4 Months Later

Life has gone exceptionally well, I've got a good paying job and no word from the griffons ever since I burned down the castle but I'd sometimes get this feeling in my gut that they are planning something, something big. I got used to Soul Reaper living in my head but his name felt weird to say and was too long so I now call him Elijah.

I was sitting in my shop's workshop, cleaning out one of the prototype AK-47's I was working on when one of my employees came in and sat by the door. Derpy was her name, she used to be a mail pony till she quit her job due to sexual harassment from her boss but she now works for me as a cashier "Can I help you Derpy" I ask, causing her to snap her head from the ground.

"Ummm, there's a friend for you outside" she responds so I set down the work in progress firearm before heading out into the display area, not before helping Derpy from stumbling into a wall. along the walls were guns placed in multiple locked glass cabinets with some melee weapons hanged up here and there. I look at the counter itself to see Twilight with her dragon companion, Spike.

"Hey Twi, what can I do for you?" I question as I lean onto the counter, resting my hoofs on the glass.

"Hey Anar- I mean Ray, I needed a little help with a problem that has been making people a little sick around in Appleloosa" She answered, I also forgot to say that I revealed my real name to them, though they were a bit distant from me at first besides Fluttershy who always stuck by my side, they forgave me and we went on as normal.

"Y-Yea what happened?" I ask again hoping for more of an idea of the situation.

"Well, there has been an unknown particle showing up around Appleloosa making the residents sick, I wondered if you'd have any knowledge of this," she says.

My anxiety spiked as I tell her "Wait here for a second" I retreat back into the shop before heading into my office, I go up to my personal gun locker before putting in the combination to the padlock and opening it up, my Tar-21 and CZ-75 were in their places but I ignore them as I look through the top shelf before pulling out a Geiger counter I used for my adventures in the zone. I look to the left side of the locker to see my trusty gas mask used for obvious reasons and grab it as well, stuffing the Geiger counter into my pocket before placing the gas mask into a saddle bag that Rarity made me.

I levitate the saddlebags onto my back before heading back to Twilight, I lean onto the counter again before asking "We should go check that out but just in case, I need to make you and the others devices made for what we may be up against."

Twilight tilted her head to the side but nodded before responding "Alright Ray, Come over to the Library when you're ready"

I nod as I give a slight wave goodbye with my hoof before retreating back into the workshop. I walk up to one of my other employees who was manning a workbench, his name was Blazing Heart; he had a red mane with purple fur. I call him by the nickname I gave him, 'Liam.'

"Hey Liam, I'm going on a little business trip in a bit so you'll be in charge till I get back," I tell him causing him to look up with his always relaxed expression.

"A'ight man," he says back before resuming on what looked like a Glock 17, guess the police are beginning to use firearms now. I go to my personal workbench and begin making the girls gas masks. Since I didn't know the size of their heads, I just made adjustable straps for the mask.

after 3 hours of cutting rubber and bending plastic, I finally made all six of them, I even painted all of their cutie marks onto the masks just for fun. I put all the masks into my saddle bags before realizing I need Filters so I grab the one in my mask and duplicate it so there are 5 filters for each mask. I stuff the filters into the bags before placing them on my back, I yell at Liam "I'm going out, keep the place clean!" I walk out of the shop and begin to walk to the Library.

What are you thinking? Elijah asks causing me to stop dead in my tracks

"I think something has crossed over from my world but I'm not sure until I check the source if there is any" I speak in my thoughts, I wait for a response but none had come so I continue to walk. After a few minutes of walking and waving to a few friends, I make it the tree Library so I knock twice before entering.

I walk inside to see everypony is here, they all greet me before Pinkie rushes up to me, squishing my cheeks as she speeds talks "I heard you have a surprise! I love surprises! What is it, what is it, what is it!"

I chuckle softly before lightly pushing her off of me "It's not much of a great surprise but it's... beneficial for what we might encounter in Appleloosa" Everypony begin to whisper upon themselves for a second before they all stare at me.

Twilight speaks up "Well, what is it?" I nod as I gently dropping saddlebags onto the ground before opening them up and levitating the 6 masks out of the bags. They let out an 'ooh' with the exception of Rarity who looked at it in disgust.

Rarity then blurts out "what are these AWFUL looking contraptions" everypony glares at her which causes me to chuckle as she shrinks back a bit.

"These are gas masks or respirators, they protect you from breathing in harmful chemicals and other things that could make you sick" I respond before I start handing them out to the correct owners "I even painted your cutie marks onto it" I look around before seeing that they were having trouble trying them on so I help each of them out a bit before they're all put on, I look around again to see they all fit perfectly so I reach back into my bag again and pull out the filters before giving them 5 each "These are the filters, this is the key part to the mask. They have a variety of minerals and other things that absorb the harmful chemicals so you don't breath it in"

Suddenly Rainbow Dash raises her hoof and asks "Hmm mm mmm mm?"

I chuckle as I pull out my battle-scarred mask before putting it on and pressing a button on the side with my hoof "press this button to talk" my voice emits from the speaker in the forehead, beside the hole for the horn.

Dash presses the button before repeating what she said: "Why do we need five?"

I quickly respond "They, unfortunately, don't last forever so you'll have to change them from time to time, I'll probably look into a spell that gets rid of the time limit"

Rainbow lowers her hoof before Twilight shoots hers up "How do we attach it?"

