the chairs. By the time I had finished loosening two metal bars, Scarlet Mist had already left the train car. I emerged with the two metal bars levitated in front of me dropping down onto the train tracks.

"ugh- What the fuck!" I instantly splashed forward, moving to get up on top of the concrete divider. All sixteen ponies were now located up here, some looking forward, others looking thankful-- and I use that word relatively-- to be alive. The most innocent member of our group-- Quick Shimmer, a moth pony with a breathtaking cotton candy mane, was soothing the mare with the broken leg. Zena held out a hoof expectantly, and I pushed the iron bars towards her, turning around and shaking my PipBuck towards the ground below. A few inches of water had filled up the ground here, and it seemed to still be flowing from behind the rocks.

"So now we have to walk through a dark, wet tunnel?" I asked, scanning the putrid water as the mare began screaming. I glanced over but kept my PipBuck light off Zena's handiwork. I didn't figure anypony needed to see Zena forcibly binding this pony's leg into a splint. The painful cries were more than enough of a description.

"Let's hope it doesn't rise any further." Scarlet Mist spat. I looked over at her to see her assigning out supplies to various ponies, emptying out the little supplies we had. She raised a small sack and tossed it my direction, which I caught in my mouth.

"How long do these supplies have to last?" I asked through the cloth, spitting it onto the floor and opening up the contents. It wasn't much-- jerky, dried mutafruit, and my favorite treat, a box of Sweet Apple Acre's Brand Caramel Apples, which certainly weren't grown on Sweet Apple Acres, wherever that was.

"If we find a way out that's not an irritated hell hole, a couple days." Scarlet Mist said, passing out the last of the rations before straightening up and approaching me. She shot the darkness ahead of us a nasty glare, continuing, "If we're unlucky, it's a one week trot at least to that trainyard."

"A week?" I blubbered. "Scarlet, I eat this much in a day."

"Well, learn to fucking ration." She hissed angrily. "You think the rest of us aren't hungry?"

I looked away at the harshness from Scarlet. It wasn't exactly something I was used to, she was normally sanguine and upbeat. But really, the train bombing had just been icing on the cake for the storm of terrible events lately. I found myself lingering on how I got here before I was jolted back to reality by the crunching of rocks and the shattering of stone. Something was digging through the wall behind us.

"Zena!" I yelled, scrambling for my sidearm and pulling out a small, automatic pistol. I saw Limelight turn and ready himself, an assault rifle strapped to his battle saddle and ready to fire. Zena was already on top of it, having just finished binding the splint and found time to aim her rifle at the moving stones.

For a moment, we all waited in silence, the crunching of rocks filling the tunnel with an aching for bloodshed. Finally, with a crash and a rush of disgusting water, a creature emerged from within the debris, stomping forward and bending one of the rails as he marched into the area. The terrifying creature was covered from head to tail in algae and dirt, with it's heavy metal plates bent and crushed in a few places as the menacing helmet stared forward. A bright flashlight from it's head flashed at us, blinding everypony watching the scene and forcing us to look away temporarily.

"Point that somewhere else, eh?" A voice echoed from under the metal plates as it stomped forward, letting the algae fall away as the form of a steel ranger filled the gap in the rocks. I head a gasp from beside me as Limelight blinked and rushed forward, averting his eyes from the bright light.

"You survived!" He cried, practically hugging the hulking pile of metal. Zena let out a grunt as she pulled her rifle away, turning back to the splint and making sure it was tight enough.

"Damn right I survived." The metal pony said gruffly, his flashlight illuminating various parts of the tunnel as he took in the situation. I returned my gun to it's holster, starting to trot forward and stopping short of the Steel Ranger by a few meters. I was only barely familiar with this pony, but I knew the markings on his chest well enough. NCR, and one of their heavy shock troopers by the look of the condition of his armor. Yet he bore no red crests on his armor, at least that I could see.

"I thought only Applejack's Rangers wore power armor." I asked, standing quizzically next to the train as little trails of the putrid water swam through my hooves.

""I'd say I'm the exception, not the rule. Glad I am though, or I'd be crushed dead." The metal pony said, starting to walk forward as Limelight pulled away.

"hmm." I mumbled to myself, watching as Zena stood up, roughly pulling the mare with the broken leg up at the same time.

"Your suit functions fully, right? So you won't be another mouth to feed." Zena remarked, standing on the concrete divider so that she was taller than the Steel Ranger.

"Yes, but some actual food would be nice!" The metal pony said. Zena replied with a cold shoulder as she turned back to the tunnel.

"Everyone with flashlights, light the path behind me. Limelight, up front with me." Zena said, taking point and beginning to trot forward into the blackness. I saw other ponies moving out, beginning to follow behind Zena. I let the Steel Ranger go in front of me, choosing to bring up the rear with Scarlet Mist, the broken legged pony, and the young colt I'd rescued from earlier, who although he was standing now, had remained silent through all the proceedings. I let out a deep sigh, looking up and giving a bit of a start as I saw a pair of bat pony eyes quizzically looking me over.

"Don't-- do that, it's..." I started, but stopped. The bat mare had beat a hasty retreat at my words, looking hurt. I let out a sigh, breathing calmly. I found my words more carefully now, and gestured for her to approach me as I said, "Sorry-- sorry, I'm on edge right now. You just spooked me, that's all."

"I didn't mean to spook you." The mare asked. She then gestured at my armor, which drew the attention of every other pony around me. Even the Steel Ranger turned his flashlight around, casting full light on my frame. There wasn't any hiding how I was dressed now, and I pulled at the curtain I used as a cloak so it would partially cover the metal platings.

"A Stable-tec suit, and, legion armor?" She didn't wait for an answer to this, continuing with, "Why is a member of the legion with us? Aren't we supposed to be running away from you?"

"I'm not Legion!" I said, brandishing one of my hooves that held a barbed wire bracelet. "This barding is made up of the ponies I killed, which include a lot of Legion and raiders."

That seemed to shut the mare up, who backed off a bit. Unfortunately now I had every single set of eyes steeling glances at me. Everyone from a tall Alicorn scavenger to the young colt trotting next to me.

"Well if you're not Legion, then who are you?" One of the rancher pony refugees asked me. I glanced at Quick Shimmer, then to Xavia or Zena, and finally at Scarlet Mist, hoping somepony would bail me out. I let out a sigh, playing my broken record one more time.

"I'm White Arc, from Stable City." I said.

"That's a pretty long way." The alicorn remarked. "Are you NCR?"

"No." I growled, feeling my ears lower.

"Arc of White." Xavia said from the middle of our caravan. I looked up gratefully at her, eager for the save. Her words continued, crushing my spirit with, "Perhaps telling us your story, will pass time in this journey?"

I glanced down at my PipBuck, and quickly shifted the dials to the recording area before flipping it on.

"Alright, but this time I'm recording this." I said, more to myself than anypony in particular. I let out a sigh, looking up at Zena as I began to speak, "This all started with Zena, I guess, maybe it was a month ago. I'm not sure."

When we do not know the past, we are condemned to repeat it. I am not here to tell you a happy story. This is a story about a scared mare who changes. It is a world where goddesses fall asleep on the job. It’s where I live. My name is White Arc, and I want to share with you, not my story, but the story of a real hero I’ll never forget. I want to share with you the fate of the world I call home. It all started on a day where I went out for a smoke and met a friend of mine for the first time.

Every office in my the city was the same; concrete walls surrounding you on all sides with a precious few personal effects surrounding your workspace. For mine, this meant that a large filing cabinet with a radio on top of it and a wired intercom resting next to a pile of loose papers. My personal effects were limited to a poster and a picture. The picture was of me and my brother, the first time we could afford to have one taken when I was little. The poster was one of a mare who trotted the wastes long ago--The Stable Dweller, the Lightbringer, and the source of my constant daydreaming. Not only was she dashingly cute--something I’d never share in Stable City--but I loved imagining myself off on adventures with her, back in the old days before the New Canterlot Republic.

Leaning back in a leather chair, I felt myself sigh as I nodded off. My job was to keep detailed records of all caravans passing by and through Stable City. When I had started this had been a job that kept me busy most hours of the day. However, in the last year it had slowed to days or weeks passing without any work for me. I let out a sigh, feeling my mind drift off to those old stories as I kept myself barely awake in my chair. There was something so poetic about running through the desolate world, battling slavers and raiders, fighting back against the horrors of the post-war Equestria. A shadow fell over my vision as I saw myself wearing battle armor and charging at evil ponies in power armor, fighting for my life beside old heroes.

No sooner had the scene appeared to me then I heard the rattling of a metal door lift me out of my daydream. I spun around in my chair, keeping my hind hooves crossed and up on a table as I reclined, watching Two of Stable City’s guards stand in the doorway. They did not wear the advanced power armor that the main gate guards had, but instead wore lighter combat armor that left them more agile, sacrificing the strength and security of their more heavily armored counterparts.

“You really should try to get more rest at night,” One of the guards grumbled at me, leaning on the doorway. I sat up properly, watching him as he pointed over my head and gestured to the radio on top of the filing cabinet. “Arc, have you heard anything directed this way?”

Arc, that was my name. It was a simple name that was given to a servant filly, like many within Stable City’s walls. Although I had not been raised as a servant thanks to my generous brother, I had never been able to earn citizenship in Stable City. I supposed that even if I had, I wouldn’t know what to change my name to.

“Uh, no,” I said, turning and looking at the silent radio before turning back to the guards and asking, “Are we expecting something?”

The guard who had spoken to me gave a frown and shook his head. “Not sure. The Zebra caravan was supposed to be here early today, but they haven’t arrived yet. You know, those ones that the Desert Rangers are in charge of?” I gave him a short nod. I knew all about the black armored rangers who guided caravans when it suited their interests. The guard pony had a grave look on his face as he continued, “It’s just not like them to be late. I thought maybe they would have sent a message over the radio.” He turned away with that, looking perturbed as he gave me a nice view of his flank and swishing tail. The blue plasma rifle on his back accented his body well, making him look both fearsome and attractive at the same time.

“You know, if anypony else was falling asleep on the job like that…” I could hear the other guard whispering the stallion I was admiring, but he quickly hushed up. The metal door closed behind the two of them and I frowned. Now I was once more confined to a boring day in my office.

My thoughts were far from my boredom though. I knew stories of the Desert Rangers, although they were not as well documented as those of The Stable Dweller or The Security Mare were. Everypony south of Equestria knew about these Desert Rangers though. They dressed in old police riot gear and wore dark desert dusters. Every one of them possessed glowing red eyes that pierced your soul. As long as you were amenable to their opinion of justice they were helpful, if an unfriendly, group. I had never personally seen one up close, as they never approached with the caravans when they traded. Desert Rangers prefered to remain hidden, and only appeared when something bad was happening.

Now, I am not one to wish harm upon other ponies. But I was really wishing that something, anything, bad would happen today. I needed something to break up the monotony of sitting around staring at a radio while I daydreamed the same dreams I’d had for years. There had not been a caravan from the New Canterlot Republic-- The NCR for short-- or from anyplace else in weeks. I feared something didn’t happen soon, I was going to end up being assigned to manual labor by the First Pony.

I stood up now, grabbing my saddlebags and opening the metal door to my prison. I knew that no message was going to come over the radio, and I wasn’t content to sit around bored. I snuck past the guards, not that they would have dared say anything if they had saw me. My brother would have their hides for ratting on his little sister. Once I was well clear of Stable City, I strolled down to my favorite outcropping of rock. I had half of a torn mattress here and it offered me a great view of the Equestrian Badlands. Inside the matress was a saddlebag, and from there I pulled out a rolled cigarette, striking a match and lighting it up. Alcohol, Cigarettes, and chems of any nature were expressly prohibited in Stable City, although since I worked with trade caravans regularly I was often able to barter my way for some recreational drugs.

The unfortunate part of course, was that I could not smoke within Stable City’s walls. The smell was so strong that it clung to everything nearby. If you caught a whiff of it from ten feet away it was still potent enough to tell you exactly what that pony had been doing. I ducking under a large rock outcropping and sat on half of a torn mattress. This mattress did smell of the plant I was burning, a smell I was most used to.

The first puff was always the best to me, as it instantly made my body relax, my brain aware of what was coming next. The paper on the end of my cigarette sizzled, smoke rising up and around me. I leaned back, enjoying my vice as I gazed at the scenery. The scenery was, admittedly, not much to look at. It had small plants cutting through solid stone and pillars of dust that the breeze blew along. Today, however, the scenery was scarred by something new. A short distance away I could make out a contraption burning up broken road and rough dirt. It was moving fast on two rubbery wheels, fast enough that I guessed it could outrun most wasteland dangers, although it only seemed big enough for one pony and some few possessions to fit on. I watched as it streaked by, knowing what this was. This was a bike with a motor, and it was employed by mercenaries who worked with the caravans.

I let the fumes of my cigarette fill my lungs before I exhaled sadly, knowing that I was going to have work to do. It would have been more fun as sitting in my office high and dreaming of those old stories. I considered one more puff, watching the bike below smash into a rocky outcrop and explode in a ball of fire.

“What the fuck!?” I whinnied, hurriedly putting out my cigarette to save it for later and staring down at what I had just seen. A pillar of smoke was spiraling towards the sky from the crash, which was probably more than enough for somepony from Stable City to investigate. I certainly didn’t want to be caught smoking when they did. I gazed down from my spoke, looking at the crash. The bike looked totalled and I could not see it’s rider, although I could see a set of black saddlebags that had been thrown off at the last moment. They were sitting near the wreckage, plain as day. I scurried down from my vantage point, swifting making my way down towards the wreck.

Waste not, want not. Nopony could survive that crash, which meant those saddlebags… well, it seemed wrong to just leave them there.

This all seemed too convenient, but I was not about to question the madness of the Wasteland. The bike was barely scrap metal now, and I could not see any sign of its’ owner. I bent over and began to rifle through the first saddlebag. There were medical supplies, and quite a lot of them. A half dozen Stimpaks were bundled together with what I hoped was Med-X. Underneath the medical supplies were three lunchboxes that felt about half full. I put these aside for the moment and opened the second saddlebag.

As I was pulling open the second bag, I felt something graby my long mane from behind me. I let out a startled neigh, my voice dying as the barrel of a gun was buried into the base of my head.

“Step back from the saddlebags, scavenger.” The voice was feminine and had an odd metallic sound to it, almost like it was echoing off something. I gulped and nodded, standing up. Whoever had ahold of my mane started to slowly trot backwards with me. Their grip was surprising to me-- it was not a painful grip, which I had felt before when my mane was pulled on-- but instead it was a gentle and firm grip. My captor leaned on my slightly, their heavy body pressing against me as they walked backwards on two hooves, trotting me away from their saddlebags. When the grip had trotted me back several feet, I felt the hoof release my mane, the barrel of the gun leaving the base of my head.

A metallic clip-clop hit the ground, the same voice from before speaking with a matter of fact tone. “Normally I’d shoot scavengers, but I didn’t want to get your blood all over my things. Get lost.” I turned around and let out a scream. My hooves gave way as I fell over, staring at one of the most terrifying ponies I had ever seen as they trotted past me.

She stood as tall as a stallion, wearing an incredibly long rifle that offset her body armor. The makeshift armor had power armor plates mixed with police riot gear and fabrics I could not identify. They wore a long, dark garment over their armor, a coat that was covered in sand and dirt from the wastes. Bullet slings were wrapped over their forelegs, holding bullets that were the larger than my hoof.

And I must say, none of this was particularly scary on it’s own. What had triggered my fear was the pony’s helmet. They wore a triangular helmet on their face that was reminiscent of the power armor some Stable City Security, the SCS, wore. It functioned as a gas mask, with a valve on one side for speaking and breathing. Above this were two large green optical lenses, which glowed and saw through anything that they perceived.

“You’re incredibly well washed for a would be thief.” The mare commented, trotting past my cowering figure and starting in the direction of Stable City. She treated me with no more regard than somepony might treat an interesting rock after threatening my life, and then she just moved on!? I scrambled to my hooves and chased after her, keeping a safe distance away in case her patience ran out.

“Wait, hang on! I didn’t know they were yours!” I said, tailing her back as we made our way towards the trade gate.

The Ranger barely seemed to take notice of me, but I swore I could make out a low, “Sure kid.” from her helmet. We trotted together for a minute or so of silence, my hooves tailing her much larger hoofprints. She suddenly looked over her shoulder at me, causing me to give a little jump. I had no doubt that she was scowling under her helmet, as her voice reeked of impatience.

“Stop following me, or I’ll give you that bullet.” She threatened, making sure I saw her weapon hanging at her side-- a massive revolver.

“I’m not following you, I’m going back to my city. I live there.” I felt my ears flatten as my voice died. A small part of me wanted to stand up indignantly against the Ranger, but every other part of me very much wanted to keep living. I was not about to take chances with this terrifying pony.

The Ranger’s flashing green eyes stared at me, the visage of her helmet causing an involuntary whimper to escape my muzzle. For a moment we were both silent, her staring down at me and me staring up at her. Without ceremony, she turned and gave me a wave of her hoof, beckoning for me to follow her as Stable City drew into view. I could see a couple guards approaching, making their way towards the pillar of smoke behind us. I hung my head low, knowing that I was certainly going to be in trouble this time. Not only was I outside the walls when I was on duty, but I had returned with a Desert Ranger, an entity so hated they weren’t allowed near Stable City.

That’s a thought that was lingering on my mind. Those guards feared one thing more than a megaspell striking the city, and that was a Desert Ranger. You could always feel the uneasiness of Guards when they saw or knew that a Desert Ranger was nearby.

I made a move to run past the ranger, to the safety of the guards and my city, but she put a hoof on my shoulder. I ground to a halt, not daring to test her.

“Let her go!” One of the guards challenged, shakily reaching for his rifle. I felt the Ranger’s hoof tighten and press into my shoulder.

“A caravan was attacked on your land by raiders. Is Stable City no longer patrolling these roads?” The Ranger kept her eyes on the guards, and even though they had hooves on their weapons, she had not reached for any of hers. The guard’s faces were twisted with fear, their hooves shifting slightly as they considered their options.

“There’s no raiders in these parts! You’re making that story up!” The guard stammered. “Now-- let her go and get back to playing in the sand!” The ranger kept her eyes on the guards, but I saw her tilt her head towards me slightly.

“Hey, filly. Know how to shoot a gun?” She whispered, asking me in a voice that was not loud enough for the guards to hear. I quickly shook my head yes, not daring to lie. I was not a good shot, but my brother had taught me how to operate a firearm.

If I had known what was going to happen by nodding, then I never would have done it.

“It’s your lucky day.” The Ranger said, before speaking up and turning back to the guards, “She’s coming with me to do your job.” The Ranger gave me a push, making me face the rising sun in the east. The guards did not move, standing their ground and watching as I began to trot away, the terrifying Ranger staying five inches behind me.

Terror spiked through my chest as my hooves carried me over a small hill. I finally found my voice, and looked back at the Ranger pony, trying to get out any excuse I could for her to let me go. My voice died in my throat as I saw my fear reflected in the terrifying lens of her helmet.

“I can’t go hunt raiders!” I gulped, my voice was weak and hoarse. “They’ll kill me!”

“Nah.” The mare said, giving me a push on the rump. “Move like you mean it.” I picked up my pace slightly, trotting a little faster. The Ranger sighed, speaking very authoritatively, “That means gallop, girl.”

I broke into a gallop, which was half a run and half a sprint. The ranger pony, despite having dozens of pounds of gear and armor on her, kept pace with me. I didn’t dare look back at her again. I knew that right behind me was that damn staring helmet.

The hills passed by as we ran, and to be honest I’m not sure for how long we were running. I was constantly out of breath and my vision was swimming with sweat and the sun’s glare. The Ranger pony ran me like a workhorse until we came to a stop.

We halted at the crest of a hill. I felt like I had been run all day, but the sun was still high in the sky. The Desert Ranger had seen fit for us to stop near an old mechanic’s shop. Below I could make out some old houses that still stood up and a large office building that might have once been several stories tall, but now was barely more than the first two stories. I ignored all of it as I collapses on the ground, rolling over and trying to force air into my lungs. I could barely breathe, but my aching legs and chest thanked me for the respite. The Ranger wasted no time, and even though I could hear her breathing heavily she began looking around the mechanic’s shop. She had grabbed some loose pieces of thick metal and I could see her looping rope and leather straps here and there. Her hooves worked with frightening speed and caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.

“What’s-- what’s that for?” I gasped out, sitting up and looking at seemed to be a rough suit of body armor. The Ranger put a hoof on my shoulder and then helped me up so I was standing again. She shoved the armor at me without any words. I got her meaning and started to struggle into fitting it over my body. Even though the armor had been quickly fashioned, it was enough to cover my thighs, shoulders, and chest, however most of my legs and my neck were left exposed.

“Look out there.” The Ranger said quietly. I turned and looked down the hill, taking in the remains of the small town. The Ranger was carefully setting up her rifle as she laid prone on the ground, pointing it towards the office building. The office building looked like it had been fortified, and I could see what looked remains of different ponies hanging from chains and spikes. Inside I could see a small pillar of smoke that looked like it was the remains of some bonfire.

“I’m not going in there!” I squealed. My entire body balked, rooting me in place. The Ranger mare stood up and gave me a push, forcing me to lurch forward.

“I don’t want you to go in there. I want you to run past it.” The Ranger pony kept their voice much lower than mine, going back down to her rifle and making sure the bipod was stable and she could easily aim at the building. I looked at her uneasily, and she gave me a sigh.

“You’re going to run past there, and when the psycho raiders come out to shoot and kill you, I’m going to shoot and kill them first.” The Ranger pulled her coat back, showing me two identical revolvers. She passed me one, which I held in my hoof stupidly. It was a pretty revolver, sitting idly in it’s holster with five giant bullets ready to be fired. The steel with a gold plated finish glinted in the sun, the weapon much more confident than I was.

I had never done anything this scary in my life. While sometimes my brother had gotten into fights when I was younger, he had always kept me out of it. Now, the Desert Rangers were legendary specialists and among them, being a marksmare that would put my brother to shame was commonplace. Even with that in mind, this Ranger pony wasn’t my brother, and I couldn’t ease my fears about getting shot up.

“What if they shoot me and I bleed and die?” I asked. “What if I get hurt?”

The Ranger was silent for a few seconds, and then sighed. She stood up once more and pulled a raggedy old curtain off of the mechanic’s shop. From her saddlebags I saw her produce two healing potions, which she tucked into the curtain and then rolled up. She placed it around my neck, securing the dull curtain into my armor so it would not come loose.

“Drink those if you get hit. They’ll be protected by your armor in there.” The Ranger said, getting back down to her rifle. There was silence for a few seconds as I looked down the hill. It seemed like a long way to run past the office building, although some of the still standing homes looked safe enough.

“But I could get shot.” I said, feeling a small case of vertigo come over me as I looked at the path in front of me.

“This is what happens when you try to rob others.” The Ranger growled. I’m certain that she might have shot me if I continued to test her, so with that, I took the plunge down the hill. I’d never ran so fast in my life.

My hooves jumped and carried me over the broken and scarred road as I ran right past the office building, my eyes tunnel visioning on a house nearby. I prayed to Celestia that my hooves wouldn’t give out until I was tucked safely inside. By the grace of the princesses, I slid into hiding.

It was only after this that I realized something was wrong. No shots had rang out from the building or the ranger, and I was currently hiding in the ruins of some old house. The only sound in the world was my heavy panting and the breeze of the wind rolling through the wastes. I poked my head out, looking towards the building and waiting for some raider with a gun to poke their head out.

There was nothing. The building looked utterly deserted, and I couldn’t guess why. I carefully peeked out from the house, starting towards the office building. Although I was still scared as I possibly could be, I couldn’t sense any danger. There didn’t seem to be anypony home, despite the evidence that the building was inhabited. When I was closer I could see through the front door, a set of double doors hanging off their hinges. There was daylight inside from a series of holes where the floors above or the roof had caved in, betraying that this place was little more than an abandoned building.

I could smell the fire now, and it smelled like something was burnt. My muzzle wrinkled up and I let out a whinny as I pressed inside against my better judgement. Perhaps the guard from Stable city was right, there were no raiders in these parts. But the Desert Ranger had not struck me as the type to make up stories.

I wandered inside, following my nostrils as they lead me towards the source of the burning. I peeked down halls of broken terminals and upended desks until I finally came to a large, open area. There were the remains of a bonfire in the middle, and it looked like it was a cozy meeting place by raider standards. However, it was not a place they would be enjoying anymore In the middle of the bonfire were charred bodies, most of the flesh and muscle burned off. With the full light of the sun I could see the skeletons wearing blackened remains of armor. Most of their armor was composed of chains and scrap metal, not a far cry from what the Ranger pony had quickly crafted for me.

