Ash whipped against my face as the mushroom cloud stood tall among the horizon

It's nearly time

I hear a whisper but pay no mind as I am mesmerized by the orange glow of the atomic fires

You want to forget but it will always come back to remind you on that day

I raise my hands up and stare at my blood-coated palms before looking forward at the city that once stood

You want to forget the good times you had, to whisk away the bad thoughts that they bring

Heat skimmed my skin as a wall of red smoke and lightning began to emerge from the atomic cloud before it began to sweep the land in front of me and rush right to toward me.

You want to forget the ones who made your childhood the best time of your life, the ones who cared for you

The cloud was getting closer by the seconds before I was finally consumed by the wall of red

I wake up to the sun in my eyes like every morning, I remember I had a dream last night but couldn't remember what happened in it. I look around to see that I'm in a different room than usual, I look to my right to finally realize the yellow pony that was snuggled up in my arms. The events of last night finally came back to me before I smile with a quiet chuckle

"You made it big time Ray," I say to myself before trying to maneuver out of Flutters hold and after a minute of gently moving around, I successfully made it out of her snuggles without waking her. I dismiss my clothes and gear and walk downstairs quietly before heading to the kitchen and making some tea, I fill two cups up and pick them up with my levitation before heading to the living room and sitting down on the sofa. I place the two cups of tea down and wait for Fluttershy to wake up.

After a few minutes and drinking half of my cup of tea, I finally hear hoofsteps descend the stairs before Flutters come into view so I greet her "Good morning"

She looks up at me with a big smile before sitting down beside me and burying her nose into my neck softly while saying "Good morning, got anything planned for today?"

I kiss her on the forehead before answering "Yea, heading down to the school to teach the kids about firearms such as safety rules and stuff like that." She giggles and returns a peck on my chin before resting her head against my shoulder. I look at Flutters tea before asking "Are you going to drink that?"

She looks at her cup of tea before picking it up in her hooves and taking a sip, she closes her eyes as she seems to savor the flavor of the tea, Fluttershy then goes and chugs it all down. She sets the empty cup down with a sigh of relief before I look at the clock mounted on the wall to see that it was 8:20 AM, I didn't know when the school started so I asked Fluttershy "Do you know when the school starts?"

"It starts at 9:10, we have lots of time, unless you want to go early" She replies as she traces her hoof around my scars.

I chuckle before saying "I can stay for a bit." She smiles as she lays her head against my chest, I stroke her mane with my hoof as we cuddle on the sofa for about 5 minutes before I finally decide to go.

I kiss Flutters on the lips before saying "I'll be back around 4:00 PM." She nods before she leans off of me so I could stand up. I walk back upstairs and reach for my body armor but hesitate... Why am I hesitating? I shake my head and pick up the ballistic vest in my right hoof before strapping it on with my magic, I look to my trusty sweater but decide that I grab one of the newer hoodies that Rarity made me a while back.

I go back downstairs before looking in a little basket to see a pile of neatly folded sweaters, I look through a few before picking a black sleeveless hoodie that had a pair of 3 white stripes running across my sides to my rump. I stand up on my hind legs and slip on the sweater before heading back on to 4 legs. I tell Fluttershy that I'm going before heading out the door and heading into town, the walks to my destinations were always uneventful... Just like this one.

I make it to the stereotypical school house before walking up to the front door and knocking on it twice, I hear some hoofsteps from inside and the door cracks open to Cheerliee who peaked at me for a second before she fully opened it and welcomed "Ray! Glad you could come" She steps out of my way before continuing "Come on in, School should be starting soon"

I nod with a smile and walk in as I look around the classroom, It had desks in equal rows and had children drawings all over the walls while paper ornaments hanged from the ceiling. My thoughts are suddenly filled with images of my childhood school and my favorite classroom, I shake them out before any bad memories would show up and walk up to the front of the class while saying "Pretty neat place..."

Cheerliee chuckled while she sat at her desk "Thanks, though your alien schools were probably better"

I nod before replying "Well, I can't really say much since I only made it up to grade 4..."

She seems to freeze in place before looking at me with a furrowed brow "Why is that?"

I sigh before answering "The world go boom. no society, no government, just you or whatever group you were involved with."

She frowns before nodding and Asking "And what are you going to teach the children?"

I answer "I'm going to educate them on gun safety, can't have kids thinking they're toys" She nods so I grab one of the chairs that were big enough for me and sat in it while I waited, I whistled a tune while I waited for the students to arrive. After a few minutes of waiting and idle chat with Cheerliee, the bell finally rang and the kids walked in one by one. Once it looked like everypony was here, Cheerliee did class attendance before finally speaking "Good morning class, I know some of you are probably wondering who I have with me. Well this is Ray and he's going to teach you some things about his profession"

She looks to me and nods to I stand up and address the class "How's everypony going?" They all said their own ways of 'good' so I decided to continue "First I want to know how old you guys and gals are."