I roll my eyes with a smile before grabbing one of my filters and screwing it in "Just like this"

I take off my mask before saying "we don't need them now so give them to me and I'll hold onto them until we get there BUT don't put them on till I say so" They all nod before taking them off and handing them to me, I place them back into my bags before picking the bag back up. "When are we leaving?" I ask

Twilight answers "We are leaving soon, we got to wait for the train to arrive so I guess we can stay here for a bit" I nod so everypony goes to do their own thing as I sit down on a chair, I began to think if my theory is true then what would the cause be. I looked down in thought before I was brought back to reality by a movement to my side so I look to see Fluttershy sitting beside me, being her quiet self.

"Sorry I haven't been coming home much..." I say as I look at her to see her smiling

"O-Oh, It's okay, working can be hard... and all" She responds rather cheery

I smile as I give her a little side hug "Maybe after all this, we can hang out for once"

She giggles "Maybe?"

I chuckle back before correcting myself "Definitely"

She gives a little peck on my cheek before Applejack speaks up "Its time to go, grab what you packed and let's get going"

I stand up with Fluttershy and place my saddlebags on my back once more before following everypony to the train station, minutes went by before we reached the train station. The train was just on time but I was tapped on the shoulder so I look back to see Twilight who said: "I forgot to give you a ticket."

I smile before thanking her as I took the train ticket in my magic and stuffing it into my sweater pocket. I get in line and wait for my turn. When I finally got to the ticket stamper, a stallion raised his hoof toward me before asking "Ticket?" I nod before pulling out the ticket with my levitation before handing it to him. He looked at it for a second before punching a hole into the ticket before handing it back "Have a nice ride" the grey stallion said as I walk up the steps into the train.

I see the girls all in their own booth so I go and sit down in one of the booths which consisted of two sofas on opposite sides with a table held between the two. I pull out my war-torn gas mask and get a good look at the damage: The plastic eye protection was cracked in some areas while the rubber was burnt around it. I was pulled out of my inspection by a shift of movement in the cushions so I look to my side to see Fluttershy sitting beside me before looking forward to Applejack and Rainbow who were sitting down across from us.

It was silent for a good 10 seconds before Rainbow spoke up "Hey... Can I see your mask? I noticed some interesting things on it"

I smile before gently pushing the mask across the table "Sure, just be careful" She began to inspect it, tracing her hoof along the cracks in the plastic before I ask "Hows the shoulder?"

She looks up from the respirator before answering "It fine, no biggie" I roll my eyes with a smirk, knowing she's lying

We stayed quiet for another minute before Applejack broke the silence again "Ya wouldn't happen to have any stories of where you're from?"

I chuckle and answer "Alright." I began to tell stories from my adventures in the exclusion zones, Like the time I came across a child who was supposed to be in the tunnels but travelled out too far and got lost so I helped him back to his settlement. I told stories for a few minutes and they all seemed intrigued by them, even the others joined in on hearing my storytelling. "This man lived in a boat, he was a crazy guy but one day his craziness paid off. He somehow tamed himself a Pseudodog, a mutant with the mix of Dog, Human and Bear DNA. The craziest thing about it is that the mutant actually listens to him, does things on the man's command"

Everypony talked among themselves about the story, I looked out the train window to see the moon beginning to rise so I suggest "I think it's best we get our sleep for tomorrow" I say as I lean back on the cushioned sofa, they all agreed and started making beds for themselves on different couches. I find a comfortable position before wishing the girls goodnight as I slowly nod off.

Around 11:00 PM

I feel a hoof start shake so I open my eyes to see a sorrow looking Fluttershy, she looks down as she whispers "I-I had a nightmare..."

I let out a quiet 'Aww' before sitting up and patting beside me, signalling her to sit down. She sits down beside me before I wrap a foreleg around her, pulling into a soft cuddle as I quietly say "You're a lot like me when I was a youngin"

She quietly giggles as she asks "I was?"

I nod as I begin to tell her "I used to have night terrors, I would always seek my mom for comfort and she was there for just that. Eventually, they went away but I know someday they'll come back as my past"

She continues to smile as she leans her head against my chest "But you're strong and you won't be stopped by them" she says

I chuckle as I ruffle her hair softly "Maybe so..." I yawn before laying back on the couch with Flutters cuddled up to me, I wrap my forelegs around her as we slowly doze off into the night

Next Morning

Sunlight blared into my eyes as morning came around, I look down to see Fluttershy still cuddling me and the girls still asleep with the exception of Twilight who was reading one of the books she packed for our trip. I carefully slip out from under Fluttershy so I don't wake her up and trot over to the bookworm who was unaware of my presence, I look over her shoulder to see that the books she's reading were on particles, probably still trying to find out the answer for our situation.

I sit beside her gently causing her to look at me for a quick second before retreating her eyes back into the book as she greets "Good morning Ray."

I smile as I also say "Indeed... Still can't figure out the thing that's causing the sickness?" She nods as she flips the page swiftly before continuing to read. I sigh before asking "Do you know the symptoms of this sickness?"

She nods again before listing them "Well the letter from the Princess said that the residents were experiencing: Nausea and vomiting, sloughing of skin, fur and mane loss, Severe fatigue and many more" I shiver again as the symptoms are really familiar.

I sigh once more before saying "Then I guess my theory is right, I know what this is..."

She lifts her eyes up from the book and stares at me "W-What is it?"

I give a deep breath before answering "It's radiation... The symptoms are way too similar to be coincidental" She closes her book gently before looking outside to see that we were almost there so I shout "Time to wake up girls, we're almost there."

Author's Note

What the Gas mask looks like