I suddenly felt the breath sucked out of me as I drew the revolver the Ranger had given me. I stifled a scream as I hid behind a ruined armchair, my heart hammering against my chest. In that moment I suddenly realized that somepony or something had killed and burned these raiders, which meant that it was more dangerous than they were. While the place looked deserted, I knew that they could still be around.

A few seconds turned into a minute as I felt my body easing up. I was still in fight or flight mode, but I was broken out of it as I heard a feeble cry for help. Turning away from the burned bodies and my hiding place, I ducked into a side room where I had heard the cry from. My hooves balked as I ground to a stop, reeling in horror.

On the floor before me was a young zebra mare that looked like she had been beaten nearly to death. I was amazed that between her bruised skin and showing organs she had remained conscious. I could see broken ribs digging into her thoracic cavity, forming a small pool of blood under her. There was a horrible gash running across her face, and one of her eyes was matted shut with dried blood. She had somehow managed to not bleed to death, but I knew she was not long for this world without help.

Any good pony knows it’s better wiped than striped, and I wanted to leave this zebra mare for dead. I wasn’t sure if a healing potion would help her and I certainly wasn’t a hero. But another part inside of me spoke up, reminding me that she was still a living creature. I had a chance in that moment to play the hero to this zebra.

I sprung into action, pulling one of the healing potions from the curtain and forcing open her mouth so that she had to drink it. Instantly her body began to heal, wounds closing up and swelling in her bruises reducing. Although she still looked terrible, she no longer had life threatening wounds. Her chest had closed up and the gash on her forehead looked several days old.

“Thank you,” the zebra said, hugging onto me and pulling me close. I gave her a hug back, patting her on the shoulder as I assured her everything would be fine. As we pulled out of the hug and she kept a hoof wrapped around mine, I saw her face brighten. She was looking over my shoulder and I turned my head to see what she was looking at.

“You’ve come back! I knew you’d come back, I told-- the others…” The zebra mare grinned. As silent as a shadow, the Ranger had entered the room and was leaning against the wall, sticking to shadows and staying out of sight unless you were inside the room.

“What happened?” The Ranger asked bluntly. I turned and saw the zebra mare’s eyes growing sad as tears welled on the corners of her eyes.

When she spoke, I could feel her sorrow filling up the room, making the world outside seem all the more harsher. “Oh Zena, it was horrible! The raiders were beating and abusing us after we got attacked, it all happened so fast. Those of us they didn’t kill, they took us here, and then… then…”

“We can all imagine. I followed you that far, and left to go get help. I got her.” Zena the Desert Ranger did not pause as she gave me a dismissive gesture, “How did the raiders die?”

“It was them, ponies in red led by those-- Pegasi.” The zebra mare was sobbing now as she recalled her terrifying day.

“Pegasi, like from the Grand Pegasus Enclave?” I piped up.

I had a great wealth of knowledge about specific old topics, usually those that made the best stories. Unfortunately, Zena was always less than amused by my selective memory.

“No, these Pegasi can’t fly. They’re every bit as mean as the Enclave though.” I followed Zena as she spoke, wandering back into the main room. She stepped around the pile of burning corpses to the other side. I watched her pick up a spear that fallen over. Hanging on the end of this was a red banner with a golden circle. Imposed over this circle was a feathered wing holding a short spear.

“We need to get out of here, now.” Zena’s voice had a tone I had not yet heard. While she had been steady and possessed a girly voice so far, her voice was now stern and urgent as she moved back around the pile of bodies. I tailed her around the pile of armor and skeletons, looking over at the zebra mare as she teetered out from the side room. A bullet barely missed Zena and flew past into the Zebra mare’s skull, ripping out a portion of her neck and spraying the wall behind her with a new coat of paint. I let out a scream as I saw brain matter and chunks of bone fall to the ground as the mare collapsed, dead.

I hid behind the blackened corpses, fear returning in full force at the sudden brutality. My eyes snapped to Zena as she reacted like lightning. I had not even seen her draw her other revolver, but I heard the echoing bangs as it was fired twice, bullets traveling from her hoof and eliciting screams from ponies as their hooves backpedaled. I stayed where I was, watching as Zena moved in one fluid motion to cover while firing another shot off. This shot came with no scream, but rather a wet crash, like meat hitting concrete. I peaked out and could see Zena’s dead attacker, who had been flung backwards and layed sprawled out in a pool of his own organs and blood. Three more ponies were storming over him now, each of them dressed in strange armor.

I knew about this armor from old pre war stories. Stories so old they were old before the war. It resembled the old armor of Princess Celestia and Luna’s guards and was mixed with a lot of hiking gear and anything else that they could cobble together All of this gear was bound up in a blood red sheet that was fitted like a tunic that had the symbol from the flag on it, although few were pegasi themselves and none of our attackers were. They fought with spears and machetes clenched in their mouths or with magic, except for those few rifleponies among their number.

I looked over at Zena and I knew I was going to have to do something. I wasn’t going to be able to hide and let Zena fight on her own. She had three enemies, and only two bullets. I poked my head up and lit my horn, using telepathy to hold the gun up and fire it towards the attackers. The kickback was immense, I’d never fired anything this high caliber.

Bang, bang bang bang. I had wasted all of the bullets, fighting to not close my eyes and duck away in fear. My bullets had done nothing to stop the oncoming attackers, and I let out a shriek as the riflepony looked over at me, raising his rifle that looked as cobbled together as his armor. I screamed, my eyes wide with terror as I watched him prepare to kill me.

Before the riflepony could fire, I saw his head explode into a mist of blood and brain matter, shattered parts of his skull joining the blackened bones on bonfire. Zena had chosen her moment to strike, and with her first bullet she had shot dead the most immediate danger. I watched as she turned, her dark clothes swinging around her as she planted the other bullet in the hind leg of an earth pony. The earth pony let out a scream as he dropped the large machete in his mouth. While he dived for the machete, Zena dived for the riflepony’s fallen rifle. Zena was faster.

Zena ducked and rolled for the rifle, dropping her revolver and strapping on the rifle in a fury to take aim. The unicorn, who had a brace of terrifying spears on his back, launched one in Zena’s direction with a telepathy spell. She ducked, not sacrificing a bullet until she was ready. I let out a loud pitched whimper as I saw Zena plant a bullet in the unicorn, who had raised another throwing spear, aiming it at Zena. I screamed in empathy, covering my eyes as Zena shot the unicorn’s horn. A full moment passed before I dared to look and see what was happening. Zena put two bullets into the earth pony, the first one to drop him back down as he let out a scream of pain. Zena recocked the rifle, putting it to the back of the stallion’s head and ending him with an execution shot.

While I had never truly questioned why ponies feared the desert rangers, any thought of hyperbole was now gone from my mind. Zena was a grim reaper surrounded by the blood of her enemies and facing the screams of the unicorn. Her dark coat billowed around even darker armor, every metal hoofstep drawing her further away from the blackened bones in the bonfire and closer and closer to her next victim. She was a peerless marksmare, the green lens of her helmet leaving a glare in the gloom around her.

I shuddered as Zena recocked the rifle, aiming at the crying unicorn pony. Not all of his horn was gone, but it was definitely ruined, I wasn’t sure if there was any fixing it. Zena pointed her rifle at the unicorn, holding at the ready but not firing. The unicorn continued his agonized moans.

“Where did you take them.” I now knew Zena’s scary voice. It was one of fury and cold resolve, further painting her as an agent of death. She was standing tall now, one hoof pressed into the cut of the attacker, and the other hoof keeping the rifle planted in his head.

“My fucking horn! Ah, fuck-” the unicorn tried to flaim away, but Zena kept him pressed into the ground.

“Where did they take them?” Zena repeated, her voice devoid of any warmth. She pressed the rifle further into the unicorn’s face, enough that if she slipped I was sure she would poke an eye out. I watched as the unicorn looked up at her and-- grinned. He was grinning!

“You’ll never save them. They’re on the path north of here.” The unicorn’s horn was spitting sparks and faintly glowing. Amazingly he managed to get one spell off, raising one of the spears he had previously thrown and aiming it at Zena’s neck, a weak spot in her armor.

“Zena behind you!” I screamed. I didn’t have time to hide my eyes from the blow. Zena swayed to the side, the spear ripping part of her flesh. It looked serious, but not life threatening. The same could not be said for the unicorn, who had failed to plan for what might happen if he missed Zena. The spear shot down and impaled him, nailing one of his upper legs into his body. A bullet from Zena’s rifle joined the brutality, landing right between the unicorn’s eyes and showering the floor with fresh gore.

There was silence following the end of the fight. I had never seen such brutality before in my life. Of course I had read worse in stories about the old heroes, but nothing compared to actually being there, watching one pony murder another pony just to survive another day.

Zena trotted over to me, slightly covered in blood and ignoring the fallen zebra mare. It was impossible for me to move at first, and for a moment we just stood there.

“I need to go.” Zena said. “I have phoenix to hunt. And you need to get out of here.”

“You’re going to hunt birds?” I asked stupidly, whimpering and recoiling from Zena in horror.

“No. Phoenix Legion. That’s what they’re called.” Zena reached down and collected both of her revolvers, reloading them before holstering both and collecting the casings and putting them in her saddlebags. It was surreal to see her picking up the leather holster for the rifle and stowing it away before pushing it at me. It was a nice case, designed to hold a few extra clips. Wordlessly, Zena turned to leave and I instinctively chased after her. I couldn’t bare to be left alone with all the corpses, I was too frightened and unsettled by the day.

Once we were outside, Zena sat down and began undoing the latches and buckles on her helmet. I collapsed, crying in fear and exhaustion. Now that we were out of danger, it felt like a good time to cry. Zena did not agree.

“What’s your name.” Zena asked, stopping with her helmet and looking at me.

I looked up at her, a little caught off guard and with blurry eyes, and then mumbled it to her. “It-- it’s Arc. White Arc.”

“Sounds like a hooker name.” Zena commented. “You aren’t used to the wastes outside your front door, so three things. Kill so you aren’t killed, Don’t waste my ammo, and shut the everloving fuck up.”

I was stunned that she had spoken to me like this, and it knocked me out of my sobbing. I wiped my eyes clean and looked up at her as she took her helmet off. Although her gas mask was still partially on, covering from the bottom of her forehead to her chin, I was able to better see Zena. She was not the pony I was expecting

Zena has a cute muzzle, small and feminine like you’d expect on your perfect mare. Her hair was short and fell across her neck and head in pleasant light brown and white stripes. I was unsettled by her greatly though, as she was not a pony at all.

“Zena, you’re a… zebra.” I said dumbly, sitting down and feeling my whole body shiver. Although I was surprised, I was still too scared by what I had witnessed earlier to have a proper reaction.

“Yes?” Zena replied, taking out one of her healing potions and chugging it back.

“You didn’t tell me you were a zebra!” A harsh whinny escaped my mouth, and I made sure to give Zena even more space than I had previously.

“Arc, I’m a zebra.” Zena said plainly, tucking away the empty healing bottle and putting her helmet back on. Her head disappeared into the confines of her dark helmet, the green lenses lighting back up. Zena paused for a moment, and then gestured southward, back over the hill we had come.

“Arc, if you go that way it will lead you back to Stable City. Try not to die on the way back there.” She gave me a pat on the head and then fastened the leather rifle holster tighter around me. I looked at her in fear, then looked at the hill in disbelief.

I had never been alone in the wasteland, and the very thought of having radiated, mutated creatures, or raiders, or worse, come at me without somepony to protect me…

“Whoa, wait-- no!”I blurted out, taking a step back from Zena. “I’m not going crawling through the wasteland without a strong pony to protect me. It’s dangerous out here!”

“I know, that’s why I want you to go home. You’re putting me in danger.” Although Zena had not struck me as nice, that statement had been downright cruel to my frightened heart. This was not the first time somepony had said I was putting them in danger, but I had always shrugged it off in the past. Zena’s words stung deeper because I knew they were true.

“I can’t go back to Stable City alone, Zena. It's too dangerous” I looked up at her with lost puppy eyes. The green lenses of her helmet flashed back at me. Zena seemed to be considering for a few seconds before she turned to face north.

“Then you’re going to gallop fast, and you’re going to stay out of my way. I’ll take you back by Stable City as soon as I can.” I could feel Zena’s eyes burning into me through her green lenses as she gave me a look, and then pressed north with a gallop.

All my life I had somepony watching over me until that moment. I was never far away from the watchful eyes of guards or my brother, and those precious few times I was I used them to get as high as I could on recreational chems. But this far away from home, with nopony to protect me if I turned away from Zena now, it scared me. It scared me badly. The only thing that scared me more than being alone in that moment, was having the company of some savage thing from the wasteland.

I hurriedly kicked my own hooves along, following the ranger in front of me.

As we slowed our pace, I caught breaths of fresh air, watching Zena as she looked around at the ground, reading some language in the dirt I could not understand. Somehow, Zena had this innate ability to understand the wasteland. Whether this some zebra talent she had or all part of being a Desert Ranger, I had no idea.

“We’re gaining on them.” Zena said quietly, looking up and continuing at a trot.

“Right, them.” I let out a sigh, trotting to keep up with her. “And just who exactly are the-- Legion, right?”

“The Phoenix Legion.” Zena clarified, going quiet. I almost thought she was not going to answer to me before she cleared her throat, the metallic echo bouncing out of her helmet before she began.

“They’re the many. Many decades ago new tribes formed south of Equestria after the great battle between the enclave, Red Eye, and the free ponies of today’s NCR. After the NCR was victorious, those that could flee, fled. The Phoenix Legion is the strongest of those new tribes.” Zena stopped. I waited for her to comment further, but she seemed to feel as if she was done with the subject.

“Why are they called the Pheonix Legion?” I asked her. “I’ve never heard of them before.”

“That doesn’t matter. They’re murdering fascists, they only care about their own power, and crushing any that challenge it.” Zena let out a heavy breath, leading us up a hill.

“Ponies like you.” I said. I didn’t need to ask, I could tell from Zena’s choice of words and her impunity in executing the Legion soldiers from earlier she was their enemy.

“Yes. Ponies that want to keep them away, in the far south.” Zena remarked.

“So-- but if they live far south, then what are they doing here, near Stable City? We’re on the border to the NCR.”

“You have a brain, filly. Figure it out.” Zena has reached the top of the hill with this statement, and I watched her helmet scan the wasteland.
I considered it all for a moment. The thoughts popping into my head were not pleasant ones. I came up with two answers however, and I gave both to Zena.

“Are they hunting somepony? Or expanding?”

“Or both,” Zena commented, beginning to trudge down the hill. “I think it’s expansion.”

I opened my mouth to ask another question, but suddenly Zena doubled back and grabbed me, forcing me into the ground. I felt the air knocked out of me as I gasped, the world spinning and a small cloud of dust rising around us. Zena had already unslung her rifle and was setting it up, keeping a watchful eye on something moving in the distance.

My body spiked with fear. I wasn’t really sure what we were going to do when we caught up with more legion. Then again, I prefered to run into them with Zena, as she seemed perfectly capable of picking them off.

“Quiet. We caught up.” Zena pointed forward at the ponies in the distance, already aiming down her scope at them. As I caught my breath, I could make out about six of them chained together, a fair mix of different ponies and some zebra. While the zebra were obvious because of their colour, I couldn’t make out much more about the line of ponies except who was obviously in Legion armor and who was not.

Zena wasted no time in taking a shot, despite the considerable distance. Zena’s accuracy was terrifying, blowing a hole through the lower neck of a pegasus. Shapes that I guessed must be muscle and bone scattered freely behind the pony as they fell dead to the ground.

It was only when I saw the second Legion pony drop that I realized I could not hear anything. There was a ringing in my head that accompanied the sound of a gun being fired, but other than that noise nothing. I realized before she fired her third shot that the rifle was so loud on my ears it had made me feel temporarily deaf. I felt my ears flatten against my head, and I watched as the final armored Legion pony died. Zena stood up, starting to shoulder her rifle. Although I had no way to tell with her helmet on, I suspected she was beyond caring about the fact she had just killed. She didn't seem upset by it at all.

I was still laying on the ground as she started towards the ponies in chains, realizing for the moment that I didn't have to be scared of Zena. She was like those old heroes, killing the wicked and protecting those that could not protect themselves. Like the caravan, or like me.

When I finally stood up, I gave Zena’s rifle a sideways glance as I caught up with her. My hearing had returned, but I was never going to like her deafeningly loud weapon. I could still hear a slight ringing in my head as we reached the ground zero of Zena’s attack.

The ponies in chains and shackles looked both surprised and terrified to see Zena approaching them. They had a look on their faces that mirrored the one I was sure I’d had most of the day. Zena searched the butchered legionaries, pulling a set of keys away from one of the dead and beginning to unshackle the ponies and zebras. My eyes wandered towards the end of the line, where I saw a pony wearing a lab coat over her Stable jumpsuit.

“Hello.” She said quietly, giving me a suspicious look, as if she was trying to remember something. I knew here instantly, it was hard to mistake bright pink and purple mane that laying over her silky grey coat Of one of the top scientists of Stable City. She was called Quick Shimmer, and belonged to the ‘elite race’ in Stable City-- Moth Ponies. Whether they were some horrifying mutation or actually some forgotten species, I had never figured that out. I couldn’t even be sure the moth ponies themselves knew.

“What are you doing out here?” I blinked at her, confused. She shrugged at me, being in chains with flecks of red blood from a nearby legionnaire on her lab coat failing to phase her.

“I could ask you the same question-- It’s Arc, right? Your name?” Quick Shimmer asked with a tilt of her head.

“I-- Yes, my name is Arc. I saw Zena crash and then, now I’m here. Your turn.” I stammered, looking at Zena. She was making her way down the line freeing ponies still.

“Zena?” Quick Shimmer queried, following my eyes.

“Yeah, the Desert Ranger.” I motioned at Zena. “...I don’t know why she was in a crash though, now that I think about it.” As I said this, Zena moved over to Quick Shimmer, motioning for the moth pony to hold up her hooves so she could be unshackled. Quick Shimmer looked at Zena like she was considering what to have for lunch, offering her hooves forward cautiously.

“So why are you out here?” I asked Quick Shimmer again.

“Oh, you know, research. Sometimes you just need to get away from the lab to do things.” It was Shimmer’s turn to stammer something out. She had never struck me as a very good liar, and now I knew for a fact she had no talent in this area.

“And get captured and enslaved by the Phoenix Legion? Stable City is raising their ponies soft.” Zena finished freeing Quick Shimmer of her binds and tossed the keys aside, looking over the collection of ponies she'd freed. Her eyes were fixed on the few zebra in the gaggle, who the ponies were keeping their distance from.

“Thank you, Zena.” Quick Shimmer said, rubbing her legs in a way that would have been lewd if the skin wasn't rubbed red from the shackles chaffing. I didn't want to imagine how that felt, so I looked away, focusing on Zena and the other zebra.

Zena had not taken time to respond to Quick Shimmer, and was currently staring down one of the Zebra that was asking her a flurry of questions mixed with insults.

“So,you run away when the going gets tough, and now you're back to play hero. That's just like you fucking Desert Rangers. I knew I shouldn't have hired you. I don't suppose you spotted our caravan? Or did we lose everything?” The zebra was a large stallion, but despite his size he still paled in comparison to the black armored Desert Ranger.

“No.” Zena said firmly to the last question.

“That’s all you have to say? I suggest you get to finding that caravan if you want a chance at keeping your pay for this job.” The zebra remarked. I was stunned at this behaviour. Zena, and myself, had run at a breakneck pace across the wasteland for most of the day just to rescue these zebra, and now they were making more demands like entitled foals.

“She just saved you, and now you’re-- you want her to do more for you? You’re lucky you aren’t being marched off to be slaves!” I growled, stepping up to the big zebra. This zebra towered over me, his sizable muscles and height more than intimidating. I wasn't scared now though, because I knew that no matter how big he was, he wasn't going to be able to hurt me. I had a gun, and he didn’t. Granted, I wasn't exactly a great shot and I'd never fired this rifle before, but he didn't know that. I saw his eyes move to my weapon and then move back to staring me down.

“And what would a Stable City blueblood know about slavery? No, you call them servants. You’re just slavers yourselves.” The zebra puffed himself up, trying to look intimidating. I jumped up on an outcropping of ruined road so we were standing at eye level with each other and landed a punch right in his face. It drew blood, a little trickle running down his snout.

“Don’t talk to me about slavery, I know what it’s like to be a serv-- Ah!” My sentence was cut short as the Zebra retaliated, landing a grand slap right across my face and knocking me to the ground where I rolled a little ways.

“You should no better than to talk back and attack strangers, little mare,” The zebra said, turning his attention back to Zena and saying, “Zena, we’re going to head to Stable City and sleep in it’s safety. And tomorrow, you’re going to be back with our caravan in one piece.”

I could feel my blood boiling. I was not at all what I called a fighter, but I had learned how to defend myself from my brother. I knew that sometimes, you had to be harsh. Really harsh. You had to show somepony else who was in charge. Pulling the rifle out, I took aim at the zebra’s leg. Before I could pull the trigger however, Zena’s hoof was pointing my rifle away. I hadn’t even heard her move.

“Arc, don’t waste ammo.” Zena said.

“Damn straight.” The zebra jeered down at me. “If Zena doesn’t do what I say, no water for the Desert Rangers for a month. See how long they survive out there in the heat. So don't be an idiot and threaten me, Zena could eat you for breakfast.” I gulped, looking up at Zena and lowering my rifle. I was certain that if she wanted to hurt me she would have by now, but I wasn't about to take a chance and not listen to her.

“Your payment is in water?” Quick Shimmer asked rhetorically, trotting over and offering me a hoof to help me off the ground, which I readily accepted. After I was on my feet she approached Zena and the zebra stallion.

“You know, I’m a scientist from back at Stable City and I’ve been trying to-- get away, work on different projects. I can get the Desert Rangers water if you help me get the supplies for it. We could set up a great water purifier.”

“NCR has better water than you, Stable City ponies, but you’re sure you can make something functional for us?” Zena asked, glancing at Quick Shimmer. Quick Shimmer nodded, and Zena continued saying, “How hard will these supplies be to find?”

Quick Shimmer brushed her mane back, scoffing at the question. “We can find almost all of them in Grove, and I have an idea on where to search for the rest.” Quick Shimmer gave a charming smile, and I watched as Zena exchanged glances between the zebra and Quick Shimmer. Zena gave a beckon with her hoof to Quick Shimmer.

“Find your own caravan, Zecks. Arc, and Shimmer, right? Follow me.” Zena began trotting away and I quickly put my weapons away and followed along.

“Zena, damn you! Zena, come back here!” The stallion, Zecks, tried to run after her, but stopped just short of being within grabbing distance. I could tell by the hesitation on his face as I watched him that he knew as well as anypony else not to fuck with a Desert Ranger.

“What do you need for this project?” Zena asked Shimmer.

“A hot plate and some cooking pots, some scrap electronics, and a water talisman. I know where we can get the last one. There’s a town that can make counterfeit water talismans, but they don't last very long.” I kept up behind Shimmer, trying to keep my eyes to myself and not watch her tail sweep along behind her.

“Grove, right?” I knew about this town. When Shimmer nodded, I continued, “It's a town of mutant deer. They have not had good business since the NCR became able to mass export water, so I bet they can be bought for dirt cheap.”

“I know where Grove is, never visited it.” Zena said. “It’s right past Stable City. We can drop you off at Stable City on our way to Grove, Arc.”

“What about Quick Shimmer? Are you--” I was cut off as Shimmer shook her head.

“Absolutely not. I have to help the rangers and they’ll need me to build a nice water purifier. Arc, you need to go back to Stable City. You aren't meant for the wasteland outside the walls.

“But I made it this far! I helped!” I knew I sounded pathetic, but I couldn’t just let Shimmer talk to me like I was useless. Zena crushed my indignance under her hoof without missing a step.

“You’ve got dangerous enthusiasm and are a horrible shot, pulling your gun on Zecks. I cannot carry your weight across the wasteland.” Zena’s cold voice told me she was not looking for a conversation.

I turned my head down, following them in silence. Deep down, they were of course right. I had spent a majority of my day dead tired or scared to death. I was a bad shot and I had pulled my gun on the zebra, not caring about how that would escalate the situation. I understood why Zena didn't want me around. No one in Stable City wanted me around, and the wasteland was no different.

“So, Arc mentioned that you had an accident earlier. A crash?” Quick Shimmer asked. “But you’re obviously okay. What happened?” Quick Shimmer asked a question that I had wondered earlier, but I had not had the chance to bring it up. I wasn’t honestly sure that Zena would even tell me what had caused the crash, but she was more than willing to tell Shimmer.

“It took a few too many bullets.” Zena said shortly. Shimmer waited for more on the tale, but nothing came. Silence fell over our group as we trotted south, back to Stable City.