The class said the age range of 8 to 9 years old so I nod a few times before saying "Well my name is Ray Joseph and I'm going to teach you about firearm safety, How many of you have heard about the invention of guns?" Around half the class put their hoofs up so I explain what guns are to the rest "Well a gun or firearm as some call it, is a ranged weapon that can be used at any kind of distances. How a gun work is that you got this small metal arrow called a bullet that has an explosive powder inside called gunpowder, a small hammer like gear that is located in a gun hits the back of the bullet and it causes the powder to explode sending the front of the bullet forward and out of the front of the gun, sending the bullet fast than the speed of sounds at a target."

Most of the class seemed to get it so I ask "Any of you have questions so far? If so then raise your hoof and when I point to you, say your name then your question" Around a dozen hoofs shoot up so I point to a colt that was white with brown spots "What's your question?"

"My name is Pipsqueak and do guns have magic in them to power it or something like that"

I chuckle before saying "Guns don't have any magic involved with them, its all machinery and a bit of science I guess." Pipsqueak nods so I pick the next question and point at an orange filly with a purple mane

"My name is Scootaloo and can a bullet go faster than Rainbow Dash?"

I shake my head and say "I'd say no if Rainbow wasn't hit by a bullet but she was, that's why she came back to Ponyville a few months back with some bandaging on her shoulder. Scootaloo sits down with a grumpy look and her forelegs crossed causing me to chuckle before I pick the final student who was a yellow filly with a red mane

"My names Apple Bloom and do bullets hurt?"

I wince a bit at her question before answering "I guess it really depends where you get hit... if you got hit in the leg or something, it would definitely hurt, probably the worst pain you would ever feel. I would talk about bullets hitting ponies some more if you guys weren't so young, it's not pretty"

Applebloom seems to understand and sits down. "I got to move on, I'll answer more questions at the end of my little presentation... thing" The students giggle before I continue "Let's talk about rules: Number 1 - Always treat a gun as if it's loaded and dangerous, don't pick it up if you don't know how to use it or what it is and no I will not show you how to handle a firearm"

The class lets out a groan of disappointment but they stop as I continue "Number 2 - If you know how to handle for some reason, never point the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy, you or others could get hurt" The class nods in agreement so I say the final rule "Number 3 - If you know how to use a weapon and are in danger or just practicing, always be aware of your target and what's behind it. It could cause some collateral damage"

The class nods once more before I ask "Any more questions?" Not as many hooves from before popped up which was a relief, I point to a pink and purple filly who was wearing a tiara.

"My name is Diamond Tiara and why do you have a stupid name?"

Everypony in the class gasped as she giggled along with what I'm guessing was one of her friends before I retort back at her "I don't know, why are you wearing a plastic tiara?"

I smile as she seemed to fume with rage as she got out of her seat and stomp up to me before Diamond Tiara began to shout at me "How dare YOU INSULT ME! This is a real tiara that my dad Filthy Rich got me and costs way more than whatever kind of trash your wearing"

I frown at the entitled prick of a filly before a mischievous thought comes to mind. I grab the brats tiara in my magic before snapping it in half and saying in a dark tone "See, plastic... Your dad sure paid a lot of money for a custom built gun so I don't think he would mind if I told him about your spoiled behavior against me"

She shuts up and heads back to her seat while I throw the stupid tiara into the trash bin, I then ask "Do you guys have real questions or do you want to insult me some more? I've seen and been told a lot more things that are worst than your petty playground insults" No pony put their hoof up so I look to Cheerliee who was quite shocked, to say the least.

I sat to Cheerliee "I'm sorry about that, thanks for having me come by and teach these children the rules of guns and all that" I look to the class before saying "Thank you for being patient with my rambling and listening. If you come up with any questions, you'll see me around town." I walked to the front door and exited to schoolhouse before beginning my walk back to the cottage

That was a bit harsh, wasn't it?

Not now, Elijah...

Why such the mood?

Just an anniversary that's coming up...

Oh...

Elijah seemed to get the clue and shut up so I could walk in peace, I was about to walk to my gun shop but realized that I should head home first so Flutters wouldn't get worried so I started to walk to the cottage. I was walking by Twilight's library/home when I heard multiple girls giggling inside so I walk up and peak through the window to see the Fluttershy and the rest of the elements of harmony hanging around inside and seeming to be gossiping about stuff.

I enter the front door to the Library and everypony looks toward me before Twilight says "Hey Ray, How's it going?"

I nod and walk over to the circle they're sitting as I answer "It's going good, just heard you mares laughing so I couldn't help and join you in your little conversations. Got nothing better to do anyways..." They nodded as Fluttershy scooted over a bit and tapped the floor next to her, signaling me to sit down beside her so I do just that and sit beside her and Applejack before they continue to talk about what they were talking about.

Rainbow sees my new hoodie before saying "Nice sweater dude" I nod in thanks. A few minutes later of listening to their gossip Rainbow comes up with an idea "Hey, why don't we play spin the bottle. Less mushy than this gossipy stuff."

I tilted my head in confusion and ask "Whats spin the bottle?"

Everypony looks at me like I committed a crime before Pinkie bursts out "YOU DON"T KNOW WHAT TRUTH OR DARE IS?!?"

I nod and say "Just explain the rules to me so we can play"

Rainbow then proceeded to tell me "So we sit around in a circle like we are now then you get an empty bottle and spin it in the middle of our circle. When the front of the bottle lands on someone, you ask them 'Truth or Dare'. If you say 'truth', the person who spun the bottle gets to ask you a question and you have to answer honestly but if you say dare, the person who spun the bottle can make you do whatever he or she wants"

I understand the rules and nod so Pinkie pulls out an empty soda bottle from her mane before placing it in the middle of our circle, Rainbow then spins the bottle and waits for the bottle to cease spinning. The end of the bottle lands on Rarity first and so Rainbow asks "Truth or dare?"

"Truth" Rarity says

Rainbow then asks "What's the nastiest thing you've done?

Rarity answers "Well I would say that one time we went through the Everfree forest and I fell in a puddle of mud" Everypony including me giggles/chuckles before Rarity spins the bottle and the bottle lands on Twilight "Truth or dare Twilight?"

Twilight says "Truth"

Rarity continues "What's the most time you've gone without reading a book?"

Twilight then answers with a surprising response "4 hours, 32 minutes and 12 seconds." Twilight smiles with glee before using her magic to spin the bottle, the bottle then lands on Applejack so Twilight asks "Truth or Dare, my cowgirl friend?"

Applejack then replies "Dare"

I raise my eyebrows before Twilight tells her "I dare you to not eat any apples for 2 days"

Everypony laughs as Applejack gives an unamused face before she unenthusiastically spins the bottle, the bottle then lands on Rainbow Dash so Applejack asks "Rainbow, Truth or dare?" Rainbow Dash automatically goes for the dare option so Applejack sends a dare her way "I dare you not to use your wings for 2 days"

Everypony gives an 'ooohh' as Rainbow gains an angry expression on her face. Rainbow sighs as she spins the bottle, its spins for a few seconds before landing on me. I look to Rainbow who asks "Truth or Dare?"

I roll my eyes before saying "Dare"

Rainbow gives out an 'aww' before asking "I dare you to scream for as long and as loud as you can"

I nod before standing up for the full effect, I look to Twilight and say "Could you time this?" She nods so I clear my throat before playing a part of a song in my head, I immediately take in a deep breath before screaming and holding for as long as I can.

After a few more seconds of yelling my lungs finally run out of air so I stop and allow myself to breathe as I look at my spectators who were shell-shocked, to say the least. I look to Twilight who says my time "12 seconds..." I smile as I sit back down next to Flutters and AJ.

I spin the bottle and after a few seconds of spinning, it lands on Twilight who looks at me with a pleading look. I chuckle before asking "Truth or Dare?" Twilight gulps before picking truth so I ask her a question "Do you own any... porn magazines?"

I see Twilight flush from color before she coughs into her hoof and says "N-No, of course not..."

I look to Applejack who was trying to hold back her laughter but fails and bursts out with laughter while saying "S-She's lying! Hahahahaha!" Everypony else begins to laugh while Twilight hides her face in embarrassment.

I hush everypony down as I say "Okay, let's stop before she bursts a blood vessel... Again."

Twilight spins the bottle with her magic again and it lands on Fluttershy who gave out an 'eep'. Twilight asks Fluttershy "T-Truth or dare?"

Fluttershy surprisingly picks "Dare"

Twilight thinks for a second before looking at me with a malicious smile as she says "Fluttershy, I dare you to kiss Ray"

Silence fills the room as I look to Fluttershy who was surprisingly calm, Flutters turns to me as she leans herself toward and kisses me on the lips before leaning back into her spot. Everypony else was just astonished, I try to brighten up the mood by saying "Take a picture, It'll last longer." I was surprised by a flash that came from Pinkie who was holding a Polaroid camera.

I shake my head a bit before saying "Well... About what just happen-"

I was cut off by Fluttershy who says "We got together"

She smiles with a 'squee' as everypony looks between me and Fluttershy before Applejack says "I mean, we should have seen this coming... They spend the most time together." Twilight and Pinkie Pie nod as Rainbow seems to be broken.

I look at the clock to see that it was around 5:00 pm so I say "I think it's best if I and Flutters get going now, I'll see you all later" I get up and head to the door, Fluttershy soon follows while I say my goodbyes. I exit out the door with Fluttershy in tow and start to head back to the cottage but on the way there, I pass my gun shop and see Derpy with a sad expression while looking down at a piece of paper so I tell Fluttershy "Hey, I'll meet you at home, gotta check on something quick..."