The sun was almost set when we reached the main gates, both Zena and Shimmer keeping their distance on a ridge overlooking the outside of my home. The tall walls with watchtowers that could see for miles around them cast long shadows across the world. I felt a sigh of relief force itself out of me as I turned to Zena and Shimmer, not really sure if I should say anything.

“Goodbye, Arc.” Shimmer said. I gave her a nod, and then looked at Zena. Zena’s green lenses burned hollow lights into the vision of my eyes. I gave my head a little shake to clear my eyesight.

“Goodbye Shimmer, and you too, Zena.” I gave them a little wave of my hoof, and then turned back towards Stable City, trotting down towards my home. I could barely make out the guards at the front gate from where I was, and I felt waves of safety and relief wash over my body. Despite my terrifying day, I was now safely back at my home. My hooves felt like jelly by the time I was standing in front of the gate, smiling like a fool and collapsing into a sit, staring at the two main gate guards in power armor.

“Can we do something for you?” One of the guards said, staring at me from behind a gatling laser that they had pointed towards the wasteland.

“You don’t recognize me?” I said, incredulous. “It’s me, White Arc.” The guard leaned in a bit, then shook his head slightly, leaning back and pressing a button on an intercom.

“Open up!” The guard said into the speaker, before turning back to me. “The last shift said that you were kidnapped by a Desert Ranger, and your brother’s been worried all day. How did you escape?” I opened my mouth to speak, but then the other guard cut me off before I could say anything in reply.

“Let the filly breathe.” The other guard said. “She looks half scared to death. Let’s get inside first.” The other guard nodded, and I watched as the main gate began to open. Large metal doors strong enough to survive a few missile launchers were pulled wide open by mechanical limbs on either side. I forced my legs to move forward, hurrying inside and stopping in the foreyard

The foreyard was a simple place, and during the day it was open to most outsiders. It was a place of markets and stores from dawn until dusk. I saw a few ponies milling about, but other than the guard’s station there was no real activity going on out here. Not sure what to do, I began to move forward, making my way towards an inner gate that led to the nicer part of Stable City. While out here there was sparse vegetation, it was a part of the city that smelled like brahmin and unwashed rent payers.

I was still standing there like an idiot, relieved to be back to safety, as I saw light flood out from inside a building. I blinked, watching as a security guard tailed a powerful stallion dressed in a grey longcoat. He was very pretty, with a long dark mane that fell over his coat and complimented his short and silky coat. He could be the splitting image of me, except several years older and male.

“Oof!” I felt my face press into the coat as I was forced hinto a hug, my brother quickly embracing me and holding me close. The hug did not last long, and he quickly pulled away, looking very authoritarian in front of his men. Although I was somewhat afraid of what my brother was going to have to say to me at first, these feelings faded when I felt his warm embrace. My brother, Captain of the Guard Solar Spark, was just happy to see me.

“Arc!” His voice was a deep and sobering one that commanded my attention. “Arc, over here.” He motioned towards the guard post. Although I could see that he was trying to look tough, it was obvious that he was as happy to see me as I was to see him. I nodded, following him inside the guard station and down a hallway to his office. I climbed onto a couch, practically flopping onto it as he magically closed the door, sitting down in a comfy looking office chair.

It was always a little awe inducing to be in my brother’s office. Unlike many ponies in the Stable City guard, he had seen actual combat. He had pictures on his walls of ponies, griffons, zebra, and other fascinating creatures that he had met in his travels. Behind him was a gun cabinet filled with many different rifles, shotguns, and handguns I could not identify. He always looked at home when he was in his office, sitting behind a simple wooden desk and usually working on paperwork.

But tonight my brother had no paperwork on his desk. The only thing written in the room was the worry on his face. I winced at the idea of detailing everything that had happened that day to him, as I was sure he was about to ask me to do.

“Arc, how did this all happen?” he asked. I took a deep breath, looking down at the motheaten couch below my hooves. I nodded to him, opening my mouth and resolving to start from the beginning. My brother was fiddling with a pencil magically, scratching stray lines on a piece of paper as I recounted everything to him. The only time I paused was when he stopped to give me a drink of water for my throat or he got a new sheet of paper. When at last it was done we both sat there in silence for a minute.

“Quite the adventure,” his voice was low and reserved before he cleared his throat and continued, “I will have to make a full report on what happened and make sure that one of the First Mare’s secretaries sees it.” I nodded, standing up now that we were done. My legs almost gave out under me from exhaustion, and I strained to keep myself upright.

“So, am I free to go home?” I hesitated, and then added, “I'm really tired.” Spark gave me a nod. I saw myself out of my brother’s office, but stopped in the doorway when he spoke up.

“You aren't off the hook by the way, Arc.” My brother said quietly. “I know it isn't your fault that you had to wander as far as you did, but if you hadn't gone outside in the first place this would not have happened.” My ears fell back on my head and I turned to look at him. I gave him a solemn nod, and then continued on my way out. The dusty streets of outer Stable City were totally deserted now. I passed through them and into the upper part of the city. While the outside had a strong wall, the inner wall was composed entirely of reinforced steel and concrete. It was an expansive fortress designed to hold back a modern siege.

I never paid the wonder heed as I turned down the road towards my house. It was a quaint single story building with a garden out front and and green grass growing around it. If it wasn't for the need of a tall wall right outside my front yard, you wouldn't know the world had ended. Some citizens lived their whole lives in this place, never knowing about the outside.

I entered through the front door and headed through the living room, ducking into the hallway and heading straight for the bathing room. It was a small room that consisted only of a tub and a shower head. However, it was designed allowed it to trap heat inside. So even after the ration of how water was spent, one could enjoy the steam and the lukewarm water for a dozen more minutes.

I stepped inside and closed the door, turning the faucet and watching as the streaky water started to sprinkle out. Stripping off everything I had on, I tossed it into a pile and stepped in. On the way I grabbed a glass container filled with what looked like thick lotion from the floor. Shampoo, something that I knew the wasteland did not have. But this was not the wasteland.

Climbing into the bath, I telekinetically shut off the faucet and began to soak my fur and mane with water and shampoo. I watched steam rise up, the water under it slowly turning from the warm clear white colour to a dirtier grey and brown. I used both my hooves to scrub every bit of me I could reach, and used magic on a washcloth to reach those my hooves could not.

Baths had always been a time of reflection for me. A time to reflect on the day while washing off all the dirt and grime and today, blood. I shivered, standing up and looking down at the water. The water was now brown, grey, and here and there, little flecks of red. I knew the blood wasn’t mine, but that might have been what made the feeling worse. I had no clue who’s blood was on me. Enough of this.

I pulled a stopper out of the bottom of the tub, letting the water drain away. I wandered into the hall and grabbed a towel from a closet, using telekinesis to magically dry myself as I entered my room. It was a pleasant place for me, filled with books from before and after the war. The only other things to look at in here were my posters. Some were from the pre war era, and others were NCR propaganda. NCR propaganda depicted brave ponies fighting the Grand Pegasus Enclave or Red Eye’s Slavers, although the ponies doing so were New Canterlot Republic Soldiers, which I knew had not existed during that time.

I slipped into a Stable-Tec outfit that I used as pajamas before collapsing onto the bed. I curled the colours around me as I looked out through my window.Through a tattered curtain I could see the night sky, with the moon and stars looking down at me with a twinkling smile. It was relaxing, relaxing enough to let me temporarily forget the day and fall asleep.

I didn’t feel like I had been asleep long before there was a loud knock on my door. My eyes shot open, looking outside. The moon and stars were still up. I crawled out of bed, going to answer the door. My first thought was that my brother was waking me up, but he never bothered me when I was sleeping. I was utterly confused when I opened my door and saw not my brother, but two guardsponies with weapons drawn.

“Huh?” I asked, staring at them sleepily.

“Nothing personal, Light Arc. But you have to come with us.” The lead guard said. I stared at him stupidly, rubbing one of my eyes with my hoof. Who was he even talking to? Me? He didn't even get my name right.

“It’s the middle of the night. Why-” The guard cut me off mid sentence.

“You’re under arrest.” I blinked at the guard’s statement. I was under arrest, for what? Rather than argue with the ponies holding the guns, I followed them outside. Stepping outside into the street I blinked at the bright lights, trying to take in everything that was going on. There was definitely a commotion, with a small crowd of notable ponies. Standing at the far side was the First Mare in pure silk clothing. Standing next to her was the only pony not wearing a Pipbuck, who wore a plain yellow and crimson business suit. Since everypony else around had on a Pipbuck except for me and the pony in the suit, I knew we were the only two non-citizens. My eyes turned away from these two and towards the center of the commotion. Several guards had their weapons pointed at my brother, who had a look of disgust on his face.

“Hello, Arc.” He said quietly. One of the guards bumped me with the butt of his rifle, urging me forward to join my brother. I did so, standing next to him. The guards began to trot us towards the center of Stable City, where the First Mare’s manor was. I was still too tired to be fully taking things in, but the more I woke up the more I realized that something bad was happening. Solar Spark obviously noticed this, and I felt my brother nuzzle the shoulder of my pajamas gently.

“Just let me do the talking Arc, everything will be fine.” he said. I was still stressed out about whatever was happening, but I gave him a nod, feeling some of the tension slip away. My brother always had a way with words, and was great at getting his way. I stayed close to him, inches from his side as we entered into the First Mare’s manor. The First Mare proceeded to the far end of her lobby, taking her seat in a comfortable armchair.

The manor was richly adorned, holding all of the finest pre-war treasures from art and collector’s guns to old instruments and sculptures. I turned my view away from the busts of long dead ponies staring at me, looking between the First Mare and my brother.The Pony in the yellow and crimson suit stayed by the First Mare’s side, smirking slightly while he dusted himself off.

“So, will you tell me why I am under arrest, and why you brought Arc into this, now?” My brother said. His words didn’t comfort me in the slightest. For me to be arrested was one thing, but if he too was under arrest, that meant the guards weren’t taking orders from him anymore. Suddenly the guns of the Stable City security force didn’t feel like excuses for them to push ponies around, but dangerous weapons that they were not afraid to use. Dangerous weapons that were pointed at me and my brother. I felt a squeal of panic escape my muzzle as I imagined being turned into a pile of ashes or a splattering of goo.

My squeal was ignored as the First Pony addressed my brother, crossing her hooves and speaking in her fuax regal ways. “Oh please, captain. Do not tell me you don’t know. You know that I do not tolerate insubordination.”

“Fine. Why’s she here?” My brother gestured to me.

“She is here for similar crimes to yours. Chem smuggling and insubordination. But these I can forgive when you have spent enough time in prison, Captain. Your sister will not be forgiven for her other crimes-- Deserting her post, the murder of innocent ponies, aiding a Desert Ranger.”

“Wait, what? Murder?” My brother asked, looking at me with a shocked expression. I too had a shocked expression, but mine was at the First Mare.

“I deserted my post yes but wait, those ponies weren’t innocent, and how do you know about them being murdered?” I cocked my head to the side, questioning her. The First Mare looked nervous for a second, but then recovered as the pony in the suit whispered into her ear. I couldn’t make out what he said, but the smile on the First Mare’s face did nothing to ease my tension.

“Since you cannot perform any useful function in Stable City, we’ll have a far more capable pony replace you.” The First Mare looked to my brother, and then back to me. “Guards, imprison the Captain, so that he may learn his lesson. White Arc, you are henceforth banished from Stable City, and are to be branded as such.”

“What-- No!” I yelped. Two guards grabbed me, their fluffy coats pressing into my skin and causing goosebumps to shoot up and down my spine as I was forcibly held still. My panicked eyes swiveled over to my brother, who was being held back by three ponies.

“Andromeda, this is madness! She is barely a mare, she could not have possibly committed murder!” My brother yelled. I saw a guard raise their rifle and bash him in the head, causing several drops of blood to leak from his muzzle and smack the floor.

“Silence Captain. You’d do well to remember your place. I gave it to you and I can take it away. You should be grateful that I am only imprisoning you.” The First Pony said, motioning for the guards to take my brother away. For his part, Solar Spark bit and screamed as they hauled him away, leaving me standing fearfully before the First Mare. One of the guards forced my left hoof up, revealing the tender inside of my leg. A guard from behind me stepped forward with a red hot iron with a large X on the end of it. I began kicking and flinching any part of my body I could, but it was no help. The sleeve of my pajamas was rolled up and I watched as the burning began. The burn did not even hurt at first, and I stood there numbly watching it melt away the fur and flesh on my lower leg. The nerves were dying almost too fast to send the pain to my brain. Almost.

I settled for screaming, tears flooding my eyes as I felt the branding iron burn every layer of my skin. The guards held me still, keeping my hoof to the iron until the work was done. My whole head was blurry, flashes of colour and pain interrupting my regular thought process. I saw the red and black X scarring the inside of my leg before I was turned away, the guards dragging me out of the First Mare’s office. My gaze spun to the First Mare and the pony she was speaking too. The last thing I could make out was a strange necklace with a symbol I’d seen before. A wing holding a short spear. A Phoenix Legion pegasi standing there, smiling and talking to the First Mare was I was exiled.

My hooves dragged against the pavement outside as the doors to the First Mare’s house closed sharply. I simply stared, my world spinning as I let out another scream, part in desperation, and part in agony from the throbbing pain in my left foreleg. I was sure ponies were watching the display from their homes, and for all I knew I was being dragged through the streets on display for everypony who had ever hated or cared for me. Although the latter was very few, I wondered briefly if anypony would miss me. I realized almost immediately that it didn’t matter. This wasn’t my life anymore.

Despite my realization of what was happening, I could not understand why. I couldn’t understand how the First Mare knew about ‘innocent ponies’, which I figured were the slain legion ponies. My head was a mixture of confused pictures and frustration. I could still see my brother’s face painted with blood as he was rifle butted in the face for trying to defend me. My wandering mind was brought back to reality as I felt the guards toss me onto the ground. I had been dragged all the way out of the city, and now another guard threw a tattered sack at me. I felt metal smack me in the head and side, the clanking sounds of the rifle and armor Zena had given me hitting my fur and bones.

“If you’re still here in the morning, our orders are to shoot.” I did not look at the guard talking to me, not that I would have been able to make him out through the tears in my eyes anyway.

I stayed on the ground as a sobbing mess, watching the gates of Stable City close and leave me alone in the darkness of the wasteland. The gloom of the wastes crept over me, wrapping around my body and possessions. It took me almost an hour to finally wipe my eyes dry and pick myself up. As soon as I stood up I felt better, and began putting on my possessions. I had no idea what was waiting for me in the wastes, but it couldn’t be anything good. I put on Zena’s armor over my Stable pajamas, strapping on the rifle over my curtain that served as a cloak. The final thing I did before staring out at the Wastes and beginning to trot was pulling my pajamas over my hoof, to hide the scar. I felt cold sweat run down my body as i trotted forward into the darkness of my first night in the wasteland. This all felt like a bad dream. Surely that had to be what this was. It couldn’t be reality.

I felt my eyes close as I concluded my story. The group was dead silent now, with half the eyes looking at me, and the other half looking at Zena. Zena kept looking forward, never betraying any sign she was listening into my recollection of events. Not that she needed to. She already knew what had happened.

"Well, What happened next?" A small voice asked. I looked down, checking to see who it had come from. My eyes rested on the young colt, who was staring up at me. I let out a sigh, shaking my head at him. As much as I wanted to continue, I seriously had to rest my voice. I flipped off the recording on my PipBuck and looked away.

"Halt." Came Zena's voice from the front. I watched as everypony collectively ground to a halt, all of us staring forward as I shined my flashlight up to join that of the Steel Ranger's helmet mounted light. Before us was a train junction, with three different rails. Cobwebs hung everywhere, and I found myself looking at the age old bricks that were cracked or missing, here or there I could see where animals had burrowed underground, but I thought nothing of it.

"Arc, come here, aim your flashlight up there." Zena said quietly, pointing towards the ceiling area. I did so, watching as she turned the lenses of her helmet off and began scanning the tunnel. I watched my flashlight as well, illuminating the different names of the train rails. Yellow went left and green went right, while blue north west kept us going straight. Zena turned her helmet back on and looked away from the lines.

"Yellow line will take us to a station in the city. We're going that way." Zena said, pausing and glancing back at the group. "We will search for supplies."

Zena took the lead down the yellow line, and we all slowly fell back into our marching order. I found myself standing next to the young colt from before, and other the side of me, the Alicorn. I gave them a look over, gazing at the innumerable objects they had strapped to them. Everything from spoons and tin cans to spare gun parts and transistors lined their saddlebags and gear.

"By 'we', she means me and the ghoul." The alicorn said begrudgingly.

"Well, you look like you're good at it." I remarked, trying to give the pony some encouragement. They stifled a snort.

"I shouldn't have come down here." The alicorn said. "Now I've got nothing to show for it and we're going to die in the city or in a tunnel.

"Well, at least you've got options." I quickly felt my desire to encourage the alicorn fading. "You can just fly away, can't you? You have wings."

"Yeah, but fuck, gotta live long enough to get in the sky. And then hope the legion aren't out there. Fuck no, I'll take my chances down here." the alicorn looked away, and I gave a sigh, turning to look anywhere else. Most of the ponies I was antiquated with were trotting ahead of me, and short of entertaining the others with stories, they didn't seem to have much desire to get acquainted with me. I began looking around the tunnel, and came to a sudden stop, causing the pony behind me to walk into my flank.

"Hey don't fucking stop!" The pony yelled, but I hushed them, flashing my light off to the side. I could see a set of double doors here, set into the side of the concrete. I hurriedly clambered up, pulling on the doors. The lock on the door had been welded off, leaving a hole in the middle of each door. A chain had been wrapped around them,, keeping them closed but not locked.

By this time, a few other ponies had may there way over, I slid the chain free magically and creaked open the door,s flashing my light around inside. There wasn't much to speak of here, but there were old desks and filing cabinets, as well as a bunch of metal tools and trinkets. The alicorn let themselves in behind me and instantly began going through things, and I wasn't far behind. I trotted around a desk and pulled open the drawers, seeing old paperclips and what looked like an injection needle. It was all junk, so I looked up, preparing to see the next place I could scour for objects. The dark figure of Zena glared in at us from the doorway, taking in the situation through those two green orbs.

She said nothing, but after a few moments turned away, continuing to trot away. I knew Zena was a zebra of few words. There was a time when I used to be thankful for her watching out for ponies. Not anymore. I felt my eyes trail to the other ponies in the room, all of them looking for any supplies they could. A dark feeling rose up in my chest as I turned away from the room and went to go catch up with the rest of the gang, wanting to be alone with my thoughts, even if just for a bit. I knew Zena's track record, and if the time I had known her was any example, most of these ponies weren't going to live to see the train yard, no matter what path we took.

Chapter 2: The Reality of the Situation

The yellow line remained dark and murky as we pressed forward, those two of us with lights keeping them on so that nopony tripped in the darkness over the train tracks. It was slow moving, with the clip clop of our hooves turning into wet splashes as the water on the ground rose, leveling out around our hooves. Some spots were wet and filled with leaking water, the putrid smell of stagnant water freed from broken pipes covering the ground with dead algae and rinsing free hundreds of years of dust and rot. everyone had brown and black hooves now, regardless of their coat colour. even during dry spots, there was not enough space to wipe our hooves clean, not that it would have mattered.

The appearance was not half as bad as the smell. As a few miles turned into a few more miles, the smell became that of ponies sweating in the dark tunnel. Grime, rot, and sweat filled my nostrils every time I tried to breathe, and if I dared to cough, I'd just end up breathing through my mouth, getting a nice taste of the rancid air. Most of us were all too aware that the ones next to us were suffering as bad as we were, and we kept our complaints to ourselves. Most of us.

"Zena!" Scarlet Mist whined from further up the group, stretching the last syllable out as long as she could. Scarlet Mist had spent her time making angry sounds at the grime, attempting to fly (and finding there was not enough room to comfortably flap her wings in the subway without angering the ponies beneath her), and whining about the situation. As much as her complaining was a nuisance, None of us truly disagreed with what she had to say.

"What?" Zena said calmly, obviously forcing herself to stay patient.

"Zena this is horrible! It smells, and I have to trot like some filthy mudpony! I haven't walked this far since I rescued Arc from those tribals. Isn't there another train we can find and ride that?"

"If you see another subway train, please, point it out." Zena said, tilting her head away from Scarlet Mist to try and head off the conversation.

I lowered my head, keeping my eyes averted from the front as I looked at some of the other ponies around me. I didn't want to get between Scarlet Mist and Zena-- I knew if I did, Scarlet Mist would expect me to take her side, even though it was impossible to argue with Zena. I found my mind wandering instead to how I'd met Scarlet Mist.I felt a shudder run down my spine as I remembered the encounters before we met, feeling the bad memories crawl to the forefront of my brain.

"Hey, If you're going to puke, puke over there." I looked up, seeing one of the dirt ponies we had saved scowling at me. I shot them a scowl back.

"Excuse me?"I said heatedly, lighting up my horn so the light flashed in their face. The dirtpony took a step back from the light, squinting their eyes but staying heated.

"You look like you're going to puke-- puke that direction." The dirtpony pointed towards Switchwire, who glanced at the dirt pony. He looked as though he wanted to have very strong words with the pony, but was holding back saying something.

I let my horn glow a little more harshly, taking a step over towards the dirt pony and letting some light from my horn shift over to my gun, making sure the pony saw the point I was trying to make. They glanced down and I saw them shuffle for their own weapon, putting their mouth on a farming scythe.

"Say something like that to me again, and you'll be puking your guts up." I spat at the pony, letting it hit them in the chest. I didn't enjoy any of this one bit-- the anger, the aggression. But I knew if I let one dirt pony that I had helped save push me around, everypony else was going to push me around and take advantage of me. I wasn't having that.

In an instant the scene changed from angry glares to a fight. I saw the scythe flash towards me. I ducked back, stumbling over another pony and Switchwire as I pulled out my gun and took aim at the earth pony. There were cries of alarm and anger around us as the earth pony dived at me, their scythe hacking into my armor and clanging off the plate. Before I as able to respond, I saw two ponies grab the earth pony, the Alicorn Scavenger and Limelight, who had pushed through several ponies from the front to intervene. I felt two ponies grab onto me, Scarlet Mist on one side and a dirt pony on the other.

I tried to shrug them loose, and felt Scarlet Mist almost fall over as I pulled free of her grasp. By this time Zena had approached, standing in on the situation with every other heavily armed pony in our caravan. I kept my distance, letting my horn's light fade as I backed off, taking a stride away from the other pony-- or at least, as much as the subway would allow me to do so.

"Bitch was gunna shoot me! Fucking bitch ass legion pony, making up lies." The dirt pony said, looking at some of the other ponies who had been part of San Palomino.

"Shut up." Zena said to the dirt pony, glancing between both myself and my attacker.Both of us stayed quiet as Zen
a apparently thought about what to do with us. After a moment, I saw a flash as Zena turned, landing a hoof square on the other pony's muzzle. There was a crack, and I saw blood running down the pony's muzzle. Not enough to break it from the sound it made, but more than enough to leave an injury. I knew this was not the end of Zena's punishments however, and unlike the unfortunate dirt pony, I ducked. The iron hoof of Zena's metal boot, covered with grime from the floor, sailed over my mane, brushing the hairs as I weaved to the side. I didn't need a cracked jaw to understand Zena's point about fighting. Zena's actions had spoken without words, and everypony kept distance from her as she turned back towards the front, once more beginning to lead the way forward.

I put some distance between myself and the dirt pony, now walking towards the back of the group. I found myself next to two bat ponies, Limelight and the other I had not been introduced to, and silent colt I pulled from the train. In front of me clobbered the mare with a broken leg. She had a mixed look on her face when we exchanged glances in the dim light, as if she wasn't sure if she could trust me or not. On one hoof, I had saved her life. But on the other, I was a potentially violent pony who dressed in half raider, half legion barding.

"Nice dodge, by the way." I looked to my left, glancing up at the bat stallion. I wasn't the best at measurements, but I swore that he was a full pony head taller than me. When I met his eyes I took a hasty step back, feeling those slitted pupils crawling over my skin.

"Uh yeah-- thanks, and, sorry." I quickly added in the last two words, trying to meet his eyes again and feeling a shiver run down my spine. I wasn't used to bat ponies, I'd only ever heard about them in some of the radio plays. They were the reclusive type, living in their dark caves with their extreme orgies and dwindling gene pools. Or at least, that's what the radio had always said.

Limelight gave a little shake of his head, passing off the sorry as we trotted on. After a few moments, he gave a little snort, glancing over at me again and saying, "So that armor is made from the ponies you've killed? How many legion did it take to make that?"

I looked down at my armor. Too many. Too many ponies died to make this. "A lot." I said quietly, glancing away from his gaze.