I walk up to the front door of the gun shop before entering, Derpy looks up and puts on a fake smile while saying "Hey boss, How are you?"

I decide to play along "I'm doing okay, how about you?"

Derpy then tells me "I'm... doing good."

I shake my head before saying "I saw you looking depressed as hell through the window, tell me what's bothering you."

She sighs and discards the fake smile before saying "I told you about my daughter right?" I nod so she continues "Well, she's been getting bullied at school and my old boss is sending me death threats about me and Ditzy..."

I feel a surge of anger run through me when I heard that, I sigh and tell her "Everything is going to be okay... I won't let him touch you or Ditzy." She smiles genuinely and softly hugs me so I hug her back gently and after a few seconds of hugging, we let go of each other. "I need to grab something from the back then I got to go. Just be strong for me, okay?" I say causing Ditzy to smile, I smile back before heading to the back room.

I walk into the back of the workshop to see Blazing Heart working on that gold shotgun from yesterday, I go over to a safe and put in the button combination before opening it to stacks upon stacks of bits. I take out 3000 bits with my magic before grabbing a small sack and dumping the gold coins into it. I levitate the coins over to Liam who gives them a small glace before continuing to work, I look back at the safe and grab 2400 more bits and dumping them into another sack.

I hold onto the bits as I head toward my gun locker. I put in the combo before opening it and grabbing my CZ-75 while I strap on my saddlebags, I slide the handgun into the left side of my saddlebags before closing the locker and walking into the store part of the building. I drop the sack of bits in front Derpy whos smile gets larger while I say "Consider this a raise."

I tell Derpy goodbye and walk out the door and back to Fluttershy's cottage, After a few minutes of walking, I make it back to the cottage and head inside to see Flutters asleep on the couch. I chuckle before gently picking Fluttershy up in my magic and taking her upstairs and setting her into bed, she looks so cute that I just want to slip into bed with her but I have unfinished business so I walk back downstairs and take off my sleeveless hoodie before searching through the basket to find my least favorite sweater, I soon find a plain purple sweater and slip it on.

I take off my saddlebags and take out my pistol holster before strapping it on as I grab the CZ-75 and slip it into the holster. I sigh as I flip the hood over my head, hiding most of my facial features in shadow. I then head out the door and walk into town, many people were inside due to it getting late so this would make my job a lot easier.

I make it to Derpy's old bosses house so I go around back and test the door to see that it's unlocked, I slowly enter while I put a noise suppression on the house so nopony would hear a thing. The first room I enter seems to be a messy kitchen, I walk into the next room which was a living room and I see lines hanged across the ceiling like clotheslines but instead of clothes, pictures were hanging from them.

I grab one of the pictures from the line and look at it but immediately look away from the pedophilic pictures, It made me sick to my stomach. I place the picture face down on the ground and look to the stairs that lead up, I close my eyes and take a deep breath before opening them to see that I wasn't in a pony's house anymore but In a ruined house.

The house seemed familiar as I looked around a bit but I dismiss the thought and continue the mission, I walk up the stairs and check each room to look for the pedophile mailman. I pull out my CZ-75 as I enter the last room, I see a raider sleeping in a bed so I slowly walk up to him before grabbing the pillow under his head and pulling it out beneath his head. I push the pillow into the man's face before placing the pistol against the pillow and pulling the trigger.

Once I heard the gunshot, I suddenly flash back to the pony world as I hold a dead pony down with a pillow, the pillow had a hole in the middle and was beginning to soak up the blood from the bullet hole in the mailman's face. I stare at the dead pedophile for a few seconds before walking out of the room and heading downstairs. I walk to the kitchen before looking at the oven, it was a gas oven which means that it would leak gas if 'somepony' were to sabotage it.

I walk to the gas oven before reaching around back with my magic and pulling out a tube from the stove causing a light hissing noise to be heard, I quickly head out the back door before aiming through the open doorway with my handgun, I fire the CZ-75 causing the bullet to whiz into the house and strike the gas stove causing a spark which lights the gas on fire. I quickly gallop away before a part of the house finally explodes causing debris to fly everywhere and fire to spread to the rest of the house. I holster my pistol before heading back to the cottage.

I enter the cottage before quietly heading upstairs, I enter Fluttershy's room to her still sleeping. I sigh in relief as I take off my purple sweater and body armor before unstrapping my holster and sliding it into my saddlebags which were now on the ground. I yawn and slide into bed beside Fluttershy before wrapping my forelegs around her and drifting to sleep like nothing happened

Author's Note

The chapters seem to get longer... Neat. Also, we will be getting more action soon. I'm also working on a new story so I'll be writing two stories.