"Then you must know a lot about them." the other bat pony said. I glanced over at her, taking in the mare's light green features and crimson hair. I opened my mouth to affirm to her that I didn't know that much about the legion, and I was hardly an expert. But as I was doing so, I took in her clothes. Business attire, a pinstripped suit with a skirt. Not the kind of thing a pony toughing it in the wastes wore. Indeed, the mare looked like she wouldn't know how to aim a gun, much less shoot at legion.

"Yeah, I mean, maybe more than you do. I'm not sure." I told her.

She gave an eager, friendly nod-- again, something that tipped her off as a pony ignorant of the wastes. "Well, I was very much hoping you might continue your story from before. You see, I'm here to learn as much as I can about the legion and everything in the san palomino region."

I raised my brow at her slightly. That wasn't something a pony came out and just announced everyday. "Why?" I asked simply.

"White Arc, I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Government secrets." the mare smiled, showing off fangs that had been hidden under her lips. Unfortunately this made her grin more like that of a hungry predator than of a friendly pony, but she was so nonthreatening I barely felt my nerves flinch at the sight.

"Yeah uh, maybe later." I said, looking away from her for anyone else to engage me in conversation. That meant the unicorn colt.

"So, hello!" I said to him. "I don't think I know your name yet."

"No." The colt said. I felt my ears droop. Even the kids were being assholes to me now. After a short pause, the foal looked up at me, adding, "No, I didn't tell you my name. It's Switchwire."

"Ah?" I felt myself cheer up a bit. "That's an interesting name, how did you get a name like that?"

"From my parents?" The colt said hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure that was the right answer or not. I realized immediately after that it probably was a pretty silly question. Of course he'd gotten his name from his parents. A little warmth rose in my cheeks, but I continued to press the conversation, not at all eager to press on with the next leg of my story and finding myself wishing for a lengthier distraction than a conversation with a child.

"Well at least you know, I mean, I never knew myself, it was just-- my name." I let my voice falter, falling silent and continuing to avert my eyes from the bat pony walking on the other side of Limelight. But I could feel her eyes looking at me, those slitted, monstrous eyes. the eyes of a demon, taking delight in the idea of me telling the next leg of my story. the pain, the darkness the-- "Ah!"

I felt my hooves depart the ground as I misstepped on a train track, falling straight downwards and crashing into a pile of wood and debris. I groaned as Limelight and Switchwire stopped, looking down at me to see if I would get up. After a groan I pulled myself up, wiping myself off as I looked at what I had crashed into. I wished I hadn't. Suddenly the smell of rotted, half eaten something filled my mouth and nostrils, and I realized that I was looking down at some creature that had clearly been hunted. In places, it's flesh had been flayed off the bone, leaving femurs sticking out. However, the creature's skin seemed mostly intact except for long slices around the creases of limbs. Organs from the inside of the creature stretched in different directions, and I could see teeth marks where it looked like various creatures had played tug of war with the intestines.

"Oh fuck-- oh fuck, hell fucking no!" I squealed, backing up and feeling my courage break. I flashed my flashlight past the caravan, illuminating the hallway beyond. Here and there, sure enough, I was spotlighting other, similar corpses. They looked like miniature bears, resembling something close to huge moles with a lot of claws. All were in various states of decomposition, and as ponies in the caravan began to take notice, a palpable wave of fear swept over us. Murmurs of death swept over us, but a swift, echoing order from Zena dispelled the talk.

"Be quiet!" Zena ordered, talking over everypony as she glanced around at the tunnel. "Shut up, do you want to be eaten too?"

Unfortunately, while Zena might have won a few moments of silence, it didn't last. Different ponies were now turning to each other, some pulling weapons, some panicking. I instinctively grabbed Switchwire close to me and pulled out my pistol. Not that I expected to do much with a small caliber handgun, but I was sure as hell going to try.

Chaos rained on the caravan as ponies beat a hasty retreat, most trying to get away from the horror and viscera. Eventually I found my way to the front of the caravan, mostly by virtue of most ponies beating a retreat. Zena was standing next to the suit of power armor, with only Limelight and Scarlet Mist for company. I pushed forward to stand with the other ponies, pulling Switchwire underneath me. I could feel his cool breaths running over my leg, and felt his had shift up as his mane brushed the bottom of my chest.

I spared a glance down at him, noting his facial expression to be one of confusion. I found my voice, although it was barely more than a whisper when I spoke, "It's okay, I'll protect you."

"Protect me from what?" The colt asked. I stayed silent, not truly having an answer for him. I glanced at the remains ahead of us, then back at the crowd of ponies standing a couple yards away from the bodies.

"We have to walk through this." Zena said, "If you stop now, you die." I watched as Zena turned, beginning to trot along the tracks, doing her best to avoid the corpses. I patted the colt under me on the shoulder, turning and beginning to trot behind Zena. I knew what Zena had said was true. The other ponies knew it too, and after a couple seconds I heard the patter of hooves as they began to follow once more. I reached down on my PipBuck, whacking the buttons until it was recording. I gave a glance at Switchwire, and nodded to him as I fell back towards the center of the group, waiting for the bat mare to be next to me.

I wasn't sure if my story was going to help or not. But I figured maybe if I was talking and telling a story, then maybe everypony else's mind would be focused elsewhere. And at the very least, my mind would be focused elsewhere.

My whole mind was still spinning from the events of the day. Not only was I exhausted from little sleep, but my body was covered in cold sweat. The sweat only served to rub salt into the aching pain on my branded leg. To my knowledge the First Pony had never branded an exile, much less made such a scene of throwing them out.

I began trying to sort out the things that had happened as I trotted away from the walls. A chill swept past me as the cool night left me shaking. I pulled the curtain around me, feeling a small vial brush against my neck as I did so.

“Zena’s healing potion!” I squeaked, pulling it out of the folds of the curtain and holding it in my hoof. I bit the cork off with my mouth and spat it aside, chugging the potion down. I reached down to my hoof and pulled back my Stable-Tec jumpsuit pajamas, watching the wound. If this could bring a pony back from near death, surely it could treat a branding. Sure enough, I watched as the wound healed over, leaving a horrible burned that looked maybe a week old. Although skin had regrown on top, there was no replacing the fur. Burned up star tissue laid under the newly formed skin, causing the X to puff out slightly. I realized the X was there to stay, a permanent brand on my hoof, forever.

The world felt suddenly much colder. I pushed my sleeve back down to cover the wound, continuing to trot away from the City. I stopped as I reached the top of a ridge, turning and looking back at what had been my home. Searchlights lit up the towers, and I could see the dark and imposing shadow of the walls casting darkness over their surroundings. I glanced up at the moon, wondering if Luna could see the cruelty of Stable City from the heavens. I looked back down at the shadow of the walls, and then turned away to look at the wastes. My tattered curtain billowed around me, plastering against the metal armor parts I wore underneath and whipping around me rifle. I patted the curtain down as I looked at the cruel and daunting prospects lying ahead of me, a harsh life I had no choice but to face. I had to be gone, but I had no idea where I was going. I stopped to gather the few chems and matches I kept stashed away outside of the Stable City, and then continued on my way. From here I could see the ruins of Zena’s bike. An idea suddenly dawned on me in the dark night.

I thought back to the symbol I had seen on the pony in the suit. It was the same symbol that the “Phoenix Legion” wore. Maybe it didn’t mean anything, but there was a chance that maybe Zena knew something about it. I knew where Zena and Quick Shimmer were heading, and they couldn’t have gotten more than a couple hours head start on me before it was completely dark. I knew the general location of Grove, and if I kept going south, I’d eventually reach it. Looking up from the wreckage I nodded, resolved to go south and find Zena. Somehow that might make things a little better, or at least, not any worse. Besides, I didn’t have anywhere else to go or anypony else to turn to.

I continued in the dark for a little while, it was hard for me to gauge the passing of time. My hooves did not care for catching up to Zena however, and I stopped to rest them before long. My legs ached, but I willed them to gather a little bit of wood for a fire. I tried using some of my matches to get a campfire going, but the fire simply would not take. I resolved instead to curl up into a ball, sleeping beside my crude and useless campfire. This didn’t matter, as I was not able to find any rest. I was used to sleeping in a bed my whole life, and sleeping on the ground was completely uncomfortable. This discomfort proved to be a blessing in disguise, because not long after I had laid down, I heard them.

“You sure there’s something out here, Nighteye?” It was a raspy voice, with not enough energy in the pony to properly form speech.

“Yes, I fucking did. Now shut the up, you’ll spook them, haha. We wouldn’t want to scare the poor bastard, not yet, ha!” This voice was excited with a hungry tint to it’s words, not unlike a little filly right before supper.

It took me a moment to realize what was happening, and then I felt like I had crashed into a brick wall. Those ponies were talking about me. I hurriedly unslung my rifle from my back, attaching it to my hoof at the middle and lower bend. It would be impossible to move and fire with it, but I didn’t intend on moving and making a bunch of noise. I pushed myself back against a concrete overhang, keeping the moonlight above me hidden by an old concrete road. It served to keep me reasonably well hidden, with the shadows of the night doing most of the work.

I saw the other ponies before they saw me. Even in the dark of the night, I could make out the armor they wore. They were dressed like the ponies that had been burning on the fire the day before. Now that I saw them alive, with their mangled forms of flesh hanging off their bones and mad smiles on their faces, I felt a little bad for the Phoenix legion that Zena had slain. These ponies looked like animals, no, they were animals in pony form, and maybe the legion had been doing these ponies and the world a favor by killing them.

Directly after this thought I remember the Zebra mare, and the ponies they had in chains. No, the legion was just as bad as these ponies, in their own way. I raised my rifle, readily lining up the iron on top with where I hoped one of my enemies was. All of these ponies were savages, and if I didn’t shoot, they would shoot me. I didn’t know what they had planned, and I didn’t intend to find out.

Squeezing on the trigger with my hoof, I let out a gasp as the gun kicked back in my hoof. Kickback with Zena’s gun had not jolted through my body when I had used telekinesis, and this was a new feeling to me. Zena had such control over her weapons that she had not seemed to move when she fired them. A single shot from this rifle left my leg shaking, and now I was going to have to recock it and re aim it.

I looked down the barrel of the gun at where my bullet had flown. My shot had been true, embedding in the chest of Nighteye’s companion. Although he had a bloody wound in his chest, he was working his way off the ground. I hurriedly recocked the gun and fired in his direction, seeing a spray of black-red blood fly into the night as my bullet struck him. This time he collapsed and did not get back up.

Part of me stopped for that moment. I had just killed my first pony. I was a murderer just like the rest of the savages in the wasteland now. I tore my mind back to what was happening, fear pushing me to remember that there was still another Raider.

“Come out you stupid bitch, I’m goin’ kill you for that!” Nighteye was screaming into the night, running in my direction like a wild animal looking for me. He was closing fast, and I didn’t think I’d have time to fire off enough bullets to kill him. I ducked out of cover, stopping only to fire more shots at the savage. He chased me, my bullets either missing or not causing enough damage to slow him down when they hit. My rifle was out of bullets now, and the pony was still advancing on me. I turned around, looking for the Raider as I hastily attempted to reload my rifle. My mind was filled with a flurry of emotions. Although fear overpowered anything else, I was also in shock. Nothing in the wasteland was foreign to me, I’d heard the stories of it, but I was shocked at how easy it was for me to fire a gun and take a life, soon to be lives.

I shoved a new magazine into my gun and pointed it, aiming it for the Raider. He had drawn a rifle as well, a short single shot pipe rifle. I was a faster shot, lucky for me, and I watched as gore splattered the street behind him. Nighteye went down, falling dead on the ruined prewar road.

I breathed a few heavy breaths,collapsing onto a rock and holding myself up with it’s support. I had never been so brutal, and I had never murdered before. This was an entirely new feeling I wasn’t sure how to process. My hooves were trembling and my whole body felt like goo that could collapse at any time. I looked at the dead Raider, wondering if I should do anything with him.

He probably has food. You’re cold, scared, and hungry. Maybe he has something to help? I realized that I had not eaten all day. There was a little voice in my head now telling me to survive, and I stepped forward, checking Nighteye to see if he had any possessions. He was an unremarkable earth pony with a bullet lodged somewhere deadly, his blank eyes staring forward. His things were in a loose sack attached to his back, and inside was some junk food and ammo that did not match my gun. I slunk away with the food, leaving the ammo and beginning to devour it. I wasn’t hungry anymore, but I felt dirty inside. Looting a corpse seemed wrong, even if it was just survival. Zena’s bike had been different-- there hadn’t been a body that time.

I stood up as I finished devouring the food, painting a mental picture of myself for memories sake. Here I was, standing alone in the middle of the night with two carcasses making mounds on the ground. I considered burying the dead bodies, but knew I had no reasonable way to dig a grave. I started towards the second pony, intending to check him for supplies before moving on. It felt wrong, but I had to survive. I had killed savages, and I assured myself since they were savages and not ponies, this made it okay. It was difficult mental gymnastics, but I had to rationalize things out here, or I’d lose my rationality altogether.

I turned back in the direction I was travelling, away from Nighteye and towards the south. I only had time to let out a gasp before pain flooded my world. The world spun as some club struck the side of my head, the sound of a crack echoing in my ears as I landed on my side. I struggled to stay conscious as I looked around, pointing my rifle in whatever direction I was looking. My vision swam towards the first Raider, which I had assumed to be dead. He was standing up now and had a few metal bars tied together with cloth in his mouth. On the end of this was what looked like a large piece of concrete. He let out a wild scream through the object held in his mouth, swinging it in an arc to crash it down on my ribcage. I rolled to the side, watching the concrete smash into the street. I continued rolling and scrambling around, avoiding two more manic strike from the pony. I finally pulled myself up, shakily backing out of range of the club. I could see the Raider’s yellow, glinting teeth in the moonlight. His twisted smile that held his weapon accented his blood red eyes. He let out a psychotic laugh as he began to advance, my legs slowly carrying me backwards.

I didn’t know how many more bullets this pony was going to be able to take, and I was hoping I didn’t have to find out. I fired off a shot at him, scrambling to run away. I reached a ledge and threw myself onto it, hanging on before dropping down. The Raider followed me, my bullet having either not phased him or missed. He jumped over me, one off his hind legs letting out a loud crack as he landed on the ground and planted himself firmly there. Even if he might have just fractured one of his legs, I wasn’t getting the feeling that this was going to stop him. He didn’t even seem to be aware of the pain he should surely be in.

I backed up against the ledge, holding up my gun and aiming. If I had been fearful before, it was nothing compared to what I was feeling now. The fact that I had felt remorse at any point for thinking I had killed this pony disgusted me. I had my back against the wall and was looking at a demon. I could understand now how Zena killed so freely. Somepony had to shove these things into hell’s door. I lined up my aim for a headshot as Zena had done. As I took the shot I wondered how differently things might be going if I had stayed with Zena and shimmer, if they had wanted me around.

Click.

I stared meekly at my gun, then back up at the Raider, who was cackling so hard I thought he might drop his weapon. I had forgotten to recock my gun, and until I did my gun may as well be a club.

I let out a frightened gasp as the Raider rushed me. I ducked quickly, hearing the concrete club take out a section of concrete wall behind me. Before he could ready himself for another swing, I unslung my gun and swung the barrel end into my mouth. I ducked to the side of the raider and swung at his weak leg. A sickening crunch from the middle of his leg preceded a howl of pain from the raider, almost falling over as his leg gave out. I recocked my gun and took aim as he writhed in pain, going once more for a shot to the head. The bullet found its’ mark in the side of the raider’s skull. He dropped, a splatter of blood coating the ground under him.

I had to fight very hard to not throw up the junk food I had just eaten as I turned away in disgust. Killing was different when I was the one doing it. I tried to put this out of my head as I looted the raider, taking a patchwork saddlebag off of him. He had two canisters hooked up to a plunger, all of which were held together with duct tape. He had no food on him, nor anything else that struck me as valuable. I simply took the unknown chem and put it into my saddlebag.

I knew chems were used to help wastelanders survive in the savage world, and I figured it might do the same for me. I turned away from the bodies once more, leaving them to rot while I continued down the street. Although I very much wanted to rest, There was no way I was sleeping near dead bodies. Luckily not too far down the road was the remains of some old town. It came into view as I went over a hill, and I could see some houses that looked like they were still slightly intact. Since that might mean a proper bed and a place to hide, with some luck I could barricade myself in a room and stay there until I was rested.

I made my way into the town, making my way into the first intact building I could find. Although intact meant that it had most of its walls and a roof, not really that it wasn't a complete wreck. I slid down a hallway and pushed myself through a doorway, looking around. The room had a ruined bed in it, but the mattress looked relatively clean compared to trying to sleep in the dirt. The room also had a dresser next to a window and a series of foal toys on the ground. I pushed the dresser towards the door and leaned it against the doorframe. Anypony trying to do more than look through a crack in the ruined door. I'd be woken up if anypony tried to break in. However, there wasn't much I could do about the window. I tried checking around the room for some way to block it, but there was nothing helpful. I resolved to just lay on the bed, reloading my gun so that I had six rounds.

Sleep evaded me. I had barely settled down to truly rest when I heard movement around me, it sounded like it was from outside the house. Shortly after I heard it, I could make out artificial lights. Whoever was looking around had at least two flashlights. I could see some shadows from one of the ponies shining it behind their fellows as they checked the house. They were talking among themselves in rough tongues that were hard to understand, and they didn't sound the least bit friendly. I saw the flashlights separate, and was able to make out five sets of hooves looking around.

“Nighteye, that you?” One of the rough tongued ponies asked the darkness. I pulled on my gun, making sure that it was ready and aiming it at the window. I wasn’t sure where they were coming from, but at least there was a dresser between us. I took aim, waiting for the flashlight to draw nearer. I hoped that they simply would not find me, but if they did I was going to have to shoot my way out.

The first pony came not from outside looking in the window, but from the door. Somepony was pressing against it, trying to open it. When that failed, I heard them tackle it, nudging the dresser forward and giving them a crack in the door to look through. I saw the unicorn light up their horn and flash it around the room.It was a different glow than flashlights, a magical on, instead of mechanical. He too had yellowed teeth holding a short shafted farming hoe in his mouth. I turned and aimed my gun right at the lower side of the light. I was not about to let him have any chance at using his crude weapon.

The sound of the gunshot bounced around the room, giving my already aching head a fresh tinge of pain. Colours swam together with lines of the room for a moment, allowing me to see a distortion of the pony falling over dead, the hoe in his mouth laying in the room with me. I suddenly wished I had saved the healing potion from earlier so that I could use it now. As I blinked the world back into focus, I saw the bleeding remains of the Raider hanging on the dresser, his brains covering the floor of the hallway behind him. I magically levitated his weapon to me, keeping my gun at the ready. The rest of the raiders were sure to have heard that, and now at least if I ran out of bullets, I still had a weapon. The sounds of the raiders getting closer to me from the hallway and outside were rattling around inside my brain as I moved to recock my rifle. However, the rifle refused to move back into place, pushing a bullet into the barrel for firing. I jerked on it a few times, but it was stuck. The sound of the ponies outside my room were getting louder, and my gun would not work.

Shit. I knew I couldn’t use the gun now and there were at least four Raiders surrounding me. My mind wandered down to the hoe next to my hoof. I was starting to realize that this was how I was going to die, with a piece of farming equipment all alone in the wastes.

Part of me wanted to cry, but another part, the part that was going to stay alive out here, told me to fight. My mind drifted to my saddlebag, and I magically pulled out the drug I had stolen from the Raider with Nighteye. If wasteland drugs could give you an edge to survive, then it was worth the chance. I was willing to take a field test with the drug, since I was probably dead anyway. Holding out my leg and finding a vein, I shoved the needle into my leg and pushed the plunger down. It hurt, feeling a giant needle under my skin as I pumped strange liquids together into my bloodstream.

At first, I felt panic spike in my heart as nothing happened. I felt just as I had before, but now the Raiders were almost at the door. I blinked, picking up the hoe as the feeling in my heart changed. I felt a horrible chest pain, like a stabbing heart attack. Pins assaulted both sides of my chest, pressing down on my body and causing my heart to jump. Every muscle in my body was releasing and tensing up in spasms, getting ready for a fight. All the pain in my body from the day was gone. I felt clear and strong. I could take a hundred bullets while I ripped my enemies to shreds.

“Now I can, ugh, Ah, argh!” I fell off the bed, gripping my chest and holding the hoe magically aloft. The rush was overpowering, everything clearing up and any potential of pain numbing. I looked up and could see my enemies outside, carefully approaching the door. I didn’t know where the Raider at the window was, but I didn’t care. He’d die too in due time. I was going to murder those ponies. Killing them seemed like the best idea I had all day. I shoved the hoe into my mouth and squeezed out of the crack in the door, jumping into the hallway to face the raiders.

As soon as the three Raiders saw me jump out they opened fire, laughing gleefully at what they perceived as fresh slaughter. I charged at them, half using my magic, half using my mouth to swing the hoe. I could feel bullets hitting me, but many only hurt, not causing me any actual harm. Zena’s armor, random as it seemed to have been, was proving useful. She was looking out for me even without being around.

My hoe found it’s mark on the first Raider as I barreled into them, my hoe going for their necks. This first Raider, who had a sawed off shotgun, did not even get his first shot off before I was tearing him to bits. I grabbed his weapon and turned it on his comrades, magically strapping it to my hoof and firing both barrels. I fell onto my back from the force of the shots, leaving carcass of the dead Raider between me and his allies. Blood was strewn everywhere, and i had opened up his ribcage by crushing the bones into his organs. He might have even still been alive, but it wouldn’t be for long. I turned my attention to the other two, one of whom was succumbing to a shotgun blast right through their chest as they bled to death, and a third, mostly unharmed, raider. They raised a simple one-shot pipe rifle, ready to shoot me again. Like a caged animal, my instinct was to bite. I launched forward, jumping like a dog and biting at the pony’s neck as I slammed my hoe into his shoulder, hoping to knock away the gun. The Raider did not get off a shot and soon we were in a brawl, rather than some sort of gunfight.

“Bring it!” I screamed in his face. The Raider obliged, smashing one of her forehooves into my side. A string of barbed wire shoved into my hide, cutting into my flesh and leaving a streak of blood running down part of my Stable-Tec Pajamas. I felt red pain run through me, blurring my vision red and causing the outlines of my world go grow fuzzy. The hoe dropped from my grip, and I let out a scream as I wrapped both of my hooves around the mare’s head. The only thought in my head was to hurt her as much as I could. I began using my hooves to bash the back of her skull into the concrete floor. I kicked and bit in between shashing her brains onto the floor, leaving the sound of breaking bones and the squish of mutilated flesh to fill the hallway.

It was only after I had sufficiently beaten her to a bloody pulp and she had stopped breathing that I realized I was screaming. It was a psychotic scream, one echoing my thrills. It felt good to survive and to kill. The need was part of my blood. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that now it might ever go away-- but that thought quickly faded away. There was still more fighting to be done.

Even though the Raiders were no longer breathing, I gave them all several good kicks before preparing myself for the Raider that I had heard moving outside, before I had gone into the hallway. He was probably still around somewhere, and I intended to kill him before he killed me. I collected 4 shells for the sawed off shotgun, strapping that to myself and picking up the hoe I had been using earlier. I began walking down the hallway, towards the exit of the home. There were flashlights outside pointed at the door. This gave me an awkward feeling inside. It meant there was more than one pony let to kill, and that was good. It also meant that they might be able to overpower and kill me. I slunk back into my room, grabbing my jammed gun and put it on my back. It wasn’t much good to me jammed, but maybe it made a good club if I got in trouble.

Rather than meet the Raiders head on, I snuck out the window that I had been keeping an eye on earlier. It was a tight fit, but I managed to get through without any obvious pain. Once outside, I peeked around the wall to look at the Raiders holding the flashlights. There were five of them, three with flashlights, all of them pointing at the door. As far as I could tell they had not seen me yet. No part of me wanted to sneak away though, even if that was probably the smart choice. The drugs in my blood were now in full swing, and I wanted to go out there and smash the raiders into bloody pulps. I reloaded the shotgun and took a deep breath.

Swinging around the corner, I quickly sprinted up to the first pony holding a flashlight. The last thing they felt was a barrel of a gun going against the back of their head, and then the sound of a blast. Blood splattered the ground and my fur. I grabbed their flashlight, which was attached to a single shot pipe rifle, and aimed it at the other ponies with flashlights. This had the fortunate, if unintended, effect of momentarily blinding them. I magically fired off the shot, but it soared over the heads of the ponies-- After all, I had their flashlights in my eyes too. I dropped the pipe rifle, sprinting over to the next pony, who had a crude knife in his mouth. My hoe impaled the side of his neck, and I pushed him onto the ground as he began to scream at the blood squirting out of his body.

As I sprinted to the next pony, I felt bullets rip into my body. Blood ran down my Stable pajamas, coating it with rich crimson. It was soon joined by the blood of another Raider, as I fired a shell into his left eye. Brain matter coated his friend, who let out a scream of panic as I reloaded my sawed off shotgun. These Raiders had single shot pipe rifles, and this shotgun looked to be the deadliest gun among all of them. Their outfits suggested they were experts of melee and unarmed combat, preferring to beat their victims to death. That was something I could respect. I pulled my gun out and clobbered the other flashlight pony in the head, knocking him onto the ground. Raising my shotgun, I used it to end the other Raider, who was coming up from behind with a deadly looking club. He screamed in agony, and by his continued cries I knew he wasn’t dead. I dropped my shotgun, grabbing my club with magic and beginning to use it to bash both Raiders to death. I took my time, screaming at them as I broke every bone I could find in their body.

The stronger of the two-- the Raider who had not been hit with a shotgun, tried to run away from me. I tackled him, putting the shotgun into his cutie mark and pulling the trigger. Bone, blood, and skin splattered against my belly as his blew almost clean off, only some red tendrils and flesh substance keeping it roughly in place. The Raider squirmed as he screamed in agony, shock starting to sweep over his body.
“No escape, shitbrains!” I turned by shotgun and bashed him in the head. Dropping my jammed rifle, I retrieved my hoe from the pool of blood next to the now dead Raider. Now that their bones were broken or cracked, I was going to… hurt them more, somehow. I was going to cut them up and brutalize them as they would have done to me, and had no doubt done to other ponies. I briefly saw the images of mangled pony corpses, of the dead zebra mare, of her lying near dead in a pool of her own blood and guts, of her innocent blood splattering against my face. The Raider tried to squirm and run, but I was faster than a barely conscious raider. I began hacking at their limbs as they struggled and screamed, leaving them a bleeding, screaming, pleading messes on the pavement.

“No! Please! I don’t want to die!” One of the Raiders said at me, terror on his face as he looked at his mutilated body. I knew that he could already accept that nothing would save him, he would die of blood loss if I didn’t finish the job. I buried the shaft of the hoe into one of his leg wounds, turning it around inside so it dug into the muscle. The Raider screamed, his voice cracking. I pulled the hoe out and hacked at his chest several times, cutting it clean open and exposing the white, tan, and red coloured organs. A brown liver was split in half as I cleaved it with the hoe, laughing like a maniac as I enjoyed his suffering. When he stopped screaming and breathing, I turned to look for the other living Raider.

He was not difficult to find. I followed a blood trail to another nearby house. He had left his friend to be butched by me, apparently hoping he could get away. There would be no such luck. I walked through the open door and saw he had his hoof on a box of medical supplies, and was struggling to get it open. With a few brutal hacks from the hoe, I removed his hoof, drenching the floor and box in blood. I raised my hoe, holding it there only long enough to see the fear in the Raiders eyes before I began hacking at him, slicing open all of his chest cavities. When he no longer moved, I threw the hoe at his head, making a meaty clunk as steel impacted skull.

I had done it now. The pain of mt wounds felt dull and unimportant, but a part of me knew that I did not want an infection. I grabbed the box of medical supplies that was coated with blood, and then turned away from the corpse. I found a bedroom that looked like it had been a small filly’s room long ago. I pulled off my bullet ridden armor that Zena had given me and started looking over my wounds. There were a couple healing potions in the medical box, as well as various painkillers. I tried to apply them as best I could while binding my wounds with medical cloth and surgical tape. Although this was by no means all of the supplies in the box, I felt like I would waste them if I tried to use them-- and I had a bit of a suspicion I had squandered the painkillers by using more than I needed.

Once I was sure the bleeding had stopped, I pulled my jammed rifle close and tried to sleep. The drugs were still in full thunder, keeping my mind tunnel visioned on one thing at a time. I knew I was tired and I knew I had killed everything near me. With a sigh I let my eyelids close, hoping they would open again. No rest came to me though. I sat there feeling every muscle spasm at the slightest sound.

As my eyes opened, the light of day felt blurry and scary at first. I pulled myself over the side of the bed and immediately puked out the liquid in my stomach, cleaning it out. I felt weaker, and the pain from my wounds were screaming. I told myself that i could survive them, but I’d feel better with a doctor looking at them. As my vision cleared and I looked outside, to the Raiders I had battled the night before, I felt a scream rise in my throat-- My wounds were nothing compared to their mangled bodies.

My mind started to think about my foggy memories of the night before. In hindsight it was like I had become something evil, bent only on aggression and madness. My hooves carried me past the dead body that had been trying to use the medical supplies and onto the street where I had done battle with most of the Raiders in the dark. Flies were buzzing above their bloodied corpses, and I fought back my urge to scream at the savagery I was seeing.

Logically I knew that I had done this. I had slain all these ponies and decorated the town with their blood and bits of bone and organ forcibly separated from their bodies. I could not accept that it had truly been me though, no, something else had been inside me. Something horrible and evil came to life from that chemical cocktail I had injected into me. The dissociation was both frightening and comforting; while my body had no doubt committed the crimes, the blood was on the drugs, not me. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself as I set to picking through the bodies and exploring the Raider Camp. I did my best to not look at the most eviscerated of the Raiders, those who had limbs shown off by the hoe or had their thoracic cavity scraped clean. A few of the raiders looked like a dog had been gnawing on them, and I could see places where scavenger birds had pecked and ripped out their fill.

I managed to not puke again, not that I had anything left to throw up, and started poking around the houses for anything of use. On the second floor of the house (Which was little more than crumbling walls and the floor) I had originally taken shelter in before the fighting started, I found what looked like a small supply stash. Nothing more than some ammunition for weapons I did not have and a few guns that looked like they were more likely to shoot me then shoot out the barrel if I tried them. From up here I could see the real camp, which was a bit further into the town and surrounded by metal fences. The raiders had claimed three of the least destroyed houses and hidden themselves away in this residential area. I could see mangled corpses of ponies they had preyed upon before me decorating their wall. Somehow the rotting bodies below me didn’t seem as horrible when I saw the decaying sculptures that made up Raider art. My eyes looked back at my handiwork below me. Most of the Raiders were in about as many pieces as their art, and I had arguably added to their collection, with one Raider having impaled himself on a picket fence after he had suffered a shotgun blast to the back of his head. I sighed, starting towards the deserted Raider camp with the hope of supplies.

The inside of the place was more grisly than the outside. Large mutated gnats the side of my hoof flew away as I approached, most of them concerned with gnawing off rotting pieces of flesh on the sculptures. I picked up a plank of wood off the ground, magically holding it up and ready to strike in case they came near. The bugs looked to be fearful of me, but I was not going to trust their creepy looking mandibles or loud buzzing noises.

As I picked through the supplies of the Raiders-- a modest amount of ammo, a few grenades, and plentiful drugs I did not know the name of-- I started to think about Stable City walls. I was once more behind a wall, and it made me feel more safe, even if it was a Raider camp filled with bugs, drugs, and bullets. I had heard about how different things were out here, but now I was just like those other savages. I had taken sick pleasure in killing ponies, even if they were violent psychos. I loved the rush the drug had given me, and I wanted to use it more. I hated myself for feeling this way, but I wanted to kill. I wanted to kill because it kept me alive, because maybe it gave some justice to the unrecognizable rotting corpses of the Raider’s victims. Most of all though, I wanted to kill because it felt good.

I stopped through a bathroom as I was finishing my looting, turning on the sink and smiling as water came out. Maybe I could have a little drink, and wash my face. I leaned down and drank straight from the faucet, and then splashed some of the dirty water over my face. Flecks of pony matter and blood ran out of my coat, cleaning the red off my hooves and face.

I filled my saddlebags with as much as I could reasonably carry, checking around until I found what looked like some innocent pony’s satchel bag. It had some water in it but all the packaged food had been devoured by something, probably the raiders. I kept the water inside and slung the satchel over my back. Although I didn't have an appetite now, I knew I would later, and just had to hope I found a place to scavenge food. Once I was clear of the Raider camp I let my thoughts organize themselves. My only hope was that I’d have food and get to kill more. I was a looter and a killer. I felt the scream that had been building up inside of me let loose, a horrible sound of fear and anger. I was just like those monsters that got put down in the old stories and history books.

...However, I was alive. Those Raiders had been animals just like me, and they were dead and I was not. It was easier to rationalize what I had done when I thought of my enemies as animals. I knew things had to stay this way. I was going to keep killing savages in this wasteland, and I was going to stay alive.

I took full stock of my loot as I traced the path southward, working on unjamming my rifle. I had ten bullets for the rifle now, and it was not my only weapon. A brace of grenades sat next to a small pistol that lacked any obvious hammer on it. I had found it in near perfect condition with a small metal box of ammo to go with it, so it would have been foolish to just leave it. I had some metal raider armor strapped on to me now, giving me good cover if I was shot at. I had fetched the sawed off shotgun on my way out, as while I had no ammo for it, I might find more and it could serve as a decent club in the meantime.

As the day wore on, I found myself stopping to rest and drinking water every hour or so. It was almost overcast, so the sun was not beating down upon me, but this did not make me feel any better. Instead the clouds cast a gloom over the wasteland, creating shadows that existed in places they normally would not, and causing me always feel as though I wasn't alone. After a few hours, I almost sighed when I heard the sound of gunfire being exchanged nearby. I hid myself in a nearby building, a burned out restaurant that had almost no stools or booths left in it. I snuck through the back, looking out through a hole that looked like It used to house the smokestack for a stove. Both the stove and the smokestack were missing now.

Outside of the hole, I could see the firefight happening. A couple raiders were shooting at a group of poorly armed, poorly dressed ponies. Two were laying dead on the ground, bleeding out of their chests as they heaved their last breaths. One of them had a foal crying and trying to tell her daddy not to die. One of the Raiders Picked the foal up, putting a gun to her head and grinning at her.

"Let. Her GO!" I screamed in fury, pulling out my rifle and savaging throwing it into the side of the Raider's skull. the filly, gun, and Raider all dropped, and my levitation magic found the gun as I raised it and took aim at the other Raider, who was currently ripping out the throat of the other pony still left trying to fight for their already lost life. I squeezed the trigger and fired all the bullets the semi automatic pistol had, letting them rip into the Raider's body and watching as he fell backwards with a loud cry, grasping as the bleeding holes in his chest. I turned to the other Raider, who was standing up now. Before either of us could act however, another gunshot rang out, this time from overhead. I reeled in alarm to look at the roof of a nearby office building, staring at three ponies standing behind some cover.

"Hang on there, hang on! We're friendly!" One of the ponies, a gruff, older stallion, cried out. I raised my club of a gun as I felt something grab onto my hind leg. Looking down, I saw the filly I had just saved cowering under me, still staring at her no longer moving father. Her wet tears were rolling into my thigh and running down my leg, adding to the grime coating my body. I shook my attention away from her, refocusing on the new ponies that I was unsure if I could trust or not. At least they had something to say that wasn't about murder, but I wasn't particularly feeling prone to trusting other wasteland assholes after finding nothing but Raiders thus far.

"How do I know you won't try and kill me?" I asked, looking at them as they lowered their weapons.

"If we were going to do that, we'd have put a bullet in your pretty head too." A younger stallion replied to me. He was handsome, even with grime coating most of his body. He had the rough, on edge look that commanded authority, despite his youth.

"We saw what you did there. charging in like that. You didn't have to get involved, why did you?" The older stallion asked, sliding down some ruined concrete to draw closer. I lowered my club, nodding to his gun.

"It was the right thing to do. Why'd you get involved?" I asked. The stallion gave me a friendly smile, something that instantly made my day seem a little brighter, even if something seemed utterly wrong with him. I couldn't shake this feeling, but he seemed to be too... gentle, despite being dressed in heavy combat armor. He looked like a soldier, not a well meaning wastelander.

"Well, the same reason you did. No one protects these roads anymore, so we make it our job to try and help as many refugees as we can. They tend to pass through here on their way north to the NCR, and they call us the Bloodhoof Angels. We operate out of Bloodhoof Bar, not far from here." I kept a wary eye on the ponies, then turned my attention back to the filly that was hanging onto my leg. I was not about to trust her with ponies I barely knew, but I couldn't exactly take her with me all the way to Grove attached to my leg like this.

"and it's a safe place, Bloodhoof Bar? Could you take us there?" I asked, nodding to the filly attached to my rear leg. The older stallion gave me a nod and a smile, gesturing down the street.

"We'll lead the way. My name's Bones by the way. Old military callsign." He gave a gruff cough, beginning to lead the way, the younget stallion keeping an eye on the other streets as if he expect an ambush at any moment. The young mare stayed behind, pulling out a shovel. I glanced at the bodies, then up at the mare.

"Well, are you gunna stare or you gunna go with them?" She said, leaning on the shovel and looking at the bodies. I bit my lip and nodded to her, turning away and looking at the filly still holding onto my leg. I didn't want to think about the task ahead for the young mare-- just that it was nice that there was some decency out here in the wasteland.

"Here, Get on my back." I said, laying down so that the filly could climb up onto me. I saw her look at her dad, who was still pooling out blood, and she burst into fresh tears. carefully levitating her, I sat her on my back and pulled myself up, beginning to trot after the small band in front of us. I had no idea what I could say to her. I didn't have any memory of my parents, and my brother had never really talked about them either. I wasn't sure what I could say to her, so I just kept my mouth shut.

The Bloodhoof bar was behind some fortified walls, and it was positioned with some ruined buildings around it. A large neon sign in red letters showed off "Bloodhoof" with faded lettering on a sign below it reading in painted red letters "Bar, Restaurant, and Wine Superstore." the Bloodhoof building itself was a large building that looked like a Large Shoppe, Warehouse, and bar all combined into one. I followed the ponies inside the front door,s which were completely missing the glass that had once filled the holes. The inside had fortifcations built around the welcoming desk, and the rest of the building was inaccessible from the looks of things without leaving through the front. I starred up at the building as I went through it, looking at the walls and ramparts running around it. Even though it was nowhere near as pretty or safe as Stable City, it did have a certain feeling of security. All life seemed to avoid the area except for the ponies that resided there, almost like the place was cursed.

I felt a shiver go over me as I trotted past the welcome desk, entering into a large warehouse. Shelves and shelves of what I assumed had formerly held liqour were now used as walls, and had constructed homes inside of the warehouse. The warehouse itself has some holes in the ceiling, and I could see places where the inner paneling had fallen through. Despite the disrepair, the place still felt safer than being outdoors. Safer, but more claustrophobic. Lights guttered outside of the homes, each of the five spread out to different cornsers of the warehouse, with two smaller ones next door to each other near the front. Bones stopped at one of them, gesturing at the open area.

"This is our home. We've each got homes, but most of us have a spare room or two. You two can stay with the Buttercups, they're the far house over there." I looked at the largest structure inside the warehouse, which was at the far other end, nodding to Bones.

"Thank you, but really, I'm sort of in a hurry to catch up with some-- ponies, I know." I decided to omit Zena's race and profession, deciding that it was probably best to not bring up I was searching for a Desert Ranger I was on first name basis with. You could never be absolutely sure who loved or hated them. "I'd love to stay and Goddesses know I could really use a safe place to relax for a bit, but..." I trailed off, sniffing the air. I turned and looked around, taking in a deep breath and suddenly feeling very hungry.

"Is that-- vegetable stew?" I asked, turning back to Bones. He gave me a grin.

"It aught to be ready in an hour or two if you wait! Take a load off, relax for a bit. You're safe here. And as for meeting up with these other ponies? Maybe we can work something out." Bones turned to the younger stallion, giving a nod as his side. I took a startled step back as the pony, who I now noticed was a pegasus, unfurled his wings, showing off pretty grey feathers spanning several feet to either side of his body.

"We have a sky chariot we use to haul back game or big supplies we can't normally haul. Betchu we can work out a deal to give you a ride." Bones gave me one of those old timer smiles, and I instantly felt my heart soar. The idea of not trotting all the way to Grove and getting a good meal with new friends? It was good to know that after the hell I'd been through, finally, things were going good. Better than good, I found my brain telling me they were going great.

"Oh, thank you so much!" I said, smiling at Bones. I felt my smile fade as I felt the filly shift on my back. I turned to look at her and found her limply hanging onto me, passed out against my neck and still crying slightly in her sleep.

"Go get her in a bed, she needs proper rest." Bones said, gesturing at the filly. "Let the Buttercups know I sent you, and I told them to treat you like one of our own, and take very good care of this gal." I gave a confident nod to Bones, circling around and carefully walking towards the Buttercup's residence, trying to not wake the filly as I did so.

The Buttercup's residence was half made of wood and half made of concrete. A smaller concrete room existed within the main residence as I walked inside, but the rest of the building, If I could really call it that, was made up of a small parlor for relaxing and a kitchen where cooking was done. a set of stairs assembled from broken apart shelves lead upstairs to where I assumed bedrooms were. I focused my attention away from the stairs however, turning around a corner as I followed my nose right to the pot of slowly cooking veggies that hung over a small cooking fire that was in a concrete lined hole. I also found myself face to face with a young couple, who stared at me and then gave me smiles.

"Hello!" The mare, who I assumed was Mrs. Buttercup, said. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, yes, actually." I said, nodding at the Filly on my back and making a hushing sound. "Don't want to wake her."

"Ah, of course, of course." Mrs. Buttercup said, lowering her voice as her husband stirred the pot.

"Bones sent me. He told me to have you treat me like one of your own, and to take very good care of the filly." I nodded to the filly on my back.

"Ah yes, we can certainly do that!" Mrs. Buttercup said, her smile growing a bit warmer, and oddly, just a slight bit unsettling. I found myself looking at her teeth and found them to be slightly sharp in unlikely places. I realized now that I noticed the same with with Bones' teeth when he had smiled at me, But I hadn't been able to really notice anything was too different. Now that I was closer, I could see it. It made me feel weird, looking at the teeth. They looked unfit for a pony's mouth, and yet, not altogether foreign, either. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, making a mental note of it as Mrs. Buttercap passed me and headed for the stairs, ascending them upwards. I followed along as well, being careful to take the stairs slowly so that the filly on my back did not fall off. Once I was at the top I saw two doors.

"First one is ours, and second is the guest room. You two will be sharing a bed, I hope that's alright?" The mare asked. I gave her a nod, pretty sure the slightly malnourished wasteland filly couldn't take up too much bedspace. I trotted forward, looking down at the concrete floor that formed the roof of the concrete room below. the room I was in was slanted, half concrete and half wooden, with a bed resting on the concrete side. The floor had been layered with aluminum and wooden boards, forming a reasonably nice floor for what it was. The room did however lack any decorations, and the bed itself was a simple old mattress with an even older pillow. I gave a sigh and slowly rolled the filly off my back and onto the bed, climbing up onto the bed myself after she was there.

I grappled for the pillow, hugging it to me as I watched the filly blink her eyes and look over at me. She was coated in blood from her father, but I really didn't see much that I could for for her right now about washing it off. I tried to give her a smile, but it came out more like a pained grimace.

"You saved me." She whispered softly. I gave her a nod, reaching out and holding her hoof.

"Yeah. Don't worry, okay? I'm not going to hurt you, or let anypony else hurt you for that matter." I said, squeezing on her leg gently. Despite the situation, I saw her smile, and I realized in that moment that I knew about something else good that I loved out here in the wasteland. I liked making good ponies smile. I liked protecting almost as much as I liked-- No, No I wasn't ready to compare those two things yet. Maybe I never would be. I didn't want to start thinking like that.

"Who are you?" The filly asked me, reaching in and laying against my hoof to use it as a pillow.

I tried smiling again, this time, more convincing as I looked down at her. "My name is White Arc. I'm a--" I realized any title I had in Stable City was gone, other than exile. And it wasn't like it would mean anything to anypony else, anyway. "I'm just another pony, like you."

"Mh. You're uh, pretty." She said, fumbling for words before tucking herself against me.I felt an honest, fully warm smile come across my face as I ruffled her mane, realizing as I did so that right under this small chat we were having was a very traumatized filly. In that respect, we really weren't that different. And yet somehow, we found comfort in being traumatized together."

"And you need a bath. We can see if they have someplace to shower before we eat, okay?" I said, still petting the filly and finding myself holding her close, like a parent would a scared foal. I knew she wasn't my foal, of course, but it still felt almost natural for me. I let myself relax for a bit, laying against the pillow and letting the fill lounge against me was we both sat there and let the minutes go by. We both smelled of blood and death, and the mattress under us smelled the same. If it hadn't before, then it certainly did now. I found myself looking down at the scar on my hoof, and then glanced at the filly, who was looking at it too.

"Who hurt you there?" she asked, carefully running her hoof over the scar. I realized I had no feeling in that part of my leg-- all the nerves in it must have been burned to death by the branding iron. The mere thought of that made me shiver, and I felt resentment and hate building inside of me, But I wasn't totally sure who or where to direct it.

"I don't want to talk about it."I said, ruffling the filly's mane. "Do you want to see about getting that blood off of you? I'm sure they have a shower or bath here somewhere. The filly gave me a nod, and we both stood up, trotting for the stairs and heading down them. I gave a sniff when i entered the parlor, my head jerking towards the kitchen again. Whatever I was smelling was absolutely delicious, and I'd never smelled anything like it in Stable City-- which while it was not always the best tasting, was usually made of quality ingredients and even seasoning.

"It's just your normal stew, dear." Mrs. Buttercup said, smiling. "You know, it aught to be ready in a little bit. If you two want to wash up, we have a bath in the mare's restroom.Out here on your right, back of the bar.

"Thanks so much, that's perfect." I said, looking down at the filly and myself. We both trotted from the home, taking a right and heading through a set of double steel doors that led into the bar and restaurant proper. Although the restaurant itself had a kitchen, most of the appliances looked like they had been broken for many years and stripped for parts. Turning my eyes from the kitchen, I left myself through a swinging door and into the dining room. Many booths of different colours lined the walls here, and although nothing really matched, everything looked to be in good condition. I turned from the booths and tables, heading through another door marked for mares, the filly following close behind me.

The bathroom was hardly that impressive. Somepony had removed the sink and put a bathtub over it, which created what I figured was going to be a cold shower. A dirty toilet sat at eye level with the top of the tub, years of horrifying bacteria growing out of it and staring menacingly at the comparatively pristine tub. I shrugged, stripping my clothes and barding off and starting the water. i figured it might be a good time to wash those off too, while we were all in the business of getting blood of ourselves. I began using the water to wash my own fur, shivering at the cold touch, and then using the water to wash my clothes and barding. Although normal clothes might have been permanently stained and ruined, Stable-Tec clothes were perfectly capable of repelling most any matter that came into contact with them. That made them kind of grating to wear on the skin if you weren't used to it, but I had gotten over that when i was much younger.

The filly next to me had lowered herself into the bath, and was now slowly washing the blood off herself. I averted my eyes as I watched the red flow down the drain, still unsure what I could possibly say to her. I contemplating telling her it would be okay, but I knew that was a lie. I finally decided maybe I should just try and talk to her the way she had talked to me. There was an easy way to start that.

"So, what's your name?" I asked her.

"Slice Stitch." She said, turning slightly and showing me a cutie mark of a needle and thread stitching a wound together. I watched as she rubbed cold water over it, removing the red blood that soaked her thigh.

"Ah, uh, well," It was a name, I found myself thinking. The solemn nod from Slice told me she was of the same mind. We continued the rest of our bath in silence, not that it was much of a bath compared to what I was used to. It consisted mostly of washing my face and my mane by splashing water through it. It was hardly enough to get most of my body clean, but at least I looked more presentable than I had. There wasn't blood covering either of us, and a lot of the grime trapped in my coat washed out. I found myself realizing that unless things were made right, this was what I had to look forward to. Cold baths that barely cleaned me at all, and washing the blood of raiders and the grime of the wasteland. I found myself longing to find Zena, and to make her make things right. In the back of my head I could feel a gnawing in my brain that maybe this was all just a hopeless chase, but I pushed that out of my head. Thinking like that was just going to make me lose my mind. I had to hang on to what little hope I had.

Once both of us were clean, and that term had a very new meaning to me now, I trotted back to the warehouse with Slice at my side. Apparently we were just in time, because I could see a large gathering at the center of the warehouse. The pot of stew I had been seeing cooked was apparently ready, and bowls of the stuff had been passed out to several ponies already. The small community consisted of two couples, the younger stallion, Bones, and another older stallion who wore a dusty business suit. Slice and I trotted over, standing at the edge of a circle of comfortable armchairs and picnic benches that had obviously been lifted from some nearby park.

"Just in time!" Mrs. Buttercup said, looking at both of us as she poured some of the stew into more bowls. I approached first, looking down at the steaming concoction. Thin slices of steak floated around with freshly cut mutated veggies and fruits. I could make out chunks of eggplant, carrot and wild mutafruit. I felt saliva run into my mouth as I looked down at it, realizing I couldn't remember the last real meal I had. It seemed like it had been in another lifetime now, just as the night before-- which was still fresh in my mind-- had seemed like an eternity.

"Thank you very much." I said, levitating two bowls up and gesturing with my hoof for Slice to come sit with me. We occupied the end of a picnic bench, next to the pegasus stallion from earlier.

"You cleaned up nice." he said, taking perhaps a little too long to look me over. It was an uncomfortable feeling, knowing that some stallion's eyes were crawling over you. Uncomfortable, a little bit flattering, but mostly just weird.

"Uhm, thank you." I said shortly, turning to Slice who was now eagerly drinking up her stew. I looked down at mine and lifted it up, beginning to drink. The broth was tasty for what it was, which seemed like it was mostly water and grease from the meat, mixed with whatever juice came out of the fruit. I found it more than suitable eating though.

"So, What's your name, where are you from?" The stallion turned to me now, finished with his stew and still keeping his eyes on my body, rather than my face.

"White Arc. Stable City." I said shortly.

"Oh, Stable City? Are you a citizen there or?" He asked.

I kept my mouth shut, sipping on my stew and waiting for him to change the topic. He gave a little frown, but nodded, continuing after a few moments of silence, "Ah, I see. Well, my name's Breeze. Fair Breeze that is. You know, if things are too cramped over at the Buttercups, I have space in my home." I watched him gesture with his wing towards his building, which was definitely the most decrepit of all the homes. Empty liqour bottles were laying strewn outside next to a ruined couch that looked well used.

"I think we'll be alright. Thanks for the offer." I said, taking that moment to drain my soup and empty the leftover contents into my mouth. I ground it up and quickly started swallowing, eager to get done with eating and get away from Fair Breeze. I knew that the wasteland lacked any knowledge of the word manners, but I would have thought some mare would have put Breeze in his place at some point. I certainly didn't want to be that mare though, especially not after the kindness that the Bloodhoofs had shown me. I stood up from the table, turning around and seeing Bones standing nearby. I trotted over to him, distancing myself from the perverted stares.

"Looks like Fair Breeze likes ya." Bones said gruffly, pulling out a little tin and popping some sticky, chewy looking black plant into his mouth, which he then began to graze on.

"Yeah." I said uncomfortably, setting aside my bowl on an endtable before brushing the back of my mane. "I was wondering if you could tell me about that deal earlier, to let me ride in the sky chariot."

Bones' ear perked up and I saw him nod towards Fair Breeze. "Sure, Fair Breeze can give you a ride. If you help us out here for a bit. We got some patrollin' to do. So I figure if you take his second patrol and take a twilight patrol, he can give you a ride tomorrow. It's not but a day to Grove n' back."

I thought about that for a second, then turned to my pack, levitating out my rifle and the sawed off that had been sitting there uselessly. "If you can give me some ammo for these, I'll go on patrol with you." Bones scartched his chin a bit, dust falling out of his gruff beard before he nodded.

"Yeah, I think we can afford you a couple shells bullets. You can stock up a'fore we go out." Bones motioned towards his building, where I now saw there was a pile of metal boxes.

"Thanks. When's the patrol?" I asked.

"As soon as we all finish eatin'." Bones said. I glanced at my empty bowl, then picked up my hooves ,starting towards the ammo boxes. I opened up the first one I came to and looked over all the various casings, trying to match bullets from the box with those that went in my rifle. I salvaged a good seven, enough for an extra clip, before I looked at the sawed off, which I had been putting off looking for ammo for. I realized that even if there was ammo for it in this box-- which given the plentiful different types of ammo, there probably was-- I wasn't entirely sure what to put in it. I knew shotguns took shells, but were all the shells the same? I found myself levitating up several different sized shells, all of which looked the same-- a brassy, shiny colour at the bottom, with red running down the top. shrugging, I pocketed two shells, taking two other ones and sliding them into the shotgun. they weren't quite as snug as I thought they'd be, but I figured maybe that was just how shotguns worked. It wasn't like I'd ever had to fire one before.

With my weapons all checked and loaded, I trotted back to the circle of ponies chowing down, standing between Bones and Slice. I looked down at her, watching her sit there and stare off into space, apparently thinking and seeing nothing. I waved my hoof in front of her eyes and saw her blink, looking up at me.

"Hey, I'm going to have to go out on a patrol with these ponies, okay?" I said, gesturing towards Bones. "After that, I'm going to stay the night here and leave in the morning."

Slice gave a nod, showing she understood, but I was still concerned about her. Something seemed displaced in her, like the wasteland had snapped something inside her. I gave a sigh, ruffling her mane as tenderly as I could.

"I want you to come with me. Would you like that?" I asked. Slice Stitch gave a much more vigorous nod, and that made me smile. I thought I'd almost forgotten how to feel good until I saw her reaction, but now I knew the feeling again. Knowing I was looking out for somepony, making their life better, It made me feel good.

As I sat there waiting on the other ponies, I found my mind wandering again. I wondered if this was how the heroes in those old stories felt. Protecting each other, and protecting good ponies of the Wasteland. It made you feel alive. Then I wondered if all heroes really felt that way. Zena hadn't seemed to feel anything at all when saving ponies. Or when she was doing anything else for that matter.

Just as I began wondering about my own plan, and about my goal of heading to Grove, I felt somepony rub my shoulder. I jerked myself out of my headspace of self doubt, looking up to see Fair Breeze giving me a more than friendly grin.

"Hey, thanks for taking my patrols tonight." He said. I tried to give him a friendly smile back, but I don't think it worked. I stood up, looking to Bones and giving him a nod before I started for the door. I realized that I really didn't want to wait here, because waiting here meant I was around Fair Breeze, and I did not feel comfortable there. In fact I was starting to feel uncomfortable with the idea of accepting a ride from him. Not that I felt that he was going to do anything to me, other than perhaps make the trip unbearable. Or perhaps steal a glance at my flank and crash into the ground mid flight. Both seemed more than possible, unfortunately.

Patrolling, I found, was not something that I enjoyed doing. Patrolling, at least, as the Bloodhoofs considered it, meant walking in non-linear circles around the area that they called home. It was a bleak living, as far as I could tell. Every patrol started with three ponies trotting around and inspecting every bleak, ruined building around them. All of the townhouses and little strip malls had long since been looted of anything but scrap, and the old roads were crumbling and falling apart. Some of the most interesting stuff was bus stop advertisements. Some were advertising new passion fruit Sparkle-Cola, while others were recruitment posters asking ponies to join the fight against the striped menace. Everything was faded out and covered with a fine layer of dust.

I found myself bored out of my mind by the time nightfall approached. I was hot and sweaty, and although the buildings had offered me precious shade, it had not been enough to keep me cool. I wanted nothing more than a nice, cool bath followed by a big, warm meal. My hooves nearly collapsed under me once I saw the familiar front of the Bloodhoof Angel's fortifications, and I trotted forward eagerly, sitting down once I was inside and letting out a huge sigh. Bones and a townspony followed in behind me, discussing something I couldn't hear. I stood up shakily, trotting towards Bones and hoping that we were done.

"Bones-- can I go, you know, lay down? My hooves hurt." I tried to not complain, but I heard the whine rise up in my voice. Fortunately Bones was a mostly good natured pony, and mt me with a chuckle.

"You absolutely can, and after you rest up for a bit, you come down here for dinner, a'ight?" Bones gave me a smile, which I happily returned as I headed for my room above the Buttercup's kitchen. I stepped inside and flopped down on the bed, feeling my aching hooves thank me as they vibrated with dull thuds against my barding.

I rolled over in my bed, facing the wall and finding myself trapped in my own thoughts again. A million things were going through my head, and I didn't know how to begin to sort out the questions I had. Why had I gone out and met Zena in the first place? I knew why I had done that. It was to get a break from my life. And yet now, more than anything, all I wanted was that life back. Yet I knew that it was not going to come back. Even if I found Zena and she could magically fix everything, my life was never going to be what it was before. I knew being wistful didn't accomplish anything, and yet, I was not sure what else I could do.

Well, I did know of two things I could do. The first one was to keep on pressing ahead, it was to find Zena and start making things right. Maybe I couldn't fix them entirely, and maybe I didn't even want to, even if I felt like I did. And while I was doing that, the other thing I could do was start trying to fix my little part of the world around me. I could protect myself from raiders well enough, and maybe I could even protect other ponies too. Ponies like Slice Stitch.

I sat up, blinking around and feeling my hooves cry in pain. Where the hell was that filly, anyway? I hadn't seen her on my way in, and she wasn't here. After a few moments, I shrugged and laid back down. She couldn't have gone far, and besides, I wasn't sure of a safer place for a filly than an armed compound. With my mind reassured by itself, I closed my eyes and let myself wander into sleep.

My sleep was restless at best. My dreams, which had long been only the strange, disorganized time between falling asleep and waking up, had taken on a life of their own now. Although it wasn't something I wanted to think about, I kept feeling my mind rush back to the needle that was inside my saddlebags. I kept pulling it out and sticking it into my leg, stabbing at my body just to feel this aggressive, powerful rush. It made me feel dirty, but it also made me feel alive. I kept seeing myself waking up vividly, and searching for the vein in my leg before injecting myself, pushing an endless amount of the substance through my blood. I knew that I had to get more. I knew that as soon as I got up, I wanted to take more of these things I knew as chems. These things that had been forbidden from me for so long. And I wanted a lot of them. Not so that I felt pleasure from them or because I liked doing chems, but because they made me powerful. When I was on enough of a chemical, I was no longer White Arc, filly that was taken hostage and then later arrested from Stable City. No, now I was White Arc, savior of the wasteland. There was no raider I couldn't kill, no force I could not stop. No battle I couldn't win.

When my sleep faded, I almost did reach over to my saddlebags, before I stumbled onto the floor and realized truly, I was no longer dreaming. I rubbed my forehead, reaching for my saddlebags and opening them up to discover that the syringe was indeed still there, the tubes of precious chems still wired up to it. I thought fora moment about shoving it all in, but then I realized that was probably a waste. I might need it later. But I wanted it now. Just a little bit now, and I'd save the rest of it for later. Pulling out the chems, I hurriedly applied pressure to my left leg, looking for a vein to pop up. As soon as I saw one, I shoved the needle down for it, applying pressure as it slid in and a little blood welled out. That didn't matter. In fact, that was good. It meant I was getting what I needed into my bloodstream. I began slowly applying pressure to the plunger, being careful to only use about half of what was inside it before I pulled it out, hurriedly dabbing at the wound with some cloth from the bed as I replaced the syringe in my saddlebags. The bleeding didn't take but a couple dabs to stop, and by the time I had my saddlebags on I could feel a warmth rushing over my body. I felt I could smash open any door, and nopony could or would stop me. I let myself into the hallway, stomping forward and steadily heading down the stairs as I felt a light bounciness come over my body.

Despite the oxymoron, It felt empowering to be slightly out of control of my body. It felt empowering because I knew I was capable of so much more now. I looked around the Buttercup;s residence, checking for Stitch Slice and scratching my head. I was sure I hadn't been asleep for more than a couple hours (although admittedly, it was hard to tell when I was inside and it had been dark out when I fell asleep and woken up). I tried one of the downstairs doors and found it to be open, with a set of stairs leading further into the compound. I let myself in, figuring that if I didn't find Stitch Slice down here, then maybe I'd find one of the Buttercups and they might know where she had gotten off to.

I felt myself stop, my voice dying as I looked forward into the darkness of the tunnel, scanning the broken rocks and aged tracks. I wasn't sure how to continue with my story without horrifying the ponies around me, so I decided to let myself grow quiet. for awhile everypony was silent, and I saw a few look at me, as if surely, I would continue. but I couldn't find the words. I was thankful that before any of them could challenge me to continue, I heard call for a halt. Everypony ground to a stop, and I looked around, carefully stepping forward and scanning the gloom further. the tunnel was opening up into a series of platforms, some kind of station. old skeletons covered the ground here and there, some animals, some definitely pony.

Zena pulled herself up onto the platform, scanning around and beckoning for the rest of us to join her. Several of us began climbing of the tracks and onto the concrete station, a few of our caravan stopping to help those who couldn't pull themselves up.

"We scavenge for supplies here." Zena said. "After that we fortify and find a place to rest. Arc, Limelight, scavenge over there. Scarlet, and you, bat pony, with me." Zena gestured to the bat pony from the NCR, who quickly trotted over to join her and Scarlet Mist. I glanced at the direction Zena had pointed me towards, and focused my light on it as I stepped forward. This subterranean station looked like it had been abandoned for a long time, but that did little to ease nerves. I knew as well as anypony else that even the most pedestrian of places sometimes housed older horrors than rabid animals or raiders.to a small kiosk, starting to poke around. Switchwire stayed by my side, using the light of my PipBuck so he could help me look through things. There wasn't much to scavenge, but my eyes were soon drawn away from the scavenging. Limelight was not far from me, and I saw an outcropping of wood snag on his clothes, revealing some glowing on his leg.

"Limelight, right?" I asked the bat stallion. He gave me a quiet, questioning look. I glanced outside of the kiosk to make sure that everypony else was busy before reaching forward and pulling on his clothes, tugging down cloth tied around his leg. Sure enough, I saw what I was expecting. A device that looked much to be in much better repair, yet, very similar to the one on my right leg.

"You have a PipBuck too?" I asked, feeling my voice raise a little excitedly. I had not yet met a pony and actually had a chance to talk with them that also possessed a PipBuck, so this was a sudden and unexpected opportunity for me. Unfortunately, Limelight pulled the cloth on his leg down, using his sharp teeth to pull it tight before returning to opening drawers and boxes. I felt my face droop as I waited for him to reply, a few edged seconds ticking by before he replied to me.

"Yeah. Everypony from my Stable did. Most got purposed by the NCR. I got to keep mine." I felt a frown come over my face.

"Re-purposed?" I asked.

"Yes." He said quietly, pulling open a desk and taking out a couple bobby pins from inside. "Part of the deal when the NCR annexes someplace, everything becomes state property. you might as well be a fucking slave. I got lucky."

I felt my brow furrow. I wasn't any fan of the NCR, but that didn't sound anything like the NCR I was familiar with. "Aren't you a scout for the NCR? Like-- you must have seen a lot of places. I'm sure it was a misunderstanding."

Limelight gave me a sharp look, then turned away, picking up a screwdriver and beginning to go at a locked drawer with the bobby pins. "It's the same story everywhere you go. The lucky ponies with skills or a trade, they do alright. Everyone else becomes poor, and works for them."

I was about to retort when Switchwire spoke up, addressing Limelight directly. His voice was smooth and rich, even for being such a young colt. "Perhaps the NCR and the Legion are not so different. The 'worthy' become citizens, and the rest, are enslaved?"

"Fuck no. You're not a slave, just poor." Limelight retorted. "At least in the NCR they don't work you to death. You don't get raped every night. You don't have a collar around your neck reminding you you're property, just some other pony's tool. You have dignity, even if you have nothing else."

"Dignity isn't worth much when you starve to death. Slaves are housed, clothed, and fed in the legion." Switchwire said, glancing at me and giving Limelight almost, a glare. neither of them continued their conversation, so I decided to pique in, attempting to change the topic.

"So Limelight, you got your PipBuck from a stable! Which one?" I asked.

"One Three Six." Limelight let out a grunt as one of his pins snapped. I trotted over to him and lit my horn, lifting the screwdriver out of his hoof and taking he remaining bobby pins away from him. he looked up at me with half a bobby pin stuck between his teeth, lookingly only slightly irritated.

"Let me give it a try. You're not a unicorn, lockpicking doesn't seem like your strong suit." I said, setting myself to the lock. Limelight spat out the bobby pin, turning and moving to emptying other parts of the kiosk.For a moment we were silent, but after a few tries with the lock, I felt it click and spring open. I pulled open the desk, sighing as I pulled out some old cloth. I turned and showed it to limelight, who shrugged. I tucked away the cloth, moving over to Limelight and helping him check boxes for anything useful.

I felt his eyes move over to me, and I looked up to see him looking down at my leg. "So, what about you? Your PipBuck? You said you were from Stable City but you didn't mention having one in your stories." Limelight asked. I glanced at my PipBuck, then looked behind me, glancing outside of the kiosk and looking over at Scarlet Mist, who was digging through some debris with Zena. I pointed to Scarlet Mist.

"I got it from her. Kind of." I said.

"Kind of?" Limelight asked.

"She hasn't even finished her last story." Switchwire said quietly. I glanced over at him, seeing him sitting patiently on top of a metal crate. I felt Limelight's eyes run over my figure before he looked at Switchwire, both objects gaining his curiosity.

"Excuse me?" Limelight asked quietly, popping open a crate and pulling out a glowing soda bottle.

"She trailed off in her last story and didn't finish it. I want to hear the end of that story before you ask her for another one." Switchwire's voice was matter of fact, and young as he was, there was something so empty in the way he spoke. He sounded like a small needy child who enjoyed their story time greatly and had very basic, precious desires. Yet just past this, there did not seem to be anything. I didn't feel any mystery from the colt when it came to how cold he was though-- something inside of him wasn't right, something in the world had made him how he was, and even if I didn't know the extent of the damage, his voice couldn't hide it. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd moved across the kiosk, and wrapped him in a hug. I looked at Limelight, letting out a sigh.

"I suppose it is another story. and I promise, we'll finish the other one, Switchwire. Later." I smiled, clearing my throat as I felt Switchwire let out a sharp huff of unhappiness, and his head lulled against my leg as he pouted. In truth I didn't like breaking up stories either, but I wasn't yet sure how to find the words to continue explaining my last one. I couldn't think of a vile enough way to describe what I'd encountered. I was about to start on telling the story when I saw movement in the corner of my eye.

"Find anything good yet?" the high pitched sing song voice of Scarlet Mist chimed over all of us. Her mood had obviously recovered, and she hoisted herself onto the counter of the kiosk, eating some bagged chips as she watched the rest of us at least pretend to be working. I held up some loose cloth and bits of metal with my magic at her, watching as Scarlet tilted her head back and began emptying the crumbs into her mouth. She gave a few resounding crunches as she gazed down at my meager salvage.

"You just gotta believe in luck, and luck will give you good things. Like that ugly PipBuck! I mean-- ugly, but useful!" Scarlet Mist added her last sentence quickly, trying to throw in a smile. "Anyway, why don't you tell that story? It's a story about what a good friend I am, so obviously I'm a fan of it."

I glanced at Switchwire, who was looking away from Scarlet Mist with a bit of a disgusted look on his face. Limelight's face was a picture of confusion, glancing at Scarlet as he continued to work and obviously wondered why she was disturbing our task.

"Sure, yeah." I said hesitantly, clearing my throat once more as I began again.

Chapter 3: PipBucks

It was the day after I had left the Bloodhoof Angel's complex, and it was a blisteringly hot one. Unlike Stable City, where I would have just stayed inside, there was no respite from the heat out here. Waves of energy rose from the ground, making the colourless air seemingly ripple around me. As the day progressed, I felt worse. A headache was coming over me and mixing with complete exhaustion. The only fortunate part about the heat was that neither wild animal nor Raider, not that there was much difference, dared brave the heat. As my hooves started to crumple against the occasional breeze and gust of sand, I realized they had the right idea. I took shelter underneath an old overpass, which was dry and shaded. I still felt like I was cooking in my armor, so I started to strip down. As I was doing so, my exhaustion turned to sudden nausea. My world turned and flipped as I hurled next to my things, splattering the ground with bile. I knew that I was actually very hot, but my body was suddenly chilled. I collapsed next to my things, still in my pajamas and having trouble understanding just what was happening to me.

In my mind, I saw what I only assumed was a fever dream. I was back at the Raider camp, watching myself from outside my body as it murdered everypony in sight. It was a gory display to be sure, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't seem to avert my eyes. As soon as I mustered the strength to peel away from the carnage, I wished I had not. From out of my saddlebag I saw another pony climb out, matter simply emerging from an impossible space. Her features were fuzzy, but I could make out the furrowed brow and bared teeth. This spectre was as mad as the Arc in front of us murdering Raiders, but for a different reason. There was a flick of magic and I saw her raise a revolver. The moment that I tried to reach out and talk to her, I felt a voice pull me to the floor.

I didn't understand what was being said, but as my eyes flew open the headache struck me like a bullet to the brain. Some grizzled, older stallion was leaning over me. My pajamas had been stripped off and he had a hoof both on my chest and another on my neck.

I did the only things I knew how to do. Attempt to kick him in the face with a hoof and scream as loud as I could. The scream did not get very far as he slid one of his hooves against my muzzle, his other hoof deftly deflecting my kick.

“I'm trying to help you, ya twat. Goddesses fuck you, save a pony’s life and they try and kick you.” The pony had a gruff voice with a trottingham accent, and once I understood what he was saying I stopped aiming more kicks at him. The stallion leaned back, pulling over a canteen and opening it up. I couldn't quite make out where I was, but as I felt the hooves leave my body I was overcome with weariness from the brief and sudden struggle.

“Here, you need to drink water.” The stallion said. I took the water canteen from him, taking a weak swig from it and spilling much of it on my chin and neck.

After I had swallowed the pitiful amount of water, I looked back to my apparent savior. I mumbled weakly to him, “What happened?”

“Not totally sure, I didn’t find you, you were just here.” The stallion waved his hoof to the side, gesturing at the area around us. I was lying on some sort of padding woven together from bark, and we were in a dimly lit cave that was cool and dry. “Mist said some of the tribals brought you in, N’ she told me to treat your heatstroke.”

“Heatstroke?” I asked, sighing and laying flat on the ground. I was not in love with the idea of not knowing where I was, but I also did not seem to be somewhere that was dangerous, either. That was certainly an improvement over the last twenty four hours.

“Heatstroke, yes.” I heard another voice sing-song from somewhere else in the cave. The first thing I saw was crackling in the form of a rainbow casting beautiful hues over the cave. This was followed by a rather stunning looking mare dressed in tight leather across her body. A strange gun with every colour I could imagine bouncing around inside of thick glass coloured her fine features. She sat the gun down and laid on her belly, smiling at me before she continued to talk. “Heatstroke is what happens when you get a little too much sun.”

I sat up, brushing the back of my mane. My head was still hurting, and I wasn’t fully processing everything that was going on yet. The mare’s smile dropped as she idly held up one of her hooves, which had leather fastened around it to make a shoe.

“My guards tell me you are a Raider.” The mare said.

“No!” I blurted out. Those words had gotten through my head quickly. “I’m not an animal like them!”

“Oh yes,” The mare agreed, nodding sagely and winking at me as she said, “I realize that even Raiders aren’t stupid enough to run around in the heat wearing their pajamas and an old curtain.” I was silent, feeling a tiny blush rush over my face as she stood up, picking over my armor with a lazy look in her eye. “You’re obviously not a Raider. So, what are you?”

I put a hoof on my chin, thinking about that. I looked up at the doctor and the mare, both of them giving me different looks. The doctor looked bored, like he needed to leave the room and take a walk lest he fall victim to narcolepsy. The mare seemed to be uncomfortably interested, but not in a creepy way. She looked like a newborn foal observing a stranger with a funny face.

“I’m-- not a what.” I said, nodding and sitting up completely. “My name is White Arc.” The mare shoved her hoof to me, nodding for me to shake it. I took it, shaking her hoof as she introduced herself.

“My name is Scarlet Mist, I fly caravans.” She withdrew her hoof, and my mind wandered to the idea of a rather average mare like her trying to fly a wagon full of trade good through the air. There was no way.

“So, you’re one of their guards or something?” I asked, glancing at her gun and then at her leather clothing. She hardly looked like a guard to me, and her laugh confirmed as much.

“No no, I have my own caravan business.” Mist sounded like she totally believed this when she said it, but I didn’t feel convinced. I had met a lot of caravan owners that passed through Stable City, and she lacked all of the seriousness and demeanour common among them.

“Right.” I said, trying to shift the subject to something else so she did not notice I wasn’t buying her story. “So, where am I?”

“Eh, I can’t pronounce it.” Mist said, sitting back down. “Some town of tribals. I come by about once a year to trade with them. Nice place, I always try to stay for a couple days.” I looked up at the doctor with Mist, a feeling of belated gratitude washing over me. At least I got some real medical treatment.

“Anyway, I wanted to chat with you about something real quick, now that you’re awake.” Mist said. I focused my attention back on her, and she continued without letting me speak. “You see, White Arc, those tribals are going to expect something for rescuing you. I chatted with them, and they’re going to want you to go deep underground, and judging by their tones, they aren’t going to take no from you for an answer. I want to go in there with you, and you need to tell them as much.”

I sat there for a moment, repeating her words back to myself. After her sudden news and request registered in my mind I asked the only question I could think of to her. “Uh, why? Why- either of those?”

Mist smiled. “The first one, because they’re tribals. Don’t question their logic, it makes them cranky. The second one is because I think there’s some valuable stuff down there, and I want to recuperate the cost of your treatment.”

I scratched my chin. The random kindness from a stranger made a lot more sense to me when they told me they wanted something in return. “How are you planning to recuperate the costs of my treatment by spelunking with me?”

Mist flashed me a grin, the kind that I associated with caravan owners when they knew they were getting a good deal. I was starting to doubt her claim of running a caravan less and less now. Mist cleared her throat before whispering, “I believe that there is a Stable down there somewhere, and if I’m right, then that’s one hell of a payday. I’m not a thief, and usually not a scavenger, but there are nice things in Stables. Somepony will get more use out of it than these tribals that won’t even go in there.”

As much as I was so not in love with the idea of crawling threw a cave and looting a perhaps forgotten Stable, I had to admit that Scarlet Mist had a point about the potential technology down there. At the very least there was bound to be a cache of some kind of supplies, and it wasn’t any good locked up underground forever. I gave her a nod, attempting to stand up and immediately wishing I had not. My head spun, and I felt both Mist and her doctor holding me as I struggled to right myself. When I was on my hooves steady the doctor offered me his water canteen again. I tilted my muzzle back and took a good gulp, feeling little trickles run down my chin before they dripped onto the ground.

“I’m not sure I’m up to this…” I said, struggling to keep the room in focus.

“I don’t know that the Tribals will care.” Mist interjected straight into my thoughts, “Once they find out you’re awake they might just throw you down into the caves. Better to go on your own terms, right?”

Regardless of my thoughts I gave her a small shake of my head. She was being helpful and cordial, which was more kindness than I’d see from the rest of the wastelands so far. It would be wrong to be rude.

“That’s a good girl.” Scarlet cooed, nodding for the doctor to let go of me and still offering me her shoulder. “C’mon. I’ll help you trot until you can do it on your own.” The doctor hitched Mist’s gun onto her side and nodded. Mist began pulling me forward, and I urged my hooves to follow.

The dark hallways were filled with odd paintings that seemed to be made of dye mixed with charcoal. It would have been impossible to make them out without the lights from the rainbow bouncing around in Mist’s gun. I kept watching, observing decades of history until…

“Stop!” I said. Mist ground to a halt, losing her grip on me and sending me into a heap on the floor. Pain flared up in my hooves in chest, but I didn’t care. I sat up and looked at a rather large painting on a smoothed wall. The sky was breaking in half and below ponies were lying dead. The entire scene reeked of fire and death. A group of ponies wearing spiked armor was charging at the sky, and a third army was rallying and fighting both other armies. All around them, sunlight broke the destroyed land, and a giant rainbow encircled the scene.

“Nothing to see there.” Mist said shortly, picking me back up and urging me onward. She seemed to be a little uncomfortable about me stopping to look at that picture. As much as I wanted to stay and observe all it’s finer details, I continued on, smiling as i saw the pictures afterwards. Sick plants grew once more and tribal ponies were frolicking happily in sparse vegetation. It wasn’t exactly Equestria, but it seemed that after sunlight returned, these ponies were living much better than they had been. Whomever these tribals were, they knew about the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows, and it was important enough for them to immortalize on their walls. Stable City didn't care for anything beyond it's own walls and interests, but the walls here were history itself.

We rounded the corner from the history hallway, ducking through two dark and narrow paths that zigzagged into a large cavern. There were a few torches in here, but not enough to make the room noticeably warmer. Several ponies wearing some of the most horrific things I’d ever imagined would pass for clothing were sleeping on mats like I had been on or sitting around with their heads bowed and eyes closed.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the garb of the ponies as Mist took the lead, pulling me forward. The ponies looked like a mish mash between a gravedigger’s wastebin and a city dump. The aluminum soda cans and random leather or cloth were not altogether disturbing in and of themselves, but they seemed to all be held together with what were indisputably bones. Some of the tougher ponies had armor that was studded in bones and what were definitely pony teeth.

“They don’t like it when you stare.” Mist said, nudging me and gesturing at an area in front of her. I let out a short whinny as I turned my eyes away from the tribal ponies. Any sense of safety had evaporated now, and I fought to not scream when I looked at a pony sitting upon several mats.

The pony was perhaps, not hideous, but impossibly old. She had little fur left which grew in patches here or there. Her skin should have been sagging off of her organs and bones, but the tribals had found a way around that. Most of her body was covered with strips of leather and bones fashioned into artwork, creating an exoskeleton for her. She could have passed for an overgrown-- and pony shaped-- squishy bug.

“Thank you so much for allowing my doctor to treat my new friend here, Elder.” Mist chimed in an impossibly happy tone. While I was simply trying to not offend the ponies that were wearing bones and teeth of other creatures and very likely, other ponies.

“Of course.” The elder said, speaking slowly and in an almost dazed fashion. “You are a dear friend to us my daughter, and showing such selflessness to help another daughter.” I did not like the idea of being referred to as a daughter by the elder, and this matched a bad taste in my mouth for Mist. Selfless was the last word I’d apply to her in our current situation. I had to remind myself that we didn’t even know if there was anything in a stable to steal and sell. Hell, Mist wasn’t totally sure there even was a Stable, it seemed to just be her hunch. As if she was reading my mind, Mist gave me a nudge, gesturing with her head towards the elder.

I had completely forgotten that I was saved by these ponies when I collapsed in the middle of the wastes. My eyes wandered back to the elder, and I gave a gulp as I hoped words would come out of my mouth instead of the little water I had in my stomach.

“E-Elder? Thank you for saving me. Mist said-- you wanted to speak?” I squeaked. The elder let out a long Mmm, as if she was savoring a well seasoned meal. I felt a trickle of sweat rub past my ear and go down my cheek in the full minute it took before the elder reacted to me. When she did she didn't actually say anything, but instead gestured at one of the tribals. They hurried away, as if the elders hoof had repulsed them. They returned moments later with a bowl of cold, white water. It was deposited at my forehooves, the odd liquid sloshing around.

“Oh- one for me too!” Mist chimed, looking at the tribal and smiling. “My friend can't walk too well, she needs my help to move around!” There was a silent exchange of glances between the elder and the tribal, but I saw her give a nod. I turned my attention down to the bowl and it's strange contents. It could potentially be just water, but at the same time I didn't believe that.

Once mist had her bowl, the elder motioned at the bowls. I saw Mist sink her head down to drink. She slurped at the bowl like a farm brahmin at a trough. I magically levitated my bowl, eliciting a constrained sound of awe from the tribal that had brought me the bowl. Now that it was closer to me face, I could see the cold steam gushing away from the liquid. This stuff was so cold that the porcelain bowl it was in was sweating. I gulped and took a swig.

If this stuff was not water, then I couldn't tell by my taste. The only remarkable feature about it other than its colour was the feeling of nearly freezing liquid running down my throat. Stable City had cold water, but it was nothing compared to this. I hurriedly took a few more gulps, finishing the liquid off and setting down my bowl. I glanced next to me and saw that Mist had already finished her drink and was smiling at the elder.

“With the drink of Moonsblood the door is open. Go.” The elder flicked one of her hooves, causing a tribal to come close and grunt, backing a hoof to me and Mist to follow.

“Excuse me, who's blood?” I looked down at the bowl, hearing my stomach give a pang as it turned over.
“Arc, it's just a name.” Mist reassured me. “Moonsblood is what they call the spring water here.” Of course. I immediately felt stupid for believing that the white water that was freezing cold was actually some creature’s blood.

Mist and I followed the tribal for some distance, keeping a few hoof steps back from him as we went down dark passages. We finally took one final turn, ending up in a hallway that had a lit torch at our end, and darkness stretching into forever in front of us.

“Take light. Find you destiny in the dark.” The tribal said, pointing at the torch.

“How can I find something in the dark if I take the torch?” I questioned the tribal, lighting my horn and telekinetically lifting up the torch and holding it at my side. The Tribal moved very suddenly, holding onto the torch and standing in front of me.

“No fire. Just light. Go now.” I let go of the torch as the tribal pulled it away, holding it in his mouth. I was quite surprised by how quickly the tribal had moved, and without any of my weapons or armor I was not about to argue with him.

Mist gave me a tug, helping me down the hallway. I kept my horn lit up as we moved away, giving us far better light than the rainbow in Mist’s gun. I lost track of how far we had trot, but when I glanced back after several minutes I could no longer see the tribal or the torch.

“We’re definitely onto something here.” Mist said, pointing at the ground. There were gashes and slashes all along what otherwise looked like undisturbed stone.

“Somepony dug this up?” I asked.

“Well, I hope so. Because otherwise that means something dug this up, and we do not want to meet one of those somethings.” Scarlet Mist looked behind us as she sized up the markings, letting go of me. I managed to stand on my own hooves but I felt my body quiver as my legs threatened to give out under me.

“No, no.” I said, nickering as I took a few steps back. “I did not sign up for this! What the hell is even going on at this point!? There are ponies with teeth on their clothing up there, and we’re trotting around in some dark tunnel! I don’t even know you!”

“Sure you do, I’m your friend Scarlet Mist. You remember our introductions right?” She stopped for a moment, her tail flicking from one side to the other with a huge sweeping motion.

“Wha- Yes, of course I remember meeting you, that’s not the-” I was silenced as Mist leaned in and put a hoof on my mouth, shushing me.

“It’s a sin to tell a lie, Arc.” Mist said, her smile never quite leaving her face. She turned away from me, pulling her hoof back and starting off at a slow trot down the tunnel again. I followed behind her, feeling a sense of dread settle over me. I did not like this situation one bit, and although Scarlet Mist was not my last choice of pony to be stuck with right now, she was not high on my list, either.

“So what the hell is going on?” I asked, deciding to keep my question simpler in case Mist went off on another tangent.

“We’re trotting down a tunnel towards a Stable. There’s definately one here.” She said quietly.

“Okay, I’m glad that’s settled.” I could not help but to roll my eyes at her, letting out a pained grunt. “So now that we’re alone, want to tell me what the hell happened up there with the tribals?”

“I guess they think you’ve got some sort of destiny down here or something. Don’t believe that, that’s all horsefeathers.” Mist said, still keeping point in the tunnel. “The locals think that this place is the “Gauntlet of the Stable Dweller,” because a long time ago a Stable Dweller came here. I guess I wasn’t holy enough to get in here by myself, but then you showed up dressed like a Stable pony.”

“And how does that translate to them forcing us to go down here?” I asked.

Scarlet Mist turned and blinked at me, looking at me like I was stupid. “The Stable is probably sealed up, because it’s never open in any of their paintings. I don’t know what tribal nonsense they came up with sending you down here, but my guess is because you can go where they can’t. You and I can get into the Stable, they can’t.

“How do you know we’re going to be able to open up a Stable? Those things have passwords.” I could see the tunnel slowly widening up ahead, and Scarlet Mist gave a little skip as she picked up the pace of her trotting.

“Well if the password isn’t password, then they probably wrote it down somewhere. You’d be bound to forget something like that after a few generations underground.” Scarlet Mist nodded reassuringly. I blinked at the mare as she spoke the words, failing to grasp her sense of logic. I decided quickly to not question her further-- it seemed like a waste of time anyway.

The tunneled continued to widen as the light from my horn cast a shadow over a huge gearlike door. I had seen one of these back in Stable City, but that Stable was nothing special, just storage space. Mist quickly trotted over to a control panel, tapping her hoof on it. The screen lit up, sending a wave of characters flooding over the screen. By the time I had closed the distance over to her, she had made a few deft hooftaps and a “[Access Granted]” message rolled over the screen.

“Arc?” Mist said, turning away from the screen and glancing at me.

“Hm?” I asked, watching as the terminal behind her pulled a list of options.

“I don’t know what we’re going to find on the other side of that door. Can you press the open command on this screen?” Mist unslung her gun, strapping it onto her hoof and pointing it at the Stable Door. I gave her a nod as I trotted past her, tapping on the terminal screen to open the Stable door.
A loud grinding sound made me cover my ears. All the noise of the Stable door opening was echoing around the confined space, making the already loud noise almost unbearable. After about ten seconds the sound stopped however, and I saw the door was only half open. More than enough to trot through, but definitely not opened properly.

“What went wrong?” I asked Mist, uncovering my ears. My head was still ringing from all the noise.

“Maybe there wasn't enough power to finish opening it up or something.” Mist said, trotting over to the door and glancing around the corner. She turned her head back, giving me a nod and continuing, “Almost no lights on in there. The place is probably on emergency power at best.”

I trotted forward, standing behind Mist’s flank. She went in first, and my lit horn followed right after. We were in the atrium of a Stable, which was fairly unremarkable to me. Steel scaffolding, thick sheets of metal, and lots of iron bars. If the layout was not so pedestrian it could have passed for the entrance to a prison. I followed right behind Mist, letting her lead us up some scaffolding that served as steps from where we were to the atrium landing. Mist opened a metal door and pointed down a flight of stairs, already descending herself.

At the bottom we saw the first of what I was sure would be many skeletons in the Stable. I was aware that not every Stable was successful, and based on the lack of power I had already mentally prepared myself for this being one of Stable-Tec’s failures. I could not have prepared myself for what the pony was wearing though.

“That is a nice jacket.” Mist said, pulling a pink leather jacket off of the skeleton and trying it on. Deciding it was a little too big, she discarded it in dismay.

“Mist, what the hell are you doing!?” I exclaimed quietly, grabbing the jacket with my magic and draping it over the ribcage of the otherwise fully dressed skeleton.

“Yeah, that jacket wasn't really my style anyway.” She shrugged, her hooves clip clopping on the metal as she began to explore the room we were in.

“What? No! I thought we were here to look for supplies, not go clothes shopping.”

“Yeah. We are.” Mist stopped, trotting backwards slowly and standing by the skeletal pony. She pulled up the jacket again, gesturing at the skeleton. “Arc, what is wrong with this skeleton?”

I glanced down at the long dead pony, not thinking much of it. It wasn't something I wanted to look at for long though either. “It's wearing a lot of clothes?”

“Well, yes. But that's not the only issue. No PipBuck.” I glanced down at the skeletal pony’s leg. Sure enough, there was no PipBuck in sight.
“So what's that mean?” I asked Mist, not sure what she was getting at.

“It could mean a couple things, but most likely it means we aren't the first ones to visit this place. Which is quite odd!” Mist turned away from the skeleton and beckoned for me to trot and talk with her. “It seems like a lot of trouble for scavengers to close up the Stable door on their way out, not that they usually close doors anyway.”

“So why was the door sealed then?” I asked. Mist gave me a shrug, heading down a staircase as we followed signs on the walls. Mist was taking us towards the “Overmare’s Office.”

“Maybe we’ll find out, and maybe we won’t.” Mist offered to me as we closed the distance down two hallways, finally reaching the office. Mit opened the metal door, stepping inside and then taking a full step back. I peeked over her shoulder and felt a waft of cold air hit me. Now I was used to air conditioning in Stable City, but this frigid. Despite the rest of the Stable seemingly running on backup power,this room was well lit, well insulated, and freezing cold.

Scarlet Mist let herself inside, letting out a brief chattering noise from her teeth as she did so. I stepped into the doorway, looking around at the contents of the room and immediately wishing I hadn’t.

“Oh goddesses- what, what the fuck.” I blurted out, pointing one of my hooves at a pile of ponies. Or at least, that is what I initially thought them to be. Their bodies seemed to be covered in a light, flakey dusting, like seriously bad dandruff. Their fur stood at odd angles, from where they had all brushed together. All three were very obviously dead, although there were no wounds upon them.

“They froze to death, Arc.” Scarlet Mist said, tapping at a terminal on the overmare’s desk. “They look like NCR, but, they must have been here awhile.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, keeping my distance from the bodies.

“That combat armor they have on? NCR haven’t dressed in uniforms like that since they were founded. They have more proper uniforms now.” Mist continued working with the terminal she was at, and I allowed my eyes to meander back to the frozen corpses. They had on some rough leather and fabrics with combat armor strapped on top, but other than NCR being spray painted across the armor here or there, they could have passed as any regular pony. A glint caught my eye as I observed the armor, and I raised my hoof, pointing at it.

“Uh, Mist?”

“Yeeeees?” She said with a chattering of her teeth.

“That pony has something on it.” I said, pointing at a mare that was in the middle of the pile. Scarlet pulled away from the terminal, glancing at the pony. She carefully traced over to her, looking the mare up and down before reaching into her backpack and pulling out a knife with a heavy indent at the end.

“What the hell!” I said, wanting to step forward and take the knife away from Mist, and simultaneously realizing that was a horrible idea. Of the low chance that I did grab it from her, what was I then going to do with it?

“Arc.” Mist said confidently-- or, as confidently as she could with a knife in her mouth. “Please turn around.”

“Why? What’re you going to do- oh fuck.” Mist did not ask me a second time, and I felt myself turning away and puking all over the stable door’s frame. Mist had jerked on the stiff hoof of the mare in the middle, revealing something that looked like a block of steel with a screen on it. Mist had then begun using the knife to forcibly remove it from the pony.

I did not recover quickly, and I felt mist brushing past me back into the relatively normal temperature off the hallway. I looked up from my refuse pile and immediately felt my body try to hurl again. Mist had simply removed the mare’s entire hoof, and was now trying to pry the Pipbuck away from the severed hoof.

“Have you ever eaten clams?” Scarlet Mist asked, the sound of cold flesh being separated from metal hovering in the air as she worked.

“What? No. How can you even ask me that?” I gasped, forcing myself to not look at what she was doing. My vomit was not a pleasant sight but it was more pleasant than any of my surroundings.

“Oh. Well this just reminded me of eating clams. We’ll eat clams sometime. Lots of them.” Scarlet Mist assured me. I made a mental note to never eat clams.

There was a sound that almost seemed to be a squee from Mist, followed by the thunk of meat hitting metal. I looked up to see Scarlet dusting the Pipbuck off with a grin. She tapped the screen, admiring the device.

“You don’t have any idea what this is worth, do you?” Scarlet Mist asked me, looking the PipBuck over. The PipBuck looked like like it as brand new, fresh off an assembly line from pre war Equestria.

“Worth enough to cut off a hoof for it.” I mumbled. I was starting to get over the ghastly action of the pegasus, but I still felt ill in my stomach.

“Uh, yeah. I’d cut off another hoof to have it.” She held it out to me, giving me a nod. “You spotted it though, this one’s yours. I’m pretty confident from that Overmare’s terminal we’ll find plenty more.

“Why?” I gasped. “I’m not touching that.”

Scarlet Mist rolled her eyes at me and set it down next to my hoof. I pulled my hoof away, feeling the disgust wash over me in waves. I looked up to see Scarlet Mist trotting away, back down the hallway. There was nothing to stop me from following after her and leaving the PipBuck here. I certainly didn’t want to touch it. But my mind was hung up on Mist’s words. I knew PipBucks were valuable to caravaners. Valuable enough any group that could afford a pony with one, did.

For a moment, I was reflecting on m home again, and the obscene wealth that other ponies must see when rare technology was pedestrian. As much as I wanted to leave it behind, and as disrespectful as I felt picking the PipBuck up with telekensis, I carried the it shamefully with me as I followed after the Pegasus. I had both shame now both for disturbing the dead, and for taking what had been an easy life for granted.

As I followed after Mist I idly familiarized myself with the PipBuck-- the walls of a Stable were nothing particularly impressive or even new to me, after all. Although I had seen dozens of PipBucks over the years, none were as pristine as this one, which held my attention. It was too perfect. Although Mist had left a few scrape and gash marks on the inside, it had no other visible wear and tear. I tapped the screen, filing through the device’s files. It already had a map of the Stable we were in, which was marked as Stable 309. I was so engrossed in observing the device that I didn’t even notice when Mist stopped trotting. I walked right into her, quickly jumping back and offering my apologies.

“No no, its fine!” Mist said, fumbling with something that it looked like she had picked up off the ground. “I like brushing up against other ponies too. Can I see your hoof?” I nodded, not quite sure I wanted to advance the conversation further in that direction with Mist. Mist pulled up a long black glove that looked like it would go halfway up my foreleg. She slipped it onto my hoof, soft fabrics inside brushing against my leg, hard leather on the outside making the glove look tough and durable.

“Now you can stop carrying that thing around and use it properly.”

“Huh?” I said, staring blankly at the Pegasus.

“That thing has advanced mapping technology. I want you to wear it and navigate for us if we get lost. We’re going deeper into the Stable.” Mist said with a gesture at the PipBuck.

“I already told you I’m not touching this thing. Why don’t you do it? I don’t need to wear it to use it’s maps!” I could not begin to explain what the possibility of wearing this PipBuck was doing to my insides.

“Don’t be silly, you ran into me just now Arc. Who knows what you might trip over next!” Mist ignored my first protests, and I was starting to get an idea of how things worked with her-- one statement or question at a time. I watched, feeling my horror wane slightly as the glove fitted snugly over my hoof. Mist then took the Pipbuck and lifted up a screwdriver in one hoof and another tool I did not recognize in her mouth. There was a click, and the Pipbuck sprung open, ready to be attached to a hoof. I considered pulling my hoof away from Mist, but I realized that there wasn’t much point. She was even right, in a way. I needed to be alert right now, not zoned out admiring pristine pre-war tech.

With the glove securely on my hoof, I couldn’t even feel the PipBuck when she latched it on. The only true difference to me was that my left hoof was now heavier than my right hoof. I couldn’t get over the revulsion inside me of wearing the PipBuck and had to protest, if only for my own peace of mind.

“This is a dead pony’s PipBuck. This is wrong.” I said, glancing over my hoof.

“Generations in Stables wore these. You probably can’t find a Pipbuck that hasn’t been worn by a dead pony.” I glanced up at Mist, who had a small smile on the edges of her muzzle. Isuspected that Mist's honest attempt at cheering me up, even though it was not working. All I felt was a creeping dread running over my body from my left hoof to the end of my tail. Mist gave me a cheerful smile before turning, wagging her tail as she continued to explore, leaving me to wistfully trot behind her and watch as my new PipBuck mapped the area.

By the time we had reached the bottom of the Stable, I noticed that Scarlet Mist was looking more chipper than before. She had not stopped to make much conversation, merely poke over the bones of dead ponies or observe some old technology. I felt myself fading in and out of paying attention, occasionally messing with certain features on the PipBuck. Although I had known them simply as utility tools, now that I was working with one personally I saw that they had a lot of features that were surprising to me. While I had expected a lamp, a radio receiver, reference screens for building or repairing, note-taking, and personal inventory management, there were a host of things that I couldn’t imagine a typical worker needing in Stable City. A Geiger counter for deadly megaspell radiation, and program for mapping the area and observing other life besides myself, and combat targeting assistance were things I would expect the military to require, yet I had never seen any guards in Stable City with a PipBuck on.

“Can you turn on the light on that thing?” Scarlet Mist asked, turning around suddenly and snapping me out of my thinking. I hadn’t been paying the slightest attention to where we were, and I could tell by Mist’s face that she was absolutely aware of it. I flipped on the light sheepishly, looking around to figure out where I was. A large sign over a doorway read “Reactor,” but the word meant nothing to me.

“Even with a PipBuck you’re lost. I’m very concerned about you.” Mist’s voice would have felt patronizing if I had been able to take anything she said seriously. She turned away from me to face a terminal, using the light of the PipBuck to see what she was doing. She hummed a soft tune to herself as she did so, and I began to think of who I was really traveling with in this Stable. The more I considered Mist, the more I considered all the things the mare knew. She could unlock PipBucks once they were off the hoof, she seemed confident enough to hack any terminal that came in front of her, and she acted like the entire thing was a picnic.

“Who are you?” I asked Mist, just blankly staring at her, unable to get the real questions off my tongue.

“My name is Scarlet Mist!” She said, unhelpfully. With a quick motion she raised a hoof, furtively holding her chin as she turned to look at me. “Arc, do you have short term memory loss?”

“Huh? I mean, no!” I hadn't been expecting that question, and knew that my behaviour and reaction were not the most convincing. Thankfully Mist just gave a shrug and returned to tapping the terminal until it gave a pleasant digital noise. I saw Mist tap a few more times, and then there was a bright surge that momentarily blinded me. The otherwise dark Stable was now fully on, and I could hear the sound of rushing air going through the ventilation systems. In front of us was some device I did not understand, but based on the sparks of electricity flying between coils, it's purpose was obvious.

“There, that ought to do it.” Mist said happily. “Now, I want to make one more stop before we leave. After that I'll need you and your PipBuck for a couple minutes, and we'll be even for all those medical supplies you soaked up.”

While there were, again, several things I wished to ask Mist, I limited myself to one thing this time, a statement.

“This isn't my PipBuck.” I darkened my tone, hoping to let her know how seriously uncomfortable my sides felt. Mist turned to me and lifted up my left hoof, forcing me to stare at my leg.The Pipbuck looked even more pristine in the now powered Stable. It possessed an odd decal on it, a bird that was singing out music notes.

“It’s on your leg. C’mon, let’s finish, and get out of this old Stable.” She turned with a smile on her face, heading off towards an area marked “Mare’s Quarters.” I followed along behind her, giving the pristine PipBuck a sideways glance as we continued on our way.

When Scarlet Mist and I emerged from the Stable, there were a group of Tribals waiting for us at the end of the dark tunnel with torches. They stood aside and made a wide path for myself and Mist, pressing themselves into the walls as we trotted upwards. Mist whispered to me in passing that I should go speak to the Elder, something about ‘keeping up good relations,’ but first we were going to go to her terminal so she could have my PipBuck upload it’s maps. Although she had been certain we would discover more PipBucks, the skeletons of any long forgotten Stable ponies contained no PipBucks on their legs. This had not daunted Scarlet’s hope at all, and she seemed cheery as she was when I first met her by the time we got back to her doctor.

It was hard to believe that my still damp pajamas and reclaimed Raider Armor mixed with Zena’s handiwork had been ‘suitable’ clothes in my mind now. I began picking up my armor and weapons when we returned. While I was thankful the Stable was devoid of horrible monsters, I didn’t like being unarmed. Mist exchanged a few words with her employee before joining my side, watching me put on the armor.

“Some of that is definitely Raider armor, but--” She tapped my chestplate, thumping it against my chest lightly. “This doesn’t look anything like Raider armor.”

“A-- A Desert Ranger gave me some armor.” I said, pulling the curtain over my body and tucking it around my shoulders. Undernearth my Stable-Tec suit was still visible, but it was a different kind of clothing than anything I was used to. Scarlet had called it breathing clothes, designed to keep ponies cool.

“Oh, how romantic. A Desert Ranger teaching you how to survive! And make you armor! It’s like some old mare’s tale.” Mist grinned, not stopping to take a breathe, “Did this Ranger have a name?”

“Yeah? Zena.” I brushed the back of my head, watching as Scarlet Mist let out a sound that can only be described as a squee. Mist leaned up to me, showing her continued complete disregard for personal space.

“Oh, you’ve met Zena?” She whinnied happily.

“Yes-- Is she popular or something?” I asked. Mist gave me a smirk as she raised her eyebrow. I glanced away, thinking that perhaps 'popular' wasn't a word that anyone would assign to Zena's temperament. I looked back at Mist, clearing my throat, "She talked about heading to Grove. I was going there to see if I could find her."

“Ohh.” There was a bit of a shine in Mist’s eye, but that could have just been the lighting from the rainbow in her gun casting weird glares. “Oh, now I want to go to Grove too. Me and Zena are the best of friends! I haven’t seen her in forever!”

I greatly doubted any friendship between Scarlet Mist and any Desert Ranger at first, but then I reminded myself that she did fly a caravan. She’d probably met Rangers a few times, and it would make sense she might know some off them, or even have a friend among their number. Any faith I had in Mist and Zena’s friendship evaporated as I thought of Zena’s quiet and focused demeanour, and then Mist, who acted like the kind of pony Zena might slap.

Mist lead the way outside, causing us to stand on a cliffside overlooking the ground far below. A narrow path leading up the side of the mesa we had been in was the only natural way to leave.

In front of us, however, was one of the biggest things I had ever seen. I immediately recognized it as a ship, right out of those old stories. By some means I didn’t understand, it managed to hover in the air, clouds swirling around it. Long metal scaffolding with wooden planks laid over them formed a narrow and terrifying bridge from the mesa path out to the ship to a sort of hanger bay in the side. I watched as Scarlet Mist extended her wings, balancing herself on the scaffolding, which didn’t look big enough for more than two ponies to trot side by side. I stayed right beside the mesa, feeling a puking feeling well up in my stomach as I looked down. I instantly grabbed onto the side of the cliff, feeling horrible sounds of terror echo out of my thorax. The thought of risking my life by crossing flimsy metal and boards was competing with my awe for the large ship. I took a deep gulp and began making my way across the planks, clinging to the middle and almost crawling towards the ship. Mist happily skipped to the other side, causing the flimsy metal and boards to shake slightly with each impact from her hooves.

I felt my insides churn as I closed my eyes. I knew immediately I had to open them, and then I had to cross this scaffolding, or stay with some tribal ponies. I'd have to trot to Grove, and that meant trotting down the side of the plateau. I glanced at the narrow path winding across the rock and leading towards the ground, weighing my options. It was going to be much faster to cross the scaffolding, but it also was a promise of death if the scaffolding gave way or I lost my balance.

I opened my eyes and knelt down, wrapping my hooves around the narrow scaffolding and gulping as I looked at Scarlet Mist on the other side. There's no way I was skipping to the other side like she did, but I could easily hug the scaffolding and scoot my way to her. I kept my eyes locked on the next inch of scaffolding as I took in a deep breath and began going where unicorns were not meant to be. I could feel my heart hammering against the metal as I pushed forward. In spite of myself, In spite of all the other horrible things in the world, this was making me cry. It was torture, to be slowly making my way across the scaffolding while the mocking smile of Scarlet Mist watched me. I wondered if I fell, if she would catch me. I wondered if she'd be able to. The thought of my hoof being cut off and Scarlet Mist sliding the PipBuck off my corpse filled my mind, and I found the strength to stand up. not only to stand up, but to madly dash at her. Maybe if I tripped and fell I'd drag that mocking smile with me. At least I wouldn't be alone for my wild screaming freefall.

And with a quick sprint, I found myself jumping off the scaffolding. For a brief moment I was in the middle of the air, touching nothing, and the next moment my hooves and withers slapped into the hard metal of the ship. Scarlet Mist had taken a seat and was watching me as I slid across the ground slightly, coming to a stop past her, safely inside the hanger. I let out a huge sigh of relief, watching as Scarlet Mist stood up, offering me a hoof to help me off the ground. I took it, rising to my hooves and feeling like my legs were made of gelatin. Now that I was safe and not facing the immediate dread of crossing to the ship, I could feel my heartrate dropping, and as the beating faded from my mind, it was replaced with the features of the ship.

The first thing I noticed was that this ship was big. I had heard stories about Grand Pegasus Enclave ships like this one, but they had always seemed smaller in a story. Looking around, I began to take in the second feeling of the ship-- it was oddly civilian. Pre-war ships like this were supposed to be used for war, but gone were most of its’ weapons and defenses. The ship had one cannon at the front that was lit up with active plasma, but the ship otherwise had only a few laser turrets rigged up along the sides that clearly were not part of the original design. What should have been a warship looked more like a floating platform of metal and wood, at least from the hanger bay.

My vision swam as I rolled over, hugging the ground and looking up at the ceiling of the hanger. It was many feet above me, offering more than enough room for pegasi like Scarlet Mist to fly around if they wanted to. As if my thought had been heard by her, Mist popped into my vision and stretched out a hoof with a smile. I took it, letting her help me to my hooves.

“That was very brave of you, Arc.” Scarlet Mist said sweetly, giving me a quick nuzzle on the cheek before leading me towards a door that had a glowing blue orb in the middle, and blue outlines along the metal that made up the door’s frame.

“Thank you, Mist.” I wasn't sure if I was grateful to her for her comment, or just grateful to be putting as much distance between me and the scaffolding as possible as i followed behind her. Part of me wanted to hold onto her tail in case I tripped and fell, sliding out of the ship and to my death. This was, of course not physically possible, but my mind did not care. I tried focusing it on something else to distract myself, glancing around before looking back at Mist. “Where are we? What is this place?”

“This is my caravan ship. I told you I fly my caravan.” For the first time I was starting to believe that Mit’s cheery voice wasn’t a show. She was being much more truthful than I gave her credit for. I gave my head a little shake, looking at her as she smiled and continued, “This ship is called the Azure Gale. At one time it was a Raptor Class shp for the Grand Pegasus Enclave, but me and my crew have really fixed it up. You’re looking at the only Merchantmare class ship that does business in the NCR.”

“Merchantmare?” I asked.

Mist gave me a nod, tapping the blue orb in the middle of the door and causing it to slide open with a soft grinding. “Yep! There are not very many ships like this in the world, but this is one of them. And unlike all the others, this one’s mine.

“How’d you end up with it?” I asked her, trotting through the doorway and entering into a hallway.

“I won a bet.” Mist said. By the way she said it, you’d think that winning a cloudship was something that happened everyday. I could feel my hooves trembling as I trotted behind her, staring at every inch of the place. I realized I wasn’t shaking in fear from crossing the scaffolding anymore-- I was shaking in excitement. I was on board a cloudship, something I’d only heard about, and was sure that few, if any, still existed at all.

Mist reached another door that she opened up, stepping through onto some scaffolding. I was more cautious about moving through here, but at least this scaffolding had railing. I wrapped my tail around the rail as I followed Mist in, looking around. The middle of the ship had a few places where I could tell it had been obviously repurposed and no paint job had been applied over old removals or new additions. The best way to describe what I was seeing was large metal cabinets with giant doors that could be pulled up or down to garage their contents. Large areas were sectioned off by metal walls, and inside of each cabinet I could see cargo or common areas. Some cabinets were closed and clearly marked as bedrooms. There were two rows of these, taking up what must have been most of the upper portion of the ship. Both levels had staircases at either end and in the middle, and metal scaffolding with rails led from a two storey central walkway and the individual cabinets.

After I finished understanding the layout, I began to take in the locals. Earth, pegasi, and unicorn ponies sat together at a bar, enjoying beers with a giant feathered creature that had claws instead of hooves. I made sure to stay close to Mist as we went past, averting my eyes from the griffon. Although they were not the first one I had seen, I’d never considered them to be of fair temperament.

I blinked as Mist came to a stop in front of me. I was only about six inches away from her flank and found myself staring right into her neck as she turned around, her pink hair brushing over my face. She smelled like cherries and some sweet nectar mixed with a harsher smell, but one I couldn’t place at the moment. Mist traced one of her wings across a blue orb, letting it open up as she looked seriously at me.

“We’re going up to my office. My room is located right behind it, and you’re not allowed in there. Not even a peek!” Mist said seriously before turning and starting to prance up some stairs. I followed after her, wondering why she felt the need to be so serious about what was a perfectly ordinary and reasonable request.

Scarlet Mist’s office turned out to be possibly one of the dullest places in the Wasteland I could dream up. It had a simple rug that covered most of the floor. A lightning bolt of red, yellow, and blue was striking out from a cloud and pointing at the door. Right in the middle of these colours there was a spot where somepony had tried to patch a similar colour unsuccessfully, giving the otherwise great carpet a worn appearance. Mist had a desk sitting over the end of the cloud, with a terminal built into the wall behind her and two couches in front of her. Mist gestured for me to follow her behind her desk as she went to her terminal, typing in the password to unlock it.

“Don’t worry Arc, this is quick and painless! Just keep your hoof raised.” Mist assured me, taking ahold of my PipBuck leg and lifting it up. Using her mouth she detached a wire from it, plugging it into the side of her terminal before pulling her head back so she could see her terminal. No sooner was she clicking a few strokes on the keyboard then she turned away, unplugging my PipBuck. It had taken only a few seconds, and she was done in such a short time that I could barely understand what had happened.

“That’s it?” I asked incredulously. Mist gave me a little nod, looking at a map of the Stable on her terminal before taking a seat in her office chair. It was made out of leather and had an untouched old war look to it. I glanced around before trotting around the desk, sitting in a couch and taking in what was so different. Everything in her office looked clean, cleaner than most places I had been or seen in the wasteland, and cleaner still than many homes in Stable City.

Mist looked up at me, thoughtfully holding a hoof up to her chin as she leaned back. I wanted to ask her what she was thinking about, but before I could she was already speaking her mind. “Arc, how do you plan to get to Grove?”

“I was, kind of hoping for a ride?” I said back. "You mentioned wanting to see Zena."

“Hmm.” Mist mused, rubbing a hoof on her chin. I could see her tail wagging slightly as it hung out the side of the chair. She nodded sagely twice before opening them and speaking. “I do. But going there, we have to trot.”

“Why trot? This ship flies, doesn’t it?” I asked.

“Oh yes, but it’s going to take a few days for my crew to load up the supplies from the Stable onto the ship. If I know Zena, then I don’t think that we’ll catch her in time if we wait around here. She doesn’t really stay in one place for long.” I knew that Mist was right-- from what little I knew of Zena, she seemed like the kind of mare that stayed in motion. I gave Scarlet Mist a hesitant nod, sighing at my hooves and the thought of trotting through more hot wasteland and not knowing how far it was to my destination.

“Great, then a road trip it is! I’m going to take care of a few things around the ship, and I want you to go talk with the tribal elder before they think I’ve stolen you away. Make sure you tell them that ponies will be fetching things out of the Stable to help you with… whatever it is they want you to do. Just make them happy.”

"So you conned a bunch of tribals into giving you a lot of supplies? Where are they now?" Limelight asked at the end of my story, heaving a small metal box full of packaged foodstuffs, five old shirts, and a wrench onto the kiosk counter. Scarlet immediately helped herself to another bag of chips, ripping it open with her teeth.

"Oof, probably where we left them." Scarlet Mist said, spitting out the packaging and sticking her muzzle in to eat a few chips, her voice echoing out of the shining bag, "Tribals don't tend to go too far once they settle down."

"I meant the supplies. Where are the supplies you took?" Limelight asked, glancing down at our meager salvage.

"Oh, they're on the ship." Mist chimed, continuing to feast on the chips as she buried her head further into the bag. I stood up, offering a shrug towards Limelight and then taking a step backwards. I'd found myself smiling at Scarlet Mist, remember more hopeful times, as well as how they always seemed to be crushed by the same face that was leering at us out of the darkness. Two green lenses flashed before a metal hoof ripped Scarlet Mist's mane back, pulling her head painfully out of the chip bag. I saw a flash as rainbow appeared Scarlet Mist's saddlebag, a disco of lights dancing around the kiosk as she aimed the weapon at Zena.

"Ow ow! Hey-- fuck off, I'm eating here!" Scarlet Mist whined, kicking her hind hooves as she flailed on her back.

"Why are you eating another bag of chips?" Zena growled.

"Because I'm hungry and I'm scavenging, so I get first dibs." Scarlet Mist let out another angry whine. "Let go of my mane!"

Zena relented, releasing Scarlet Mist, who rolled off the kiosk counter and out of mane grabbing distance. She amazingly kept a deft hold on the bag of chips, managing to not even spill a crumb as she stood between me and Limelight, the lights of her gun dancing too and fro around the kiosk. She took only a moment to stow away the gun, ending the mini-rave scene in the kiosk, before returning to finishing off her chips, never taking her eyes off Zena.

"We have to ration what we have, or we will run out." Zena said. "Arc, we have more salvage over here. Bring that box and take inventory on all of it. Then we pass out rations and sleep."

"I'll join you, Arc." Limelight said, picking up the box and using his wings to balance it on his back. I gave both Limelight and Switchwire a nod, trotting with them behind Zena. Scarlet Mist discarded her chip bag, fluffing up her wings and making her look like a large red peacock as she stayed in the kiosk.

After I finished with the inventory, showing us how little supplies we truly had, I followed Scarlet Mist, Limelight, and Switchwire into the back of one of the shops. What had once been a kitchen now appeared to be some sort of nest. A dirty mattress with old blankets and pillows had obviously been horded by somepony, and now Scarlet Mist had claimed it. The four of us settled down, finding comfortable spots next to each other as we began to eat our portions of food. I pulled open the tab on some canned carrots, watching the soggy, old salted veggies float around in weird broth. I let out a sigh, finding myself already missing the taste of fresh food, and realizing that there probably wasn't going to be any until we got out of here.

I felt a shiver as I was suddenly touched by Scarlet Mist, who leaned in and wrapped a wing around me, holding me close to her as she glanced at Switchwire and Limelight. I looked over at Mist, who had a furtive look on her face as she glanced at me, batting her eyelids once and showing a little, devious smile.

"So, Arc~ I found something down here. Something I didn't tell the others about." Scarlet Mist whispered. I saw Limelight's ear twitch, and his glowing eyes glanced up from his canned fruit. Even though Scarlet Mist's voice was barely more than a whisper, I could tell he was listening somehow.

"Oh yeah?" I said back, fishing out a carrot bit and swallowing it. Salty and slimy, not delicious even by wasteland standards.

"Yes! A maintenance tunnel leading somewhere. I'm not sure where. I was thinking that after you eat, we would go explore it." Scarlet Mist suggested. I glanced at the door to the kitchen, and then fished out some more carrots, shoving them into my mouth.

"Should we tell Zena and the others? Could be something dangerous." I suggested back.

"Oh, No. Did you see how she grabbed my mane?" Scarlet Mist sulked. "No, we're not telling Zena. And whatever is over there we keep for ourselves. It's important we stay in good shape. There could be something dangerous down here."

I facehoofed, setting down the empty can of veggies. "Yeah, okay sure." I wasn't sure quite what would be waiting down here, but at least where we had been, there hadn't seemed to be much life. I figured barring any pre-war trouble, We'd be okay poking our heads in. I ducked away from Switchwire and Limelight, following Scarlet Mist behind the store and watching her move aside a couple boxes. Sure enough, there was indeed an open maintenance tunnel leading into darkness. I activated the light on my PipBuck, taking the lead. Scarlet Mist ducked her head as she followed behind me, her hot breath running over my tail. It was comforting to know that she was still there, but like always, Scarlet Mist paid no attention to the concept of personal space.

Dark minutes crept by, and I could feel the tunnel sloping upwards. Very suddenly, the tunnel ended with a door. It was a simple hatch, not locked at all. I gave the hatch a push and found myself momentarily blinded. Evening light flooded the tunnel, and fresh air ran over my face. I felt myself pushed forward as Scarlet Mist pushed us both upwards into a small tool shed. The sun was setting outside of a window, and a warm breeze washed over the world. My PipBuck let out a sad, soft ticking noise as I frowned downward and looked away from Scarlet Mist.

"Ah, fresh air!" She squeaked, staring out the window. I couldn't bare to watch the smile on her face fade as she glimpsed towards the sky, taking in all the cloud and dust that had nearly blocked out the sun, reducing it to a distant ring on the horizon.

"That's, one hell of a dust storm." She said, turning back to me. I moved my face away from where she could see it, trying to not think about the sky outside. The thoughts slowly creeping back into my mind like little dark tendrils eating away at the edges of sanity.

"It isn't a dust storm." I said, holding up my PipBuck. "If we're grabbing anything up here, let's grab it fast. Scarlet Mist's ears wilted, and she frowned as she checked out the surroundings from the window.

"Just our luck that we'd find the only tunnel out of the underground, and we're right in the middle of a radiation puddle." Scarlet Mist said with disgust. "It's still low enough that we might be able to make our way from here--"

"No." I said, grabbing her tail with telekensis and pulling her towards me. I shook my head at her. "No, trust me. This whole place-- it's all irradiated. You'll be dead before you get clear of the city."

Scarlet Mist glared at me, and before I was able to think about stopping her she had launched out the window. I swore at the air, begging some goddess to curse that mare. There was a bang and I heard Scarlet Mist let out a cry, knocking me out of my mood as I rushed to the window. I was not sure how to describe the ponies that Mist was shooting at, but they certainly had once been ponies. Not quite ghouls, not quite pony, walking corpses were firing bullets at the third story of a building, where Scarlet Mist was nursing her side and pulling her gun free. I ducked down, pulling my new rifle free. I gave a look over the smooth wooden frame, the long, sturdy barrel, and the short range scope. I reminded myself I wasn't the scared filly from my stories anymore. I was a murderer. That thought bounced around in my head as I prepared to duck out of cover and aim some shots. My thoughts were interrupted by a flash of beige and green, rushing past my face and diving out the window.

I pulled my thoughts back to the gunshots that were smacking against the third story of the building across a short street, poking my head out and firing two shots at the corpse ponies. The flash of green was holed up behind an old bus stop, ducking between ruins and firing off shots from a service rifle towards the corpse ponies. Without a second thought Limelight had joined the fight from the darkness below, his face obscured by a pair of sunglasses as he worked his way to Mist. The corpse ponies, now far more concerned with a target they could actually see, began lining up shots towards Limelight. I poked back out from cover again, activating S.A.T.S. on my PipBuck and quickly turning the battle into a rout for the corpse ponies. I shouldered my rifle and peered out the window, looking up at Limelight and Scarlet Mist. Whatever they were talking about, I couldn't make out, but a moment later Scarlet Mist was slung across Limelight's back and he was gliding down towards the tool shed. I pushed open the door, staying inside in case any lingering corpse ponies decided to try their marksponyship.

Limelight stepped inside, sliding a bleeding Scarlet Mist onto the floor and closing the door behind him. I glanced up at his face, taking in demonic look of his amber eyes echoing through the sunglasses. His voice was short and cutting as he bent down and inspected Mist's wound.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Limelight said to Scarlet Mist, but glanced at me for his curse.

"I told her not too." I tried, but gave up trying to explain. If Limelight had heard Scarlet Mist whispering, then I was guessing he had probably heard everything that transpired above ground too. He gave his head a shake, pulling out some cloth and shoving it into Scarlet Mist's wound.

"Explain this to Zena." He said tersely, beckoning with his tail towards the hatch. I let Scarlet Mist and Limelight go in first, bringing up the rear and closing the hatch with my tail behind us. I kept my eyes firmly planted on the ground in front of me, trying to give Limelight a little more space than Scarlet Mist had given me.

Once we were out of the tunnel, I moved the boxes back in front of the hatch, sitting down next to Limelight as Scarlet Mist limped sulkily off to go explain herself to Zena. I glanced at him and gave a sigh, shrugging.

"I know. That was stupid." I said. Limelight took off his sunglasses and folded them into one of his many pockets on his armor.

"It's not half as stupid as the two of us sitting here." Limelight grunted. "You're wearing legion duds, and I'm an NCR scout. and we're both trapped together in a hole with dying or suicidal ponies."

"Well, at least we're the sane ones." I tried giving him a smile.

"Or maybe we're the crazy ones." Limelight returned my smile, and despite the decay and darkness around us, I felt a warm feeling stir in me. Not one I was used to feeling since I had left home.

"Are you going to sleep?" I asked.

"Somepony needs to keep watch, in case any of those assholes decide to crawl down here." Limelight nodded towards the hatch, pointing his gun at it. I gave a nod, sitting down next to him and unshouldering my rifle. I looked down at my PipBuck and idly tapped on the screen, wondering if it was appropriate to make further conversation.

"So, would you tell me more about your PipBuck? I mean, Stable 136." I asked.

"It was my home. Everypony gets one when they're old enough." Limelight remarked dryly, looking down at his own PipBuck.

"That's it?" I asked. Limelight's eyes flashed towards me, and I hastily added, "I mean-- sorry! Just-- well you know how I got mine. I thought there might be, you know, a story?"

"Everypony has stories." Limelight said quietly. "Most of us just don't share."

I frowned at that. I could think of a lot of reasons why somepony wouldn't want to share certain things. I stared right back into Limelight's deep amber eyes, saying, "Well just leave the bad parts out. Like I do."

Limelight gave a soft snicker, holding up his PipBuck leg and glancing over the aged brass. "Sit back. When you tell a story proper, you tell it all. The good and the bad.

Act I -- The Future As We Know It

bzzt.

The crackling of the PipBuck's audio feed was accented by the steady drip of liquid and the sparking lights hanging from exposed wires. A low hum echoed from the floor, the wheels and levers of shadowy machines grinding against each other in darkness. Pushing away some rubble, a pony in barding composed of metal from many of her fallen enemies stepped forward. Her hoof glowed with the Pipbuck, casting a green light across the otherwise dark compound.

Limping forward, the click clack of her hooves echoed as she made her way to a control panel. A flurry of little lights were flashing, giving tiny, almost incoherent beeps. After spending a moment gazing at them, she lifted up her PipBuck, adjusting the dials to try and clear out some of the crackling on the audio. The feed whirled, but the microphone refused to change it's quality. With a sigh, she leaned against the control panel, slipping down and leaving a oozing trail of blood behind her as she sank into a resting position.

"Begin log-- argh," She paused, hearing the pain in her own voice as she fought back tears. "Log-- of whatever day this is. My name is White Arc, and it's been-- almost a month I guess. A month since I left home."

She closed her eyes again, feeling the shock of pain course through her. She was going numb, slipping into shock. "To my family and friends, I'm sorry. It was the only way. I know you'll understand. I had to stop them at any cost."

Turning towards the control panel, the mare pressed her hoof down on one off the buttons. Alarms began blaring all around her as she ended her PipBuck's feed, laying her head back and watching all the red lights fill her vision and the cacophony of noise overwhelm her senses.

bzzzt.